Tim Keller, Author

One more post dedicated to the life and ministry of Timothy Keller – a trilogy of sorts, which is appropriate given Keller’s love of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and C.S. Lewis’s Space trilogies. Keller was a prolific writer – something that didn’t happen for him until the sixth decade of his life. I tend to pay more attention to people that write later in their faith journey when they possess a more fully developed theology. In the same manner, I like reading the epistles that the Apostle Paul wrote later in his ministry (e.g., Philippians, Colossians, Ephesians).

Keller’s numerous books (and sermons) reflect a culturally thoughtful and intellectually rigorous approach to theology. I recently discovered that I have read a fair number of his books. I thought it might be interesting to capture of few great quotes from his books I’ve read – for my benefit if nothing else! You may also enjoy…

Tweet by The Gospel Coalition, May 26, 2023

“The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.”  (The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism, 2008)

“A faith without some doubts is like a human body without any antibodies in it. People who blithely go through life too busy or indifferent to ask hard questions about why they believe as they do will find themselves defenseless against either the experience of tragedy or the probing questions of a smart skeptic.”  (The Reason for God)

“Doubt is not the opposite of faith; it is an element of faith” and “Believers should acknowledge and wrestle with doubts… It is no longer sufficient to hold beliefs just because you inherited them.” (The Reason for God)

“Our need for worth is so powerful that whatever we base our identity and value on we essentially ‘deify.'” (The Reason for God)

“The only person who dares wake up a king at 3 am for a glass of water is a child. We have that kind of access.”  (Twitter)

“Justice without grace is only harshness. Grace without justice is only sentimentality.” (The Reason for God)

“God never said that the journey would be easy, but He did say that the arrival would be worthwhile.” (The Reason for God)

“Both brothers were lost, but only one knew it.” (The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith, 2008)

“The gospel is distinct from mere morality. Morality is about good and bad, but the gospel is about lost and found.” (The Prodigal God)

“The younger son repents because of his circumstances; the elder son does not repent despite his circumstances. The first is sorry for what he has done; the second is angry that God does not seem to have blessed him enough for his goodness. The younger son repents with his whole heart; the elder son, with only half a heart.” (The Prodigal God)

“Both the irreligious and the religious are spiritually lost, but they are lost in different ways. Religious people are lost because they don’t think they’re lost. Irreligious people are lost because they don’t know they’re lost.” (The Prodigal God)

“The gospel is not religion. Religion operates on the principle of ‘I obey, therefore I’m accepted.’ The gospel operates on the principle of ‘I’m accepted, therefore I obey.'” (The Prodigal God)

“Jesus’s teaching consistently attracted the irreligious while offending the Bible-believing, religious people of His day. However, in the main, our churches today do not have this effect. The kind of outsiders Jesus attracted are not attracted to contemporary churches, even our most avant-garde ones. We tend to draw conservative, buttoned-down, moralistic people. The licentious and liberated or the broken and marginal avoid church. That can only mean one thing. If the preaching of our ministers and the practice of our parishioners do not have the same effect on people that Jesus had, then we must not be declaring the same message that Jesus did.” (The Prodigal God)

“Jesus doesn’t just give us advice; He gives us Himself… Jesus doesn’t just show us the way; He is the way… Jesus doesn’t just point us to truth; He is the truth… Jesus didn’t come to make bad people good; He came to make dead people alive… Jesus doesn’t offer temporary relief from life’s struggles; He offers eternal hope in the midst of them.” (Encounters with Jesus: Unexpected Answers to Life’s Biggest Questions, 2013)

“Jesus did not come to earth simply to teach; He came to be the King… Jesus doesn’t just claim to be a king; He is the King of all kings… Jesus didn’t just talk about the kingdom of God; He brought the kingdom of God to earth… Jesus didn’t come to establish an earthly empire; He came to bring about a revolution of the heart… Understanding Jesus as King means recognizing His authority over every aspect of our lives.” (Jesus the King: Understanding the Life and Death of the Son of God, 2011)

“The desire for justice and the longing for a better world point to something beyond ourselves. They hint at the existence of a moral lawgiver.” (Making Sense of God: An Invitation to the Skeptical, 2016)

“Christianity is not merely a set of beliefs; it is a story that makes sense of the world. It offers a comprehensive framework for understanding life, purpose, and the human condition.” (Making Sense of God)

“The gospel is not a transaction; it is a transformation. It is not about earning salvation through good works, but receiving God’s grace and allowing it to change us from the inside out.” (Making Sense of God)

That was fun! My pastor put me onto this book: Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation, by Collin Hansen, which just came out in February. If you are a Timothy Keller fan, I highly recommend it. I listened to it on Audible, which contains some bonus talks and sermons of Keller’s, including the message he preached the Sunday after 9/11/2001.

Tim Keller, Intellect

Though largely known for his cultural engagement that led to a successful mega-Church plant (though not in his plans when he moved to Manhattan – see Timothy Keller), Timothy Keller’s real asset to Christianity was his intellect. Those who are not part of the Christian faith commonly hold the belief that Christians have “checked their intellect at the door.” This prevailing perception is rooted in the fact that many Christians have indeed demonstrated this behavior and, at times, even exhibited a sense of arrogance regarding their stance.

I think of people like Mark Driscoll who bragged about his lack of education when he planted a church at 25 years of age (cf. Rise and Fall of Mars Hill). Wise people like Keller and Dallas Willard would suggest we think otherwise. Willard reminded his readers of Romans 12:2: Don’t be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you can figure out what God’s will is—what is good and pleasing and mature (CEB).*

We tend to focus on the beginning of the first sentence of the passage, trying hard not to conform to the patterns of this world (which is simply moralism, by the way). As a result, we end up conforming to something else. Twenty years ago we lived in a smaller fairly churched community with a plethora of churches possessing a variety of worship styles. I have often quipped that when at an ecumenical gathering in that community, I could tell where they attended based on the way they prayed. *

We conform to something, which I posit can be a result of checking our intellect at the door. Mars Hill’s intent was that people come to know Jesus. After salvation, people’s intellects weren’t a necessity – Mark Driscoll provided them with what they needed. His messages pushed back against the culture of the world (do not conform to the patterns of this world) and gave them a different set of patterns to conform to. And they did – 15,000 thousand attendees and staff. Then Mars Hill collapsed.

Shifting our attention from conformity, let’s direct our focus towards the latter portion of Paul’s statement: but be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you can figure out what God’s will is—what is good and pleasing and mature. I’ve talked about the word transformation before (see Metamorfoo). How does transformation happen? Not through conformity, but by feeding the intellect.

Renewing our minds cannot happen if we are “mindless” and rely only on others to tell us what to do and believe. Paul’s letters were full of intelligent thought and I assume he expected the groups to whom they were written to ponder together and discuss together. Jesus told stories and asked questions that drove his hearers (especially his followers) to become critical thinkers. Keep in mind that for first-century Israelites conformity trumped mind renewal. Former conformers were part of Paul’s audience when he wrote his letter to the Romans.

What does renewing the mind look like? In pointing Christ-followers to the second part of the passage, Dallas Willard stressed the need for intentional spiritual practices and intellectual cultivation of a Christ-centered worldview that might lead to a genuine transformation in every aspect of life. He appealed to biblical discipleship – be with, learn from, become like, and join Jesus in his mission. He appealed to the intellect. Willard often said that Jesus is the most intelligent person in the universe – learning from Him can/will lead to authentic and comprehensive transformation in one’s life.

Timothy Keller’s emergence as a prominent figure for engaging with culture within the evangelical community can be directly attributed to his intellectual agility and the development of his critical thinking skills, which he began cultivating during his college years. He grappled with the prevailing evangelical ambivalence towards racism and apartheid, perceiving them to be incongruent with the life and teachings of Jesus. He also wrestled with the more liberal theology that showed concern for “the other,” yet omitted Jesus from the equation. It compelled him to turn to Jesus, seeking a critical understanding of his teachings rather than conforming to the expectations of others.

Keller became a well-respected pastor, theologian, and author known for his intellectual approach to Christianity. He became widely recognized for his ability to engage with philosophical, cultural, and intellectual challenges to the Christian faith in a post-Christian age. His numerous books and sermons reflect a culturally thoughtful and intellectually rigorous approach to theology.

Keller emphasized the importance of engaging the mind in matters of faith and encouraged believers to explore and wrestle with difficult questions. He sought to bridge the gap between faith and reason and presented Christianity as intellectually compelling. Blaise Pascal (the brilliant 17th-century mathematician and physicist, who, after a profound conversion redirected his intellectual pursuits towards Christian philosophy), provided Keller with a quote that described his philosophy of ministry:

Men despise religion. They hate it and are afraid it may be true. The cure for this is first to show that religion is not contrary to reason, but worthy of reverence and respect. Next, make it attractive, make good men wish it were true, and then show that it is.

What we get to intelligently do: Make Christianity attractive, make people wish it were true, and then show them that it is.

* We want to keep in mind that Jesus always appealed to the intellect – asking questions and telling stories to help people “rethink their thinking.” Remember that repentance begins with a shift in one’s thinking. It’s important to consider Jesus’ enhancement to the Shema’s (Deut. 6:4-5) meaning and significance by replacing the word “strength” with “mind,” thus expanding its richness and depth: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (Matt. 22:37). In Mark 12:30, we observe that Jesus retained the term “strength” and added “mind.”

* Addendum 7/17/2023. I stumbled onto this quote by Henri Nouwen: “Often we hear the remark that we have to live in the world without being of the world. But it may be more difficult to be in the Church without being of the Church.” [Nouwen, H. J. M. (1997). Bread for the journey : a daybook of wisdom and faith 91st edition). Harper SanFrancisco.]

Timothy Keller

We lost a great Christian leader this past month – Timothy (Tim) Keller.  He passed away on May 19, 2023, following a three-year battle with pancreatic cancer.  He was 72.  Keller was a bit of an enigma at a time when American Christians seemed to clamor for “relevance” and charismatic leadership.

Timothy Keller (Nathan Troester/Icon Media Group)

Keller’s resume is actually pretty short.  After graduating from Gordon-Conwell Seminary in 1975, he was ordained in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), a newer denomination that had been formed in the early 70s.  His first call was to pastor a church in a small blue-collar town in Virginia, where he served for nine years.  It’s there that he learned how to trust, serve, and pastor.  Keller in a World magazine interview:

Being in a blue-collar church taught me to be both clear and practical in preaching. One of the biggest compliments I ever got was when someone in the congregation thanked me that I “wasn’t intellectual” and therefore could be understood. I also learned not to build a ministry on leadership charisma (which I didn’t have anyway!) or preaching skill (which wasn’t so much there early on) but on loving people pastorally and repenting when I was in the wrong. In a small town, people will follow you if they trust you—your character—personally, and that trust has to be built in personal relationships, not through showing off your credentials and your talents.

“People will follow you if they trust you—your character—personally, and that trust has to be built in personal relationships, not through showing off your credentials and your talents.“

The next item on his resume was a professorship stint at Westminster Theological Seminary, teaching practical theology while working on his doctorate.  He also began working for the PCA, focused on their church planting efforts.  He was charged with finding someone willing to plant a church in Manhattan.  No one was interested – it was a bad idea, fraught with potential failure.  Keller:

I was told by almost everyone it was a fool’s errand.  Manhattan was the land of skeptics, critics, and cynics. The middle class, the conventional market for a church, was fleeing the city because of crime and rising costs.

So, in 1989, Tim and his wife, Kathy, embarked on the fool’s errand, moving to Manhattan to plant Redeemer Presbyterian Church.  In the process, they fell in love with the city and its inhabitants.  In the World interview, one can see Keller’s heart for the upwardly mobile young professionals that landed in Manhattan:

They had lived their whole lives with parents, music teachers, coaches, professors, and bosses telling them to do better, be better, try harder. In their view, God was the ultimate taskmaster, with unfulfillable demands. To hear that He Himself had met those demands for righteousness through the life and death of Jesus, and now there was no condemnation left for anyone who trusted in that righteousness—that was an amazingly freeing message.

Keller was a model of cultural evangelical engagement.  His approach was especially popular with those Christians who felt the culture wars had harmed their gospel witness.  He resisted the prevailing evangelical emphasis on suburbs that overlooked the cities.  In a similar spirit, he challenged the political mobilization of churches.  His views were not universally received as we can see in this op-ed by Carl R. Trueman, professor at the Alva J. Calderwood School of Arts and Letters, Grove City College:

I disagree at points with both his theology and philosophy of ministry.  [I do not] share his love of the city.  For me, cities are a necessary evil whose sole purpose is to provide country boys like me somewhere to go to the theatre once in a while.  And I am definitely not an optimistic transformationalist as he is—trust me, things are going to get worse before, well, they get even worse than that. 

Regardless of push-back from those who questioned his theology or methods, Keller was true to the orthodox Gospel he understood, preached, and lived.  His understanding of the Gospel was something he oft Tweeted: “We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.”

His theology and methods led a Christianity Today editor to write, “Fifty years from now, if evangelical Christians are widely known for their love of cities, their commitment to mercy and justice, and their love of their neighbors, Tim Keller will be remembered as a pioneer of the new urban Christians.”

Tim Keller will be missed!

(This was Keller’s last message to the Redeemer Churches recorded a few weeks before his death. It is worth 10 minutes of your time.)

A Visible God

In the recent Theophany post, we looked at ways God manifested himself to the Israelites over the centuries, consummating with His penultimate expression through Jesus Christ.

Fifty years ago this summer God drew me into youth ministry through Young Life, a non-denominational outreach to teenagers. I was serving teenagers in my hometown, working full-time, and pursuing an engineering degree taking classes a couple nights a week. In the midst of it all, I tried to read scripture with some consistency and with some success. In the 70s, we didn’t have the availability of scripture translations and paraphrases as we do today, but we had a few – King James, Revised Standard, New American Standard, The Living Bible, The Good News Bible, and a favorite of Young Life staff, the J.B. Phillips New Testament.

Early into my Young Life experience, at a volunteer leader training, we were pointed to Colossians 1:15 – Now Christ is the visible expression of the invisible God (Phillips). The passage, it was explained, was a cornerstone to Young Life talks – we wanted kids to know the real God who made himself visible through Jesus. Jesus revealed God’s character, compassion, and heart for people. In preparing Young Life talks, I diligently worked at helping kids see this Jesus, the visible expression of the God they could not see. A few months into the beginning of my Young Life tenure as a volunteer leader, a thought occurred to me: I didn’t know God or Jesus, save a few stories I learned in Sunday School*…..

In the midst of a fairly busy schedule, I embarked on a year-long quest to know God. It didn’t start as a year-long quest. It started as a one-time reading of the Gospels in my brand new J.B. Phillips New Testament, underlining and highlighting with a red colored pencil as I progressed. After an initial read, I decided to read them again – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John – marking the pages with a different color. I was amazed to discover how much I didn’t observe in the first go-around. So I read them again. I soon realized that my eyes were drawn to passages that were already highlighted. So I bought a new bible with a different translation and repeated the process, highlighting new discoveries about Jesus (and thus about God).

Seven translations and a year later I felt I was ready to adequately venture into other parts of the New Testament as well as the Old Testament, the Hebrew Scriptures. As I look back 50 years, I have to believe that year was one of the most transformative experiences of my faith journey. It’s what likely saved me from the tenets of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. It set me up to know Jesus (not just about Jesus). It set me up to give decent Young Life talks. It set me up to be a better husband and father. It set me up to learn to read Scripture exegetically. IT SET ME UP FOR LIFE!

I suspect few people read the Gospels with regularity

I am amazed how few people have actually read straight through the Gospels even one time, which is why I give everyone I mentor the exact same assignment – read through the Gospels.** When done, I usually have them repeat the process. Invariably, I get the same response – it was a transformative experience (a common ‘practical theology’ theme, you’ll notice).  If you happen to be one that has never done a read-through of the Gospels, then you know what I would suggest. I sincerely hope you would heed the suggestion.

My heart aches when I realize how few Christians spend time in the Gospels, and thus with Jesus. How else will we ever know Him?

* A couple of years ago I had the privilege of joining a group of people to hear George Barna give a researcher’s perspective on what is needed to develop our young people in today’s culture. He said research shows that most church children and youth teachings tend to focus only on about 20 basic Bible stories. (This 2-minute video, Kindergarten Faith, describes the residual effects of Barna’s findings.)

** Annie F. Downs has created a podcast that will help the listener experience all four Gospels twelve times during the year 2023. It’s called Let’s Read the Gospels. The pace: ~three chapters a day. Today, June 1, starts a new set of readings. Check it out.

Memorial Day

Today is Memorial Day in the United States. The first version of Memorial Day in 1888 was originally called Decoration Day, a day set aside to decorate the graves of the soldiers killed during the Civil War. After WWI, the day became a day to remember all who died fighting wars. Other countries have similar days to remember those killed in wars.

Below is something the late Andy Rooney shared on Sunday, May 28, 2006, in his famous 60 Minutes segment, “A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney” – a worthy read…

Tomorrow is Memorial Day, the day we have set aside to honor by remembering all the Americans who have died fighting for the thing we like the most about our America: the freedom we have to live as we please. 

No official day to remember is adequate for something like that. It’s too formal. It gets to be just another day on the calendar. No one would know from Memorial Day that Richie M., who was shot through the forehead coming onto Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944, wore different color socks on each foot because he thought it brought him good luck. 

No one would remember on Memorial Day that Eddie G. had promised to marry Julie W. the day after he got home from the war, but didn’t marry Julie because he never came home from the war. Eddie was shot dead on an un-American desert island, Iwo Jima. 

For too many Americans, Memorial Day has become just another day off. There’s only so much time any of us can spend remembering those we loved who have died, but the men, boys really, who died in our wars deserve at least a few moments of reflection during which we consider what they did for us. 

They died. 

We use the phrase “gave their lives,” but they didn’t give their lives. Their lives were taken from them. 

There is more bravery at war than in peace, and it seems wrong that we have so often saved this virtue to use for our least noble activity – war. The goal of war is to cause death to other people. 

Because I was in the Army during World War II, I have more to remember on Memorial Day than most of you. I had good friends who were killed. 

Charley Wood wrote poetry in high school. He was killed when his Piper Cub was shot down while he was flying as a spotter for the artillery. 

Bob O’Connor went down in flames in his B17. 

Obie Slingerland and I were best friends and co-captains of our high school football team. Obie was killed on the deck of the Saratoga when a bomb that hadn’t dropped exploded as he landed. 

I won’t think of them anymore tomorrow, Memorial Day, than I think of them any other day of my life. 

Remembering doesn’t do the remembered any good, of course. It’s for ourselves, the living. I wish we could dedicate Memorial Day, not to the memory of those who have died at war, but to the idea of saving the lives of the young people who are going to die in the future if we don’t find some new way – some new religion maybe – that takes war out of our lives. 

That would be a Memorial Day worth celebrating.

Theophany

I have always been fascinated by thunderstorms and their lighting displays. I remember laying in bed as a kid estimating how far away the actual lighting bolt might have been. I was always intrigued when a very bright flash turned out to be 5-6 miles away. It gave me a sense of the magnitude and power of a lighting bolt – typically 300 million volts! (Bear in mind that the largest cross-country transmission lines you may see are only 345,000 – 500,000 volts.)

When our two oldest children were around two and four years old, we lived in Oklahoma for a couple of years. Oklahoma knows how to do thunderstorms! Our upper-midwest lighting shows pale in comparison. Our house had a vaulted living room with about 15 feet of window on the vaulted end. I would sit with my kids watching the amazing lightning displays together. We were in awe of the splendor.

Once I was flying from MSP to Houston, sitting next to a young astronaut that had recently returned from her maiden space shuttle voyage as the deployment officer. I was fascinated as she recounted her experience. She equated it to going to summer camp. Her “bed” was adjacent to a window which she said she stared out of when she should have been sleeping. She wanted to take in the splendor of the Earth God had created.

As we neared Houston, we found ourselves surrounded by thunderstorms as the pilots navigated a path of least resistance. We both watched in awe at the height of the thunderheads and the continuous flashes within the clouds. The young astronaut told me about dazzling thunderstorms she had seen from space. Unbeknownst to her (and me!), lighting bolts extend out of the thunderheads upwards toward space in a most glorious display. I can only imagine!

Hebrew thought and literature are laced with theophany language and examples. Though unseen, the one true God chose to manifest himself to his people in a variety of ways. Theophanies were a visible expression of an invisible God, denoting his presence with His people.

Theophany. Though not an everyday word for us, it begins to touch on the magnitude of a thunderstorm. By definition, a theophany is a visible manifestation of a god to humanity. Etymologically, theophany stems from ancient Greek theophaneia, meaning “appearance of a deity” and was part of Greek mythology. Homer’s Illiad was one of the oldest writings to describe theophaneia. My limited knowledge of Greek mythology recalls Zeus as the sender of thunder and lightning.

Examples of theophanies we might be aware of are related to Moses, beginning with the familiar burning bush event (Exodus 3), which captured Moses’ attention given that the shrub was not consumed. From the bush, God revealed his name (Yahweh) and then unveiled Moses’ mission to be instrumental in delivering His people out of captivity in Egypt.

The entire Exodus story is laced with theophanies. After the multitude escaped Egypt under Moses’ leadership, a visible expression of God appeared in the form of a “pillar of cloud by day” and a “pillar of fire by night” (Exodus 13:21-22). But the BIG theophany took place a couple months later at Mount Sinai when God met with His people…

There was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently (Exodus 19:16-18).

A Theophany!

Another theological term describing what the Hebrews experienced that day was the witness of God’s Shekinah Glory. The word shekinah is a Hebrew name meaning “dwelling” or “one who dwells.” Shekinah Glory then means “He caused to dwell,” referring to the divine presence of God. Not found in scripture, the etymology of shekinah is from the Hebrew word shākan, which means“to reside or permanently stay.”

The rabbis used the term Shekinah to remind the people of Yahweh’s presence with them, a key distinguisher for the Hebrews. Moses once asked God who was going to help him lead these people (a good question since they tended to be a bit unruly!). God basically said, “Me” – “My Presence will go with you…” to which Moses basically said, “Whew” and followed up with, “What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” (Exodus 33:12-16).

A more preponderant theophany took place upon the completion of Solomon’s temple almost 500 years later. The theophany occurred after a lengthy prayer of dedication by Solomon (2 Chronicles 6:12-42*). God’s Shekinah Glory filled the Temple…

Fire came down from heaven… and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. 2 The priests could not enter the temple of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled it. 3 When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the Lord above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “He is good; his love endures forever” (2 Chronicles 7:1-3).

God took up residence in the Temple, among his people. He dwelled with them. Shekinah. The people were very aware of his presence, which distinguished them from all the other people on the face of the earth.

Fast forward about ten centuries. The Apostle John was composing his Gospel, the good news of Jesus, the sign of God’s continued presence among the people. One would assume John was well-versed in the Hebrew Scriptures. I would assume he was familiar with Solomon’s prayer…

But will God really dwell on earth with humans? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! (2 Chronicles 6:18)

…when he wrote the introduction to his Gospel: The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

Jesus, the visible expression of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). God built a new Temple and took up residence with his Shekinah Glory.

A Theophany of sorts!

* I encourage you to take the time to read Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication.

Heartburn

Let’s circle back to Jesus’ encounter with two of his followers as they traveled from Jerusalem to the town of Emmaus on “that very day” that Jesus was resurrected, Anastasis. As mentioned in the previous post, as they walked the seven-mile route, they had all kinds of time to talk through the events of the previous three days.  As they walked, Jesus, whom they didn’t recognize (“their eyes kept from recognizing him”) came alongside them and asked a great leading question: “So, what were you talking about?” (See Luke 24:13-35)

Pausing with downcast faces one of them, Cleopas*, asked Jesus if he was the only person that hadn’t heard what took place in Jerusalem over the previous several days. Jesus asked (maybe with a twinkle in his eye)…

“What things?”

“Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who certainly was a prophet, mighty in what he said and did before God and all the people.  Our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned and crucified him.  But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.  And besides all this, some of the women among us amazed us – they went to the tomb early this morning and found no body!  They claimed they saw angels or a vision of angels who said he was alive.  Others went to the tomb and they were right – there was no body.  And we don’t know what to think of all this.”  (My paraphrase and I added the last line because you know that’s likely what they were talking about as they walked!)

Jesus followed with another question: “Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”  And beginning with Moses [Genesis through Deuteronomy] and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. 

I wonder what he told them?  He might have reminded them that when God created the universe and everything in it he said, “It is good.”  And after he created the first humans, he said, “It is VERY good.”

Then Adam and Eve ate the ‘apple.’

I suspect Jesus reminded them of God’s call on Abraham – that he and his descendants would become human agents to help Him restore creation, after the apple incident, to its right condition.  God’s words to Abraham: “I will bless you so that you can be a blessing to ALL the peoples of the earth” (Genesis 12:1-3).  The inauguration of God’s creation rescue mission.

And surely Jesus must have helped them understand, through the scriptures, that the one to redeem Israel, the Christ, would in fact be a suffering servant, not a conquering hero.  And the redemption was not to re-establish Israel as a sovereign nation but to jump-start their original mission of being blessed to be a blessing for all peoples.

Whatever Jesus told them, they wanted more.  So they invited him to stay with them.  During supper, Jesus blessed and broke bread, their eyes were opened and they recognized him.  And Jesus vanished. They said to each other…

“Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”

We wish for those “heartburning” occasions when we sense Jesus’ presence that result in moments when something previously fuzzy comes into focus. Experience tells me that such encounters tend to happen when we least expect them. For me, they seem to take place when I am in conversations with others as we figure out together how to follow Jesus well.

It was “while they were talking and discussing together” that Jesus showed up for Cleopas and his friend – an encouragement for us as we learn to follow Jesus. An encouragement to not forsake gathering with other pilgrims when “we don’t know what to think of all this,” whatever this happens to be. Who knows, Jesus might just show up and give us a sacred “heartburning” moment.

* Some have suggested that Cleopas and his partner could have been Jesus’ aunt and uncle. John, in his gospel, points out those present at Jesus’ crucifixion: Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary, the wife of Clopas…(different spelling). See John 10:25.

The Road to Emmaus

One of my favorite Easter stories is the one often entitled The Road to Emmaus. If you have never read this story or haven’t recently read it, you might want to.  It can be found in Luke 24:13-35.  I’ve read or heard it a number of times over the past few months.  It’s a most fascinating story – I’m glad that Luke felt God’s tug to include it in his gospel.

It’s the story about two of Jesus’ followers (not part of the Twelve) as they travel from Jerusalem to Emmaus on “that very day” – the day Jesus was resurrected.  As they walked the seven-mile trek, they had all kinds of time to talk through the events of the past three days, so they did. 

As they walked, Jesus showed up, appearing unbeknownst. Jesus had once said, “Where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them” (Matt. 18:20). That’s literally what he did, though the two disciples didn’t recognize him. As he came alongside them he asked a simple, yet profound question: “So, what were you guys talking about.”  They stood there looking sad.

One of them asked Jesus if he was the only person that hadn’t heard what took place in Jerusalem these last few days.  Jesus then asked a simpler and even more profound question: “What things?”  Love it.  Jesus, who experienced it all, asked, “What things?”

It was just like Jesus – not missing a teaching moment, always asking great questions.  (I suppose he could have been just messing with them – I certainly would have!)  I think as a teacher, Jesus asked questions for a couple reasons: (1) He wanted to discover what they understood, thought, believed, and perceived, and, more importantly, (2) He wanted them to discover what they understood, thought, believed, and perceived.

Mostly, I think he wanted people to pause, think, and ponder.

Think about some of the questions he asked – Do you want to get well?  What do you think about John the Baptist?  Which of the three was the neighbor to the victim? What do you think (he asked this often)? What do you want me to do for you?  Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ and don’t do what I say?  Who do you say that I am?  What are you looking for? He seemed to always be asking questions that caused the hearer to pause and maybe ponder for a second or two. Or more.

I remember talking with a High School girl during a grief group session I was facilitating several years ago.  She was struggling with how God could have taken her loved one.  I asked her the question, “Take or allow?”  She was doodling on her folder, paused, looked at me, and said, “I’ve never had anyone ask me that before.  I’ll have to think about it.”  Ponder.  This young gal, with a pretty new faith, came back the next week and said that she was rethinking how she viewed God’s role in her loved one’s death.

Several years ago at a local coffee shop, a stranger, noticing me writing in my journal, asked me how keeping a journal has helped me grow in my faith.  (No one had ever asked me that before or, at least, not that point blank.)  I thought about it for a second and said, “It makes me ponder.”

It really does.  As I spend time alone with God in solitude, I find it’s in the moments that I ponder what I’m reading (and the subsequent questions that seem to arise) that things begin to connect for me.  I get to discover what I understand, think, believe, and perceive about things.  It’s almost like Jesus is sitting with me asking the questions that make me pause and think – pondering in solitude. 

I refer to it as times of pondertude.

It’s Saturday.  But Sunday’s Coming!

Every year I find myself pondering what it might have been like for the first-century Christ-followers as they woke up on the Saturday after Jesus’ crucifixion, wondering what had just happened.  Jesus had come into their lives with words and actions that gave them hope at a time when they needed hope.  God had not spoken for centuries.  The Romans had conquered them.  The religious leaders heaped burdens upon them that left them with a sour taste of who God was and what He was doing.

Jesus came with the good news that God’s kingdom was near.  Good news.  Hope.  He also spoke of the availability of the kingdom for anyone and everyone – even those whom the religious leaders indicated God was not interested in.  Very good news.  Much hope.  Enough hope to cause many to quit their day jobs to follow him. 

He rocked their worlds.  He spoke with authority, demonstrating that God was significantly different than they had ever thought or dreamed.  As they continued to follow him, it became evident to them that Jesus was a prophet, maybe even the Messiah.  As time passed many became convinced that He was the Messiah and were probably confused as to why the theologians didn’t see it.

Then the last few weeks everything seemed to unravel.  There was a sense that things weren’t going to end well.  Judas tried to force Jesus’ hand.  The rest of the followers were confused and grasped at straws trying to understand why all seemed to be disintegrating before their eyes.

And then it did disintegrate.

Within 24 hours it all came crashing down, culminating with Jesus’ death as a criminal.  Now it’s Saturday.  Friday was the worst and darkest day they had ever experienced.  Now what?  This morning I tried to imagine what they might have been thinking: “What happened?  We thought he was the Messiah.  He even led us to believe he was.  Was he a fraud?  If so, what did we miss?  He seemed like the real deal.  Did we just waste three years of our lives?  The naysayers are going to have a heyday with this!  And what of hope?  We needed hope three years ago and thought we had found it.  Now all hope seems to be lost.  So, now what, God?”

We have the privilege of looking back on that Saturday through the lens of the resurrection, knowing that hope was just around the corner.  But they didn’t have that vantage point.  But God did.  And God, knowing he was going to resurrect Jesus, allowed the followers a moment of despair.  What a powerful act of love!  Doesn’t sound like love to us, does it?  But love, in its truest form, is the lover doing exactly what the loved one needs, not what the loved one thinks he/she needs.  Think of the love of the father who let his son (the one we call ‘the prodigal’) leave, knowing it was ultimately the best thing for him.

We all have ‘Saturdays’ in our lives when hope seems to have been snuffed out.  God has a different vantage point than us.  God tells us, as he told the Israelites, “Be strong and courageous!  Do not be afraid and do not panic before them.  For the LORD your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6).   For the Israelites, ‘them’ was the Canaanites that inhabited the land they were to move into.  For us today, ‘them’ might well be the devil’s minions, those demons that would prefer we lose hope. 

History and the experience of all the Christ-followers that have gone before remind us that hope is around the corner.  As you ponder resurrection hope, contemplate something N.T. Wright once said: “They [demons] can still shriek, but since Calvary they no longer have authority.”

It might be Saturday, but Sunday’s coming! Have a Blessed Easter!

The title, It’s Saturday.  But Sunday’s a Coming!, is a takeoff on a classic old message by Tony Campolo that my wife and I heard him give at a Young Life conference in 1979.

A Sweet Aroma

Below is an article that my friend, Crystal Kirgiss, wrote for Young Life‘s weekly communique to staff and stakeholders worldwide. It is a perfect reflection as we prepare to celebrate Resurrection Sunday. With her permission, I want to share it with you…

Sometime during what we now call Holy Week, Jesus was eating with His disciples and other friends when a woman approached with an expensive jar filled with expensive perfume. Rather than giving the jar and perfume to Jesus as a gift, like the Magi had 30-some years earlier, the woman shockingly broke the jar open and poured the perfume on Jesus’ head and feet, releasing a sweet aroma.

Essential oils are big business right now. But dousing someone with it during a dinner party is not the norm. We might lightly dab to clear our sinuses or calm our mood. But we do not pour plentifully, no matter what the occasion. This woman, though, poured until there was nothing left to pour.

Jesus’ disciples were neither amused nor impressed.

“What a waste! What nonsense! You could have sold that for good money! You could have made a measurable impact!” Leave it to Jesus’ disciples to deliver a thorough scolding for someone’s act of absolute allegiance and utter worship.

Jesus, though, set the record straight. He called her act beautiful. He praised her — not for something impressive like converting an entire village, or investing and making a profit, or planning and pulling off a large event, or increasing her ministry output. Instead, He praised her for humbly and faithfully anointing Him for burial.

For months, Jesus had been telling His friends He would soon die. Just days earlier, as He’d entered Jerusalem, He’d told them that now was that time. Maybe He’d even talked about it during this very meal.

But this woman seems to be the only one who truly believed what He said, in which case her strange, extravagant act makes great sense — for how else could she possibly respond but to pour onto Jesus the most valuable thing she had, knowing He would soon pour out for all of humanity the most valuable thing He had.

Both Matthew and Mark note that Jesus said to everyone in the room: “I tell you the truth; wherever the good news is preached throughout the world, this woman’s deed will be remembered and discussed.”

But that’s not usually the case. It’s a weird story, after all. And it lacks a neat and tidy takeaway. If we’re always in search of neat and tidy takeaways, Scripture will often disappoint us. But if we’re willing to read it for what it is, and consider the larger story of the Bible, Scripture will always feed us.

At face value, this story is mostly about something a real woman did, in a real place, during a real moment in time, when it was exactly the right thing for her to do in response to Jesus. Are we as aware of things we’re called to do, in this place and at this moment, in response to Jesus? And if that thing is costly, would we be as willing as this woman was to actually do it, knowing others might misunderstand and call us foolish?

As we read the bigger message of God’s Word beyond this story, it becomes clear why this narrative should be remembered and discussed. This woman’s actions are a reminder that in response to Jesus’ death, resurrection, and Lordship, we’re called to break open and pour out the costliest thing we have — our very lives — as we die to ourselves daily, surrender to our Lord, and honor our King. Hopefully, our acts of sacrificial obedience and worship will release a sweet aroma into the world just like the woman’s perfume did thousands of years ago — but now it will be the sweet aroma of Christ Himself.

By Crystal Kirgiss, Director of Discipleship Content and Partnerships, Young Life