"What is Truth?" Do Our Rulers Know?

Today is the third day in our 46th week, reading the Bible through in a year.  Our scriptures today are:  Daniel 4-6; John 18.

Both our OT and NT scriptures show the greatness of governments that acknowledge God, and the depravity of rulers who do not recognize God's sovereignty.  

Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, thinks himself to be the founder of his empire, and does not give God glory for his accomplishments.  As a result of Nebuchadnezzar's pride, God humbles him for a time until the king raises his eyes to heaven and praises the One True God.

King Belshazzar of Babylon arrogantly defiles the holy relics of God's temple in Jerusalem, using them as ordinary vessels for his drunken feast.  At the same feast where he dishonors God, he toasts to gods of metal, wood, and stone.  Not for this act alone, but because he has generally been found wanting, God opposes and deposes Belshazzar. 

Darius the Mede, emperor of Persia, shows himself to be a buffoon who can be manipulated by his own advisors.  He does what he knows to be wrong, declaring the death sentence on his best civil servant Daniel.  

In the cases of Nebuchadnezzar and Darius, their foolishness is followed by a moment of realization, recognizing God as sovereign and declaring His praise. But these flashes of realization don't seem to be true conversion experiences.  If they were, then their royal proclamations would be more than a command to "fear and tremble before Daniel's God."  They would be a wholesale recognition of, or even mass conversion to, Judaism--the way that Constantine would later declare the baptism of the entire Roman empire.  Those who had such imperial might had the power to do this, and yet they continued in their pagan ways into the future.

"What is truth?"

In the New Testament we see Jesus shuffled from a midnight court at the house of the high priest, to a predawn court at the governor's palace.  Pilate is the one in authority, yet he kowtows to his own subjects.  Though he finds no fault with Jesus, he allows the people to condemn Him to death.  Pilate takes no responsibility for the verdict, washing his hands of the whole affair. Instead of giving Jesus a fair trial that might determine the truth from lies, Pilate slips into moral relativism, rhetorically asking Jesus, "What is truth?" What a shame, that pagan Pilate didn't even know!

It wasn't just governmental authority that didn't recognize God's truth in Jesus' day.  Spiritual authority in Israel lay with corrupt people in a corrupt system.  A brief reading of John 18 will reveal a confusing fact--both Annas and Caiphas are named as high priest in different places in scripture.  So which one was high priest?  Is there a biblical contradiction here?  Actually, there is no contradiction.  Here are two complementary explanations I found at Bibleforums.org:

Annas was one of the most powerful men in Jerusalem. He had served as high priest for twenty years and for all practical purposes, he had controlled the high priest's office ever since. Five of his sons has already succeeded him as high priest, and now his son-in-law, had the title. Anna maintained control of the high priest office through hiss sons and son-in-law until the end of his life. As the real power behind the office, he also retained use of the title. Therefore, several times in the NT, he is referred to as the High Priest. 

Annas and family had managed to turn the high priesthood into an incredible profitable business, and they has amassed enormous wealth through it. They did this by collecting license fees and commissions from brokers who changed money and sold sacrificial animals on temple grounds. The entire business was crooked. Both the money changers and the animal merchants were renowned for their dishonesty and greed. Since Annas controlled a monopoly on the whole enterprise, the merchants who worked for him could charge exorbitant rates-especially during the seasons of feasts when the city was filled with pilgrims. Of course, Annas himself took a hefty portion of the profits. Thus Anna and his sons had grown wealthy at the expense of people who came to worship God. That explains Jesus outrage over the whole business, which led Him to purge the temple by driving out the money changers and animals sellers on two occasions...

Annas became high priest, but was removed from office by the Roman procurator "for imposing and executing capital sentences which had been forbidden by the imperial government". After a few interim high priests, Caiaphas became high priest. Since Annas hadn't died... he was technically still high priest, according to the Law. But, Caiaphas had become high priest as well. So, although Caiaphas carried out his role as official high priest, Annas retained the authority of high priest as well. Hence, from "a certain point of view", they were high priests at the same time.

(As a follow-up interesting note: Annas' son Annas also attempted to "impose and execute capital sentences which had been forbidden by the imperial government" in 62 AD, when there was no Roman procurator over Judea. He succeeded in executing several of his religious and political enemies, including James, brother of Jesus. This also resulted in Annas' son Annas being removed from office of high priest. Like father, like son.)

While claiming to represent God, the spiritual authorities in Jesus' day were incapable of recognizing Him when they saw Him in the flesh.  Their hearts were hardened to the Holy Spirit's promptings, because their interests were only in tradition, power, and gain.  The fact that they named the name of Yahweh didn't mean that they stood for God's perfect way.

Today's scripture readings all point to one fact--that there is no truth apart from God.  Whether our leaders are governmental, religious, or otherwise, they will never know truth without knowing God.  This is why Paul says:

I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,  for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.  This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,  who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

(1 Timothy 2:1b-4 ESV)

Today, I invite you to pray for your leaders and those in authority.  Pray that they won't need to be humbled like Nebuchadnezzar or dethroned like Belshazzar or manipulated like Darius.  Pray that they won't be blind like Annas and Caiphas or lost and indecisive like Pilate.  Pray that they will come to the knowledge of the truth...the Truth whose name is Jesus.  Pray that the Truth will set them free.

Brainwashed

Today is the second day in our 46th week, reading the Bible through in a year.  Our scriptures today are:  Daniel 1-3; John 17; Psalm 88.


From time to time, you hear about some mother who is genuinely horrified because her child has run off and joined a cult.  The cult has taken her child and brainwashed him, disconnecting him from normal support systems, convincing him that lies are truth, even giving him a new identity.  We find these brainwashing techniques involved in the indoctrination of the four Hebrews in the book of Daniel.  In chapter 1 (ESV), we read:

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god. 3 Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, 4 youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king's palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.5 The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king. 6 Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah. 7 And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.

Will You Trust God in the Furnace of Affliction?

More than four youths were carried off to Babylon, so we shouldn't read the first five verses as applying only to the four teenagers who will become our heroes.  They were not random youths, but were chosen because they were "prize catches."  If the Babylonian government could retrain them, they would be useful to their new king in the future.

Next, we see the four being trained in the language and literature of the Chaldeans.  Though they had learned their own sacred scriptures from childhood, they were to be forced to learn not only literature but mythology of this new people.  Religious indoctrination was the goal here, not simply an education in a new culture.

It wasn't enough to rip them from their families, isolating them from their support systems and forcing them to learn new "truths."  Their retraining had to be more fundamental, more core-level than that.  Even their diet was micro-managed, so that they could not eat the kosher foods that they were used to.  Instead, they were forced to abandon their dietary traditions and eat like Babylonians.  Since the Hebrew dietary laws weren't simply a cultural identity, but a religious conviction, you can see how important it was for the captors to undermine their Jewish dietary habits.

Then, they were renamed.  Hebrew names that honored the God of Israel were replaced with Babylonian names that honored pagan deities.  Names are more than just labels--they are identities.  The very identities of these Hebrew youths were threatened by the re-education plan of their captors.

This threat to identity may have even been carried to an unspeakable extreme.  2 Kings 20:16-18 (ESV) says:  

16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: 17 Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord. 18 And some of your own sons, who shall be born to you, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”

This is also echoed in Isaiah 39:7.  This doesn't necessarily mean that the four Hebrew youths were castrated--although it might.  In Babylon, many court servants were castrated, in order to make them more docile, so that they could be trusted around the princesses and queens, and so that the would not allow personal affections to interfere with their devotion to their court duties.  It is true that we have no record of any descendants of our four heroes, and this might substantiate the idea that they were emasculated.  On the other hand, castration was so common that "eunuch" was often used as a title for court servants, whether they had been physically altered or not.  It's an important thing to consider that our young Hebrews may have undergone this torment--and if they did, this would have been yet another step in the brainwashing process, stripping them of their sexual identity and their future.

Today, many Christian youth are experiencing the brainwashing techniques that our pagan culture has to offer.  School, sports, unbelieving friends, and secular entertainment rip teenagers away from godly support systems such as church and family. They suffer the religious indoctrination of those who would seek to refute their Christian upbringing.  Core-level truth is called into question.  Many of our youth have exchanged their Christian identity for a pagan one, even causing them to question or change their sexual orientation.  Truly, the very future of Christian youth is on the line.

I pray that Christian teenagers today may respond to these threats in the same way that Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah did.  They respectfully resisted the world's influence, and even the king's commands, defending their religious convictions even to the point of death.  And God rewarded them for it.  God still preserves those who stand for His truth.  The world wants to brainwash people into rejecting their faith and exchanging it for a lie.  But God's truth leads us to maintain His righteousness, even under pressure.  I pray that we'll have more young people who will dare to be a Daniel.

The River of Life

Today is the first day in our 46th week, reading the Bible through in a year.  Our scriptures this week are:

•  Ezekiel 46-48; John 16
•  Daniel 1-3; John 17; Psalm 88
•  Dan 4-6; John 18
•  Dan 7-9; John 19; Psalm 91
•  Dan 10-12; John 20

I've always been a river kind of person.  I grew up canoeing down the South Anna and North Anna rivers in Hanover County, Virginia.  When I was in high school, I had the opportunity to ride a couple of times on Joe Ayers' batteau Minnie Lee down the James River and Kanawha Canal.  Along with a group from school, we made a study of rivers in art, literature, history, ecology, and just about every other aspect of river life that you can think of.  Give me a gentle river over a crashing beach any day!  With a river, you know which direction you're headed.  Give me a river over a stagnant pond--with a river there is life!

In Ezekiel 47:1-12 (ESV), we see a river flowing from beneath the prophet's visionary temple of God.  

Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. 2 Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east; and behold, the water was trickling out on the south side.

3 Going on eastward with a measuring line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and then led me through the water, and it was ankle-deep. 4 Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was waist-deep. 5 Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through. 6 And he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?”

Then he led me back to the bank of the river. 7 As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other. 8 And he said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the sea; when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh. 9 And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. 10 Fishermen will stand beside the sea. From Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea. 11 But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. 12 And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.”

When Jesus told the woman at the well that He could give her living water, He was talking about this river (John 4:13-15).  It was also this water that He referred to when He said:

37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit,whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given,because Jesus was not yet glorified (John 7:37-39 ESV).

And, of course, the book of Revelation echoes this theme of Ezekiel's river of life flowing from the temple of God:

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations (Revelation 22:1-2 ESV).

In verses 3-5 of today's Ezekiel passage, we find that the blessings of God just keep flowing more and more.  And God asks us to go deeper into them.  Deeper into intimacy with God.  Deeper in our trust for Jesus.  Deeper in our relationship with the Holy Spirit.  And the deeper you go with God, the more you find that you can neither fathom His depths nor navigate the breadth of His love.

Ezekiel shows that the river of God works miracles, turning even the saltiest seas into fresh water.  God turns even the most unpleasant heart into something life-giving.  Yet God does not force His miracles on anyone, allowing our free will to choose to reject Him if that's our inclination.  Ezekiel symbolizes this by leaving some marshes and swamps salty.  Shallow hearts that choose to remain poisoned can never sustain life, even though God gushes upon them with His love.

Yet, for those who choose His healing, the river of life restores and brings abundance.  God makes people who receive His life into fruitful trees, producing beyond our imagination and healing broken people.

God wants to pour His living water on you.  You're going to get wet--you have no choice in that.  The only thing you choose is whether you allow it to give you life, or whether you reject His gift and become the salty swamp.  Either way, His waters will flow.  But I hope you let Him refresh your heart.

Life Cycles--Work and Rest

Today is the final day in our 45th week, reading the Bible through in a year.  Our scriptures today are:  Ezekiel 43-45; John 15; Psalm 135.

Have you ever felt that people were putting so much demand on you to produce that you felt dried up inside?  I can think of some times like that in my life, when pressures to perform outweighed my ability to meet people's expectations.  In times like that, I found myself using my personal prayer and Bible reading time to work on Sunday sermons or studies for the groups I was leading.  Instead of taking care of myself and my family, I allowed the constant phone calls to dictate my schedule, creating a situation that was ripe for burnout.

Maybe you've gone through times like that as well.  Jesus gives an answer to this condition of overwork in John 15:1-5 (ESV.)

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.  Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.  I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

 Basically, Jesus is saying that if you want to produce, you've got to rest.  Working without resting produces nothing but fatigue and an inability to get your creative juices flowing.

In order to get to a place of abiding, first you need to be pruned.  Just as the vinedresser cuts "suckers" off of vine to give it energy to you need to produce good fruit, you may need to prune some things from your life that have been taxing your reserves.  

A year ago, I dropped several things from my schedule, that were all good things, but that were putting too much of a demand on my time.  For years, I'd been hosting a weekly meeting of local clergy at my church--I decided that someone could take a turn at hosting it.  I still attended the meeting, but I no longer had the responsibility of hosting it--freeing my schedule if some other need arose.  I'd also served on the Fluvanna-Louisa Housing Foundation for years, and at the time was co-president of the organization.  Though we were doing good work, I had to realize that they could do good work without me.  Five years of service was enough, so at the end of the foundation's fiscal year, I stepped down from my role.  There were a couple of other things that I backed out of at the same time.  I can't tell you the amazing feeling of freedom there was, in the ability to say, "No--somebody else can do that."  Maybe you need to exercise that freedom as well.  Maybe you need to let God prune some things from your life.  Only once you've been pruned, can you get to the point of truly abiding.

Abiding, or resting, in Christ means taking time to enjoy His Word.  It means regularly relating to God in prayer.  It means allowing the True Vine to nourish your spirit.  This can be through devotion times and corporate worship, small group meetings and solitary pilgrimages.  

For the Christian, abiding in Christ doesn't always have to be something that seems spiritual.  Because the Spirit of Jesus inhabits us at all times and in all activities, abiding in Christ can mean a fishing trip or hiking in the woods (my two favorite leisure activities).  Or, for you it might mean watching your grandchild play ball.  Maybe it's a romantic dinner with your spouse or a weekend shopping trip or bowling with your buddies.  When the Christian does these things, our recreation becomes holy re-creation of our souls.

Then, once you've been refreshed by the process of abiding, you can begin to grow.  God's Spirit shows you areas where you can branch out in new directions.  He places ideas and desires in your heart, and gives you the strength you need to make these things realities.  

As you grow in the direction that God leads, He asks you to bear fruit.  Fruit that can only come from a well-nourished branch.  Fruit that can only come once you've allowed Him to prune you, once you've rested in God, grown by His grace, and been made ready to produce.  The fruit that you bear might be some new work that God has called you to do.  Or, it could be some new character trait that God has whispered into your heart--things like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal 5:22-23).

There's a rhythm to life--a rhythm that leads us from our time of work, through a time of pruning, to abiding in Christ.  Then, from our time of abiding, the Spirit leads through growth to fruit-bearing.  Once again, after a cycle of production, God allows us to be pruned again, and it goes on and on.  Just as there are cycles in the agricultural year, there are cycles in our lives.  What cycle are you in now?  Which direction are you headed?  I hope that you'll realize when it's time to transition to the next phase, because lingering too long in any one of these will stunt your growth and hamper production.  Jesus wants us to bear fruit for Him--but not just any fruit.  He wants us to bear healthy fruit that will endure.

Contemplation: The Temple Within

Today is the fourth day in our 45th week, reading the Bible through in a year.  Our scriptures today are:  Ezekiel 40-42; John 14.

A couple of days ago, at our Virginia Baptist state convention, I went to a breakout session that was led by members of the Epiphany Institute of Spirituality, a group of Baptists who are seeking to go deeper with God by reclaiming some ancient contemplative traditions.  They led us in a time of contemplative prayer and worship, followed by a Q&A session about contemplative Christianity.  

One lady had a hard time grasping how you could have an entire worship service without a sermon.  Her died-in-the-wool Baptist roots had a difficult time thinking outside the box that she'd been raised in.  She just couldn't get it.  "What do you mean by contemplative?" she asked, more than once.  Then, I think I saw a light bulb went off over her head when Michael Sciretti, one of our presenters, told her that the root word for "contemplate" and "contemplative" is "temple."  So to contemplate is to go into the temple of your heart and meet one-on-one with God.  1 Corinthians 3:16 says that we are God's temple, so to meet with Him in contemplation is to go on an inner journey through the temple, into the Holy of Holies.

In today's scriptures, we read about Ezekiel measuring out a visionary temple, with all its many chambers.  Jesus says in John 14:2-3 (ESV), "In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also."

We have heard these words from John 14 in many funerals, when the preacher talks about Heaven.  The beauty of contemplation is that we don't need to wait until we die to enter the Father's house.  Just as God designed the temple in Jerusalem with apartments for priests to live in, so God desires for us to dwell in His inner temple, here and now.  Living a contemplative lifestyle means making God's house, your home.  

The Epiphany Institute of Spirituality's website states:  "The Epiphany Institute of Spirituality (EIS) exists to reclaim and revive these early Baptist emphases within our own historical tradition through adapting teachings and practices of contemplative streams of Christianity from the Latin West, Greek East, and Syriac Orient."  Workshop presenter Randy Ashcraft put it this way:  "We are open to all traditions that point to Christ."  Jesus said it like this:  "In my Father's house are many rooms."  

Authentic Christianity is open Christianity--a faith that is open to all traditions that point to Christ.  I'm proud to call myself a Baptist--but I'm a Christian first.  This means I've got to be open to all Christian traditions that lead to a deeper walk with Jesus.  Limiting myself to Baptist expressions prevents my exposure to forms of Christian prayer, meditation, contemplation, and understanding of the Bible that might otherwise enrich my spiritual life.  

Even within the Baptist tradition, most of us are unaware of the depth of contemplative thought that has been expressed through our rich history.  Michael Sciretti has written a book entitled Entempling: Baptist Wisdom for Contemplative Prayer.  In this book, Sciretti quotes many famous and less-than-famous Baptist preachers and authors, pointing to a stream of contemplation that has run through the centuries of Baptist thought and practice.  Sciretti's work can be used both as aid to personal devotion, and as a tool for corporate contemplative worship.  Of this book, musician Drexel Rayford (also an EIS presenter) says, "Dr. Sciretti has pulled together wisdom from a long ignored 'spring.' Anyone who drinks of this water will experience a unique sort of soul-thirst quenching. I highly recommend it!"  C.S. Smith says, "The editors of this book are trusted spiritual directors of the highest order, both of whom have had positive impact on my life... So pleased that this book has come into being."  Why not follow the link to Amazon and pick up a copy for yourself?

In John 14:1 (ESV), Jesus says, "Let not your hearts be troubled."  The word "trouble," according to the Online Etymology Dictionary, comes from the Latin turbulare, from the Late Latin turbidare, "to make turbid."  To let your heart be troubled is to allow it to become like water churned by a storm.  Don't let your heart be turbid.  Let it be the opposite of turbid.  Instead, let it be like the stormy sea that was calmed when Jesus said, "Peace, be still."  Let it be peaceful and still, like the sea of glass before God's throne (Revelation 4:6).

I pray that you'll find Jesus' peace in His temple--in contemplation.  I pray that His temple, His Father's house with many rooms, will be a shelter for you.  I pray that in that temple, you'll be at peace, that you'll be still, and that you'll know that God is God (Psalm 46:10).

A New Commandment

Today is the third day in our 45th week, reading the Bible through in a year.  Our scriptures today are:  Ezekiel 37-39; John 13; Psalm 87.

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread,  and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said,“This is my body which is for[e] you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”  For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

(1 Corinthians 11:23-26 ESV)

Most Christians hear these words often--nearly every time they share in the Lord's Supper (aka Communion or Eucharist).  Some believers call it a sacrament, while others say it's an ordinance.  We find the story of the Lord's Supper in all three synoptic Gospels (Mark 14:22-25; Matthew 26:26-29; Luke 22:13-20).  But it's left out of John.  Isn't it curious that something so important would be left out of the fourth Gospel?

In a way, you could say that John makes reference to the Lord's Supper in his sixth chapter, where He feeds the five thousand and then says that He is the bread of life who has come down from Heaven--that anyone who eats of Him will never be hungry.  John foreshadows the Eucharist, yet He never actually tells the story.  Why?

Possibly because the other three evangelists had already written about it.  It was an established fact--something that they already took for granted.  And John was less about ritual and more about relationship, anyway.  So John remembers something that the others do not--how Jesus washed the disciples' feet.  For John, that was Communion.  Jesus said He did this out of love, and wanted his friends to do the same, out of love.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:34-35 ESV).”

 

Whether we call the Lord's Supper an ordinance or a sacrament, John remembered Jesus using the word "commandment" in reference to love.  For John, love was the key.  For John (and, we find that Paul also understood this in 1 Corinthians 11), love was the key to Communion.  True communion with God and with others can only be done in love.

And this means washing one another's feet.  Whether you feel like it or not.  Whether you like them or not--love them, anyway.  Love isn't a feeling--it's a commandment.  A new commandment.  A renewable commandment.  

As you read John 6, notice that Jesus washed the feet of a disciple who argued with Him.  He washed the feet of a disciple who would betray Him.  He washed the feet of a whole group of disciples who were content to let their Master do the servant work.  Doesn't sound very appealing, does it?  But He did it anyway--because God is love.

If we call ourselves His disciples, we must love.  This means loving your neighbor.  It means loving your enemy.  It means loving your spouse that you've been fighting with--whether you feel like it or not.  It means loving that coworker who bugs the snot out of you at the office.  Communion with God means communion with one another.  It means love.  And it's not a suggestion.  It's a command.

 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.  Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.  In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.  Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another (1 John 4:7-11).

We Wish to See Jesus

Today is the second day in our 45th week, reading the Bible through in a year.  Our scriptures today are:  Ezekiel 34-36; John 12; Psalm 86.

I've spend the day today at the Baptist General Association of Virginia's annual meeting.  Our keynote speaker, Ross Clifford, has been speaking about sharing the truth of Jesus' resurrection without changing culture, in relevant and engaging ways.  Today, he delivered great messages from 1 Corinthians 15:17-24 and Acts 17:16-31.  Today's Gospel reading seems to follow along the same lines--sharing the Gospel with people who are outside of our immediate sphere.  In John 12:20-26 (ESV), we read about Jesus sharing His truth with some Greeks.  

Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks.  So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”  Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.  And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.  Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.  Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

What we have to realize is that there are people who really want to know God, but for some reason they find themselves on the outside of God's people.  These Greeks were what we call "God-fearers."  They weren't Jewish, yet they admired Judaism and the Hebrew God so much that they came up to participate in Jewish feasts.  There are people like that today, as well--folks who are yearning for a relationship with God, who may even participate in the activities of the church, but who for one reason or another are on the outside.  What will be their experience of Jesus, if they can't seem to get through the crowds in order to find Him?

Today, Lora Gravatt, Pastor for Family Life at Columbia Baptist Church in Falls Church, asked how many of us had come to our churches within the past five years.  A good many of us raised our hands.  She said, "Try to remember the first day you walked through those doors.  You didn't know anybody there.  You didn't know where the sanctuary or the Sunday school classrooms were."  She reminded us of that experience so we could put ourselves into the shoes of newcomers.  In our churches, we just sort of expect new people to come to us, and to figure out where they're going.  We expect them to take the initiative, like these Greeks who approached Philip, asking to see Jesus.  Really, that's probably not the best strategy.

Philip didn't know exactly what to do with these newcomers, so instead of taking them to Jesus, he told Andrew about it.  Thankfully, Andrew knew enough to go and get Jesus Himself.  And Jesus told them about eternal life.

I wonder what Jesus thought about all of this.  Was He pleased with the way is disciples handled the situation?  Is He pleased with the way we deal with newcomers in our churches?  He'd probably be even more pleased with us if we did more than just give them a gift bag and get them to fill out a visitor's card.  In fact, He'd be most pleased if instead of waiting for them to come to us, we went straight to the people who need to meet Him.

Most churches have ushers--people who are designated to greet people at the door, help visitors find seats, and hand out bulletins.  Jesus wants us to do more than usher people into the church.  He wants us to help usher them into the Kingdom.  And for that, He needs willing disciples.  Will you be a willing disciple who brings others to Him?