Returning

Many have walked away from what they knew and needed to do to be successful. We chased quick wealth and easy money. We acted as though we could take all the benefit and are not give any credit to God for the good things we had received - and then promptly wasted. Look around you and look at the hard time people are having - they had no plan to address anything except their idea of perfection and live in greed. The story of the Prodigal Son has a lesson for us about this very issue. A lesson of returning to find what we need and getting what we really wanted all along.

In the story of the Prodigal son, the youngest asks for his inheritance while his father is still living, and goes off to a distant country where he "squandered his wealth in wild living." and eventually has to take work feeding pigs, which is a rock bottom for him as it causes embarrassment and makes him dirty. There he comes to his senses and decides to return home and throw himself on his father's mercy. Knowing that even being his father’s servant is still far better than feeding pigs. When he returns home, his father greets him with open arms and hardly gives him a chance to express his repentance. He kills a fatted calf to celebrate his return.

In the story, we see that the younger son had at least three things wrong in his mind. First, he disrespected his father by basically wishing him to die in asking for his inheritance. Yet that is not the focus of this week. The next two errors compound his insult by injury.

Those errors are taking the full benefit and not honoring God with the Tithe as expected. God has continued these expectations today because they are part of his over all economic process. They are processes to fight against greed and abuse by individuals while ensuring continuing prosperity for the person and whole society. The idea was and is that our behavior is a reflection of what we believe, feel, and want. The behaviors that reveal self-centeredness also reveal that if we strike tough times as the Prodigal did we are on our own. We are there because we are the ones who walked away from the promises and processes of God.

Yet, though we walk away and get in a tight spot God is not calloused to us. He will greet us and throw a party - we just have to return.

God does not care why you return - just that you return. Once you have, you will begin to find the grace and mercy that transforms. Your heart and motive transform with the new interaction, but it cannot be so until you return. Presence and process transform rather than truth.

This week will you return and see your worries and troubles disappear in the rearview mirror? My prayer is that you will return so you can find God giving what you do not deserve and redeeming you from what you do.

Cycling

“A senior leader in an investment bank called to tell me she was leaving her job. She realized she wouldn't make much money in the next few years and didn't want to miss her children growing up. Did you get that? She was willing to miss her children growing up if the money was good enough.” This quote by Steve Bregman shared this on CNN.com recently shows a lot of what we as a society think about life. Yet these, and other choices, are the very things that are robbing us of life with worry. We have become so stressed and strained that worship and resting in God is a distant memory – we have seen the glitter of what we thought was gold and yet it turned out to be fool’s gold.

While we may not be giving up our children’s childhood, we often do give up the peace and presence of God. We do so by chasing forever the next dollar, gadget, fashion, or whatever it is that strikes our newest fancy. Over the next few weeks, I will be sharing about the process God uses to ensure prosperity that endures and transforms.

The first, is to partake in a day of Sabbath. This is a day of Worship and rest. Within the Jewish faith and some Christian traditions this is a particular day of the week – specifically Saturday (Seventh Day Sabbath). Historically, most Christians used to use Sunday (First Day Sabbath) as a day of Worship, rest and preparation. This concept transcends these faiths to Buddhism, Islam, Wicca, and others.

The whole point of each of these Sabbaths is to ensure that we acknowledge God’s ownership and creation of the world. They also are days to acknowledge the fact that we need a day of worship and rest to prepare for the world in which we live. We are created to work, but this day was created by God to ensure that we stopped the rat race of constant and frantic activity. The goal of the day is Worship, but also giving everyone a way and time where there are no rivalries and anxieties to keep our mind working, and taxed.

Our current rat race has led to destruction in confidence, care, and even compassion. It is time that we take a day and withdraw from the ongoing cares of the world so that we can redirect our efforts in ways that builds a sense of the sacred in everything we do. Ways of viewing the world in life affirming and powerful ways. It is time to embrace this discipline in our lives so that we can find rest and peace rather than conflict, stress and anxiety as we live currently.

This week, embrace a day of Sabbath. One you celebrate God in community and one that you do not fill with a bunch of other activities. Frantic entertainment is as unhealthy as frantic work. Sabbath can bring balance and teach us how it to make life livable and productive.

Cross Carrying

We love a winner! We have been taught in so many ways that winning is the only thing that matters. Hence we have all these sports heroes, politicians, even ourselves who will do whatever it takes to win, even if that means we sell our souls. Really, is winning worth whatever it costs? Can we change our attitudes to make winning something that comes from a life and process of integrity rather than to be bought with enhancing drugs, shortcuts. What would it mean to find victory by carrying the cross for Jesus rather than just showing up for the resurrection without any clue of what had happened?

We see in the passion narrative the following: “Along the way they came on a man from Cyrene named Simon and made him carry Jesus' cross.” Here we have a bystander that is pressed into service by the Roman Guards to serve someone who is about to die. He has children with him and yet he has to leave them as he carries the cross for a beaten and bleeding Jesus. He has little clue who this Jesus is since he comes from Libya and is just in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover on a pilgrimage. Oh he may have heard of him, but the fact remains he was not a follower and he had possibly some small information regarding Jesus based on the events of that week.

Why is it that someone who is not a follower is pressed into this service. Are those who claim to be so distant and uncommitted that they will not remain? Are they so concerned about themselves that they abandon what they claimed were their convictions and faith? Are they so short sighted as to not see that victory will come, but that they must endure difficulty to get there?

Simon becomes a Christ follower and his sons evangelists. Imagine how their first experience must have formed their views and passion for the one who died that they might live abundantly. These are not people who saw Jesus initially at the height of his ministry, or even traveled with him for a period of years, but that initial interaction forged in them a powerful way of being followers.

Imagine three days later when the tomb is empty and the women interact with Jesus and do not recognize him because they did not see New Life. Perhaps Simon of Cyrene was better able to see the possibility because he did not have the stake in the old way of thinking. He was not a fatalist, but rather a pragmatist who saw Jesus for who he said he was rather than what he could get out of him. His relationship was bound by the tragedy and miracle of crucifixion and resurrection. He did not see with tainted eyes, but eyes that were both compassionate and expectant – albeit at different times.

This week many Christians celebrated Easter. Resurrection though comes in many ways. The only question I have for you is: Must Jesus bear the cross alone? Will you be the new Simon of Cyrene proclaiming hope and new life to those around you?

Blessings,
Pastor Greg

Crucifying Hosannas!

Hosanna! Hosanna! Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord! These were the shouts of praise for Jesus entering Jerusalem. Yet these same voices would yell crucify, crucify! Why and how could they in such a short time turn from the one they saw as Messiah and seek to have him turned over and destroyed? There are several things that could have led them there, but mostly it boils down to he was not what they wanted him to be.

They expected a coming and conquering King that would destroy their enemies. They wanted someone with military might that would expel the Romans and end the humiliation that they felt at the hands of a people that were unclean. They wanted him to rise up and lead them in a rebellion that would transform the way that they lived. They wanted to be the ones who were the occupiers rather than the occupied. They wanted to be relieved and exact revenge.

Yet, his Kingdom was not what they expected. Far from needing an army with swords, chariots and infantry, he needed people with open hearts who were willing to let the Kingdom grow in their hearts and infect the whole of their lives. He was bringing them something far more powerful than a traditional army could deliver. He was bringing something that would bring the Kingdom across boundaries and borders so that humanity could build a community that bridged the divides of humanity to one.

That Kingdom was not what they wanted. Therefore, they turned on the one that had taught and loved them. The turned because they did not listen with pure ears, but rather with ears that heard what they wanted to hear. They heard the power and promise of his words, but did not hear his message. They could not hope to hear the truth for they did not wish to be set free. They wanted to become the prisoner with the keys to the kingdom. They wanted to find in his words something other than what he said

Now, Jesus is not the only one to be greeted with praise and then crucified by the same people in short order. We still do so today. We do it with anyone who steps forward to lead. Someone who steps forward will be greeted with the same effect in different people. Some will shout crucify. Some will slink away in fear. Others will stand silently afraid of standing up themselves. Some will take a stand and be treated in much the same way.

This week what kind of kingdom are you seeking? One where you serve or one where you are served? The first is of God the second is of sin. This week I pray that you find a way to be part of what God is doing rather than just being around what God is doing. If you do so, you will no longer be Crucifying Hosannas.