A Stumbler's Walk | NAILED IT! (Pt.1)

This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

-- Colossians 2:14

Guilt. 

It is an ugly word. What thoughts and emotions does it illicit? Guilt can burden. It can oppress. Guilt can shut us down. Sometimes it has no effect at all. (Hopefully I can make the point.)

There is a difference between BEING guilty and FEELING guilty. It is possible for the murderous psychopath to BE guilty - while feeling completely free of any sense of guilt. My guess is this is not the case for any reading this post (I hope).

It is also possible for the guilty offender to be completely unaware of his offense. I once was driving a Texas road with a posted 65 mph speed limit. It was a divided highway with two lanes moving in each direction. Suddenly, I noticed friendly red and blue flashing lights behind. What I had not noticed was the sudden change in the posted speed limit - from 65 to 45 in a matter of what seemed three feet. (I later discovered it was a notorious spot.) Driving those three feet, (realistically, hundreds) I had no sense of guilt whatsoever. This did not change the fact that I WAS guilty. And I paid the price - or the debt as the Apostle Paul puts it - for my offense.

Very frankly, and with no judgement or joy on my part, I am compelled to note we each ARE guilty before God; whether we know it - feel it - or not. Jesus said if we fail at one point in our righteousness, we've failed completely. This goes for popes, pastors, prisoners... all. We are guilty. And with this guilt comes a debt.

The problem is, unlike my speeding offense which cost me about 100 Starbucks Venti Americanos, this is a debt we are incapable of paying. Our righteousness bank account has woefully insufficient funds to cover the price to redeem our souls. It is a spiritual debt that spiritually bankrupt people cannot pay.

Now the good news. Christ paid our debt from the riches of his grace. As Paul writes, Jesus nailed our IOU to his cross. With his death he paid our penalty. And though he was buried and rose again, what remains, figuratively speaking, nailed to the cross is the record of our debt (and sins). The list is overwritten however, in bloody red letters with the words...

PAID IN FULL

It is up to us to receive or reject his payment for us personally. It doesn't matter how religious, good or bad, etc. we are or have been (or ever will be). What matters is that we simply admit our guilt, accept what he has done and experience the incredible freedom offered.

(I've not yet gotten to the point I had in mind as I began writing this post. But being several paragraphs in, I'll save it for part two. Like the teasers on the news, I'll go to commercial with this: In part two I hope to deal with the insidiousness of FEELING guilty. Hopefully you'll stick with me.)

God, as the camp(y) song goes, "You paid a debt you did not owe, I owed a debt I could not pay..." How can I ever thank you enough?

For now...
D

TRY! Hump Day Inspiration

Sometimes motivational sayings, memes, etc. make me feel guilty...
You know, the "This is my reality, what's your excuse?" kind of thing.
Not the case here.
This is just ALL GOOD!

TRY!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKSWXzAnVe0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKSWXzAnVe0
Courtesy of America's Got Talent

A Stumbler's Walk | HOLD ME JESUS

And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

-- Colossians 1:17

One of my favorite albums (remember those?) of all time is Rich Mullins' A Liturgy, A Legacy, and a Ragamuffin Band. Mullins was truly a poet-philosopher. 

I remember standing mesmerized as the shoeless minstrel banged on a hammer dulcimer while painting vivid pictures on the canvas of my soul. His lyrics were alive and full of passion, pain and hope. 

Among the phrases that were deeply planted in my brain, one stands out from his song Hold Me Jesus: 

So hold me Jesus, 'cause I'm shaking like a leaf. 

You have been king of my glory. 

Won't you be my Prince of Peace?

The Apostle Paul writes to the Colossian believers about the preeminence and excellency of Christ. He affirms that Jesus is above all, creator of all, and intimately involved in all. I am reminded of the first few verses of both Genesis and John's gospel. 

My faith usually finds no struggle in a Jesus of creation; a Jesus of majesty and glory. I believe in an all-powerful God who has knit the fabric of all that is with care and creativity. His love paints with masterfully artistic strokes... (have you ever stopped to wonder why there are 20,000 species of butterflies in the world?). And this creative God - to quote the children's song - Has got the whole world in his hands.

However I do struggle at times - not with his power or majesty or God-ness. My struggle comes from a darker place - from the soul of a stumbler. I sometimes ask if this incredible God is intimate enough to hold ME together. 

Paul writes that Jesus holds all things together. In tact. Whole. And within this all, is me (and you). Jesus is (and wants to be) in intimate relationship with us. 

Mullins makes this personal in the title of his song-prayer: Hold Me Jesus.  

And he does.

God, you hold the planets and stars in their pre-defined tracks. You hold atoms together in their minute particle orbits. Jesus, I need you to hold me together. Hold me Jesus, 'cause I'm shaking like a leaf...

For now...

D

Click here for the video: Rich Mullins, "Hold me Jesus"

A Stumbler's Walk | DOUBT (AND WORSHIP)

And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.

-- Matthew 28:17

Doubt is not the opposite of faith. Do not be discouraged by your doubt. 

Men and women followed Jesus for years. They gave up careers, livelihoods, dreams, and even relationships to be witnesses of this light that walked into darkness; this water that quenched the parchedness of desert-life. 

Now, after dreams had been crushed and hope vanquished, word has come - he is alive. The one who was crucified is risen. "Go," they are told, "meet him on the mountain." And they go.

There, the once-dead shows up - alive. Flesh and blood. Real. Living. 

They worship him. That is what one does when the horrifically crucified shows up alive and well. They worship him...

... and they doubt. 

It is easy for us to ask how they could doubt; seeing what they are seeing; experiencing the presence of a resurrected Jesus. How can they doubt? In reality, I would doubt too. But there on that mountain, they don't just doubt. They worship and doubt. 

Doubt is not the opposite of faith. Do not be discouraged by your doubt. That is much easier said than done. We do get discouraged by our doubt. Worse, we begin to fear our doubt. 

And fear is the opposite of faith.

If you struggle with doubt, worship and doubt. Fear cannot stand in the presence of worship. Faith increases. And though doubt may not completely exit stage left, it is moved to the corner. 

When the living Jesus stands in the spotlight of our lives, doubt scoots to the shadows. Doubt will (no doubt) reappear. That is OK. Do not fear it. 

Worship and doubt. 

God, I will worship you through my doubts. And you will overcome the fear my doubts create.

For now...

D

A Stumbler's Walk | CURTAINS

And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 

-- Matthew 27:51

When I think of curtains - and who doesn't constantly think of curtains? - two things come into my mind's eye. One is the excitement of the curtains being drawn back at the beginning of a play or musical. The orchestra has been a cacophony of tuning noises, then all goes silent. Suddenly the silence gives way to the first note of the score, and the curtains are elegantly drawn back to reveal the lavish set that lay behind.

The other picture is the ceiling to floor curtains hung on large picture windows separating the light of the sun from the comfortable semi-darkness of the living room in our house.

Curtains exist for two purposes: Separation and revelation.

A massive curtain hung in the first-century temple. The thick and ornately woven tapestry was known as the veil.  It was a curtain of separation that hung between the Holy Place, where men could enter, and the Holy of Holies, where God symbolically dwealt; and only the High Priest could enter once a year on The Day of Atonement.

The veil symbolized the separation that exists between God and mankind. He is holy. We are flawed. As a curtain of separation it blocked his glorious light from our shadow-lives.

But something happened on the day of Christ's death. When Jesus shouted his grisly triumph from the cross and then died, the veil was torn completely in half from top to bottom.

God did the tearing from his end. We were (are) powerless to remove the curtain of separation. And in one dramatic moment, the veil that had separated became the drawn-back curtains of revelation.

Men and women have tried to tear this veil from bottom to top. They have failed. We still make the attempt - though the only curtains now are those of our own choosing and fabrication. We grab the bottom and try to tear skyward by being good enough. It does not rip. We put all our force into trying to be religious enough. But rather than tearing, the curtains of our making wrap around us. We try to hide in them the fact that we are flawed, scarred and scared. Oddly, these man-made curtains begin to restrict. They begin to suffocate life. And curtains separate.

When Christ sacrificed himself the veil was removed. The heavenly orchestra had gone silent. And though it would take three days for us to hear the music, the curtains had been drawn back. Love beyond imagination was revealed. Joy beyond expectation took the stage. Life without limit stood in the spotlight.

That which separated was gone.

God, help me not weave curtains that separate. You are the veil-ripper.

For now...
D

A Stumbler's Walk | PAPER CROWNS

And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, "Why this waste?"

-- Matthew 26:8

How can we compare what is wasted for God's kingdom with what is invested in our own? 

Maybe a better, and more personally revealing question; why do we compare? (I should note: having preached a couple thousand sermons, and now writing, I always did, do, and must, first ask such questions to the mirror.) 

In reality we probably don't stop too long or think too hard on these questions. It is easy and natural to invest in ourselves. I'm not referring here to taking care of ourselves, our families, our finances, our futures, etc. It is a good thing - a biblical thing - to invest in ourselves and others in such ways. No, what I am referring to here is a mindset - a focus that becomes a fixation - on building our own little kingdoms. I am speaking of investing in what is selfish and temporary; that which gratifies, but does not last or satisfy.

Days before Jesus' betrayal and arrest a wayward woman came into the house where he and his group were eating. She did the unthinkable by breaking open an expensive flask of perfumed ointment (valued at a year's salary), and proceeded to pour it all over Jesus' feet.

Jesus saw a sacrificial kingdom investment in the woman's action. The disciples saw waste. Needless to say the latter missed the point. It is easy, by the way, to armchair quarterback and point out the (apparent) failures of others. Usually in doing so, we are more exposing our own. Who knows if the woman knew the full significance of what she was doing; its prophetic foreshadowing. What is clear is that she had a small treasure and lavishly "wasted" it on One who was more her treasure. There was no moderation. There were no second thoughts.

Today each of us will invest somewhere. Some investments have lasting impact. Some simply dissipate like wispy smoke. Often that which initially appears as waste turns out to be the true kingdom investment.

Jesus put it this way:

Seek first the Kingdom of God... and all these (other) things will be added to you. 

--Matthew 6:33

From one stumbler to another, I struggle with my seeking... my investing. 

God, our kingdoms have rickety little cardboard thrones. And seated firmly on them, we wear handmade paper crowns. Remind me that paper burns easily and quickly; that when the fires of life come, handmade crowns and thrones fizzle into smoky ash. 

For now...
D

A Stumbler's Walk | BURIED TREASURES

But he who received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money

-- Matthew 25:18

I have always been intrigued by stories of hidden treasure discovered. Whether it be The Count of Monte Cristo, a silly Matthew McConaughey movie or a Discovery Channel saga.

The questions have always lingered: Why did the owner of the treasure hide it in the first place; and why did he or she not return to get it.

In other words, why bury treasure? And why, if the plan is to return to it, does no one ever seem to get around to it? Most importantly, what motivates a person to bury treasure?

Jesus tells a story of three men in what is actually a pretty terrifying chapter of scripture. To each of these guys is given a certain amount of money (called talents). Two of the three, seeing themselves as stewards of their master's gift, invest and grow the treasure. The third however, buries it. The first two receive praise and reward for their efforts. The third receives what seems to be an overly-harsh punishment. (There must be more going on here.)

So back to the most important question. What motivates a person to bury treasure? I think it boils down to two things (and we'll add a third in a moment):

1. GREED
2. FEAR

Treasure-buriers hoard due to selfish greed. Treasure-buriers fear the loss of what they have.

Here is the problem with a treasure-burying mentality: The burier, nor anyone he/she might touch, gets to enjoy the treasure. No one reaps the benefits. Greed steals. Fear is a prison. And treasure unused makes no impact.

In the case of the three men in Jesus' story, a deeper motivation appears. This one is actually more dangerous and more sad than being controlled by greed and imprisoned by fear. It is a misunderstanding of the nature and character of the GIVER.

When we view God as a tyrannical slave-driver, it is natural to fall into the shadows of fear and greed. However, when we understand God to be the Giver of all good things (James 1:17), we begin to take on his giving nature. Also, when we understand that in God's economy  there is no limit to the pie, everything changes. (The pie economy - you take a piece and there is less left for me. God's economy - I give you a piece of the pie and there is just more pie.)

As preachers we always speak of Time, Talents and Treasures. (It just flows, and for some reason, triplets seem to preach.) Each of us will choose to invest or hoard; to use for the benefit of others, or bury.

One last thought on God's treasures:

...no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, 

what God has prepared for those who love him...

-- 1 Corinthians 2:9

God, I am often trapped by greed and fear, and bury my (your) treasure. Forgive me, and help me to invest.

For now...
D