The Kingdom of God, Part 4 (The Year of the Lord's Favor)

By Phil Wood

He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

   because he has anointed me

   to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

   and recovery of sight for the blind,

to set the oppressed free,

   to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

                                                                        Luke 4:14-19

The first time I read this passage and came to the line, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing," it literally gave me goosebumps.

What must it have been like to be present in the synagogue that day, at that moment? You know the scripture Jesus is quoting from Isaiah – you know it like the back of your hand. You've been waiting and hoping and praying your whole life for God's anointed one to arrive. And here he is. Even now chills are running up and down my spine. 

But this passage has become even more stunning to me as I've begun to understand what the Jews of his time would have already known. These days, we don't often hear what is meant by "the year of the Lord's favor." But the Jews knew exactly what it meant.

On his way to this appointment in Nazareth, Jesus had been proclaiming that the kingdom of God is near. Now, in his hometown of Nazareth, he is revealing the awesome magnitude of what he means by "the kingdom of God." It is the year of the Lord's favor. It is the time of Jubilee that God prescribed for his people long, long ago.

Jubilee was originally spelled out in Leviticus 25. Through his prophet Moses, God called for a sabbath year every seventh year. Then after seven sabbath years (seven times seven years, or a period of forty-nine years) comes the Jubilee. "Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout the land. Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you." (v.9-10)

So, as originally spelled out by God, the year of Jubilee began with the sounding of the trumpet on the Day of Atonement. Thus, forgiveness of sin permeated everything that followed in the Year of Jubilee. It was a time of sharing to help the poor. Lending to them at interest was forbidden, as was selling food to them at a profit. It was a time of release for those who had been sold into servanthood. It was a time of property redemption for those who had sold their property because they had become poor.

And for everyone, it was a time of total dependence on God as the land lay fallow and his people relied solely on his blessing of crops from the sixth year. It was a time of rest and restoration, freedom, peace and joy.

Later, God gave even more depth to the Jubilee concept through the prophetic vision of Isaiah. This is the vision referred to by Jesus in the passage from Luke shown above. To get the full, spine tingling effect of the kingdom Jesus was proclaiming, let's look at the original version in Isaiah 61.

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,

    because the Lord has anointed me

    to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

    to proclaim freedom for the captives

    and release from darkness for the prisoners,

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor

    and the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn,

    and provide for those who grieve in Zion –

to bestow on them a crown of beauty 

    instead of ashes,

the oil of joy

    instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise

    instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

    a planting of the Lord

    for the display of his splendor.

In a recent discussion about this with Pastor Bruce, he indicated that in this passage he sees "a much broader sweep to Jesus' mission" than just meeting physical needs as outlined in Leviticus.

"Jesus came to break the power that sin, darkness and death hold over the world," Bruce said. And this passage opens the door to a kingdom where people find freedom from a whole host of the devil's schemes.

He then proceeded to rattle off a huge list of bondages from which Christ came to free us. For the sake of brevity, I'll just name a few: bondage to wealth, possessions, the endless quest for exhilarating experiences, sexual promiscuity, unresolved wounds that rob us of joy, chronic pain, chronic illness, bereavement, hopelessly ideological thinking which prevents new insights and understanding, loss of meaningful reason for living, feelings of unworthiness, isolation, narcissism, substance abuse, alienation from family...

Originally, Jubilee was a literal year. But what Jesus was proclaiming was a perpetual Jubilee in the Spirit – a kingdom where we can all be truly free, truly accepted, truly loved, truly alive.

Thy kingdom come!

Adrift in a Coracle

By Pastor Bruce

The Celtic traditions of Scotland, Wales and Ireland are rich with various images of the spiritual life. One such image is the coracle, a small, round boat made of wickerwork or laths covered with a waterproofed layer of animal skin or fabric.

As you can see, the coracle did not have a bow or stern. The little vessel tended to drift with the current. And that is how many monks let God direct them to the place of his choosing where they would land, settle for a time and tell the people of that area about the gentle love of Jesus before setting off again in their coracle to other parts unknown.

When I first learned this tradition years ago, my modern mind rebelled against how aimless and unpredictable it seemed. Certainly, God would want me to prayerfully make a careful plan for my life and ministry and faithfully follow through with it year by year. And yet, as these years have gone by the spirituality of the coracle has been coming back to me. I am finding that as much as I have wanted to control my world, life keeps happening to me and moving me along its way, sometimes without rhyme or reason. This is especially true for all of us living through the uncertain times of the year 2020.

The Celtic monks, however, had their own rhyme and reason which made perfect sense. Their life was hidden with God, and their trust was heavenward rather than earthbound. Consider this rhyme (and reason) from St. Columba:

Alone with none but Thee, my God,

I journeyed on my way;

What need I fear, when Thou art near

O King of night and day?

More safe am I within Thy hand

Than if a host did round me stand.

The islands of Lindisfarne and Iona were rich repositories of this holy tradition. Here is another poem simply titled "Lindisfarne Rhyme."

He is my King;

in my heart He’s hid.

He is my joy all joys amid.

I am a drop in His ocean lost

His coracle I, on his wide sea tossed,

a leaf in his storm.

The book of His praise

in my satchel slung,

the cloak of His friendship around me flung,

hither and thither about I’m blown,

my way an eddy, my rest a stone,

and He my fire.

My meat His work

and my drink His will,

He is my song, my strength, my skill,

and all people I love in good and ill,

through Him, my desire.

Sounds an awful lot like Jesus, doesn’t it? And so I am learning to pray with another English saint of a later time, Julian of Norwich:

God, of thy goodness, give me Thyself;

for Thou art enough for me,

and anything less that I could ask for

would not do you full honor.

And if I ask anything that is less,

I shall always lack something,

for only in Thee do I have everything.

Lost Glasses

By Pat Russell

July 9, 2020 Wednesday morning.

I can’t find my glasses. I have looked on the shelf that rests by the bed where I put them when I go to sleep. They are not there. They are not under the folded blankets that also rest on that shelf. They are not around the edge of my mattress nor are they under the mattress because I have even lifted that up to look. I am frustrated because I know that they have to be in this small trailer somewhere. I wore them last night just before I went to sleep as I read in bed.

Larry is sitting in his chair drinking his morning coffee. He is giving me ideas of where to look. Since the trailer is so small, we cannot be in the same area, otherwise he would be helping me. We will eat breakfast together – cereal and fruit. Finally, I give up, at least for now. I have to find them to enjoy life so I will go back at it after I eat and drink.

I plop down beside Larry and take my cup of coffee in hand. We chat about where those things could have gone. He gets up and checks the bathroom. Perhaps I wore them when I went in there. I don’t really remember doing that, but anything is possible. They have to be here in this relatively small space that is very nicely organized. We chat on after the failed attempt to find them in the bathroom.

I look at Larry while drinking my coffee. “You have on new glasses,” I say in all sincerity. He has several styles of glasses. “These are squarer than his rounds,” I am thinking. He says, “I do?” It is in that moment that we realize that he has on MY glasses.

We laughed until we cried. We still laugh when we think about that morning.

This incident reminds me of Jesus saying, “…blessed are your eyes because they see.” He said that about ears, too. (I hope that Larry doesn’t ever put on my hearing aids when I get them). Jesus’ parables are like my lost glasses. The truth is so obvious, but we must do some searching in our minds and hearts to see the meaning that is meant for our particular life. Then, when it’s finally found, we laugh for the joy of it.

How Great Thou Art

By Marilyn Travis

I often speak of my memories of my Mom. She was the church pianist, organist, and choir director in Greeley and in Leadville during my childhood. When Mom could get us to stand still for a bit of time, she taught us to sing childhood songs of praise as well as the words to the old hymns she loved.

Dad, being the responsible spiritual leader of our family, was absolutely in favor of us learning hymns of praise. He was also a fun Dad, so he taught us a rousing version of “Beer Barrel Polka” too. This, however, has little to do with this devotional.

Little did I know, standing beside my mother at the piano, how I would learn to love and rely on those old hymns in my life. The lyrics often are taken right out of scripture and being able to sing the hymns from memory is a blessing.

Mitch and I spent the week camping in the Collegiate Peaks west of Buena Vista. The majesty of the mountains always moves me. This week we had quite a lot of rain, which enhanced the colors and made it even more beautiful, assaulting our senses with deep color, the fresh smell of wet earth and pine, and the sparkle from each blade of grass when the sun came out after a storm. I found myself singing the first verse of How Great Thou Art.

O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder

Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made,

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder

Thy power throughout the universe displayed

Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee,

How great Thou art, how great Thou art

Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee,

How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

The beauty of God’s creation is all around us, not just in the mountains. It is in the wildflowers in my front yard, the expression in my little dog’s eyes, the hummingbirds at the feeder – God reminds us of his presence every moment of every day. We just need to be aware.

This is a lovely rendition of How Great Thou Art. I pray it will be a blessing to you today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48i4l1715uc

Going Deeper for July 26, 2020

By Pastor Bruce

Considering the sermon by Pastor Bruce Spear on July 26, 2020

Scripture Reading: Luke 7:1-10

In yesterday's message on the Roman Centurion we concluded that he saw a big Jesus sent by a big God who ruled a big universe. We referenced J.B. Phillips book Your God is Too Small. Here is a more complete list of the too-small notions of God that he discusses in the book. I share them with you as a helpful exercise to weed out inadequate ideas about God so that the true God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, can reign supreme in each of our hearts. After the exercise, you might want to listen to S.B. Lockridge's description of King Jesus again.

Too-Small Notions of God as described by J.B. Phillips in Your God is Too Small:

 

Resident Policeman  “To make conscience into God is a highly dangerous thing to do.  For one thing . . . conscience is by no means an infallible guide; and for another it is extremely unlikely that we shall ever be moved to worship, love, and serve a nagging inner voice that at worst spoils our pleasure and at best keeps us rather negatively on the path of virtue.”

Parental Hangover  “What we are concerned in establishing here is that the conception of God which is based upon a fear-relationship in childhood is not a satisfactory foundation for an adult Christianity.”

Grand Old Man  “But there is nevertheless a very real danger that the child will imagine this God not merely as ‘old,’ but as ‘old-fashioned.’”

Meek-and-Mild  “We can hardly be surprised if children feel fairly soon that they have outgrown the ‘tender Shepherd’ and find their heroes elsewhere.”

Absolute Perfection  “This one-hundred-per-cent standard is a real menace to Christians of various schools of thought, and has led quite a number of sensitive conscientious people to what is popularly called a ‘nervous breakdown.’  And it has taken the joy and spontaneity out of the Christian lives of many more who dimly realize that what was meant to be a life of ‘perfect freedom’ has become an anxious slavery.”

Heavenly Bosom  “The critics of the Christian religion have often contended that a religious faith is a form of psychological ‘escapism.’  A man, they say, finding the problems and demands of adult life too much for him will attempt to return to the comfort and dependence of childhood by picturing for himself a loving parent, whom he calls God.”

Managing Director  “It is to think that the God who is responsible for the terrifying vastness of the Universe cannot possibly be interested in the lives of the minute specks of consciousness which exist on this insignificant planet.”

Second-hand God  “The conception of the Character of God which slowly forms in our minds is largely made by the conclusions we draw from the ‘providences’ and ‘judgments’ of life.  We envisage ‘God’ very largely from the way in which He appears to deal with (or not to deal with) His creatures.”

Perennial Grievance  “To some people the mental image of God is a kind of blur of disappointment.  ‘Here,’ they say resentfully and usually with more than a trace of self-pity, ‘is One whom I trusted, but He let me down.’  The rest of their lives is consequently shadowed by this letdown.”

Pale Galilean  “Compared with their non-Christian [friends] their lives seem to have less life and colour, less spontaneity and less confidence.  Their god surrounds them with prohibitions [and boredom] but he does not supply them with vitality and courage.”

And now for a better picture...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCuRKE707MM

(Of interest to us football fans, the church that put this video together is pastored by Randall Cunningham, who was an NFL quarterback for 16 seasons, primarily with the Philadelphia Eagles and then the Minnesota Vikings. He is the younger brother of former college and NFL player Sam "Bam" Cunningham and the father of USC high jumper Randall Cunningham II and World Champion High Jumper Vashti Cunningham. Quite a family of athletes. Must be pretty amazing to have him as your pastor...)

The Kingdom of God, Part 3 (the Transformational Community)

By Phil Wood

In Part 1 of this series I offered a simple working definition for the kingdom of God: a place where the will of God is done. Well, that definition served its purpose at the time, but as I've continued to write about the kingdom, I've already stumbled onto a major flaw in that definition.

It's not really a place. It's a community.

It's a courageous, contagious, counter cultural group of people of all ages, all colors, people of every possible description scattered all over the world, but who have one thing in common: the love of Jesus Christ as their main operating principle.

In Part 2, I offered a simple working definition for the love of Christ: a passionate commitment to the well-being of others, actually willing the good of others, even at the expense of ourselves. Author and spiritual director Jan Johnson put it more simply. "Love," she said, "is engaging will for the good of others."

This is what Jesus taught, isn't it? Putting others before ourselves, looking not to our own interests, but the interests of others, going the extra mile, walking in the other's shoes, welcoming the stranger...engaging our will for the good of others.

Does this love involve feelings of closeness? Sure, sometimes. But that's not critical to the definition of love in the context of the kingdom. In that context, love is the intention to walk alongside others – some of whom may drive us crazy!

I have a friend in the church who admitted a couple of years ago, that I used to drive her up a wall!  I know. What was she thinking, right? Well, she is the get-it-done-now kind of person, and I'm more the plodding, methodical, consider-all-the-options, and deep-think-everything-to-death kind of guy. I can see where I might have gotten under her skin a little bit.

Then something changed. I didn't get any less methodical or deep-thinking. She didn't get any less eager to get things done. But I don't drive her up a wall anymore. At least I don't think so. What happened?

Well, I think Jesus happened. Kingdom principles kicked in. We were transformed. Our will is now engaged for the good of each other. This is love the way Jesus demonstrates it, the laying down of one's life for one's friends.

And this brings me to what I think is another really important aspect of the kingdom of God. It's called Christ-like listening. Putting aside our own agenda to actually hear what another is saying.

For my own part, I have to say I find it hard to just listen without offering my "great wisdom" on whatever the other person is talking about. And it's hard for me to comprehend that the other person may not even care to hear my great wisdom. He or she may just need to talk. And I need to be able to listen. Sometimes there is something important that needs to be said in return. Sometimes not. And it's very hard for me to distinguish between the two.

Ruth Haley Barton, author and founding president/CEO of the Transforming Center, has some very helpful thinking about this issue. I'm not sure I entirely get this, but I sense there is something very deep and true about it, and I need to understand it.

She says, "Transforming community involves cultivating a kind of spiritual companionship that is very different from what we usually experience. It involves being present to the person we are listening to, yes, but even more importantly being present to God on the other's behalf."

Being present to God on the other's behalf. We are to listen for what God's desire or guidance for that person would be, not what our best advice might be or how we can be most helpful. Isn't that how Jesus listened to people? He was aware of himself and the other person in God's presence, desiring only to be responsive to whatever God was doing in the moment.

Jesus loved Peter. But when Peter said, "Never, Lord! This shall never happen to you," Jesus spoke the truth in love and said, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns."

An extreme example, perhaps, but Jesus was present to Peter, and listened to what he was saying, and he was also aware of what God was doing in the moment and told Peter what God wanted him to know – things that changed Peter's life.

I have a long way to go before I'm able to speak that truthfully, and with such sureness of what God wants to do in the moment. But Jesus makes it clear that listening to God on behalf of others is an important outgrowth of Christ-like love, and a vital characteristic of life in the kingdom.

Father, you sent your son to show us what your kingdom is like, and I want to be a part of it. I admit I fall short. Help me, Lord, to focus primarily on our shared love of Christ and to engage my will for the good of others. Help me to be more present to you, more present to others, and more able to listen to you on their behalf. In the name of Jesus, amen.

The Presence and Absence of God

By Pastor Bruce

In 2007, the personal letters of Mother Teresa to the priest that was her spiritual confidant were published ten years after her death. She had received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and was admired the world over for her “wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor” (the fourth vow of the order she founded). As people read these letters, they were surprised to see that inwardly she often experienced the absence of God more than his presence. She wrote, “The silence and the emptiness are so great. I look and do not see, listen and do not hear, the tongue moves in prayer, but I do not speak…” The pain of feeling this absence from God and feeling God’s distance from her only caused her to feel more deeply the acute pain of the hunger, disease, and misery of those she served.

People assumed that anyone who had given themselves so thoroughly to the sick, the dying, beggars and street children would experience the graces of God’s presence in abundance and were shocked to read of God’s silence in her life. Some called her a fraud.

But anyone familiar with the history of spirituality will know that going back to the Hebrew Psalms, the absence of God is often felt most keenly by the saints. In Psalm 13, David wrote:

How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?

    How long will you hide your face from me?

How long must I wrestle with my thoughts

    and day after day have sorrow in my heart?

After teaching at Yale and Harvard, Henri Nouwen left the academic world to join the L’Arche Community in Toronto where he took on the care of Adam, a profoundly disabled adult who required assistance each hour of the day. He testified that, "It is I, not Adam, who gets the main benefit from our friendship." Ironically, this sacrificial choice coincided with a period of his life when he felt the absence of God more than ever before. And so his experience was not much different than that of Mother Teresa.

Nouwen offers us the wisdom gleaned from those lean years:

Is God present or is he absent? Maybe we can say that in the center of our sadness over his absence we can find the first signs of his presence. And that in the middle of our longings for God we discover the footprints of the one who has created those longings. It is in this faithful waiting for the loved one that we learn how much he has filled our lives already. Just as a mother’s love for her son can grow while she waits to be reunited with him, so also our intimate friendship with God can become deeper while we wait expectantly for his resurrection.

And this:

God is greater than my senses, greater than my thoughts, greater than my heart. I do believe that he touches me in places that are unknown even to myself. I seldom can point directly to these places; but when I feel his inner pull to return again to that hidden hour of prayer, I realize that something is happening that is so deep that it becomes like the riverbed through which the waters can safely flow and find their way to the open sea.

Have you felt the absence of God more than his presence? Have these feelings come on the occasions that you anticipated you would receive the graces of his presence most abundantly? Has this only intensified your yearning for God as the writer of Psalm 42 expressed it?

As the deer pants for streams of water,
    so my soul pants for you, my God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
    When can I go and meet with God?

Has it aroused in your heart only a deeper love for your Lord? Can you relate to these words by Richard Rolle?

I ask you, Lord Jesus,

to develop in me, your lover,

an immeasurable urge towards you,

an affection that is unbounded,

fervor that throws discretion to the winds!

The more worthwhile our love for you,

all the more pressing does it become.

Reason cannot hold it in check,

fear does not make it tremble,

wise judgment does not temper it.

Will you join Peter Marshall in this prayer?

Our Father, sometimes you seem so far away, as if you are a God in hiding, as if you are determined to elude all who seek you. Yet we know that you are far more willing to be found than we are willing to seek you. And you have promised, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” And have you not assured us that you are with us always?

Help us now to be as aware of your nearness as we are of the physical realities of everyday life. Help us to recognize your voice with as much assurance as we recognize the sounds of the world around us. We would find you now in the privacy of our own hearts, in the quiet of this moment. We would know, our Father, that you are near us and beside us, that you love us, that you are interested in all we do and that you are concerned about all of our affairs.

May we become more aware of your companionship, of him who walks beside us. At times when we feel forsaken, may we know the presence of the Holy Spirit who brings comfort to all our hearts. May we be convinced that even before we reach up to you, you are already reaching down to us.

What Is Christian Simplicity?

By Marilyn McGrath

Dallas Willard defines simplicity as “the arrangement of life around a few consistent purposes, explicitly excluding what is not necessary to human wellbeing.”

Richard Foster defines spiritual simplicity as “the inward reality of single hearted focus upon God and his kingdom, which results in an outward lifestyle of modesty, openness, and unpretentiousness and which disciplines our hunger for status, glamour, and luxury.”

He also writes that “simplicity is about breaking the hold money has on us, not necessarily saving more or spending less.” He applies this idea to hoarding as well, and his example is those who grow spiritually and treasure their experiences but do not share these gifts from God with others.

So, living simply means more than being frugal with my resources. It means dropping the clutter from my life. It also means resisting the cultural pressure to be busy and productive and to achieve recognition or rewards for my work. It requires turning inward to become familiar with the rhythms of my soul, the things that motivate me from deep within myself (where God dwells within me). And then pouring out myself in love to others.

My favorite scholars (Willard, Foster, Kierkegaard, Nouwen) write about the different aspects of simplicity, and its relation to asceticism, frugality, and poverty. They expound on the positives of these aspects as well as the negative side, which is how they can attract us as a way of earning favor with God. While these writers each emphasize varying aspects of simplicity, they all agree that rather than seeking to live simply, simply seek first the kingdom of God and many of the complexities of our lives will lose their attraction for us and fall away.

Matt 6:35 “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Matt 7:8 “For everyone who asks, receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Matt 10:40 “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.”

Matt 10:42 “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”

Luke 12:29-31 “And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink and do not keep worrying. For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

Dearest Father,

The crickets and birds grace the morning with their song of blessing to you.

The cool morning air fills me with energy for the day opening before us.

I welcome you with the morning song and cool air into my heart, to walk with me through this day.

May I walk this day with the love of Jesus in my eyes and in my words and in my hands.

Amen.