May 23, 2004
In early 1998 the city of Cincinnati prosecuted a woman for slipping a quarter into a parking meter a few steps ahead of the meter maid. Because the lady did not own the car, she had to pay a hefty fine and was even threatened with jail time for her helpfulness. Thus proving again the old saying, "no good deed goes unpunished."
Going out of your way to do something good can get you into trouble- this explains why so many people live by the slogan, "Don't get involved."
The Apostle Paul was willing to stick his neck out for Jesus; he was involved. And he often times paid a price for his good deeds. In II Corinthians 11 he mentions among other things, that he was flogged five times, beaten with rods three times, and jailed countless times.
If you've ever tried to confront a friends over their addiction, or an infidelity in their marriage, or tried to warn your company about illegal practices, you may have found out that you are seldom thanked for your involvement in their moral improvement.
Living like Jesus is risky business.
Read Acts 16.
What is the most "apple cart upsetting" thing you've ever done for Jesus (not counting your involvement in church wars over carpet colors)? Paul's exorcism brought relief and freedom to a young girl, but profound economic reversals to her pimps. The secular world does not like it when you "set free" what it thinks it owns.
The slave girl's owners rejected the message of Jesus because it cost them money. How often does financial concern cause people to reject the message today? Is this ever a factor for you? And why is it upsetting news to the secular world, that Jesus offers genuine forgiveness, spiritual and mental health, and real life? They have seen that the message of Jesus does have impact. It means things are about to change.
Of course, Jesus intended that His influence would make a difference. In John 17 one of His last prayers, He asks the Father, "My prayer is not that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one...as you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world." These words lay out a fairly aggressive posture for His people. They can not very easily be twisted into saying, "isolate yourself from the world" or "stand on the sidelines and criticize."
Are you upsetting anyone by living for Jesus? Some who claim the name of Jesus are upsetting their neighbors by being obnoxious. These people are embarrassing. You see them driving down the road with a Christian bumper sticker and leaving a crowd of offended drivers in their wake. Other Christians are more committed to denominational rules than they are to the future prospects of their friends. These people are boorish and then whenever I hear a ball player credit Jesus for a victory, I hold my breath that we don't hear about them being arrested the next week. There is more than one way to be an upsetting Christian.
Jesus did not call us to be obnoxious or upsetting in an embarrassing way. He called us to be salty or zesty, not galling and distasteful.
Paul and Silas were powerfully engaged with their world, but not obnoxious. They set the slave girl free (spiritually). This poor girl was not only captive to her pimps, but to a demon. She was freed and that is good news.
But the world and its pimps don't like you messing with what is theirs, so they imprisoned Paul and Silas (racial hatred had something to do with it, too), but for some reason these two men never figured out, they are in jail. In their mind God is still competent. They may be locked up, but somehow they still think God is wise and capable. He is still worthy of worship. Nothing has changed in that regard.
Life in Jesus provides a prospective that puts all adversity in a new light. Even this trouble can be used to His advantage. They know that they are not exempt from trouble because of their faith, but they also know that trouble can not separate them from Jesus or defeat Jesus in any way. And so they sing out their love for Jesus.
In the darkness of midnight worship, the miracle of broken bonds and open doors happens. The jailer has heard and seen enough. He wants the joy and peace that Paul and Silas have. These two men have upset his view of the world and he prefers their life to his old life.
What kind of impact have we made on our world? A General Superintendent recently observed, "the church in America is so disconnected from the world that if we experienced a great revival, the world might not even notice."
Recently in Chicago a fifteen year old was shot by gang members while playing basketball across the alley from an ER. The ER staff refused to treat him saying it was against policy to go outside. By the time a frustrated police officer wrangled a wheel chair and brought the boy in it was too late!
Lord, please don't let that be a picture of the church. We feel safe inside our fellowship and we have good stuff to offer the world- if they'll just come and get it. At times when Christians get the courage to try to develop relationships with sinners, the rest of us take shots at them. "Stay pure, you are getting polluted, let them come in for help!"
But there are the courageous exceptions, real heroes of the faith. Recently four Christian lay-missionaries were killed in Iraq. Main stream media said nearly nothing. When they did say something it was to express indignation about the idea of missionaries, period. Their comments went along the lines of, "the Bible is right behind the bombs these days." Christian missionaries are considered religious imperialists, imposing a foreign way of life. Why would a Christian want to engage the culture of the Fertile Crescent?
May I share a distressing news photo? You won't have to cover your eyes, but in some ways it is as disturbing as any photo from recent scandals. At first view you might think it looks like a Middle East Mother's day card. You see a smiling little girl with bright eyes looking adoring into the face of her own smiling mother. The quote that comes with the photo is spoken by the little girl (Fatima), " My mother did this because she did not want us to be punished by people. I love my mother much more now than before." What great thing did her mother do? She murdered little Fatima's older sister. Now the mother did try to avoid this gruesome act. She made an effort to talk Fatima's sister into killing herself. She even purchased the razor blades for her to cut her wrists, but the girl couldn't be talked into it.
The trouble started because Rofayda was gang rapped by her older brothers and got pregnant. Consequently the neighbors started to talk and relatives stopped visiting. So Fatima's mother one night entered her daughter's room and did the job of slitting her daughter's wrists herself. This "honor crime" was celebrated and held up as a role model in this dark culture. This mother and her culture are in deep bondage to hate and evil of a very demonic kind. We could condemn them with righteous anger, but they need to know about the freedom and life in Jesus. The four men and women I mentioned earlier got involved and tried to bring light into the dark, and like Paul, they paid a price in this world. The secular world insults them for being imperialistic and the darkened local culture hates them for bringing change.
Paul and Silas were engaging the world and upsetting things, but not being obnoxious about personal agendas. They did not set out to upset people, but sometimes by following Jesus other people get upset. On the other hand, many times people are set free of their demons and darkness because someone got involved!
When was the last time someone came to you in the middle of their darkness and asked, "what must I do to be saved?" Are you an upsetting Christan? It is scary, but I would like to be- not obnoxiously or in an embarrassing way- not even necessarily by going to the Middle East. Heaven knows there are millions of people in bondage all around us. Can we be filled with Jesus in a way that makes people wonder if they can be filled with Him too? Some will find it upsetting , but that's okay.
Showing posts with label Acts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Acts. Show all posts
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Herod
February 29, 2004
Seattle's famed Kingdome- home of the Seahawks, Mariners, and even at times the SuperSonics, was destroyed on March 26, 2000.
Maryland based Controlled Demolition Inc (CDI) was hired to do the job of imploding the 25,000 ton structure (second in fame only to the Space Needle) that had marked Seattle's skyline for almost 25 years.
One of the most noteworthy things about this event was the unusual measures taken to ensure no one was hurt. CDI had experience with over 7,000 demolitions and knew how to protect people. Engineers checked and rechecked the structure. Several blocks around the Kingdome were evacuated. Safety measures were in place to allow the countdown to stop at any time if there was concern about safety. All workers were individually accounted for by radio before the explosives were detonated. A large public address system was used to announce the final countdown.
In short, CDI took every reasonable measure and more to warn people of the impending danger. And the good news is it worked.
The Bible teaches of a final judgement and destruction for this sinful world. Like the engineers who blew up the Kingdome, our Heavenly Father has spared no expense to make sure everybody can "get out" safely. He warns us through our consciences, through the prophets, through the Word of God, through the Holy Spirit, through the Church, and through His Son. And to show us how serious He is, God will occasionally do something in a public and awful way to wake us up.
Acts 12:18-ff
There were several Herods mentioned in the New Testament. This one is Herod Agrippa I. He is the grandson of Herod the Great (who killed the babies of Bethlehem and killed this Herod's father). Agrippa was the nephew of Herod Antipas who killed John the Baptist and tortured Jesus. Agrippa grew up in Rome in the lap of luxury, living a playboy lifestyle, until debtors chased him back to a hideout in the Middle East.
While he lived in Rome he became close friends with Caligula and Claudius, future Emperors. When they came into power they brought their old friend out of hiding and established him on a throne and expanded his territory.
Herod Agrippa was the best loved of all the Herods. His grandfather the Great was an Edomite with a hint of a Jewish uncle. Edom helped Nebucanezer defeat Judea. Clearly he was not Jewish enough to be a Jewish king. However, Herod the Great married, among others, a princess of the Macabee family. From this princess came Agrippa's father. So, Agrippa had a Jewish pedigree, and when in Israel, he acted Kosher.
This made him popular and he tried to refine his popularity by attacking the followers of Jesus. His execution of James was so effective that he arrested Peter intending to kill him after the eight day holy day festival.
It is here that he meets his ugly death, worms and all. A Jewish historian, Josephus, has an account of Herod's death very similar to Luke's. He tells how Herod came into the stadium wearing a robe woven of pure silver. The crowds called out, "We used to fear and respect you as a great man. But now we revere you as immortal." Josephus, without knowledge of Luke and vice versa, tells how he immediately was struck with abdominal pains and carried out of the theater. Soon thereafter he died in terrible agony.
Luke makes it clear that God had a hand in Herod's death. It was a judgement for his ego-mania or pride that left no room for reverence for anyone but himself.
The New Testament records two important confessions. The first is found in Matthew 16:16 where Peter told Jesus, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God." With Peter we must all stand before Jesus and acknowledge or confess that He is Lord. This is part of our Christianizing experience.
The second confession is found in Acts 14. Paul and Barnabus had just prayed for a miracle and God had healed a man who had been crippled from birth. The crowds went crazy dancing and singing and worshiping Paul and Barnabus as Greek gods. But when Paul realized what they were doing he tore his cloths in an act of extreme grief and ran into the crowd yelling, "Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you (Acts 14:15)."
The very first lesson of faith is simple- but it gets to the core of everything: God is God and I am not. If you want proof- think of it this way- you had nothing to do with your birth; you could not take care of yourself in the smallest way for several years, and even now you can not make your own groceries or refine your own petroleum or manufacture your own medicine or build your own car from raw materials out of the Earth.
You are pretty much dependent on a whole lot of people just to stay alive. Say it with me: God is God and I am not.
Herod like many men in powerful positions had reached a place where his ego was king. He bowed to no one. His pride-filled state of mind was driving his destiny. Who knows what horrifying wickedness was just around the corner. God put a stop to Herod's self worship in a dramatic way.
Today a high degree of self regard is not thought to be a problem. Usually, it's valued. Korean high school students may average 200 points higher on a standardized math test, but American students are far superior in self-esteem. Today, that's what matters.
God wants to greatly enrich our lives by filling us with His Spirit, but when we are full of ourselves, there is no room for His Spirit. The danger is that we can reach a point of being permanently full of ourselves. All that is left is to guide that imperial ego through life, until we set it down before the judgement throne.
Do you believe in a Judgement day? Many do not. They believe God has one task: to help, console, encourage, and be friendly. Suggest He is going to weigh justice and punish short coming- that will cause deep frowns and shaking heads. The general mood of our culture lives for pleasure and amusement, ridiculing the Christian idea that after death comes judgement.
However, the Bible lays fairly heavy emphasis on judgement. Remember the times God acted as Judge. It started when He expelled Adam and Eve from Paradise. Then Genesis records God's judgement on the corrupt world in the flood. Genesis 18-19 relate the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. In Genesis 18: 25 Abraham said, "Shall not the judge of all the Earth do right." And of course He did.
Exodus 32 reports the account of the slaying of all the Israelites who got involved in the Golden Calf incident. In the New Testament the deceitfulness of Ananaias and Sapphira lead to their deaths in public condemnation by God. Paul reminded the church of Corinth that many in their church had died because of the irreverent way they were receiving the Lord's Supper. And here, we have this incident with Herod Agrippa.
Each of these incidents involving death serves to illustrate a taste of Judgement Day. In regard to that day Paul told the philosophers at Athens, "God has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising Him from the dead (Acts 17:31)."
The Father has appointed Jesus, the Son to weigh the issues of right and wrong and hand out justice on That Day. Does this make God harsh, mean, abusive? Most of the gods of pagans cared nothing for justice. They were concerned only about their own appetites and whims. Think about Zeus or Baal. A Holy God is a unique concept! What does it mean to have a God who is very concerned about balancing the scale between right and wrong?
One thing it means is that God is good and worth respecting. Parents who know their children have committed acts of purposeful harm- and remain indifferent have tarnished their own souls. A parental duty is to instill a sense of right and wrong. To prioritize family loyalty above all else corrupts a culture. Moral indifference is a flaw and a character weakness. To not judge a world engulfed in wickedness, to be morally indifferent to crime, sin, evil, and viciousness would be a sign of malignancy.
Jesus as judge stands at the end of life's road for every individual. Paul told the Corinthians, "For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad (II Corinthians 5:10)."
If we know ourselves at all, we know that we are not fit to meet Jesus as Judge. The goodness of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection is what we desperately need and what he freely offers! We can fall on the mercy of the Judge today, and with full surrender, find healing and hope and life...
Or we can avoid him, we can run from Jesus (and what we think are His uncomfortable demands), but we will meet Him later as Judge. Today is another opportunity to find life in Jesus. The Bible says, "there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1)."
Seattle's famed Kingdome- home of the Seahawks, Mariners, and even at times the SuperSonics, was destroyed on March 26, 2000.
Maryland based Controlled Demolition Inc (CDI) was hired to do the job of imploding the 25,000 ton structure (second in fame only to the Space Needle) that had marked Seattle's skyline for almost 25 years.
One of the most noteworthy things about this event was the unusual measures taken to ensure no one was hurt. CDI had experience with over 7,000 demolitions and knew how to protect people. Engineers checked and rechecked the structure. Several blocks around the Kingdome were evacuated. Safety measures were in place to allow the countdown to stop at any time if there was concern about safety. All workers were individually accounted for by radio before the explosives were detonated. A large public address system was used to announce the final countdown.
In short, CDI took every reasonable measure and more to warn people of the impending danger. And the good news is it worked.
The Bible teaches of a final judgement and destruction for this sinful world. Like the engineers who blew up the Kingdome, our Heavenly Father has spared no expense to make sure everybody can "get out" safely. He warns us through our consciences, through the prophets, through the Word of God, through the Holy Spirit, through the Church, and through His Son. And to show us how serious He is, God will occasionally do something in a public and awful way to wake us up.
Acts 12:18-ff
There were several Herods mentioned in the New Testament. This one is Herod Agrippa I. He is the grandson of Herod the Great (who killed the babies of Bethlehem and killed this Herod's father). Agrippa was the nephew of Herod Antipas who killed John the Baptist and tortured Jesus. Agrippa grew up in Rome in the lap of luxury, living a playboy lifestyle, until debtors chased him back to a hideout in the Middle East.
While he lived in Rome he became close friends with Caligula and Claudius, future Emperors. When they came into power they brought their old friend out of hiding and established him on a throne and expanded his territory.
Herod Agrippa was the best loved of all the Herods. His grandfather the Great was an Edomite with a hint of a Jewish uncle. Edom helped Nebucanezer defeat Judea. Clearly he was not Jewish enough to be a Jewish king. However, Herod the Great married, among others, a princess of the Macabee family. From this princess came Agrippa's father. So, Agrippa had a Jewish pedigree, and when in Israel, he acted Kosher.
This made him popular and he tried to refine his popularity by attacking the followers of Jesus. His execution of James was so effective that he arrested Peter intending to kill him after the eight day holy day festival.
It is here that he meets his ugly death, worms and all. A Jewish historian, Josephus, has an account of Herod's death very similar to Luke's. He tells how Herod came into the stadium wearing a robe woven of pure silver. The crowds called out, "We used to fear and respect you as a great man. But now we revere you as immortal." Josephus, without knowledge of Luke and vice versa, tells how he immediately was struck with abdominal pains and carried out of the theater. Soon thereafter he died in terrible agony.
Luke makes it clear that God had a hand in Herod's death. It was a judgement for his ego-mania or pride that left no room for reverence for anyone but himself.
The New Testament records two important confessions. The first is found in Matthew 16:16 where Peter told Jesus, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God." With Peter we must all stand before Jesus and acknowledge or confess that He is Lord. This is part of our Christianizing experience.
The second confession is found in Acts 14. Paul and Barnabus had just prayed for a miracle and God had healed a man who had been crippled from birth. The crowds went crazy dancing and singing and worshiping Paul and Barnabus as Greek gods. But when Paul realized what they were doing he tore his cloths in an act of extreme grief and ran into the crowd yelling, "Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you (Acts 14:15)."
The very first lesson of faith is simple- but it gets to the core of everything: God is God and I am not. If you want proof- think of it this way- you had nothing to do with your birth; you could not take care of yourself in the smallest way for several years, and even now you can not make your own groceries or refine your own petroleum or manufacture your own medicine or build your own car from raw materials out of the Earth.
You are pretty much dependent on a whole lot of people just to stay alive. Say it with me: God is God and I am not.
Herod like many men in powerful positions had reached a place where his ego was king. He bowed to no one. His pride-filled state of mind was driving his destiny. Who knows what horrifying wickedness was just around the corner. God put a stop to Herod's self worship in a dramatic way.
Today a high degree of self regard is not thought to be a problem. Usually, it's valued. Korean high school students may average 200 points higher on a standardized math test, but American students are far superior in self-esteem. Today, that's what matters.
God wants to greatly enrich our lives by filling us with His Spirit, but when we are full of ourselves, there is no room for His Spirit. The danger is that we can reach a point of being permanently full of ourselves. All that is left is to guide that imperial ego through life, until we set it down before the judgement throne.
Do you believe in a Judgement day? Many do not. They believe God has one task: to help, console, encourage, and be friendly. Suggest He is going to weigh justice and punish short coming- that will cause deep frowns and shaking heads. The general mood of our culture lives for pleasure and amusement, ridiculing the Christian idea that after death comes judgement.
However, the Bible lays fairly heavy emphasis on judgement. Remember the times God acted as Judge. It started when He expelled Adam and Eve from Paradise. Then Genesis records God's judgement on the corrupt world in the flood. Genesis 18-19 relate the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. In Genesis 18: 25 Abraham said, "Shall not the judge of all the Earth do right." And of course He did.
Exodus 32 reports the account of the slaying of all the Israelites who got involved in the Golden Calf incident. In the New Testament the deceitfulness of Ananaias and Sapphira lead to their deaths in public condemnation by God. Paul reminded the church of Corinth that many in their church had died because of the irreverent way they were receiving the Lord's Supper. And here, we have this incident with Herod Agrippa.
Each of these incidents involving death serves to illustrate a taste of Judgement Day. In regard to that day Paul told the philosophers at Athens, "God has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising Him from the dead (Acts 17:31)."
The Father has appointed Jesus, the Son to weigh the issues of right and wrong and hand out justice on That Day. Does this make God harsh, mean, abusive? Most of the gods of pagans cared nothing for justice. They were concerned only about their own appetites and whims. Think about Zeus or Baal. A Holy God is a unique concept! What does it mean to have a God who is very concerned about balancing the scale between right and wrong?
One thing it means is that God is good and worth respecting. Parents who know their children have committed acts of purposeful harm- and remain indifferent have tarnished their own souls. A parental duty is to instill a sense of right and wrong. To prioritize family loyalty above all else corrupts a culture. Moral indifference is a flaw and a character weakness. To not judge a world engulfed in wickedness, to be morally indifferent to crime, sin, evil, and viciousness would be a sign of malignancy.
Jesus as judge stands at the end of life's road for every individual. Paul told the Corinthians, "For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad (II Corinthians 5:10)."
If we know ourselves at all, we know that we are not fit to meet Jesus as Judge. The goodness of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection is what we desperately need and what he freely offers! We can fall on the mercy of the Judge today, and with full surrender, find healing and hope and life...
Or we can avoid him, we can run from Jesus (and what we think are His uncomfortable demands), but we will meet Him later as Judge. Today is another opportunity to find life in Jesus. The Bible says, "there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1)."
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Peter
A young man named Sal applied for a job as a signalman on the railroad. He was asked a question by the inspector: "What would you do if you realized two trains were heading for each other on the same track?"
Sal answered, "I would switch the points for one of the trains."
"What if the electronic lever was broken?" asked the inspector.
"Then I'd run down from the tower and use the manual lever by the switch."
"What if that had been struck by lightning?" asked the inspector.
"Then I'd run back into the tower and phone the next tower."
"What if the phone was busy?"
"Well, in that case I'd run up the right of way to the emergency phone at the crossing."
"What if that phone had been vandalized?"
"Oh, well, in that case I would run into the village and get my uncle."
This finally slowed the inspector down a little, and he asked, "Your uncle? Why your uncle?"
Sal answered, "Because my uncle has never seen a train wreck."
How many of you have never seen a train wreck but would like to? It is sad to say, but for Sal, prayer was not even a last resort. I wonder what the inspector would have said if Sal had answered, "I'd call my church and ask them to pray"?
Pray is not magic. At times, the function of prayer is a mystery, but when God moves in response to a person pleading for action, the results are more dynamic than surgery or high rise demolition.
Acts 12
This is Peter's second to last appearance in the book of Acts (15). At this point, James, the half brother of Jesus, takes over the leadership of the Jerusalem church. And Luke, author of the book of Acts, begins to follow the ministry of Paul's mission trips as the focus of the book moves away from the city of Jerusalem to Antioch.
This episode begins with the execution of James - one of the sons of Zebedee. This is the James who came with his brother John to Jesus in order to claim the top two spots in Jesus' new kingdom. He was one of the "inner three." Jesus explained at the time that they had no idea what they were asking - that the Father was in charge of selecting the people for those honors - but that they certainly would go through a similar "baptism by fire" that Jesus was about to experience.
As it turned out James was the first of the Twelve Apostles to be martyred for his faith. Ironically, John was the last of the Twelve to experience martyrdom.
The execution of James so dramatically raised Herod's popularity numbers that he arrested Peter. Unfortunately, the timing was such that he had to wait until the eight day holy period of Passover-Unleaven Bread was concluded. I suspect (hope) that the church prayed for James, but in Peter's case they had more time to organize the prayer meetings. Luke reports that their prayer fervency was especially high the night proceeding the day of execution.
In verse 5 the word for "earnestly" is the same word that describes the level of intensity of Jesus' prayer in the Garden. This word only appears three times in the New Testament. In Jesus' case, his original request to bypass the cross was changed to an uncontaminated willingness to be the sin bearer. The earnestness of His prayer was not a stubborn self will, but an intense desire to line up with the Father's will.
The prayer meeting crowd was praying earnestly for Peter. And Peter was sleeping -- pretty soundly it seems. Some folks suggest he should have been more like Paul and Silas -- singing hymns. However, that was their first night in the stockade. Peter had been in jail several nights. Paul and Silas had already received their punishment. The next day they were going to be escorted out of town. Peter was going to be executed, beheaded. The circumstances were quite different.
I'm impressed that he could sleep at all. Peter's convictions about the impotence of death to separate him from the love of God were real convictions! Peter was not under any illusion that the person who dies with the most toys wins anything. He was comfortable knowing that he was going to a reward -- not leaving anything of value behind that he would never see again!
If your whole life consists of things you've acquired here, and you have made no investments in eternity, then it is a pretty lonely journey through "the valley of the shadow of death." Those earthly assets offer no protection, Peter was sleeping because he had something to look forward to.
He was sleeping so well that when the angel woke him up, he thought he was still dreaming. Angels show up with some frequency in this chapter and the New Testament in general. Some of you may be disappointed to know that none of them looked like Roma Downey. Always they are described with a masculine pronoun although Jesus told us that sexual distinctions are not something angels have to deal with. This spoils nearly everything Hollywood has to say about angels.
The motion picture industry has produced several movies about angels and almost always the plot is some kind of idolizing of human desire. In The City of Angels, Nicolas Cage actually gave up immortality as an angel so that he could love Meg Ryan. In the movie, asked if the switch was worth it, he said, "I would rather have one breath of her hair, one kiss of her lips, one touch of her hand, than an eternity without it."
No disrespect to Meg Ryan, but Cage is an idiot - at least in the movie! Angels, the Bible tells us, have the experience of God's immediate and intimate presence. And he would give that up for a sniff of Meg Ryan's hair? That is the very definition of moral lunacy. Of course, what is really at work here is some producer's idea of how important human pleasure is. This movie turns the pleasures of being human into a rival with God. This is one reason "fasting" has always been a key discipline in heart transformation.
The Bible does not give much systematic teaching about angels. The writer to the Hebrews reminds us that God did not share the essence of angels. Instead He took on flesh and blood; not to experience the wonders of humanity, but to rescue us from the horrors of being human. The incarnation never was focused on human pleasure though Jesus was filled with joy.
Angels . . . the Bible's attitude seems to be "oh, by the way angels are real, and on a rare occasion you might have to deal with that fact." The Bible tells us that the best of the angels are servants of God who love doing His will. The worst of them have been defeated by Jesus on the cross.
On the occasion when Peter tried to rescue Jesus from the cross, Jesus said if that was His goal He could've called ten legion of angels who were waiting with swords drawn to demolish Satan and all of creation. Jesus' mission was to overcome the powers of darkness as a man. Colossians tells us that Jesus "disarmed the (dark) powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them by the cross" (2:15). By defeating the rebellious dark powers - in a way humanly impossible to imagine - He was able to make salvation available to the whole world.
The presence of angels in this early history of the church reminds us that the invisible world is no less real than the visible. And at times the two worlds overlap. What we need to do is keep our spiritual bearings about us by reserving our praise for Jesus.
In Acts 12 an angel was sent to rescue Peter from jail. The account does not gloss over the angel's part but the praise goes to God. This is how, on this occasion, God chose to answer fervent prayer. One of the interesting parts of this story is the praying church's response. Clearly they were praying for the best -- and expecting the worst. I don't think this is the part we are supposed to apply, but I do identify with their astonishment. I would hope that they prayed for James. Although the circumstance may not have allowed much time to pray, time is not necessarily the critical problem in prayer. At any rate, they prayed for James but he died. They had seen James beheaded and they were watching Herod strut around bragging about what he was going to do to Peter. Most of the Christians were staying underground. It was not a good time.
But God is not boxed in by arrogant or hate filled enemies. And sometimes He surprises us.
Herb Miller wrote about when a night club opened in a small town on Main Street. The only church in town organized an all-night prayer meeting. The members asked God to burn down the club. Within a few minutes, lightning struck the club, and it burned to the ground. The owner heard about the prayer meeting and sued the church. They denied responsibility.
After hearing both sides, the judge said, "It seems that wherever the guilt may lie, the nightclub owner believes in the power of prayer, while the church does not."
Are you currently praying any prayers that you really don't expect God to answer? Has God ever surprised you with an answer to a specific request? Perhaps this week you could confess your doubts about this old standing prayer and ask God to surprise you.
Now we know that some prayers God has already clued us in on. We know He won't answer a prayer that leads us into an area of disobedience. He has told us that holding on to bitterness and unconfessed sin messes up our prayers. So perhaps it is not a surprise that He has not answered your prayer yet. Pray God's will. Pray with clean hands.
If you do something about the sin in your life, Jesus will take care of the devil in your life. And maybe it is okay to be astonished when He does.
Sal answered, "I would switch the points for one of the trains."
"What if the electronic lever was broken?" asked the inspector.
"Then I'd run down from the tower and use the manual lever by the switch."
"What if that had been struck by lightning?" asked the inspector.
"Then I'd run back into the tower and phone the next tower."
"What if the phone was busy?"
"Well, in that case I'd run up the right of way to the emergency phone at the crossing."
"What if that phone had been vandalized?"
"Oh, well, in that case I would run into the village and get my uncle."
This finally slowed the inspector down a little, and he asked, "Your uncle? Why your uncle?"
Sal answered, "Because my uncle has never seen a train wreck."
How many of you have never seen a train wreck but would like to? It is sad to say, but for Sal, prayer was not even a last resort. I wonder what the inspector would have said if Sal had answered, "I'd call my church and ask them to pray"?
Pray is not magic. At times, the function of prayer is a mystery, but when God moves in response to a person pleading for action, the results are more dynamic than surgery or high rise demolition.
Acts 12
This is Peter's second to last appearance in the book of Acts (15). At this point, James, the half brother of Jesus, takes over the leadership of the Jerusalem church. And Luke, author of the book of Acts, begins to follow the ministry of Paul's mission trips as the focus of the book moves away from the city of Jerusalem to Antioch.
This episode begins with the execution of James - one of the sons of Zebedee. This is the James who came with his brother John to Jesus in order to claim the top two spots in Jesus' new kingdom. He was one of the "inner three." Jesus explained at the time that they had no idea what they were asking - that the Father was in charge of selecting the people for those honors - but that they certainly would go through a similar "baptism by fire" that Jesus was about to experience.
As it turned out James was the first of the Twelve Apostles to be martyred for his faith. Ironically, John was the last of the Twelve to experience martyrdom.
The execution of James so dramatically raised Herod's popularity numbers that he arrested Peter. Unfortunately, the timing was such that he had to wait until the eight day holy period of Passover-Unleaven Bread was concluded. I suspect (hope) that the church prayed for James, but in Peter's case they had more time to organize the prayer meetings. Luke reports that their prayer fervency was especially high the night proceeding the day of execution.
In verse 5 the word for "earnestly" is the same word that describes the level of intensity of Jesus' prayer in the Garden. This word only appears three times in the New Testament. In Jesus' case, his original request to bypass the cross was changed to an uncontaminated willingness to be the sin bearer. The earnestness of His prayer was not a stubborn self will, but an intense desire to line up with the Father's will.
The prayer meeting crowd was praying earnestly for Peter. And Peter was sleeping -- pretty soundly it seems. Some folks suggest he should have been more like Paul and Silas -- singing hymns. However, that was their first night in the stockade. Peter had been in jail several nights. Paul and Silas had already received their punishment. The next day they were going to be escorted out of town. Peter was going to be executed, beheaded. The circumstances were quite different.
I'm impressed that he could sleep at all. Peter's convictions about the impotence of death to separate him from the love of God were real convictions! Peter was not under any illusion that the person who dies with the most toys wins anything. He was comfortable knowing that he was going to a reward -- not leaving anything of value behind that he would never see again!
If your whole life consists of things you've acquired here, and you have made no investments in eternity, then it is a pretty lonely journey through "the valley of the shadow of death." Those earthly assets offer no protection, Peter was sleeping because he had something to look forward to.
He was sleeping so well that when the angel woke him up, he thought he was still dreaming. Angels show up with some frequency in this chapter and the New Testament in general. Some of you may be disappointed to know that none of them looked like Roma Downey. Always they are described with a masculine pronoun although Jesus told us that sexual distinctions are not something angels have to deal with. This spoils nearly everything Hollywood has to say about angels.
The motion picture industry has produced several movies about angels and almost always the plot is some kind of idolizing of human desire. In The City of Angels, Nicolas Cage actually gave up immortality as an angel so that he could love Meg Ryan. In the movie, asked if the switch was worth it, he said, "I would rather have one breath of her hair, one kiss of her lips, one touch of her hand, than an eternity without it."
No disrespect to Meg Ryan, but Cage is an idiot - at least in the movie! Angels, the Bible tells us, have the experience of God's immediate and intimate presence. And he would give that up for a sniff of Meg Ryan's hair? That is the very definition of moral lunacy. Of course, what is really at work here is some producer's idea of how important human pleasure is. This movie turns the pleasures of being human into a rival with God. This is one reason "fasting" has always been a key discipline in heart transformation.
The Bible does not give much systematic teaching about angels. The writer to the Hebrews reminds us that God did not share the essence of angels. Instead He took on flesh and blood; not to experience the wonders of humanity, but to rescue us from the horrors of being human. The incarnation never was focused on human pleasure though Jesus was filled with joy.
Angels . . . the Bible's attitude seems to be "oh, by the way angels are real, and on a rare occasion you might have to deal with that fact." The Bible tells us that the best of the angels are servants of God who love doing His will. The worst of them have been defeated by Jesus on the cross.
On the occasion when Peter tried to rescue Jesus from the cross, Jesus said if that was His goal He could've called ten legion of angels who were waiting with swords drawn to demolish Satan and all of creation. Jesus' mission was to overcome the powers of darkness as a man. Colossians tells us that Jesus "disarmed the (dark) powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them by the cross" (2:15). By defeating the rebellious dark powers - in a way humanly impossible to imagine - He was able to make salvation available to the whole world.
The presence of angels in this early history of the church reminds us that the invisible world is no less real than the visible. And at times the two worlds overlap. What we need to do is keep our spiritual bearings about us by reserving our praise for Jesus.
In Acts 12 an angel was sent to rescue Peter from jail. The account does not gloss over the angel's part but the praise goes to God. This is how, on this occasion, God chose to answer fervent prayer. One of the interesting parts of this story is the praying church's response. Clearly they were praying for the best -- and expecting the worst. I don't think this is the part we are supposed to apply, but I do identify with their astonishment. I would hope that they prayed for James. Although the circumstance may not have allowed much time to pray, time is not necessarily the critical problem in prayer. At any rate, they prayed for James but he died. They had seen James beheaded and they were watching Herod strut around bragging about what he was going to do to Peter. Most of the Christians were staying underground. It was not a good time.
But God is not boxed in by arrogant or hate filled enemies. And sometimes He surprises us.
Herb Miller wrote about when a night club opened in a small town on Main Street. The only church in town organized an all-night prayer meeting. The members asked God to burn down the club. Within a few minutes, lightning struck the club, and it burned to the ground. The owner heard about the prayer meeting and sued the church. They denied responsibility.
After hearing both sides, the judge said, "It seems that wherever the guilt may lie, the nightclub owner believes in the power of prayer, while the church does not."
Are you currently praying any prayers that you really don't expect God to answer? Has God ever surprised you with an answer to a specific request? Perhaps this week you could confess your doubts about this old standing prayer and ask God to surprise you.
Now we know that some prayers God has already clued us in on. We know He won't answer a prayer that leads us into an area of disobedience. He has told us that holding on to bitterness and unconfessed sin messes up our prayers. So perhaps it is not a surprise that He has not answered your prayer yet. Pray God's will. Pray with clean hands.
If you do something about the sin in your life, Jesus will take care of the devil in your life. And maybe it is okay to be astonished when He does.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Stephen
February 15, 2004
What is the most damaging lie that has ever been told? I don't suppose there has ever been anything worse than Satan's lie to Eve- that God could not be trusted. Satan couldn't have done more harm if he had chased Eve around the garden with a battle ax.
Politicians have noticed how effective lies can be. As we enter another election year- the whoppers will fly! Many careers inside and outside of politics have been killed and saved by lies.
What's the worst lie someone has told about you? How much damage did it do? Whatever it was, I hope you've gotten over it, or forgotten it.
Two false witnesses spoke up at Jesus' trial. They said Jesus was going to destroy the temple and erect it again in three days. It doesn't seem like such a horrible lie. If you don't think Jesus is capable of such a feat, what is the point? Except that to the Jews the temple was the most sacred building on earth. It would be the equivalent of suggesting that God had rejected them! It would be like threatening to demolish Congress and the Whitehouse!
Early in the book of Acts a man filled with God's Spirit and God's wisdom came to prominence in the church. His insight from God helped him understand some things that the apostles like Peter and James would not understand for a few more years yet. He was ahead of his peers and his leaders in understanding God's plan. Specifically, Stephen saw that Jesus was very serious when He said in Matthew 28, "Go and make disciples of every nation."
Peter and the apostles were still trying to reform Judaism. Stephen understood that the law of Moses was a God given step on the journey back to God, but it was not the final step. He would not undervalue the law, but neither would he worship the law of Moses. In fact, God had done something so powerfully wonderful that the Jewish system of religious rituals have become redundant, even obsolete! As an educational track these traditions could be helpful- like learning to add, subtract, divide and multiply is helpful in knowing Algebra- but the one big concept these small steps of religious law were pointing to had been fulfilled.
Stephen was so persuasive in making this point, that the best minds of Judaism could not defeat his reasoning. So they did what any evil person would do; they did what Satan did; they lied.
Acts 6: 8-15
The Jewish teachers of Jesus' day and Stephen's understood their religion to be static, changeless, immovable, stationary. They held to three eternal pillars of faith. First, the land they were living on was "The Holy Land." Second, the law of Moses was God's complete revealing of how to live right. Third, the temple was the place to perform the rituals needed to bring people back to God. Essentially, God had become a tribal deity, belonging to them alone. They had all the secrets and no reason to share.
Sectarian Christian groups still make these kinds of claims, "We know the true truth. If you don't come to us, you will be lost." This is not an exclusive fault of first century Judaism. A variety of little and large groups in the Christian faith think they have cornered the majority of good stuff about Jesus.
Stephen understood that God was the God of the whole world- not just a tiny pocket of land located on a strip of coast at the eastern edge of the Mediterranean. He understood that God was trying to reconcile every tribe and language and family. Not just one tiny ethnic and cultural group.
This thought was deadly dangerous to those with a vested interest in their religion. If you made a profit off of temple rituals this was not the kind of thing you wanted to hear at Saturday morning Sabbath class. So they arrested him on trumped up charges.
Acts 7
Stephen makes his point by recounting the history of Israel- which they were all familiar with. Their own history teaches them that God is not restricted by territorial boundaries or buildings. He spoke to Abraham in Mesopotamia. He worked powerfully through Joseph in Egypt. And the one person most responsible for the Jewish people and their faith (the person more significant that the patriarchs, the kings, and the prophets) -- Moses -- never set foot in the promised land. But wherever God would meet him, that place was holy ground.
Furthermore, they had a history-long habit of rejecting God's anointed means of rescue. How long did it take before they recognized that Joseph was God's plan to save them? How many times did they try to reject Moses? How many of God's prophets had they killed? "Are we seeing a pattern yet?", Stephen seems to be asking.
Furthermore, they had invested far too much value in the going-nowhere temple. God's plan, in fact, His literal blue print, was not for a temple, but a tabernacle. The tabernacle was a symbol that gave rise to a far more accurate picture of God and His people than the temple could. The temple was immobile and fixed to one spot on earth. The tabernacle was a structure ready to go.
Images are basic. They determine how we live. Our mental image of God (no idols forcing us to stay in the realm of ideas a little longer) must be as close to true as possible for limited thinkers like ourselves. Otherwise our spiritual lives will be lived in terminal confusion. Some things are OK to be confused about...hockey rules and geometry to name a few. Accepting a false idea of God gets you into the same kind of trouble, however, that Eve found herself in...basically the trouble we all experience.
It was no accident that Jesus arranged for one of the strongest images connected to His work to be the cross! The cross reveals God's broken body and poured out blood freely given as an act of atonement. The Bible says in Romans 5:8, "but God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." The cross is not confined to a place or time, a language or a people. It speaks more of what God has done for us than what we must do for God. The cross is a picture of a bridge or the symbol of a door. Too often religion communicates the image of walls- keeping people out. The cross is an invitation that says, "Dear (you), I want you with me this much! Love, God!"
When you don't want to listen to someone, what is your preferred way of shutting them up? What if that person is God? With God, you can't go to another room and close the door. I hope you know that...but you can stay busy, so busy that you don't notice God. You can play the radio and read magazines, or go sky diving. Or you may join the church choir, lead a Bible study, and raise money for a new sanctuary. That is kind of what the Jews of Jesus' day were doing. They heard enough of Jesus and Stephen that they knew they didn't like it. So they became very busy -- busy saving their religion. They did a bunch of religious stuff so that they couldn't hear God. They even held a religious trial.
Religion has a long history of helping people close their ears and minds to the voice of God. When was the last time you heard the voice of God? Do you know your personal "sin that so easily entangles?" In other words, where are you most inclined to resist the Spirit's voice? What's the thing that tempts you to cover your ears and run?
The Jewish people of the first century would've gladly listened to God- if He would've consented to remain confined with in their system...if He would have stayed in His box. God won't do that! For them or for us! He won't honor your homemade ideas of a god who looks more like a Santa Claus or a beloved grandmother. He won't play along with your wrong religious convictions.
God has revealed Himself in Jesus and His written word. Jesus will be Lord or Judge. He is right now at the right hand of the Father, giving access to God, whether you are Jew or Gentile; rich or poor; man or woman; strong or weak. The door has been opened for you by Jesus!
Wherever you find Jesus, you can know that that is holy ground; that is the Kingdom of God. If Jesus is not at the core of your life, no matter how religious you are, no matter how influential or attractive your place of worship, you are on worldly ground.
If Jesus is in charge at the core place of your life, you can have the assurance that whatever happens to you in this life -- perhaps you experience the same things as Stephen -- the unimaginable happiness of eternal life is yours. In John 11: 25 "Jesus said to (Martha), I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies." When your physical life is over, will you see the Son of Man at the right hand of the Father?
What is the most damaging lie that has ever been told? I don't suppose there has ever been anything worse than Satan's lie to Eve- that God could not be trusted. Satan couldn't have done more harm if he had chased Eve around the garden with a battle ax.
Politicians have noticed how effective lies can be. As we enter another election year- the whoppers will fly! Many careers inside and outside of politics have been killed and saved by lies.
What's the worst lie someone has told about you? How much damage did it do? Whatever it was, I hope you've gotten over it, or forgotten it.
Two false witnesses spoke up at Jesus' trial. They said Jesus was going to destroy the temple and erect it again in three days. It doesn't seem like such a horrible lie. If you don't think Jesus is capable of such a feat, what is the point? Except that to the Jews the temple was the most sacred building on earth. It would be the equivalent of suggesting that God had rejected them! It would be like threatening to demolish Congress and the Whitehouse!
Early in the book of Acts a man filled with God's Spirit and God's wisdom came to prominence in the church. His insight from God helped him understand some things that the apostles like Peter and James would not understand for a few more years yet. He was ahead of his peers and his leaders in understanding God's plan. Specifically, Stephen saw that Jesus was very serious when He said in Matthew 28, "Go and make disciples of every nation."
Peter and the apostles were still trying to reform Judaism. Stephen understood that the law of Moses was a God given step on the journey back to God, but it was not the final step. He would not undervalue the law, but neither would he worship the law of Moses. In fact, God had done something so powerfully wonderful that the Jewish system of religious rituals have become redundant, even obsolete! As an educational track these traditions could be helpful- like learning to add, subtract, divide and multiply is helpful in knowing Algebra- but the one big concept these small steps of religious law were pointing to had been fulfilled.
Stephen was so persuasive in making this point, that the best minds of Judaism could not defeat his reasoning. So they did what any evil person would do; they did what Satan did; they lied.
Acts 6: 8-15
The Jewish teachers of Jesus' day and Stephen's understood their religion to be static, changeless, immovable, stationary. They held to three eternal pillars of faith. First, the land they were living on was "The Holy Land." Second, the law of Moses was God's complete revealing of how to live right. Third, the temple was the place to perform the rituals needed to bring people back to God. Essentially, God had become a tribal deity, belonging to them alone. They had all the secrets and no reason to share.
Sectarian Christian groups still make these kinds of claims, "We know the true truth. If you don't come to us, you will be lost." This is not an exclusive fault of first century Judaism. A variety of little and large groups in the Christian faith think they have cornered the majority of good stuff about Jesus.
Stephen understood that God was the God of the whole world- not just a tiny pocket of land located on a strip of coast at the eastern edge of the Mediterranean. He understood that God was trying to reconcile every tribe and language and family. Not just one tiny ethnic and cultural group.
This thought was deadly dangerous to those with a vested interest in their religion. If you made a profit off of temple rituals this was not the kind of thing you wanted to hear at Saturday morning Sabbath class. So they arrested him on trumped up charges.
Acts 7
Stephen makes his point by recounting the history of Israel- which they were all familiar with. Their own history teaches them that God is not restricted by territorial boundaries or buildings. He spoke to Abraham in Mesopotamia. He worked powerfully through Joseph in Egypt. And the one person most responsible for the Jewish people and their faith (the person more significant that the patriarchs, the kings, and the prophets) -- Moses -- never set foot in the promised land. But wherever God would meet him, that place was holy ground.
Furthermore, they had a history-long habit of rejecting God's anointed means of rescue. How long did it take before they recognized that Joseph was God's plan to save them? How many times did they try to reject Moses? How many of God's prophets had they killed? "Are we seeing a pattern yet?", Stephen seems to be asking.
Furthermore, they had invested far too much value in the going-nowhere temple. God's plan, in fact, His literal blue print, was not for a temple, but a tabernacle. The tabernacle was a symbol that gave rise to a far more accurate picture of God and His people than the temple could. The temple was immobile and fixed to one spot on earth. The tabernacle was a structure ready to go.
Images are basic. They determine how we live. Our mental image of God (no idols forcing us to stay in the realm of ideas a little longer) must be as close to true as possible for limited thinkers like ourselves. Otherwise our spiritual lives will be lived in terminal confusion. Some things are OK to be confused about...hockey rules and geometry to name a few. Accepting a false idea of God gets you into the same kind of trouble, however, that Eve found herself in...basically the trouble we all experience.
It was no accident that Jesus arranged for one of the strongest images connected to His work to be the cross! The cross reveals God's broken body and poured out blood freely given as an act of atonement. The Bible says in Romans 5:8, "but God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." The cross is not confined to a place or time, a language or a people. It speaks more of what God has done for us than what we must do for God. The cross is a picture of a bridge or the symbol of a door. Too often religion communicates the image of walls- keeping people out. The cross is an invitation that says, "Dear (you), I want you with me this much! Love, God!"
When you don't want to listen to someone, what is your preferred way of shutting them up? What if that person is God? With God, you can't go to another room and close the door. I hope you know that...but you can stay busy, so busy that you don't notice God. You can play the radio and read magazines, or go sky diving. Or you may join the church choir, lead a Bible study, and raise money for a new sanctuary. That is kind of what the Jews of Jesus' day were doing. They heard enough of Jesus and Stephen that they knew they didn't like it. So they became very busy -- busy saving their religion. They did a bunch of religious stuff so that they couldn't hear God. They even held a religious trial.
Religion has a long history of helping people close their ears and minds to the voice of God. When was the last time you heard the voice of God? Do you know your personal "sin that so easily entangles?" In other words, where are you most inclined to resist the Spirit's voice? What's the thing that tempts you to cover your ears and run?
The Jewish people of the first century would've gladly listened to God- if He would've consented to remain confined with in their system...if He would have stayed in His box. God won't do that! For them or for us! He won't honor your homemade ideas of a god who looks more like a Santa Claus or a beloved grandmother. He won't play along with your wrong religious convictions.
God has revealed Himself in Jesus and His written word. Jesus will be Lord or Judge. He is right now at the right hand of the Father, giving access to God, whether you are Jew or Gentile; rich or poor; man or woman; strong or weak. The door has been opened for you by Jesus!
Wherever you find Jesus, you can know that that is holy ground; that is the Kingdom of God. If Jesus is not at the core of your life, no matter how religious you are, no matter how influential or attractive your place of worship, you are on worldly ground.
If Jesus is in charge at the core place of your life, you can have the assurance that whatever happens to you in this life -- perhaps you experience the same things as Stephen -- the unimaginable happiness of eternal life is yours. In John 11: 25 "Jesus said to (Martha), I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies." When your physical life is over, will you see the Son of Man at the right hand of the Father?
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