Tag: Jesus

Everything’s a Surprise…

Throughout my ministry career, I have always used the philosophical “Modus operandi” that everything’s a surprise at _______ (fill in the blank). This was certainly the MO of Young Life over the years. Heck, my introduction to the ministry came from taking ten kids to a Young Life camp in Colorado – and everything was truly a surprise. We did mystery road trips where kids had no idea what to expect. We told them what they should pack and the rest was a surprise.

That philosophy translated when serving in Church youth ministry opportunities as well. I wanted the leaders (and the kids) to understand that “everything’s a surprise” is theologically solid.

We read a book to our own kids as they were growing up – Theirs is the Kingdom. It is a wonderfully written story of Jesus. It is not a children’s Bible, per se. It is more of an aggregate narrative of all the gospel writings. The title of one of the sections of the book particularly captured my attention: The Surprise of the Kingdom. I remember thinking the title was apropos of God’s character displayed through the centuries and especially through Jesus. Everything Jesus did and said was a complete surprise to all witnesses.

Living the Christian life is not a well-laid-out journey. We really don’t know what each hour/day/week/years(s) might hold. It’s a journey full of surprises. If we want otherwise, we might want to pick a different religion!

Why don’t we like surprises? I’m guessing because then things are out of our control and that’s pretty uncomfortable. We prefer comfort and control. But in our preference for comfort and control, Jesus has to be pushed to the wings. They aren’t congruent.

Think of Jesus calling people to follow him, especially the fishermen. Come follow me and I’ll make you fishers of people. That’s all he told them, The rest was… wait for it, a surprise. We have no indication that other disciples had even that much definition as to what lay ahead when he invited them to follow. They didn’t know what was going on half the time, but they followed anyway because Jesus’ words had the ring of eternal life (John 6:68-69, JB Phillips).

What I think might relate to Christ-followers in the 21st century is Jesus’ discourse with the Pharisee Nicodemus. It was a bit of a primer of the life in the Spirit. As Jesus spoke with Nicodemus, he metaphorically related the Spirit of God with the wind that blows where it pleases…

The wind [or spirit] blows all around us as if it has a will of its own; we feel and hear it, but we do not understand where it has come from or where it will end up. Life in the Spirit is as if it were the wind of God (John 3:8, The Voice).

The wind of God, carrying us along where He wants to take us. In following Jesus, God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit, takes us places we don’t expect or anticipate. Following Jesus, being led by the Holy Spirit, is the penultimate mystery road trip, full of surprises. Read the book of Acts and pay close attention to how the Holy Spirit directed the lives of the first followers. Nothing was as they thought it would/should be.

Everything was a surprise for the early followers

At Pentecost they spoke about Jesus in languages they never learned. Peter never thought he would eat non-kosher food. Surprise, he did. Especially follow the life of the Apostle Paul. Jesus surprised him while on a literal road trip to Damascus to arrest Christians and bring them back to Jerusalem for trial. On that trip the wind started to blow in a different direction for him. That same wind, the Holy Spirit, directed the remainder of his life taking him to places he never anticipated.

Think about it. Paul had his life all figured out at a young age. He was a graduate theology student under the tutelage of Gamaliel, one of the greatest first-century rabbis. Paul’s credentials according to the Jewish objective rubric of righteousness:

 Circumcised? On the eighth day. Race? Israelite. Tribe? Benjamin. Descent? Hebrew through and through. Torah-observance? A Pharisee. Zealous? I persecuted the church! Official status under the law? Blameless. (Philippians 3:5-6, New Testament for Everyone).

Paul had comfort and control. He knew the Torah and its implications. He knew and banked on God’s promises. Cause and effect. A statement David Hubbard made in the introduction of his commentary on Proverbs comes to mind…

“We cannot use Proverbs like subway tokens to open the turnstile every time.  They are guidelines, not mechanical formulas.  They are procedures to follow, not promises we claim.  We heed them the best we can, try to gain the wisdom that experience can teach, and then leave large amounts of room for God to surprise us with outcomes different from what our plans prescribe.”1 (My emphasis)

God surprised Paul with outcomes different than his plans and objective approach to faith prescribed. God introduced him to the Holy Spirit and to a subjective experience.2 The rest is, as we say, history. The Holy Spirit took Paul on a mystery road trip that was substantially different than he probably anticipated. Some of the surprises of that road trip…

24 Five times I received the forty lashes minus one from the Jews. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked. I have spent a night and a day in the open sea. 26 On frequent journeys, I faced dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, and dangers among false brothers; 27 toil and hardship, many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, often without food, cold, and without clothing. 28 Not to mention[a] other things, there is the daily pressure on me: my concern for all the churches (2 Corinthians 11:24-28, CSB).

Though God surprised him with outcomes different than his plans prescribed, Paul had no regrets…

“Whatever former things were gains to me [as I thought then], these things [once regarded as advancements in merit] I have come to consider as loss [absolutely worthless] for the sake of Christ [and the purpose which He has given my life]” (Philippians 3:7, Amplified Bible) 

May we, like Paul, allow God to surprise us with outcomes different than our plans prescribed. Experience suggests we will have no regrets.

1Hubbard, D. A. (1989). The communicator’s commentary. Proverbs. Word Books.

2In his book, Galatians for You, Timothy Keller suggests, “The Spirit brings us a radically subjective experience” (p. 99). I think I will want to dig into this idea more!

If only…

As I may have indicated previously, my wife Barb and I weekly host a young adult Bible study group. Since September, we have been working our way through The Chosen. Our rhythm is to watch an episode followed by a fairly robust and varied discussion. It has been a transformative experience thus far. The group is primarily made up of grandkids, their friends, and other Young Life leaders.

At present, we are mid-way through the third season. This past week we watched the episode depicting the healing of the hemorrhaging woman who dared to touch the hem of Jesus’ robe. Barb, not knowing the focus of the episode, sent a text earlier that day to the grandkids and friends about the same story. It was a devotional she had written several years ago and posted on FaceBook for the women’s ministry Never So Broken. It had “popped up” on her Facebook page which prompted her to share it. I love God “coincidences.”

Here’s the devotional that she shared…

For she thought, “If I just touch His clothing, I will get well.”

Do you ever find yourself thinking if only…

If only you could get away, if only you had a little extra time, or money. We have a yearning deep inside of us…something is missing.

In Mark 5, we encounter a woman who has been bleeding internally for 12 years. She has suffered greatly and used all her resources trying to get well. She is at the end of her rope, her hope is gone, she feels life for her is over and then she hears of Jesus and thinks, if only…

Jesus had become quite popular because He was significantly different than any other religious figure in their world and the crowds pressed in on all sides, just to be near Him.

Weak from her loss of blood, she isn’t sure she will find the strength to push to the center of the crowd. But, she has put all her hope in getting to Jesus. So determined, she thinks, if only…

Finally she makes it in to the center of the crowd and touches His robe. Jesus stops immediately and says “who touched Me?” The disciples, His closest friends, think what a ridiculous question. How can You ask who touched You when people are pressed in on all sides? But Jesus knows. And so He asks, “who touched Me?”

There is a lot of sadness in our world yet often we don’t think of reaching out to Jesus. Instead, we rely on our own abilities, other people, status, institutions, religion – everything but Jesus. We put our hope in trust-worthy and not so trust-worthy options. And yet, everyone, everything, fails us at some point. Even those who love us the most, because they are not infallible.

The woman in the story is healed and Jesus calls her daughter. Can you imagine? She has lost all hope, but He heals her and calls her daughter! He tells her it was her trust and confidence in Him that made her well. Her financial situation has not changed, she used it all up trying to find healing but she has something so much more valuable – she has peace. She has a future. She has hope!

There is only One who is constant, never changing, always there for us. One who will recognize if we “touch” Him. He knows when we reach out for Him and He responds. If only we reach out for Him…

Joseph, the Maverick

We tend to love movies with mavericks as main characters. We think of Top Gun and certainly Top Gun Maverick. I remember the television show Maverick, starring James Garner, a maverick’s maverick. As a youngster, I loved watching Garner’s character operate outside accepted cultural norms. I secretly wanted to emulate Maverick, but as a first-born farm kid (with my dad in the room as we watched), I knew that imitating Maverick was out of the question.

Maverick – an unorthodox or independent-minded person

Unbeknownst to most of us, the etymology of maverick is fairly recent, derived from the name of Samuel A. Maverick (1803–70), a mid-19th-century Texas rancher who did not brand his cattle. Thus a secondary definition used mostly in North America: an unbranded calf or yearling.

I wonder if the attraction to mavericks is an opportunity to live vicariously through them. I wonder if deep down we’d all like to be a bit of a maverick now and then, but propriety and societal norms deter us from doing so.

Joseph of Arimathea was no maverick. He was a wealthy, first-century member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling Council of the Jewish people. As the ruling council, the Sanhedrin was comprised of the wealthy and elite. At the time of Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion, the Council had both religious and political power. The common people feared them.

Joseph wasn’t only a member, but likely a member in good standing given that he was considered a “good and upright man” (Luke 23) and a “prominent member” (Mark 15). His reputation was solid. His theology was apparently solid as well as he was waiting for the kingdom of God. He must have had “ears to hear” since he became a disciple of Jesus, though in secret because he feared the other leaders. Not wanting to risk his standing or reputation, Joseph of Arimathea was no maverick.

We also know that he did not consent to the decision and actions of the Council (Luke 23) to be rid of Jesus, though there is no evidence that he spoke out against the rest of the leadership during the “trial.” Then something happened to Joseph. Somehow, sometime between the trial and Jesus’ death, he got a backbone and became a maverick. He was different. He was not the same.

He went to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, with an audacious request. He asked for the body of Jesus so he could honor Him with a proper, pre-sabbath burial. In his newfound maverick-ness, Joesph’s request was audacious beyond imagination.

First, he went against the Council. They likely didn’t care about Jesus enough to follow Jewish tradition regarding burial before sundown, before the beginning of the sabbath of the Passover week. They had relinquished all kosher propriety when they tried Jesus illegally, then partnered with the Romans to silence him. “Let him hang there – we are done with him!”

Secondly, Jesus was executed for high treason. Romans didn’t allow the bodies of treasonous persons to be removed from crosses.  They got as much leverage as possible from each crucifixion.  Bodies hung for days as a reminder to those in eyesight not to ‘cross’ the Empire.  And if a body hung there over the Sabbath?  What did they care?  Caesar was their deity, not some Jewish god.

Pilate was probably in a pretty bad mood when Joseph, the maverick, made his request.  He hadn’t listened to his wife regarding Jesus.  He tried to appease and please everyone politically and it backfired.  He sent an innocent man to his death and he knew it.  The Sanhedrin had manipulated him.  They won and he lost.  Roman governors weren’t fond of being one-upped by their subjects.  What was Rome going to say about this when they found out (and they would)?

Joseph boldly went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body so he could bury it in his own tomb (personal tombs were for family, not criminals).  Only the wealthy and elite had their own tombs. When he, a member of the Sanhedrin, went to Pilate, he risked it all.  He risked his life – Pilate could have jailed him or even killed him.  And he risked his reputation. What would be his fate when the rest of the Council found out what he did.  What of his status?  His wealth?

But Joseph was changing.  Somewhere along his journey, he encountered Jesus.  And he began to act like a maverick – a very bold maverick.  He walked away from the identity, power, position, and comfort of being a member of the Council.  The kingdom-seeker found the kingdom at hand – Jesus.  

Encounters with Jesus change us. Always. We will never be the same. We might even become mavericks.

Maundy Thursday

In Western tradition, today, March 28, 2024, is Maundy Thursday. A day of solemnity, Maundy Thursday (also called Holy Thursday) is observed worldwide as part of the Christian Holy or Passion week. We know it to commemorate the last Passover meal that Jesus celebrated with his followers which we call the Last Supper. It’s also the night he was betrayed and arrested.

The word “Maundy” originates from the Latin word mandatum, which means “commandment” (think mandate). Therefore Mandatum, Maundy, is connected to Jesus’ commandment to his disciples on that night to love one another…

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (John 34-35)

It’s also the night Jesus washed his disciples’ feet. Thus many Christian groups imitate this action by holding a foot-washing rite on Maundy Thursday.

This year I have been traveling through Lent using Walter Wangerin’s Reliving the Passion, an amazing ‘crawl into the story’ treatise of the passion week as recorded in the Gospel of Mark. I have used it off and on over the past 25 years, experiencing new thoughts and emotions each year of its use. This year I was reminded of how Jesus lived out the Lord’s Prayer as he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane on that night in which he was betrayed. 

Wangerin reminds his readers that Jesus often taught the same thing twice – first with words and then reinforced with actions and deeds.  On the same night in which he was betrayed, as we watch Jesus praying alone in the garden, we get a glimpse of the Lord’s Prayer actually lived out. With a deep and desperate desire, Jesus pleaded with his Father, his Abba, to be saved (rescued) and to be spared of what he knew was coming. He was living out, in raw honesty, the sixth petition of the Prayer…

Lead us not into temptation – Save us from this time of trial.

Jesus pleaded not once, not twice, but three times, Remove this cup from me, embodying the plea of the seventh petition of the Prayer…

Deliver us (me!) from evil, from the evil one. 

As Jesus pleaded with his Father, he displayed a posture and attitude of faithful and complete obedience saying, Yet not what I will, but what you will. Jesus, living out before our eyes, the third petition, “which prepares us properly for any answer God may give to all [our] other petitions” (Wangerin)…

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Wangerin continued: “Implicit, hereafter, in his entering into ‘the hour’ of trial after all is his personal conviction that ‘the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.’ Jesus, now more than ever in his ministry, is the living embodiment of the second petition, Thy kingdom come. Right now, his acceptance of the Father’s will is the coming of that kingdom here!”

Thy kingdom come.

Jesus began both prayers addressing God as Father, with the garden prayer showing a deep intimacy – Abba, Father. It’s the expression a child has when her father comes home from work – Daddy! 

On this Maundy Thursday, we find ourselves in the midst of ongoing wars, heightened turmoil in the Middle East, global economic uncertainty, doubts about American leadership, and increased political polarization. We struggle for words to articulate our deep, raw, and maybe even desperate feelings. May the Lord’s Prayer(s) be of comfort – especially in light of Jesus’ deep, raw, and desperate prayers in the garden. Maybe during this Holy Week we, too, can learn to live the Prayer. That would be a good thing! 

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from the evil one.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.

Behold the People!

Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas. And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he was wont to do for them. And he answered them, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead. (Mark 15:6-11)

Several years ago I published a blog post discussing an experience I had 50+ years ago while reading the passion account in the gospels (see Crucify Him!). I had become  fully aware that had I been at the Praetorium the day Jesus was “convicted,” I might have joined the chant “crucify him” because I may have lacked the courage to stand against the crowd. I remember feeling like Peter must have felt. And I too, wept bitterly. 

My Lent rhythm this year has included readings from Walter Wangerin’s Reliving the Passion. While reading the above passage, a lead-up to the crowd chant of “crucify him,” memories of that experience 50+ years ago came rushing back. Wangerin’s treatment of the Mark passage is exemplary, worthy of sharing. So here it is in its entirety…

Behold the people! Though they think themselves the force of the morning, in charge of things (by virtue of their numbers and their noise), they are in fact being put to a test which shall reveal the truth beneath their words, the reality beneath their self-assumptions and all their pretense. Behold the nature of the breed!

A crowd has gathered at the Praetorium, a rabble, an obstreperous delegation of Judeans whose presence complicates Pilate’s inclination to release Jesus. These crowds are volatile. Instead of a simple release, then, a choice is offered the people. Let the people feel in charge; let the people decide.

The Governor will, according to a traditional Passover amnesty, free one prisoner. Which will it be— Jesus of Nazareth?—whom they have falsely accused of treason against the Empire? Or Barabbas?—treasonous in fact, one who committed murder for the cause? If they choose the latter, their loyalties to the Empire (which Jesus is supposed to have offended) are revealed a vile sham, and these are no more than temporizing hypocrites, pretending any virtue to satisfy a private end.

But the Governor will release only one prisoner. Which will it be? Jesus—who is the Son of the Father, who is the Kingdom of God come near unto them? Or Barabbas—whose name means “the son of a (human) father,” flesh itself, the fleshly pretensions to god-like, personal power in the kingdoms of the world? This, precisely, is the timeless choice of humankind. If they choose the latter, they choose humanity over divinity. They choose one who will harm them over one who would heal them.

If they choose Barabbas, they choose the popular revolutionary hero, the swashbuckler, the pirate, merry Robin Hood, the blood-lusty rake, the law-flout, violence glorified, appetites satisfied, James Bond, Billy Jack, Clint Eastwood, Rambo, the celebrated predator, the one who “turns them on,” over one who asks them to “deny themselves and die.”

They choose (voluntarily!) entertainment over worship, self-satisfaction over sacrificial love, getting things over giving things, being served over serving, “feeling good about myself” and having it all and gaining the whole world and rubbing elbows with the rich rather than rubbing the wounds of the poor— The choice is before them. And they think the choice is external, this man or that man.

In fact, the choice is terribly internal: this nature or that one, good folks or people essentially selfish and evil, therefore. It’s an accurate test of their character. How they choose is who they are. Behold a people in desperate need of forgiveness.

And this, Christ, is the stunning irony: that their evil was made good in you! You knew our nature as children of wrath; you knew exactly how we would choose; you put yourself in harm’s way that our sin might kill you, that your death might redeem us even from our sinful nature! Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, and I grow dizzy thinking about it. All that I can say with certainty, but with everlasting gratitude, is— Amen.

(Wangerin Jr., Walter. Reliving the Passion: Meditations on the Suffering, Death, and the Resurrection of Jesus as Recorded in Mark. (pp. 99-100). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.)

Candles (Seeing Things Afresh)

As a kid, I was enamored by candles. I even started making candles at a pretty young age. Christmas candles were especially intriguing to a young kid. So were the candles that were lit around the house during a power outage (which were fairly regular in rural Minnesota during the 1950s-60s). I was enthralled by the dancing flames and the dancing figures they created on the walls. By the time I reached Junior High, I was pretty familiar with candles, or so I thought.

My eighth-grade science teacher gave us an assignment at the beginning of the year. Wanting us to learn to be observant, she gave us a homework assignment that involved observing a candle for 10 minutes and writing down all the things we saw. She issued a challenge to observe 10-15 things. Given my familiarity with candles, I was looking forward to the challenge, pondering it while I did my evening chores in the barn – what candle to use, where to conduct this high-level experiment, in which room, etc. I was a middle school science geek!

I was surprised at the number of things I observed, far surpassing the anticipated 10-15. What was more surprising was that despite my “familiarity” with candles, there was far more to observe than dancing figures on the wall. For the first time, I noticed the various flame colors – yellow, orange, and blue. I noticed flame shape – pointed, rounded, irregular. Pausing to watch for an extended time allowed me to observe the wax melt, pool, and drip down the side of the candle. I had never previously paid attention to smoke dispersant – the various ways the smoke rose or dispersed around the flame. I have continued to discover over the years there are lots of surprises that surpass familiarity if we are observant…

I continue to follow Anne F. Downs’ Let’s Read the Gospels podcast that she rolled out in January 2023. Throughout 2023, she read all four Gospels monthly, so I got to listen to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John twelve times each over the year. I was constantly hearing things I never remember reading and/or hearing before. If you know me, you know that I’ve consistently and regularly read the Gospels for the past 50+ years – maybe a few hundred times each.

And I still see/hear new things.

This year Downs is reading a chapter a day. By slowing things down, I read the same text in a couple of translations while consulting an on-line Greek interlinear source. It’s been a transformative time. I see things in a different light and the Greek interlinear source is invaluable in helping understand the richness of the words the evangelists selected to describe Jesus – his teaching and his actions – and how the first-century readers would have understood what they were writing.

And I keep hearing and seeing new things

Recently, Matthew 24 was in the cue. For context, Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives with his disciples overlooking Jerusalem, the center of Jewish religious and political power. He had been preparing them for a future that did not include the restoration of Israel but rather a complete destruction of their beloved city. 

After listening to Downs, I then read from the Kingdom New Testament (aka New Testament for Everyone) and saw this…

And because lawlessness will be on the increase, many will find their love growing cold (Matthew 24:12).

This passage has been running through my mind since I read it, mulling over several questions: (1) What did Jesus want his disciples to hear regarding the impending fall of Jerusalem and the effect on their lives? (2) What did Matthew want the readers to hear and understand given that he may have written his gospel a dozen years after the fall? and (3) What might we want to pay attention to 2000 years later? Some of my pondering and wonderments…

(1) What did Jesus want his disciples to hear regarding the impending fall of Jerusalem and the effect on their lives? On a very basic level, I suspect Jesus wanted them to know what was coming down the pike regarding their nation and its occupancy by Rome. Keep in mind that Jesus (and his followers) knew nothing other than Roman occupancy. Nor did their parents. Or likely even their grandparents. So everyone was looking for a messiah that would restore their kingdom. 

At this stage in the journey, Jesus had spent several years teaching his followers that God’s kingdom was not going to look like a restored nation, but something entirely new and different. During the last portion of his journey with his apprentices, Jesus repeatedly (literally, repeatedly) presented them with the vision of a Messiah who was ushering in this new kind of kingdom. And that those in power (not the Romans, mind you) who were uninterested in the ethics of this new kind of kingdom would kill him. Others who cared only about a national kingdom would stay their course and revolt against the Romans with brutal and disastrous results. 

I suspect Jesus wanted his initial followers to be alert and not be caught off guard when the “City of God” is sacked. And practically, he may have been warning them of the impending brutal Roman siege and the resulting starvation.

There will be lawlessness, but don’t let your love grow cold

(2) What did Matthew want the readers to hear and understand given that he may have written his gospel a dozen years after the fall of Jerusalem? What comes to mind is the letters to the seven churches that we find in Revelation. In the face of lawlessness that resulted in suffering and persecution, they were admonished to keep their faith, to not lose their first love. These very churches could have been readers and hearers of Matthew’s gospel.

There will be lawlessness, but don’t let your love grow cold

(3) What might we want to pay attention to 2000 years later? (This could be a whole other blog post.) The word lawlessness grabbed my attention. The New Oxford Dictionary defines it as “a state of disorder due to a disregard of the law.” No big surprise here. However, look at the list of synonyms that Oxford included…

Anarchy, disorder, chaos, unruliness, lack of control, lack of restraint, wildness, riot, criminality, crime, rebellion, revolution, mutiny, insurgency, insurrection, misrule

I suspect this list contains several words we’ve heard and seen in the news in recent years. And on social media. Words that cause us to be concerned about the state of our world and society. Words wielded in the arena of cultural contention. Words that cause us to wring our hands in lament and angst. What might Jesus say to us today in the midst of all this? Maybe…

There will be lawlessness, but don’t let your love grow cold 

Five Years!

As I write this it is February 21, 2024. Five years ago today I published the first blog post on this site. Five years! Sometimes five years seems like a long time. Other times it flies by almost unnoticed. For me, this has been one of those “I can’t believe it’s been five years already” type of thing. It’s been a good five years!

Twenty years ago I had created a blog to stay connected with young people I knew through church youth ministry or Young Life. Over time the audience grew to a diverse mix of people – younger and older. The original blog came to a grinding halt as coursework ramped up for the doctorate in education program in which I participated. After a hiatus of several years, I re-entered the world of blogging five years ago.*

I found that I deeply missed the opportunity to write and ponder. Originally I was writing and publishing blog posts to benefit others. However, I soon discovered that I was the main beneficiary, allowing others to “look over my shoulder” as I tried to make sense of and describe my theological thoughts and wonderments. Blogging has become a healthy way for me to process what I was discovering as a Christ-follower.  So I continue.

Practical theology? What do I mean by that? Actually, I was figuring this out as I wandered into this process five years ago. And I’m still figuring it out, which I think is a good thing, actually. I have always described myself as a practical theologian, using the term theologian loosely. In my thinking, a theology that doesn’t play out in one’s everyday life is impractical, or of no real use. A “practical” definition of theology is the attempt to understand God, what he is up to, and then join him in his work.

This blog has focused on just that – how we join God in his work, both globally and in that part of the world where he has landed us. We do that by focusing on Jesus Christ, the incarnate God that became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood (John 1:14, MSG). While focusing on Jesus, we attempt to discover the “Jesus of scripture” over and against the “Jesus” of American/Western Christian culture.

We also focus on Jesus so that we can learn “the Jesus way,” a term coined by Eugene Peterson. Focussing on Jesus to learn his way is what a Christ-follower does. It’s integral to being a disciple, an apprentice – we spend copious amounts of time with him. Why? So we can learn from him, become like him, and join him in his work. John Mark Comer simplifies “join him in his work” as “Do as he did.”** I’ve always appreciated Dallas Willard’s description: “Do as he did/would do if he were you.” Quite practical!

I wonder what the next five years will bring?

* I am grateful to my friend Björk Ostrom for his encouragement five years ago to start blogging again and for his tutorials in WordPress. Björk is a master in WordPress. This is an example of his work: https://pinchofyum.com/

** Comer, J. M. (2024). Practicing the way : be with jesus, become like him, do as he did (First). WaterBrook. 

The Man in the Iron Mask

The movie The Man in the Iron Mask is a favorite of mine. I find myself watching it annually. The 1998 adventure film is loosely based on the novel The Vicomte de Bragelonne by Alexandre Dumas. You might recall a couple other works of Dumas – The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo. 

The movie is set in 17th-century France and revolves around the aging Musketeers – Athos, Porthos, and Aramis – during the reign of the cruel and self-indulgent ruler, King Louis XIV (portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio). The plot centers on a secret twin brother of Louis XIV, Philippe, who is kept hidden in an iron mask to conceal his identity.

The Musketeers become aware of the King’s tyranny and decide to overthrow him. They uncover the existence of Philippe, the rightful heir to the throne, and plan to replace the draconian king with his benevolent twin. The Musketeers execute their plan to dethrone King Louis XIV and restore Philippe to his rightful position. Themes of loyalty, justice, and the abuse of power take center stage as the story unfolds with political suspense and the exploration of sacrifice and redemption.

A specific scene from the movie comes to my mind often: after Philippe had been restored to the throne, a royal ball was initiated in the king’s honor, something consistent with King Louis XIV’s demeanor. Unbeknownst to all except the Musketeers, it was Philippe, not King Louis XIV, sitting on the throne as the master of the ball. At one point a young woman stumbled and fell onto the bottom of the royal steps leading to the throne. The empathetic and kind-hearted Philippe left his throne to assist the young woman.

Kings don’t leave their thrones to assist others!

Pillipe’s action did not go unnoticed, by the Musketeers nor Louis XIV’s loyalists. So the plot quickly thickened. (No spoiler alert here – you’ll have to watch for yourself to see how things played out but you can assume a fair amount of swashbuckling.)

Kings don’t leave their thrones to serve their subjects. The recent post, Pocket Gophers – a Parable, certainly comes to mind, but it’s not what made me think of The Man in the Iron Mask. Rather a recent read of John 13, Jesus’ washing his disciples’ feet, is what triggered the memory of Philippe’s inadvertent gaffe.

It was the night before the Festival of Passover. Jesus and his followers were gathered together in the “upper room” to celebrate the Passover meal. From John 13…

Jesus knew that his time had come, the time for him to leave this world and go to the Father. He had always loved his own people in the world; now he loved them right through to the end. It was suppertime. The devil had already put the idea of betraying him into the heart of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. Jesus knew that the Father had given everything into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God. So he got up from the supper-table, took off his clothes, and wrapped a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a bowl and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel he was wrapped in. (John 13:1-5, KNT)

We love this story because Jesus of Nazareth washed his followers’ feet, taking on the role typical of a servant. We love this (and we should) because our Lord and Savior got up from the supper table and washed his followers’ feet. What a model of humility and servanthood for them and us. But Jesus wasn’t their Lord and Savior yet. He was “just” a rabbi that they were following and suspecting could be the Messiah. What Jesus did that night surpassed mere modeling. I suspect what Jesus did shook them to the core. Rabbis didn’t wash their disciples’ feet. They had and could afford servants to do that. If Rabbis didn’t wash their followers’ feet, certainly Messiah’s didn’t. Peter didn’t seem to understand Jesus’ actions. I suspect he wasn’t the only one.

Think about the significance of Jesus’ actions that surpassed mere modeling of servanthood. Jesus knew that the Father had given everything into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God. So he got up from the supper-table… and began to wash the disciples’ feet.

I don’t know when Jesus fully understood his vocation, but it’s clear that here he knew full well who he was as God incarnate. Not only was he the Messiah, but King of the Universe. And knowing full well who he was, he washed his followers’ feet. 

Contemplate the practicality involved in the act of washing someone’s feet. To do so requires taking a knee. Think about that. Subjects approach Kings on bended knee, not the other way around. This King, our king, not only stepped off the throne but proceeded to take a knee in the presence of his subjects. To wash their feet. To serve and honor them!

Who does that?

Pocket Gophers – a Parable

As you might well know, I grew up on a dairy farm northwest of the Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN). The farm’s acreage was just enough to sustain the needs of a dairy herd of 100 animals. A 1600-pound cow in full milking production can put away a LOT of roughage (hay and corn silage). Therefore crop husbandry was as important as animal husbandry. High-quality alfalfa crops were essential. 

Alfalfa fields are a favorite of pocket gophers. 

Pocket gophers are small rodents that live underground in burrows they dig. The burrows can be quite elaborate, with tunnels and chambers. Their favorite habitat is grasslands, thus their attraction to hayfields. They’re not very big – about 6ish inches long with brownish/gray fur. Their cheeks have special “pockets” or pouches where they can store food for transporting to storage chambers in their burrows.

As herbivores, pocket gophers thrive on roots, especially the substantial roots of legumes like alfalfa. Rarely do they surface. One of the most distinctive features of pocket gophers is their burrowing lifestyle. They are excellent diggers and create an intricate network of underground tunnels and chambers. These burrows serve as their homes, providing protection from predators and a controlled environment for raising their young. The mounds they create are depositories resulting from their underground feats of engineering.

A typical alfalfa field’s life expectancy is 6-7 years. Once the alfalfa plant population is significantly diminished, a hayfield is plowed up and rotated with crops like corn that thrive on the residual nitrogen produced by the alfalfa.

Though the gopher’s main chambers are several feet below the surface, when plowing an old hayfield, the plow would invariably cut across the more shallow tunnels. Every once in a while, a gopher would tumble out of its tunnel into the furrow created by the plow, unable to see (bright light!), and find its way back to the tunnel.

One time I was plowing and looked back to see one such gopher frantically trying to find its way back to safety. Having a big heart that day, I decided to stop the tractor and walk back to see if I couldn’t help the gopher find its way, to rescue it. First I provided protection from the sun which I thought would be helpful, but it was not. As my shadow cast over the little guy revealing my relatively immense stature, he became increasingly frantic.

So I tried to explain that I was there to save him and (pointing) could show him the way back to his tunnel. Apparently, he didn’t understand English and instead, he ran in the opposite direction. To no avail, I called out to him that he needed to turn around, that he was going the wrong way.

Recently I was reading the Apostle Paul’s letter to the early Church in Philippi. He was admonishing them to live in humble unity and to do that they might want to have the same mindset as Christ Jesus…

Let your attitude to life be that of Christ Jesus himself.  For he, who had always been God by nature, did not cling to his privileges as God’s equal, but stripped himself of every advantage by consenting to be a slave by nature and being born a [human being]. 

(Philippians 2:5-7, JB Phillips New Testament)

What were Jesus’ privileges as God’s equal to which he did not cling in becoming a human being? For starters, he was omnipresent. He could be anywhere, anytime, all the time. He gave up his privileges as God’s equal, confined himself to the womb of one of his creation, birthed through a tiny canal into an environment that was 50ish degrees colder than the womb. Like every other human being, he needed to have his diaper changed, cried when it wasn’t, learned to feed himself, learned to walk, etc., etc. As an adult, he was limited to walking everywhere he went – at 3 miles/hour. 

As God’s equal, Jesus was omnipotent. Relegated to a human body, he was susceptible to disease just like any other human, far from omnipotence. He needed nourishment and rest, just like any of us. He was at times exhausted and emotionally stretched. Though he healed many, he couldn’t heal everyone. What was it like for him to have to walk away from people in need?

And, of course, as God’s equal he was omniscient. He gave that up, for sure. His baby brain contained the same amount of knowledge as any other baby. He likely went to Torah school, learning the story of God along with his playmates. His brain became filled with the wonders of God (Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man – Luke 2:52). Jesus was in constant contact with God (think prayer) learning and discovering the vocation to which he was called.  

What’s this got to do with a gopher? If I really cared enough about that gopher to rescue him and show him the way, I would have needed to give up my privileges as a human being and become a gopher. I would have relegated myself to living underground on a diet of alfalfa roots, risking getting plowed up every once in a while. But I like pizza and sunlight. I wasn’t at all willing to give up my privileges as a human being for the sake of a gopher.

When it comes to gophers, I apparently don’t have the same attitude as Jesus!

Mary’s Poem

I absolutely love poetry – when I hear it read. I remember attending a Cursillo weekend event in the mid-1980s where one of the spiritual directors read poems from his favorite author. The words leaped off the page and drew me in, so much so that I went out and bought the book for myself. To my disappointment, as I read from the book, the poems did nothing for me. I think we engineering-types struggle to read poetic literature. I know I do. To my dismay, the richness of so much poetry just never seems to leave the pages.

I’ve heard many people say they struggle reading Hebrew poetry, like the Psalms, as did I for about the first 45 years of my life. Then something changed. I took a seminary course in Psalms through the Reformed Theological Seminary in the mid-1990s. I remember asking the professor which English translation of the Bible gives us the best sense of the meter and intent of these great Hebrew poems and songs. He suggested reading from the New American Standard Bible. Thus began a new appreciation of Hebrew poetry.

Mary’s Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) is certainly in the genre of Hebrew poetry. It reads like many of the Psalms, laced with thanksgiving and admiration of God along with declarations of his redemptive and loyal characteristics. We should keep in mind that Mary would have been quite familiar with Hebrew poetry, especially the Psalms. She might likely have sung some of the Psalms during her week-long journey to visit her cousin, Elizabeth.

It was at Elizabeth’s home that Mary mouthed the Magnificat. Magnificat is the title attributed to her poem/song of praise which was a response to Elizabeth’s reception and words of blessing of Mary and her unborn baby, Jesus. The term Magnificat comes from the opening line of the poem in the Latin Vulgate Bible – Magnificat anima mea Dominum, “My soul magnifies the Lord.” 

Though Mary’s poem appears to have been spontaneous, one could/should assume the contents could have resulted from things she would have been pondering since the visit from the angel, Gabriel, and most likely during her long trip to visit Elizabeth. I think of a couple different times in the Gospels that speak of Mary’s treasuring and pondering of events unfolding in her life:  Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart (Luke 2:19, after the visit from the shepherds the night of Jesus’ birth) and his [Jesus’] mother treasured up all these things in her heart (Luke 2:51, after the young lad went missing and was found discussing theology with the teachers in the Temple). 

And certainly, a visit from an angel declaring that she would birth the Messiah would be cause for much pondering!

If you recall, when Mary reached Elizabeth’s home and greeted her, Elizabeth’s baby John leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord” (Luke 1:39-45). Elizabeth commended Mary for her faith and confirmed the angel Gabriel’s proclamation that she would indeed carry the Messiah in her womb. No wonder Mary broke into song (though scripture doesn’t indicate that she sang) and said…

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47     and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
    For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
    and holy is his name.
50 And his mercy* is for those who fear him
    from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
    he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
    and exalted those of humble estate;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
    and the rich he has sent away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
    in remembrance of his mercy,
55 as he spoke to our fathers,
    to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” (ESV)

Read the Magnificat again and you will see the gospel, the good news that accompanies the arrival of a king.  This King will be different than all other kings of the earth. Most kings, upon arrival, exalt those with wealth, position, and power. Most kings, upon arrival, throw celebrations and feasts for those of wealth, position, and power – celebrations and feasts catered by servants of humble estate.  This King arrived through a servant of humble estate.  This King would reverse the order, exalting the humble and humbling the exalted. 

No wonder the late pastor and author, Eugene Peterson, referred to this good news as the great reversal. No wonder Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor and theologian who was executed by the Nazis, called the Magnificat “the most passionate, the wildest, one might even say the most revolutionary hymn ever sung.”

* Mercy is that rich Hebrew word, hesed, that we have previously discussed.