Monthly Archives: October 2013

Boomerang Blessing!

Bible Study, , ,

BOOMERANG BLESSING!

“One day as He was teaching, Pharisees and religion teachers were sitting around. They had come from nearly every village in Galilee and Judea, even as far away as Jerusalem, to be there. Some men arrived carrying a paraplegic on a stretcher. They were looking for a way to get into the house and set him before Jesus. When they couldn’t find a way in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof, removed some tiles, and let him down in the middle of everyone, right in front of Jesus. Impressed by their bold belief, He said, ‘Friend, I forgive your sins.'” Luke 5:17-20 (The Message).

Talk about initiative! These men were certainly determined to get their friend to Jesus.

How big was the house? A normal family home could not have been big enough to host fifty or a hundred people even if they squashed into every room. And it was full of scribes and Pharisees. What an elite congregation Jesus had that day from all over Israel, so Luke tells us! This rabbi must have caused quite a stir in the land — without Twitter and Facebook!

The men with the sick friend weren’t concerned about who was in the congregation. They had a mission — to get their friend to Jesus. He needed a miracle and there was no one better than Jesus to do it. There was no way they could get him through the door and past all the people, but a flat-roofed house and the roof conveniently accessible by an outside staircase was all they needed to carry out their plan.

Imagine the surprise and consternation when pieces of the roof began falling on the crowd inside. Then some faces appeared and next a man suspended on a mat. The hole in the roof must have been quite big to allow them to manoeuvre a paralysed man on a sleeping mat through.

Of course the people made way for him then. They didn’t want him coming down on their heads! Talk about determination! If the crowd would not make space for him from below, they certainly would from above. Nothing was too big an obstacle for them even to ripping up the roof. That could always be repaired but Jesus might move on and their opportunity might have been lost.

What went through Jesus’ mind as the man was slowly lowered to the ground in front of Him? Was He amused? He certainly was impressed, according to Luke. Jesus, impressed? God, impressed? Is there anything that humans can do to impress God? It seems that the answer is ‘Yes”.

There was one thing that impressed Jesus, many times over — faith. He even categorised faith; no faith; little faith; great faith and such great faith. Why was faith such a big deal to Him? What else is there that links people to an unseen God and gets such a lavish response from Him?

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6 (NIV). It’s quite understandable really. If you don’t trust me, why should I do anything for you?

But what is more surprising is that Jesus responded to the faith of the friends. Can one person believe for another? Of course! Don’t we do that all the time when we pray for others; otherwise what’s the point?

There’s something beautiful about believing for others. It’s part of the way God works. Every time we reach out to someone else, be it through prayer or helping in some way, we create a current that comes back to us. It’s one of those laws that God has built into the very fabric of human life. Jesus put it like this: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:38 (NIV).

It’s what I call “boomerang blessing.”

Oh, By The Way…

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OH, BY THE WAY…

“One day in one of the villages there was a man covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus he fell down before Him in prayer and said, ‘If you want to, you can cleanse me.’ Jesus put out His hand, touched him and said, ‘I want to. Be clean.’ There and then his skin was smooth, the leprosy gone.

“Jesus instructed him, ‘Don’t talk about this all over town. Just quietly present your healed self to the priest, along with the offering ordered by Moses. Your cleansed and obedient life, not your words, will bear witness to what I have done.’

“But the man couldn’t keep it to himself, and the word got out. Soon a large crowd of people had gathered to listen and be healed of their ailments. As often as possible, Jesus withdrew to out-of-the-way places for prayer.” Luke 5:12-16 (The Message).

Luke had many stories of healings and miracles to draw from. Why did he choose this one? Of course I don’t know! But there are little hints here and there of Luke’s reason. The scholars tell us that Luke’s theme was “Jesus, the Son of Man.” He adds many touches to his story that illustrate Jesus’ humanity; His dependence on the Holy Spirit; the many references to His prayer life; little snippets like His being asleep on the boat; eating fish after His resurrection, for example, things that humans do.

In this story Jesus met a man covered with “leprosy”. He could have had any skin disease, but whatever it was, he was disfigured and, worst of all, unclean. That meant that he was not allowed human contact. Isolated! Ostracised! Untouchable! Unwanted! Probably walking on the outskirts of the village wailing his mournful plight, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’

Instead of moving away, Jesus walked right up to him. The unnamed man fell at His feet, entreating Him, ‘I’ve heard about you, Jesus. I know you can make this stinking, diseased body of mine clean…if you want to. Now it’s all up to you.’

What would Jesus do? What did this man need? Just a word would transform him but he needed more than a word. He needed a human touch. But how could Jesus touch him? He was a rabbi, a holy man who was not supposed to contaminate Himself with diseased or dead bodies. If He touched him, He would become unclean.

There was one thing about Jesus that was different from every other rabbi of His day. His touch worked the other way, made the unclean clean. He made the sick well, the dead live and set the demonised free. Wherever He went, speaking, touching, embracing, He left whole, well and free people in His wake. And it was what He wanted to do. No hesitation.

But, in spite of Jesus’ warning, the healed man could not keep his mouth shut. Would you? Of course everyone wanted to know what had happened. And of course he told them. Wouldn’t you? And of course that made Jesus even more popular, and everyone wanted Him to touch them too. And He did.

That created a problem for Him. He needed time out. He was human, remember. Why did He need time out? Of course He needed rest; He needed to eat; He needed to “chill” like we all do and oh, by the way, He needed to spend time with His Father and for that He needed solitude.

There was no solitude where there were the ever-present crowds but He knew how to find time and place to be alone — out in the wide-open spaces in the night hours when everyone else was asleep. Without time alone with the Father He had no engine and no rudder for His ship. It was in these times of intimacy alone with God that He drew strength, received direction and shared the Father’s love which energised Him for the gruelling times ahead.

And He said, ‘Learn from me.’

Hooked!

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HOOKED!

“Simon Peter, when he saw it, fell to his knees before Jesus, ‘Master, leave. I’m a sinner and can’t handle this holiness. Leave me to myself.’ When they pulled in that catch of fish, awe overwhelmed Simon and everyone with him. It was the same with James and John, Zebedee’s sons. co-workers with Simon. Jesus said to Simon, ‘There is nothing to fear. From now on you’ll be fishing for men and women.’ They pulled their boats up on the beach, left them, nets and all, and followed Him.” Luke 5:8-11 (The Message).

It was all about fishing! The fishermen caught nothing, at first. Jesus caught the fishermen, in the end!

Peter was repelled, and drawn, all at the same time. Why did he say, ‘Leave me alone? Get away from me, Jesus,’ when he wanted so badly to be with Him? If Jesus knew all about fishing when He had never learnt to fish, what else did He know that left Peter feeling stripped and naked? Was there something about Him that made him feel so vulnerable that he wanted to hide and yet so fascinated that he wanted to stay?

Peter had a big lesson to learn, and so do we. Yes, Jesus’ eyes pierced Peter’s darkness and bored into the very core of his soul, but never to condemn or consume. Peter needed that reassurance, ‘Don’t be afraid!’  How many times, in the pages of Scripture, does God have to say that to people? We have this idea that God is out to get us. Just let him find out what I am like and He will squash me like a bug.

In Psalm 139, David expressed his vulnerability just like Peter felt. God knew him through and through. Even his thoughts were emblazoned in His sight like neon signs. Trying to hide was futile because God was there, wherever he went. Instead of cringing, however, David celebrated because he had become aware that His presence was reassuring, never threatening. “I look behind me and you’re there, then up ahead and you’re there, too, your reassuring presence, coming and going.” Psalm 139:6 (The Message).

“If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.” Psalm 139:9,10 (NIV). David tried to think of the most impossible places to hide but God was always there, waiting to hold and guide him back to safety and sense.

Peter was not alone in this experience. Although he was the central figure, the other fishermen were just as moved as he was. Almost like men in a trance, they abandoned their old, familiar, humdrum lives to follow the rabbi at His invitation without a backward look. They had no idea what they were in for, but it didn’t matter. If they were so safe with someone who could read their hearts and still embrace them, then their lives were secure in His hands.

Never in their wildest dreams did the brothers ever imagine that they would become disciples. Their schooling had come to an abrupt end when they failed to qualify for tertiary training at the Beth Talmud. They were bundled off home to learn their dads’ fishing skills and make their living off the lake.

What lay ahead was unknown but it was better than the hard work they had to put in to scrape together a living for their families. They didn’t even stop to sell off the massive catch of fish that lay entangled in their nets on the beach. They left them for the lucky ones who came by to claim their find.

So magnetic was the person of Jesus that they never gave it another thought. Just imagine — they didn’t even wait to pack up and store their equipment in case it didn’t work out for them. Their decision was final. They left everything to follow Him.

Discipleship is like that. It’s all or nothing!

Networking With God

Christian Life, , ,

NETWORKING WITH GOD

He told them: “Take nothing for the journey – no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic…” Luke 9:3

Why did Jesus instruct His disciples not to take extra clothes, provisions or money with them when He sent them out to preach? Was it, since they were on kingdom business, that the King would take responsibility to care for their physical needs – in fulfilment of His promise in Matthew 6:33 – “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well”?

But God always comes to us through human agents. People do the caring and providing using the resources God provides for them through other people, and so on.

Why not carry their own provisions and money instead of relying on their hosts to provide for them? Was it because they could travel faster and more comfortably unencumbered? But, more than that, there is something about sowing into someone else’s ministry that mysteriously connects us with that person so that their anointing is imparted to us. It becomes a partnership, in a sense, where the giver shares in the harvest of the sower.

Is it about connectedness? Since we are reflections of God’s image, we express our oneness with God and with each other by partnering with those who go, by giving and sharing our resources to make their going possible.

If people refuse to connect by not partnering with those who come to them, they become disconnected from the blessing and anointing of the messengers of the good news. They disqualify themselves from receiving the blessing of Jesus, the Rabbi, in whose dust we walk. By shaking the dust of our feet off that household, are we not saying, “You may have refused to receive the message of the Rabbi, but the door is always open, and so I leave you with my Rabbi’s blessing in the hopes that you will recognise and receive its value and open your heart to receive His blessing”?

It was in this spirit of generosity, both giving and receiving, that the disciples went, and in the going, sowed seeds of truth and left the blessing of their Rabbi wherever they went. They created a network of partners who shared as they listened and received as they gave, so that the disciples’ message blanketed the region where they had been, extending and increasing the influence of their Rabbi’s yoke wherever they went. This is the way the gospel not only changes the lives of individuals but, by networking, it also blankets whole geographical areas with the message and power of God’s grace and weakens the hold of demonic powers over regions.

The Magic Storyteller!

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THE MAGIC STORYTELLER

“Once when He was standing on the shore of Lake Genessaret, the crowd was pushing in on Him to better hear the Word of God. He noticed two boats tied up. The fishermen had just left them and were out scrubbing their nets. He climbed into the boat that was Simon’s and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Sitting there, using the boat for a pulpit, He taught the crowd.

“When He finished teaching, He said to Simon, ‘Push out into the deep water and let your nets out for a catch.’ Simon said, ‘Master, we’ve been fishing hard all night and haven’t caught even a minnow. But if you say so, I’ll let out the nets.’ It was no sooner said than done — a huge haul of fish, straining the nets past capacity. They waved to their partners to come and help them. They filled both boats, nearly swamping them with the catch.” Luke 5:1-7 (The Message).

Jesus was still alone. According to Luke, He had not yet chosen any disciples to train as a rabbi would do. He was an itinerant teacher, a very popular one, judging by the crowds He drew, so much so that He had to use a boat as a pulpit to save Himself from being pushed right into the lake!

This was one of those occasions. He was apparently still in the vicinity of Capernaum, a town near the Sea of Galilee or another one of the lakeside towns. The people were enthralled by His message — not anything like the teachings of other rabbis who came and went.

What was He saying? What was so fascinating to them? Was it just what He said or was it the miracles He did that drew them? Probably both, but on this occasion His words were magic to them. Jesus was a master story-teller. He needed to be because His audience was a group of simple village folk. What He was communicating to them wasn’t common-and-garden everyday stuff. He was talking about mysteries too deep for them to understand.

Jesus was always about the kingdom of God. He was introducing them to a way of life that was totally foreign to them, like “turning the other cheek” and “going the second mile” and farmers sowing seed, and shepherds hunting for lost sheep. He told a story for every situation and they were trying to piece it all together. They didn’t want to miss a single story in case their puzzle was incomplete.

 

The kingdom of God is like a diamond. How does one describe a diamond to someone who has never seen one? Like two blind men trying to describe an elephant! It’s like this. No, it’s like that. So many facets! The only way He could get the truth across was by telling many stories. It all makes sense to us now — or does it? But for those people then it was a mystery and they wanted to hear more.

What do you make of the incident of the big catch? Why did Jesus do that? Was He concerned because the fishermen were going home empty after a whole night of fishing? Was He showing them something; telling them something? If you read on, it doesn’t seem to be about lost income because they abandoned their catch to follow Him.

How do we interpret the miracle of the huge catch? Did Jesus see them there and simply redirect the fishermen? Is that possible when He sent them to the deep water away from the shore? I think there is a much simpler explanation than that. Like all nature, the fish obeyed Jesus’ word. Remember the wind and the waves? When He spoke, they all gathered at the right spot to be swept up into the fishermen’s nets.

Why did He do that? Was He just “showing off”? I don’t think so. That was not His way. If His followers were to continue His ministry after He left, they had to be absolutely sure of who He was. That was the crucial question He asked them after they had followed him for a while. “Who do you say that I am?” If nature obeyed Him, so should they.