Living the Abundant Life--John 10.10

Well, here I am again, writing another reflection on yesterday’s message. Remember, I spoke on the counterfeit ways of living that leave us empty (the impostors that climb over the fence). Because we are insecure, perhaps by nature, we’re vulnerable to other storylines that offer some sort of salvation but never really deliver anything of substance. So often, we’re looking for love--validation or security--in all the wrong places. Henri Nouwen articulates it well: “Success, popularity and power can, indeed, present a great temptation, but their seductive quality often comes from the way they are part of the much larger temptation to self-rejection. When we have come to believe in the voices that call us worthless and unlovable, then success, popularity and power are easily perceived as attractive solutions” (Life of the Beloved, 27). This is the problem. Out of insecurity, we look for answers--for validation--that ultimately leave us empty. We're tempted to turn to body-image, success, popularity, false forms of intimacy, legalistic forms of religion, desperately searching for love, security and personal well-being. But these things never bring us what we thought they would. They're counterfeits that leave us empty at best, ruin us at worst.

The answer is the security of knowing God’s love. Jesus came to give us life (John 10.10); he came to reconnect us to God, so that we might know God and have eternal life (John 17.3). What is that life? It is God’s life, his love. It is knowing his love—really knowing his love!—that sets us free to live. I’m saying something very radical here, for those who have ears to hear: we’re not fully alive, fully human, until we’re resting secure in the Father’s love, until we’re living in that love, growing in that love, and living out that love. This is what it means to be human. In short, we come home, because from love you came and to love you shall return. Our hearts, indeed our lives, are insecure until they find their rest in God and his faithful love. I pray this truth will sink deep into your heart. Peace!

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The Suffering King

“The message about the cross is foolishness” proclaims Paul (1 Corinthians 1.18, NRSV) . Today, 4-22, we looked at the travelers making their trek away from Jerusalem toward Emmaus (Luke 24.13-35). They’d seen enough. Even though there were reports that Jesus is alive, they’re leaving, not so sure they want a crucified Lord. (Remember, the resurrection doesn’t erase the suffering of Christ; instead it validates it.) One interpretive clue that I failed to mention is the journey motif. Did you notice all the references to a journey—they’re traveling, they’re on the way, as they’re going along (24.13, 15, 17, 32, 35)? This is an important metaphor for Luke. In Luke 9.51, Jesus begins his journey to the cross. Then over the next several chapters, Jesus makes frequent references to where he’s going (10.38, 13.22, 33; 14.25; 17.11; 18.31, 35; 19.11). You get the point: Jesus is taking the disciples to the cross. Now these two disciples are walking away from the cross. They’re not ready to embrace the message of the cross. Why? I offered two guesses. First, the cross tells us we have a need. Make no mistake, the cross speaks grace; it yells grace, announcing that we’re accepted and loved. But it also says, there’s a problem, and the problem is not all the other people in the world, the problem is sin, the sin in my heart. The cross reminds us that we need a savior. You can’t look at the cross and conclude, “I’m okay, you’re okay.” No, look at the great lengths God had to go to deal with sin. We have a need. We can’t find our way to God on our own merits. God had to make a way; and make a way he did, not with reluctance but with great love. Secondly, the cross for Jesus is a symbol for sacrificial love. Jesus’ entire life could be described as one of sacrificial love. And he calls us to embrace the way of the cross. He came to establish a unique kingdom with a very odd king (odd too many, at least). He calls us to love enemies, to forgive, to be quick in reconciling with others. It is a kingdom shaped by the cross. Even Paul calls us to embrace the cross as a way of life (Philippians 2.5-11). We’re called to be agents of God’s sacrificial love. That’s a hard pill to swallow at times. We all resist it, I’m sure. So, like these two travelers, we need to be shaped by the word, and we need to partake of communion to be reminded how beautiful the cross really is (Luke 24.24, 30). Any thoughts? Peace.

P.S. The cross is one of our core values. As a church, we value primarily these three things: community, cross, new-creation (Richard Hays, The Moral Vision of the New Testament).

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Doubting Thomas

Last Sunday (4-15) I preached on unbelieving Thomas (John 20.24-30). Many preachers (and believers) extol the virtues of Thomas, stating he's a hero, a true pragmatist, a man of our times. I suggested that Thomas' approach to the faith is not praiseworthy but blameworthy. I know, I was out on a limb with that statement. But the way John tells the story seems to suggest that's the point. First, Thomas isn't open to the testimony of his friends. He's very demanding in what he wants. He needs proof and not just any proof, specific proof. Isn't it strange that he doesn't pause and say something like, "I don't know if I can swallow that pill, give me some more time to think about it"? This response is more appropriate, I feel. Instead, Thomas refuses to believe in the testimony of his fellow companions until he sees it for himself. Second, Thomas' statement of "Unless . . . I will never see" is similar to a criticism Jesus makes in John 4:48, "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders, you will never believe." Last but not least, Jesus gently rebukes Thomas. In Greek, the word play is not between doubt and belief but between belief and unbelief. NASB gets it right: "Don't be unbelieving but believing" (vs. 27). Jesus then looks over Thomas' shoulder and says to the listener who has never seen, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

So what do we do with all this? I suggested that Thomas' approach to faith reveals a stubbornness that can get us into trouble. If we demand a revelation on our own terms, we might miss the life that God has for us. If we don't respond to the faith that God has planted in our hearts, we might harden ourselves against it. Too often we shut the door of our hearts and refuse to respond to the light that is being revealed. We can easily end up like children at a party refusing to play, refusing to believe in the testimony of the laughter, saying it's not that great. It's a prove-it-to-me-attitude. We want proof without commitment. We're on the outside looking in. But like so many things in life, one has to believe, commit, and then see and understand. Refusing to move forward until all the evidence is in might get us into trouble.

The good news, as this text reveals, is that Jesus still works. He doesn't give up on Thomas, but instead he meets Thomas where he is. He comes to him anyway, revealing himself to an unbelieving and demanding man. We can only hope and pray he does the same for us when we close the door of our hearts to his liberating truth. His grace is greater. Thanks be to God.

Peace.