preaching

Cell Phones, McDonalds and the Bread of Life

April 21, 2012 By prophetsandpopstars Leave a Comment

I’ve been meditating on the Bread of Life verses from John 6, specifically verse 35: “Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

As Jesus continues this first “I AM” statement, you can’t help but to picture the relational importance of the common meal. The Bread of Life is a call to relationship, not food. Jesus is reconstituting the Passover meal around himself. His is the bread that sustained the Jews while the angel passed over. He is the manna that was sent from heaven to sustain the people of God and he is the Bread of life that sustains the world in God’s grace.

In Arizona, where it gets to be two hundred degrees in the Summer…that’s a little overstatement, but what’s the difference?…I remember, we used to take our kids to McDonalds because they had the boss play place. When we started to go there, our children were 2 and…well, unborn.

At the time, my wife and I had just got our first personal cell phones. They were nokia flip phones and we didn’t know how to text. I swear, it took two years to figure our predictive text. Hence, our phones just rang, and since we were some of the only people who called each other, they didn’t ring when we were at such fine eateries. At the time, the Happy Meal was center of the common meal. We’d sit together and then watch our kid(s) scream around the kids’ area.

We were there from 2000-2010, the ten years where cell phones went from flip to hip, from push apart to really smart. I watched the evolution take place at McDonalds. It was more noticeable there. In the ten year transition, I watched parents with silly Nokias engage their children (unless called) and then that began to change. As phones changed, a wall got built between mother and child, father and familiy. By the time we left in 2010, it was common to see kids running around crazy like and parents caught in the “me coma” of the hypnotic iPhone screen.

Let’s try something…next time you take your kids anywhere, leave the phone at home. If you’re going to go to McDonalds, engage an opportunity to break bread (-like substances) and build relationships. Fellas, it’s much sexier when you talk to your woman than ignore her…totally free and effective advice.

We are supposed to be “Lovin It!” but without foursquare, would we know we were there?

The people who surrounded Jesus in John 6 wanted more fast food, they wanted their stomachs filled more than their hearts. Their eyes were filled with the desire for more and they missed Jesus who was more than enough.

Don’t miss the Bread of Life. You will never hunger again.

Filed Under: contemporary hermeneutic, discipleship, john, preaching, sermon media

“It’s Not Supposed To Be Like This”

March 18, 2012 By prophetsandpopstars Leave a Comment

Looking at John 5:1-18, the central question today is, why does Jesus heal the man knowing that it is Sabbath and he will bring on the persecution of the Jewish leaders?

For one, it is commonplace in John’s Gospel for Jesus to “stick it to the man.” There’s more, though.

When Jesus arrives in Jerusalem there is a Jewish Festival in progress. Commentators seem to conclude that there were four it might have been: Passover, Pentecost, Rosh Hoshanna, or Tabernacles. While opinions differ, they are in total agreement that of those four…it was one of them.

One of the things a statement like this makes is while we don’t know what time of year it was, there were lots of people there. People going to get right with God, to make straight their paths, to exist in the thick of their identity as the whole people of God.

I believe that John paints pictures for us to not only follow the story, but see the story he’s telling in the light of the whole story that God is telling. When Jews entered Jerusalem, they went…to the Temple. That was the center of God’s activity in Israel. God was active where the Temple was. That was his neighborhood, his house, his…box. But wait! Where do we find God in this story? Walking on the out skirts. A good distance from the priests and preachers, God is moving among the lame and blind, the sick and paralyzed.

Coincidence? I think not.

John points out that the location of the five Porticos is near the Sheep Gate. It’s a small detail. When the exiles returned from the Persian captivity of King Artaxerxes back to Jerusalem, they began to rebuild the great wall around the city. The first thing they set to repair was the Sheep Gate. Why this gate? For one, this was the the northern most point of access to the Temple. But more importantly, it was the gate through which the sheep which were to be sacrificed for sin were led to the Temple.

Do you remember the first description of Jesus in John’s Gospel?

John the Baptizer saw him and cried out, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

The lamb had entered the gate, and soon the sins of the world would be taken away by his sacrifice.

It was there that Jesus found what he was looking for, a man who was infirm, sick. No longer whole. A man in whom God’s shalom did not reside. He had been sick for thirty eight years. He was lying down. John records that Jesus noticed he had already been there a long time. How could he tell? Imagine the life of a man who can’t move, who is sick hopeless and who’s body still functions normally in some ways. Not only was this man dealing with infirmity, but the abject humiliation of living in his own mess.

But it’s into this mess that Jesus walks into. He seeks it out.

If you think your life, your problems, your choices, your actions are to messy for Jesus; if you think you can keep him away then this Scripture is Gospel because the Good News is nothing can keep us from the relentless pursuit of Jesus’ love.

Jesus asks the man if he wants to be made well. The Greek tells us there’s a bit more going on than a doctor fixing a patient. What Jesus asks is, “would you like to be restored to whole?” “Would you like to be made complete?” “Would you like Shalom? God’s intention for all life and creation.”

Cornelius Plantinga writes, “In the Bible, shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight — a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of affairs that inspires joyful wonder as its Creator and Savior opens doors and welcomes the creatures in whom he delights.
Shalom, in other words, is the way things ought to be.”

But the world isn’t “the way things ought to be.” God’s shalom has been interrupted by the wages of sin, which Plantinga describes as, “Sin is disruption of created harmony and then resistance to divine restoration of that harmony. Above all, sin disrupts and resists the vital human relation to God, and it does all this disrupting and resisting in a number of intertwined ways.”

Jesus’ mission is to restore Shalom.

Since the rest of the chapter deals with Jesus healing someone on the Sabbath, breaking the law and causing the man to break the law by carrying his mat, many commentators and preachers have asked the question, “WHY?” Why did Jesus not just wait a day and fly below the radar? Why did he have to heal this man today. Thirty eight years…couldn’t he wait one more day?

John Calvin wrote, Why not? “We ought to proclaim the glory of God and celebrate His works, so far as His glory requires that they should be made known.”

I believe that Jesus walks up to this man, sees that there is no shalom, no wholeness in his life and responds the way he does because it’s not supposed to be like this. Men are not supposed to lie in their own filth and nearly starve to death every day, seeing the water of healing in front of them but always just out of reach.

It’s not supposed to be like this!

Jesus knows that the Father isn’t afraid we’ll break the Sabbath, he’s concerned we won’t keep it. We work and work our fingers to the bone to the point that we’re so tired and exhausted, consumed by our own ideas of conflated self-importance, that we lose our ability to distinguish God from idol, the real thing for the imitation. We will worship the next thing that offers us rest, comfort and distraction.

Sabbath protects the shalom of time.

It’s important to remember that worship occurs in time.

Which brings me to the last point in this post.

There are several reason that a Jew in the temple compound would have to be immersed in the pool, specifically a pool that is (metaphorically described as) a “living spring”, see the attribution to angels in v.4, a later addition to the passage generally omitted from credible witnesses. One is to purify the body after unusual emissions. Another is a step in the process of recovering from various skin diseases. Another is before Yom Kippur, as this was generally a priest like Aaron. The man who complains that there is no one to put him in the water, may be complaining that he is unable to worship God, unable to complete the purification process. Process is in the way of worship.

The restoration of worship is the restoration of Shalom.

So, why does Jesus heal the man knowing that it is Sabbath and he will bring on the persecution of the Jewish leaders?

Because he knows how it’s supposed to be.

Filed Under: discipleship, GlenPresChurch, gospels, john, preaching, sermon media

Finding and Being Found

January 26, 2012 By prophetsandpopstars Leave a Comment

In the passage, John 1:35-51, which I’m preparing to preach on Sunday, the greek word eurisko is used five times. The word means “I find.”

In v.41, Jesus finds Andrew.
Also in v.41, Andrew reports to Simon that he has found the Messiah.
In v. 43, Jesus finds Philip.
In v. 45, Philip finds Nathaniel.
Also in v. 45, Philip reports that they have found “him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote.”

This implies that there was a profound amount of seeking. Johns disciples were seeking the Messiah, the fulfillment of the law and the prophets, but the Messiah — the Light — was also seeking them. It reminds me of the last line of Psalm 23, “Surely goodness and mercy shall pursue me all the days of my life.”

Eurisko implies a deep sense of seeking.

When we seek in darkness, it’s hard to tell what we are looking for,
but when we seek in the light, we find and are found.

Filed Under: contemporary hermeneutic, john, NTGreek, preaching

Words Like Packing Peanuts

December 27, 2011 By prophetsandpopstars Leave a Comment

“But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart [Lk 2:19].”

“Mommy, tell me the story of the night I was born.”

Mary knew that one day, her son would ask her that question. When I asked my Mom about the day I was born, it was a cool story, but it wasn’t like Mary’s. Mary’s involved travel, homelessness, uncomfortable donkey riding, stables and food troughs, but it also involved shepherd and angels. Sometime, between the cord being cut and the baby’s first diaper change, a ruffian group of hyped out sheep wranglers came knocking on the stable door.

Their eyes were filled with wonder and stories of God’s glory fell from their mouths (not what you would expect to hear from a first century Palestinian shepherd.) The words they spoke were resplendent and would have been difficult to take in. I imagine that the words they were saying fell around Mary like…like packing peanuts. They were difficult to grasp and harder still to hold together.

Luke 2, verse 19 says that Mary treasured the words and she pondered them in her heart. The Greek adds some additional flavor. The word for treasure is a word picture. It’s like Mary picking up packing peanuts one at a time, finding a place in her arms for each one. The next phrase, pondering them in her heart, is another word picture: it means to throw together. Jesus used this word when he talked about counting the cost of following him and said, “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? [Lk 14:31].” No one, throws together a war (hopefully), it’s careful and studied…intentional [Pro 20:18]

Mary threw their words together and grasped after them like picking up packing peanuts after a move.

The Gospel story is not just words that we are supposed to understand. It’s a greater than words kind of story. Like Mary, we gather the words together, but commit ourselves to living life with Christ, moment by moment. We don’t have to explain it, we get to experience it.

Christmas is an invitation to experience the presence of Christ wordlessly, without dissertation or explanation. And as Mary treasured and pondered the story as it began, we do the same…as it continues.

Merry Christmas!

Filed Under: christmas, luke, NTGreek, preaching

Rob Bell: Beloved Fundamentalist Sweetheart

December 8, 2011 By prophetsandpopstars 3 Comments

Almost a year ago, Kurt Willems posted Rob Bell’s first sermon at the brand new church plant, Mars Hill. This is really interesting. I would say that there are undertones of a more fundamentalist, Bible church Rob Bell, but they aren’t undertones.

Definitely not the Rob we know and love today. Not that any of that is bad. It’s cool to hear a sermon I’ve heard him preach again since, but through a rather different theological lens than he has these days

Take a listen and tell me what you think!

In case you missed the link cleverly hidden in the above sentence:
Click Here!

**you can check out Willem’s original post here. Thanks, Kurt!

Filed Under: preaching, prophetsandpopstars Tagged With: acts, kurt willems, pangea blog, preaching, Rob Bell, sermon

Jesus and Subversive Equality

November 4, 2011 By prophetsandpopstars Leave a Comment

Continued from Jesus and Subversive Equality:

John has preached the baptism of repentance to the crowd.
He has preached it to the tax collectors.
He has preached it to the Roman soldier.
And he has also preached it to Jesus.

Wait…did I hear that correctly (sound of record skipping)?
Jesus responded to John’s message of repentance?
Is that possible?

The truth of it is…well the truth.

“Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” [Luke 3:21-22]

Matthew, never to be outdone by Luke, recorded the event like this:

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. [Mt 3:13-15].

Jesus’ rationale here is perplexing and more than a little bit curious, don’t you think? “Fulfill all righteousness?” One might assume that that business was done on the cross, but the gospel seems to indicate otherwise, righteousness…right relationship with God…was offered in the Jordan River.

How does this happen? Two ways.
The second legitimizes the first.

First, a right relationship with God can be offered by Christ, but frankly begins because of individual initiative †. John offers a baptism of repentance, metanoia in the Greek and shuv in Hebrew. Both terms mean an person’s acknowledgment that they are headed in the wrong direction (away from God) and desire to turn around (180°) and come back to God. This is a move towards a right relationship. Obviously, a wrong relationship looks like one party headed away from the other, right? Right.

In joining us in the baptism of repentance, both sides of the relationship were represented. Imagine what would have happened if Jesus hadn’t done this. Well…nothing would have changed, really. Just look at everything leading up to that moment in Scripture. If you were banking somehow on salvation, you had to do stuff. Up to this point, aside from the unique message John was preaching, there wasn’t any real difference:

Getting wet = another shot at redemption.

But God met us in the water. God did what we did. Movement for movement, dance for dance, the Lord matched humanity: first in repentance, then in temptation, in ministry, in suffering and in death.

The writer of Hebrews has an interesting take on this saying, “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.” I’m not sure that I would have said it like that, but no one asked me.

This baptism, therefore, was no longer another way to do what God wanted us to do, but became a way to do what God himself did. Marinate in the vastness of that for a brief moment.

Second, going back to the Isaiah passage:

As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:
“A voice of one calling in the desert,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.
Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
the rough ways smooth.”
And all mankind will see God’s salvation [Lk 3:4-6; NRSV].”

This is Jesus preparing the way to become the Way, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage [Phil 2:6].” Jesus made low his own mountain, becoming one of us, like us, “rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a human being, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death–[Phil 2:7-8].”

Jesus made himself an equal.
He filled in our valley, making our crooked path straight.
He became the smooth way, lowering his own mountain.
Do you see the breadth of the Isaiah’s vision?

Look at what he says in Luke 22:25-26, “Jesus told them, “In this world the kings and great men lord it over their people, yet they are called ‘friends of the people.’ But among you it will be different. Those who are the greatest among you should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant.”

As Lord and King, he could have demanded that we submit to his authority.
He could have maintained a very common, very human, easily understood paradigm of power.
But he totally subverts it by becoming one of us.

To enter into his authority, we (you and I) get to, have to, choose to submit to him. Beautiful, isn’t it? From the very beginning, he sets the tone and it’s a footrace to see who can out serve the other. Of course, we can’t out-servant the Servant King, but in the very beginning of this narrative, we are invited into an alarmingly dynamic relationship with God, as Jesus and living Word. From the very beginning of the story we are interdependently intertwined in Christ’s new reality: Subversive Equality.

If John’s sermon spoke to the crowd, the tax collector and the Roman soldier, what did Jesus’ baptism say to them? Open your Bible, app, link to Luke 3 and turn the page…

† For our Reformed friends, this initiative begins only after, and as a response to, the invitation and urging of the Holy Spirit.

Filed Under: exegeticalness, gospels, isaiah, luke, preaching Tagged With: baptism, equality, jesus, john the baptist, luke 3, subversive equality

neptune loves the little guy

November 3, 2011 By prophetsandpopstars Leave a Comment

Continued from these are just work practices:

So, John is waist deep in the river, people are coming to him participating in some water immersion ritual in which they return renewed and committed to a “Godly” life. His beard is dripping with river water, his honey diet honed twelve pack has him ripped like a marble statue. What might the Roman soldiers standing nearby be asking?

Is this Neptune?

They were probably there to keep any thoughts of rebellion down to a bare minimum, but they had to see the effects of John’s ministry. When you watch people descend from the hills, seemingly from nowhere, and gravitate towards this man who appeared to come from the water it must have been a pretty powerful image. It’s possible that the Roman soldiers were just making sure they showed respect to their favorite water deity, but all the more likely they were being swayed by John’s preaching. If Neptune crawls from the water, that’s something you never necessarily thought you’d see, but when he starts creating these vivid mental pictures in his preaching, that might create an existential dilemma for you if your job is to remain detached, objective and ready to separate sinew from bone should it become necessary.

But the soldiers step forward and ask the question, “What about us?”

I believe that there’s is the most courageous, for they are aware that the answer could completely up end their sense of being and reality ✝. Which, of course, it does. What is interesting here is that, if only for a moment, those Roman soldiers who spoke up are living in a realm where Religion is more important than Politic, or the fire of the Savior King is stronger than the sword of Caesar. That they break their silence demonstrates what powerful ministry was happening through the baptism of repentance.

Transformation is any life is a powerful witness in the world. It makes us ask questions: How did that happen?Where did it come from?

John’s response is roughly, “Don’t use your power to fill your pockets. Be content.” You could look at it another way, “Stand up for the little guy instead of standing on top of him.” Looking through the rubric of the Isaiah prophecy that begins this whole scene, Luke 3:4-6, these soldier are poor mountains. They are at the top of the food chain, powerful, strong and capable of unleashing the fury of Rome upon any who, well, were there. So there is a strong/weak power differential, which John points out.

A life that bears the fruit of repentance [Lk 3:8], uses power to benefit the weak instead of punishing them with it. The mountain is made low.

In our world, we see that differential everywhere don’t we? We live that differential. There are those that we look upon as much less powerful than ourselves, huh? If you are reading this, you are in a literate, post technological caste that most of the world doesn’t exist within. You complain when there’s no free wi-fi. They complain when there’s no potable water. That’s a big difference.

The Kingdom creates a way for wifi to translate to transformation for places that can’t access clean water. Look at water.org. The Kingdom creates a way for wifi to become an agent of transformation for third world small business. Look at keva.org.

For the soldiers, this Kingdom view of living not only radically reoriented their understanding of ‘courage and being’, a military man by definition, but invited them into a pattern of trust and relationship with the community around them. Were they to bear fruit worthy of repentance, their God would become real, their courage would become real and their lives would become real as well.

Or perhaps they just thought, “Man, that Neptune sure loves the little guy!”

✝ “The ethical question of the nature of courage leads inescapably to the ontological question of the nature of being. And the procedure can be reversed. The ontological question of the nature of being can be asked as the ethical question of the nature of courage. Courage can show us what being is, and being can show us what courage is.” Tillich – The Courage to Be

Last post is on the way: Jesus and Subversive Equality

Filed Under: exegeticalness, gospels, isaiah, luke, preaching Tagged With: courage to be, gospel of luke, gospels, john the baptist, luke 3, neptune, power, tillich

these are just work habits

November 2, 2011 By prophetsandpopstars Leave a Comment

Continued from: The Kingdom Cuts You In Half

After John addresses the whole crowd, apparently, some tax collectors want to get in on the action. Who wouldn’t though, right? “The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” Those are some strong words! Does anyone really want to be one of those trees?

Well, the tax collectors don’t. They’ve been watching, seeing lives changed and hearts moved. People are being transformed in front of them. Now tax collectors, while wealthy, weren’t the most beloved of individuals in Roman culture. They collected taxes and had the rep of your average IRS auditor (just playing off a cliche, please don’t take it personally). The real problem was what they collected in addition to the taxes, their cut. The way that they made money was by graft. They added to the tax they charged a healthy profit. If you paid them tax, you were doubled then nothing: The invoice was double and left you with nothing.

I would imagine they found that all the money in the world doesn’t do you a whole lot of good when you don’t have love.

It’s hard not to be loved.
It makes you want a miracle.
Something that will blunt the searing burn of isolation.
To numb the pain of your uneasy soul.

He told them, “No more extortion-collect only what is required by law.”

The answer should have been obvious. Stop doing the thing that’s making people not like you. But it’s not always that easy, is it? I mean, once we get into the groove of doing what we have to, it’s hard to stop. If you first buy a house, then two cars, then three jet skis, a boat or two and a posh Golf course membership, you do what you have to to keep that standard of living going…even if it’s not living at all. It’s easy to be possessed by possessions. It’s an intoxicating illusion, an idol.

What John the Baptist suggests will surely result in bankruptcy, but bankruptcy in this case equals freedom.

The Tax Collectors were rich valleys: all the money in the world, but it didn’t afford them life. They walked a crooked path. The words of the prophet Isaiah came to life in John’s exhortation: make low mountains, make what is crooked straight. The Kingdom of God at work in the life of the tax collector was an accounting nightmare, but a win for God’s justice on the earth.

The Zacchaeus story is a great illustration:

When Jesus got to the tree, he looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry down. Today is my day to be a guest in your home.” Zacchaeus scrambled out of the tree, hardly believing his good luck, delighted to take Jesus home with him. Everyone who saw the incident was indignant and grumped, “What business does he have getting cozy with this crook?”

Zacchaeus just stood there, a little stunned. He stammered apologetically, “Master, I give away half my income to the poor-and if I’m caught cheating, I pay four times the damages.” Jesus said, “Today is salvation day in this home! Here he is: Zacchaeus, son of Abraham! For the Son of Man came to find and restore the lost.” [Luke 19:5-10]

Preparing the way of the Lord doesn’t simply look like some rocks getting kicked off the driveway. It looks like lives transformed in challenging, difficult, unpredictable and uncomfortable ways. It produces just work habits in the most unjust jobs.

But that’s what it takes to make low mountains.

next up: Neptune loves the little guy

Filed Under: exegeticalness, gospels, isaiah, luke, preaching Tagged With: gospel of luke, isaiah, isaiah 40, jesus, luke 3, zacchaeus

the kingdom cuts you in half

November 1, 2011 By prophetsandpopstars Leave a Comment

continued from the matrixization of isaiah 40:3-5

John the Jesus Recognizer, and Baptizer, gazes across the brood of vipers, otherwise known as the people who were listening to him, and he rips through them with this, “The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” Not wanting to be thrown “into the fire,” Luke mentions that the crowd begins to ask for an alternative.

“What should we do?” they ask. “What does it look like to live a life the bears fruit worthy of repentance?”

John answers, not with theology or doctrine, but with a practical way to prepare the way of the Lord that fulfills the Isaiah prophecy at the same time. “If you have two coats, give one away,” he said. “Do the same with your food.” In this world, there are the haves and the have nots. Here, John addresses both, not to make the haves feel guilty or the have nots feel worthless, but to invite both into a life that engages the presence of the Kingdom of God on earth.

When a “have” gives one shirt away from their abundance, to someone who has none, then both end up having one…the same…they are equal. The Kingdom of God creates equality through repentance. Repentance is shared between the richest and poorest because it’s about the heart, not money. John is preaching a message of justice to the crowd. Isaiah’s message to the Hebrew exiles comes to life on the banks of the river Jordan.

“Valleys will be filled up.
Mountains will be made low. ”

The Kingdom of God is not alternative economic system, in the sense of the word. It’s not Communism for Christians. We get our word economy from the Greek, oikonomia, which means ‘household management’. If Christians are gathered into one body, a new community under one roof as it were, the question is, “how does the new community run?”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in Life Together, writes:

Christianity means community through Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ. No Christian community is more or less than this. What does this mean? It means, first, that a Christian needs others because of Jesus Christ. It means, second, that a Christian comes to others only through Jesus Christ. It means, third, that in Jesus Christ we have been chosen from eternity, accepted in time, and united for eternity. [p.21]

Chosen from eternity.
Accepted in time.
United for eternity.

The church finds it’s location there, between chosen and united. Eugene Peterson writes:

Church is the core element in the strategy of the Holy Spirit for providing human witness and physical presence to the Jesus-inaugurated kingdom of God in this world. It is not that kingdom complete, but it is a witness to that kingdom.

To quote, Fr. Gregory Boyle, “Marinate in the vastness of that!”

The message of John in the wilderness is no different than what Jesus himself continues on the Mount, “You have heard that it was said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile.Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you [Mt 5:38-42].”

When the Kingdom cuts you in half, providing for someone’s scarcity out of your abundance, the valley of poverty is filled up. It becomes level. At the same time, the mountain is made low. It, too, becomes level. And its not just about money.

Is the Salvation Army pick up on your mind?
What do you do with your surplus stuff?
Are you material for that show, what’s it called…?
Have ou heard of water.org?
Compassion International?
World Vision?
What about Homeboys Industries?
Who do you know that needs your time and attention?
Where can you plug in in your community?

How can you make low mountains and high valleys?

Just saw this pic on twitter.

I think it preaches.

Next up: these are just work habits

Filed Under: exegeticalness, gospels, isaiah, luke, preaching Tagged With: gospel of luke, isaiah, isaiah 40, jesus, luke 3, zacchaeus

the matrixization of Isaiah 40:3-5

October 30, 2011 By prophetsandpopstars Leave a Comment

So, John is in the Jordan river basin watching the crowds descend like vipers fleeing a fire. His baptism is one of repentance, asking people to turn from the actions, words and thoughts of a life contrary to God’s intended for his creation and re-orienting them back to the With-God life.

Standing waist deep, by the river’s edge, this camel hair coutured, honey gorging prophet began his sermon with a Hebrew Testament prophetic word from the Prophet Isaiah. Isaiah spoke to a people who were in exile, waiting for the day where all things would be made normal again, all things righted by the hand of their Savior King:

Here’s a matrix style video animation of the text above…read along. I would have added to text to the animation, but I’m blogging here…who has that kind of time?

*only from the minds of some Edwards

The reason that I went with the Matrix vibe on this video breaks down like this:

When John the Baptist used this text to illustrate what was about to happen, the people who were listening caught on. The phrase, “Prepare the way for the Lord” had historic weight. When a King came to your town or community, you would “make straight paths for him.” You would literally, roll out the red carpet, making his approach as smooth and regal as possible.

This was the original, “the end is near” sermon. John is preaching the end of an era, the Savior King is on the way! The trouble was, how would you recognize the Savior King among such a great and eclectic crowd?

John the Baptist had another job, he was the chief Jesus Recognizer. John the Baptist had the unique gift of recognizing Jesus. Like a Qui Gon Jinn or Morpheus. In Star Wars, Qui Gon Jinn recognized Annakin as the one who would restore balance to the force. Morpheus was the recognizer of the One (who happened to be Keanu Reeves in a trench coat). His job was to find the human embodiment of an aging prophecy.