Godgrown

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  Mark 7:24 am on April 21, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

  Not Complex, Just Difficult 

  A friend of mine recently mentioned,

  “The solutions to the biggest problems in life will not be complex, only difficult.”

  This is SO true.

  When we look at the brokenness of our world, from the savage violence in Libya to a father abandoning his family to cling to his drink, you get the sense that things are very, very wicked – and turning this burning ship around will require more than well-crafted policies or enticing tax incentives.

  There is no law that will make me love my neighbor as myself.  There is no external motivation that brings me to my knees in prayer.

  We have been trying to end poverty, war, hunger, homelessness, spousal abuse, gang-violence…well, the list goes on and on.  The evening news shows begins each night with “Good evening…” then tells you all the reasons in the world why it isn’t!

  But that’s not the end of the story –

  The solutions to the world’s biggest problems…to the biggest problems in your own life… are not complex rules or well-managed institutions…no, they are quite simple…they are just difficult.

  It is not a matter of the head figuring out the solutions – it is now down to a matter of the heart.

  Can we trust our neighbor?

  Can we love them?

  Can we forgive them…and ourselves?

  Can we love our family as God loves them?

  Can we offer troubled youth a place in our family before they are sucked into the vortex of a gang?

  Can we rend ourselves of our wealth so that urban food deserts disappear?

  When Jesus quoted, “There will always be poor among you,”  he was hoping that his disciples would be convicted by what was obviously an ironic and tragic reference to Deuteronomy 15:4-11, The text begins: “There should be no poor among you…” Is Jesus misquoting Scripture?  Is he confused?  No – he’s making a point; that the end of poverty comes not with well-crafted laws of tithing, but by overcoming one’s self-centered selfishness.  ”There will always be poor among you,” was a rebuke of the disciples.

  “Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.” (Deut. 15:11)

  Did a command do the job? Did that verse end poverty at the stroke of a pen (or chisel as it were)?  No – there were plenty of people in Jesus’ day that were poor – thousands of years after the Law of Moses was written.

  Jesus knew this problem, like so many others in his world, and in our world today – can only come from overcoming the most difficult hurdle in the world — the human heart.

  

  Jay is discussing. Toggle Comments

   
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    Jay 5:14 am on April 22, 2011 Permalink

    Life would be easier if I could disagree with you.
    The comfortable interpretation that says — since they will always be there what’s the rush, why bother, nothing can really be done about it, Jesus said so — just doesn’t cut it. If he was rebuking his poor disciples, what would he say to us with our opulence?

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  Mark 10:23 am on January 23, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

  Dress for Success 

  What does God wear?  In Isaiah 59 we get a peak into his wardrobe.  He’s preparing for battle – and like any good soldier he’s fitting himself with armor.

  59:17 He put on righteousness as his body armor

  and placed the helmet of salvation on his head.

  He clothed himself with a robe of vengeance

  and wrapped himself in a cloak of divine passion.

  Earlier, in Isaiah 11, we find the picture of the coming Messiah – the Savior – of God also donning gear to take on malevolent forces.

  11:5 He will wear righteousness like a belt

  and truth like an undergarment.

  Pretty awesome designer fashion.

  But what is really incredible, what blows my mind, is that under Jesus, the Messiah, we have access to God’s wear.

  6:11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. 12 For wet are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

  13 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. 14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. 15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.t 16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.t 17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

  Beautiful.  Empowering.  Dangerous.  If we have the chance to enlist in God’s ranks to overturn injustice and engage in spiritual warfare, we need his gear.  It’s an amazing thing that we have a role to play in the grandest project this world has ever known!

  
   
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  Mark 10:07 am on January 22, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

  Bad Gifts 

  Have you ever gotten a gift for someone that, when the gift was given, both of you knew that it was something you hoped to use yourself?  This happens just about every year at Christmas.  I give Katrina kitchenware, hoping against hope that I receive the benefits of that gift time and time again.  Yeah, she asked for it – but somewhere deep down that gift was really all about me, not her.

  Why give someone a gift they aren’t asking for?  You waste time and money, and feel slighted, forgotten.  No bueno.  What about God?  If you give a gift to God that he’s not interested in, are you really giving that gift to him, or are you giving it to another god, a cleverly disguised version of yourself that you’ve constructed in your mind?

  The Jews remain in a fragile place in their geo-political situation halfway through the 5th Century BCE.  Several thousand Jews have returned to Jerusalem, and under the watch of the benevolent dictator-king Cyrus, they are rebuilding the walls of the city.  In other words, they are exposed – vulnerable to attack.  In order to finish the work quickly, they are beating and oppressing each other for fear of not getting it done before a hungry empire comes to swallow them up.  And they are using religious means too – they have instituted a nation-wide fast to keep God on their side…but God sees right through their “gift.”

  Yahweh’s wishlist may have included fasting…but not this brand.  You got this fast at the wrong store.  He’s interested in a fast that leads to right living, the kind that promotes one’s fellow human beings, and does not oppress them.

  58:5 You humble yourselves

  by going through the motions of penance,

  bowing your heads

  like reeds bending in the wind.

  You dress in burlap

  and cover yourselves with ashes.

  Is this what you call fasting?

  Do you really think this will please the Lord?

  6 “No, this is the kind of fasting I want:

  Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;

  lighten the burden of those who work for you.

  Let the oppressed go free,

  and remove the chains that bind people.”

  Outwardly, the Jews are eager to please Yahweh with signs and commitments, but in daily life they exploit all their workers.  God wants your fast to include breaking the chains of injustice, to share the food you are not eating with those who have no food, provide shelter to the homeless…  The Jews wanted their wall built, and they were dealing fiercely with themselves to see it accomplished ASAP.

  Some might think God was unduly interested in high and lofty morals in a time when these folks were in dire straits.  Maybe once they were safe behind their city walls they could get on to practicing decency and transcendence and all that mushy stuff.

  But God sees it another way.

  Treat your neighbor right, shelter the homeless, feed the hungry… and you’ve just enlisted a larger and more loyal workforce!  Instead of beating fear into people, invite them to join you on a mission to rebuild the broken walls of a society that caved in on itself.  The old way of violence and oppression didn’t do much for your city’s walls, that’s what brought them to the ground.  God is trying to set the tone for a God-centered people…this is what is on God’s wishlist – and believe me; its something he knows we’d benefit from too.

  

  Mark W, and Acid 9 are discussing. Toggle Comments

   
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    Acid 9 4:07 am on January 24, 2011 Permalink

    I was once told that the word “fast” in this text (IS 58) is the hebrew word “tsum”. This literally means “to cover one’s mouth”. That could mean abstaining from food. But could also mean to shut up and listen…and in the case of IS 58…shut up so you can hear the plight of the poor.

    Never knew if that word study was true. But listening to others is definitely serving.

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    Mark W 3:38 pm on January 24, 2011 Permalink

    The Hebrew word “tsum” yields some interesting word study results. The concept of “self-limitation” (whether its food gorging your pie hole, or words coming out…) it seems that we have a fixation in our culture with consumption and expression – and we downplay the importance of their inverses.

    May God shut us up and keep us hungry! Think of the “other side” we are typically blind to in our rage to consume and spew out expression…

    Thanks for the comment Acid9. Never thought about (tsum) as a “shutting the mouth to listen” – but to throw another Hebrew word study in, I was learning the other day that there is no difference between “hearing” and “obedience” in the word “listen” (shema). If you don’t respond to what you’ve heard, you obviously didn’t hear it in the first place!