A Few Random Thoughts

It's the end of April, almost a full week after we have celebrated Jesus' resurrection.  So today I thought I would just throw a few random thoughts out here and see what may come of them.

• I've come to the conclusion that I am the kind of person that does not like to simply take someone's word for something.  Instead, I like to dig into whatever it may be, especially when it comes to faith matters.  If someone tells me 'this is the way it is', I want to know how they arrived at that conclusion.  I want to know what other possibilities there are.  Are there parts of what the Bible says that may not completely agree with what they think, and how do they reconcile that?  And I have noticed that I extend that even to matters that have been written down and studied for centuries.  I know that some may think that I am questioning the faith, but the reality is, I want to do the study and make sure that I come to the same conclusions.  I really feel that it deepens my faith, but also allows me to better understand the topic under question, and allows me to then better address people's questions, since I have likely already asked the same question.
• When Jesus says let your yes be yes and your no be no, I realize that I wish we as humans could really be that transparent.  I know that there is usually a question behind the question that I get asked, and I realize that people are often trying to discover how safe it is to ask their real question by asking another one that gauges how well I will answer.  It just seems somewhat deceitful to me to ask a question or make a statement when you are really trying to get at something else.  And the other side of that coin is that I feel flabbergasted when someone assumes that I'm implying something other than what I say.  I really do try to be upfront and state clearly what I am looking for, or thinking, or asking, and not trying to cause people to have to infer what I am saying.  Let yes be yes, let no be no.
• One area that I have discovered that I could benefit from growing in is in showing appreciation toward others.  I recognize that this is not really one of those deep theological matters, but yet, as I have been practicing this more over the past few years, I realize that a good, kind, encouraging word can often boost a weary spirit or help others to see how someone benefits the whole body of Christ.  I know that some see intentional efforts to appreciate others as phony, but I would rather have it come across that way instead of people never feeling appreciated.
• As I have been writing the various "Tension and Faith" posts, I've been led to think about where I tend to fall in each of those tensions.  I have come to realize that I not only swing widely in them from time to time, but from situation to situation as well.  I have come to believe that we often do not spend enough time in reflection to really think about why we believe what we believe, and how that impacts how we come across to others.

Thanks for listening to my rumblings and perusings.  Feel free to chime in if you agree, disagree, have questions, or have rebuttals.

Faith and Tension: Rest and Work

One of Jesus' more popular sayings is recorded in Matthew 11:28-30.  There, He invites the weary to come to Him for rest, and to take His easy yoke (which I think of as forgiveness and hope) upon us.  There we see the heart of God, who wants us to find our Sabbath rest in Him, and not merely in a day away from working for ourselves to focus on God.

But then, we have Jesus telling us other things, such as taking up our cross and following Him (Matthew 16:24-26).  He indicates on a number of different occasions that His followers are to count the cost of following Him (Luke 14:25-33).  So it makes it sound as though being a follower of Jesus is not one of mere rest, but of active following, of living our our lives as Christ-followers, and knowing that it will require a cost on our part.

This tension is a difficult one to balance in our lives.  We may find it challenging to both rest in His promise of rest in the forgiveness of sin and the assurance of life, and yet, to be actively living out our life of faith.  We may find that there are times where we are really involved in activity for God and His people and the people of the world, and then that there are times where we want nothing more than to simply rest in Him.

I would suggest that we would benefit greatly if we found out how to balance these matters more frequently in our life, rather than resting once we have become burnt out.  We tend to swing between the extremes, when it would seem that if we would simply keep a more firm balance regularly, we would be able to both rest more frequently and be very active in our lives of service.

Do you find that you have a tendency toward one extreme or the other?  How do you work to maintain a balance in your rest in Jesus and in the cost of following Him?

Faith and Tension: Proof and Faith

Yesterday I introduced a bit on the topic of proof and faith.  Today, I want to take a look at how we often call for faith on things that can, in reality, have a foundation of proof, and then, how we look for proof at things that we can only take on faith.

Perhaps one of the worst examples of taking something on faith that can actually be proven tends not so much to be matters of faith, but simply, what we believe the Bible teaches about certain things.  I have noticed that people tend to come to me with questions, and I find it really easy to simply tell them "this is what the Bible says and teaches."  And yet, what I do when I answer in that way is to have a person take something on faith that can actually be proven. 

I know we now live in a time where knowledge of the Bible is not very great.  For example, after Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, did you know that the Pharisees plotted to put Lazarus to death?  I'm always amazed at how many people don't know that.  What this points out is that, to some degree, we do have to take the word of those who make it their life's effort to study and know God's Word. 

Yet, I also wonder if that doesn't do a disservice to God's people.  Rather than take the word of someone else, this is actually something that they can look up, which they can find the "proof" of for themselves.  I have found myself more and more directing people to relevant places in the Bible so that they can discover the proof, and to have it stick with them a bit more.

The other side of that coin is looking for proof in matters that simply must be taken on faith.  We as humans have a tendency to look for signs telling us how God is disposed toward us.  If things go well, we tend to think that this is proof that we're good with Him, and if things are bad, we must have done something wrong.  Yet, this kind of "proof" is awfully misleading.  What if God is trying to teach you how to persevere through some situation rather than just make it nice and easy?  Or what if Satan really wants you to think that the easy road is God's way, when it is leading away from God in reality?  Looking for "proof" in such matters often contradicts our belief that God can work and bring good out of any and every situation.

Believe me, there are a lot of different scenarios I can paint on this topic.  These two are simply to help you think about the proper roles of faith and proof. 

Faith and Tension: Proof and Faith

If I told you that I saw a two-headed hummingbird yesterday, would you believe me?  Perhaps not.  After all, nothing in your life experience has prepared you to believe that a two-headed hummingbird exists.  You might think I was crazy, or perhaps had a little too much of the sacramental wine.

But then, what if you ran into two other people who said that they saw the same bird?  They could describe how it looked, and it looked remarkably similar to the one that I had told you about.  Sure, they may have seen it in a different location, but now you suddenly have more than one person who has seen something.  Do you believe it yet?

What if, two months from now, you also have another person tell you that they have seen this two-headed hummingbird?  You still haven't seen it, and nothing in your life experience tells you that such a thing exists.  Now, however, you have heard from three people who saw it in a relatively close location and time, and then from another person at a different location, and at a significantly different time.  What is your thought on the two-headed hummingbird now?  Remember, you still haven't seen it. 

The obvious correlation here is with the resurrection of Jesus.  But we could also extend this to His miracles, and how God has worked in the world at various times.  But because we are a people who have been taught by the principles that come from the age of the Enlightenment, we're conditioned to believe that proof is needed in order to believe something.  If something cannot be proven, then it simply cannot have taken place.

Yet, in recent years, a new line of thinking has started to emerge from this "Enlightenment" kind of thinking.  It is the realization that not everything can be explained or proven.  While there is still a reluctance to make the connection to a personal God who has authority over all things, it has also come to people's attention that not everything can be explained or proven, and that there always seem to be exceptions to what seemed to be a hard and fast "rule".

There are things about our faith that will always be taken on faith.  Jesus resurrecting Himself from the dead will be one of those, as will be His taking the guilt and shame of our sin upon Himself.  Nothing will ever "prove" those things.  Yet, when we see the scope of God's Word, how His servant would suffer and die as Jesus did, and as God ties the bearing of sin to His servant, the proof is that there is one who would undergo such things.  Jesus underwent exactly what was foresaid.  And since we see that fulfillment in Him, exactly as was told ahead of time, our faith is that Jesus did what He said, and took our sin and guilt upon Himself.

Likewise, there were quite a few eyewitnesses of the resurrected Jesus.  If it were only one or two people, we might not take their word as proof.  But the more people who witnessed the resurrected Jesus, in different places, and over a period of about a month and half, lent more credence to the fact that He did what He said.  While we can never "prove" the resurrection, we can believe the proof of those who did see that.

There are always some things that we will have to take on faith, that we can never "prove".  Yet, the more these are corroborated by other things that can be proven, the greater the foundation for those things that we cannot prove.  Tomorrow I will write a bit about how we can have a tendency to stress faith for things that can be proven, and ask for proof for things that we simply need to have faith on.  But in the meantime, I would love to hear your thoughts on the tension between faith and proof.

Tensions and Faith: The Spirit or the Letter of the Law

Now that we have journeyed to the cross and the empty tomb with Jesus, I want to get back to the line of thinking I had before Holy Week.  You may recall that I was presenting a number of different areas where we may find tensions in our faith life (tensions like knowing vs. believing, interacting with culture vs. being different from culture).  I would like to pick up a few more of these to sound out my thoughts on them, and as always, I welcome your thoughts on them.

You are driving down the road and come to a school crossing.  The flashing lights tell you that you must slow down to 20 MPH as you go through the zone.  You're in a hurry, so you try to see if you can get by with going 28, only to find that the officer is actually at that zone that day and caught you.

Maybe we haven't personally done that, but maybe we have seen it done.  This scene sets the stage for my thoughts on the spirit of the law and the letter of the law, with the law instead being God's Law.  We likely know the Ten Commandments (I would argue that instructions would be a better translation, but I'm not here to argue with Bible translators).  They seem pretty cut and dried.  Do this, or don't do this. 

Then, we hear Jesus' words in places like Matthew 5:21-42.  Here, Jesus points out that keeping the law goes beyond merely doing the actions or not doing the actions.  There is a level of intent which God looks at.  We see this also in another place, in Matthew 23:23, that Jesus speaks to the scribes and Pharisees, saying that they had been neglecting justice even though they had been diligent in their tithes.  Then, He gives this very interesting statement: "These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others."

I often hear arguments about how Jesus doesn't look so much at our outward keeping of the law, but at how we obey the spirit of God's law.  I have also heard the argument that we should strive to our utmost to outwardly keep the law perfectly.  Truth be told, I believe that most of us have a tendency toward one side or the other in this.

Going back to the school crossing earlier in the post: do we slow down because the law says, or because our intent is to show the children crossing there that we care enough for them by slowing down to safe speeds to keep them safe?  I believe Jesus would say the same thing as what I just quoted above.  You do it for both reasons.  If you outwardly keep the law, but couldn't care less for the children as they cross, you are not demonstrating love for your neighbor, and are not keeping with the spirit of the law.  If you keep with the spirit of the law, but believe that you have a better ability to control your car than most, so you can go faster, you are not keeping the letter of the law. 

I believe that God intends for us to keep both the spirit and the letter of the law, and to do so perfectly.  However, I also believe that there is not a single one of us who can do this, which is why we find ourselves wrestling so much over this matter, and why it will continue to be a tension in our faith life.

Easter's done, now what?

The authors of the accounts of Jesus' life would probably not be considered great biographers by today's standard.  When you consider that the longest account of Jesus' life is a mere 28 chapters long (Matthew's), it doesn't seem like they spent a lot of time digging into the rich details of Jesus' life.  A few scattered stories, teachings, and miracles, and then a bit of time looking at Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, and that's about all that we are told.

Today, a person's biography may be several hundred pages thick.  It contains detailed accounts of what happened in that person's life.  It may even include specific notes or quotes that the person made or wrote.  Anything less would seem inadequate to describe their life.

When we look at Jesus' life after the resurrection, we also find that it may seem a bit incomplete.  Jesus continued among His disciples for 40 days after His resurrection, yet we are also told remarkably little about that.  The Gospel writer John hints that Jesus did quite a bit during this time (John 20:30-31), but in terms of actual stories, we don't get a whole lot.

In some ways, that's how life can be after we celebrate Easter, too.  As Christians, we celebrate our big holy day, and then what?  I can almost guarantee that attendance in most churches will drop significantly next Sunday as compared to yesterday.  The focus of many people will turn from Easter to the end of school, the planning of summer vacations and trips, and other distractions of life.

Yet, the reason we Christians believe what we believe is because there was still a great deal to accomplish once the great Easter Event had taken place.  On the cross, Jesus had taken the sins of the world into oblivion, so that their guilt cannot come between us and God.  In His resurrection, Jesus conquered death and the grave so that we can have life. 

Jesus accomplished much, so much more than what we can imagine.  But one thing yet remained.  That story needed to be told to the world so that all would know what God had done for them.  Yes, Jesus alone had accomplished what no other could.  But without that story being told, He might as well have not even done it.

Easter's done.  Now what?  Now you and I have the joy and privilege of telling that story in our lives, with those with whom God causes us to come into contact with.  We don't have to travel to far lands to be missionaries.  In fact, we are missionaries to the people next door, and across the street, and in the grocery store, and at the bank.  Every person who does not yet know and believe that Jesus did great things for them is someone who needs a missionary in their life.

Easter's done.  Now what?  Now find someone to tell the story to.  They need what Jesus did just as much as you and I do.

Holy Week: Easter

The central component of the Christian faith is that of Jesus rising from the dead.  In the history of the world, there has never been any other person who could claim to have raised Himself from the dead.  The words which Jesus had spoken, "No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord, and if I lay it down, I have authority to take it up again" are proven true as Jesus rose from the grave.  Unlike Lazarus, no one was standing outside the tomb, calling for Jesus to come out.  In fact, with guards in place, stones rolled over the entrance and sealed, it seemed rather that everyone was determined to make sure that Jesus was dead and gone.

Yet, the first events of that morning likely served to only deepen the confusion surrounding Jesus than to bring clarity to what His life was about.  There was the earthquake as the angel moved the stone away from the entrance to the tomb, which apparently happened as the women approached the tomb early that morning.  The guards were terrified, and ended up running away, only to be told to say that the disciples had stolen the body (which happened to be the very thing that the guards had been put there to prevent).  Some of the disciples came to the tomb, after hearing from the women, but found it empty except for the grave cloths.  And only a couple of people, such as Mary Magdalene, had actually seen the resurrected Jesus.

It is interesting that the biblical accounts of that day don't really say a lot that happened until later that evening, then.  It's likely that the rumors began to circulate in the city, with the Jewish ruling leaders wanting to cast the blame for the empty tomb on the disciples.  Fearing the repercussions, they gathered together in a locked room, only to have Jesus show Himself to them.  He gave them proof of His life by eating with them, and preparing them for the new journey that they would be undertaking.  Jesus had come to forgive the sins of the world, and now they would be His messengers in that task.  He breathed the Holy Spirit upon them, and told them that He was sending them as the Father had sent Him.

If anything, the first Easter did not have the joy and fanfare that you likely have celebrated already today.  Confusion and fear seemed to be the most dominant things from that first day.  Yet, the events of that day have truly served to change the world.  After all, it's not every day that a man raises Himself from the dead.