And We're Out

Been packing ALL day, and we're leaving in a few to spend a week counseling at Maywood Christian Camp. We're taking the eight-month-old with us, so for better or worse, it will definitely be an experience! The internet at Maywood is spotty at best and nonexistent at worst, so there's a good chance I won't be posting this week. I WILL still be writing, though, so if I can't post day by day I'll just post them when we return.

I truly appreciate all the emails, messages, and texts I've received about the blog so far. I'm sure it's helped me more than it's helped any of you.

See you in a week!!

Lori

Day 11: I Don't Wanna Be a Pharisee

Mark 7:1-16


¹ The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus ² and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. ³ (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. ⁴ When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.) ⁵ So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?” ⁶ He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:

   “‘These people honor me with their lips,
   but their hearts are far from me. ⁷ They worship me in vain;
   their teachings are merely human rules.’^[b]

   ⁸ You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.” ⁹ And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! ¹⁰ For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ ¹¹ But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)— ¹² then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. ¹³ Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.” ¹⁴ Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. ¹⁵ Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.”

Whew. Tradition. Can you say "hot button issue"? It's one of things that makes you want to put disclaimers in. "When I say we shouldn't get tied up in tradition, I'm not saying that we shouldn't do a, or b, or c..." I've thought a good bit about this, and here's the thing. I understand the desire for disclaimers and I have the desire to put them in myself. My fingers are itching to write one this very minute. But Jesus didn't put one in. He let his entire body of teaching - the whole counsel - speak for itself. He assumed that we would be wise enough to take things in their proper context and be able to determine what he was talking about at a given time. He expected a lot of us. 

That being said... so. Traditions. I have to say that my entire perspective on tradition changed when I read Radical Restoration by F. Lagard Smith. I don't agree with everything in the book (ack! sorry! disclaimer!), but one thing he pointed out that I have to agree with is that fact that as we have restored the Lord's church, some of the traditions of Catholicism and other religions snuck in unnoticed. Like standing during some songs and not others. Sitting in pews. Having a pulpit. Little things that we never think anything of. Are these things wrong? Of course not. But they really make you think... what is a tradition? And why does Jesus seem to be so opposed to them?

I don't think Jesus had a problem with traditions as such. He observed many of the Jewish traditions Himself. What he did have a problem with was hypocrisy. And I don't believe that he was advocating that they chuck the baby out with the bath water and disregard every command. He was concerned with their lack of love.

He says, in essence, We gave you these rules because We loved you, and because We wanted to keep you safe and We wanted good things for you. And instead, you've used them as an excuse to abandon your families and alienate the masses. It's wrong, people. Massively wrong. We're usually pretty hard on the Pharisees, and rightfully so, but I'll tell you I read verses 6 and 7 and shudder a little. "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules." Yowza. It hits a little close to home, because I sit in church every week and watch people (not just teenagers! adults too! don't try to act like you don't!) who are playing with their phones and falling asleep and talking to the person beside them about where they're going to eat lunch. And I'm guilty too, of teaching about the power of prayer and then playing on facebook instead of talking to the Creator, or spending worship thinking about my schedule for the week instead of the God who makes every minute possible. 

It physically hurts when I really think about the power in these verses. God forbid that we ever, as individuals or as the collective church, forget why we do what we do. 

Day 10: Jesus Is Better Than A Lettuce Wrap (And That's Saying a Lot!)

John 6:25-27
When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”


Have you ever noticed that food makes our world go round? It's engrained in us from the day we are born. Brennan eats every three hours, and buddy, let me tell you. He can't read a clock, but you could set your alarm by that kid. He knows exactly when it's time to eat. And that is something most of us never outgrow. My family once ended up at Canada's worst restaurant eating boiled chicken covered in english pea gravy on top of a slice of loaf bread (yes, really, that was the "chicken sandwich") because when my mother said "stop and eat", it meant NOW. Love you mom. :)


Here Jesus says that we are to yearn for Him the way we yearn for P.F. Chang's lettuce wraps. I L-U-V those lettuce wraps. I think about them in the night. I actually dream about them. I can taste that lettuce wrap right now, and it's CRUSHING me that I do not have one in hand right this very minute. There are a lot of embarrassing (and possibly illegal) things I would do to get my grubby little hands on a tasty, delicious lettuce wrap. The question is... do I want Jesus that much? Do I think about him at every hour of the day? Am I constantly longing for him? 


And the great thing about this food is that it never spoils. It's not in Huntsville where you can only get ahold of it every once in a blue moon. The restaurant never closes. It doesn't make you fat. And best of all, it's FREE. It's accessible to everyone, not just those with the right means or location or time. 


As Scarlett would say, "As God as my witness, I will never be hungry again!"

Day 9: You Can't Heal Thyself

Mark 6:53-56
When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.


And we're right smack in the middle of Jesus' short-lived "famous" era. The public have always been a fickle bunch, haven't they? Sort of like New Kids on the Block (popular, super unpopular, now popular again), Jesus was unknown, then uber-famous, then intensely unpopular. The difference with him is that he didn't try to rebrand himself or make himself into something new. He just was. Or, correction, he just is. (I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob... Ex. 3, Matt. 22). He did what he did - he healed. He did so then, just as he does so now. Those of us who have reached out and touched him have felt that incredible healing. Wouldn't it be awesome if people still begged for the healing touch of his hand? What an amazing world this would be! Most people are too much like me, though... we think that we can heal ourselves, fix ourselves. Just the simple understanding that they couldn't self heal changed the lives of the people of Gennesaret. 

I LOVE this song by Third Day, and it perfectly represents this passage. 

Day 8: Getting Out of the Boat

Matthew 15: 28-31

“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” he said.Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?

Peter, my all-time favorite Bible character. Person. Character person. Whatever you call people in the Bible. He's so completely... real. He does everything with his heart and not his head. I can't wait to get to heaven, because I want to spend a hundred years or so just talking to this guy. Oh, the stories he'll have to tell!


Here, Peter ends up doubting - just for a fraction of a second - and begins to sink. But what I love is that he's out there in the water, when all the other disciples are still in the boat. When we stick our necks out for our faith, when we do things that are unusual or daring or different, there's a good chance that we'll end up in the churning sea, wondering why didn't just stay safe in the boat. But I have to believe that we'll be blessed for trying. After all, Peter was the one that got the personal touch from Jesus. And while the disciples had to stand on the sidelines and watch a super cool story as it happened, Peter got to be right in the middle of it. What a story to tell your children and grandchildren. 


I don't want to stand on the sidelines. I want to get out of the boat.


Addition: Today I read something that fits perfectly with this post, and I just had to add it. Theodore Roosevelt's "The Man in the Arena", April 23, 1910: It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. 

Day 7: Ghost Stories

John 6:16-21
When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were frightened. But he said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid.” Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.


I wonder what Jesus was thinking as he walked that three or four miles to the boat. I wonder if he sort of chuckled, knowing that the disciples were about to have a major freak-out session. (Not that I blame them; I'd probably do the same if I had been in their shoes.) In Matthew we learn that they thought it was a ghost coming toward them. Here they were, thinking that they were about to have a ghost story to tell their children about, and then, instead, they hear those sweet words: "It is I. Don't be afraid." How many times does that happen to us? We expect something bad - even deserve something bad - and God gives us something good instead. And something I had never noticed was that last sentence... THEN they were willing to take him into the boat. And when they did, good things happened... immediately they got where they were going. 


Good things happen when we let Jesus into our boat.

Day 6: Brain Freeze

John 6:15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.


This little verse right here is why I want to do this study. I would have skipped right over it, and there's no telling how many times I have done just that while reading this passage. But now I'm being "forced" to stop and take a look at it, and I think that's the point. 


When confronted with a problem/situation/whatever you want to call it, Jesus went off. Alone.


Aloneness is frowned on in our society. In our constantly connected state, even our "alone" times are not really alone. We have the radio on while we take a shower, the tv on while we get dressed, radio again for the drive to work, and then the email/phone/meeting chaos starts! It's no wonder we suffer from anxiety and insomnia and all sorts of other stuff... our brains never get a chance to shut off. Maybe what we need is a little more quiet time. Meditation time. To withdraw to a mountain by ourselves. For me, I've been trying to leave my radio off during my morning commute. It gives me time to focus on the day ahead, pray, and generally get my brain going in the right direction. Clutter-free. And I really, truly want to do even better because it really, truly helps.


Give yourself permission to do a brain shut-down now and again. Jesus did.  

Day 5: Faith Feast

John 6:1-14


Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. The Jewish Passover Festival was near.

When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”

Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”

Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

There were two things about this passage that stuck out to me: first, I am a Philip. Philip is a pragmatist here, and I think if you had interviewed him about why he said what he said (“It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”), he would have said, "Look, I was just being real!" My job is to be real. Every day I get up in the morning and go to my office and sit at my desk and look for potential problems, and then try to figure out ways to solve them. I figure out a cost/benefit analysis for everything I do. So I'm sorry to say that if Jesus had asked me that question, I probably would have responded the exact same way. The problem was that Philip didn't know who he was with. ("You didn't know who you were with! It's from The Godfather." Er, sorry.) Philip didn't understand how BIG his God was, and that God was getting ready to show that bigness. And the thing is, we still don't get it. We analyze and figure and reason, and we forget that God is bigger than all of those things. We forget that sometimes he chooses to uses our weakness to serve his purpose just in case we get the crazy idea that it was our own doing.

Andrew, on the other hand, had some small idea of what was happening. If it had been me, I'd have run right past that boy with the measly loaves and fish. I wouldn't have even considered it worth mentioning. He was unsure, he was questioning, but he at least had the wherewithal to bring it up. And then Jesus took his tiny little mustard seed amount of faith and used it to feed a small town's worth of folks. It's actually a pretty clever little analogy that the scriptures have laid out for us... almost like the teensy portion of bread and fish is reminiscent of Andrew's faith. And with God, he takes a little and makes it a lot. We just have to take the first step, even if we sound stupid or what we're saying seems impossible.

Second, the last verse really hit home with me because it reminds me how fickle we humans are. Here they are, a year before literally calling for Jesus' head, and they're saying that surely this is the Prophet who has come into the world. It's amazing, actually, how quickly they forget. How quickly we forget. I see it all the time with youth group kids who go to Challenge Youth Conference or camp or whatever, and they say, "Surely this is Jesus who has come into the world." For that instant, they see him for who he is. And then they go back to school, to life, whatever, and they forget. But the thing is, it's not just fifteen-year-olds who do that. So do the rest of us, probably even more often than they.

God forbid that we ever forget what the Lord has done for us.

Day 4: The Plan

Okay, so I've been doing some research, and... drum roll please... we have a plan. I have decided to use Ken Palmer's Harmony of the Gospels chronology for the purposes of this blog. Starting tomorrow, I'll address one "event" from the last year of Jesus' life each day using Palmer's very detailed (and handy) chronology chart. I plan to start with the feeding of the 5000. The reasons for this are long, murky, and likely boring, but the bottom line is that I think there's a good likelihood that his final year would have begun somewhere around this time. Plus, could there be a better story with which to begin? A hungry crowd, a food shortage, and a compassionate God = excellent blogging potential!

For tonight, I want to post one of my favorite songs of all time, by (no lie) one of my favorite groups of all time... the Von Trapp Children. Yes, friends, the real-life Sound of Music family has grandchildren, and they can sing the pants off you. I got such great comments and emails about the Mary post yesterday, and maybe that's why this song has been on my mind all day.

Enjoy.

Day 3: Magnificat

I can already tell that having an eight-month-old son is going to make this study all the more real to me. Yesterday I was eating lunch with my 90-year-old grandmother (just hold on... these two sentences will tie together in the end. I promise.), and she asked my how many years I had turned on my birthday. "Thirty-three," I said. She just shook her head and said, "It's hard to believe my first little granddaughter is thirty-three years old." I told her about what I had been thinking about... about Jesus dying at thirty-three. Her response: "He died so young. But the one I always think about is Mary."

You see, my grandmother's identity is completely intertwined with her children and grandchildren. She is a mother. She is a grandmother. And even though she has an idea of what Jesus went through for her, she has an even better grasp of what Mary must have faced.

Now that have my own little boy, I can understand her perspective a little better. And the thing is, as far as I can tell, Mary never questions God or His purposes. I don't know whether Jesus warned her what was going to happen, but I have a funny feeling that he did. He warns the apostles, he talks about it in public settings, and Mary's been pondering all this in her heart since the day he was born. I believe she knew. And she was there at every step.

One of my favorite passages in the entirety of Scripture is Mary's conversation with Elizabeth in Luke 1. Chances are that Mary is a young teenager when she says these words, which makes it all the more evident why the Lord chose her above every other woman who has ever lived. May we all have the faith of Mary, to understand that His ways are higher than our ways, and to say:

"My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation." Luke 1: 46-50 

The Last Birthday

What did Jesus do on his 33rd birthday?

Josephus, a Jewish historian in the first century, notes that Jews did not celebrate birthdays. He is specifically referencing literal birthdays (days of birth), but the principle is commonly thought to have applied to birthdays throughout life. "Nay, indeed, the law does not permit us to make festivals at the birth of our children, and thereby afford occasion of drinking to excess" (Against Apion, Book II, chapter 26). Birthday celebrations are only mentioned twice in the Bible (or three times if you count Job's sons  in Job 1)... Pharoah's birthday in Gen. 40:2-22 and Herod's birthday in Mark 6:21, and all of these seem to be quite different from what we know as a birthday party today. They were out-and-out ruckuses! Crazy stuff.

Jesus, on the other hand, wouldn't have had a cake, or candles, or presents. He didn't take a day off work or have all the family over for dinner. His day was likely just the same as any other... full of healing people, and teaching, maybe some woodworking for good measure. 

But just because Jews didn't celebrate birthdays doesn't mean that they didn't remember them. We know from scriptures like Mark 5, that specifically tells us the age of a 12-year-old girl, that they did keep track of their ages. And I have to believe that, on his last birthday, Jesus took time to reflect on what he knew to be the last anniversary of that extraordinary night 33 years before in a stable in Bethlehem. 

What a bittersweet time it must have been. Sad to be leaving the family and friends he'd grown to love... anxious about the trial he was soon to face... and yet relieved. Happy. He'd be going home soon! 

If there's anything that Jesus was, He was focused. Always, always completely focused. He knew where he was going... and why... every second of every day of his life. He never got sidetracked by trivial things.

I need more of that unshakeable, no-holds-barred focus. To remember why I am here. And to see that God gifted me with a life on this earth - with a birthday - for a purpose. And then to live out that purpose every day.

Day 1

This morning as I drove to work, I was thinking about my birthday. It's a new year - the 33rd - and it seemed like a good time to recommit, rededicate, and plan for the future. Suddenly it hit me that, for Jesus, this would be the last birthday he would celebrate here on earth. He would spend his 33rd year ministering, teaching, and preparing himself for the great sacrifice he was soon to make.

In high school and college, I would constantly ask myself, "What Would Jesus Do?" This year I won't have to ask that question. I already know. When I hold my Bible, I hold the answers in my hand. His 33rd year was his defining moment... the time when he did what he had spent the whole of his life getting ready to do. So, for me, I've decided that this must be the year. The year to stop talking and start doing. The year to go forward with purpose and conviction. The year to live like Jesus.

And so I've decided to study the last year of Jesus' life, and blog daily about what I discover. I'm scared because it's a big commitment, and because I know what I will learn is going to turn my world upside down.

Today I am heading down to the Overton Memorial Library to find some resources on the chronological history of Jesus. Over the next few days, I plan to map this thing out and get a glimpse of just where it is we'll be going.

It's going to be a personal journey, but if you want, come along. I'll need your help. And we can learn together.