Caring in Whole Not in Part

Matthew 25:40 “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’”

          So there is this wonderful little parable that Jesus tells to His disciples at the tail end of the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 25.  In it He depicts two types of people:  #1 those that feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, take in a stranger, cloth the naked, comfort the sick and visit those in prison, #2 those who don’t.  Jesus says, on the day of judgment, that #1 will get the ticket to ride on the J-Train (permission not given by Toby Mac to say that but he doesn’t read my blog, YET) and #2 will get thrown into eternal punishment; presumably the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.  Not sure exactly what that means but whatever it is, it is scary and sounds about as peaceful as being tumble dried with a family of porcupines. 

          If you are like me, you have probably excluded yourself from among those at the porcupine laundromat because we are decent people.  We would certainly not pass over someone who wanted a drink or tell a sick person they should just go find a hospital and stop bothering you.  That being the case, we are good, right?  Well… not so fast.  I am of the opinion, and I think the theology bears out, that there is a much deeper layer that Christ is showing us.  And like me also, we may have neglected a few things.  You see, if this is all about physical things we do for people then doesn’t that mean that Christ and His sacrifice are unnecessary to my salvation?  He says it right in the red letters!! As long as you take care of these people you will be welcomed into the Kingdom with open arms.  Or so it seems.  But to believe that would mean we have to throw out almost the entire New Testament (and Old for that matter) to hold on to our faulty conclusion; including the most known verse from Tim Tebow 3:16….errr… John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”  So if Tim Tebow is right, and we get into the Kingdom by repentance and believing on the sacrifice of Christ to pay the penalty of our sins, what the heck is Jesus talking about here?  And what do hungry people have to do with anything?  That is why I believe there is another layer.

          Go back and read Matthew 25:34-46 for a minute……  Seriously……  Dude, go read it!!  I will wait….  You didn’t do it did you?  Sigh.  Ok, now then, as I mentioned, Jesus points out six different categories of people we are to help.  And He addresses the physical need of what should be done to help them.  But in every parable there is always a spiritual meaning underneath; something the disciples generally ask about and Jesus will explain but in this case He did not and we are on our own.  That explains why for so many years I thought I was doing just fine.  I get the physical needs: food and water, place to stay, warm clothes, comfort to the sick, visitation to the prisoners.  But what are the spiritual needs and am I meeting those needs?

          Let’s just roll through them one by one.  First, the hungry.  They need food.  But they need to be fed spiritually.  Jesus is the Bread of Life, Jesus is the Word, therefore meet their spiritual needs by administering the Word of God in their lives.  See how easy that is?  Well they get harder.

          Number two, those who are thirsty.  They need water.  Jesus gives living water and in John 4 says that if you take of His cup you will have a well of water springing up to eternal life.  So what am I supposed to do Jesus?  Dig wells?  No.  I mean you can, but they won’t save anyone.  Well, yes but not spiritually.  Ugh.  I should have thought this through before I typed.  Digging wells and giving people water is awesome, do that.  But it will only have eternal value if it is combined with the giving of living water.  In John 4:37-39 Jesus clarifies that the living water is the Holy Spirit.  But that doesn’t really help me a lot because I can’t tell the Holy Spirit where to go or what to do.  John 3:8 says He goes where He wants to go.  So how do I spiritually give someone something to drink?  How about by offering them eternal life?  Telling others about the sacrifice of Christ, the water of repentance, the washing of the sins, the bathing of the Holy Spirit and receiving of the “sloppy wet” kisses of the Father (don’t worry Matt Redmond also not a fan).  Dig a well, yes.  As deep as the soul and fill the need by inviting the Holy Spirit to take up residence.  Have you ever done that?  A little more than just handing out water bottles after a hurricane, huh?

          Then there is the stranger.  He needs a place to stay; a home.  We may not invite strangers into our home much anymore but certainly you would be available to take someone if given the right circumstances and safety assurances.  But what about spiritually?  What could a stranger need?  Well, pretty much the same thing.  They need a home, some place to belong; a family.  We can accomplish this by inviting someone to be a part of the Church eternally.  That can start by inviting someone to YOUR church, to be a part of YOUR family and to belong as a part of a body of believers where YOU worship.  And if that is too much how about just introducing yourself to someone that seems to have a spiritual need.  It worked well enough for Forest Gump!  Momma said not to be taking rides from strangers but Forest introduced himself to bus driver Dorothy Harris and then said, “Well now we ain’t strangers any more.”  If it was in the movies, then God surely approves of this tactic.  Rolling eyes.  I think however you do it, the emphasis is on being spiritually welcoming and eternally minded.

          As for the naked, this could get interesting.  Not so sure I would recommend welcoming a naked stranger into your home but luckily Jesus separates the two so we don’t get into trouble.  First you have to clothe them.  And spiritually?  Well this is up for interpretation but God not only clothes us in Christ but He clothed us another time too, remember it’s parallel in Scripture?  It was in the garden of Eden and He did so because Adam and his wife were naked and ashamed.  Contrary to a sometimes popular opinion, church is not the place for fancy dressed parishioners.  It is the place for those who need to be clothed in Christ and a place where the shamed should be able to come in naked and find refuge.  Not a place for judgmental stares but a place for warm blankets of love and compassion for those in need of spiritual balm.  Back to the answer we have to give the King, you may drop off used clothes at the Goodwill but do you sit next to the new visitor who wore shorts because he doesn’t usually go to church and wasn’t aware of your dress code?  Do you pray with him?  Did you invite him to lunch?  Me either.

          As for the sick and those in prison, I want to address them together.  Physically they both need comfort and visitors, but why did Jesus separate them out into two groups?  Well, once again it is open for opinion but as always I have one.  These are the people who can’t leave and we have to go to them.  In both cases they are people who we don’t just come across in daily life but we have to be intentional about going out to them.  Maybe this is just your neighbor or maybe this is foreign missions, but either way they need you to go to them and bring them comfort and healing.  Who is the Healer?  Who is the Comforter?  Okay, so you know what they need spiritually but again, why did Jesus separate them?  You see I think there are two types of people who need us to go to them.  There are the sick:  those who are ignorant of their sin and ignorant of the love of Christ.  Then there are those in prison: those who are shackled in sin, desperate for a Deliverer but set against Him.  We are called to both.  It is a little easier to go to those who are unaware than it is to go to those who are belligerently against the message of Christ.  It sure would be nice if I could just tell Jesus to send someone else who has the particular gift go to all the annoying and arrogant but He called all His disciples to go to them.  Even to the difficult ones.  Do you approach them with the message of salvation or do you turn your eyes to the left and act like you don’t see them?  Me too.

          Upon further review.  I don’t have it all together.  Maybe you are feeling the same.  Good.  I don’t want to be alone with the porcupines.  No, that isn’t what would happen.  This does not mean, Christian, that you would lose your salvation for pinching your nose rather than giving a Bible to a homeless man.  But what it does mean is that if I am not meeting the spiritual needs of those in the world than I am not yet arrived in my relationship with Christ and need to go deeper.  Don’t rest on your laurels in your relationship with Christ.  Go on foreign missions, visit the darkest penitentiary, hand out encouraging letters in the hospital….but don’t forget WHY you are there.  To expose them to the Bread of Life, pour out to them living water, give them a home of belonging, cover their guilt and shame, disciple their ignorance and undo their shackles in the name of Christ.  Yes the porcupines await some but the love of God awaits you and that is your inspiration to go.  So go!

Seeking Safety

When a brook finds a home in halting

Its upstream is sure to pool.

With last corona of waning sun

The earth, it is known, must cool.

And so when wind blows great trees to

They always return by fro,

And since clouds whose changing azure shapes

Are relentless in their flow.

Our lives too have certain certainties

Although some seem all but safe.

Nature’s Master scribes our destiny,

And protection comes from faith.

Still the occasional sparrow falls,

The abstruse is in His plans,

But if that sparrow flails in Heaven

It’s brought rest in gentle hands.

Our Lord is our hope, lacking languish.

He so gives without receive.

Since peace and rest and joy He does will,

We have only to believe.

Choosing Between Religion and Grace

Matthew 15: 3 And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?”

Matthew 15:6 “And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.”

            So what exactly is going on that Jesus is being so particular about?  Well let me get into a little history for a second and then bring us all back to earth by describing how we are still guilty of doing this same thing today.  Fair enough?

            Many, many years ago in a land far, far away, God gave unto Moses what has been calculated at about 613 Laws contained in the first five books of the Bible.  Now not to be too presumptuous but one of the purposes, so says the New Testament, of giving all of these laws was to be a tutor which would lead us to Christ (Galatians 3:24).  In other words, the Law is so extensive and our human nature is so flawed, our inability to successfully complete such a monumental task as perfectly observing all the Law was to bring us to utter dependence on Christ; i.e. faith.  The Law was to lead us to repentance and the dependence on the grace of God and His strength to perfectly fulfill this Law on our behalf. 

            In comes the problem.  Problems such as basic humanism and pride began to beset those Jewish adherents to the Law and they developed the arrogant opinion that 613 was too easy.  As a result they began to write down oral traditions that were accessories to, or additions to, the current 613.  Because God’s requirements were so easily met among the truly righteous, so they reasoned, they could begin to add more weight to the Law and separate the super righteous from those who are only modestly righteous.  In comes the Mishnah.  The Mishnah was a written record of these additions which accounted for somewhere near 4200 new “laws” that the super righteous were to implement into their daily lives.  Now these were not inherently bad things.  They were intended to be reverent and help people focus on God and His holiness, etc.  The problem is that God didn’t write them.  They were entirely man made and therefore many of them actually contradicted the ACTUAL word of God in lieu of trying to honor Him.  That accounts for why Jesus, in this exchange, snapped at the Pharisees quoting Isaiah and exclaiming, “But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.” (Matthew 15:9)  You see they did not see through to the true heart of the message contained within the Law and so thought they were adhering to it when in fact they were failing in most every respect.

            One of these Mishnah laws was detailing the very specific procedures necessary to wash before you ate anything.  Now this is not to speak poorly of our Purel generation, but quite frankly, Jesus is letting them know that washing your hands before you eat is not going to somehow make you super righteous; sorry moms.  And not washing your hands before you eat is not going to somehow disqualify you from church membership.  You would think that was pretty straightforward, however, because the Mishnah laws had become so ingrained within this society post-Babylonian exile, they believed that Jesus was breaking the Law of God.  As a result they pressed on Him and wanted to tear down any clout Jesus may have been building among the Jewish cohort of disciples.  Primarily because Jesus didn’t do things the way they did things.  Jesus made them feel uncomfortable because His devotion did not look or feel like theirs did.  His ways were not their ways.  And furthermore, He was not educated or formally trained, so how would He know anyway?!

            Not moved by the Pharisee’s and their interpretation of piety, Jesus helped them to understand that not only could they not meet the 4200 laws, they also could not meet the 613, they couldn't meet even the great 10 and so teaches them to follow only the 2 (to love God with your all and to love your neighbor as yourself).  So this is where we jump ship from the history lesson and start looking for practical application today.  I am sure it is quite easy to look at their Pharisees and scribes and think, “They were so stupid.  How could they miss something so obvious?”  But do you realize that in saying that you have become one of them?  Here is the deal, we do the same thing all the time and do so MOSTLY within the church!  Not sure what I mean?  Let’s think about it for a second.

            How many Christians do you know that in arrogance state they will never see an R-rated movie because they want to be sure to keep anything impure from before their eyes?  Noble, yet are not The Passion of the Christ and Hacksaw Ridge two of the most spiritually exhilarating movies ever made?  Mishnah.  How many Christians do you know that say they don’t listen to anything but praise and worship music?  Disciplined, yet do not Jonny Lang and Lifehouse sing some of the most powerful worship music available even though in the secular market?  Mishnah.  Don’t invalidate the word of God for the sake of your tradition.

            Greater still, should a good Christian condemn another Christian for missing church?  What if that church missing sinner was absent due to the fact that they had recently discovered their mother had contracted cancer and couldn’t face people that day?  Mishnah.  When a teen girl becomes pregnant due to making a poorly thought through decision, should a good Christian be sure she understands that she needs to be repentant for her sins?  What if she is already self-condemning and really just needs a friend?  Is it not more important that among the children of God she recognizes that she is special and truly loved?  Mishnah.  Don’t invalidate the word of God for the sake of your tradition.

            What if a pastor does not deliver an alter call at the end of every service?  What if there is not a particular scripture reading at your men’s Bible study and instead you just fellowship?  What if your devoted prayers are spoken with your eyes open and while driving your car instead of kneeling in your prayer closest?  What if your unbelieving neighbor asks you to come over for a beer because he has some life questions to ask you?  What if you have to mow your yard on Sunday to avoid a HOA violation ticket that would inhibit your ability to get groceries for your kids this week?  On and on and on.  Don’t invalidate the word of God for the sake of your tradition.

            God’s word is clear and succinct.  He doesn’t beat around the bush and makes His commandments pretty clear.  But there is always a reason that He says the things He says.  And the reason always defaults to one thing:  He loves you.  Or better said, He loves His children.  Do you first and foremost respond to situations with this in mind?  Or do you first and foremost respond based on what you have interpreted from a passage of Scripture that may or may not be speaking into the context with which you are currently presented?  Do not take wrong what I am trying to say.  Should the Sabbath be observed?  Of course.  Is it good to protect your eyes from viewing unclean things?  Beyond the shadow of a doubt.  Should a pregnant teen be aware of God’s will for her life?  You bet she should.  But do we default to condemnation and judgment or do we love.  Jesus says in Matthew 11:30 that His burden is light.  The church and its people should not then be going around and adding burden in response but rather directing people to Him to let Him take the burden for Himself. 

            Have a beer with your neighbor and talk to Him about why you love the Lord.  Hug the neck of the pregnant teen and tell her that you will always be available to her if she needs to talk.  Mow your yard and feed the little blessings that God has put under your care.  Watch Hacksaw Ridge and take the whole family.  Listen to Jonny Lang's “That Great Day” even if you have to go to the House of Blues to hear it.  Matthew 22:38 “This is the foremost and greatest commandment.”  Throw down the Mishnah in your heart and love the Lord and His people.  Extend a little grace on the front end and see what happens to the sin on the backside.  There is always time for judgment but the Holy Spirit does a pretty good job of that on His timing and in His great ways; not mine.

            

Does God Honor My Free Will?

                

                I never hear this question:  “Does God honor my free will?”  I always hear it phrased as a definitive statement such as:  “God would never force someone in anything because He is a gentleman and honors/respects our free will.”  But then the people that say this never back it up with any biblical proof.  This assumption that God honors/respects (does not encroach upon) our free will just does not hold much water with me so I wanted to do the following study to see what the Bible says. 

                First of all let me make a few points about this “assumption statement” to simply voice some things I find irritating about the statement in general.  For one, why would someone define God as a gentleman?  I love God, but “gentle” is a pretty strange way to describe Him because it is such a small part of who God is.  Gentleness is one of the fruits of the Spirit so I have no problem with saying that God is gentle, but describing Him as a gentleman would be much like referring to George Washington as Episcopalian.  Okay so he was an Episcopalian but he was much more to the history of this country than that right?  In the same way, God is truly gentle but He gets done what needs to be done even if it requires His commands, His rebuke, His discipline, or even His wrath.  It doesn’t feel gentle when I am being rebuked; how about you?  At the very least I think we could agree that God has other attributes as well and He does not always operate in ways that are gentlemanlike.  In addition to that, let’s not forget that many “gentlemen” in the south owned slaves who were of course held to work against their free will so being a gentleman does not preclude someone from imposing their own will.   Sorry, the idea of confining God within the simple guidelines of a gentleman limits His abilities to within human institutions and I serve a limitless God who surprisingly (tongue-in-cheek) exists outside of our regard for Him.  Exodus 22:20, 22-24 “He who sacrifices to any god, other than to the Lord alone, shall be utterly destroyed.  You shall not afflict any widow or orphan.  If you afflict him at all, and if he does cry out to Me, I will surely hear his cry; and My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.”  Gentle, huh?  And just so you know it is not just an Old Testament thing:  Matthew 16:23 “But He turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind Me, Satan!  You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.’”  In both of these examples God is speaking to believers not unbelievers.  Of course God turns His wrath on those who dishonor and deny Him, but the thought that He is beyond treating believers with anything but gentleness and courtesy is asinine. 

                Second, the Bible says that God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34, Romans 2:11, Ephesians 6:9 KJV).  God does what He does with some regard to me only because He loves me (John 3:16) but He does not wait for my approval before He acts.  That would imply that I am god not Him.  This thought is, in fact, entirely prideful and humanistic and reveals the self-centered arrogance Satan has convinced us is true justice.  Can’t you just hear Satan whispering in the ears of the immature “God would not surely make you do something outside of your own will, would He?”  Doesn’t that sound eerily like the conversation with the woman in the garden, “You will not surely die…for God knows in that day…you will be like God.”  Let’s not assume what God says, but instead look and see what God’s word ACTUALLY says.  Romans 9:15-18 “For He says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’  So then is does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.  For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.’  So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.”  Sorry to burst anyone’s bubble but these verses clearly spell out that God is not altering His will just because you will something else.  It is, in fact, only when we align our will with God’s will that we will receive what we desire (Psalm 37:4).  He is not changing for anyone just because they “free will” something different.  Job 23:13 “But He is unique and who can turn Him?  And what His soul desires, that He does.”  Hello?   

                I am not going to take the time to go through each verse of the Bible that speaks to God’s sovereignty, His predestination of events or His all-powerful nature, etc.  Instead I figured I would just compile some of the stories littered throughout the Bible and see if we can identify any times where God enacted one plan while the subject “free willed” something different.  Maybe the weight of the evidence will point to whether or not God honors our will or His own….just sounds funny even saying it, doesn’t it?  Is this seriously even an argument?

1)      Jonah:  The prophet Jonah was commanded by the Lord (not asked) to go to the people of Nineveh and warn them that they were wicked and the Lord had taken notice and was about to destroy them.  Jonah, in his free will, fled.  He got on a ship headed to the ends of the known world.  Despite Jonah’s obvious desire to flee from God and the task God had commanded him to complete, God sent a storm in the path of Jonah’s flight.  The storm forced Jonah into the sea and he was swallowed by a great fish.  While in the belly of the fish, Jonah’s will to flee broke and he then willed to live.  The fish vomited him out on the shore and God again commanded him to go to Nineveh which he did. 

Thoughts-  I suppose God “gently” encouraged Jonah to change his mind?  Then He was patient and loving to Jonah in order to win Jonah’s heart?  I suppose God didn’t want to impose His will on Jonah so He drowned him (water-boarding) until he repented?  If I could be permitted to use my own words, I would say that God broke Jonah’s will like a glass vase in a cement mixer.  This hardly lines up with our original “assumption statement.” 

2)      Philip:  One of the original deacons in the Acts church, Philip in Acts chapter 8 comes across an Ethiopian reading out of the book of Isaiah.  After describing how this story spoke of the Christ, the Ethiopian was saved and Philip baptized him in a body of water along the road that connects Jerusalem to Gaza.  Then in Acts 8:39 the Bible tells us that “the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away.”  Philip was miraculously transported to the city of Azotus where he continued to preach the gospel.

Thoughts-  “Snatched away?”  But what if he didn’t want to leave yet?  He was not compelled to leave.  He was not asked to go to Azotus.  He was “snatched.”  This is only further proof that God is not as concerned with our opinion as He is His own will.   

3)      Simon of Cyrene:  Simon was a Jew from North Africa who was in Jerusalem at the time of the crucifixion of Christ celebrating the Passover with his sons Rufus and Alexander.  We do not necessarily know that Simon became a believer but his sons undoubtedly did since they were known by the readers of Mark’s gospel as is evident in the language used in Mark 15:21 (see also Romans 16:13).  Mark tells us that Simon was “pressed” into the service of carrying Jesus’ cross while Luke tells us Simon was “seized” and they placed the cross on him.

Thoughts-  Now words like “pressed” and “seized” do not sound much like free will.  In fact, it sounds as if God was accomplishing His goals of crucifying His Son regardless of if Simon wanted to help out or not.  God was going to use Simon to accomplish His goals even if Simon was late for dinner or even if Simon was allergic to wood.

4)      Judas:  And on that note, how could we forget Judas.  He was the disciple who was hand selected by Christ to assure that He fulfilled God’s will to sacrifice His own Son so that He could bring Him back to life and redeem His Church.

Thoughts-  No doubt, Judas shows his free will when he sells Jesus to the Jews/Romans for 30 pieces of silver, but upon closer examination, it appears that Judas changes his mind and returns the money (Matthew 27).  So was he perhaps “forced” to do something outside of his will?  At the very least we can say that he was not allowed to change his mind no matter how desperately he wanted to.  I don’t think it was Judas’ will to have his guts spilled out in the Field of Blood, but that is what God did to him anyway.  What a gentleman!

5)      Joseph:  The favorite son of Jacob, Joseph was hated by his brothers and sold into slavery.  As he faithfully persisted to honor God no matter the circumstances, he eventually elevated to 2^nd in command of Egypt and saved a continent from starvation. 

Thoughts-  Not only was it the will of the brothers that Joseph died, it was the will of Ruben (the brother that saved him and sold him into slavery) that Joseph go away forever.  Genesis 50:20 “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.”  Do you see the contradiction between wills in that text?   Joseph did not expressly admit to having a different will than God’s but common sense would tell us that he was not asked if he would be willing to be sold to a foreign country.

6)       Nebuchadnezzar:  The king of Babylon the great who, because of his arrogance and pride, was made by God to go crazy and live out in the fields with the cattle for seven years.  God’s emphasis in this was that Nebuchadnezzar turn from his pride by being humbled, recognizing that “the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.” (Daniel 4:17 & 4:32).  When Nebuchadnezzar was broken from this pride, his kingdom was reestablished by God.  He then concludes:  Daniel 4:37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride.

Thoughts-  Again we see the example of God not being a gentleman, or respecter of persons, but outright asserting His authority which He has every right to do.  He does not hesitate to break us until we do as He commands.  That doesn’t sound like free will to me.  That sounds like sovereignty.  If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck.

Did He ask Mary if she wanted to be the mother of Christ?  Did the Israelites want to be exiled into Babylon for 70 years?  Did the Hebrews impose a 40 year desert wondering on themselves?  Did they not even criticize Moses and say that he should have left them in Egypt because he took them out against their will?  Did He ask Mary and Martha if it would be okay if Lazarus died so Jesus could raise him? Did He ask the disciples if they wanted to follow Him or did He command them saying, “Follow me.”  So many stories where God uses us to accomplish His will whether we want Him to or not.  So where in the world do we get making claims like our assumption statement?  These are just a few examples off the top of my head but I am sure there are dozens more.  I think I have made the point adequately but if not just don’t make this statement around me.  We are often so concerned with retaining our self-worth and self-independence that we forget who it is that gives us worth and makes us free.  Many people will come back to say, “Well we are not just puppets or robots to God.”  To this statement I would agree that we are not “just” puppets but we are at least partly puppets.  That is kind of what I meant by surrendering my life over to His will.  Here are my strings.   You pull where you want me to go because I have made a wreck of things.  Not that He can now use me if He wants to because I give Him permission, but that He was using me all along and I am just going to stop resisting Him.  I don’t want my will to have to be broken like Jonah’s anymore.  If you are not His “puppet” then you need to take a look at your strings and see whose puppet you are.  The Bible says we are slaves; either slaves to righteousness or slaves to sin (Romans 6).  Slaves, I think most would admit, do not have the freedom to choose the way of life they desire.  They are tied to their masters and whatever they will.  So why is that so hard for us to swallow?  Because we want to be like God just as the woman in the garden did thousands of years ago.  Satan’s doesn’t have to get new tricks when they have worked all along.

Awestruck

“Awestruck”

It’s more from within and the living without

The heart, mind and eye locked in spectacle’s bout

Entrapped by this struggle all else is forgot

A plunging chin separates lips from their blot

Sparkling serenity warms the obsession

As covetous crave to grasp this possession

And yet it’s eluding and so is sought more

As breeze whisks the scent of this previous lore

Radiant beauty was happened me by luck

And I become one of the many awestruck.

You Can't Judge Me!

          

          

              The day had come when all the nations were to be judged.  One by one, God heard the testimony of all those on the earth, the living and the dead,  and one by one He began to separate them onto His right and onto His left.  At the sight of this many who had suffered much began to take exception to the fact that anyone could judge them having not experienced the same hardships from which they were cast.  They shouted out to each other “How can a God who lives outside the presence of sin even begin to judge we who are encircled by evildoers day and night?” and “Living in such a place of privilege without pain and without tears, how can He presume to sit as a magistrate condemning those with circumstances He cannot even pretend to understand?”  Having sufficiently rallied themselves against God, they requested that the act of separation cease and that the Almighty lend them an ear to make their case against Him.  Gracefully and without fear of any judgment, our Father granted His accusers a moment to let themselves be heard.  One by one they came from the ends of the earth accusing the Lord and saying, “How do you know that You would not have acted in the same way as we have if faced with the same intolerance and injustices, and how do You know that we SHOULD be without sin when you are not weak like we are?” 

An African American man, having been buried since the 1960’s came before Him with rope marks still imprinted on his neck saying, “I was killed for no other reason than that I was hated due to ignorance.  I did nothing wrong and yet I was convicted in front of a prejudiced jury who wanted nothing more than the blood of someone who made them uncomfortable and they did not understand.  How then can You judge me since You know nothing of such things?”  

A victim of the Nazi holocaust next approached the throne with the tattooed reminders of her previous life.  She looked towards God’s patient eyes and said, “Look at these scars.  Have I not already been judged?  My suffering and death were given to me solely because a country and its leaders were afraid of my beliefs.  How then can You judge me since You know nothing of this kind of persecution?”

Each person approaching the throne had a new accusation for the Lord.  Each doubted God’s ability to understand since He had never had to endure suffering, pain, persecution or sorrow while sitting upon His throne enjoying the praises of the angels.  God waited compassionately for each person and each charge to be completely exhausted.  Upon there completion God asked the nations, “What then would be your judgment upon Me?”  The many nations and each of the nation’s many accusers deliberated for some time so that they could return an answer to the Lord that would relegate Him to tears and humble Him to the point that He might have no grounds for unjustly passing judgment on the children of the earth who had already been through so much.  Finally, they had reached a conclusion and were ready to bring their judgment against the Almighty.  As a delegation they decided that He should be made to endure all that they had endured so that He would understand.  They decided He should be made a man like them and placed on the earth to suffer that He might be qualified before being permitted to indict anyone of any charges.  Each accuser would be given the opportunity to place their own sorrows upon Him to make sure that he would have the opportunity to understand their point of view.

The hanged African American man said, “Let Him be convicted before a prejudiced jury who wants nothing more than the blood of a man who makes them uncomfortable and let Him be killed for no other reason than that he was hated due to the ignorance of others.”

The holocaust victim said, “Let Him show the scars of this judgment as permanent as tattoos and let Him be persecuted by a country who was afraid of what He believes.”

A man in a business suit said, “Let Him feel the pressures of having so many mouths to feed and yet have such limited resources.  He will surely not have time for His family or time for spiritual things when faced with such a challenge.  Only then let Him judge me.”

An Ethiopian woman said, “Let Him suffer hunger so that you can count His bones and let his thirst be so great that his tongue sticks to His jaw.”

Next, a man in prison clothes said, “Because I was executed of a crime I did not commit, let the iniquities of another be placed upon His head and let Him pay the price for their sins even though He has done no wrong.”

A pregnant teenager said, “Let Him know what it feels like to be pierced by the hypocritical glances of many accusers who judge Him to be a sinner but don’t understand the whole story.”

A leprous man came giving judgment saying, “Let Him suffer the rejection of men, being despised as one from whom men hide their faces.”

A woman who had long suffered from depression said, “Let Him know what it feels like to be all alone with no one left to show you compassion.” 

His next litigant was a frail creature suffering from anorexia and bulimia.  She said to the jury, “Let Him know what it is like to have no desirable form or beauty.” 

Then a figure in funeral clothes approached the throne saying, “Because I have been widowed, let Him know what it feels like to be abandoned by His bride and left to suffer the biggest challenge of His life with no one to support Him.”

His next tear-filled challenger was a young man with fresh wounds who came saying, “Let Him know what it feels like to be betrayed by the closest of His friends.”

A long-suffering mother came and said, “Let Him be filled with tears over the insubordination and defiance of the children whom He loves so much He would be willing to die for.  Let Him see their wayward direction, plead with them to listen to wisdom, and then stand by watching them continue in their hard-heartedness.”

Approaching next was a fatherless child who said, “Let Him suffer with the absence of the support of His father.”

A heartbroken lover said in His presence, “Let Him feel the devastation of love lost so great that His heart is like wax melted within His chest.”

An overworked mother said, “Let Him feel the stress of everyone wanting something from you all the time and never bothering to ask ‘How are you doing?’”

A homeless man came forward and hurled out, “Let Him know what it is like to spend the night in the freezing cold because you have no place else to lay your head.”

On and on the prosecution littered a barrage of indictments against Him; each rendering their own form of justice making sure that every possible form of suffering would be dished out so that He might more clearly understand what it is we suffer in the deficiency of this cruel kingdom.  Surely He would not even be able to stand against the measure of His own judgment, and in so realizing this He might then render a favorable judgment on them due to the extenuating circumstances that led them to never be able to surrender to Him.  When the judgment of the nations had been completed, the Lord then opened His mouth to answer the accusers:

To African American man He replied, “Was I not convicted before a prejudiced jury and killed for no other reason than that I was hated?”

To victim of the holocaust He said, “And do I not also have the permanent scars of the judgment of my countymen?”

Answering each in turn, He said to the businessman:   “Did I not feed thousands with a few loaves, and find time for prayer despite being pressed on all sides?”

To the Ethiopian, “Did I not suffer on the cross such that one could even count my bones?  Did I not also thirst but then was only given sour wine?” 

To the prisoner, “Was I not also a prisoner executed of a crime I did not commit?  Were not the iniquities of the entire world placed upon Me even though I did no wrong?”

To the pregnant teen, “Have I not also been pierced and have I not also been counted among sinners being made to endure unspoken judgments?”

To the leper, “Was I not the rejected cornerstone?”

To the depressed, “Was I not alone when my sheep were scattered?” 

To the anorexic bulimic, “Was I not voluntarily made common and without majesty?”

To the widow, “Have I not been abandoned continuously and unceremoniously by the bride I came to serve?”

To the betrayed, “Do you not believe I understand what it is like to have a close friend do the unthinkable against me?”

To the long-suffering,  “Have I not also spoken ‘O Jerusalem… how often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing?’”

To the fatherless, “I too cried out to My Father, ’why have You forsaken Me?’”

To the heartbroken, “Do I not also know the pain of a broken heart?  While yours suffers and will be healed, Mine has even exploded inside my chest.”

To the overworked, “I have only known service and when have others ever asked Me how I am doing?”

To the homeless, “Do you not remember that ‘the Son of Man has no place to lay His head?’”

To each He answered in like manner, giving a sympathetic but challenging response for every accusation.  Finally, with one fell swoop He stated to all, “You have accused Me of these things because you have not known My Son who is in Me and I in Him.  If you would have known Him, you would have known that I have suffered not only these things but so much more.  You would understand that though I would have been justified to judge you without doing so, I also suffered so that I would be blameless before any accusation.  It is because you have chosen to be blinded by your own sufferings instead of acknowledging the saving power of the death, burial, and resurrection of my Son, Jesus Christ, that you have now been condemned.  For had you been able to see past yourselves you would have found sanctuary in knowing there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  Go now and find your home in the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Putting their heads down they knew that He was right.  They had heard the stories and were now reminded of the messages they had rejected from their parents, friends, pastors, and co-workers. He had endured these things and He had in fact endured even greater.  Laying down their scepters at the feet of the Savior, they exchanged them for shackles and began to march.  As they walked in file away from the Light, they realized how they had used their circumstances to try to justify their lives.  They remembered how they felt somehow prepared with the armory of these accusations if in fact there was a God that they would have to stand before.  How silly those arguments now seemed in response to an Almighty, All-knowing, Star-breathing Creator whose judgment comes out of the heavens, not from the perspective of the throne but from the cross.   

In Refusal of Choice

Nature bleeds in radiant glory

Deposits of gleaming tint.

It’s found in the lily’s hiding spot

Down where the river grows bent.

It’s seen across the evening sky

Bookmarking the day’s at end.

Fear not when blending richness departs

In morning it comes again.

It lies, as well, in tendering heart

Of beauty’s perfecting eyes,

As she longs that she may never leave,

Yet must for winged time flies.

It stands in nuance of mountain’s pools;

Its innocence safe from sound.

So undisturbed is its purity

Touching to comfort dry ground.

It last with strength of comradery,

The forest, its view, shows cast.

The power of the aspen or pine,

A few that provide the vast.

Colors serve as God’s divine polish.

We relish their every hue.

How quite demeaning to choose the best?

The question I bring to you.