Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Jesus, Einstein, and Paul

Luke 6.20-21 (ESV)
And he [Jesus] lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said:
"Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God
"Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.
"Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh."


This is how Jesus began his first sermon recorded in Luke's Gospel. He says elsewhere that he has come to help the sick rather than those who are well, and that he will preach the gospel to the poor while the rich will find it almost impossible to enter Heaven.

He presents me, and all of us, with a challenge. Will I rely on my own abilities to provide material stability and meaning to my life? Or will I recognize that all my riches are utterly worthless? I had always been told as a child how humble and kind and good and smart I was. The trouble was, I bought it! Instead of helping, the thought that I was good all on my own kept me from putting my complete trust in Jesus' saving work for me until my Junior year of high school. I have come to see that most of what people saw as my goodness was only my own pride that sought their approval above the approval of God. God's blessing, as Jesus said in his sermon, comes to those who are poor and hungry and who weep over their own brokenness.

So I can identify with Albert Einstein who wrote in a newly publicized letter,
"The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses." He was half right! God helps and is real to those who are weak, not those who depend on their own abilities. What a barrier Einstein faced in his intelligence! His amazing abilities unfortunately gave him a grounds to dismiss his desperate need for reconciliation to God.

On the other hand, I love the example of the apostle Paul. He penned many of the letters that are now part of the New Testament of the Bible. He had been intelligent, ambitious, and well respected among those opposed to Jesus and his disciples. But Jesus grabbed him and turned him around (you can read the story, including his name change from Saul, of in Acts 9). In his letter to the church in Philippi, Paul recounted all the things he had going for him, then made the most remarkable statement, "But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ." (Philippians 3.7)

I thank God that he has enabled me to follow Paul's example rather than Einstein's by capturing me with the grace earned for me by Jesus' death and resurrection. And I pray he will do the same for you.

Monday, May 12, 2008

Following my Father

My son is almost 1 year old, and he often mimics what my wife and I do. Sometimes, this is good, or just adorable. But sometimes I do things I would not want him to mimic. I was reminded on Sunday of my heavenly Father's perfect actions and how I should be sure to follow his lead, not depending on my own strength or following other teachers. . .

Luke 6.35

But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.

This was the core of the passage my pastor taught from this Sunday. (The whole passage was Luke 6.17-49.) This message left me reeling from a change in perspective that God brought to me through it. Earlier in the passage, Jesus says,
"Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. . . But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation." (Luke 6.20, 24) At the beginning of the message, I was feeling quite rich in my own righteousness. I read the Bible every day, I pray, I even write a blog about God's words and work. But I am spiritually poor. I have nothing good of my own to bring to God, and I can't even satisfy my own needs with my own work.

I am not doing fine when I see the commands in this passage and try to fulfill them myself. That foolishly building my house on sand (Luke 6.49). But I am "blessed" and counted as a "son of the most high" when I recognize my abject poverty and allow it to drive me to depend on God's grace. Then, the things I do are out of imitation of the God who loves me and does good to me even when I rebel against his loving actions. I will treat others they way I ought to, with the sacrificial love of Jesus. And the house that rises is not a shack that washes away in the rain, but a strong shelter built on the foundation of Jesus' work. He perfectly did all that he preached in this passage, and when I accept his righteousness in trade for my own spiritual poverty, I am rich and well fed and filled with joy greater than any that I could ever obtain for myself!

Thank you, God, for again revealing my poverty and causing me to mourn my brokenness and hunger for your wholeness. Please keep reminding me that only you can bring me riches, nourishment, and joy that have no equal.

Friday, May 2, 2008

The Price of the Priceless Treasure

Matthew 13.44-46
"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it." (ESV)

One way to read these two analogies made by Jesus is to suppose that, like these two men, Christians are somehow privy to secret information, which we are to keep from others while we make personal sacrifices to buy our way into God's favor. But nothing could be further from the truth!

It is so easy to live as though my actions will control God's opinion of me, or earn me a place in heaven, or can make me more or less qualified for God's help in this life. People will say, "God helps those who help themselves," and sometimes I live as though it were true! When push comes to shove, I tend to retreat into my own world where my education, intelligence, and physical ability are enough to meet the demands on me. I somehow think that if I am strong enough, I can honor God. Or, more honestly, I think that I am better of bringing myself honor by working harder.

Instead, God has been good to remind me of the example of Paul when he wrote to the church in Philippi (Philippians 3.7-8): "
But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord." What Paul and the two men Jesus spoke of have in common is that when they saw the incredible value of Christ, they saw everything else they had (money, possessions, ability, self-righteousness) as utterly worthless in comparison! The men did not sell everything they had to earn the great treasures they had found. They sold all they had because it did not matter any more.

God, please kill the pride in me that holds on to "my abilities" as something valuable. Teach me instead to lean only on your grace and on your work that reconciles me to you and makes all other things I have and pursue look as worthless as they truly are!