With gratitude for the timeless work of Charles Schulz, our story today begins with Lucy bravely approaching Charlie Brown with an idea for improving their baseball team.
She's pretty excited about the possibilities present in her idea, but Charlie Brown is not...how shall we say...receptive to the proposed change.
This sends Lucy back into the outfield where she makes a life decision.
Truth is...I've got an observation and a question. Observation: "That's what everyone else is doing" does not necessarily make an idea great. Question: How many great ideas have never seen the light of day because of fear of someone's gut-level/knee-jerk negative reaction?
And now, class, we come to the final song on Randy Stonehill's Welcome to Paradise album, "Good News". It may draw the album to a conclusion, but its true purpose is to draw our attention to the future and fill us with hope.
Good news, Christ is returning
Good news, now the world is learning
Good news, Christ is returning
And Jesus gonna bring us on home
Good news well I feel alright
Good news He'll come like a thief in the night
Good news he's gonna take us in flight
Jesus gonna bring us on home
Oh yeah, ain't that realgood news
Oh yeah, ain't that real good news
Go on hang up your blues
Good news we're gonna live forever
Good news floating light as a feather
Good news we can all be together
When Jesus comes to bring us on home
Oh yeah, ain't that real, real good news
Ain't that real
Oh yeah, ain't that real good news
Go on hang up your blues
Good news, Christ is returning
Good news, now the world is learning
Good news, Christ is returning
And Jesus gonna bring us on home
Come down make you feel alright
Like a thief in the middle of the night
Come down make you feel alright
Like a thief in the middle of the Middle of the night
Truth is...whether Jesus comes to take us on home or comes bringing the New Jerusalem with Him, the strong hope and firm assurance that He will make all things right is reason enough to sing, shout, and let it all out. GOOD NEWS!
It's the Tuesday before Passover, c.33 AD. Jerusalem's population has multiplied as Passover pilgrims flock to the spiritual center of the nation. A sizable portion of the crowd has come to the temple early in the morning in hopes of hearing Jesus teach or at least to see what he might do today. On Sunday, his entrance into the city turned into a praise-filled parade that got the religious leaders all on edge. Then on Monday, Jesus ran all the shady businesses out of the temple courtyard...which also ruffled the feathers of the Sanhedrin. What's going to happen today? Almost as soon as Jesus arrives, a committee of chief priests, scribes, and elders confronts him and basically asks "Who in the world do you think you are? Who gives you the authority to do stuff like this?"
Jesus' response immediately puts the religious leaders over a barrel:
“I’ll tell you by what authority I do these things if you answer one question,” Jesus replied. “Did John’s authority to baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human? Answer me!” They talked it over among themselves. “If we say it was from heaven, he will ask why we didn’t believe John. But do we dare say it was merely human?” For they were afraid of what the people would do, because everyone believed that John was a prophet. So they finally replied, “We don’t know.” And Jesus responded, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I do these things.” (Mark 11:29-33 NLT)
Truth is...people have been trying to back Jesus into a corner for thousands of years with exactly the same amount of success.
Have you ever been socially/romantically involved with someone and then not been involved and not really know why either the involvement or non-involvement happened?
As part of my personal faith journey toward Easter, I am reading a book by Brant Pitre, The Case for Jesus. I'm only five chapters in, and I'm already pleased with the thoroughness of Pitre's examination of evidence and honesty in saying what can and cannot be concluded from the evidence at hand. But that's not what this post is about. What this post is about is where my train of thought went when I saw the title of an upcoming chapter in Pitre's book: "The Dating of the Gospels". I'm certain the chapter is about determining when the four gospels in the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) were written. And that's important because it helps a person make judgments about their trustworthiness. But my train of thought? Well, it immediately dropped the "s" from "Gospels" and got me to thinking about the concept of dating the Gospel...being socially/romantically involved with the Good News that Jesus is God-in-the-flesh and his death and resurrection paid the debt of our sins and freed us to a new kind of life where we are no longer slaves to the sin nature. What does it mean to "date" someone? What's going on in a dating relationship?
There's definitely an attraction, but not really a commitment.
It's kind of trying on the idea of monogamy. "What would it be like to be with this person and nobody else for the rest of my life? Would I enjoy that?"
Depending on a person's moral convictions about sexuality, there might even be physical involvement that is associated with a marriage commitment.
Breaking off the relationship if it gets difficult or doesn't go the way you thought it would is always an option.
Methinks that some of us actually do relate to the Gospel in the same ways.
We like the idea of not being condemned and that Jesus loves us, but not all that sure about having anything expected of us.
We toy with the concept of dedication and allowing Jesus to call the shots. "How will my life improve if I decide to follow Jesus?"
We maybe even attend church services if we like the musical style and the sermons aren't too long.
Spirituality is something we practice or something we do; not necessarily the core of who we are. We can put it on or take it off however the mood strikes us.
Truth is...I have personally found marriage to be far more deeply satisfying than dating ever was.
"Song for Sarah" holds a special place in my heart. It's the third song on the second side of Randy Stonehill's classic "Jesus Music" album, Welcome to Paradise, but it was also part of my wedding vows (with "Sarah" replaced by "Debbie").
It's a practically perfect invitation to a love commitment, along with a gospel message of the greatest love of all.
Sarah, can I love you? Will you open up the door?
I know you've heard that misused word a lot of times before
But I think that you need someone who can firmly take your hand
And love you in a way that you can really understand
Sarah, will you love me? You've got so much there to give
We've waited for so long to change the lonely way we live
And I see the fragile lady that you hide behind your eyes
And I want so much to reach you when I hear those distant cries
Sarah, Someone loves you in a way I never could
He laid His life before you on a cross made out of wood
Oh and in His hour of anguish our dreams were given birth
I hope you finally realize how much your love is worth
Truth is...while this is a quiet, sweet song, it is also personally the source of laughter. You see, our wedding day was particularly hot and humid and the church building in which we were wed had no air conditioning. While I was singing this song to my bride, a drop of sweat trickled down my nose and Debbie tenderly reached up and wiped it away. The near-sighted ladies in the crowd thought she was wiping away a tear I had shed and totally lost it!
I'm one of the elders at my church. We are primarily pastors, dedicated to caring and praying for the members of the congregation and overseeing the spiritual direction of what is taught within our walls. We are currently in the midst of bringing a couple new people on board, and part of their apprenticeship is filling out a questionnaire so we can get a better idea about each person's spiritual background and outlook. As I read through the set of answers from our most-recent apprentice, and look at the partial list of qualifications Paul documented in First Timothy 3, I am practically forced into some self-evaluation...and a renewed doubt as to my fitness for the role.
According to Paul (I Timothy 3:2-7), someone who serves as an elder should be:
above reproach
faithful to his wife
temperate
self-controlled
respectable
hospitable
able to teach
not given to drunkenness
not violent but gentle
not quarrelsome
not a lover of money
Moreover, he must:
manage his own family well
see that his children obey him
do so in a manner worthy of full respect
not be a recent convert
have a good reputation with outsiders
I'm certainly stronger in some of these things than in others, but I'm glad this is a list of guidelines as to the type of person who should be in church leadership, and not necessarily a strict checklist.
* * * * * * *
Truth is...this isn't such a bad list of personal goals for anyone to do some self-evaluation against.
Here we sit in the middle-ish of Lent, wondering if we are approaching Good Friday and Easter with the proper level of thought and intent. Some folks choose to give up something "for Lent". A lot of the time, it's something fairly innocuous (like chocolate, or caffeine) and is meant as only a temporary fast from whatever substance or activity is chosen. I've known people who have absented themselves from social media as a way to test their commitment to Christ or to help themselves focus on spiritual matters in preparation for Holy Week. They'll even pull out some Scriptures they feel relate to the role Twitter and Facebook play in their social interactions:
Titus 3:9 - Avoid foolish controversies ... and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless.
1 Timothy 1:3-4 - Command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer or to devote themselves to myths.... Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work.
Truth is...If something is good to give up "for Lent", maybe it would be good to give it up entirely. I'm not necessarily saying to renounce all social media; maybe just stop using them to engage in foolish controversies, eh?
