Easter surprise

I can understand why people were surprised when Jesus was born. I mean really...God, in a feeding trough? You can't be serious! Who wouldn't have been surprised?

But Easter is different. It's different because, well, Jesus kept announcing what was going to happen! Consider this dialogue...

Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, "We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again." (Luke 18:31-33)

Seems pretty clear, doesn't it? No surprise here. But catch the next verse:

"The disciples did not understand any of this..." (Luke 18:34)

It's easy to snicker at the disciples. "Not the sharpest knives in the drawer," and all that. But then I wonder if I'm much different. Oh, I believe the story...I could recite it to you. But it continues to surprise me. God, hanging on a tree? For me? It doesn't make sense. It doesn't coincide with reality as I experience it every day. It's not natural. It's supernatural. Actually, it's shocking. In the words of a song I like to sing, "Amazing love. How can it be that you, my God, should die for me?" How CAN it be? I don't understand any of this.

The more I think about Easter, the more it surprises me. But I'm so glad the Easter surprise is true!

Almost nothing?

I met a woman this week whose life has not gone well. She developed a debilitating illness. She hovered half-way through death's door. And then when it became clear she would not regain full health, her husband decided he just couldn't spend the rest of his life caring for her. So he divorced her.

She struggles with some of the basic things many of us take for granted. Her body is in full blown revolt. Her prognosis is for continual physical impairment. Her job options are seriously minimal. She has almost nothing. And yet...she has almost everything. As she poured out her life story, she uttered these words, "God has been so faithful to me." Say what? That's right...she was able to offer genuine gratitude to God in spite of the harsh experiences she has lived through. I was blown away.

I couldn't help but think of so many people who "have it all." Health, wealth, status, leisure, family, you name it. Yet they are miserable. They still haven't found what they're looking for. But she has. I was looking at the real thing. Real faith, real love, real life. She'll never be famous. She'll never speak to thousands or write a book. Which is too bad, because a lot of us could desperately benefit from listening to her for an hour...or a weekend. Her life is a silent testimony to all of us who are furiously chasing things that Jesus told us to forget about. I thank God for bringing this woman into my life. And yours.

The Ultimate Reason?

It didn’t make sense. The experts agreed. What this man was asking was unreasonable. There was every reason in the world to turn and walk away. To do what they thought best. After all, they were the experts. They’d spent all their wisdom, all their creativity, and all night trying to get the job done. But to no avail. And along comes this guy who knows better. “Try this,” he suggests. “We’ve already tried it!’ they respond. Probably tried it a hundred times.

But what happens next is a shocker. They try it. They do what the outsider says. Which is not nearly as shocking as the reason WHY they do it. It’s captured in the simple phrase, “because you say so.” Because you say so, we’ll do it. Sounds like blind obedience. Or maybe it’s something more. Maybe it’s not a mindless, blind reason at all. Maybe it’s a reason based on seeing what others failed to see. Maybe it's the ultimate reason. Maybe it’s a reason based on seeing that the one telling them what to do was wiser than they could imagine. Turns out, he was also right.

Read about it here, in Luke 5:1-11.

So here’s the question. When is the last time you responded to Jesus with these words, “because you say so”?

Doesn't seem fair...

Ever meet someone who does what you do, but does it so well you think, "Why do I even try?" For me, John Ortburg is one of those people. He is gifted in so many ways. And he uses those gifts to encourage and inspire untold thousands of people. Me included. Here's a link to one of his recent articles, entitled "The Good News Amid the Bad News."
Enjoy it.

Want to know what a missional church is? Watch this

Torn Open

Started going through Mark's gospel for Lent. And there in chapter one is this comment, "he saw heaven being torn open." What in the WORLD must that have looked like? (Actually, it probably didn't look like ANYTHING in this world!) Jesus saw the breach between heaven and earth starting to rupture. I think he saw the beginnings of what he would eventually usher in in a whole new way. It was heaven - God's domain - breaking into this darkened world. The next words Mark records from Jesus are these, "The time has come...the kingdom of God is near." I imagine he was thinking back to the rupture...the tear in heaven. It started leaking out into our world. "Thy kingdom come..." Bring it on.

iPod and the work of God

Tonight a line of severe storms passed through the area. I found out by checking the online radar loop. It had already gone by me. I had several emergency emails - which I read after the storm had passed. It must have been a doozie. And I kinda like storms.
But I missed this one because I was in the basement. Actually, I missed it because while in the basement, riding on the trainer, I was listening to a podcast on cycling. It's a fun hobby. But in this case, I got so close to my hobby/interest that I completely missed the big event that was happening around me.

Step back. There is a big event passing by us right now. It's the work of God. It's setting off emergency alarms all over the place. It's way past being a doozie. But are we missing it? Am I? Do we get so close to our interests, pursuits, hobbies, etc. that we are literally deaf to what is going on? Do we only learn about the work of God by reading about it online?

Maybe we could at least take out one earbud.