Voices

   Jesus says in John 18:37 that He came into the world to testify to the truth. He says in John 14:6 that He is the truth. He says that truth is wrapped up in Him, and His words are the truth.

   Deep down, each person wants to believe that what he believes is true, really true. I know I do, and I do not want to be led astray by anything and everything that is not.

   There is a constant clamor of voices around me. Voices from other people, voices that speak from the newspaper, from books that I read, from the Internet, voices on the radio and the TV. All of these purport to speak the truth, and most of the time, the ones that speak in any of these ways believe that what they speak is true. Sometimes, the percentage I would not know, those people, whose words I read or hear, deliberately seek to deceive, but the men and women who put out the stuff I look at or hear, for the most part, believe in what they say.

   I have just finished reading a book about British involvement in the American Civil War. This book is 800 pages of facts, far too many for me to diligently research and ascertain if they are true. So I trust that the author has done her homework, and that what she presents as true history, is. It sounds right to me, so I make it my basis for this subject. Her conclusions become mine, until I chance to read another book that leads elsewhere, and then I am confused. The events that happened back in the 1860s, actually did happen, and they happened in a certain order, and for a certain purpose. From the vantage point of 150 years later, the "whys" of history are nebulous, but there is a truth there also. Two people researching this material may come up with different conclusions about these "whys", but at the time the event happened, there was a true reason.

   So, if I want to know what is really true, in the history of the Civil War, in the current political scene, in science, in religion or any other area, what do I do?

   The clamor of voices, whether written or spoken, is endless and loud at times. Do I listen to Nancy Pelosi or Rush Limbaugh? Who not only has the facts, but also the correct rendering of those same facts? I want to know who I can trust, not just who shouts the loudest.

   Jesus tells those who listened to Him and believe in what He said in John 8:31, "If you abide in My Word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free".

   Here is my trustworthy source, and He gives the truth of what matters.

   Can I know the truth of 1862 England? Maybe not with certainty, but I can know that there is a truth out there. Something did happen, in some way, and for some concrete reason, it just may be hard to get to from a century and a half down the road.

   This is one reason I like to get up early and look at what Jesus says. I trust His words, and abiding there gives me a perspective to look at the barrage of information and voices that will hit me later.

   There is truth out there, and this is where I choose to begin my search today.

Word of the Day

Three separate ideas or themes bounce around in my mind this morning. Maybe if I put them on paper (or on the computer) they will begin to sort themselves out in some way.

1. The Scripture this morning is the  incident in John 8 where the woman is brought to Jesus; the woman who has been caught in adultery. Jesus does not condemn her but tells her to go and sin no more.

2. A breakfast this morning with a brother who has struggled financially for the past 5 years, beginning with the housing bust and continuing till today. As it is for a lot of families today, the struggle is not just from earning and paying bills, but it is a struggle to realize that we cannot always do for ourselves, as men want to do, but have to wholly rely on God working in our situation to keep us. The struggle, to keep an optimistic outlook because we know that God is in control and that he will provide, is hard with no light at the end of the tunnel.

3. Then there is my struggle with church leadership. It is not so much that I do not want to be in that capacity, it is more the question in my heart, "Will I be able to hear God's voice and see His heart in the things that I am called upon to decide or direct or influence in some way?" "Am I capable to discern what might need to be done?"

Is there any common thread in these three?

1. If God calls us to a job, He will give us the means to accomplish it if we only ask and trust.

2. Having to trust in God and His provision builds our faith when He comes through again and again.

3. Jesus does not condemn us for our questions, but instead quietly tells us to go on trusting Him to show a better way to live.

Looks like the word of the day is TRUST and knowing the One to trust covers a multitude of situations. Now to do it.

A Nudge in the Right Direction

   The story of Jesus and His dubious religious leaders continue with the leaders sending some of their temple guard to bring Jesus in for questioning. No doubt Jesus knew why they had come, but He was not intimidated, but continued to speak openly without fear of what they could do to Him.

   The troops listened to the discourse between Jesus and the people in the temple and must have been blown away by what they heard. He talked like no one else and with the authority that He knew what He was talking about. They could not even fulfill their mission, but came back to the council empty handed. When the leaders asked why they had not obeyed their orders, the soldiers just said that this Man was different. His words rang with authority, and they were too awestruck to lay a hand on Him.

   The Pharisees accused them of being fooled by Jesus. "No doubt this man speaks well and has a certain charisma, but He is a Galilean and we know that no future Messiah can come from up there. Forget Him and do your job."

   Then Nicodemus spoke up and reminded them of the portion of the law that said that no man should be judged without a hearing, and maybe they ought to listen before making a judgment like that. But the leaders mocked him as well as the temple guard, by asking Nicodemus if he was a man of Galilee also. They told him that he should go back and see if it was not true that no prophet arises from up there.

   Sometimes we give Nicodemus a hard time because he came to Jesus by night when it might not be noticed. But he came. He came to inquire of the Man who taught with such authority. Nicodemus knew authority when he encountered it. He was on the religious council, the body charged with the spiritual and moral upkeep of the Jews during that time of Roman occupation. As long as the land was somewhat peaceful, the Roman authorities let the Jewish people have some autonomy. Nicodemus took a risk, in that council, by even suggesting that the leaders might ought to take a second look at Jesus, rather than dismissing Him because of where they thought He came from.

   Maybe God gave Nicodemus a little nudge even though he was surrounded by men that ranked higher on the spiritual ladder, at least from an earthly point of view. Could God be telling one man of that group that maybe they might be relying on what they thought rather than God's will? Would he be committing political suicide by questioning authority in this case?

   Where and when do I need to stand up? In a church council of men that I consider much more spiritually astute than I? In a secular setting when there is an antagonistic attitude and speech about something religious? In a group where the name of Jesus is degraded?

   If God gives me a check, I need to take a risk, regardless of the setting. My risk could be one of two things; the risk of my self image to those in which group I might be, or the risk of God's disappointment. No need to worry much about which is the most important in the long run, that is a given.

   God, help me to stand when You lead, and keep my mouth shut when it is just me talking. Help me to know the difference.

Send Me Some Roys...

   Jesus has a confrontation with the Jewish religious leaders in John 7. These same leaders are wondering about Jesus, they marvel at His teachings, they question where He came from and His purpose, and then they end of plotting to get rid of Him, not just shutting up His mouth, but making it permanent. They would call it justified because He spoke heresy, according to them, but it would be expedient murder on their part and for their reasons.

   Maybe it is wrong not to think about Jesus statements to these men in this section of Scripture, but I am left considering the Pharisees and Saducees, and their role in all of this. Here was a group of well studied men, so protective of their own position in the Jewish nation, that they could not see past what seems obvious to us today. Of course we have the advantage of 20/20 hindsight, as we read the Bible, but surely some of these men had a glimpse of who Jesus possibly was.

   Were these religious leaders so bound up in tradition, in the things they had been taught, and in the judgment of the more powerful ones in their council, that they could not think independently? Were there not at least a few of them, that did more than follow the party line message? Tradition has it that both Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, members of the ruling council, broke ranks and followed Jesus eventually. Were there others who were at least thinking and wondering about the whole affair?

   If I had been one of those men back then, what would I have done? Of course, I think now, that I would have surely stood up and challenged the powerful men in that group, taking them to task about their refusal to even think about the possibility that Jesus might be what He claimed. Ho, Ho, would I really?

   Even right now, as I live and study, do I even want to hear opinions that I don't agree with? Do I want to hear arguments for a certain position that seems wrong to me? Am I open to anyone, even God, asking me to rethink my ideas? Is my mind sealed, like the pre-Easter tomb, or can the stone be rolled away?

   When I was involved in a men's group in Virginia, one man in the group of six was pretty liberal in his politics and other life positions. He brought ideas to me that I had not considered and taught me that all men of that persuasion were not just uniformed, but they did had points that I should consider. Now he did not change my mind a lot of times, but he is still one of the men that I try to get together with when we get back to Blacksburg. I wish he lived down here.

   Dear God, help me to keep my mind open to You and to others who might speak for You and from You. Keep the stone rolled away, so that I might at least consider what they have to say, and lead me to fellowship with men that will challenge me to think and not just react.

Brothers to the End?

   The story of the past few days continues in John 7. Jesus brothers, half brothers to be sure want Him to go down to the Feast of Booths in Jerusalem, but He told them no.

   Why did Jesus tell his half brothers that He was not going up to Jerusalem to this feast, when, in fact He did go, just not with them? Did He say this because He knew that they wanted to bask in His fame, such as it was, but did not believe in His words. Are we like that, wanting to appear to follow Him and support His work, but just wanting people to think we are His? His brothers did not know what associating with Jesus might mean in the long run, they just wanted to look for their 15 minutes of fame. They seemed to have wanted Him to push Himself forward so that He might gain more followers, but did not realize what they would mean. They could reap some personal benefits from this close association without truly believing in what He did and said, but be prepared to back away if it did not work out as they thought it might.

   The brothers had seen the people in Galilee flocking around Jesus, some of these had become His disciples and met with Him continually, soaking up all His words. They may have been astonished when He told them that the world around them actually hated Him. All the people they saw held Jesus in high regard and, perhaps, they thought that if more people could actually see Him close up and hear the powerful, yet confusing , words that he said, he would gain more and more followers and become somebody in the whole country.

   There was a real divide between Jesus and those He grew up with. He knew the whole story, all of the forces that were arrayed against Him, even in His own land. He knew His path and the times for accomplishing His purpose, they only saw His current fame.

   Perhaps I am putting words and thoughts into His brothers, but the telling phrase in all this discourse, is the fact that they did not believe in Him, not really believe. They had heard His words and seen His miracles, but had not grasped the full intent of His mission. He was one of them, how could He be much different than they were? He was familiar, He has lived with us every day, what is there to believe?

   But I see myself in the brother's shoes a lot of the time. It is nice to be around Christian people, even be a part of the Christian church, even be a leader in this church, but not be fully committed to Him, only coming along for the ride while the going is easy and profitable for me. I can look good in a Bible Belt society that honors, to some degree, such participation, but not give up much to do this, not even really know the person I say I follow.

   Would the brothers want to stay around Jesus and reap His suffering when the way gets tough in Jerusalem, when to be know as His brothers might bring their death too? Will I?

A General Question that Becomes Personal

   Following up on the verses that I have read and written about the past few days, Jesus speaks with those who continue to stay close to Him to hear His words. Jesus knows the hearts of all those people, and knows the reasons each is still there. He also knows which do not actually believe what He is talking about, but are looking for something else. He hears their grumbling over not being able to understand, and so He gives them another thing to add to their questions as He talks about ascending back to heaven where He came from. Then He tells them that some of them do not believe and the reason is that they have not heard the call of God, but they follow for selfish reasons. After this many shook their heads and went home.

   When I see that crowd around Jesus, I see people who have been physically fed, I see people who have seen healing and perhaps been healed themselves, and I see people who have heard someone speak words that moved them in some way. In short, I guess I see people today, and I see them all sitting in church on a Sunday morning, knowing that perhaps this Jesus is someone special, but not truly understanding all that He has to tell them.

   The personal reasons why anyone chooses to identify with the Christian Church are many and varied, and all of us fall in that spectrum somewhere.

   Then Jesus looked up at the crowd as they grumbled their way down the hill, heading for home, and spoke to the few remaining with Him, "Do you all want to get out of here also?"

   Most had not found what they expected, and they had heard but not understood. It was too confusing and too hard to keep up their enthusiasm without seeing any result. So they hit the road, perhaps to wait for the next miracle worker to come along.

   All of us are in that crowd of people, and we have to hear those words that ask, "Why do you remain with Me, when so many do not choose to do so?"

   Are the reasons cultural, are they social, or are they because we have realized that the words of Jesus are the only ones that will bring us to God, and that is where we want to be?

   The questions are not for the church in general, they are for me. 

Shoes, Yours or Mine?

   Most of us today, when we read the stories of the people interacting with Jesus in the Gospels, have a tendency to think that, if they did not believe on Him and understand the things that He was talking about, that they were a little dense. After all they could see Him, touch Him, listen to Him, be involved in the miracles He performed, and interact with Him and His disciples.

   We can see how the story unfolds, and better understand the words and actions of Jesus, because we know how the it eventually plays out. We also have available the Spirit of God to help us in our study, and things look a bit different when we see the words on paper and have the opportunity to go back and read them again and again. Those other folk, from that first century era, had the words first hand, but then they were gone, replaced by other words. I remember how the disciples suddenly got a meaning from some words of Jesus as the events unfolded many days down the road. Then they understood.

   So I think about how the people must have wondered at Jesus' words, on eating His flesh and drinking His blood, that come later in Chapter 6 of John. We can kind of understand what He is talking about from our vantage point, 2,000 years later, but they did not have this perspective. A lot of them probably just shook their heads and said "Hey, this guy is nuts, forget this!" In fact, toward the end of this same chapter it says that many people quit following Him. Even the disciples, those closest to Him wondered about what He said.

   But all of this is important. Jesus, in one of the last acts of His earthly life, instituted the Lord's Supper with the words, "whoever eats this bread and drinks this cup". We read that and realize that all of this fits into His sacrifice for us. "OK, now I see it in the Big Picture, and it squares with what I heard and read."

   How often do I, in my limited vision and understanding, miss the obvious, that someone standing farther back, either in distance or time, can see? How much that I do not understand of other's lives, all of a sudden becomes clearer from a different perspective?

   What is that old Native American saying about walking in another's shoes? Maybe I should practice that more often.