The Pro-Jesus, Anti-Jesus-Freak Gospel

Public image is an interesting vexation. It’s no secret that I’m open about my faith or my service in ministry, but I get the sense, all the wrong folks think I’m a “Jesus Freak” or a good sinner. I believe in Jesus and I love God, but the God of the cross is not some cliché, image-conscience, lifestyle-driven deity. I assure you the “Jesus Freak” mentality is a symptom of our broken world.

I believe in a living, loving, and gracious God whose redemptive work of the cross will only cease to be relevant if we live in a perfect world; therefore, it will be relevant until its completion. Being a Christian doesn’t mean believers are better than others; it means we’ve received the gift of God’s grace for being the sinners we sometimes forget we are – grace which all are afforded through the work of Christ.

Faith in Christ is life changing, but it isn’t about lifestyles. It’s an encounter with the living God, who died even for great sinners like me. To anyone who reads this, who can’t stand Christians, who’s been offended by my more moralistic brothers and sisters (or myself) know this, whatever you heard slandering you in the name of Jesus was not and is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Gospel is this, Jesus lived and felt every ounce of human suffering, Jesus died taking on all our burdens, and Jesus resurrected in victory over the brokenness of our human world. This is our hope, this is the Gospel, and this is what mends the brokenness of all people (myself included).

God’s peace be with you all on this day, now, and forevermore. Amen.

“We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer” (Dietrich Bonheoffer).

Lenten Devotional 15: Exiles Restored; the Covenantal Promise

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Scripture reading: Ezra 8:21-36

The people of Jerusalem have been freed from their Babylonian captivity and their exile has come to an end (ch. 1) in accordance with the prophecy of Jeremiah (Jer. 30:3). Unlike the somewhat downtrodden conclusion to the books of the Kings, the book of Ezra brings us into the hope of the history of God’s people.

The Babylonians have fallen (6^th cent. BCE/BC) and the Jews are given a second chance in Jerusalem. Over a number of years and obstacles the temple of the Lord is rebuilt (ch. 3-ff.). The priest Ezra is called to lead the people of God back to Jerusalem (ch. 7). This is a new season for the Jewish people. Exile is behind them and the promise of the Lord is before them.

Much like we are doing for Lent, the people fasted and prayed to the Lord (8:21:23). In this, the people of God remember their reverence for the Lord and forsake their idolatrous past. The people (even the king) give “freewill” offerings to the Lord (vv. 24-30). This is not free will (as in the doctrine that says we are able to choose salvation because that is impossible). This is a freewill giving, which occurs through the prompting of reconciliation. The Gospel calls this grace, but contextually, this may have been done out of fear or reverence of God.

According to God’s covenantal promise, the people of Jerusalem return to their land from their Babylonian exile (vv. 31-36). As usual, the people of God forget to do something right, afterwards (ch. 9-10). But, where the humans fail, God keeps the covenant, and grace is sufficient.

This is our story, too. Though we are sinners (with our will bound to the condition) the work of God alone, nullifies our sin nature and its predisposition. We are met with the covenant of God, known to Christians as the Gospel, and known to all as grace. The law has been fulfilled and the exiled are restored by God’s mercy and grace, according to the covenant of the Lord.

O Gracious God, how you deliver your people – whether Jew, Gentile, slave, free, Christian, or those who cannot see – by the universal grace you have given to all that will save as many as you please. Though it is a mystery how your grace justifies, you have given us the faith to believe that you are the one true God and that we receive your grace through the work of the cross of Christ (in death and resurrection). In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

  

Lenten Devotional 08: Fasting in the Real Presence

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Scripture reading: Luke 4:1-30

In our Lenten journey, we remember our baptism in accordance with the word of the scriptures and the Word who is Christ; we live in God’s work of baptism and fasting with Christ, as we journey to the cross with Christ. Much like Holy Communion is the Real Presence of the body and blood of Christ, Lent is the real presence of the Holy Spirit as we experience forty days of fasting.

Jesus was baptized by water and Spirit (3:21-22) and we are baptized in water and Spirit, by the work of God alone. Jesus lived incarnate – fully God and fully man – connected to the beginning of creation with the first human (Hb: adam; 3:23-38). Like Jesus, we are human (as C. S. Lewis would say, “Sons and Daughters of Adam”).

Our Lenten journey with Christ continues with forty days of fasting, we live in this by the Spirit and Word of Christ. In the wilderness for forty days, Christ is tempted by the devil; as the Spirit was with Christ, so the Spirit is with us. As Christ fasted in the wilderness for forty days, the people of Israel were in the wilderness famished and tested for a period of forty years (Lk. 4:1-4; Deut. 8:2-4, 29:5-6). We are not alone.

We fast (like we eat and drink in the Eucharist) in the Real Presence of Christ, our Lord. We are tempted and tested by the things of deception (as Christ was tempted by the devil and Israel was tested in the wilderness). We live in the Real Presence of Christ through history with the people of God, in the present through Word and Sacrament, and in the future return of Christ. We endure the wilderness and we fast remembering the work of our God, but we are not alone. This is the promise of the cross.

Lord, God, you’ve gone before us, your Spirit is with us, and you’ll return for us – this is resurrection’s hope that the work of God has been done, continues to be done, and will one day be fully revealed – you are the Lord, our God. Thanks be to God. In the name of the Holy and Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Lenten Devotional 01: It's All About God

Ash Wednesday: February 22, 2012

Scripture reading: Matthew  6

As we begin this Lenten journey with God incarnate – in life, death, and resurrection – I humbly invite you to join me in these devotional readings.

Our text today is really all about God and the teachings of our Lord in the Sermon on the Mount. Immediately preceding our pericope, Jesus has told his audience to love their enemies and to pray for them. Following the selected text, Jesus instructs people not to judge because we will be judged in the same light. In the first section of today’s text, the Lord warns against public piety (actively expressing one’s devotion to God through deed and practice) saying that pious actions are not to be done for show (I sincerely hope this devotional doesn’t fit such a description).

In giving and in prayer (vv. 1-6) we’re told not to show off what we do for God or that will be the extent of our reward. Throughout the discourse (Mt. 5:1-7:28) we are given instructions of orthopraxy (correct practice) and the same is true for this pericope.

In turn, we are taught to pray the Lord’s Prayer. We pray to “Our Father in heaven,” the generator of all things; whose name is pure, “hallowed be your name.”  We are to pray with reverence and humility because our prayers, our giving, our possessions, our daily needs, and our fasting (which is important to Lent) are all about God. Jesus’ teaching in this discourse is really all about God: how we serve God, how we pray to God, how we treat people in the name of God, and how we respond to the work of God.

Lord, God, thank you for your word and this difficult teaching that really says control is not ours to have because you have originated all things. Thank you for the fact that your grace is what saves us, through the cross. May we be ever humbled by this passage and remember that our hope is in you and not in the showiness of our deeds or piety. Thanks be to God, The message of the scriptures continue to transcend culture and remain relevant in this world,. We pray in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

On Christian Religion, Jesus, and Scripture: Why Religion Matters

“‘Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill” (Mt. 5:17, NRSV).

One cannot preach grace with a machinegun for a microphone.

This past week, twelve million Christians debated over a video that says Jesus>Religion. Jefferson, the Spoken Word creator of the video has a lot to say about Jesus and religion. Is this man preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ or condemning people who call themselves Christians? Yes. In addition to what I’ve said elsewhere, does the Bible back up the claims of the popular video? Yes and no.

Definitions are important. First, who is Jesus? Jesus is the Son of God, fully man and fully God, he lived, he died (by crucifixion on the cross), and he resurrected from the dead. The work of the cross was done for the redemption of all people because all suffer from a chronic affliction called sin.

Second, what is religion? It is, “a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs” (Dictionary.com).

What does Jesus>Religion claim and is it scriptural? Claim one, “Jesus came to abolish religion.” I could not find this in scripture, but here’s what I did find: “If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments” (Mt.19:16-21; Mt. 5:17). Claim two, “Just because you call some people blind, doesn’t automatically give you vision.” True, but that judgment was Jesus’ call (Jn. 9:39-41) and I’d suggest it stay his call. Claim three, “If religion is so great, why does it [insert negative here]?” Religion isn’t the problem; sin is the problem (Ps. 25:6-12).

The claims of Jesus>Religion continue. Claim four, “But, in the Old Testament, God actually calls religious people whores.” This is a bit of a stretch, but the Israelites were called whores because God knew they were inclined to sin and turn from the covenant they had made with the Lord (Deut.31:15-21, ESV). Claim five, “Religion might preach grace, but another thing they practice.”It is true; Christians are guilty of not practicing what they preach. However, grace is from God (Jn. 1:16-18). And, scripture says a lot more on religion and grace (Mt. 5:3-7:27; Acts15:5-11).

Three out of five is pretty good, right? Claim six, “Now I ain’t judging; I’m just saying, quit putting on a fake look because there’s a problem if people only know you’re a Christian by your Facebook.” Unless one is going to take time to disciple “Facebook Christians” this remark is ill-advised (Gal. 6:2-5).

Turning to the opposition of Jesus>Religion; Jesus=Religion. What does the opposition claim? Claim one, “Where do you get off speakin’ up for the man risen from the dead, without botherin’ to quote a single word that he said?” While the point may be valid, it deters from a message of grace and contradicts Jesus’ teaching: “Whoever is not against us is for us” (Mk. 9:38-40).

Since I’m a Lutheran, I share more views with the Jesus=Religion author, but I will compare one point of controversy from each video. “Because, if grace is water, the Church should be an ocean” (Jesus>Religion). “The grace is the water, this baptism now saves you, and the Church is the place where this giving out raises you” (Jesus=Religion). Does scripture support salvation through baptism? Yes and it’s been a heated debate for  easily five-hundred years. We are baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection (Rom. 6:1-7). Thus, baptism brings us into Christ’s resurrection (1Pet. 3:18-22). This is orthodoxy, not heresy, and there are other views if you don’t agree with it.

Finally, Jesus is greater than religion, but religion points believers to the grace of the cross. Both of these rhyming You Tube preachers have solid points and a common problem. As servants of the Lord, Christians are called to humility: “The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility goes before honor” (Pro. 15:33, NRSV). Where the first falsely slanders religion, the other mocks his brother’s folly, and both preach grace with a machinegun.

“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Lk. 23:34, KJV).