It's been a while

This past Thursday we had a pretty cool conversation. We discussed the idea of being sent, and what that looks like for us. We compared more traditional views of "being sent", such as overseas missions, too where we are today in Philadelphia and what it means for us to be sent daily. We had quite a large pool of views to pull from, and to help balance each other out. Views ranging from living overseas and having missionaries come to your people, to being the missionary who was sent over seas and living among other people. We have people in our crew who wrestle with the idea of short term missions, and people who have worked for years with organizations that send you short term all over the world.

As the conversations continued, we decided that we need to ask ourselves, what is our purpose.

Why are we at our jobs? Is it just to pay the bills and to give money to christian organizations and churches, or is there more?

Why do we live in the communities that we do? Is it because it's comfortable, close, and cheap, or is it because we have an amazing opportunity to discover Christ in our neighbor by loving them.

I am really excited with the direction that God is leading us. How he is growing us, and what he is calling us into. I am stoked that the creator of the universe has invited us, as a small community, each being apart of other communities, to take part in his world redemption plan.

I listened to a teaching a while back, and thought I would share it with everyone. It is a bit long, I know, I have a habit of doing that, posting really long teachings, but it is well worth listening too.

I would love to hear your thoughts on it once you give it a listening too.

Joe Ferrante's Teaching


Let's as a community and as individuals wrestle out what our purpose is every day of every week. Let's encourage each others to live the life we are called to live, and holding each other accountable to that. Let's continue to invite Christ and others to share in our lives as we pursue the Grace and Christ Jesus that brings us closer to His holiness daily!

Grace and peace every,

Thanks again for sharing life with me and let me share in yours with you.

Chris

Pentecost and Beyond

Hello family!

It has been awhile since I have written on this blog and a while since I have seen or spoken with you guys.

I had a few thoughts that I wanted to share. With 48 hours of non-stop travel and days without electricity it gives one time to reflect and think. I have been thinking about Thursday nights and everything that God has been doing. I have been thinking about how I have learned so much of who God is through everyone, and how much I appreciate everyone. When I reflect on the past year or two, that we have been gathering, eating together, and sharing life together, it gets me stoked with what God wants to do. I am excited about whatand how God wants to build upon the foundation that we are building on, the foundation of Christ. That for some reason God has been moving, speaking, and encouraging us, drawing us closer to Him and closer to each other. To say that I am excited about the direction the Lord is taking us is an understatement.

A few Sundays ago was Pentecost. For those of you who don’t really know much about Pentecost, it is really quite a beautiful day to remember, celebrate and reflect upon. It means 50,but is full of meaning besides the number. Pentecost is the day that Jews celebrate the giving of the law on Mount Sinai and the day Christians remember the gift of the Holy Spirit. You can read about it in the beginning of Acts, or Deuteronomy and Exodus.

On Pentecost I had the privilege of speaking topart of the church here in Africa, and had the amazing privilege to worship with people of all ages, from many different nations, and many different languages. I thought it fitting for that to take place on Pentecost.

As the story of Pentecost goes, the followers of Jesus were together worshiping, praying, and eating together, when all of asudden something like tongues of fire came down and rested upon them. They all started to speak it their own native tongue, from the surrounding nations. The crowds that were around them were amazed and quite frankly confused. They accused them of being drunk, but Peter was quick to correct them, and tell them that it was too early morning to be drunk. Peter then goes into a speech saying that this is what the prophets had for told, and this is what Jesus had promised. We also read in the book of John that Jesus speaks about sending his Counselor after him, and because of this Counselor we will do greater things then even Christ did.

After the gift of the Holy Spirit these people go out and start doing miraculous things. They share what they have, there is no poor among them, they cared for widows and orphans, and they start to pick up the slack where the government is missing the mark. Their movement grows even though they are for the most part an underground movement. They call them selves the Way, because it is about the way to life, they way of living here today into eternity. The bible says there were thousands who were joining them daily, but at the same time many were staying away from them, because they were afraid of this new crew of people, but they had great respect for them.

What where these people afraid of?

Were they afraid that if they joined them they would have to share what they owned, what was “theirs”?

Were they afraid they would be judged or told they are going to hell?

Were they afraid of building intimate relationships with others, being exposed to the healing power of Christ?

Were they afraid because these people were living upside down to the way that the world lives?

Were they scared because the way these people connected to God and each other was even different from the way that their religions operated?

We could ask ourselves the same question, what are we afraid of?

Or maybe we could ask how did this underground, non-official movement, gain such good standing with the public, and grow so rapidly?

Are we living like they were, or what would that look like in this day in age?

Would it look any different or is that an excuse to not live at all?

Despite the confusion many had, and the fear that many people had, this movement grew because the Holy Spiritwas with them, showing them how to live the Kingdom of God out, here and now. They were able to do the impossible, give freely to those in need; they travel to other parts of the globe to live out this gospel, to work normal jobs, like making tents, but to love extravagantly, or to wait on tables, but to do it in the strength, love and knowledge of the Holy Spirit. They did this not because it was a rule, or law that Jesus left them, or because of an institution that had been set up but because that’s what Christ did, and still does today.(maybe not the tents, but the love). They continued to go to their regular churches, places of worship, or Synagogues, but they also gathered together on the side to pursue this Jesus deeper and to wrestle out what it looks like to live this way. There were many disagreements, but there was also a lot of rejoicing and cities began to get turn upside down.

Some people think that the amazing things were the healings, or the gifts of the spirit that was poured out, but if you ask me the miraculous thing was the sharing of possessions. The dying to ones self out of the desire, and shear joy of helping others.

These people began to full fill what God had promised after He rescued them from Egypt. There was no poor among them, God had told them that if you obey my teachings there will be no poor among you. How exciting is that, but the difference now was that it was for the whole world, for all of creation.

For Jews, Greeks, Samaritans, Sinners, Saints, Tax collectors, Priests, Prostitutes, the WHOLE WORLD!

In a way, Pentecost is a celebration of a new beginning, of a fresh start, a new partnership with God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Three in One, the fulfillment of the law through Christ Jesus.
So now we live Post-Pentecost, what does all this mean for us today, in Philadelphia. What is the relevance of these old stories, and how do we apply this to who we are in the Body of Christ. How do we wed this teaching to our little crew that gathers not because it is a new program started up, but because we are people wanting to go deeper with God and to go deeper with those around us. We attend different churches, but have one faith. So what does all of this mean for us?

What does it look like for us as a community, a tribe, a little family adopted into the kingdom to partner with the Holy Spirit. To invite Him to come and teach us who he is and what it looks like for us to live out this Gospel. Do we have the same Holy Spirit that is talked about here in the beginning of Acts, if we do how do we work with him?

Does it mean that we keep doing what we’ve been doing or do we do more, again not do more because is a rule or a law, but because we desire to Love and see God more, and to love others more.

Does it mean we go as extravagant as the early church we read about in acts and share everything in common, holding nothing back for anyone else? We did that a little bit to help Josh our, does it mean we do it to an even greater level?

Or is it as simple as reading the scriptures more, really studying them, and spending time in prayer like the earlier church did? Then share what we are learning with each other as often as the time permits.

Maybe it means we try to take every opportunity we get to eat together, to break bread and drink wine, so to speak, and invite others to join us for these meals?

Does it mean we start more worship services, or maybe our worship serviceslook like us getting to know our neighbors and starting new relationships?

Maybe it means moving into a house together and working out the gospel in the tough nitty gritty of living with others and trying to figure out how to love them despite theirs and ours weaknesses. Looking to break our selves open and pour ourselves out like Christ did, and being open to receive when other are pouring into us.

It may look different for each of us, or the same, I don’t know, but where we can start is by truly inviting the Holy Spirit to lead our crew. That we would be open to His leading, His movement, His Challenging, and that when we are asked to respond that we respond and answers Gods call.

Let’s truly go deeper, despite the discomfort and fear of it. Let’s wrestle with the gospel in ways that may even be new to our way of think. Let’s read the Living Word with a renewed sense of passion and desire to see God’s Kingdom come, God’s will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Let’s not just talk about what it looks like, but let’s take risks knowing that we will fail at times and get hurt other times. Let’s continue to break bread, and do it even more often then we do now.

This is where this life gets exciting, when we walk and talk with the triune God, in an exciting, passionate and living relationship that involves those around us.

I am looking forward to when I will be with you guys again, sharing meals, laughing, praying and discussing. I am excited to hear all that God has been doing and speaking to you guys. And once again thank you so much for all that you have taught me, and all the love, grace, and support that you have given to me.

Until then, Grace and Peace!

If anyone doesn’t read this pass on the word that I say “Hi”, and send my Love.
Chris

Who is this Jesus?

This Thursday instead of "studying" the bible, we took time to listen to the story of Luke 8, and to ask the question, "Who is Jesus?" We took time to imagine what it would have been like to be one of the 12.

I had a friend that once said to a small group of people, " We need to not read the bible as a self-help book, or as a book for sin management. But we need to read the bible to Know who God is."

That was one of the most profound things said to me. It was a radicle concept to me.

We need to read the bible to discover the person of Jesus, because Jesus, IS the Gospel.

As we listened to the story of Luke 8, there were a few themes that grabbed my attention, and echoed inside of me.

The first was, "Who is this Jesus."

The second was, The Revolution will not be Televised!

Throughout this story people are asking, "Who is this person". Jesus is bringing peace, wholeness wellness to people, and people are filled with Terror. Why is that? Jesus did things so upside down compared to the way that we do things these days. He wasn't trying to get big numbers to join his crew, he wasn't looking for people who would have the best stories to convince people to follow him, he wasn't even trying have people know what he did. But, what he was trying to do was love people in such a way that their dignity would be restored to them. Love them to introduce them to the Resurrection of all things. Love them in such a way that they would not become a spectacle, or used for his purposed.

But Jesus wanted to be used for their good, not them for his good.

While Jesus was bringing the kingdom to those around him, he was throwing off and breaking down people's social class structures. In one story, he even caused a ripple of fear in a people groups economic situation.

But through all that Jesus did, he kept it quite. He didn't have a bull horn, or large speakers. He didn't write any books, or building a building. He didn't start a club, and have sign up lists. He didn't have numbers in mind that he was trying to attain. He didn't make banners, bumper stickers, or even billboard adds. He didn't put his name in the paper telling people to follow him. He didn't have clever designed adds on the side of busses, taxis, or rickshaws(or what ever they used back then).

The Revolution will not be televised!

What he did do was live life and invite a few people to live with him. What he did was have people in mind that he was trying to love and serve. He knew that His way, although backwards to even the way we often times do church these days, was the best way to do things. He knew that in the quietness and stillness of loving people, that his name would be spread far and wide, even to the ends of the earth. He knew that the best way to enact change was to love so radically people wouldn't be able to keep quiet, despite him saying, "Tell no one".

The Revolution will not be televised!

He knew that living counter cultural, not subcultural, would turn cities upside down. He knew that loving people who you weren't supposed to love, would bring the kingdom of God. He knew that living drastically different from those around him would begin to crumple the holds that the enemy has on lives. Living this way would break addictions, personal insecurities, greed, lust, hatred, and bring about a new way of doing life, a new way of living.

The Revolution will not be Televised!

Jesus knows that that kingdom does not come about by crafty slogans, or slick design, nor does it come by eloquent words or miraculous signs, nor does it come with knowledge that can fathom all the mysterious of life or prophetic giftings that can end all strife, nor does it come with a hip band and music that is above the rest. But this Kingdom, The kingdom of the Most High God, comes by feeding the poor, clothing the naked, freeing the captive, and loving our enemy.

The Revolution will not be Televised!

What Jesus did leave behind was people, and relationships. People he believed in despite their not so fantastic stories and backgrounds. People he believed in, even though they were still broken and working out their salvation, even unto death.

Jesus knows the kingdom does not come by force, but by submission to our God, and by breaking ourselves open and pouring ourselves out for those around us, like Jesus did for us.

Jesus knows, taking the models of the world around us and putting "christian" labels on them does not make them Kingdom. But, taking the models of the world upside down and shaking them out brings the kingdom.

Jesus is inviting us to live life with him and teaching us to invite others to live life with us.

Who is this Jesus?

...

I believe we need to ask this question, and be Ok with not answering it right away, but sitting in the stillness.

There were some great things said on Thursday night, I would encourage us to not let the conversation drop just because the night ended. Let's continue to ponder, and wrestle with this. Let's start this conversation with people who don't come on Thursday nights. If you need to, reread Luke 8, and feel free to voice your thoughts on this blog as well.

Let's wrestle with the idea of, "where are we looking for this revolution"? Are we looking to wisdom, media, the cool kids, church, people, school, pastors, the government, ourselves, or Jesus Christ?

as I can't say it enough, I love you guys/gals tons, and am glad to be on this journey with everyone. I am excited for where God is taking us as individuals as well as a group. I am excited for ways that we are starting to discover more of this Jesus, and his message. I am stoke for ways that we are starting to enter into his revolution, and His way of life. I am glad we are going at it together.

Grace and peace,
Chris

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

Here is the poem/song I was talking about. I know it applies
to something different then the Jesus movement, but I think
there are aspects that relate.

Feel free to comment

...

You will not be able to stay home, brother.
You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out.
You will not be able to lose yourself on skag and skip,
Skip out for beer during commercials,
Because the revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be brought to you by Xerox
In 4 parts without commercial interruptions.
The revolution will not show you pictures of Nixon
blowing a bugle and leading a charge by John
Mitchell, General Abrams and Spiro Agnew to eat
hog maws confiscated from a Harlem sanctuary.
The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be brought to you by the
Schaefer Award Theatre and will not star Natalie
Woods and Steve McQueen or Bullwinkle and Julia.
The revolution will not give your mouth sex appeal.
The revolution will not get rid of the nubs.
The revolution will not make you look five pounds
thinner, because the revolution will not be televised, Brother.

There will be no pictures of you and Willie May
pushing that shopping cart down the block on the dead run,
or trying to slide that color television into a stolen ambulance.
NBC will not be able predict the winner at 8:32
or report from 29 districts.
The revolution will not be televised.

There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers in the instant replay.
There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers in the instant replay.
There will be no pictures of Whitney Young being
run out of Harlem on a rail with a brand new process.
There will be no slow motion or still life of Roy
Wilkens strolling through Watts in a Red, Black and
Green liberation jumpsuit that he had been saving
For just the proper occasion.

Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Hooterville
Junction will no longer be so damned relevant, and
women will not care if Dick finally gets down with
Jane on Search for Tomorrow because Black people
will be in the street looking for a brighter day.
The revolution will not be televised.

There will be no highlights on the eleven o'clock
news and no pictures of hairy armed women
liberationists and Jackie Onassis blowing her nose.
The theme song will not be written by Jim Webb,
Francis Scott Key, nor sung by Glen Campbell, Tom
Jones, Johnny Cash, Englebert Humperdink, or the Rare Earth.
The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be right back after a message
bbout a white tornado, white lightning, or white people.
You will not have to worry about a dove in your
bedroom, a tiger in your tank, or the giant in your toilet bowl.
The revolution will not go better with Coke.
The revolution will not fight the germs that may cause bad breath.
The revolution will put you in the driver's seat.

The revolution will not be televised, will not be televised,
will not be televised, will not be televised.
The revolution will be no re-run brothers;
The revolution will be live.

By
Gil Scott-Heron

THE LORD HAS RISEN!

It seems as though I gave up blogging for lent...

I hope that everyone had an amazing Easter and was able to encounter our Resurrected Lord.

I know I say this all the time, but I truly appreciate all you who come and are apart of the Thursday night crew. Through out this year I encountered Jesus in deeper ways because of you guys and gals. In the time I have spent with you, I have been stirred to pursue Jesus in deeper ways and strive to figure out what an even deeper connection to Him looks like in my life. You have challenged me to count the cost that we must make in following Jesus.

Though our relationships I have parts of me that I didn't even know needing it, being resurrected with Christ.

In this post Resurrection season, let's continue to press into the person of Jesus, not forgetting who He is. Let's continue to invite him into the parts of our lives that need resurrecting. Let's invite Him into the communities we are in, to bring a fresh renewal. Let's support, challenge, and encourage one another in the love of our Lord, as we move forward

Thanks for journeying with me and letting me journey with you.

Grace and Peace,
Chris

Why do we seek God? What is the purpose of this personal relationship with God?

I have been thinking about these questions recently. I know many times people have said to me, and I say myself, "I need to seek God more because it's good and my life tends to be even more blessed when I do." Or I hear "It just helps my life be better."

But I ask myself,

What about those who are pressing into God daily, yet are having to flee for their lives. Does their pursuit of God make their life better? Are they pursing God for the sake of self-improvement?

What does "to be blessed" mean?

What about those who live in our own neighborhoods who seek God hourly, yet everything around them is crumbling, their families, their money, and their world. Is their personal relationship with God improving their life? Do they think if they pray a little harder everything will come together?

What does it really mean to have our life improved? How do we measure this improvement or can we measure it at all?

Often times in this subculture that many of us have grown up in or end up in, the subculture of christianity, there is a ton of emphasis put on you and your personal relationship. There is this idea, whether or not we are taught it directly, that tends to sink into our way of thinking. We begin to press into God because it is good for us, God is our home boy, God helps us take tests so pray hard before. God helps us find lost keys, so be in a good relationship so that you can find what is lost. I know, if I am going to be honest, all of what I have just written applies to me at some point in my life, if not now.

The other day I was thinking about this. We act as though Jesus is here for me, and we are the end. Of course Jesus came and died on the cross for my sins so I can be in communication with the Author of life, but it doesn't stop there. To often we get hung up on the "us", and loose site that we aren't the end, but we are a means and an end...

we are "the end of the beginning is the end".(thank you Billy Corgan)

What if we pursed God not to improve our own lives, but for the sake of those around us. The truth of the matter is when we are connected to the divine, the Holy One, YHWY, we are able to poor into others in a deep and meaningful way. What if our hunger for God was a hunger for those around us. What if we wanted so badly for those around us to experience relief, joy, hope, and true life, here and now, not just in the to come, that we pressed even deeper into God. What if we want so badly to have something worthy of giving our neighbor that we forget about our own needs as we press into God. But something really strange happens when we press into God for that reason, we get everything we need and more, but everything we receive pours out into those around us. Then they start to experience the Living God in a real and tangible way, and we experience God in a real and tangible way as well.

It's a shame that often times the real reason for our pursuit of God is a selfish reason. It's for us, and we can't get beyond that. We are pros at making excuses for why that is.

I need to have my stuff together first.

I am not in the right place to serve.

I don't know the Bible well enough.

Well I am empty so I need to fill me first.

Those might be true, but I think an even greater reality is that when we pour into those in need, all of our excuses diminish because we get filled.

It can be scary. Thats cool, let's admit that, and call it what it is, fear, then step forward together in faith.

I am not saying that we pursue God to get the right answers so that we can fix people, because that is also selfish. If we press into God for that reason, we put ourselves on a pedestal, when in reality we are extremely broken and need fixing also.

When we explore the ancient texts of the bible we see that God shows up to people not for them, but for those that come after them. But at the same time shows up fully for them as well. its a little bit paradoxical.

God showed up to...

Abram so that all the nations could be bless.

Abraham, Issac and Jacob not for them and their ministry but for the twelve tribes that came out of them.

Moses, not for just to help him with his identity crisis, but to lead a whole people into freedom.

The slaves in Egypt, not just for their own freedom but for the whole world and the blessing of the nations.

King David, not just for his current kingdom, but for his family line to which a savior would come out of. This savior would fulfill the promises God had made with Abraham. Which was to be a blessing the nations.

The profits, not just for the current generation of Israelites but for the future generations and the whole world.

Jesus showed up to...

The disciples, not just so the secrets of the Kingdom of God would be given to them, but so that they could take the kingdom tangibly to the ends of the earth.

The lepers, not just so that they could experience healing and wholeness, but so they could go to the temple, praise God, and tell everyone else the great works of God.

Legion, the man full of demons. Not just for him to experience wholeness and dignity, but so that he could go tell his home town all that God had done for him.

The woman at the well, not just so she could have a relationship with the God man, but so that her whole village could have an experience with God.

The Holy Spirit showed up to...

The crew of disciples, not just for them, but so that they had the power to go out of Jerusalem and to the ends of the earth. The Holy spirit fell on them not so that they could speak in crazy languages, but so that there would be no poor among them. So that the widows would be fed and cared for. For the orphans to have homes. For the sick to be cared for.

I'm sure you get the point. We see a theme arise from the biblical texts, we are to receive so we can give it away. We are to be blessed so we can be a blessing to the nations. We are to be an open channel, a steady flow, a river of life. We could keep going but I am trying to write shorter blog posts.

If that theme is true, why did God show up to us?

Why did God choose us and say "Follow me"?

Who are we called to pour our lives into?

Who are we supposed to break ourselves open for, as Jesus broke himself open for us?

Maybe some of us are having a hard time connecting with God, because we aren't connecting with the poor. I heard it said, when you forget the poor and the oppressed you forget God. I think that is a scary but true statement. I think often times we say, "I haven't forgotten the poor and oppressed" because we will talk about them and discuss how to help them. But just because we are talking about them doesn't mean we remember them. Just because we speak about God doesn't mean we remember him or know him.

Lets be sheep not goats.

Maybe if we are to be honest, our pursuit of God has been a selfish one. We were meant to be like a hose, with crisp, refreshing water flowing out of us for those who are thirsty. But instead we are a hose that is tied in knots and full of crud so water can't flow out of us. What water is in us has become stagnate and unappealing even to us. Maybe we even forget what the fresh water tastes like, so we have no idea how to give it to others.

God's grace is amazing. Far larger then I can fathom and greater then I could ever hope to understand. And I thank God that it is that big.

Let's stop making excuses like, I don't have time, I am too busy, I am not called to do ..., I am waiting for God to tell me what to do, and so on.

We know what God has called us to do. Let's seek out the poor and the oppressed, not so we can fix them, but so we can love them. And when we start loving them, we will once again start loving God. When we remember them again, we will once again be filled with the awe and wonder of the Creator of the universe.

We have been forgiven of much, no longer under condemnation but freedom, so let's go out and love much.

Let's remember how God has loved us, and go love others likewise.

Let's hold each other accountable to be the people we are called to be. People who are made in the image of the loving, full of grace, savior Jesus Christ.

As usual I am glad all you guys are in my life. You are a huge encouragement to me, and are continually teaching me who the person of Jesus is!

Grace and peace,
Chris

I'd love to hear if you agree or disagree.

The light of Jesus

There is a story that Jesus said would be told where ever the gospel is told. It is the story we discussed on Thursday night two weeks back. The story of the sinful women who came into the pharisees house where Jesus was dining.

As the story goes, this sinful women welcomed herself into the home of the pharisee who was hosting the meal and proceeded to cry uncontrollably, pouring her tears over Jesus' feet, as though she was pouring out a basin of water to cleanse him. She then used her hair like a freshly cleaned towel to dry his feet. Even still, she anointed him with an expensive jar of oil, releasing a beautiful fragrance into the air that, I'm sure, even covered the cent of the meal. She out did the owner of the house, the host of the meal, and she wasn't even invited.

As this woman performed this act, the other pharisees and guests started to murmur in shock that Jesus was letting this sinner touch him in this way.

Jesus responded to their murmuring by telling a story to the host. In this story there were two people who owed the same man money. One of the people owed a lot of money, and the other one owed not so much money. Both where forgiven of their debts, but one went away rejoicing even more.

Jesus asked the host which person he thought went away happier, to which the host replied, "the one who was forgiven of the larger dept."

Jesus then turns, looks at the women, and says to her, "Your sins are forgiven"

I'm sure Jesus' eyes where full of compassion and the deepest love one can display, and he continues and says,"Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

Since the night that we talked about this verse, I have been thinking quite a lot about this story. I have been thinking about the pharisees and how they judge this women right away, basically casting her to be less then human.

I have been asking myself, how do I judge people?

Why do I judge people?

Who would I be disgusted to sit at a table with?

Why does one Judge?

Where the pharisees hiding any thing, and am I?

Do I love little, or a lot?

Not only have I been thinking about the pharisee, but I have also been wondering about this women. This women recklessly exposes herself. Steps fully into the light, the light of Christ non the less. Then throws the mess of who she is at God in the flesh, with every chance of being thrown out and laughed at, but instead she is received even more then the one who was feeding God. When thinking about her side of the story it makes me ask myself,

Am I truly walking in the light?

Am I hiding anything?

Am I afraid God would throw me out if I did an act like this?

What am I afraid to lose?

Am I actually afraid to gain?

Do I love a lot, or a little?

The the last person in the story to examine is Jesus. I continue to be amazed more and more by this person, the person of Jesus, the more I read the scriptures and share in life with others. In this story, Christ extends love to this women. Not just any love, but the purest love possible. A love that is asking nothing in return, but instead wants to give this women everything she needs, and what she needs is to be treated as a human. She needs to have someone look her in the eyes with love and acknowledge that she is valuable, more valuable then the jar of oil she just anointed Jesus with. Jesus' side of the story bring me to ask the questions,

Do I look people in the eyes with love?

Do I encourage people to walk out in who they are and seek to give them what they need without wanting anything in return?

Am I extending much love, or a little?

This story is a very challenging one, but an extremely beautiful one. Out of all of those question I found that I focused the most on the one about judging others.

If the pharisee thought he was capable of being as sinful as the woman would he had judged her, or would he have accepted her?

Or did he know he was as sinful as the women and was wanting to hide and cover his tracks, so he points the finger at her instead of dealing with what's inside him?

There is another a time when Jesus is teaching, and in his teaching he retells the commandments of Moses. When restating these commands, he steps up the difficulty level. He says things like, if you are angry then you have already murdered, if you lust you have already committed adultery, and if you have coveted something thats not yours then you have stolen.

I started thinking about this teaching. Often times I hear this taught as, be good and try to control your mind, stay away from being mad because that leads to DEATH, stay away from coveting because that leads to DEATH, and stay away from lust because that as well leads to... DEATH.

I was thinking, maybe Jesus was trying to get us to realize a deeper truth. Maybe he was eluding to the fact that we have already committed the worst of the worst sins. We have already killed, we have already had affairs, we have already stolen, we are already racist, we have already been full of hatred, unforgiveness, and every other kind of wickedness. We are already well wicked people.

Paul says in one of his letters," I am the chief of all sinners." In another one of his writings he says, " I do the very thing I hate."

Maybe paul grasped this truth. Maybe thats why Paul's ministry was so powerful. He saw no distinction between himself and everyone else around him. Instead he saw everyone around him in himself.

I think that we, as followers of Jesus, need to grapple with this thought. We need to in a sense, I think, embrace the fact that we are the worst of the worst. I need to embrace the fact that no one has sinned worse then me, because I, by Jesus' retelling of the law, have already done despicable things, terrible things that shouldn't even be mentioned.

I don't say this to bring guilt and condemnation.

I say this to bring life and freedom.

How is excepting the fact that I am a terrible person bringing life and freedom?

I believe that when we start to embrace our crap and the truth about who we are, what we want to do and what we have done, it allows us to encounter hope that other wise would have eluded us our entire life. A hope in the reconciliation of all things, that all things means even me! Praise God!

A hope that is the person of Jesus.

As we embrace our wickedness, and when I say embrace I by no means am saying that we hold onto lies about ourselves, and sulk around saying I am terrible, I am unworthy, and God can't use me. We get to say those things only once, then Christ brings us into the light with him. He embraces us deep into his love. We still remember those things, and even boast in the fact that we were once such people, for the fact that Christ is strong where we are weak. For the fact that where we are weak God is strong.

Paul said, "... I was weak to those who were weak.."

He never said I was strong with the strong.

Brilliant!

Don't worry I am coming back to the idea of judging others.

As I was thinking about this idea of admitting, I am the worst of the worst, I then realized if someone was to come to grips with the fact that they are quite a sinner, then they would never judge others. Instead of judging others they would look at those around them with compassion and a heart of understanding. Because they would see others in themselves.

They would look at a prostitute and realize that they are only one small step away, or no step away at all from being in the same position. They would see the prostitute in themselves, and have a deep sense of love and compassion, realizing that there is no difference.

The person who steps into the light, and boasts in their weakness, would see a homeless person and their heart would break. The repentant person would know that there is no difference between the two of them, but truly they are both broken hurting people. Instead of this person holding his nose at the smell of the homeless individual, and not wanting to make eye contact, he or she would be able to embrace the person who is homeless, and connect eyes, connect with a deep and sincere love.

The one who has come to grips with the fact that they are already perpetrators of the worst kind of atrocity, would look at a man or women who is a cross dresser or trans-gender person and see themselves inside that person. As this repentant person gazes into the others eyes, they would be filled with love, compassion, and a deep desire to pour into this individual, because the repentant man realizes he or she has received much.

The person who has excepted there own faults will look at the person who stand them up with love. They will look at the one who talks behind their back with compassion. They will look at the person who breaks a promise with forgiveness and kindness. They will be able to view others this way because they, them-self, understand the great reality of Jesus, and how he looks upon them with compassion and love. They will be able to forgive and have compassion even through painful situations because they know that Christ has pardoned them of so much and has extended his hand of forgiveness time and time again.

Maybe the people we judge aren't that different at all. Maybe I gave to extreme of examples, maybe its the way people dress, talk, look, musical taste, dance parties they do or don't go to, or maybe occupation.

And the list goes on and on and on.

We are all from the earth. We are all made of dirt. We are all fragile. We will all return to the dust of the earth.

Have we accepted the fact that we are extremely broken people?

Do we truly believe that?

Are we still in the dark?

Maybe we prefer the dark?

I feel that often times when we are judging others, we do it to create a distance. We are afraid that the people we are coming in contact with will discover who we truly are. We are afraid these people, who are actually just like us, will blow our cover, and everyone else will see that we are just like them. We put people in boxes, so that we can stay in our dark, dimly lit, cold, isolated, and what we think to be safe box.

The problem with being in this box, and keeping others out is that we are unwittingly keeping Christ out as well. In turn, we become like the dinner guests praying to... really praying to ourselves, that the person on the other end of the table will not blow our cover. When we refuse to let our cover be blown, or blow it ourselves, we refuse to receive grace and hope; we refuse to receive God's only son, the person of Jesus' Christ, our Lord, in a deep and meaningful way.

Some day all of the deeds done in secret will be shouted out on the rooftops, the bible says.

I want to shout out the truth about me before that guy on the roof does. I find there to be a lot less negative consequences when you confess your own deeds, before someone else rats you out.

Maybe you are at a place in your walk with God where you feel quite alone, and can't sense God.

Maybe have read this and your first reaction was, "I could never murder someone, its just not in me", " I would never cheat on someone in a relationship, I am faithful", "I have stolen once in my life, but I would never do it again, and I was only 4 I didn't know any better."

Maybe you are terrified to admit to who you really are because you hate it.

Maybe your afraid of losing the people around you, so you want to do everything right, and afraid that if you do come into the light, everyone and everything will leave you.

Maybe you have never truly felt the love of God in a deep and meaningful way.

Maybe the thought of actually experiencing this love, is more terrifying then never being loved at all.

These are all fears that could be very real and painful, but the one thing I do know is that we will never discover the fullness and truth of Christ as long as we pretend we are in the light. It is as though we are holding a glow in the dark sticker, thinking that it is enough light to get us through a pitch-black forest. Maybe its a really bright sticker and truly does help, but the thing is it will run out of light without another light to recharge it.

Are we going to walk out in faith, completely terrified, maybe everything will fall apart, maybe we will be disappointed, and maybe everything you have believe will fall part.

Maybe.

but,

"I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little."

and I would say has felt little love.

The amazing thing about Christ is that he lets us choose. But he extends love and continues to pursue us, despite our choices. His grace is vaster then all the ocean combined.

No one ever said this Jesus thing was easy (if they did they were lying). No where does it say that the Way to life is an easy one. The bible actually says the opposite, it says its hard and a narrow gate, but in the end it's good, its beautiful, it's full of grace, it's full of compassion, it's full of forgiveness, it's full of a true selfless love, and it's the realist thing there is.

What does it look like when we step into the light; when we break into the dinner party we weren't invited to, to fall at Jesus' feet?

It looks like us feeling very vulnerable hunched over on our knees in tears, as we realize what is truly inside of us. We don't even have the energy to sit up. But it doesnt stop there. Because that is when Jesus wraps his arms around us like a warm blanket on a cold winter night. He then learns forward and puts his mouth near our ear to whisper his secrets to us, the way he feels about us.

And we hear the soft, gentle, loving words, "I know you, and love you. I know the plans I have for you, plans for you do be free, and no longer to be bound by fear, and pain. I have called you out of darkness, and adopted you into my family. You are set apart, a royal priest, now you are apart of a holy people. You are my child with whom I am well pleased. I knew you in your mothers womb, and have been pursuing you since the day you were born. You are my child, go and be free. Your faith has healed you, go in peace, for I am always with you, and will never forsake you."

That's what I believe walking into the light looks like. Jesus begins to speak into us the reality of who we are made to be, who we are in him.

Let's be a people that stand by each other in all of our ugliness. That when the truth comes out about one another we don't judge, but we look with the love and compassion that Jesus has looked on us with. Let's live in such away that we encourage one another to come into the light because we love a lot.

Let's be a people that are willing to look ridiculous in our pursuit of God. We are willing to break into dinner parties and cry all over the guest, because we desire to experience and share with others the love of Christ.

Let's be a people who take this love with us were ever we go. That we would be open and walk in the light and admit that we are the chief of all sinners, then step forward clothed in the Hope of Christ. In a love that turns cities upside down.

I love you all very deeply, and am well stoked to be able to share life with you!

Grace and peace,

Chris


p.s. I thought this was going to be a short post, but I guess I got carried away... Oops...