AMAZING GRACE?

What's the point of "grace" in popular Christianity, anyway? What does it mean? What is it for?

I think it is interesting that we stand up in church and sing, "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me." It often seems that the next, un-sung line in many people's minds is, "but not that poor sucker around the corner. He's too far gone. Not even God's grace can save him."

Then, we talk about how the death penalty is a good thing saying, "So and so deserves death. They don't deserve another chance. Any type of repentance they might show is just a show to try to get off." Apparently, the un-said part of that is that, "Not even God's grace can make a difference in that person's life."

Some are asked to teach Sunday School, but the response we hear is, "Well, I really don't know anything about the Bible. I just don't think I have the ability to do something like that. I've never tried, but I really just want to focus on me. I need my own Sunday School class." What's not being said here: "I don't think God, in God's grace, will help me be able to do this. Grace is something I need. If those in the Sunday School class that need a teacher don't find or experience God's grace, it's not my fault. That's what God is supposed to do."

Others are asked to serve food to the less fortunate or the homeless, but what we hear is, "If they want food, they just need to go get a job. It's their own fault that they are hungry. It's none of my business." Maybe what we are really hearing is, "I just don't think it is fair that everybody has access to God's grace. I don't think it should be unconditional. Everybody needs to do something to deserve it."

Sadly, we forget that, by definition, grace means a FREE gift that one receives even though they don't deserve it. Sadly, we have the idea that grace is what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called "cheap grace." The idea here is, "Jesus did it so I won't have to." Sadly, we live life as if God's grace really isn't all that amazing after all. We claim to be people who "believe the Bible," and yet we don't pay attention to (or we ignore) passages such as:

• There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. (1 John 4:18, NRSV)
• I am confident of this, that the one [God]who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6, NRSV)
• Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. (2 Corinthians 4:15, NRSV)
• But [God] said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. (2 Corinthians 12:9, NRSV)
• For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. (Ephesians 2:8-10, NRSV)
• I can do all things through him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13, NRSV)
• For mortals [salvation] is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.(Mark 10:27, NRSV)
  

What I think all of this means is that we are not all that amazing, and we tend to view the world in that same way. Yet, we forget that God's grace makes us amazing, makes the world amazing, and allows us to do amazing things in the world for God. Let us not forget that God's grace is amazing - for ALL people!

Heavenly Pets?

Many in this world would have us believe that God is really only concerned with people– nothing else in this world (some would go so far as to say that God it only concerned with people’s souls, not even physical needs). I must admit: I don’t buy it.

Take, for instance, Colossians 1:20:

"Through the Son, then, God decided to bring the whole universe back to himself. God made peace through his Son's blood on the cross and so brought back to himself all things, both on earth and in heaven." (GNT emphasis mine)

According to this, Jesus’ actions were not just for people but ALL THINGS in the WHOLE UNIVERSE!

Similarly, I’m reminded of various Psalms such as Psalm 148. Note verses 7-10:

"Praise the Lord from the earth, sea monsters and all ocean depths; lightning and hail, snow and clouds, strong winds that obey his command. Praise him, hills and mountains, fruit trees and forests; all animals, tame and wild, reptiles and birds." (GNT, emphasis mine)

June 23, 2008, my cat, Mr. Kitty died. I have no doubt that he praised the Lord. Many a time, I watched him watch sunrises & sunsets with awe. Even more times, when Sandra or I were having bad days, he’d make special efforts to cheer us up, showing us love. Isn’t that what we’re all called to do?

I believe ALL life is sacred, because God brought it ALL into being. All of God’s creation seeks to “obey God’s command.” Thus, God, who is “above all, through all, and in all” (see Ephesians 4:6) seeks to be at one with all creation– even cats like Mr. Kitty.

For some pics of our beloved Mr. Kitty, CLICK HERE!

IN CASE OF RAPTURE, THIS CAR WILL BE UNMANNED?

I used to think that bumper sticker was pretty funny. Several years ago, I even thought about getting one for my car. Luckily, I've done quite a bit of study since then.

First, do you realize that the term "rapture" is nowhere in Scripture, even though many would have you think it is? Some, of course, will counter and say that there are many useful theological terms that are not in the Bible. True, but is the concept of those terms there? In terms of "rapture," I do not believe so, based on my study of Scripture.

Let me start with a recent revelation from Luke 17:22-37:

20 Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, "The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; 21 nor will they say, "Look, here it is!' or "There it is!' For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you."

22 Then he said to the disciples, "The days are coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 They will say to you, "Look there!' or "Look here!' Do not go, do not set off in pursuit. 24 For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. 25 But first he must endure much suffering and be rejected by this generation. 26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so too it will be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 They were eating and drinking, and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed all of them. 28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, 29 but on the day that Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from heaven and destroyed all of them 30 —it will be like that on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, anyone on the housetop who has belongings in the house must not come down to take them away; and likewise anyone in the field must not turn back. 32 Remember Lot's wife. 33 Those who try to make their life secure will lose it, but those who lose their life will keep it. 34 I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 There will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken and the other left. 36 Two will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left." 37 Then they asked him, "Where, Lord?" He said to them, "Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather." (NRSV)

Based upon what we usually hear from, for instance, the "Left Behind" series, is that we better make sure we are not one of those that are "left behind." We must make sure we are taken. Look at the above text, though. Only Noah and his family were saved, and they weren't raptured. Only Lot and his family (minus his wife) were saved, and they weren't raptured. Notice, in vss. 34-36, Jesus says that people will be taken, and we have always assumed they were "raptured up to heaven." But look: the disciples ask, "Where, Lord, [were they taken]?" Look at Jesus' response: "Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather." Do we really think that we want to be "raptured" to a place where the vultures will gather - where the dead are?

Why then would we want to stay here? For Luke, the answer is in vs. 21 - the Kingdom of God is ALREADY among us. Why would we want to leave that? The problem is that we usually live and act as if we aren't already there!

Others, then, will point to 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18:

13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. 15 For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. 16 For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel's call and with the sound of God's trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words. (NRSV)

Doesn't that talk about the "rapture?" Maybe, but, as we see in Luke, there is another idea about what could happen at the end. Plus, there may also be a better interpretation of this passage. Here is what New Testament biblical scholars M. Eugene Boring and Fred Craddock have to say about the matter:

4:17 We who are alive:Paul expected the return of Christ to occur during his own lifetime. . . . Caught up in the clouds: Taken into God's presence. The clouds were originally related to the storm god, imagery adopted by Israel from the nature religion of Canaan to speak of the presence and power of God (e.g., Exod. 19:16-25; Pss. 29; 97:2) and then applied to the return of Jesus as the Son of Man (Mark 13:26; Matt. 26:64). Theology, not meteorology, is the content (as though Paul thought Jesus would not return on a cloudy day). To meet the Lord in the air: So also "the air" is not the atmosphere, but as in Eph. 2:2 the realm between the heavenly world of God and the earthly human world, the dwelling place of supernatural powers that separate this world and the transcendant world. Like the word "parousia," to meet the Lord is part of the semitechnical language used for the arrival of a monarch. A delegation of his or her subjects went out to meet the king or queen and ushered them back into the city. The picture is thus not of a "rapture" in the sense of modern dispensational interpretation, in which believers meet Jesus in the sky and are taken to heaven. Rather, Jesus is pictured as returning to earth as its rightful sovereign, and Christian believers - those already dead and those still alive - going together to lead him in a triumphal parade back to earth. These words and pictures utilize common apocalyptic imagery . . . that seems strange to modern eyes and ears - as they did to most of the Thessalonians, who had no previous exposure to such Jewish ways of thinking. Modern readers need not take them literally, but must take them seriously.

We will be with the Lord forever: Salvation is finally not a matter of place, but of relationship. . . . Being with the Lord is the fulfillment of the relationship to God already begun in this life.
[from The People's New Testament Commentary (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004), 645].

Let us "leave behind" the silly concept of the rapture!

I CAN ONLY IMAGINE?

Recently in our church, a trio of teenaged youth beautifully sang a Contemporary Christian song called, "I Can Only Imagine." At first, I was simply taken by the fact that I didn't realize that one of the youth could play the piano that well, and I didn't realize that one of the other youth could sing at all! Their harmonies blended so well!

Then, I began to listen to the words of the song. I've heard the song many times, but I had never really listened to the words. As I listened, I realized that it epitomizes what has become the primary focus of too much of Christianity.

If you have never heard the song, the focus of the song is the singer trying to imagine what it will be like when he gets to heaven and finally gets to see Jesus. What will he do? What will his heart feel? Will he dance for Jesus? Will he be in awe of Jesus and be still? Will he sing, "Hallelujah?" Will he be able to speak at all? He can only imagine.

That was frustrating enough. Then, on this past Sunday, September 23, 2007, I stumbled across a show on MSNBC called, "To Hell and Back." The story had to do with former Pentecostal, evangelical Bishop Carlton Pearson who has come to the conclusion that there is no hell except the hell that people experience on earth. This of course has caused quite an uproar in evangelical circles.

The MSNBC correspondent spoke to one of Pearson's former friends and colleagues, who obviously thought Pearson was wrong (and going to a literal hell). In response to Carlton, who is still preaching, this fundamentalist preacher said something to the effect of, "Well, what's he still preaching for if there's no hell? What's the point?"

Although they use different terminology, the song, "I Can Only Imagine," and Pearson's opponent are saying basically the same thing: "The whole point of Christianity is to get to heaven and staying out of a literal hell."

Have none of these people read John 17:3: "And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." (NRSV) This text says NOTHING about "eternal life" being about "going to heaven." It says NOTHING about it being something that happens ONLY when we die. Look what John Wesley says in his sermon "The Scripture Way of Salvation," based on Ephesians 2:8 (You are saved through faith):

• And, first, let us inquire, What is salvation? The salvation which is here spoken of is not what is frequently understood by that word, the going to heaven, eternal happiness. It is not the soul's going to paradise, termed by our Lord, "Abraham's bosom." It is not a blessing which lies on the other side of death; or, as we usually speak, in the other world. The very words of the text itself put this beyond all question: "You are saved." It is not something at a distance: it is a present thing; a blessing which, through the free mercy of God, you are now in possession of.

What, then, is eternal life? What, then, is salvation? What is the point if the point isn't "getting to heaven" or "staying out of a literal hell?" It is about RELATIONSHIP. Look at John 17:3 again. It says eternal life is not going to heaven but knowing God & Jesus HERE AND NOW! As Wesley notes, salvation is something that happens here, in this lifetime.

But, let us be very careful to not equate "Jesus" with just some spiritual entity "up in heaven" that we can only really "meet" in heaven. Let us look at Matthew 25:

• 34 Then the king will say to those at his right hand, "Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.' 37 Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?' 40 And the king will answer them, "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.' (NRSV, emphasis added)

Why does someone have to imagine what it would be like to meet Jesus? According to this, Jesus is all around us, in all the people we come in contact - even the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick, and imprisoned. Using the Apostle Paul's terminology, we see Christ in church members - the body of Christ! Wanna see what Jesus looks like? Look around. Wanna know what you'll do or feel? Look around and decide!

What's the point of preaching if it's not about going to heaven and not hell? Look around! People continue to not treat people well, causing hunger, thirst, people to remain strangers, nakedness, sickness, and imprisonment. The point of preaching is to help people to better care for others - even strangers. The point of preaching is ETERNAL LIFE HERE AND NOW - relationship with God and Jesus here and now through all the people we came in contact with.

My point is NOT to say there is or isn't a heaven or a hell (who knows - anybody actually been to either?). My point is that life here and now is more important than just concern about an "afterlife." People do experience hell here, and we CAN help get people out of it here and now so they can more fully share in relationship with God, Jesus, and each other - sharing in salvation and eternal life. Can you imagine Jesus?

WHEN YOU LEARN HOW TO DIE, YOU LEARN HOW TO LIVE

What a great line from the movie (and I assume the book), Tuesdays with Morrie. As I thought about this quote, I thought about something: we often wonder what Jesus did in those 30 or so years before we know of his earthly ministry. Maybe, just maybe, he was learning how to die, which let him know how to live.

I think we (human beings) are afraid of what will happen if we truly live. We're afraid to lose – to lose loved ones, acceptance, possessions, even life itself. Yet, if we live in fear of losing these things, we also don't gain these things. We never actually step out in love to live.

The Jesus we know about knew how to die – by loving wastefully. He loved people that most people think are a waste of time to love – the sick, poor, women, children, even enemies. He loved “causes” or programs that showed everybody's worth in God's kingdom, in God's sight – causes that most people think are a waste of time. His living led to his death, but his death showed how we are to live, without fear but with love.

1 John 4:17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Those who say, "I love God," and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. 21 The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also. (NRSV)

Romans 14:7 We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. 8 If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. 9 for to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. (NRSV)

UP IN HEAVEN?

So often when talking about life, Christianity, and / or what happens after death, we talk about "going up to heaven" as if heaven is up there, out there, above the clouds.

Recently, in a New Testament Bible Study, we were talking about life after death. One of the members, Clark, who has been widowed for about 1 1/2 years, told of an event that happened last April. He said that all day had been a "normal day" until he was watching the news that evening. He realized, after seeing the date, that it was his wedding anniversary, to which he exclaimed, "It's our anniversary today." Plain as day, he said he heard his wife, Joan, say, "Why, yes, Sweetie. It's our anniversary." This, he noted, was just one of many times he really feels like his wife is still with him.

How can this be? Isn't heaven up there, out there, above the clouds?

I think we have a false sense of heaven. The ancient world view was that the earth was flat. On top of this flat earth was a dome (imagine a basketball cut in half and set on top of a flat surface." Above that dome was water (see Genesis 1: 6-8) that sometimes opened to let water down to the earth (rain). In the dome were two great lights, the sun and moon (see Genesis 1:14-19). Above it all was heaven. Some believed God resided there only. Others believed God lived only in the tabernacle, or later, the temple. Either way, heaven was "up there, out there, above the clouds." Today, though, we know that the world is not flat. We know there is not a "dome" above the earth. We know more about where the sun and moon is. Why do we still maintain that heaven is up there, out there, above the clouds?

I find it amazing, though, that in the same funeral services where we talk about our loved ones "going up to heaven," we also say, that our loved ones have been reunited with God. After hearing Clark's story, I remembered Bible passages such as:

• Psalm 139: 7 Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast. (NRSV)

• Acts 17: 28 For "In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, "For we too are his offspring.' (NRSV)

• Ephesians 4: 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. (NRSV)

If it is true that there is no place we can go where we can be beyond God's presence; if it is true that it is in God that we live and move and have our being; if it is true that there is one God who is above all and through all and in all, couldn't heaven be right here with us, all around us? If we really believe that we will be "united with God" in death, and God is here and everywhere, maybe our loved ones who have gone before are not up there, out there, above the clouds. Maybe they, like God, remain here with us in some way we cannot fully comprehend.

Maybe, as the 80s pop song goes: Ooh, heaven is a place on earth!

DEPENDENCE OR INDEPENDENCE?

Yesterday, I started co-teaching a 10-week Disciple Bible Study on the book of Genesis. As one might expect, we spent some time discussing one of the foundational texts of all of Scripture: the story of "the fall" in Genesis 3.

One member of the class, Jay Cantrell, noted that this passage made more sense to him now that he had kids and grandkids. He said it reminded him of what has happened with his kids as they left the "age of innocence" and went out on their own. They had to realize that being on their own meant having to have a job to pay the bills, similar to Adam being told ". . . in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground . . ." (Genesis 3:17-19, NRSV). Daddy isn't going to do everything for you now!

This made me realize something. As much as we equate this passage with "sin," it is really a passage about our desire for independence as human beings. Our "problem" is that we want to be independent of God and other people. We want to show or to prove that we can do it on our own without the help of others. Don't we all go through this to some extent as we "leave home?" We want to survive, even thrive, without the help of our parents. This is the story of Adam and Eve. They want to be independent like God, having wisdom.

The next interesting point is that Jesus taught just the opposite of this:

• He answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." (Luke 10:17, NRSV)

Jesus, in essence, is teaching that independence is not the goal. The goal is to learn to (and accept to) be dependent on God and other people! We cannot do it alone! May we have the strength to be dependent on God and other people - and allow others to be dependent on us and EVEN allow God to be dependent on us! When God calls us into serving others, God is, in a sense depending on us. It is a mutual relationship!

THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS?

Others may have made this connection explicitly before, but I hadn't until last week. I wanted to share it!

We have been "taught" since childhood in the church that Jesus' statement:

• "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill." (Matthew 5:17, NRSV)

means that Jesus was "foretold" in the Hebrew Scriptures, and Jesus has finally coming fulfilling all the "prophecies" found in the Hebrew Scriptures. Others have said that Jesus "fulfilled" the law and the prophets because Jesus was the "final sacrifice." I've come to the conclusion that these interpretations are NOT what this passage means. Why?

Later in the sermon on the mount, from which the above Scripture passage comes, we get this statement:

• "In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets." (Matthew 7:12, NRSV, emphasis mine)
  

Jesus fulfilled the law and the prophets, not because he was foretold in the Law and the Prophets and finally "came." Jesus did not fulfill the law and the prophets because he was the "final sacrifice." Jesus fulfilled the law and the prophets because he actually lived out the law and the prophets - doing to others as you would have them do to you!!

All too often, we have been taught because of Matthew 5:17 that we (human beings) no longer have to "fulfill the law" because Jesus already "fulfilled it." Yet, it certainly seems in Matthew 7:12 that we, too, should fulfill the law and the prophets! It isn't just something for Jesus to do!

This and other "revelations" I have been experiencing lately continually remind me that we must be careful not to interpret Scripture by the creeds, theology, and ideas we have heard all of our lives. We must be careful to let the Scriptures say what they say and not force our "preconceived notions, thoughts, ideas, and theology" on Scripture texts that do not say "what we've always heard."