Parable of the Panamanian Potty

A righteous person who yields to the wicked
is like a muddied spring or a polluted well.
Proverbs 25:26 (CSB)

Several years ago, I was on a short-term mission trip in Panama and visited a primitive island village off the northern shore. Think palm-thatched roofs over half-walled huts and muddy paths between each structure.

The community commode was a hut on stilts, situated over the river, with a hole in its floor. It is important to note that the washing of clothes and the drawing of drinking water took place UPstream from that primitive waste disposal facility.

I remember wondering at the time, though, whether there were any other villages further upstream.

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Truth is...As unpleasant a thought as it is to possibly be bathing in someone's sewer, imagine the stomach-churning irony of a person who claims to be a Christian, giving testimony of God's transforming power while allowing their own private/personal sin to have its way in their life.

Nobody's perfect, but . . .

Money Can't Buy Everything

 

Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?”

Luke 18:26

The disciples were taken aback.

Confused might be a better word.

All their lives, they assumed that if a person had wealth, it was a sign that God was pleased with them. Health and wealth meant you and God were on excellent terms. Sickness and poverty were the Lord's punishments when you sinned.

And then, this young, politically powerful, financially well-off guy comes to Jesus and asks, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (v18)

Jesus gives him the standard, expected response about following the commandments, but the rich young man feels the need for something more:

“I have kept all these from my youth.”

Seeing that his original question was sincere and not just another attempt to trap him in some kind of blasphemy, Jesus then lays out a plan of action that, for this wealthy man, sounds a lot like "Take up your cross":

“You still lack one thing: Sell all you have and distribute it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Apparently, this crosses some kind of line, and the guy's face drops as he turns and walks away.

This leads to Jesus saying the line about it being easier for a camel to thread its body through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get to heaven.

That's when the collective jaw of the disciples goes slack and they sputter, "But, but, but...if the rich...the people who God obviously favors, can't enter the Kingdom . . . what hope in the world does ANYbody have??!?"

Jesus tempers their panic with this bit of truth:

“What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

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Truth is...Jesus doesn't ask everybody who wants to follow him to take a vow of poverty. That was for that particular man at that particular time. It's all about priorities. If anything is more important to me than following Jesus, am I really following him at all?

Besides, my entrance into heaven doesn't depend on what I do, but on what Jesus has already done.

Bread Broken, Promise Spoken

 

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

1 Corinthians 11:26

Communion.

The Lord's Supper.

The Eucharist.

We have given it lots of different names and observed it in lots of different ways.

Weekly. Monthly. Quarterly. One annual hullabaloo.

But whether you use matzo and wine or saltines and Welch's, one truth remains: Jesus was executed on a Roman cross, and what was meant by the Jewish leaders to silence him once and for all ended up amplifying his Good News until it reverberated in the hearts of every nation, tribe, and tongue.

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Truth is...Some of that spreading of the good news remains unfinished, so let me be clear. The death of Jesus covers the debt of every sin I’ve committed or ever will commit. His resurrection from the tomb foreshadows the unending life that awaits me in Yahweh’s presence. As for the phrase, “proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes,” it carries a promise: Jesus is returning.

And all this can be true for not just me, but for you, too.

Do you believe this?

Anger Management

 

Be angry at sin (at immorality, at injustice,

at ungodly behavior), yet do not sin;

do not let your anger cause you shame,

nor allow it to last until the sun goes down.

Ephesians 4:26 (AMP)

As it usually does, the Amplified Bible helps deepen our understanding of this verse beyond what so many other translations say: "Be angry, yet do not sin."

It's good to be reminded what it's okay to be angry about. Too often, we see Jesus overturning tables in the temple and think, "See? I can be mad at Tim for taking the last slice of pizza!"

Jesus was upset with the moneychangers and bird-sellers because they were making it difficult for people to worship Yahweh, not because the color of the tablecloths clashed with the drapes.

AND...he didn't grumble and brood about it, spreading discontent. He took action, not letting it fester and worsen with the passage of time. Before the sun set, he addressed the issue clearly.

Anger management made simple.

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Truth is...I've often heard people pray, "Lord, break our hearts with what breaks yours." Maybe we could also pray that what angers God would raise our hackles as well.

A Proverb, a Question, and a Song

 

He who trusts confidently in his own heart
is a dull, thickheaded fool,
but he who walks in skillful and godly wisdom
will be rescued.

Proverbs 28:26 (AMP)

Sure, there are plenty of people who don't like being told what to do or where to go. Still, all you have to do to be convinced that most folks are clueless when it comes to matters of eternity is to listen to the variety of responses to the Colbert Questionert question, "What happens when we die?"

Or watch all the scenes in all the movies when a fresh-faced youngster looks into the eyes of the Adult In Charge and asks the same question.

Or take your own poll. How much hemming and hawing do you run into?

It really is true that, even on our best days, we're at least goofy and probably closer to ridiculous.

For long-time readers, it will come as no surprise that today's Scripture and this train of thought remind me of a song by Rich Mullins, "Maker of Noses."

I believe there is a place
Where people live in perfect peace
Where there is food on every plate
Where work is rewarded and rest is sweet
Where the color of your skin
Won't get you in or keep you out
Where justice reigns and truth finally wins
Its hard fought war against fear and doubt

And everyone I know wants to go there too
But when I ask them how to do it they seem so confused
Do I turn to the left?
Do I turn to the right?
When I turn to the world they gave me this advice

They said boy you just follow your heart
But my heart just led me into my chest
They said follow your nose
But the direction changed every time I went and turned my head
And they said boy you just follow your dreams
But my dreams were only misty notions
But the Father of hearts and the Maker of noses
And the Giver of dreams He's the one I have chosen
And I will follow Him
©1992 Kid Brothers of St. Frank Publishing & Edward Grant, Inc.

https://youtu.be/hdspZ8Dexv0?si=hErLYzJFLmTbMDV1

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Truth is... Obi-Wan Kenobi aptly wraps things up with his piercing question in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope...

Who's the more foolish?
The fool, or the fool who follows him? 

A Dollar in the Slot, Joy in the Heart

 

[The lazy man] is greedy to get,
while the godly love to give!

Proverbs 21:26 (TLB)

A few years ago, one of our regulars at my part‑time retail gig was all fired up about a trip to Las Vegas. Wanting to join in the fun, I gave him a dollar and said, “Play this on something for me.”

It may come as no surprise to you that when he returned, he reported my dollar had not garnered any winnings.

Fast forward to last month, when I told him I was going to Vegas to treat Beloved to Donny Osmond's show. He, of course, broke into a smile as he hopefully handed me a dollar.

Not having any gambling experience other than trying to get through an intersection while the light was still yellow, I wasn't really sure what to do with that dollar bill. But as I walked by the casino floor, I saw a colorful machine that had a slot in it especially made for inserting legal tender.

I placed the narrow edge of the donated dollar into the slot. The machine sucked the bill into its inner sanctum. A button labelled "SPIN" lit up, so I pushed it. Icons on the LED screen spun, the machine made a pleasant dinging sound, and that one dollar turned into twenty.

I am going to have So Much Fun when I see that customer again and hand him his twenty-dollar bill!

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Truth is...I'm not saying my customer is necessarily greedy, nor that I am so all-fire godly, but I am saying that one of the most God-like (i.e., "godly") things a person can do is to be a giver.

I can also testify that giving results in getting joy. Jesus wasn't joking when he said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35 NIV)

From Disappointment to Delight: A Holy Spirit Story

 

But the Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will help you remember everything that I have told you.

John 14:26 (AMP)

Not long after moving to Minnesota to become the Youth and Worship Minister at a church in the suburbs south of the Twin Cities, we were part of a group from that church who bought tickets to a performance of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat starring Donny Osmond.

My Beloved was especially looking forward to seeing her former teen-crush-heartthrob perform and was especially disappointed to hear the announcement that Donny would not be seen in the role of Joseph that night, but that his understudy would be performing instead.

Then the show started and the abundant energy and talent of the understudy obliterated all thoughts of disappointment.

I think the disciples may have gone on a similar journey.

There they were, sopping up the last of their Passover meal, when Jesus told them he was leaving  -  and that the Holy Spirit would come instead. Their hearts weren’t ready for that. They wanted him. How could they imagine being helped or counseled by anyone else?

Then the book of Acts happened, obliterating all thoughts of disappointment.

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Truth is...Jesus didn't make that promise only to the disciples in the upper room. I know that's true because he didn't send the Holy Spirit only to them. We are promised the same Helper, Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, and Standby, weilding the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.

File that under "Good News"!