Jesus answered “ If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” Because of this, the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?”
Perhaps this was the cruelest sentence of all. Yes they all died. For some of them it was a quick beheading. Others were tortured mercilessly until cries of “Father forgive them” were reduced to spasmic gasping. But they found relief. Every last one of them. . .
How he longed for that same relief! But it was not to be. One after another. His friends. His brothers. The only ones in the world who could truly understand. The brotherhood of the twelve. Well, eleven. They were so normal. So ill-equipped. So naïve.
“Follow me”
Those two words will echo into eternity.
All of this madness. The world, overwhelmed, shuddering. Thousands dying. Some say millions. More suffering than one should see in 100 lifetimes. . . It all began because of Him.
“I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”
I could see it. A lifetime of agony, overpowered by hope. He continued. He continued. He continued. Tasting the morbid death that hunted them. An empire on its head. Evil seething. . . never quenching that defeat. The one, final. . .
Perhaps the first wound was the deepest. Absolutely, he believed with all of his heart before. He had already stood up to the chief priests and Pharisees many times. He himself had been hunted with many trying to murder him. It was nothing new. And yes, there was Stephen. . . but this was different. The stakes stretched infinitely higher now.
That day. That day he paused. . . walked out of the synagogue, and kept walking, drenching his clothes with tears, until he fell over, shaking from exhaustion.
That day.
His brother was murdered.
Now, 45 torturous years later, the wrinkled brow and scarred hands began to write. No one must forget why. No, they must know why. They must know why he never turned back, why it was worth it. Why there is still hope.
NOTE: I’m not saying things will go badly, or that there will be a global meltdown, etc., I’m simply saying not to sweat it, there are more important things to worry about.
Jacob knocked it out of the park yesterday (in his sermon at our church, you can watch it here) with these three observations (I’m taking a lot of liberty in melding his sermon with my reaction to it):
1) Paul doesn’t exhort us to make the most of our time because the future looks so bright, but because the present and near future look so bleak.
I’m not complaining. (My life is phenomenal in every sense. I’m married to an amazing woman..we just celebrated 10 years! I bless God for my two children. Friends and family are spotted all around the globe. Our local church is healthy and growing, regardless of the myriad of challenges.) I’m just saying that Paul’s is an anti-prosperity message. Are you worried about what lies ahead? Are you worried about the ramifications of a collapsing Euro? An indebted USA? Global unrest? Sickness? A loss of a job?
Paul tells us that these are actually the sources of unique opportunities.
These are all reasons to make the most of my time, investing in what will never fade. When bad times came, Paul didn’t encourage the church to hunker down. He encouraged the opposite. Times are bad? Get out and engage into our mission with gritted teeth, armed with hope that surpasses death. Are we on the verge of global collapse? Stand up and be counted, don’t hide in a ditch.
2) Paul’s exhortation is not to more action, but to intentional action.
Making the most of my time doesn’t mean sleeping less. It means opening my eyes to the unique opportunities around me during bleak times. What really counts? What doesn’t? Maybe I need to spend less time at work and more time with my family. Maybe I need to spend less time in a softball league and more time loving on those hurting in my community. Maybe now is the time to sell it all and move to another community, or country.
Losing a job may be the biggest blessing of my life, causing me to reevaluate what life is for. Cancer may be what shatters the chains that attached my heart to what matters least. An exploded marriage may be what forces me to my knees for the first time in years.
As a pastor and missionary, this is exactly what I’ve seen. I can give multiple names for each one of these examples. When times are evil, my frenetic life screeches to a halt as I wrap tearful arms around the few things that count. Thanks you Jesus for the evil times.
3) The evil times will pass, the investments we make in what really counts will last forever.
The stakes in 2012 are eternal. What this means is that I can stop sweating the small stuff… (like the strength of the Euro/Dollar/Yuan, a global economic meltdown, or a stupid Mayan calendar), and begin investing in what matters: the people all around me: my wife, my children, my neighbors, my fellow image-bearers in Cairo, Guayaquil, Paris, and Phnom Penh: their physical needs, and their current and future relationship to their Savior.
Let’s sweat the big stuff in 2012: loving on our fellow image-bearers: weeping over their physical and spiritual situations. Jesus did not conquer death for the benefit of a stable global situation in the present era. He conquered death to save people, now and forever.
Close your eyes. Do you see their faces? Do you see your Savior?
Evil times will pass. These investments will last forever.
Thank you Jacob for yanking us back to reality yesterday.
Can we spare 3 minutes to pray? …Pourrions-nous prendre 3 minutes pour prier?
We’re such wimps to even have to ask that question… Le fait qu’on demande ce question (au lieu de le prendre pour acquit), nous montre comment on est faible dans notre foi…
It seems that Peter is saying that we should be surprised when we DON’T suffer:
12Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. 13But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. -1 Peter 4:12
Planting French-speaking churches on the island of Montréal (1.9 million live on the island, 4 million live in the region) is excruciatingly difficult.
Please God, raise up a new generation of young people committed to raising families on the island as they live out the radical love of Jesus Christ for Your glory.
Who will respond to this challenge?
John Piper lays out his abomination for the prosperity gospel:
A few quotes:
“Those who desire to be rich fall into a snare”
“The very thing that leads people to suicidal piercings of pangs, namely, the desire to be rich, is nurtured and cultivated by the prosperity preachers.”
“Jesus said: ‘It’s easier for a rich man to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven’… Why would he say that? It’s because riches are such dangerous things. They are not a blessing, usually. They are usually a curse. People are destroyed by riches.”
“I don’t mean it is sinful to make a lot of money… it is sinful to want to keep a lot of money.”
My brother, Paul, is in Marine boot camp as I write this. This has me thinking, reading, and watching material about the Corps, the military, warfare, patriotism, and death. Here are a couple of philosophers’ perspectives on death:
“He who would teach men to die would teach them to live.” -Montaigne
“That to Philosophize is to learn how to die.” -Montaigne
“He will live badly who does not now how to die well” -Seneca
In “Brothers At War“, the last provocative line goes like this: “I’d give my life for America any day… wouldn’t think twice”
Here’s a preview:
A soldier doesn’t run from death. He expects it. He trains for it. He’s taught how to stare it down, overcome any fear of it, because the mission takes precedence. A soldier who runs from battle because “I might get hurt” or “it’s dangerous” or “I might die”, or “It might be uncomfortable” has no place in the military. A soldier paralyzed by a fear of death is not normal and would not have the honor of calling him or herself a soldier for very long.
So the last line of the above preview really got me thinking about what a “normal” disciple of Jesus would look like. This is what Jesus said in Luke 9:23-24
“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.”
Here’s where being a soldier differs from being a christian: A Christian is not called to a military mission (Though I am not a pacifist by any stretch). A Christian is asked to lay down his life for Jesus, for the good of others, PERIOD. Love not War. Love not comfort. Love not fear.
This is extreme, “I’d give my life for Jesus any day… wouldn’t even think about it” LOVE.
And according to Jesus, for anyone who wants to follow him, “THIS IS NORMAL!” Extreme love, for a Christian, is a normal way of life.
Many people fear any kind of “extremism”. But then we see people like MLK and Ghandi who were extremists. The question is this: Is it extreme love or exteme hate? Laying my life down as I serve and love others is the kind of extremism this world could use a lot more of, and the kind of extreme love that anyone who wants to follow Jesus is called to.
Just as it would make no sense to hear this out of a prospective military recruit’s mouth:
“I want to join, I just don’t want to do anything that requires sacrifice”
“I want to join, but I don’t want to go to Iraq or Afghanistan”
“I want to join, as long as it’s not difficult”
“I want to join, but the idea of dying for my country is ridiculous.”
It makes no sense to hear these sorts of things out of the mouths of Christians:
“I want to follow Jesus, as long as I don’t have to sacrifice anything”
” I want to follow Jesus, as long as it’s safe.”
“I want to follow Jesus, as long as I don’t have to lose my life.”
“I want to follow Jesus, but don’t ask me to live anywhere uncomfortable or dangerous”
What is normal? Denying myself and losing my life for the One who conquered death by His death on a cross.
But what if I die? What if I go to Iran, or Sudan, or a slum in Brazil, or inner-city Detroit and I’m killed for it? Here’s Paul’s response:
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. -1 Corinthians 15:55-58
“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” -Philippians 1:21
“Normal,” for a disciple of Jesus, sees death as a conquered enemy… no longer to be feared:
“Yeah, I’d lose my life for Jesus in a second”
“Yeah, I’d deny my own comfort for Jesus anytime”
“Yeah, I’d give up my job and move to lovingly serve those in mud huts in East Asia in a second if Jesus asked me to”
“Yeah, I’d travel to Iran, and lovingly serve them by talking about the One who came from heaven… even if it meant I died doing it… wouldn’t even think twice”
“Yeah, I’d move to a third-world country and sacrifice my life by working with street orphans in a second”
“Yeah, I’d fight for Jesus against the sex trade in my own country even if it meant sacrificing time & money”
“Yeah, I’d deny myself for Jesus, working for the rights of the helpless unborn even if it’s unpopular.”
“Yeah, I’d move my family from the suburbs to the city if Jesus asked… wouldn’t think twice.”
Unwillingness to “deny myself” for Jesus is abnormal.
Unwillingness to “take up my cross” and sacrifice myself daily for Jesus is abnormal.
Do I/we organize my/our finances because of Jesus?
Do I/we choose my/our job because of Jesus?
Do I/we choose the location of our house because of Jesus?
OBJECTION: That’s radical! Not every christian is called to go that far… are they?
Matthew 10:37-39:
He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
“And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.
“He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.
These things do not make me a christian, but RADICALSACRIFICIAL LOVE is a normal outgrowth of knowing Christ.
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