Bring your mess, bring your brokenness, because all Christ wants is you. We find this new life, this new love at the cross, because we cannot get to easter unless we go through the cross. As hard as the cross was Jesus endured it for you and for me. And yes there will be trouble in this life, but because of Christ we will not be defined by our brokenness or our mess, we are defined by the mercy on the other side.
Integrity of Christ
Lately I have been wondering a lot of things, but mostly about an issue with ourselves and our culture. It seems that we have come to a place in our world and maybe we have always been there, but recently it has been more prevalent in my mind. It’s not just that its political season, but there is an overwhelming movement in ourselves and by ourselves I am being very broad; culture itself is moving towards a place where commitment means very little. In our culture we say things like:
If my marriage fails then that’s ok because I can always get a divorce.
or
I didn’t necessarily lie, I just didn’t tell the whole truth
We are moving further and further away from the Integrity of Christ and it’s dangerous. So dangerous that in fact we will not see the damage coming until it’s too late. We will repent when we are caught, but only because we are caught not because it was wrong. Today is Palm Sunday, a day of short celebration for Jesus coming to Jerusalem and yet the moment that always hits me in the gut is not the Palm Sunday Road, but on what happens that night. This is how it is told by the Gospel of John.
Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4 got up from the table,[a] took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet,[b] but is entirely clean. And you[c] are clean, though not all of you.” 11 For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
12 After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. 14 So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. 16 Very truly, I tell you, servants[d] are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. 17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. 18 I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But it is to fulfill the scripture, ‘The one who ate my bread[e] has lifted his heel against me.’ 19 I tell you this now, before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am he.[f] 20 Very truly, I tell you, whoever receives one whom I send receives me; and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.” (John 13:1-20, NRSV)
What a powerful moment for the Disciples to experience with their Master and Friend. What an incredible for us to ponder for the rest of our lives in the context of following Jesus and living with each other. Jesus in this moment teaches us the utmost important priority that He has and that we are called to have.
- Jesus shows what really matters. The relationship that we have with God and our neighbor. Relationship is the utmost important when it comes to following Jesus
- It’s not about us, and it never will be. It’s about uniting with Christ in transforming the world in His sight not our own. His will is always better than ours. Our will and our limited thinking is the easier way to go, but it far lesser than His.
- Finally, this may be a crucial one. Jesus never did anything for the sake of just doing it, there was always a purpose and that purpose was never about Him, but about furthering God’s Kingdom. Everything He did furthered the Kingdom of God.
Let’s let that sink in.
Relationships matter. Your neighbor matters. What you do matters.
Don’t live your life by making decisions that don’t matter. Every bit of success that you achieve in this world is meaningless if you are furthering the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom is the only thing we are asked to be a part, and please get that, Jesus invites us. He doesn’t force us like any other deity, he invites us, he wants us.
Money will fade.
Possessions will break.
The Kingdom is forever.
Let’s invest in what matters.
In closing for today I would like you to watch this video; I apologize for the watermark on the video:
Requirement of New Life
This is a post that was originally written by myself and shared on Youthworker Movement.
When you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this observance. 26 And when your children ask you, ‘What do you mean by this observance?’ 27 you shall say, ‘It is the passover sacrifice to the Lord, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt, when he struck down the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” And the people bowed down and worshiped. (Exodus 12:25, NRSV)
We like order, control, but essentially we like having things OUR way. We really like things our way, and we resist like the dickens anything else. When the operative word, “change,” is uttered any sense of the word we tend to clam up and resist, and yet we have this quandary of the lesson that we get in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
To have new life, something must die.
Ouch.
New life in Christ is amazing, but bad things had to happen for that new life to happen. Jesus had to die for us to live. Really think about what this means for our lives now. For us to live into that new life we have to consider that some parts of our lives do not belong. You can’t give your heart to Christ and the world, you can only serve one master.
So what does that mean for our lives?
It means that there is nothing in our lives that doesn’t connect to our deep faith in Christ. That is what it means to be a disciple to constantly point to our savior, if we are not doing that then why are we following Him. I mean seriously, this is what discipleship is and what it looks like. Things have to go aside and Christ has to reign in our lives. Christ’s love and grace gives understanding of what we truly need and everything Christ passing over us because we don’t need it.
We just need Christ, and Him alone.
Day 3: See
Ever want to know where you stand? What people really think about you? Well, you are good company because I believe that Jesus just wanted to know what the disciples thought. I find it very interesting that Peter is the only one that said what he thought, but then again that is the way that Peter usually was. He was the disciple that walked out on the water to Jesus after all.
I think this is why I have always respected Peter.
Peter saw Jesus for who He was and is and maybe He saw that the day that He called those fishermen to come follow him. This is powerful because there are im sure many people who thought them to be completely out of their mind and yet Peter stands strong and says that He is the Christ. The One.
So who do we say that Jesus is?
We already know who Peter says He is, but who do we?
It’s a good question to ask in our lenten journey.
Almighty God,
Help us to know at all times who you are and more importantly where you are, in our hearts. Transform us Lord to understand more and more. Thank you for your love and grace and for helping us to extend that love and grace to the world.
Amen.
From Scarcity to Abundance
Today’s lenten devotional title caught my attention: “From Scarcity to Abundance.” The attention that was reeled in to read today’s deco was even more probed when I read a particular statement near the end of the devotional.
So often, if you are like me, we focus on what we do not have instead of what the Lord has already given to us. We look at problems (only 2 fish?) instead of seeing the Promise. No wonder the word scarcity sounds so much like scared, and the word abundance reminds us so much of dance!
Today’s devotional talks about how the disciples were skeptical that only 2 loaves of bread and 5 fish could feed all the people listening to Jesus that day, which traditionally we have been taught has been around 5,000 people. It’s reasonable to show some skepticism at a moment like this, but Jesus remains confident that the food amount will be sufficient. In the devotional the author asks a question that I will pass along to you to reflect on.
“Is your concern in life right now to have what you love or to love what you have?”
I confess that I too have had times where there were things that I wanted really really bad and would also think at times that I didn’t have much to be excited about, but I do have lots of things. Lately I’ve noticed that when a church member asks me how I am doing I have responded by saying: “Well, I woke up this morning breathing.”
Sometimes that can be interpreted as well, I am here and that’s about it, but that is not my point in saying that.
Each morning I wake up breathing with even the slightest amount of decent health, with a roof over my head, a car to drive at my disposal thats a great day! Some would say that I am in the top percentage of wealthiest people in the world. They would probably have a very solid argument with that point as well.
So, back to our original question.
“Is your concern in life right now to have what you love or to love what you have?”
Be thankful for what you have, because :
Some of the best things in life are not things.
-Author Unknown