Godgrown

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  Mark 9:07 am on November 25, 2010 Permalink | Reply  

  Fear What Makes You Safe 

  12 “Don’t call everything a conspiracy, like others do,

  and don’t live in dread of what frightens them.

  It’s hard not to live in fear these days, what with a 24-hour news machine that must put out news whether OJ killed someone last night or not. I might even say that sometimes we find COMFORT in this constant fear-campaign, designed to over-inflate differences and establish global hyperbole until we we can’t do without our news – it becomes our daily bread and our sense of security!  With news, and with so many things in our lives…

  …What makes us afraid ultimately makes us feel safe.

  However novel news chatter and fear-mongering might be to America, living a life of fear and dread of the  unknown certainly isn’t unique to our culture.  It was thick in Isaiah’s world too.

  And they had reason to fear!  Empires were crouching at their doorstep, Jerusalem hanging by a thread.  Terrorists today have nothing on the Assyrian Empire preparing to not just conquer, but torture their foes.

  And yet, in the face of raw fear and actual threat of complete annihilation, God deeply impressed on Isaiah a surprising message.  The Holy God, who is a sanctuary and a rock of safety for his frightened people, but to others worrying and fearing for their lives he is a rock that trips and pushing them over.  While the Israelites are wringing their hands over tangential issues like the Assyrian Empire, they have forgotten where true fear (and trust) should ultimately lay – with Yahweh, God!

  Does God’s infinite power ever cause you to freak out a little?  I mean, INFINITE power?!?  And yet – it is his power that allows us to feel safe under him.  The two things to know about our God is 1) that he is infinitely strong and 2) he is infinitely good. This allows Isaiah to say what he says below.  May it be a reminder to you the next time you tune into cable news.

  13 Make the Lord of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life.

  He is the one you should fear.

  He is the one who should make you tremble.

  14 He will keep you safe.

  But to Israel and Judah

  he will be a stone that makes people stumble,

  a rock that makes them fall.

  17 I will wait for the Lord,

  who has turned away from the descendants of Jacob.

  I will put my hope in him.

  
   

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  Mark 8:28 am on November 19, 2010 Permalink | Reply  

  Swords into Plow Shears, the USS Midway into a Dance Floor! 

  Isaiah 2

  

  Isaiah begins his book of prophecy with Judah and Jerusalem – giving almost 10 chapters to their fate as a broken nation.  It begins with an apocalyptic, yet hopeful picture of the last days – vision-casting a time when all people who joyfully go up the mountain of God – and that God would teach his ways to everyone.  That all nations will be ruled by God, and that weapons of war and destruction will be transformed into tools of peace and productivity.

  “They will beat their swords into plow shears and spears into pruning hooks” (2:4) is a beautiful picture of peace and prosperity and cooperation.  It is amazing how much you can accomplish when you are not focused on killing or being killed!

  I had an Isaiah 2:4 moment when I visited San Diego last summer.  I was walking by the Seaport Village, near an active navy base.  The ships and vessels were gargantuan!  And right in the middle of it all was the USS Midway – the longest-serving aircraft carrier in Navy history.  Now the deck of the boat has been converted into a dance floor, and another nearby area has been converted into a restaurant.  As much violence and wrath as this ship may have seen, I find it oddly beautiful that we can “beat our sword into a plow shear” and enjoy a peaceful meal while we dance on the face of war, praying for peace.

  That doesn’t mean we forget how peace was accomplished – in this world, it unfortunately has come through might and violence.  Until the US and every other country throws up the white flag, and until the lion lays down with the lamb, we continue to pray for the end of this madness. And we as Christians can be the voice of the prophet, like Isaiah to pray for peace while staring down the barrel of the Babylonian Empire.

  
   
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  Mark 6:34 pm on July 23, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Articles ( 50 )   

  Mustard Mayhem 

  Been thinking about how the Kingdom grows lately. These thoughts have mostly come from my readings in Jesus for President and my aggravation with some poison ivy that’s sprouted up in our backyard.  Jesus says that Kingdom growth a lot like a mustard tree.

  I hear that Jews were not too fond of mustard trees.  There were actually Jewish laws against them being planted in gardens.  The reason why is that they essentially took over the area, planting and sprouting and generally being a nuisance.  Those stubborn little bushes would pop up and ruin all the plans and purposes the farmer had for the garden.  No matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t stop those tiny little seeds from spreading and getting into your garden!

  Growing up, I always heard nice sermons about the remarkable power of a mustard seed – tiny as it is, growing into a giant redwood or something.  The only problem is, when you actually look at a mustard tree, its pretty scraggly.  Check out this mustard “tree” below that is busting out of some concrete in Bethany:

  

  This insidious viral plant spreads like wildfire and is under no one’s control.  It breaks all kinds of rules about how plants are supposed to behave.  And what’s more – the fowl are supposed to take refuge in its branches!  This is not the cedars of Lebanon that Israel hoped the Kingdom of God would produce.  This looks more like a renegade sleeper cell just waiting to spread its potent seeds of destruction all over your lawn – and attract and house the worst kind of flying beasts – the kind that poop all over your car and hang out with the wrong crowd.

  If we think about the Kingdom of God as Jesus taught about it, what might change in how we live as followers of Christ?  It might mean we see growth as slow and insignificant – rather than splashy and impressive.  It might mean that we are not just on earth to be “nice” to everyone and everything, but rather to help upend and nonviolently overthrow the prevailing systems that dominate and oppress humanity and creation.  Maybe it means we spread like a disease, or a terrorist group, or a clan of starfish. (an earlier post on that here).

  The neat thing about mustard seeds is how potent they are!  But you have to crush them up for them to be of any use.  The Anabaptists used to talk about how everything on earth finds its purpose through suffering.  The delicious lettuce you eat in your salad started as a seed in the ground, and grew slowly to produce a head.  It was picked, shipped, and carried to your dinner table, where you rip it apart, cut it into pieces, and then grind at it down till it is no more.  And yet, if you hadn’t done that, the lettuce’s purpose in life would have been in vain.  What if the Christian’s purpose is not so much different from that lettuce, or that mustard seed?  What if Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection was not just a one-time event for our esoteric sins, but actually provided an avenue and a model for us to experience our greatest purpose in life?

  Jesus moves beyond mustard to talk about yeast mixed into dough, weeds mixed in with wheat, good and junky fish of all kinds mixed up in a net…all stuff that is a recognizable annoyance in the lives of his audience. It’s interesting that Jesus waits till the end (of time) to call out what is the weed and what is the wheat.

  To the some, the mustard-tree Kingdom looks like a weed – to Christ, to the world, and to the marginalized, it is the bread of heaven!

  

  millertalbot, Sean, and thepriesthood are discussing. Toggle Comments

   
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    thepriesthood 10:38 pm on July 23, 2008 Permalink

    “What if Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection was not just a one-time event for our esoteric sins, but actually provided an avenue and a model for us to experience our greatest purpose in life?”

    awesome.

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    Sean 1:24 am on August 2, 2008 Permalink

    so when are you going to become a full time preacher? This stuff is good.

    Sean

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    millertalbot 5:16 pm on August 5, 2008 Permalink

    absolutely wonderful post! i love it…

    i’ve been thinking so much about this kind of thing of late. it really is about subversion. the mustard plant subverts the garden for it’s own purposes, the yeast subverts the dough for it’s own purposes…

    and the subversion yields shelter and food.

    we don’t always know how our subversive behavior will pan out, but one thing is sure… love is food, water, and shelter for the hungry, the thirsty, and the cold.

    keep it up bro, this is good stuff.