Almost Getting It…

Our small group had a “kingdom of God” discussion a while back. We were talking about the common confusion between kingdom and heaven. Someone in the group said, “I understand that heaven and the kingdom of God are not the same, but I’m not sure I could explain why.” We all agreed that the kingdom of God and its “at-handedness” was Jesus’ core message. We understood that Jesus ushered in the kingdom, but describing what that meant was another issue.

With three to four decades spent seeking to understand God’s kingdom as it relates to present-day life—especially given the longstanding emphasis on heaven—I felt somewhat equipped to add depth to our conversation. I felt like I was starting to get it. Then, the question that sent me back to the drawing board: “If Jesus was ushering in the kingdom, where was it before?”

Drats! Just when I was almost getting it!

The question drove me back from whence I had spent years noodling. It required me to step back and wonder what I was missing or not seeing. So I noodled some more—for several weeks. Then something clicked, and I started to “get it” (which is a bit scary to say, knowing that the next good question might send me back to the drawing board again).

While listening to the New Testament scholar and Israel historian Gary Burge on a Holy Post podcast, something resonated. Something clicked. I jumped on my computer and pounded out a bulleted outline I dubbed Kingdom of God: A Synopsis, a working document. Yes, a “working document.” I keep numerous working documents on my computer as I explore, revisit, and refine my theological perspectives. Keep in mind the definition of theology that informs this blog…

Theology is the attempt to understand God and what he is up to.

By this definition, capturing one’s theological perspectives on paper must be a working document because we are in constant discovery and learning mode. Our theology is a work in progress. God is consistently honing our perspectives.

I’ve often shared that this blog is my space to process and document the journey of discovery that God is leading me on. Writing out concepts that are starting to make sense for me sharpens my critical and creative thinking skills. This experience is transformative for me, and I hope it can be beneficial for readers, too.

For several years, I have thought about embarking on an explanation of what I’ve been discovering about this kingdom of God that Jesus said was at hand, that was good news–the gospel. I have made several attempts, each time coming up empty. I find it challenging to put into words my journey of exploring what Jesus truly meant when he spoke of the Kingdom and its essence. Have you ever noticed that when Jesus talked about the nearness of the Kingdom, his followers never asked, “What kingdom?” That has tripped me up for a long time.

I am going to give it another try. I’m going to begin a series of posts exploring my present understanding of the kingdom of God, utilizing thoughts from my working document. Please understand that I will be fleshing out what presently makes sense to me, but it’s the tip of the iceberg. As time passes, I’m sure I will need to tweak and refine some of my thoughts. First, a bit about the journey that got me to this point (which I have talked about in chunks throughout the blog, but let me pull it all together).

About 40 years ago, after a decade of gospel immersion, it became blatantly obvious that Jesus’ core message was the kingdom of God – its arrival, nearness, and nature. However, most teachings and sermons I heard did nothing to help me/us understand why that was Jesus’ focus. I/we were led to believe that Jesus’ main message was about getting people saved and to heaven, which he rarely addressed.

Enter Dallas Willard’s 1998 book The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life In God. He started with the story of a young fighter pilot who, in the early 1990s, was taking her jet through maneuvers, got disoriented, attempted a steep climb, and drove it into the ground. She had been flying upside down, unbeknownst. Willard posited that in our misunderstanding of God, his kingdom, and Jesus’ message, we have been flying upside down for so long that we don’t know what right-side up is. I know I didn’t.

As I continued working through The Divine Conspiracy and the gospels, I listened to hours of NT Wright lectures as he developed his own kingdom theology, which culminated in his 2008 book, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church. Wright caused me to rethink almost everything! In tackling the question of life after death, Wright demonstrated that most Christians have it wrong. Rather than leaving for heaven, we are resurrected here, with heaven descending to earth—a distinction that makes all of the difference to how we live here today. A game-changer!

With this brief background, I will next start to plow through my “working document.” It will be interesting to see where this takes us. As we embark on this adventure, let’s keep asking God the hard questions like “Where was the kingdom before?” God loves good questions. And who knows, maybe more of us will be able to say…

“I’m almost getting it!”

Getting It…

Some years ago, I was sitting with a group of colleagues, discussing our roles as youth ministry professionals. The discussion at hand was centered on recruitment and development of volunteer leaders. We had immersed ourselves in Gospel reading, which led to pondering the types of people Jesus invited to follow him. More specifically, we wondered what he might have seen in the Twelve that separated them from the rest of his followers. It led to a lively discussion.

We then wondered about the qualities and characteristics Peter, James, and John possessed that caused Jesus to spend inordinate amounts of time with them and their development compared to the other nine. Some words we used to describe what Jesus might have seen in them were openness, willingness, teachable/coachable, hunger, authenticity, etc.

Translating to youth ministry, I asked what we looked for when recruiting volunteers to join us in our ministries. We agreed that the same general characteristics applied. I followed with this question: “Considering our existing leaders, what qualities do our best leaders possess that others may not?” We concluded they shared the same traits we believed Peter, James, and John had. We noted that other leaders might exhibit some of the traits but not all of them.

We decided to tackle a simple, one-sentence definition or descriptor of this x-factor that our best leaders seemed to have. After wrestling with several renditions, one in our group said, “I don’t know how to describe it. They just ‘get it’.” But what do we mean when we say someone “gets it?” Wrestling with that question for a while, we somehow landed on this:

If someone gets it, no definition is required. If they don’t get it, no definition will suffice.

I wonder if this is what Jesus meant when he said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” Thinking back to the previous post (Best Prof Ever…), I wonder if some of Jesus’ brilliance in his teaching style was that he didn’t seem to be overly concerned with making sure people “got it.” He would tell stories about the nature of the kingdom of God to the crowds, sometimes feed them, and then go somewhere else.

Did he leave their questions unanswered? Did they even have questions in the first place? Did he simply give them something worth pondering and wondering about?

Maybe that’s why Jesus was such a good question-asker. “Getting it” doesn’t come simply with the provision of a definition or answer. Getting it usually happens when we ponder and wrestle with a question(s) over time. Looking at the youth minister example above, we wrestled with a number of questions. Jesus wanted people to reexamine their understanding of God and their cultural presuppositions of the nature of the kingdom. People do want answers but often seek answers to the wrong questions. Jesus would often do a reversal and ask a question that wasn’t even on their radar.

Jesus’ questions usually show up as blimps on our radars that we cannot ignore!

Looking back over my journey, I can remember several great questions asked by wise people that caused me to pause and do some rethinking. One in particular comes to mind: Early in my journey, I was wrestling with the manifestation of some of the spiritual gifts that well-meaning people suggested were missing in my life. Lots of people were providing “answers,” telling me what I ought to believe. However…

It was a wise sage in my life that asked me the exact right question: “Are you seeking the gift or the Giver?” That’s all I remember him saying. (I wonder if he might have been thinking, “Well, if he has ears to hear…”). Whatever he was thinking, it was transformative.

I wonder if it might behoove us to emulate Jesus’ approach when helping people get it, whatever “it” happens to be. I remember someone lamenting that their adult kids weren’t as connected to God the way they had hoped. I asked what they thought was the disconnect. Their response? “I don’t know. I certainly told them [what to believe] enough.” Our Western approach of telling people “how it is”1 doesn’t naturally lead to transformation, especially if they don’t have ears to hear. But a well-formed question can lead to discovery. I know a group of youth ministers who will never forget the discovery…

If someone gets it, no definition is required. If they don’t get it, no definition will suffice.

1Borrowed from Dallas Willard: Willard, D. (2024). The scandal of the kingdom : how the parables of Jesus revolutionize life with God. Zondervan Books.

Best Prof Ever…

As you may know, I took the looong route to obtaining my bachelor’s degree in Structural Engineering. I call it “The Nine-Year” plan. I started my higher ed journey quite traditionally, attending a reputable engineering school. But after the first quarter of my junior year, I dropped out, precipitated by various circumstances related to finances, lack of a sense of purpose, the Vietnam War, etc. I took a position with a local company with whom I had been employed in the engineering department (drafting) since my junior year of high school.

Within a few months of leaving school, I continued my pursuit of a degree in engineering. I commuted an hour after work to the University of Minnesota, taking many degree-fulfilling courses available through the extension program. Unfortunately, some of the required courses were unavailable through the extension program.

So, to complete the final 30 credits toward a degree, I took a two-quarter leave of absence. One of the required courses unavailable via the extension program was engineering physics. Physics proved to be a larger challenge than I had anticipated. I was several years removed from using calculus and the metric system. The pace was break-neck with a rhythm of 1-2 chapters/topics per week and an exam every two weeks. I knew the key to surviving and thriving in college-level math and engineering classes was to work problems – as many as possible, especially via a study group. Amazingly, I knew a couple guys in the class of 150 and we formed such a group.

My physics professor proved to be one of the best professors I ever had. I don’t remember his name, but I surely remember him. He knew his physics, but more importantly, he knew his audience. I remember him dedicating class the day before an exam to address questions we had. We were free to ask about the practice problems from the book that stumped us (“we,” of course, meaning all 150 of us).

He was brilliant in his approach. He would merely set up a problem, then casually remark, “You will be able to take it from here.” His approach allowed him to address 15-20 different problems – exactly what we needed. We didn’t need him to work a problem out to completion. We only needed him to get us started, sketch out the problem, and point us in the right direction. He set us up to “get it.” He didn’t do the work for us – he merely pointed us in the right direction.

How good of a professor was he? He made dreaded physics enjoyable. I learned! I started to “get it.” My presuppositions of engineering physics faded. He set me up to get an “A” in the class, a grade that didn’t come easy for me in college.

Two of my favorite authors, Dallas Willard and Howard Hendricks, both reminded readers that Jesus is the smartest person in the universe and that we would do well to learn from him. He was the best prof (rabbi) ever. He knew his material (the Hebrew Scriptures) and his audience (his apprentices, the religious leaders, and the general populous). He also stayed true to his purpose as a teacher—the proclamation and explanation of the nature of the kingdom of God which had arrived with his appearance.

The kingdom of God is an elusive concept lost on most of us for various reasons. Two-thirds of Jesus’ parables and most of his main discourses (i.e., the Sermon on the Mount) focused on the good news (gospel) of the kingdom’s arrival. Unfortunately, the kingdom of God has become equated to simply “heaven,” a place we go after we die. Such reduction of the gospel does injustice to the kingdom Jesus ushered in. Reading scripture through this narrow lens hinders our ability to fully grasp the true nature of God’s kingdom.

The same was true for the first-century adherents of Judaism. The people were familiar with a coming kingdom but didn’t fully grasp its true nature. They were aware, through less than stellar professors (the religious leaders), that God’s kingdom would arrive someday, but it would arrive in power and glory, overthrowing the pagan kingdoms. The kingdom of God had been reduced to a form of nationalism. Jesus’ teaching aimed to dismantle and challenge their false presuppositions.

For 30-40 years, I found it challenging to reconcile Jesus’ central message about the arrival of God’s kingdom with the teaching I often heard, which emphasized getting to heaven. Closely following the means to heaven attainment were sets of ethics to follow until we finally get to depart this earth. There was no kingdom. There was no explanation of the kingdom’s nature. Most of Jesus’ kingdom teaching was reduced to moralism—behavior modification. There was no transformation. There was no life.

In his recent posthumously written book, The Scandal of the Kingdom, Dallas Willard offers a conceptual understanding of a kingdom…

A kingdom is a society of people with a structure in which there is one person, a king or queen, to whom all the citizens offer loyalty, service and respect.  The sovereign’s part of this relationship is to provide care, protection, and service for the good of the people.

The Hebrew Scriptures contain the story of God and his people, warts and all. Threaded through the narrative are stories that point people to an understanding of a King who provided care, protection, and service for the good of the people (think righteousness, justice, love, and faithfulness—see It’s Foundational). We know this story—the people struggled to embrace God as their king.

The foundational story was highjacked in favor of sets of ethical rules to ensure correct behavior. The professors became moral guardians. No transformation and certainly not life-giving. Jesus’ task was to wrestle the false concept of God’s kingdom away from the highjackers and help the people understand the nature of what was really at hand. Wrestle away? It appears Jesus suggested that’s exactly what he needed to do…

From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of [God] has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it. (Matthew 11:12, NIV)

How was Jesus a stellar professor? He brought people back to the story of God and his people. He pointed people to the intent and nature of the Torah, not just the letter of the law, as the highjackers had done. He pointed people to an understanding of a kingdom where the King offered a covenant loyalty and asked the people to respond accordingly.

His stories and discourses wrestled a moralistic and ethical kingdom concept from the moral guardians and gave the people a different kingdom concept. He didn’t provide people with exacting instructions on how to live. Instead, he told stories of what life in the kingdom could look like and invited hearers to become subjects. He told stories that reversed the moralistic view of the kingdom and pointed to a different “ethic.” Oh, and his stories indicated that the kingdom was for anyone and everyone. All were invited.

Like my physics professor, Jesus didn’t work out all the details. He told stories that described the nature of God’s kingdom. He sketched out the concept of the presence of God’s kingdom and let them “take it from there.” And many “got it”—those who had ears to hear. He simply pointed people in the right direction and then said…

“Follow me.”

Silo-Filling

I have always loved autumn for a variety of reasons. In Minnesota, we get to experience warm days and cool nights. At night, the AC is turned off, and the windows are opened again, capturing all the outdoor sounds as we sleep. During the day I can fling open my shop doors and enjoy the smells of fall as I do my woodworking.

Growing up on the farm, autumn also meant harvesting the fall crops. After waiting all summer for our spring planting efforts to come to fruition, we enjoyed the fruits of our labor and patience (I think of Mark 4). By far, my all-time favorite harvest was chopping corn for silage, especially the associated smell of fresh chopped corn. It’s the same smell you get when husking out sweet corn.

When the corn stocks were still mostly green and the kernels beginning to dent, we took to the fields with a chopper and wagons to harvest the crop that would ultimately become silage (think sauerkraut). Wagonload after wagonload of chopped corn were taken out of the field and brought to the farm yard to be blown 50′ up into a silo. We called the whole process, “silo-filling.”

Part of the enjoyment of silo-filling for me during my junior high and high school days was getting to miss school for several days to man a tractor and wagon. I made several trips per hour out to the field, returning to the silo with a loaded wagon for emptying into the blower. I loved every bit of it and have great memories as I write this.

Year after year, I lived with one hope – that I would “happen” to be bringing a loaded wagon up to the silo at the same time that the school bus came by at the end of the day. How glorious to have my peers see me at work while missing school. I would strategically try to make it happen. It did happen, but only once. But it was glorious! I felt rewarded for all my work and strategy.

For the last several weeks I have been working my way through the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s gospel. I recently read Jesus’ admonition regarding prayer…

Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward. (Matt. 6:5, CSB)

It’s my understanding that in the first century, at the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry, Jewish religious practice and traditions included fixed times of prayer – morning, afternoon, and evening. Modern Hasidic Jews still observe the fixed prayer times. When we were in Jerusalem several years ago, we found ourselves at the western wall of the Temple Mount (the “wailing wall”) around 3:00p, where many Orthodox Jews had gathered for prayer. Interestingly, at the same time, Muslims were gathered in the mosque on the Temple Mount for their time of afternoon prayer.

In the first century, if a worshiper could not get to a synagogue for prayer, they stopped where they found themselves, faced the Temple, and recited their prayers. I was once on a train from Minneapolis to Chicago when at 9:00a several Hasidic Jews stepped out into the aisle to recite their prayers (known as davening), including the traditional rhythmic swaying back and forth.

I understand that in Jesus’ day, religious leaders would strategically position themselves for the best possible exposure at prayer time, hoping they might find themselves on a busy street corner for all to see. They were praying, as they should, but their motives were wrong. Their piousness was a pretense. Etymologically, pretense and pretend are connected.

So, Jesus rightly referred to these strategizers and hypocrites, as pretenders. The point Jesus made to his disciples and the crowd listening in this discourse was that the righteousness of the religious leaders was insufficient and incomplete. In God’s economy, the righteousness of kingdom people must (will?) surpass that of the religious leaders who did the right things but for the wrong reasons (see Matt. 5:20).

Here’s the thing that’s a bit scary to consider: the religious leaders did not see themselves as pretenders. They were faithfully practicing standard-fare pious acts religiously (giving to the poor, praying, fasting, etc). They were probably completely stunned to be called pretenders. And, as we discover, they were angered to no end.

Jesus encouraged pious practices but sans strategy. In the same section, Jesus discussed the practice of giving to the needy. In their “righteousness,” the pious leaders practiced giving to the poor. It was a good thing to do. But in their incomplete righteousness, they were doing the right thing but only pretending they cared about the needy. Jesus was teaching that in God’s economy, the righteousness of kingdom people will exceed that of the calculating religious leaders.

We think of hypocrisy as “saying one thing and doing another.” Jesus seems to view hypocrisy as doing something with wrong motives – pretending. And that’s scary because our motives are always a bit suspect. But there is good news. As kingdom people, we are being transformed into the image of the King in which a modus operandi of pretending fades. But when it does surface, we can declare confidently with the Apostle Paul…

Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 7:24-25, NLT)

“Jesus!”

Billy attended school with me during my early Junior High days. He was in most of my classes. He was also our pastor’s son. He clued me in on something in seventh grade that might have had a larger impact on my life than I might have expected.

We were part of a Sunday School class of all boys (at least, that’s what I remember). I also remember that we were a typical group of seventh graders with built-in ADHHHD. Paying attention to the teacher or lesson was not high on our abilities or agendas (I suspect most of us were not in the class by choice). Billy’s clue was related to our Sunday School class. He told me he learned from his dad that if asked a question by the teacher and unsure of the answer, “Jesus” was always a safe response – a “Sunday School answer.”

One Sunday I was particularly distracted when, toward the end of class-time, our teacher asked me point-blank if I knew the answer to the question he had just asked. I had no idea what he had asked! And I was pretty sure he knew I hadn’t been paying attention – I suspect the question was his way of letting me know. Remembering Billy’s suggestion, I said, “Jesus!” emphatically and with confidence. The teacher looked a bit surprised and said something like, “Yes! And don’t ever forget it!” Class was over. I got the answer right and I didn’t even know what the question was!

“You can’t get second things by putting them first; you can get second things only by putting first things first.”  C. S. Lewis, God in the Dock. 

C. S. Lewis spoke of first things throughout his writings. Just yesterday I was speaking with someone who had recently stumbled onto one of his essays that pointed readers to first things. I wonder what Lewis’ answer would have been if asked, “What is the first thing?” I suspect he would have said, “Jesus!” emphatically and with confidence. And he wouldn’t have been offering up a Sunday School answer.

Today if asked about the first thing, I answer emphatically and with confidence, “Jesus!” Many would agree with me. However, the answer begs a follow-up question: “Which Jesus?” Sounds like an odd question, but not really. One could be talking about the Jesus of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism, whose job is to make us happy and show up when we need him. Or the Jesus of economic prosperity who lavishes us with material blessings. Or the Jesus we draw into our political bents to help us gain control over the ‘other.’ Or the western version of Jesus (or eastern). Or a Jesus whose main role is to simply get us to heaven. These incomplete Jesuses are a result of putting second things first – which is what he can do for us.

The first thing must be the Jesus of scripture, the real Jesus, not a ‘Jesus’ informed by culture, ideologies, or what he can do for us. The first thing must be Jesus only. Period. It takes concerted time and effort to see past the pseudo-Jesuses to the Jesus of scripture. I speak from experience. This is why I require young people that I mentor to be immersed in the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John). I can say from experience that it is worth the time and effort. It’s transformative.

It all starts with an open, honest perspective of where one is now.

So, ponder for a bit: In what ways might the ‘Jesus’ you know be shaped by outside ideologies?

Where the Right and Left Agree!

Election seasons can be pretty frustrating. I was once part of a conversation involving people from opposite ends of the political spectrum.  “Part of the conversation” meant I mostly remained quiet and listened, wondering what and if anything I had to offer.  Then someone, noticing my silence, asked me what I thought.  I responded that we might want to consider what God thought.  Their follow-up question: “And what do you think God thinks?” I struggle during election seasons primarily because far too many of us are not willing to consider what God may think.

We tend to invoke Jesus’ name in support of our particular political ideologies but not necessarily inviting Him into the process of developing them.  I watched a friend over the past several years become a serious follower of Jesus – giving Him permission to speak into his life, to grow his understanding of grace, to mess with and shape his ideologies.

As a result, I heard this friend say a few years ago that he was really struggling with how he should vote in light of becoming a thoughtful Christ-follower.  In the past he may not have asked that question but simply voted his “party line.”  What a novel idea – to ask Jesus how we might vote as opposed to telling him how we want to vote and assuming he agrees with us.  Or not include him at all.

The conversation reminded me of an article I read in the old, now defunct, youth ministry magazine, The Wittenburg Door.  The article was an interview with the late Brennan Manning, author of many wonderful books, including The Ragamuffin Gospel, Abba’s Child and Ruthless Trust.

What I most remember from the interview was Manning’s interesting musing as he wondered when liberals and conservatives might realize they are fundamentally aligned and in agreement.  Manning suggested that what unites these opposite ideologies is the proposition that Jesus is impractical in the real world. Manning:

“The bottom line is that conservatives and liberals are united, the left wing embraces the right, Pilate and Herod becomes friends, and the one proposition that unites them is that Jesus is impractical.”

People tried to press Jesus into their civic and political agendas and he would not allow it.  In their mind, Jesus did not seize the opportunity to change the course of history.  Jesus was political for sure – just not the way people wanted.  He made it very clear that Caesar was not in charge.  Nor was the high priest.  The people’s attempts to draw Jesus into political debates on their terms fell short.  He pulled no punches in reminding them that they were pretty clueless about the grand scheme of things.

Likewise, our attempts to draw Jesus into our political agendas fall short. He’s on a different playing field.  He is King of kings (King over all who think they are or should be kings) and Lord of lords (Lord over all who think they are to lord it over others).  Because the resurrected Jesus humbled himself as a servant, even to the point of a criminal’s death, “God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord…” (Philippians 2:9-11).

In free countries, we take elections very serious, as we should. But we must remember that it is God who is sovereign!  He is sovereign over kings and dictators, over presidents and prime ministers, over liberals and conservatives and, yes, over nations.  We take our privilege of voting very serious, but it pales in comparison to the privilege of knowing and following the King of kings.

It’s Foundational

I was reminiscing recently about the day I took the Professional Engineering (PE) exam over 40 years ago (or it could have been a nightmare! 😬). It was a brutal, 8-hour test. The four-hour morning session consisted of about 40 “short,” multiple-choice problems. Simple math says that “short” equates to six minutes per question so time management was of the essence. This is an example of a typical short problem…

Looking at this problem makes my head hurt! The afternoon session was even more grueling: the completion of four significant “show your work” problems (selecting from a menu of 12). For some reason, designing foundations was a bit second nature to me (the above example is a foundation problem). I was thrilled to discover that two of the twelve afternoon problems were the design of foundations.

The definition of a foundation, as used in engineering, describes the lowest load-bearing part of a building or structure – an underlying base of support. Similarly, foundation can also be used to describe an underlying basis (such as a tenet, principle, or axiom) upon which something stands or is supported. We refer to such tenets or principles as “foundational.”

Reading Psalm 89 recently, I came across this foundational statement:

14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
    love and faithfulness go before you.

Psalm 89 is considered a royal psalm (thus “throne”) written lamentably after the exile and demise of the royal line of King David. Though a Davidic king no longer ruled over Israel, God was still King. To the psalmist, Yahweh’s rule and character are unquestionable.

Psalm 89:14 contains what we might call “the big four” words that describe God’s character: righteousness, justice, love, and faithfulness. We cannot read scripture without seeing these four characteristics described and/or demonstrated. They permeate all of scripture because God permeates all of scripture.

Almost inseparable, righteousness (Hebrew, tsedeq) and justice (Hebrew, mishpat) go hand-in-hand. Righteousness and justice are intrinsic attributes of God’s character, deeply interconnected and foundational to understanding how God relates to the world. In scripture righteousness and justice are often mentioned together, illustrating their deep connectivity.  They tell us something about God. (Similarly love (hesed) and faithfulness (emet) are interconnected – see The Two Biggies).

Righteousness means that God acts in ways that are perfectly just, fair, and consistent with His own holiness. God’s righteousness is His commitment to do what is right, which includes His faithful and fair treatment of all His creation. Righteousness refers to a standard or quality of relationships, while justice is the action taken to maintain or restore those relationships when they are broken. We think of covenantal loyalty.

Justice is a central theme in the Bible, woven into the fabric of God’s character as well as His expectations for humanity. Usually, justice is described as the action taken to uphold what is right, which includes both punishing wrongdoers and caring for those who are marginalized, oppressed, or in need. It’s about giving people their due—whether protection, care, or punishment.

For God, being righteous means that He always acts justly; His righteousness leads to justice. In his book Generous Justice, Timothy Keller points out that these attributes of God are not just abstract qualities but are demonstrated through His actions—particularly in His care and concern for the vulnerable – a foundational concern. Keller points out that scripture consistently draws attention to what he calls the “vulnerable quartet” – those who especially need protection and justice…

The Poor. The Orphan. The Widow. The Foreigner.

As mentioned above “the big four” foundational characteristics of God (righteousness, justice, love, and faithfulness) permeate all of scripture. In the Gospels, we see Jesus, the Davidic King, embody “the big four” paying particular attention to the “vulnerable quartet.” It’s what attracted people to him.

Back to the Psalmist. His response to the foundational characteristics? Praise and acclamation:

52 Praise the Lord forever!
Amen and Amen!

Worship!

The least of these…

The king will answer, “Whenever you did it for any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for me.” (CEV)

After a hiatus of several years, I’m looking to serve and volunteer at our local Alternative Learning Center (ALC). A little primer if you are unfamiliar with the ALC approach to helping students learn, graduate, and flourish. A few decades ago, some top-notch educators recognized that there was a population of young people who traditional secondary schools did not/could not serve well. Alternative approaches were piloted and birthed.

ALC students don’t do well in traditional settings for a variety of reasons – learning disorders, broken homes and broken lives, chemical dependency (theirs and/or their parents), residual fetal drug and alcohol effects, etc., etc.

My road to serving at our local ALC over 15 years ago, was precipitated by the tragic death of Johnny*, a student in our community. Johnny’s circle of friends included students at both the traditional high school and the ALC. Having previously helped facilitate grief & loss groups at the high school, I decided to lead a group off-site so I could serve kids from both schools. Amazing relationships grew out of our time together.

Wanting to stay connected with the students from the ALC, I decided to stop by at lunchtime one day. The school had a closed-campus policy related to the presence of youth ministers. Upon entering the school I immediately ran into the principal. She was rightfully interested as to why I showed up in her building of 100 students. I explained that I had facilitated a grief & loss group of some of Johnny’s friends and wanted to check in with them to see how they were doing. No more questions. She took me right to the lunchroom to see the kids I knew. The closed campus was apparently open to those willing to serve “their kids.”

Over the next dozen or so years, I served in that school in a variety of capacities – tutoring, mentoring, administering Acclaro (a values clarification process I honed for students), starting a chess club, serving at Holiday meals, and leading grief & loss groups regularly (there was a lot of grief and loss among the students!). One of my favorite capacities was serving in an English/Leadership class. Attending a couple of times a week, I became part of the fabric of the class.   

In the Leadership Class, the students gave several topical speeches throughout the semester.  They wanted me to join them and give speeches as well.  After each speech, the floor was open for encouragement and follow-up questions.  One time, after giving my speech and the kids had exhausted their questions, the teacher said, “I have a question.  Why do you do this?  Why did you choose to serve in this class?”  I asked her if she wanted my real and honest answer.  She said, “Yes.”

The honest answer I gave?  “I do this because I think Jesus would have.  He displayed a big heart for ‘the least of these’ and encouraged his followers to do likewise.”  Gesturing to the students I said, “You know I don’t see you as the least of these” to which they responded, “No, but everyone else does.”  The teacher concurred.

One of the great privileges during my tenure serving our local ALC was the collaborative establishment of a one-on-one mentoring program between the school and Young Life. People of faith committed to meeting with a mentee weekly on campus, encouraging him/her as they struggled to navigate the difficulties of life and school. We called the program Walk With Me. Once matched with a student, the Walk With Me mentors committed to walking with them until they graduated. It was transformative – for both the mentors and students.**

As I said earlier, after a hiatus of several years, I sense the need to find a way to serve the kids at our local ALC again. Why? I can’t not. The Jesus I follow and serve is tugging on my heart to step into the lives of some kids I don’t even know yet.

“Whenever you did it for any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for me.”

* Not his real name.

** Unfortunately Walk With Me didn’t survive the effects of COVID at our local ALC. It was replicated and continues to thrive at the ALC in Fergus Falls, MN.

Someday…

How long is your “Books to Read” list? Mine is quite lengthy. And it keeps growing. I hear of new books via podcasts and I think, “I should/want to read that someday (soon?).” So I add to my list on my Notes app. The list continues to grow with some getting trumped by more pertinent suggestions. Books suggested by trusted friends and colleagues tend to rise to the top of the list. Well-written books seem to point me to additional good reads. So the list grows.

Several months ago it was suggested that I consider reading Brian Zahnd’s new book, The Wood Between the Worlds: A Poetic Theology of the Cross, which explores the rich tapestry of artistic expressions and interpretations of the cross through the ages…

On canvas and wood, in stone and metal, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ has been painted, carved, sculpted, and molded billions of times. Billions! Everyone has seen a crucifix. Its long history and sheer ubiquity have rendered it almost invisible.1

Zanhd posits that if the Bible is fundamentally the grand narrative of divine intervention in human redemption, then the crucifixion of Jesus Christ stands as the essential turning point. The cross acts as the central axis of the biblical narrative.

He suggests the meaning of the cross is not one-dimensional but rather kaleidoscopic. Just as a kaleidoscope reveals a new pattern with every turn, we should view the cross through a theological kaleidoscope. The term “kaleidoscope” comes from Greek, meaning “beautiful form.” Thus A Poetic Theology of the Cross.

Early in the book, we are introduced to Franz Jägerstätter (1907-1943) and the biographical book of his life, In Solitary Witness.

So naturally I had to read the book (via Audible)

The theological lens through which Jägerstätter viewed the cross of Jesus Christ was as a martyr. Following the 1938 annexation of Austria by Germany, Austrian conscripts were obliged to swear an oath of allegiance to Hitler. Jägerstätter, who refused to do so, was the only person in his village to resist and was arrested on March 1, 1943. For five months of prison, he was repeatedly offered the chance to be released on the condition that he sign the oath. He steadfastly refused and the 36-year-old husband and father was executed by guillotine in August 1943.

Zahnd pointed readers to the fairly new and unheralded movie of Jägerstätter’s life and martyrdom, A Hidden Life, written and directed masterfully by Terrence Malick. One of my favorite scenes depicted Jägerstätter visiting a church where his friend Ohlendorf, an artist, was creating frescos on the walls. The two friends discussed the difficult times under Nazi oppression. Ohlendorf, standing on a scaffold painting scenes of Christ’s life, commented to Jägerstätter…

I paint the tombs of the prophets. I help people look up from [the] pews and dream.  They look up and imagine if they lived back in Christ’s time they wouldn’t have done what the others did. They would have murdered those whom they now adore.

I paint all these sufferings but I don’t suffer myself.  I make a living of it.  What we do is just create sympathy.  We create admirers. We don’t create followers.  Christ’s life is a demand. [We] don’t want to be reminded of it. So we don’t have to see what happens to the truth.  A darker time is coming when men will be more clever. They won’t fight the truth, they’ll just ignore it.

I paint their comfortable Christ, with a halo over His head. How can I show what I haven’t lived?  Someday I might have the courage to venture.  Not yet.  Someday I’ll paint the true Christ. 

Something Kevin Thomas wrote in his Ludicrous contribution posted last week caused me to recall the exchange between Jägerstätter and the artist…

Whatever surety of intellectual positions I held before delving deeply into Jesus’ life and teachings, I now find myself sitting with only my toes in the ocean of the mystery of God’s work in our world. Maybe someday I’ll be able to wade out ankle-deep in the unknown fathoms of God.  Yet despite my best efforts, I don’t think that’s likely to happen anytime soon. 

I value the honesty and humility shown by both Ohlendorf and Kevin – they acknowledge they don’t have all the answers. Yet they persist, striving for a deeper understanding of Jesus and His work in the world, while faithfully carrying out the work God entrusted to them. And then…

1Zahnd, Brian. The Wood Between the Worlds: A Poetic Theology of the Cross (p. 5). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

Ludicrous

A couple of years ago, my friend Kevin inspired the blog post Enamored. Over the past few years, he has been on a journey through the four gospels, discovering the Jesus of scripture, a Jesus he never knew. Last week Kevin shared with me a summary of his discoveries from his gospel immersion. It is something worthy of sharing, so here it is (by Kevin Thomas, Regional Initiatives Coordinator, Young Life North Star Region)…

Ludicrous

It’s an unquestionably ludicrous task to attempt to summarize the life of Jesus in a short essay.  Over the centuries the life of Jesus has been analyzed, critiqued, deconstructed, and reconstructed countless times, with each writer attempting to offer a clear, compelling, and accurate view of this man’s short life on earth. Everyone who has attempted this endeavor inevitably falls rather short of their original intention (see John 21:25).

Having completed 34 years as a local church pastor who preached through Scripture each Sunday, I had to ask myself a rather uncomfortable question: do I really know Jesus? Oh sure, I could adequately explain how Jesus Christ fit into God’s plan for human redemption and the restoration of all things. Yet did I know Jesus the way his disciples did? The Jesus with whom they ate meals, took long walks, listened to stories, witnessed miracles, and shared day after day together?  

Thus, throughout the past four years, I journaled my way through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John by writing out pretty much every word of these texts, with notes, ideas, and questions listed all over the available page margins. Having completed this endeavor, I figured I had better present some type of summary of my discoveries. I offer here a surprise, a caution, and an encouragement along the pathway to a somewhat better understanding of Jesus. 

My Surprise:  The guy desperately needed a PR agent. Repeatedly throughout the gospels, Jesus had people eating up his words, mesmerized by his powers and personal aura. And repeatedly he “wasted” these opportunities by doing or saying something off-putting, confounding, or offensive. He lived in a time when people were desperate for a leader portraying compassion, authority, and a compelling vision of life and society. Yet, when multiple moments offered him the opportunity to sweep up the masses in a ravenous rapture of fervor and devotion, he simply walked away while tossing out a bizarre comment or an offensive demand that stopped the crowds in their tracks. (John chapters 5-6 illustrate this theme in full technicolor.)

My Caution:  Don’t even try. Try what? DO NOT TRY to get Jesus to side with you. Lots of people worked their angles in an attempt to rally Jesus to their holy cause—to join their theological, religious, political, social, moral, economic, national program to fix the world. He never bit, much less nibbled at their propositions. (Consider John 18:28-19:16 as a portrayal of Jesus’s shocking aloofness as his life hung in the balance.) Jesus presented himself to be “wholly other”—a person whose unique vision for life, faith, church, and society will never fit neatly within the categories others have defined. Whatever surety of intellectual positions I held before delving deeply into Jesus’ life and teachings, I now find myself sitting with only my toes in the ocean of the mystery of God’s work in our world. Maybe someday I’ll be able to wade out ankle-deep in the unknown fathoms of God.  Yet despite my best efforts, I don’t think that’s likely to happen anytime soon. 

My Encouragement: You really can meet your hero. While certainly not a voracious reader, over the years I’ve soaked in a few biographies of the famous people of our nation’s past—those 500-page biographies of people like Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Grant, Douglas. It’s always with trepidation that one venture into the life of the famous. You are certain to discover the dark side of their character—some underlying compulsion that undermines their success and taints their legacy. With Jesus, I found no such underbelly. His vision is clear, his integrity is all-encompassing, and his commitment to sacrifice himself for the good of others is nothing short of astounding. I couldn’t unearth a single thought or act that tainted his life and legacy. It’s unthinkable, really. (John 13 offers a compelling example of Jesus’ love in the face of personal betrayal.) 

Feeling hopelessly lost in the bigness of Jesus, my first attempt to summarize his life was to start a list of simple, yet often paradoxical, descriptors. It’s now in the form of a “word cloud.” I offer it below, aware that only a ludicrous person would attempt to place Jesus in a box.