Reason Breeds Insanity

1 Samuel 16:1,6-7,10-13
Ephesians 5:8-14
John 9:1-41

Isaiah 65:17-21
I have to agree with Rob Bell about the new heaven and new earth. In his book Velvet Elvis he writes about how, as Christians, we place too much emphasis on waiting for the new heaven and the new earth. What we need to do, he postulates is stop waiting and start creating the new heaven and earth right here, right now. Build the new Eden. Because Jesus’ kingdom is already but not yet, we are called to live that Kingdom life here on earth. I think living a lifestyle of kingdom-ness helps usher in this new heaven and new earth. By living it, we bring it into being. At least we live like we believe it already exists but is not yet here. I find myself frequently thinking to myself that if I wait long enough my life will be amazing. I rest on my laurels imagining, fantasizing, about what life will be like in the presence of Jesus in this new heaven and on this new earth. How glorious it will be to look into the eyes of Jesus. I forget that realistically, Jesus is here and now and my life is being lived already in his spiritual presence, but not yet in the physical presence. However, I get a sense of that physical presence when I look into the eyes of a trouble teen, a rushed business person, a homeless person on the street, or even the professors that seem too put together to need or want a savior. I can only imagine what the disciples felt as they lived along side this man, Jesus. I know what I feel like when I get a glimpse of Jesus in my fellow humans, what I feel like when my heart is moved by a poem, a song, or a story, and what I feel like when I see the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ in action on this earth. I think part of what Isaiah is saying is that through our interconnectedness and mutual uplifting we experience this new kingdom: “I will create a new heaven and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.”

John 4:43-54
This passage always tests me to my wits end. How can a father, who desparately wants to have his child healed, simply believe Jesus when he says: “You may go. You son will live.” I cannot imagine myself, though I have no children of my own, just believing or having faith that my son would live. I think I would probably stand there arguing with Jesus about how he really needs to come and save my son. Maybe. Maybe I would look into his eyes and know. Maybe I would see glimpses of the divine, enough of a spark of recognition in his eyes that I would have that faith. John writes: “The man took Jesus at his word and departed.” While he was walking home, obviously a long way from where his conversation with Jesus takes place because it says, “The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour,” his servants meet him to tell him that Junior is okay. Not only does the father walk a ways to get Jesus to heal his son, but he returns with only Jesus’ word that Junior is going to get better. This miracle was enough to make the whole house believe. What faith! Not so much for me.

Hosea 14: 1-10
Hosea says in verse two: “Take words with you and return to your Lord.” To me this is beautiful because it reminds me how powerful words are. To take them with me to God reminds me that my prayers, my wonderings, my doubts, my anger, and my other words of emotion are exposed to God. Hosea is asking the Israelites to take their words to God. He gives them specific words: “Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips.” What an amazing prayer! We spend a lot of time talking about the fruit of the spirit, but do we realize that our words also indicate our maturity in the spirit? When I think about taking my words to God and offering the fruit of my lips to God, I cannot help but think about poring over the scriptures and saying them outloud to myself so that I have words to bring back to God. Through this type of meditation I could not only memorize scripture, but I could continually give the fruit of my lips back to God.

In verse 3, Hosea writes: “We will never again say ‘Our gods’ to what our own hands have made.” This made me question my own life and how many times I have made a god of something that I made myself. How many times have I put my faith in something that didn’t stand up? How many times have I wasted energy on things that simply do not matter? What do I call a god today?

Finally, Hosea writes: “The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.” Compare that to Psalm 1: “For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish” and Psalm 73: “Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” They all say, along with many other passages in the first testament, that the righteous will be rewarded by remaining in God’s path, but the wicked will perish or stumble. For me, this reminds me that while, like David, I can look around and see other people who seem to be prospering, my reward is not money, acclaim, or prosperity. My reward is in following God. It is intrinsic.

Mark 12: 28-34
One word: love. Love your God. Love your neighbor. Love.

After taking three years of Latin with Mr. John Leech and a year of English with Mr. Beymer, I cannot believe that I almost forgot to say:

“BEWARE THE IDES OF MARCH!”

I will just say that once you have read Julius Caesar in freshman literature, you are never the same. I sort of walk around with a twitch yelling, “Et tu, Brute?” on March 15. I think the malady actually begins on the fourteenth and carries through to the sixteenth, but lets not mince details.

I just noticed that the passage for yesterday from Matthew was the passage that I had to write my big New Testament exegesis paper about. Look closely at the three verses in Matthew. Matthew 5:17-19. Now imagine trying to write 20 pages about what it means. Twenty pages about jots and tittles. Small strokes and small letters. Imagine.

Now imagine that this one passage has had at least 50 books written about it. I found so much information that I couldn’t even read it all. Apparently, jots and tittles are important. Really what I think is important is: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law and the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” In fulfilling the Law and the Prophets, Jesus embodied the entire corpus of the Law and the Prophets; he literally became the words. And I think the concept of obedience to the commandments is important, too. We should pay attention to the commandments, as I have written before: it is about memorizing them and incorporating them into our lives. It is about living the spirit of them, and then when we evaluate ourselves, we will see that by living in the spirit, we have accomplished living to the letter: every jot and tittle. We, too, will embody the words. Our lives will become a visual spectacle of the Law and the Prophets, and not because we tell everyone we are doing “What Jesus Would Do.” We won’t need to tell people because they will know.

Yesterday:
Deuteronomy 4: 1, 5-9
Matthew 5:17-19

Today:
Jeremiah 7: 23-28
Obey. Jeremiah writes entirely about obedience, and as I scanned the rest of the texts for this week, that seems to be a recurring theme. Much like Jesus was a model of obedience, Jeremiah calls us to obey, as well. I like verse 29: “Cut off your hair and throw it away; take up a lament on the barren heights, for the Lord has rejected and abandoned this generation that is under his wrath.” What this means to me is, show your repentence and show your sorrow at your disobedience. Sometimes it is hard for me to read parts of scripture like this. I don’t want to have to admit that I am wrong. I don’t want to have to admit that I needto repent for anything. I certainly don’t want to go out on a barren height where all people can see me and show my remorse for my sin. I do like to cut my hair, though.

Luke 11: 14-23
I have to say that this passage has always puzzled and disturbed me. Why does Jesus even argue with them? Why doesn’t he just let it go? I like this passage because, for me, it is a glimpse into Jesus humanity. He could have just smited them, which is what I would have done given the ability to do it, but instead he explains to them who he is: “if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.” He goes on to say to them that they are either with him or for him. I think this points to his humanity because he is trying to prove himself, in a way, to the people, but it also speaks to his godliness because he doesn’t just smite them.

I am going out on a limb today and putting my resume in for an assistant manager job at Hot Topic. I am very nervous, but I am also hopeful. I am in the best possible position. I have a job that I love, and I have the opportunity to see if there is something more out there for me. Besides, who wouldn’t jump at the chance to work in a place where I could have all the piercings and tattoos showing that I want, purple hair, and no uniform! I also would be working with a guy that I have known forever, and that wouldn’t be bad either! Bonus of constant amazng music, and fun customers. Hope with me.