We expect loyalty from friends. We expect friends to have our backs when life turns sour. And in the same way, we want to be loyal to our friends. We want to give the gifts of support and presence when our friends face hardship. We want them to know that we will be there for them. They can count on us when the chips are down.
Jesus’ Thursday revealed friends who were NOT there for Him. On Thursday we get a glimpse of the lonely road He travelled to meet His destiny with torture and crucifixion.
With little more than twenty four hours of life left, Jesus gave His disciples orders to prepare a room for them to enjoy a meal together. All thirteen of them gathered in that upper room in a home in Jerusalem to eat. During supper, Jesus rose to take care of the important detail that none of the twelve had wanted to do. He - the Lord and Master - washed their dirty, grimy feet.
Then, resuming His place at the table, He spoke of a betrayer in their midst. He predicted loss of courage for them all. He predicted Peter’s denials. He told them of His own soon-to-come departure and of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He told them of persecutions to come and of their secure future in Him. (See John 13-17)
Late on that Thursday night, they moved from the upper room to the Garden of Gethsemene. There Jesus prayed, asking Peter, James, and John to watch and pray for Him. They promptly fell asleep - x3.
When a mob of soldiers and priests and servants came to arrest Jesus (Judas’ kiss of betrayal identifying Him as “the one”), the disciples all fled into the night, leaving Him alone to stand trial all night long where He suffered numerous indignities and illegalities.
The indignities included mocking, blindfolding, and slaps in the face. Certainly mild physical abuse compared to what He would suffer later. The illegalities included the place and time of the trail, a too-quick verdict, conflicting testimony by the witnesses, and much, much more. While His trials were going on, Simon Peter - Rocky! - was denying that he even knew who Jesus was.
On Thursday we look at Jesus and see raw courage and undeterred resolve and unalloyed love.
No doubt Jesus would have enjoyed prayer support in the Garden.
No doubt watching the disciples flee into the night was painful.
No doubt that listening to Peter deny Him wounded Him deeply.
But none of that trumped His loving commitment to continue with the plan that would have Him offering Himself on Friday as a perfect sacrifice for people like me and you, people who so obviously need deliverance from the power and penalty of sin.
Today, we worship a loving Savior who was willing to go it alone, to bring us to God.
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Wednesday
Sabbath rest. In 2014 we know little of Sabbath rest. Ours is life-on-the-go, always on the move, pedal to the metal, in touch, online, connected, 24/7.
To say the least, this is not what God intended. He orchestrated a week that included rest to give time to recuperate from work and time to refresh for more work.
The normal pattern was six days on, one day off, a pattern that followed God’s creative design. (Genesis 1-2) But rest is helpful and useful and allowable when necessary, even when it doesn’t follow the 6/1 pattern.
Jesus’ final Wednesday was a creative exercise of Sabbath rest.
Tuesday was a breathless rush of activity to activity, confrontation to confrontation, teaching to parable to equipping to rebuke. On Tuesday Jesus went hard from sunrise to sunset with no rest.
Not so Wednesday. Wednesday is the silent day.
There is no record of Jesus teaching on Wednesday. No prophecies and no confrontations, no parades and no parables. Jesus used Wednesday as a Sabbath rest for His body and soul before the suffering of the cross fell.
That is not to say that Wednesday was not productive. It was VERY productive. He rested on Wednesday. On Wednesday He regained energy lost from an over-busy Tuesday and on Wednesday He refueled for the ordeal ahead.
Wednesday marked two days and counting, forty eight hours, before His passion. He rested to be fully prepared to do what He had come to earth to accomplish, to offer Himself as a sacrifice on a Roman cross for your sins.
On Wednesday we worship a Savior who loved us so much He rested so that He could give Himself when the time to give came.
To say the least, this is not what God intended. He orchestrated a week that included rest to give time to recuperate from work and time to refresh for more work.
The normal pattern was six days on, one day off, a pattern that followed God’s creative design. (Genesis 1-2) But rest is helpful and useful and allowable when necessary, even when it doesn’t follow the 6/1 pattern.
Jesus’ final Wednesday was a creative exercise of Sabbath rest.
Tuesday was a breathless rush of activity to activity, confrontation to confrontation, teaching to parable to equipping to rebuke. On Tuesday Jesus went hard from sunrise to sunset with no rest.
Not so Wednesday. Wednesday is the silent day.
There is no record of Jesus teaching on Wednesday. No prophecies and no confrontations, no parades and no parables. Jesus used Wednesday as a Sabbath rest for His body and soul before the suffering of the cross fell.
That is not to say that Wednesday was not productive. It was VERY productive. He rested on Wednesday. On Wednesday He regained energy lost from an over-busy Tuesday and on Wednesday He refueled for the ordeal ahead.
Wednesday marked two days and counting, forty eight hours, before His passion. He rested to be fully prepared to do what He had come to earth to accomplish, to offer Himself as a sacrifice on a Roman cross for your sins.
On Wednesday we worship a Savior who loved us so much He rested so that He could give Himself when the time to give came.
TUESDAY
I’m easily distracted. Maybe it’s due to living in a world of constantly updating social media, newsfeeds, blogs, and Facebook. For me, focus is a perpetual challenge.
In fact, if it is true (as I was told years ago) that the main thing in life is to keep the main thing the main thing, then I am clearly struggling with the main thing.
According to the author of the book of Hebrews, Jesus knew every temptation we will ever face (2:18), which means that He may well have been tempted to lose focus on the main thing. Unlike me, Jesus never lost focus - even when constantly bombarded with the attempts of enemies to derail Him.
On His final Tuesday, scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, and others tried to trip Him up with tricky questions. He remained fixed. Tuesday was the busiest day of the last week of Jesus’ life. He goes hard from very early until very late and much of His Tuesday activity took place in the Temple.
Sandwiched in between intense confrontations with religious leaders and His final scathing indictment of them for hypocrisy (see Matthew 23) is one of the most touching scenes of His life.
From the far side of the Court of the Women, Jesus watched as a “poor widow” gave a tiny amount of money as an offering at the Temple in Jerusalem.
After watching her, He showcased this woman’s generosity, telling His disciples that she “put in more” than all the other wealthier people who gave that day because she gave sacrificially. (See Mark 12:38-40; Luke 21:1-4)
Sacrifice.
Jesus was especially focused on sacrifice on Tuesday, knowing that His own sacrifice on a Roman cross was only seventy hours away. On this Tuesday we worship our self-sacrificing Savior.
I’m easily distracted. Maybe it’s due to living in a world of constantly updating social media, newsfeeds, blogs, and Facebook. For me, focus is a perpetual challenge.
In fact, if it is true (as I was told years ago) that the main thing in life is to keep the main thing the main thing, then I am clearly struggling with the main thing.
According to the author of the book of Hebrews, Jesus knew every temptation we will ever face (2:18), which means that He may well have been tempted to lose focus on the main thing. Unlike me, Jesus never lost focus - even when constantly bombarded with the attempts of enemies to derail Him.
On His final Tuesday, scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, and others tried to trip Him up with tricky questions. He remained fixed. Tuesday was the busiest day of the last week of Jesus’ life. He goes hard from very early until very late and much of His Tuesday activity took place in the Temple.
Sandwiched in between intense confrontations with religious leaders and His final scathing indictment of them for hypocrisy (see Matthew 23) is one of the most touching scenes of His life.
From the far side of the Court of the Women, Jesus watched as a “poor widow” gave a tiny amount of money as an offering at the Temple in Jerusalem.
After watching her, He showcased this woman’s generosity, telling His disciples that she “put in more” than all the other wealthier people who gave that day because she gave sacrificially. (See Mark 12:38-40; Luke 21:1-4)
Sacrifice.
Jesus was especially focused on sacrifice on Tuesday, knowing that His own sacrifice on a Roman cross was only seventy hours away. On this Tuesday we worship our self-sacrificing Savior.
Monday
I suspect that all of us have had the experience of coming close to something we have anticipated for a long time. The Spurs enter the week before the long-expected playoffs. A woman with child begins to feel Braxton-Hicks contractions. A marathoner passes the twenty mile mark.
In each case, there is a sense that we have turned a corner. We are on the homestretch. One last push and there will be a payoff for all the discomfort, effort, pain and waiting.
After the Triumphal Entry of His last Sunday, Jesus went back to Jerusalem on Monday. Among the events of that Monday was a visit that He considered as noteworthy as any boxer considers the bell sounding the final round.
Philip and Andrew approached Jesus with news that some non-Jews (Gentiles) were seeking Him. “We wish to see Jesus” were their exact words.
That - being sought out by people who were not the people of God, prompted Jesus to say, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”
We remember that Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. When the lost came seeking Him, He knew the time was upon Him. Less than ninety six hours and He would be hanging from the cross. His race was almost run.
What GOSPEL (good news!) that Jesus didn’t stop at mile 20. His last week has begun. He’s not finished yet and He will press on until the work He came to accomplish is finished. On Monday, we worship our faithful, persevering Savior.
In each case, there is a sense that we have turned a corner. We are on the homestretch. One last push and there will be a payoff for all the discomfort, effort, pain and waiting.
After the Triumphal Entry of His last Sunday, Jesus went back to Jerusalem on Monday. Among the events of that Monday was a visit that He considered as noteworthy as any boxer considers the bell sounding the final round.
Philip and Andrew approached Jesus with news that some non-Jews (Gentiles) were seeking Him. “We wish to see Jesus” were their exact words.
That - being sought out by people who were not the people of God, prompted Jesus to say, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”
We remember that Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. When the lost came seeking Him, He knew the time was upon Him. Less than ninety six hours and He would be hanging from the cross. His race was almost run.
What GOSPEL (good news!) that Jesus didn’t stop at mile 20. His last week has begun. He’s not finished yet and He will press on until the work He came to accomplish is finished. On Monday, we worship our faithful, persevering Savior.
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Pastoral Malapropisms
James writes, [3:1] Let not many of you become teachers. He is warning of a stricter judgment on those for whom excessive gum-flapping is a vocation. Over the years, I have had occasion to wonder if I should have taken James’ counsel to heart...
There was the time when I was describing from the pulpit the attire of the High Priest when he went in to the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle/Temple to offer sacrifice on the high and holy Day of Atonement. Part of his dress included bells attached to the hem of his robe, the silence of the bells being a signal that God had judged him and struck him dead. What I said was, “The people listened for the sound of the High Priest tinkling in the Holy of Holies.” Nice turn of phrase, that.
Or the time just recently when I was describing the empires that had occupied the land mass that is currently Iran, mentioning Assyria and Babylon and the “Peeds and the Mersians.” Nice touch.
More troublesome was the time that I was describing the leadership roles that Jesus’ disciples were to have in the coming Kingdom. I intended to tell the congregation that Jesus said, “You shall sit on twelve thrones...” I got my mords wixed up and said something more like, “You sall sh** on twelve thrones...” Needless to say, I pretty well lost the teenagers at that point. (Shall sit. Shall sit. Shall sit. Shall sit.)
There is no question that teachers and preachers need to be careful about what they say. My propensity for malapropisms prompted me to manuscript sermons many years ago. While not totally eliminating blunders, I can only imagine how I would have mangled things had I not become more intentional about word choice.
However, word choice in messages and silly mistakes in a sermon are not what James had in mind when he issued his warning.
In a number of places in his short letter he writes about using the words we choose to bring blessing to those around us.
Any observer of human interaction could come up with a list of examples of people using words to curse (James 3:9-10). Sadly, that’s easy, like shooting fish in a barrel and I could join the party with a few illustrations of curse-words.
But from the observation deck of serving as a pastor I’ve had the privilege of seeing words bring great blessing, too. I’ve listened in on conversations where someone was blessed because of the words a speaker used, as in the time when:
a recently widowed mother of four knelt at the bedside of another young mom and tenderly urged her to trust the Lord in a season of despair;
a group of Elders prayed in the home of a family suffering from diseases and other hardships, anointing members of that family with oil as they spoke words of genuine encouragement;
a leader of youth used his position to mentor those in a Sunday School class in the things of God;
another youth group leader used her words to bring hope to a hopeless young man;
a woman offered a sincere apology for an unthinking remark that caused pain to someone she dearly loved;
a group of people wisely “ganged up” on a pastor (yes, that would be me) to lovingly confront him about his workaholic ways;
On and on and on I could go and not even scratch the surface of the times I've listened to the power of words bring refreshment to weary souls, exhortation to rebels, and instruction to the naive.
You are aware that there are lots of ways to express love and care. We could offer financial assistance to the poor, help someone with a move, offer the gift of childcare and/or meals when a family is overwhelmed - and more. But we are missing a huge opportunity to bless if we neglect the way we use words.
I take advantage of the time I’ve been given to manuscript the messages I bring on the weekend to the church I serve. But nobody has the freedom to manuscript the chance conversations that come our way every day. What we can do is enter each conversation with a heart eager to bless, with an aim to encourage, with a desire to do good.
Over and over again I’ve proved James comment that [3:2] we all stumble in many ways. (Amen!)
By God’s grace may we all be those who [3:3] do not stumble in what [we say], proving to be agents of grace to those who hear.
There was the time when I was describing from the pulpit the attire of the High Priest when he went in to the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle/Temple to offer sacrifice on the high and holy Day of Atonement. Part of his dress included bells attached to the hem of his robe, the silence of the bells being a signal that God had judged him and struck him dead. What I said was, “The people listened for the sound of the High Priest tinkling in the Holy of Holies.” Nice turn of phrase, that.
Or the time just recently when I was describing the empires that had occupied the land mass that is currently Iran, mentioning Assyria and Babylon and the “Peeds and the Mersians.” Nice touch.
More troublesome was the time that I was describing the leadership roles that Jesus’ disciples were to have in the coming Kingdom. I intended to tell the congregation that Jesus said, “You shall sit on twelve thrones...” I got my mords wixed up and said something more like, “You sall sh** on twelve thrones...” Needless to say, I pretty well lost the teenagers at that point. (Shall sit. Shall sit. Shall sit. Shall sit.)
There is no question that teachers and preachers need to be careful about what they say. My propensity for malapropisms prompted me to manuscript sermons many years ago. While not totally eliminating blunders, I can only imagine how I would have mangled things had I not become more intentional about word choice.
However, word choice in messages and silly mistakes in a sermon are not what James had in mind when he issued his warning.
In a number of places in his short letter he writes about using the words we choose to bring blessing to those around us.
Any observer of human interaction could come up with a list of examples of people using words to curse (James 3:9-10). Sadly, that’s easy, like shooting fish in a barrel and I could join the party with a few illustrations of curse-words.
But from the observation deck of serving as a pastor I’ve had the privilege of seeing words bring great blessing, too. I’ve listened in on conversations where someone was blessed because of the words a speaker used, as in the time when:
a recently widowed mother of four knelt at the bedside of another young mom and tenderly urged her to trust the Lord in a season of despair;
a group of Elders prayed in the home of a family suffering from diseases and other hardships, anointing members of that family with oil as they spoke words of genuine encouragement;
a leader of youth used his position to mentor those in a Sunday School class in the things of God;
another youth group leader used her words to bring hope to a hopeless young man;
a woman offered a sincere apology for an unthinking remark that caused pain to someone she dearly loved;
a group of people wisely “ganged up” on a pastor (yes, that would be me) to lovingly confront him about his workaholic ways;
On and on and on I could go and not even scratch the surface of the times I've listened to the power of words bring refreshment to weary souls, exhortation to rebels, and instruction to the naive.
You are aware that there are lots of ways to express love and care. We could offer financial assistance to the poor, help someone with a move, offer the gift of childcare and/or meals when a family is overwhelmed - and more. But we are missing a huge opportunity to bless if we neglect the way we use words.
I take advantage of the time I’ve been given to manuscript the messages I bring on the weekend to the church I serve. But nobody has the freedom to manuscript the chance conversations that come our way every day. What we can do is enter each conversation with a heart eager to bless, with an aim to encourage, with a desire to do good.
Over and over again I’ve proved James comment that [3:2] we all stumble in many ways. (Amen!)
By God’s grace may we all be those who [3:3] do not stumble in what [we say], proving to be agents of grace to those who hear.
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Just What We Need - More Drama
We bemoan “drama queens” (and presumably “drama kings”). You know the type. They react with over-emotion to the mundane. Diva (or “divo”) - like, they draw waaay too much attention to themselves. They exaggerate their every predicament, overstate every trial, and embellish every victory.
You see them and think to yourself, “Oh, just what I needed. More drama.”
At the same time, it’s not as if drama is bad...
For nearly twenty years I’ve been enough convinced of the power of drama to incorporate it into the life of the church I pastor.
Several times a year I present a sermon as a full-blown dramatic portrayal of a biblical character. I’ve played the part of Paul and Peter and Manasseh and Jonah. I’ve taken on the role of the Corinthian who was disciplined, repented, and restored, and of the leper who came back to say “Thanks!” to Jesus for his healing.
I have often given these presentations in costume, dressing in long robes complete with head covering to hide my identity a bit so as to better free the congregation to enter into the story. (Once, eight year old Becky told me after the worship service, “I knew it was you all along.”)
I present these dramas for a couple of reasons.
On the one hand, I believe that drama touches a place in our conscious or sub-conscious that normal preaching - at least my normal preaching - often does not.
Maybe like you, I have long been impressed that the bulk of Scripture is story. Not as in, “Once upon a time...” fairy tales. No, true story. Even the parts of the Bible that are not narrative are in the Bible because of a narrative backdrop.
(Here’s a dare: Take a passage that looks like it’s not narrative. Investigate the background to the passage - doctrine from Paul, psalm from David, whatever - and I’ll bet that you’ll find a story. I double dog dare you.)
Nothing draws us in like a story. I often hear from adults after a dramatic presentation, “The kids really like those things.” And I think to myself, “Yeah, and you didn’t go to sleep today like you usually do, either.”
For a Sunday morning, drama is out of the ordinary. It captures our attention. It humanizes a story that we may have spent too long reading in a monotone.
On the other hand, I use drama to get across another idea, this one also delivered slightly below conscious level.
Just as the stories of Abraham and Joseph and Barnabas and Herod are “larger than life”, so you and everyone you know is living an epic quest.
Did Job know, when he was living through his trials and subsequent debates with his three “friends”, that four thousand years later, his life story would profoundly impact me? Surely not!
Did an ancient Parthian magician, traveling to Palestine to pay homage to a Jewish King, know that his journey and example of submission would inspire centuries of Christians to likewise bow before King Jesus. I doubt it.
Could Ruth and Boaz have ever guessed that their romance-and-marriage story would picture for all time the redemption that believers in Jesus enjoy when He rescued us out of the marketplace of sin? Nope.
And on and on and on we could go.
Partly as a result of having served as a pastor, I’ve had the privilege of meeting a bunch of people over the years. Lots of them have been “dull, boring, and ordinary” - UNTIL I GOT TO KNOW THEM. There is not one person I’ve ever come to know well who still fits in the category of “ordinary.”
Every person is multi-layered, complex, and uniquely gifted. Each person has shades of heroism and cowardice, brilliance and dullness, fears and foibles that make them who they are. There are no dull people - and that truism certainly applies to you who are reading this drivel.
Who knows if perhaps, a year from now (or more), someone will hear of your story, your trial, your victory, your passion, your faithfulness in the face of adversity and will find in your epic quest courage to trust God and to be faithful as well.
Well, I’ve got to be off now. Going to church this evening to watch some people portray Mary, Joseph, some shepherds and wise men. Just what we need. More drama.
You see them and think to yourself, “Oh, just what I needed. More drama.”
At the same time, it’s not as if drama is bad...
For nearly twenty years I’ve been enough convinced of the power of drama to incorporate it into the life of the church I pastor.
Several times a year I present a sermon as a full-blown dramatic portrayal of a biblical character. I’ve played the part of Paul and Peter and Manasseh and Jonah. I’ve taken on the role of the Corinthian who was disciplined, repented, and restored, and of the leper who came back to say “Thanks!” to Jesus for his healing.
I have often given these presentations in costume, dressing in long robes complete with head covering to hide my identity a bit so as to better free the congregation to enter into the story. (Once, eight year old Becky told me after the worship service, “I knew it was you all along.”)
I present these dramas for a couple of reasons.
On the one hand, I believe that drama touches a place in our conscious or sub-conscious that normal preaching - at least my normal preaching - often does not.
Maybe like you, I have long been impressed that the bulk of Scripture is story. Not as in, “Once upon a time...” fairy tales. No, true story. Even the parts of the Bible that are not narrative are in the Bible because of a narrative backdrop.
(Here’s a dare: Take a passage that looks like it’s not narrative. Investigate the background to the passage - doctrine from Paul, psalm from David, whatever - and I’ll bet that you’ll find a story. I double dog dare you.)
Nothing draws us in like a story. I often hear from adults after a dramatic presentation, “The kids really like those things.” And I think to myself, “Yeah, and you didn’t go to sleep today like you usually do, either.”
For a Sunday morning, drama is out of the ordinary. It captures our attention. It humanizes a story that we may have spent too long reading in a monotone.
On the other hand, I use drama to get across another idea, this one also delivered slightly below conscious level.
Just as the stories of Abraham and Joseph and Barnabas and Herod are “larger than life”, so you and everyone you know is living an epic quest.
Did Job know, when he was living through his trials and subsequent debates with his three “friends”, that four thousand years later, his life story would profoundly impact me? Surely not!
Did an ancient Parthian magician, traveling to Palestine to pay homage to a Jewish King, know that his journey and example of submission would inspire centuries of Christians to likewise bow before King Jesus. I doubt it.
Could Ruth and Boaz have ever guessed that their romance-and-marriage story would picture for all time the redemption that believers in Jesus enjoy when He rescued us out of the marketplace of sin? Nope.
And on and on and on we could go.
Partly as a result of having served as a pastor, I’ve had the privilege of meeting a bunch of people over the years. Lots of them have been “dull, boring, and ordinary” - UNTIL I GOT TO KNOW THEM. There is not one person I’ve ever come to know well who still fits in the category of “ordinary.”
Every person is multi-layered, complex, and uniquely gifted. Each person has shades of heroism and cowardice, brilliance and dullness, fears and foibles that make them who they are. There are no dull people - and that truism certainly applies to you who are reading this drivel.
Who knows if perhaps, a year from now (or more), someone will hear of your story, your trial, your victory, your passion, your faithfulness in the face of adversity and will find in your epic quest courage to trust God and to be faithful as well.
Well, I’ve got to be off now. Going to church this evening to watch some people portray Mary, Joseph, some shepherds and wise men. Just what we need. More drama.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Reflections from the Plains of Shinar
Premise: Generally speaking, large groups of people, gathered together, are capable of greater mischief than smaller groups.
Proof: The Tower of Babel
Out there on the plains of Shinar, in the land that would eventually be Babylon - throughout time identified by the Bible as the ultimate anti-God empire - the people gathered.
The Bible tells us that the whole human population traveled east to Shinar and settled down. All together. It was a great crowd of people (Genesis 11) that had gathered - and that gathering was a great problem. By settling down together the people were flagrantly disobeying God’s command that they “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” (Genesis 1)
In what may be humanity’s first experience of “group think,” out there on the plains of Shinar the people got a grand idea.
[Genesis 11:3] They said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stones and they used tar for mortar. [4] They said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
The group agreed that it would be better to NOT obey God’s command to fill the earth, but to remain together. Theologians are agreed that the people had determined, together, to exalt themselves above God.
Remedy: Think small.
God’s remedy to the situation created by this massive group of people getting into such mischief was to force smaller groupings by confusing their speech.
At Babel, God created the world's various major language groups. This forced a division of the human race and made more likely the fulfillment of His “fill the earth” mandate. As well, by dividing people by means of the language barrier, God created smaller groups of people, who could, together, get into less mischief. A brilliant move.
Such a move was made necessary because of the broken nature of people in the post-Garden of Eden world. With the coming of sin (Genesis 3), the general tendency of all people everywhere is independence from God, not trust. Left to our own devices, we will choose rebellion from God, not worship.
Yes, this is the consistent teaching of the Bible. But you really don’t have to be a biblicist to come to that conclusion. It is also the consistent teaching of history. If we would be honest in our assessment of human history, we will admit that the general trajectory of an impressive technological upward spike is accompanied by an equally depressing downward spiral by most meaningful, personal metrics. With a few notable and welcome lapses, our race's story is one of harsh cruelty, violence, and injustice.
The reason, again, is that individuals are (to use an extremely biblical word) “sinners.” Groups of people gathered together would, thus, be groups of “SINNERS” - hence, more dangerous. Hence, to reduce the danger of the negative AND to increase the likelihood of the positive, reduce the size of the group. That was God’s solution in Genesis 11. I think it still makes great sense today.
Think small.
Rather than think grand thoughts of "megas"...
think of the impact you can have in the lives of your circle of friends when you serve them.
think of the impact you can have when you show love to one, lonely, sad person at the end of his hope.
think of the redemptive influence you and your small circle of friends can have when you join hands to help a struggling family.
“Grand” turned into silly and vain grandiosity on the plains of Shinar. Grandiosity still reigns today, and just look where “big” has gotten us. We are technological giants, tempted to relational dwarfism. We are digitally connected all the time and it is so easy to be regularly disconnected, personally. Sure, “big” is impressive at a distance, but impact is always made "up close and personal."
It’s time to embrace and to celebrate the small. Jesus did and He invites us to join Him.
He applauded the small amount of leaven that leavens a whole lump of dough and the mustard seed of faith that moves mountains.
So, we applaud he the leavening effect of a small group of friends who journey through life together, along with the mustard seed of the family that plays and prays and weeps and laughs together and builds spiritual sequoias, and the church that makes it possible to known and be known, to love and be loved.
Proof: The Tower of Babel
Out there on the plains of Shinar, in the land that would eventually be Babylon - throughout time identified by the Bible as the ultimate anti-God empire - the people gathered.
The Bible tells us that the whole human population traveled east to Shinar and settled down. All together. It was a great crowd of people (Genesis 11) that had gathered - and that gathering was a great problem. By settling down together the people were flagrantly disobeying God’s command that they “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” (Genesis 1)
In what may be humanity’s first experience of “group think,” out there on the plains of Shinar the people got a grand idea.
[Genesis 11:3] They said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stones and they used tar for mortar. [4] They said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
The group agreed that it would be better to NOT obey God’s command to fill the earth, but to remain together. Theologians are agreed that the people had determined, together, to exalt themselves above God.
Remedy: Think small.
God’s remedy to the situation created by this massive group of people getting into such mischief was to force smaller groupings by confusing their speech.
At Babel, God created the world's various major language groups. This forced a division of the human race and made more likely the fulfillment of His “fill the earth” mandate. As well, by dividing people by means of the language barrier, God created smaller groups of people, who could, together, get into less mischief. A brilliant move.
Such a move was made necessary because of the broken nature of people in the post-Garden of Eden world. With the coming of sin (Genesis 3), the general tendency of all people everywhere is independence from God, not trust. Left to our own devices, we will choose rebellion from God, not worship.
Yes, this is the consistent teaching of the Bible. But you really don’t have to be a biblicist to come to that conclusion. It is also the consistent teaching of history. If we would be honest in our assessment of human history, we will admit that the general trajectory of an impressive technological upward spike is accompanied by an equally depressing downward spiral by most meaningful, personal metrics. With a few notable and welcome lapses, our race's story is one of harsh cruelty, violence, and injustice.
The reason, again, is that individuals are (to use an extremely biblical word) “sinners.” Groups of people gathered together would, thus, be groups of “SINNERS” - hence, more dangerous. Hence, to reduce the danger of the negative AND to increase the likelihood of the positive, reduce the size of the group. That was God’s solution in Genesis 11. I think it still makes great sense today.
Think small.
Rather than think grand thoughts of "megas"...
think of the impact you can have in the lives of your circle of friends when you serve them.
think of the impact you can have when you show love to one, lonely, sad person at the end of his hope.
think of the redemptive influence you and your small circle of friends can have when you join hands to help a struggling family.
“Grand” turned into silly and vain grandiosity on the plains of Shinar. Grandiosity still reigns today, and just look where “big” has gotten us. We are technological giants, tempted to relational dwarfism. We are digitally connected all the time and it is so easy to be regularly disconnected, personally. Sure, “big” is impressive at a distance, but impact is always made "up close and personal."
It’s time to embrace and to celebrate the small. Jesus did and He invites us to join Him.
He applauded the small amount of leaven that leavens a whole lump of dough and the mustard seed of faith that moves mountains.
So, we applaud he the leavening effect of a small group of friends who journey through life together, along with the mustard seed of the family that plays and prays and weeps and laughs together and builds spiritual sequoias, and the church that makes it possible to known and be known, to love and be loved.
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