Sheep and Goats

Not a fan of small ruminants myself.  I’m a cow guy, but sheep and goats loom large in the Bible, literally in the OT and more symbolically in the NT.  Here’s Jesus talking:

And the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on the left.    Matthew25:32-33 (NASB)

Not a trained Bible scholar here, but maybe I can offer some animal insight. 

Sheep and goats are similar, especially from a distance to an untrained eye, but a shepherd can tell individual sheep apart that are almost identical, so differentiating sheep and goats is not a problem.  One can tell them apart.  Sheep are sheep.  Goats are goats.  They hang out together and eat the same stuff, but sheep and goats are unique species.

Neither sheep, nor goats in my experience, are particularly cooperative.  A shepherd may let them run together for a while, but if he goes to the effort, and it would require effort, to separate them, there is a very specific purpose.  Something different is in store for each type of animal.

Don’t know the translation involved, but NASB says the sheep were put on “His” right, while the goats were put on “the” left.  It appears the sheep were claimed by the shepherd in a way the goats were not.

(To be continued….. Can’t wait, can you?)

Holy Hand Grenade

And they understood none of these these things: and this saying was hidden from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.  Luke 18:34 (KJV)

Warning: a window into my life and how my mind works follows.

Woke up this morning in Warsaw (NC) and having forgotten my Bible, I used the Gideon’s contribution to my hotel room for some reading this morning.  In Luke 18:31-33 Jesus tells the disciples  of his yet-to-occur death and resurrection, but they didn’t grasp it according to verse 34.  

When I read this verse in KJV, my mind went immediately to the part of Monty Python and the Holy Grail where the priest reads from the book of Armaments on the proper use of the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch.

‘First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then, shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shalt be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, nor either count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it.’

Then while pondering the Holy Hand Grenade, I thought to myself, “That’s what Mark Driscoll is, a Holy Hand Grenade.”

Driscoll is the pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle and one of my favorite guys to listen to via podcast.  Yesterday I had listened to a sermon he preached on I Peter 3:7.   It can be found on iTunes or at   http://www.marshillchurch.org/feeds .   Let’s say he “challenged” men concerning how they lived their lives and related to women and the family.  I don’t generally care for preachers that yell, but He gets a pass on this one.  Priceless…..and convicting.  No tiptoeing around the issues.  No political correctness.  No evasion.  No passing the buck.  No excuses.  Boom!  Deal with this.  If it hurts, good.  That’s the Holy Spirit convicting you.  Holy Hand Grenade, indeed.

Yet on hearing him, I’m certain there are men who understood none of these these things: and this saying was hidden from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.

Dinner Guests

Then he turned to his host.  “When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,” he said, “don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors.  For they will invite you back and that will be your reward.  Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.  Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.  Luke 14:12-14 (NLT)

When you invite someone over to your house for dinner, isn’t it kinda rude for them to tell you you’ve invited all the wrong people.  Yet this is what Jesus says to a leader of the Pharisees who had invited him over to share a meal.  Lest I get too self-righteous, the question arises,  “So who do I invite into my home to share meals?”

I work with the Home Group ministry at our local church.  We break into small groups and meet in people’s homes to share meals, bible study, and discussion a couple of times a month.   I just can’t say how huge I think this idea is.  Let me say this plainly.  If our intention in attending is to find the best seat in the best group with the best people that we can feel comfortable with, we’ve totally missed it and we’ve missed Him.  And by the way, Jesus seems to say that those of us who host should think long and hard about who we invite….

Beware

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.  When you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrits do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be honored by men.  Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.  But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing that your alms may be in secret;  and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”  Matthew 6:1-4 (NASB)

Jesus warns us to beware doing the right things for the wrong reasons.  It’s one of Satan’s most subtle temptations and one I fall into easily.  As usual with Jesus there’s no middle ground.  If I do something good to be admired by people, I may get people’s admiration as my reward, in fact I probably will, but I get NO credit from God.  Zero.  Zilch.  Nada.  However if I do something good secretly, in a way that other people don’t pat me on the back for it, the Jesus says that God will reward me.  Doesn’t say with what.  Doesn’t say how.  Doesn’t say when.   Just that God will reward me. 

One of these paths is a lot easier for “righteous” people to chose.  Beware.

The Greatest

But the greatest among you shall be your servant.  And whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.  Matthew 23:11-12 (NASB)

Just back from a few days in Puerto Vallarta on a company award trip with my wife.  We were there with other men and women in my company that had a good year selling compared to the quota assigned to us.  

When I read this quote from Jesus I was struck by how opposite this concept is to what the world, in this case my company, rewards.    My natural inclination is to “exalt” myself.  Maybe you’re different but my default setting is to become proud of my abilities and accomplishments, to be better than my peers, to be admired, to seek recognition for myself…. even if it comes at the expense of those around me.  

The thing is, I call myself a Christian and that just doesn’t line up what Jesus said or did.  He said the greatest were humble and served others.   And He showed us how when He put on a towel and washed feet….even the feet of those that would desert and betray him. 

So I’m left with these uncomfortable questions.  Am I humble? Am I willing to serve others?  If not, what does this tell me?  And just how great does God think I am?

Liar, Liar

If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.   1 John 4:20 (NIV)

Seems like John isn’t shy about calling people liars, is he?  According to John if you say you know God but don’t obey him, then you are a liar.  And now this: if you say you love God  but don’t love people, then you are a liar, too.

Loving people is not hard as a theoretical concept.  Loving actual flesh and blood people is more problematic when you actually attempt it.  If you say it’s easy, I don’t think you’ve really tried it.  As I’ve blogged about here before, it gets messy with people really quickly and I, at least, don’t particularly like adding more “messy” to my life.  Of course, I can carefully select the people that I choose to extend love to, and measuring out that love carefully to make sure I don’t get hurt in the process.  But when I read about Jesus in the New Testament, I don’t see that in Him at all.  He was all in when it came to loving people, particularly those that seemed hardest to love:  sinners, thieves, prostitutes, lepers, etc., etc.

I’m not sure what to do with a verse like this except to look for ways to actually put love into action with people that God has placed into the proximity of my life.  When I’ve attempted (very imperfectly) to love people this way, it hasn’t always, or even usually, been met with cheers and thanksgiving.  But I’m not to love in order to be loved back, I’m to love because He first loved me.  And I don’t want to be a liar.

Liar

We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.  The man who says “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar and the truth is not in him.    John 1:3-4 (NIV)

Random thoughts.  Politicians will accuse an opposing campaign of spreading lies but rarely call their opponent a liar because that’s too personal.  Jim Carrey was in a very funny movie called “Liar, Liar.”   When my wife or I say something the other takes exception to, we reply, “You lie like a dog!”  I don’t know what that means, but we say it and grin.

On a more serious and scriptural note,  John makes a strong statement here.  Essentially he says if I say that I know Jesus then I’ll do what he says, and if I don’t then I am a liar. 

For a long time, as a believer who claims to know Jesus, I read this as prodding for me to be obedient to God and live right, and if I didn’t then I was a liar….and who wants to be called a liar, right?   But now I don’t think that’s the point John is making here.

I think this is about idenification, what distinguishes one thing from another, how to tell the real deal from a fake.   Ever watch “Antiques Roadshow” on PBS?  The experts look for clues to determine whether something is a valuable collectible or a cheap imitation.  They look for telltale signs.  I think John is saying that obedience to Christ is a telltake sign of a believer.  If I know Jesus then I am being transformed (slowly) and  I will obey him.  I just will.  It can’t mean I will be perfect in obedience this side of heaven because other parts of the Bible and our own experience tells us differently.  I think it does mean I can trust the weight of the evidence to identify liars.  And looking at myself is always a very, very good place to start.

Light

I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.  John 8:12 (NASB)

Jesus said that He was the light of the world.  If you want to do the chain reference thing, check out more verses by John connecting Jesus with light.  In his gospel you can find light referenced in John 1:4-9, 11:9-10, 12:35, 12:46, and in his epistle you find some more: 1 John 1:7 and 2:9-10. 

It’s all about light and darkness.  Light is good.  Dark is bad.  Light is clarity.  Darkness is deception.  Light is walking safely.  Dark is stumbling.  Light is loving people.  Darkness is hating your brother.  But Jesus doesn’t just BRING light.  He IS Light Itself (or Himself).   In John 12: 46 Jesus says, “I  have come as light in to the world so that everyone who believes in Me may not remain in darkness. ” 

In my life I stay in the light precisely in proportion to my focus on Christ.  My best intentions and devotions deteriorate into frustrated striving in the shadows when I turn my attention from Jesus.  My eyes adjust to the darkness more and more as I edge ever so slightly away from the Light….and before I know it, I get accustomed to and satisfied in the shade.  But in His grace, He comes back again and again to shine brightly when I turn His direction.  It hurts my eyes, especially when I see myself, but it is a pain I long for and embrace.  He dazzles me with the light of His love.