redefining freedom

For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”             Galatians 5:13-14

 

Over time we have this way—as people and cultures—of redefining what words mean. Based on how we use them and what we attach to them we can take a word and narrow its meaning. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In some ways it’s helpful. If words have a narrow scope of use and meaning then we are much less likely to be misunderstood. But when we come to Scripture this can leave us confused or disconnected. After all, God’s inspired words were written to at a specific time and in specific places. They were written out of (and in to) cultures and people and circumstances. Words had certain meanings.

 

Add to this our need to translate it into our own languages and it’s easy to understand, from a very practical standpoint, our need to tread carefully and think critically about what we read; what God intended. Not to mention that we are speaking of a living word—God’s very words—a message that will forever challenge and inform our thinking, emotions and ultimately our hearts. We alter the meaning of words and so comes the challenge of hearing—not just reading—what God is saying when he uses words that we use today, but uses them with a different perspective.

 

The word I’m mulling over today is the word freedom. As an American I can see that we have a fairly weird relationship with this word. Just short of obsessive, I would say. And the way we like to embrace freedom is not at all the way Paul utilizes it in his letter to the Galatians. For us as Americans—and truthfully for many people living across the globe as well—freedom means many things that contradict the way Paul (and ultimately God) understands the word.

 

For us, freedom often incites visions of doing what I want and being able to simply play and relax. Freedom implies not being told what to do and not doing anything I don’t enjoy. Freedom can mean options upon options and never being given less than what I choose. Freedom can easily be seen as a soaring above and beyond the kinds of responsibilities that just seem to weigh us down. Don’t get me wrong, freedom isn’t all bad in our current way of thinking. It can also mean fair treatment for all, equal access, a fight against prejudice and so on. But none of this is what Paul focuses on when he speaks of freedom.

 

“But you have been called to live in freedom…”

 

That sounds so great! Let’s just stop there. Time to start the party. I hear the echoing cry of Braveheart, “Freedom!!!!….” But look at what Paul says about our freedom:

 

Don’t use it to satisfy your sinful nature.

 

Use your freedom to serve and love one another.

 

Don’t make your freedom in Christ about yourself. Make it about being what others need. Make it about living for the good of another instead of always thinking in terms of self-preservation and self-promotion. Is it just me or does this sound more like work and less like freedom?

 

Serve? Focus on other people’s needs? It’s counterintuitive to see this as freedom. And yet, living without always worrying about self, living without the tyranny of pursuing material gain, living out of a deep interest in others is freedom. It is stepping out from under the slavery to self that so quickly and continually seeks to entangle us.

 

Just last night I sat on my porch with a friend and talked about the struggles that go into being in community with others. Let’s be honest—being in relationship with people is not always a walk in the park. It’s not always fun; it’s not always easy. People are messy! Freedom feels like it would be a shedding of the duties of loving others. Freedom feels like it should involve no longer considering others, just worrying about our own needs and interests. But it doesn’t work that way.

 

Freedom is found in giving rather than hoarding. It’s found in serving rather than promoting my own needs. True freedom is found in being in relationship with those who are also seeking the freedom found in loving well. This is what it looks like to truly be free in Christ: to be open to the changing of hearts that he is doing. Ultimately, freedom that comes from Christ is a freedom from guilt and shame, a freedom from selfishness and the fear of being forgotten. So we are free to focus on others. Free to love them knowing that we are already loved perfectly ourselves.

 

It may require redefining the word a bit, but I think it’s high time we reclaim freedom and bring it in line with what God thinks of when he offers it to us.

 

blessed to bless

What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would declare the Gentiles to be righteous because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.” So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.     Galatians 3:8-9

 

Abraham’s blessing is our blessing. That sounds good. That sounds desirable. Abraham’s blessing which was his simply because he believed God and so was counted as righteous and then blessed. But what was his blessing?

 

To be a blessing.

 

Yes his blessing included being made great and growing into a large family that becomes a large nation that does well for itself. But ultimately his blessing is to be a blessing. To bless others.

 

And primarily that blessing comes through Jesus. He is the blessing that Abraham—and his descendants—bless the nations with. Jesus comes out of this nation of Abraham—this nation blessed to be ablessing. And Jesus is that blessing.

 

It is so great a truth that we are counted righteous simply by believing in Christ. So great that like Abraham we don’t earn it or work for it, that we are simply counted as righteous because we believe. But do we forget sometimes that believing means being given the blessing to bless others with Christ?

 

It would be easy to simply relegate this to the act of telling people about Jesus. I don’t know about you, but I’ve seen people “tell” others about Jesus in ways that were anything but a blessing. I have had people tell me about Jesus in ways that were not a blessing. Certainly sharing about Christ can be a blessing if it’s done well and lovingly and the individual hearing is open and receptive. But so often telling others without a life that shows them comes across as if there isn’t much to tell.

 

Could it be that we are given the blessing of blessing others with Christ by loving them sacrificially? Could it be that to bless others we serve them as Christ served? That we give up what’s our “right” to have so that others can be loved and shown mercy?

 

Jesus loved in radical ways, ignoring societal pressures and standards of who is and isn’t acceptable to associate with. He looked to the margins of society and the outcasts—looked them in the eye and treated them with dignity and love. He was loving and patient with the stupid, the stubborn and the self-righteous. Jesus hurt for those who were lost and gave up everything to bring us back to him.

 

This is the Jesus who is a blessing. The Jesus we are called to bless others with. It’s one thing to tell people about a God who appears to be a God of rules and requirements. It’s quite another to show them a God of reckless love who gives up himself to make us whole again.

 

Jesus Christ crucified for us, dead and raised again—this is the blessing we’ve been given to give.

 

stop giving!

Then Moses said to the whole community of Israel, “This is what the Lord has commanded: Take a sacred offering for the Lord. Let those with generous hearts present the following gifts to the Lord…         Exodus 35:4-5

 

It’s been happening as long as God’s followers have been gathering. God has always been calling on his people to give money. Maybe it’s simply because we live in a world that costs money and so to do God’s work we need to fund it. Or maybe it’s because God knows our hearts and so he starts with what we value most, knowing that once we are willing to give money other things won’t be so hard. I’m sure we could come up with a hundred different explanations, but the real point here is that we are consistently called to give.

 

The Israelites in the wilderness are no exception. Moses, by God’s direction, calls on them to give for the building of the tabernacle. And so they all return to their tents to prepare to give an offering.

 

So the whole community of Israel left Moses and returned to their tents. All whose hearts were stirred and whose spirits were moved came and brought their sacred offerings to the Lord. They brought all the materials needed for the Tabernacle, for the performance of its rituals, and for the sacred garments. Both men and women came, all whose hearts were willing. They brought to the Lord their offerings of gold—brooches, earrings, rings from their fingers, and necklaces. They presented gold objects of every kind as a special offering to the Lord .            Exodus 35:20-22

 

I’m not sure what our aversion to giving and talking about money is, but I suspect it has to do partly with the fact that we have seen so many swindlers and money hungry people using guilt and emotional manipulation to try and get us to give them more of our money (All while using God as their justification). And it also probably has to do with the fact that we still do really love it just a little too much.

 

But here we find the Israelites being called on to give—from the heart. For the Old Testament this is a little less common. Giving in the Old Testament is typically relegated to the tithe (the 10 percent), but here God calls for a giving that is heart-felt and generous and something pretty amazing happens.

 

Finally the craftsmen who were working on the sanctuary left their work. They went to Moses and reported, “The people have given more than enough materials to complete the job the Lord has commanded us to do!” So Moses gave the command, and this message was sent throughout the camp: “Men and women, don’t prepare any more gifts for the sanctuary. We have enough!” So the people stopped bringing their sacred offerings.        Exodus 36:4-6

 

They were told to stop giving. Stop giving. When, in the history of the churches you have been a part of has this ever happened? For me, it never has. One, because I have never seen generous, heart-felt giving on this kind of scale—a whole community giving so generously. And two, because if it did we as Christians often still live by the mentality that if a little is good, more is better. Even if enough had been given would we ask people to stop or just figure we’ll take all we can get?

 

For these Israelites at this moment in their journey giving was an act of worship. And so they gave generously and freely and they gave so much that finally they were told to stop. Can you imagine what that would look like today? What it would be like to be in worship and be told, “The giving this month as been so generous and so free that we now have more than enough money to accomplish the things God has called us to. Today we are not collecting an offering.”

 

I would imagine you’d be able to hear a pin drop. It would be an unprecedented event since the days of Moses.  And it would speak volumes about the generosity and free sharing of God’s people. But it doesn’t happen. Ever.

 

What does that say about the state of our own hearts? Why are we so reluctant to give our money—not to mention our time and service? What could be accomplished for the gospel of Jesus if we truly explored the depths of what generosity looks like when it’s genuinely lived out? Are we even brave enough—or selfless enough—to consider this kind of living?

 

But generous people plan to do what is generous, and they stand firm in their generosity. Isaiah 32:8

 

Perhaps it’s time for us to stop thinking about the duty of giving and start considering what it would look like to become generous—with our money, time, and service.

 

who me?

We all make excuses for why we don’t do what God calls us to:

We just don’t have time to really get to know our neighbors so we can love them well. We simply don’t have any extra money to give to those who can’t afford a meal to eat (and can we really trust them to use the money wisely?). We would share our faith with our co-worker, but honestly, they would just reject it anyway. And serving our local church community? We would, but we aren’t really very good at the things they need help with right now…and did I mention how busy we are?

 

We make excuses everyday for not being the kind of people God has called us to be. I don’t think we often even realize we are doing it. The worst part of it all is we have come to believe so many of the excuses. We buy into the notion that we would do more if we weren’t so busy, all the while choosing to be busy. And we definitely have a problem believing that there must be someone better suited for the task than we are.   

 

Moses had the same problem.

 

But Moses pleaded with the Lord , “O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.”
   Then the Lord asked Moses, “Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the Lord ? Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say.”
  But Moses again pleaded, “Lord, please! Send anyone else.”    Exodus 4:10-13

 

So gripped with fear of his on inability and the task being given him Moses makes objection after objection throughout Exodus 3 and 4. Finally culminating in his cry of desperation, “Lord, please! Send ANYONE else.”

 

Anyone? Moses feels so paralyzed by fear and so certain of his inability that he is sure anyone else would be a better choice. As if God does not know who it is that he is calling. As if God needs a little help with understanding who he is speaking to. Moses runs through the reasons of no one will believe you appeared to me, no will care because I am a nobody, I don’t speak very well, and then the final pleading for God to send anyone else.

 

And God, in all his graciousness alleviates fears, gives signs and wonders, encourages Moses, and eventually gives in and sends someone else. But he sends this someone else with Moses. God loves Moses too much to just let him off the hook. To just let him go on believing that he isn’t good enough and shouldn’t be chosen.

 

God loves Moses too much NOT to send him.

 

Why do we make excuses for the things God calls us to do? Are we just lazy? Do we not want to follow him well? Are we afraid? Have we bought into the lie that we are not good enough?

 

Whatever the reason God will keep calling. He loves us too much not to send us. Of course, we can keep making excuses. We can keep being too busy, too unsure, too unqualified, too uninterested. Or we can accept the opportunities and go where God calls us. Even if the calling is just across the street to bring liberating love to a lonely neighbor. Or just across the living room…

 

be a blessing

One of the great things about following Jesus is that we are called to serve others and be a blessing to them. I say it is a great thing, but often we do so begrudgingly and reluctantly. It is not easy or natural to allow our minds to be transformed into thinking of the needs and interests of others before our selves. But it is our calling.

 

Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.            Philippians 2:4

 

So we are called to serve, to enrich, and to bless those around us. It’s our calling to impact the lives of others by serving them. In thinking about this I recently came across a verse in Proverbs with a sobering reminder.

 

If anyone loudly blesses a neighbor early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse.  Proverbs 27:14

 

I’ll be honest, this verse sort of makes me chuckle. It makes me think of the phrase, “with friends like you, who needs enemies.” And it reminds me of those Christians who wish to “bless” the waitress who served them at the restaurant by leaving a tract instead of a monetary tip.

 

We are called to bless others. This means not doing what we like or find easy or comfortable. But it means getting to know the other person enough to give what they can connect with; what they value.

 

As you enjoy your weekend and the relationships God has given you with others ask yourself, what are the interests of these others in my life? What would they see as a blessing?

 

May we be friends whose blessings are not taken for curses. May we be neighbors whose efforts feel like a gift instead of a punishment.

 

Grace and peace are yours in Jesus. Seek ways to pass those on to others in the same free way they were given to you.

 

why do you stand here?

This past Thursday marked the day of the Ascension—the day our resurrected Jesus rose up before his disciples, into the air, and ascended to the Father. Some observe and celebrate the Ascension on Thursday, some on the following Sunday. On Thursday we considered the words of Jesus declaring that he was going to prepare a place for us. Today we see the recorded event of the Ascension.

So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”         Acts 1:6-11

It seems the disciples—even before Jesus left—were as anxious as we are for Jesus to return and restore all things. He hasn’t even left yet and they are already asking him if now if the time for him to restore the kingdom. Sometimes Jesus must look on us like little kids persistently asking, “Are we there yet? Are we there yet?”

 

I try to imagine what it would have been like to be there on that day. It must have been awesome to witness this, it must have been inspiring. It must also have been a little confusing. Here is Jesus declaring that significant things are about to happen. He is telling the disciples that they are going to play a critical role in sharing about him with others. And he’s talking about power—they will receive power. And then he is taken up. He starts to levitate, and then to rise, and rise and rise…and then he is gone, hidden behind the clouds. It’s hard to fathom the awe and terror they must have been feeling.

 

And then two angels appear and speak with them. Well I assume they were angels—it just says two men in white, but I feel pretty safe with that assumption! These angels appear and ask a question. A very important question.

 

Why are you standing here staring into the sky?

 

The implications are simple—and convicting. The disciples have seen great and amazing things in this resurrected Savior. Now he has given them great and awesome hope. A promise of power. And a directive to be witnesses.

 

And yet they stand…staring.

 

How often, I wonder, does the Spirit of God whisper to us, “Why are you standing there? Why are you just staring into your Bible instead of living it out? Why are you just watching those in need? Why do you just sit by while people struggle? Why do you just wait for Jesus to return and do nothing in the mean time?”

 

This interaction of the angels to the disciples is kind of a wake up call. A reminder. What are you looking at, you have work to do!

 

For the disciples the “work” was pretty simple. Go to Jerusalem and wait for the power; wait for the Spirit. But they were distracted by the what they had seen and they weren’t moving. I think sometimes our inaction is the same. True, at times we don’t act out of laziness or ignorance or a lack of compassion. But some times we are just distracted or overwhelmed. And we need these reminders.

 

The angels also add a reminder that this same Jesus who left will return, and in the same way he left. It’s kind of a reassurance. They won’t miss him if they stop looking and get to doing. They don’t need to try to cling to the last moment, they have new moments that wait. And they can’t bring him back sooner by just waiting.

 

May the remembrance of the Ascension remind us that yes, Jesus will return. But also that in the mean time we have things to do. We have been called to be his ambassadors, his hands and feet to the world. Let us not just stand here staring, whether we are staring into the sky, into the Word, or into the world. Let us be about witnessing, receiving power, and serving until he returns!

everything is permissible – a lent reflection

“Everything is permissible”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.     1 Corinthians 10:23-24

I love the implications of these verses; the reckless love of grace and freedom; the declaration that we don’t need to live in fear of accidentally or unwittingly offending God. (The context here is of eating meat sacrificed to idols).

But it’s not just a free for all. Paul does say that we should be living to seek the good of others, not ourselves. And a few verses later he speaks of doing everything we do for the glory of God and to bring salvation to others (v.31-33). So Paul isn’t saying anything goes, live in degradation, it doesn’t matter. He is saying that as believers we have freedom to experience life and its joys and to do so with a freedom from fear.

But as I sit here considering these words from the perspective of Lent, I am struck with another truth from my own life:

I tend to lean heavy on the “everything is permissible” and light on the determination of what’s beneficial.

What I mean is this – I don’t say “no” to myself very often. I’m not talking about in areas of sin and depravity. I’m not saying I go around following after every craving, lust, or desire that pops into my head. But as a general rule in my life I do whatever I want.

If I want a snack I eat one. If I feel like going to sleep, I do. If I want to turn the t.v. on, it’s on before I think about it. If I want to go online and waste my time doing frivolous things, I do that too. If I want to take my family out for dinner, we go. And on and on. I do the things, by and large, that I wish to do.

All permissible things – all good things. What I am realizing though is that I have a life of extravagant luxury because I have the freedom, for the most part, to do what I wish. And I’m grateful. I appreciate the freedom of my life. But it comes with a tendency to forget that sometimes I should say no. Not because the “thing” is wrong, but because it’s just not what’s best for me, or for those around me. This is true love: sacrificing for another. (John 15:13)

And this isn’t just true of me. I’m not the only one who leans heavy on the permissible. It’s true of most people I know. Our lives are structured to accommodate our whims. It’s one of the perks of living in one of the wealthiest parts of the world.

But then along comes Lent. Where we remove from ourselves one of the yeses. We practice saying “no” to ourselves for a short while. And why? Because it reminds us that our live is to be a life of love. And to love Jesus’ way is to serve one another and the Father. And serving the other often means saying no to myself. Serving the Father often means following what’s beneficial when what we want at the moment is what’s permissible.

When we observe Lent by giving something up we are putting ourselves in a place to remember that Jesus loved us enough to give up, not just something, but everything for a time. He sacrificed all. Yet I struggle to sacrifice something small for a short while!

It’s not a legalism for me. It’s not a requirement. It’s an opportunity to say no to myself, in a world where I constantly say yes. It’s a reminder that loving often means serving, which can lead to sacrificing for the other. This is the true way of Jesus.

So right now, especially in the morning hours, I miss my coffee and I question my sanity for removing it from my life for these forty days. But it reminds me, every time I smell it from a far, or crave it and the happiness it brings me, that I have given up nothing in comparison to Jesus.

And so when I think of it and want it I stop and I thank Him. I’ve been doing that so much more lately that I am seeing how the permissible, for this season, is not the beneficial. Saying no has been so much more beneficial to my journey.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
 Who, being in very nature God,
      did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
      taking the very nature of a servant,
      being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
      he humbled himself
      and became obedient to death—
         even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
      and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
      in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
      to the glory of God the Father.

                                                                        Philippians 2:5-11

the full extent of love

It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.    John 13:1

 

The example Jesus sets for us in his relationships with others is remarkable. It is at the same time inspiring and overwhelming. It’s hard sometimes, I think, for us to fully appreciate the role Jesus takes on here in washing the feet of his disciples.

Verse one captures my attention fully and challenges me to try and ascertain the position he puts himself in because of how it ends:

“…he now showed them the full extent of his love.”

Could it really be that big of a deal? Admittedly, no one wants to wash someone else’s feet, but really…”the full extent of his love?”

How does washing those dirty feet show the full extent of Jesus’ love?

It’s my understanding that this was typically the role of a household servant. Never would the owner of a house do this for his guests let along the master teacher and Son of God do it for the ever-wavering disciple!

And yet Jesus does.

It brings to mind the words of Paul in Phillipans 2:

“[He] made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant…”

 

Jesus didn’t just wash some feet. He saw an opportunity to serve those he was in relationship with and he did it. Not for accolades or to be seen as humble, but as an act of love. He did what everyone needed done and no one else was offering to do.

This to me is at the heart of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. To serve out of love. To show people the full extent of our love by how we act, what we give up for their benefit, what we concede for their comfort, what we do for their pleasure.

To truly serve as Jesus served is not just to do what’s required. It is to go beyond to what’s an extravagant expression of love. To give generously of ourselves for the sole purpose of expressing our love for the other without regard for the appearance it may give of us.

 

When was the last time I showed another the full extent of my love through my actions?

 

It’s easy to say I love people, when did I last show it with my service to them?

“Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”   John 13:17

 

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