The realm of God is all about growth, organic, even inevitable growth. That is what Jesus suggests in his short and cryptic parable about the scattered seed:
“The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.”
In other translations, this is rendered, “First the blade, then the ear, then the full corn on the ear.” As soon as a stalk or blade is visible popping out of the earth, we can be sure a head will develop on that stalk, and then the full grain will appear. It’s an image of hopefulness, encouragement to believe in the fullness of God’s plan even when we only see the merest trace.
What did Jesus meant by the harvest, though? That sickle makes me nervous. But no cutting, no harvest. I choose to believe that Jesus is speaking about the full cycle of planting, growing and harvesting.
In fact, I’m going to venture an interpretation – hoping it doesn’t get in the way of your own. I think this is a parable about evangelism. The parable just before this, about the sower and the seeds, is about how some of the seeds fell among rocks or thorns or in in shallow soil where the Word of God could not take root and flourish. I believe Jesus is continuing on that theme. I think the seed scatterers are Jesus’ disciples and he is encouraging them that some of the seeds they scatter will sprout, even when they can’t see how the process worked.
This is like the times we invite someone to join us at church or for a special event and they are uninterested, or we talk about how important our faith has been to us in a crisis, and there is no response. Sometimes we retreat, concluding no one is interested in hearing about transformed life in Jesus Christ. But we are not meant to stop scattering seeds, for, unbeknownst to us, some of those seeds are breaking open and starting to grow below ground, even if we can’t see it until a blade or a stalk begins to appear.
This happened to a friend. She invited someone to church “sometime,” only to have that person show up this week, with family – who encountered people they knew whom they didn’t realize were part of that church. There’s a stalk for sure – and soon enough, if the soil is good, an ear will appear and then the full grain. Only then is it time for the harvest, the invitation to a fuller commitment to the Life of God.
In fact, people who harvest grain know when it’s ready. There’s no question about it. When we’re waiting for an outcome in ministry, we can trust that God will make it clear to us, and to that person, when to go deeper.
This image has also been used about healing prayer. Canon Jim Glennon frequently likened prayer for healing to planting a seed of faith and trusting in its growth, even before we see any sign of it. “First the blade, then the ear, then the full corn,” was his mantra, and he urged people to give thanks even before they saw how the prayer was being answered. That is praying by faith.
Are there some seeds you desire to see sprout and grow? Have you seen the tip of a blade emerging yet?
We wait, giving thanks by faith, until faith gives way to sight. That is the way of the seed scatterer in God’s garden. That is the way of the Christ follower growing in faith.
6-8-15 - Scattered Seeds
A person tosses a bunch of seeds on the ground, goes to sleep and wakes up for many days in a row, and is surprised to see plants sprouting around him. This is a description of:
(a) Organic farming methods
(b) A lifelong city dweller’s first experience in the countryside
(c) The way things work in the realm of God
What does the story suggest to you?
Welcome to Seed Week in Bible Camp. I’ve never counted, but it seems to me that Jesus told more parables about seeds than any other one thing. In the passage just before this, Jesus tells a long, multi-part story about a sower of seeds, and the different results he gets according to where they fall. In this week’s gospel reading we get two more seed parables, short, simple – and if we harvest them well, yielding manifold meanings and gifts. Here is the first:
“The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.”
We have no sower here, just “someone” who rather haphazardly scatters seed on the ground and then seems to be astonished that it sprouts and grows. How is this like the Kingdom of God?
Is Jesus saying that God is the careless scatterer, hoping that the kingdom values of love and faithfulness and power will take root in some? There appears to be no cultivating, weeding, tending, or watering – just “the earth producing of itself.” Does this suggest that some people are just naturally ready to grow and thrive? Or are we the ones unwittingly scattering the seeds of the gospel, and surprised when some sprout?
Or am I wrong to equate the seeds with people? Maybe the seeds are simply the movement of “getting it,” grasping the truth that Jesus was trying to communicate, about the way the Kingdom is already around, among, even in us. The truth grows in us – we don’t have to study and prepare, simply recognize and accept and live it.
Or perhaps we should focus on the sprouting plants, rather than the carelessness or cluelessness of the seed scatterer. The realm of God is constantly sprouting new life, grown from seeds we scarcely knew had been sown – and day after day, night after night, this growth continues apart from any effort we make.
What do you see when you play with this one?
This is what we do with parables – we turn them this way and that, try on different angles and interpretations, see what strikes a spark in us. Come to think of it, parables are kind of like scattered seeds that sprout and grow, we know not how...
(a) Organic farming methods
(b) A lifelong city dweller’s first experience in the countryside
(c) The way things work in the realm of God
What does the story suggest to you?
Welcome to Seed Week in Bible Camp. I’ve never counted, but it seems to me that Jesus told more parables about seeds than any other one thing. In the passage just before this, Jesus tells a long, multi-part story about a sower of seeds, and the different results he gets according to where they fall. In this week’s gospel reading we get two more seed parables, short, simple – and if we harvest them well, yielding manifold meanings and gifts. Here is the first:
“The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.”
We have no sower here, just “someone” who rather haphazardly scatters seed on the ground and then seems to be astonished that it sprouts and grows. How is this like the Kingdom of God?
Is Jesus saying that God is the careless scatterer, hoping that the kingdom values of love and faithfulness and power will take root in some? There appears to be no cultivating, weeding, tending, or watering – just “the earth producing of itself.” Does this suggest that some people are just naturally ready to grow and thrive? Or are we the ones unwittingly scattering the seeds of the gospel, and surprised when some sprout?
Or am I wrong to equate the seeds with people? Maybe the seeds are simply the movement of “getting it,” grasping the truth that Jesus was trying to communicate, about the way the Kingdom is already around, among, even in us. The truth grows in us – we don’t have to study and prepare, simply recognize and accept and live it.
Or perhaps we should focus on the sprouting plants, rather than the carelessness or cluelessness of the seed scatterer. The realm of God is constantly sprouting new life, grown from seeds we scarcely knew had been sown – and day after day, night after night, this growth continues apart from any effort we make.
What do you see when you play with this one?
This is what we do with parables – we turn them this way and that, try on different angles and interpretations, see what strikes a spark in us. Come to think of it, parables are kind of like scattered seeds that sprout and grow, we know not how...
6-5-15 - God's Will
Welcome to the family! You’re in. Jesus says so. Let's just check on what basis you were accepted. Were you born into it? Millions have been over 2,000 some years. Born and baptized, you belong.
Or did you get in on faith? That’s supposed to be a sure-fire strategy, believing in Jesus the Christ, incarnate, crucified, risen. Don’t need any documents from Column B – you believe, you’re in.
And what about behavior? Some of us “solo gratia” types aren’t too keen on the idea that you can “do-good” your way into the Kingdom. But Jesus did say something about “doing the will of God…”
And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” (This Sunday's gospel passage is here.)
We can’t take “behaving” out of the picture, any more than we can take out believing, birth or baptism. The Realm of God is an “all of the above” kind of enterprise. It can be useful, though, to explore what it means to do the will of God. If it were easier to discern God’s will, we wouldn’t worry, wonder or wander as much.
One way to discern God’s will is to ask if we’re doing something Jesus told his apostles to do: proclaim the Good News, heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons. Oh, and feed the hungry, visit the incarcerated, love the unloved, forgive those who have wounded or taken from you. All that.
And what about things that don’t fall easily into "apostolic" categories? What about choices we have to make when we want to know what God wants us to do? There are a few measures that can guide us:
Are you in discernment about anything in your life at present? What happens when you pray about it? We don't always get a “straight answer” to those kinds of prayers, but if we keep our eyes and spirits open, we might find clues in “coincidences,” or things we observe or song lyrics, you name it. God has our number, if we keep our lines open.
Ultimately, Jesus said, his Father’s will was that “everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” (John 6:40). If we can live in that understanding, we will swim in God's will all the way to eternity.
Or did you get in on faith? That’s supposed to be a sure-fire strategy, believing in Jesus the Christ, incarnate, crucified, risen. Don’t need any documents from Column B – you believe, you’re in.
And what about behavior? Some of us “solo gratia” types aren’t too keen on the idea that you can “do-good” your way into the Kingdom. But Jesus did say something about “doing the will of God…”
And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” (This Sunday's gospel passage is here.)
We can’t take “behaving” out of the picture, any more than we can take out believing, birth or baptism. The Realm of God is an “all of the above” kind of enterprise. It can be useful, though, to explore what it means to do the will of God. If it were easier to discern God’s will, we wouldn’t worry, wonder or wander as much.
One way to discern God’s will is to ask if we’re doing something Jesus told his apostles to do: proclaim the Good News, heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons. Oh, and feed the hungry, visit the incarcerated, love the unloved, forgive those who have wounded or taken from you. All that.
And what about things that don’t fall easily into "apostolic" categories? What about choices we have to make when we want to know what God wants us to do? There are a few measures that can guide us:
- Is what we’re contemplating consistent with what we find in the Bible, or at least not contrary to what Jesus or the apostles taught?
- Is there confirmation within our community of faith, even by one other person, for the course we’re taking?
- The “gut check.” Do we have an inner sense of peace about it? If not, we should keep praying and exploring.
Are you in discernment about anything in your life at present? What happens when you pray about it? We don't always get a “straight answer” to those kinds of prayers, but if we keep our eyes and spirits open, we might find clues in “coincidences,” or things we observe or song lyrics, you name it. God has our number, if we keep our lines open.
Ultimately, Jesus said, his Father’s will was that “everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” (John 6:40). If we can live in that understanding, we will swim in God's will all the way to eternity.
6-4-15 - The Unforgivable Sin
There are enough things to worry about in this life; you probably aren’t losing sleep over whether or not you’ve committed the One Unforgivable Sin. But it’s the kind of thing that can bother the scripture-savvy neurotic overly given to scrupulosity: the nagging worry that I have blasphemed against the Holy Spirit. (I’ve been known to tell Jesus jokes… )
Reading the passage again this week, I think I can relax. It appears that the ultimate “diss” on the Holy Spirit was accusing Jesus of having an evil spirit. “Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— for they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
To avoid the eternal sin, we need only refrain from naming as unholy the Spirit of God. That means we must be able to discern the Holy Spirit from unclean spirits – and that’s not so hard to do. Jesus said one can identify a false prophet by his fruit (Matthew 7:15-20). John said to test those who claim to speak by the Spirit – and the test is whether or not they affirm that Jesus was fully human. (I John 4:1-3) We can also look for evidence of the Spirit in a person by what kind of fruit they bear – are their words and work life-giving, God-oriented, maybe not every second, but over all? Do we see around them the good fruit of transformed lives?
If we focus our energy on all the places and people in which we do see the Holy Spirit at work, we won’t even have time to worry about unclean spirits. Getting us looking at negatives and what’s lacking is one of the evil one’s strategies, one for which I tend to fall way too often. For instance, instead of worrying about whether or not I’ve committed the one unforgivable sin, how about I notice the much more startling announcement Jesus makes here: “…people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter.” Wow! Talk about grace and mercy covering a multitude of sins!
I know I’ve written a lot this week about evil and the devil – those are big themes in this passage. But it’s worth remembering that the way the Tempter works is to distort the prohibitions and the penalties, and downplay God's promises. In the Garden story (also appointed for Sunday), the man and woman are told they can eat the fruit of every tree except one. And that’s the one the tempter focuses their attention on – that one prohibition. That’s still his strategy, because it works so often.
How about we stop falling for it? How about we stand so firm in the reminder of our belovedness in Christ, of the amazing mercy covering our petty sins and blasphemies, that we cannot be shaken off course by distortions and lies intended to undermine us? How about we invite the Holy Spirit to be so full and thick in us that we’re much more apt to praise God than condemn ourselves or others?
The clock is running out on the power of evil – God’s love has us covered. That is our Good News.
Reading the passage again this week, I think I can relax. It appears that the ultimate “diss” on the Holy Spirit was accusing Jesus of having an evil spirit. “Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— for they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
To avoid the eternal sin, we need only refrain from naming as unholy the Spirit of God. That means we must be able to discern the Holy Spirit from unclean spirits – and that’s not so hard to do. Jesus said one can identify a false prophet by his fruit (Matthew 7:15-20). John said to test those who claim to speak by the Spirit – and the test is whether or not they affirm that Jesus was fully human. (I John 4:1-3) We can also look for evidence of the Spirit in a person by what kind of fruit they bear – are their words and work life-giving, God-oriented, maybe not every second, but over all? Do we see around them the good fruit of transformed lives?
If we focus our energy on all the places and people in which we do see the Holy Spirit at work, we won’t even have time to worry about unclean spirits. Getting us looking at negatives and what’s lacking is one of the evil one’s strategies, one for which I tend to fall way too often. For instance, instead of worrying about whether or not I’ve committed the one unforgivable sin, how about I notice the much more startling announcement Jesus makes here: “…people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter.” Wow! Talk about grace and mercy covering a multitude of sins!
I know I’ve written a lot this week about evil and the devil – those are big themes in this passage. But it’s worth remembering that the way the Tempter works is to distort the prohibitions and the penalties, and downplay God's promises. In the Garden story (also appointed for Sunday), the man and woman are told they can eat the fruit of every tree except one. And that’s the one the tempter focuses their attention on – that one prohibition. That’s still his strategy, because it works so often.
How about we stop falling for it? How about we stand so firm in the reminder of our belovedness in Christ, of the amazing mercy covering our petty sins and blasphemies, that we cannot be shaken off course by distortions and lies intended to undermine us? How about we invite the Holy Spirit to be so full and thick in us that we’re much more apt to praise God than condemn ourselves or others?
The clock is running out on the power of evil – God’s love has us covered. That is our Good News.
6-3-15 - Breaking and Entering
Tips on breaking and entering from Jesus of Nazareth? Not quite – but he does have a few thoughts on the most effective way to break into someone’s house: “But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.”
Remember, he is disputing a charge that the power by which he casts out demons is itself demonic. He says that’s ridiculous – that a house divided cannot stand. In fact, he says, “And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come.” (This week's passage is here.)
I’ve always found that statement very confusing. Wasn’t the point of Jesus’ mission to put an end to Satan’s power? I think he is saying that Satan is not divided – Satan is single-mindedly focused on evil and gets stronger with each victory. Therefore Jesus will “tie up the strong man.” Hence, “No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man.” And that is what we as Christians claim Jesus accomplished – a definitive conquest over the forces of evil.
So… why doesn’t it seem like Satan is bound at all? Why does it seem like he still has a free run of the place, tempting, corrupting, degrading, destroying life?
That’s probably the hardest question asked of Christians. Don’t all our claims of Easter victory crash against the reality of evil still running amok in our world? Traditional apologists have likened Christ’s victory to D-Day, and the time we live in to the period between D-Day, when Axis forces were defeated, and V.E. Day, when all the battles had ended and peace was declared. That analogy has some legs.
For me, the issue of free will also comes into it. Yes, Jesus vanquished the destroyer – and each and every person still must make the choice and exercise free will. No one has it decided for her. The difference for us on this side of the Cross is that the choice is simpler. When we are faced with temptation to be less than who God made us to be, or when we fear evil is stronger than God, we need only remember that Jesus HAS tied up the strong man.
A person single-mindedly focused on his mission will always have more power than one who is ambivalent or unsure or wavering. Evil, personified in the name Satan, has power because he is wholly committed to destruction, to drawing people away from God. When we are equally clear about our commitment to God in Christ, to good, to love, those chains Jesus already put on him get tighter and tighter. We can not only resist evil ourselves; we can also free those whom he has bound. That’s the work of justice and peacemaking.
We don’t have to fight or bind the evil one – that’s done. We need only stand firm on what Jesus has already done and tell evil to get lost. We can do that in personal crises – just say, “Oh yeah, Jesus already won this battle. Come, Lord Jesus…” And I wonder what might change in the horrors that afflict our world if we were to face those crises the same way, if we were to come together in faith, pray, "Come,Lord Jesus," and focus single-mindedly on Love? Evil wouldn't stand a chance.
Remember, he is disputing a charge that the power by which he casts out demons is itself demonic. He says that’s ridiculous – that a house divided cannot stand. In fact, he says, “And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come.” (This week's passage is here.)
I’ve always found that statement very confusing. Wasn’t the point of Jesus’ mission to put an end to Satan’s power? I think he is saying that Satan is not divided – Satan is single-mindedly focused on evil and gets stronger with each victory. Therefore Jesus will “tie up the strong man.” Hence, “No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man.” And that is what we as Christians claim Jesus accomplished – a definitive conquest over the forces of evil.
So… why doesn’t it seem like Satan is bound at all? Why does it seem like he still has a free run of the place, tempting, corrupting, degrading, destroying life?
That’s probably the hardest question asked of Christians. Don’t all our claims of Easter victory crash against the reality of evil still running amok in our world? Traditional apologists have likened Christ’s victory to D-Day, and the time we live in to the period between D-Day, when Axis forces were defeated, and V.E. Day, when all the battles had ended and peace was declared. That analogy has some legs.
For me, the issue of free will also comes into it. Yes, Jesus vanquished the destroyer – and each and every person still must make the choice and exercise free will. No one has it decided for her. The difference for us on this side of the Cross is that the choice is simpler. When we are faced with temptation to be less than who God made us to be, or when we fear evil is stronger than God, we need only remember that Jesus HAS tied up the strong man.
A person single-mindedly focused on his mission will always have more power than one who is ambivalent or unsure or wavering. Evil, personified in the name Satan, has power because he is wholly committed to destruction, to drawing people away from God. When we are equally clear about our commitment to God in Christ, to good, to love, those chains Jesus already put on him get tighter and tighter. We can not only resist evil ourselves; we can also free those whom he has bound. That’s the work of justice and peacemaking.
We don’t have to fight or bind the evil one – that’s done. We need only stand firm on what Jesus has already done and tell evil to get lost. We can do that in personal crises – just say, “Oh yeah, Jesus already won this battle. Come, Lord Jesus…” And I wonder what might change in the horrors that afflict our world if we were to face those crises the same way, if we were to come together in faith, pray, "Come,Lord Jesus," and focus single-mindedly on Love? Evil wouldn't stand a chance.
6-2-15 - Fighting Evil with Evil?
As Jesus' public ministry was getting under way, he got flack from many quarters. His family tried to shut him up, and next we see the scribes speaking against him:
And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.”
The scribes' job was to painstakingly copy out Torah scrolls, and perhaps other clerical duties in the Temple. This group had come from Jerusalem to either investigate or condemn Jesus – at the point we hear from them, they are clearly in condemnation mode. Unable to deny Jesus’ spiritual power already evident in miracles of healing, they are nevertheless unwilling to credit it to the presence of God. They assert that it is by demonic power that Jesus casts out demons.
And, as usual, Jesus makes no defense for himself. Instead, he points out the logical fallacy in their theory. “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.” That makes sense – we can’t draw on the power of evil to rid us of evil.
It seems to me that most of the horror and heartbreak in the world arises from just that: using the arsenal of evil to get rid of some oppression or corruption or injustice that benefits some people at the expense of others. What is terrorism, but the attempt to counter evil with evil, destruction with destruction What are violent revolutions and “Robin Hood” schemes but combating evil with evil?
Are there times when even people rooted in goodness and godliness use violence as a weapon against evil? Of course. I think immediately of the German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, executed by the Nazis for his part in a failed plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Did this profoundly holy and faithful Christian leader fall into that trap – or is some evil so horrific it can only be met with violence?
One online piece about Bonhoeffer said, "Some of his later writings insist that many Christians do not take seriously enough the existence and power of evil," so I imagine he was conscious of fighting evil. He was forced to choose between two evils, really - letting the madman continue, or taking action to stop him. He made a choice rooted in prayer and community, to take one life in hopes of saving millions. Many have done the same.
In the gospels, Jesus never does. He can be liberal with sarcasm, but never violence. His mission was to disable the devil, to “bind the strong man,” as he puts it. As Christians we claim he accomplished that – and yet, to live into that promise takes a very long view indeed, as we still see the power of evil managing horrendous destruction.
What are we to do in the face of evil forces? We are invited to deploy the arsenal of God – the power in the name of Jesus, the fierce advocacy of the Holy Spirit, the defensive weapons of the Spirit promised to us (Ephesians 6). And we have the power in prayer, the power that made the galaxies ready to mobilize when we pray in faith, in the name and power and love of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's the promise!
I sure would like to see heaven and earth move more quickly and clearly against certain evils that persist in cruel destruction around this world of ours. And yet I believe, sometimes against evidence, that the only force powerful enough to cast out evil is the love of God, wielded in prayer.
And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.”
The scribes' job was to painstakingly copy out Torah scrolls, and perhaps other clerical duties in the Temple. This group had come from Jerusalem to either investigate or condemn Jesus – at the point we hear from them, they are clearly in condemnation mode. Unable to deny Jesus’ spiritual power already evident in miracles of healing, they are nevertheless unwilling to credit it to the presence of God. They assert that it is by demonic power that Jesus casts out demons.
And, as usual, Jesus makes no defense for himself. Instead, he points out the logical fallacy in their theory. “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.” That makes sense – we can’t draw on the power of evil to rid us of evil.
It seems to me that most of the horror and heartbreak in the world arises from just that: using the arsenal of evil to get rid of some oppression or corruption or injustice that benefits some people at the expense of others. What is terrorism, but the attempt to counter evil with evil, destruction with destruction What are violent revolutions and “Robin Hood” schemes but combating evil with evil?
Are there times when even people rooted in goodness and godliness use violence as a weapon against evil? Of course. I think immediately of the German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, executed by the Nazis for his part in a failed plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Did this profoundly holy and faithful Christian leader fall into that trap – or is some evil so horrific it can only be met with violence?
One online piece about Bonhoeffer said, "Some of his later writings insist that many Christians do not take seriously enough the existence and power of evil," so I imagine he was conscious of fighting evil. He was forced to choose between two evils, really - letting the madman continue, or taking action to stop him. He made a choice rooted in prayer and community, to take one life in hopes of saving millions. Many have done the same.
In the gospels, Jesus never does. He can be liberal with sarcasm, but never violence. His mission was to disable the devil, to “bind the strong man,” as he puts it. As Christians we claim he accomplished that – and yet, to live into that promise takes a very long view indeed, as we still see the power of evil managing horrendous destruction.
What are we to do in the face of evil forces? We are invited to deploy the arsenal of God – the power in the name of Jesus, the fierce advocacy of the Holy Spirit, the defensive weapons of the Spirit promised to us (Ephesians 6). And we have the power in prayer, the power that made the galaxies ready to mobilize when we pray in faith, in the name and power and love of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's the promise!
I sure would like to see heaven and earth move more quickly and clearly against certain evils that persist in cruel destruction around this world of ours. And yet I believe, sometimes against evidence, that the only force powerful enough to cast out evil is the love of God, wielded in prayer.
6-1-15 Mom! Make Him Stop!
This week we get a little glimpse into Jesus’ earthly family. Just a glimpse, but enough to suggest they were a lot like other people’s families: swift to pounce when someone steps out of the norm, protective of their reputation. And might we detect a little sibling resentment against the big brother who can do no wrong… literally?
This passage from Mark’s gospel shows Jesus right after he’s begun his public ministry of preaching, healing, casting out demons. Just prior to this, he selects his twelve closest disciples and then, Mark tells us, “He went home.” Home, presumably, was no longer the woodshop in Nazareth where he grew up, but Capernaum, the town where Peter and Andrew lived, where Jesus resided when not on the road.
But sometimes “home” doesn’t get shaken so easily. When Jesus’ family hears about the crowds that form around him everywhere he goes, they think it’s time to do something.
[Then he went home;] and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.”
Imagine a parent who goes out to reclaim a son or daughter who’s gotten involved in a cult – and discovers their offspring is the cult leader! It must not have been easy for Jesus’ family to see his activities, the wild things he was saying, the miracles he was working, the lowlifes he was hanging out with, the way he stood up to the religious leaders – it sure looked to them like “he has gone out of his mind.” Perhaps they were so used to seeing him one way, they couldn’t conceive of who he had become.
Whatever their motives, their efforts to quiet him were unsuccessful. In response to being told his mother and brothers were outside, wanting to talk to him, Jesus redefined his family. His words may sound harsh to our sentimental ears, but he was just being clear about priorities for those who claim to be his followers:
Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.” And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
How do those words make you feel? Where in your hierarchy of vaues is your family - and do they support you getting closer to Jesus, or are they threatened by it?
Are you willing to let people know you are part of Jesus' family, not just a follower, but a brother or sister? Because he said we are now his mother, his brothers, his sisters, whoever does the will of God.
That’s a pretty amazing family to be invited to join. That’s some pretty amazing family values.
This passage from Mark’s gospel shows Jesus right after he’s begun his public ministry of preaching, healing, casting out demons. Just prior to this, he selects his twelve closest disciples and then, Mark tells us, “He went home.” Home, presumably, was no longer the woodshop in Nazareth where he grew up, but Capernaum, the town where Peter and Andrew lived, where Jesus resided when not on the road.
But sometimes “home” doesn’t get shaken so easily. When Jesus’ family hears about the crowds that form around him everywhere he goes, they think it’s time to do something.
[Then he went home;] and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.”
Imagine a parent who goes out to reclaim a son or daughter who’s gotten involved in a cult – and discovers their offspring is the cult leader! It must not have been easy for Jesus’ family to see his activities, the wild things he was saying, the miracles he was working, the lowlifes he was hanging out with, the way he stood up to the religious leaders – it sure looked to them like “he has gone out of his mind.” Perhaps they were so used to seeing him one way, they couldn’t conceive of who he had become.
Whatever their motives, their efforts to quiet him were unsuccessful. In response to being told his mother and brothers were outside, wanting to talk to him, Jesus redefined his family. His words may sound harsh to our sentimental ears, but he was just being clear about priorities for those who claim to be his followers:
Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.” And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
How do those words make you feel? Where in your hierarchy of vaues is your family - and do they support you getting closer to Jesus, or are they threatened by it?
Are you willing to let people know you are part of Jesus' family, not just a follower, but a brother or sister? Because he said we are now his mother, his brothers, his sisters, whoever does the will of God.
That’s a pretty amazing family to be invited to join. That’s some pretty amazing family values.
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