The Good Stranger (Neighbor)

I like most of Jesus' teachings and stories ("parables" for you sticklers).
I like the story of the lost sheep and prodigal son. Story of people with logs in their eyes trying to get saw dust out of someone else's. I like the lessons learned in hugging lepers and rubbing mud spit in someone's eye to heal it. Jesus was a great visual and experiential teacher.
BUT
There are a few I have trouble with, such as the parable of the Good Neighbor (Luke 10).
The story goes like this. . . kinda.

An American soldier was walking through the rough part of town, on the wrong side of the tracks, which ever side that is. He got beat up, mugged, and left for dead between two dumpsters.
A public elected official walking by, saw the man laying there and quickly moved on, leaving him because he had an important meeting to attend. He said he would call someone when he got back to the office.
A short time later a Pastor and Elder, on their way from lunch, passed by the man, and quickly hurried on thinking the miscreants might still be around and didn't want to end up in the same shape. They decided the best thing to do is pray for him at tomorrow nights prayer meeting.
Finally, a young Muslim man came by, saw the man between the dumpsters and stopped. He slid the soldier out, took off his t-shirt and quickly made a bandage on his head and other places that needed attention. He then picked the soldier up onto his shoulder and carried him 4 blocks to the Emergency room.
At the hospital, the hurt man didn't have a wallet or ID, so the Muslim man put his credit card on file to cover the medical needs of the hurt soldiers. He then came back the next day to check on his recovery, and each day after that until the man went home.  

Then Jesus asks, "Which of those people showed love to the hurt man?" 

You know the answer, right? The third one.one that stopped to help. The one who got his hands dirty, interrupted his day.

So I have to ask myself. Do I walk by hurting people? I know first aid, CPR, emergency preparedness. But, I don't encounter many mugged people.

Or could those be spiritually hurting people?
Could they be spiritually beat up and left for dead?
Could they be eternally dead and I just walk by choosing to only pray for them or get on to something else?

I think the same thing about another teaching of Jesus. (Matthew 25:31-46)
He told them:

• I was hungry and you didn't feed me. 
• I was thirsty and you didn't give me water. 
• I was a stranger and you didn't welcome me.
• I was naked and you didn't cloth me.
• I was in prison and you didn't visit me. 

Is this a list of physical activities the church is suppose to do? In other words, if you do these things, then Jesus will invite you into his kingdom and there will be celebration. Or if we don't do them we will we be thrown into darkness with weeping and gnashing of teeth. I don't think it is that, because we are saved by grace through the resurrection of Jesus, not works.

Could this be a  list of spiritual concern?

• I was spiritual malnourished and you didn't give the Words of Life.
• I was thirsty for righteousness and you didn't give the Living Water.
• I was a stranger to them and you didn't introduce us.
• I was naked and in shame, you didn't tell about the robes of righteousness.
• I was imprisoned by sin and waiting death, and you didn't release me with the free gift of salvation.

A regular neighbor would do the first list pretty easily; water, food, cloths, etc.

A spiritual neighbor would do the second. To see the spiritual beating people take, the darkness they live in. To understand the shame and fear, the nakedness of the soul. 

These beaten and spiritually mugged neighbors all around us need a Good Neighbor to show the love of Jesus. The Life of Jesus. The Grace of Jesus. The take-the-time-and-don't-give-up-on-me-of Jesus. 

This is my on-going struggle with the church being in the world but not of the world. How do we live these teachings out if we isolate ourselves from the hurting world? We have to have time away from it, of course. We have to have time and opportunity to dig into the world, get spiritually trained and built up. To get our skills sharpened apart from the distractions of everyday life. (read into that be together as the church, for edification, education, correcting, rebuking, worshiping Jesus.)

This is my struggle with Boy Scouts. Do I stay because kids and leaders are spiritually beat up and left for dead? Do we stay and try to feed little bites of the Words of Life? Give a taste of the Living water in their canteen? Help them see there is a uniform of righteousness and armor of faith? That wilderness surviving isn't near as important as spiritual thriving?

By leaving BSA, am I just walking by and onto something else easier? Am I just praying for them, but still leaving them to their own devices?

How do I be a Good Neighbor?

Reasons to celebrate Easter

REASONS TO CELEBRATE EASTER

We already celebrate Jesus raising from the grave the other 51 Sundays in the year.  

What makes this one day so special? 

1. You look amazing in pastel colors.
2. Peeps are readily available to drop in coffee or hot cocoa.
3. Flowers are starting to bloom.
4. Cadbury Creme Eggs.
5. The excitement of full-contact toddler Easter egg hunts.
6. Even though you don't know what it is, "Passion Play" sounds like it could be exciting. 
7. You love wearing bunny suits, but are afraid of what people will say the rest of the year.
8. Anything that starts with "Good Friday" has got to be worth celebrating.
9. The church only advertises breakfast one Sunday a year, so you take advantage of it. 
10. Your parents let you wear hats to church.
11. Sermon is shorter due to extra special songs being sung.
12. The object lessons make sense. (empty egg = empty tomb, new born chick = new life in Christ)
13. It is the single most amazing event in human history.

I know there are dozens of more reasons to celebrate Easter and you can add to this list. (Especially since it's fresh on your mind.)

One Way to Have Good Understandable Notes

Through this discussion I am using the example of preaching. What I have learned though, applies to all kinds of projects, notes, speeches, preaching, or just getting ideas down on paper. So enjoy my process. I didn't, until the end.

I have tried preaching for a number of years. I do not get a lot of opportunities to preach probably because I'm not good at it.
I love studying the Bible and what was going on in history around the events of the Bible.
I love learning how things were done in the times of the Bible accounts of History as opposed to what we think in our western mind.
I love figuring out what God would have me do with what I learn, or apply it to my life. (Which in reality isn't that difficult, God is pretty clear on most things.)
I love figuring out what is cultural, what is a suggestion and what is a "mandate" from God. (This is mostly so I can play Devil's advocate with people who are hard nosed on non-salvation issues.)

I love compiling these things in my mind and thinking over them, meditating for you churchie peoples.

I do not love writing a sermon.

I feel like it is writing a paper for school or work. I feel life it's pre-programming me to stand up in front of people to be different that I really am. I am purposefully acting outside my character and personality.

I went to Bible college and had excellent men teach me the art and science of preaching. I still use those study notes and format to get myself thinking and processing and compiling in an orderly manner. Thank you Dr. Enyart for your homiletical handbook. The writing of the sermon, that is where I fail myself,and I think God.

What have I taken to the pulpit with me, you may ask. I have tried a full manuscript sermon. Everything is written out word for word. I ended up reading it with my head down, even though I knew it inside and out. I have tried an extremely simple outline, but I would get distracted and not know what I was doing and have to take a second to figure it out. That is embarrassing and does not bring glory to God. I have tried a "heavy" outline, that is somewhere between the two. I have done fairly well, but still get confused or lost, and have a hard time doing it.

I used to drive my wife nuts. When I take notes in a class or church, I draw a lot of my notes. I try not to let people see it, so they don't think I'm just doodling. They are not specific notes. I don't put much detail. I use an ink pen and what I have is what I have. The process does not allow for detail. Key words, images, quotes, and scripture are included in the drawing in one form or another. I spend less time thinking about what the preacher said, thus missing what is said next. I do seem to retain more of the picture, important things.

Along came Paul.

Paul is the Associate Minister at Cornerstone. We were both writing sermons one week and discussing our process. We both hated our outlines and preaching notes. He made mention of a guy that draws his sermon notes. I didn't think too much about it at the time, but the idea stuck, and swirled around until I could see the pictures on the page. After all we think in images. It's completely natural. This sent me to the greatest authority I have at my disposal, Google.

I found a whole world of Sketch-takers.(See how I replaced "notes" with "sketch", oh yeah.)

There is a group called the SketchnoteArmy.com/blog .  Their benevolent holy man and prophet is Mike Rodhe (http://rohdesign.com/) who wrote books called the Sketchnote handbook and Sketchnote workbook. These seem fun and you may have seen Mike Rodhe's commercials on TV, though I forget what they are at the moment. Check them out. (You can get me one of those books for Christmas.)

This got me to thinking. If I like to take notes by drawing. If I think in pictures. If I like drawing. If these other people are doing this, then maybe I can too. So I took my sermon notes and started thinking of them as a Big Picture Diagram.

What I came up with is more like a story board. I printed a comic book page layout I thought would work for me. I put really important notes in red. I wrote scripture stuff in green. I think I used orange and a couple other colors for fun.  I really had to think about what was in the Bible, in order to draw it, and then to describe or make it usable. Again, I kept them simple. I'm not that good of an illustrator, so simple is good.

  

    

So here is what I came up with . This is a sermon on the Apostle Andrew. I was terrified to preach with this method. But the words of the great Yoda returned to me, "Do or Do Not. There is NO TRY." So I went with it.

I was surprised. I didn't get lost in my sermon and scratch the top of my head while I figured it out. I made better eye contact. I told the stories better. I didn't have to think about putting words together, because I just had a BIG word or picture to bounce from. I also believe it made me think of the sermon as something alive. Something that has motion and activity and feelings. It made events take place in time and space, because I had to think about where, when, who, how things were happening in order to draw them. I got all of that from a stick figure with his hands raised standing in the water. I don't know if my sermon was any better, but I seemed to present it better.

Why is this important. I have waited 36 years for someone to tell this is ok. So, if you think this way, IT IS OK. Let yourself draw your notes. I'm not talking about doodling and zoning out. I'm talking about staying engaged and interacting when your brain wants to repel off a cliff, so you can bike down the mountain. If this works for your kid, get them a good mole skin blank paged journal and colored Sharpie pens. If you have to preach or present, try it. Nobody is going to know unless you show them. It may just help you get more out of your topic.

Set your active brain into motion on a direction with a Good Understandable Notes.

JESUS SUFFERED WHAT?!? REALLY?!?

I studied through most of the book of Hebrews this past summer. I've really enjoyed it and learned a lot about it and I have a new appreciation of Jesus being one hundred percent God and one hundred percent man. I don't get it, but it makes him cooler than any other God, so there.

It is also easy to see that Jesus is BETTER than everything else. Even better than butterscotch, coffee, or nocturnal horizontal fellowship. 

I came to a phrase I had heard, but always brushed it off and limited to the one place we see Jesus suffering, on the Mount of Olives praying before his arrest and crucifixion.

Hebrews 2:18 says "For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted."

Ok, not a big deal. Satan tried to tempt Jesus three ways covering the basic three sins all others are built on, right. That's how we limit this and make it out to be a simple matter for Jesus. He didn't really suffer all those times. 

But if you keep reading you come to Hebrews chapter 4. (You get that, it comes after 2 somewhere)

Hebrews 4:15 says. “We do not have a high priest [Jesus] who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but we have one who was tempted in every way, just as we are- yet was without sin.”

Jesus was tempted in EVERY WAY? You mean he was tempted to steal? He was tempted to kill someone? He was tempted to engage a woman in a "biblical way"? Hold on a second. That can't be right. If we follow this on out we have to say he was tempted to lie. He was tempted to gluttony. He was tempted to have relations with things no one should have relations with.

And then to say he SUFFERED in Temptation. 

I looked at this over and over and thought this canʼt really mean Jesus actually suffered when he was tempted in all of these ways.

So I read a few commentaries and study notes. They all pointed to the same idea. Jesus suffered when he was tempted. The text is plain. That is what it says. "Jesus suffered when he was tempted." Jesus was "tempted in every way." This means is wasn't just at the crucifixion. All temptations. They didn't explain it any further than that. Probably because the Bible doesn't explain it any further than that.

So I put on my holy imagination generator cap and tried to wrap my brain around this idea.

1.Jesus is fully God.

2.Jesus is fully man. 

3.Being a man means he would feel the same physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual experience  as anyone else would. 

4. Being fully God means he would feel the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual experience of everything to the absolute fullest degree. He would have the unbridled ability to experience anything at its highest pinnacle of exstacy without physical limitations or concern. This would be for both good and bad stuff. 

We have to remember a few things about temptation. Temptations are natural and all around us, they present themselves to us and we decide whether to take the next step. We decide to engage or flee. We choose to examine it further or consider it. Temptations lead to sins only when we engage it. Some things are harder to resist. 

Jesus knew the effect and experience he could have. Jesus knew it would be extreme to say the least. To chose not to experience something that amazing, for me and every other living human, would be a struggle. Jesus passed by it without sinning. If he had experienced those sin things, he would have sinned as well, thus not being perfect, and unable to die for our sin. 

Jesus had this knowledge. He understands it when we struggle with temptation. He might have struggled more than we can. He understands the powerful pull of temptation. 

What are temptations that we deal with today. Go ahead and name them off?

The good news does not end there with the fact Jesus was tempted. The next verse in Hebrews 4 says,

“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in out time of need.” 

He does not leave us alone in out temptations. He offers us grace and mercy before the temptation. He helps keep us from suffering in sin, when we let him.

That is a GOOD God. 

Dying to Love

The fairy tale "Phatasties" by George MacDonald ends (spoiler alert) with the main character dying in his "fantasy" (a type of literature, not a delusional dream) in Fairy Land having never reached the woman that he wanted to love him. He chased her all across Fairy Land, through many strange and magical forest, castles, and terrain. Finally, visiting her through a magical door, in a Scrooge sees the present christmas sort of way, he learns she does love him, but loved a knight more. At the end of the story the hero saves a multitude of worshipers of a false god, but selflessly dies in the process. As he is in his grave here is his realization.

"I knew now, that it is by loving, and not by being loved, that one can come nearest the soul of another; yea, that, where two love, it is the loving of each other, and not the being loved by each other, that originates and perfects and assures their blessedness."

During his time overseeing the lady and the knight talking about him through the magical door, they talk about how he had done no great things. How he just aimlessly wandered hoping to find her. This caused him to consider his life. What he does and how he "loved". He realizes it was all selfish.

We can't really blame the hero. Actually, I think we are all like him. Until we learn to sacrifice ourselves, we cannot come near the soul of another. Until we learn to put our beloved first, we cannot be assured of their blessedness.

We see it all the time when two young people start "dating". If one is "dominate" then the other looses their life and identity to be with the other person. For argument's sake lets say the female is the dominant one. He will have to give up hanging out with his friends. He will have to always go to her house. He will always be defending why he talks to that other girl all the time in that class. He will give up his hobbies, because she needs him to help her bathe her dog. He will stop making plans with friends because he doesn't know what is going on. This would be a selfish love on the black widows part, because she is forcing someone to love her and devouring his life.

When Jesus, the apostles, and God talk about love it is always in the actions, thoughts, and emotions of how we interact with others. When Jesus said to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength (Matthew 22:37), he says nothing about God giving us anything. When he says to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:39), he doesn't talk about receiving anything in return. When Jesus talks about loving our enemy and praying for them (Matthew 5:43-48), he doesn't say they will come around or be reconciled. It is completely for the one who loves.

Of course, we cannot talk about love without looking at the list of characteristics in 1 Corinthians 13, it is list for the lover. The lover is to be patient, in turn it gives his beloved (which is anyone he comes in contact with, not just a spouse) freedom and safety. When it says the lover is not to keep records of wrong doings, it is so he can truly love as God does and forgives. Love protects, hopes, trusts, perseveres. All of this benefits both people, but it is the lover who is being made perfect by these virtues (Matthew 5:48).

Song of Songs, the holiest song in the Bible, is about two people making preparations to wholly give themselves to the other person. They are not singing about what the other will do for them, but what they will do for the other. They are not describing what they will receive, but what they will give. In this beautiful ballad, we see the purity of unrestrained love and how the other is blessed by it. As MacDonald put it, these two souls were becoming nearest each other because they are loving each other.

Now personally,I cannot find in myself to think of loving my enemies, the Taliban, Democrats (just being funny), that crazy neighbor, or sometimes even family like is described in 1 Corinthians or Song of Songs. When I pray for them it is more like one of David's "God will you smite them down, O mighty smiter" type prayers. But by loving and praying for them, we might come closest to their soul, allowing us the opportunity to be a blessing and be made perfect. Hopefully though, you will not have to learn it by strangling a demon wolf god to death while dying in a fairy land

SOMETIMES IT'S HARD

Let me introduce you to two of the coolest kids in the world. This is Lucas, in yellow, and Caleb, in red for those of you who need it. I cannot remember how this particular story started out. Caleb just crawled up in my lap, saw the pictures and said, "We were fighting over jelly beans and had to hold hands. I cried." At least he remembers. I do remember they were fighting. They had been fighting a lot lately and we had enough of it. We had tried separating them. We tried making them work in different places. We tried "time out". We probably swatted their fanny a couple times (which is a great way to teach a kid not to hit;-)  note my sarcasm.)

I thought about it for a while. What could I do that could possible scar them for life? What would release the sweet sounds of wailing and gnashing of teeth? What could I do that is so heinous and deplorable, I could get my children taken away from me? What would be etched in their little developing brains for all of eternity? Then it hit me. I made them sit together.  . . . nothing happened. I made them give each other a hug. . . no tears. I made them hold hands. . . this is a picture of those beautiful result. They cried and wailed and tears flowed down their faces. It was a beautiful sight. It was then that I realized, as their little cheeks were streaked with sorrow, I was a good parent.

Lucas and Caleb in trouble for fighting.

My wife, Katie, and I have 5 kids. Lucas and Caleb are the youngest two. One of the most important things we desire as parents is the unity of our family. Having just moved back close to family I feel this more and more. Our families are the most important group of people God has designed and given us. It is were we learn love, or hate. It is were we feel absolute safety or fear. Brothers and sisters are more important than anyone. After my wife and I are gone on to Paradise they will be all they have left. Their unity and love will affect generations of Esteps. 

I feel a similar urgency for my kids as Jesus had for the apostles and the church. I pray this for myself and then for our kids. Here is a part of Jesus' prayer for the church. You can read his whole prayer in John chapter 17. 

“My prayer is not for them alone [Apostles]. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message [everyone after the Apostles], 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (John 17:20-23)

We live in a culture and society where the church is at odds with each other. Denominations and churches not liking, making fun of, and even condemning other churches over non-salvation issues to Hell. Mahatma Ghandi said once that Christians were the reason he was not a Christ follower. (This in not a good excuse, but I can understand where he is coming from.)

I know of a church that has 20 people in it and they think they are the only ones going to heaven. I know of churches that think using instruments during worship is a horrible atrocity. I know of churches that tell their congregations what kind of underwear to use and clothing to sleep in, everyone else is going to hell. I've heard of churches that have divided over whether or not to place a hook at the back of the church for the pastor to hang his hat and coat on. (On a personal note, I think this is a story they tell at Bible colleges just to illustrate how silly a lot of our disagreements are in the church.) 

I have to admit, I am like this as well. I have a  prejudice against prejudice people. I don't want to be around them. I don't like being told I'm not saved because I don't speak in "tongues". I don't like arguing with people. I don't think things like underwear, types of pants, which version of the Bible, or using notes to preach with are really worth the aggravation of being around some people. 

The division of the church is the saddest blight affecting Christians throughout history. It has all but destroyed our witness to the world. We must pray, as Jesus did, for the unity of believers. A wise pastor has said we are to have UNITY not UNIFORMITY, LOVE not LEGALISM, GRACE not GUILT, and RELATIONSHIP (with God) not RELIGION.  

If we were to rewrite Jesus’ prayer so we could pray it, it might go like this. “I pray that all of us who believe in Jesus through the Apostles Teaching and the Bible may be one, just as you are in Jesus and Jesus is in you. May we be in you so that the world may believe that you have sent him. You have given us the glory that you gave him so we can be one with each other: your son in us, and we in him. May we be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent Jesus and have loved us even as you loved him.”

Let's think of the believers we work with and know. Are there any we need to forgive? Are there any we need to love? Are there any who need grace? Pray for THEIR unity with the Father and the body as we pray for OUR unity with the Father and body. We, followers of Christ, need to repent of the hatred we have for each other. We need to forgive each other, so Christ can forgive us. We need to confess our unity to the Father and the Family. The unity process may look and feel like the one my sons went through. I think the unity of God's kids would be just as beautiful to him as it is to me.

Peace on Earth

“Therefore since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1)

Peace with God. I don’t know if you think the way I do, but I have a hard time excepting peace, forgiveness, and grace for myself. I know what goes on in my mind. I know what rises up in my heart. I even think the way I smell after working outside all day is repulsive. I wake up with morning breath and think, how could anything, much less an all knowing God, want a relationship with me.  I know the feeling I have and all the ways in which I lack in my maturity in Christ. and I know the conflict that goes on in my mind over my salvation. 

Now, I can give peace and forgiveness. I can even tell you, quote scripture, and pray and lead you to salvation. I can give you scripture of God’s reconciliation and desires to be in a right relationship with us as humans. But I have a hard time excepting it for myself. 

Now this is not peace of mind. Where your mind is clear and calm, and flowers are blooming and birds are singing and everything is good and right with the world. this is a peace in this verse of an end to conflict. 

Peace with God means that we have been reconciled with him. There is no more hostility between us, no sin blocking our relationship with him. Peace with God is possible only because Jesus paid the price for our sins through his death on the cross.A perfect example of the definition of peace, proving you care more about others than winning an argument.” 

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In Chapter 5:8 it says, “God demonstrated his love for us in this; while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” 

I can get that. but then he goes on. 

verse 10 “For if, when we were God’s enemies we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” If Jesus was willing to die for us as sinners, how much more will he do for as as his brothers and sister. That is his ministry now, to keep us in relationship with him. This is a fact I remind myself of often. Not as much as I use to.

As we stop everything, and try to get a little peace of mind to sit and talk with God, remembering his sacrifice. Remember that he has reconciled us to himself. He Got rid of everything that did keep us from him. The details are different for each of us, but the basics is sin. 

You might be like me, having to remind yourself, God does want me, loves me, and has given me a peace treaty he won’t break. 

You might be totally different from me, its something you have complete confidence in, and it never crosses your mind. Enjoy your time. 

Or, You might be sitting there having never accepted his love for you. You’ve never accepted his reconciliation. Give in. He is a God that has this absurd love for humanity. It doesn’t make sense to me. But he does and he proved it.