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Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:17-20

This is a difficult passage. What are we to take from Jesus declaring that he fulfills the law?

In Jesus’ day, may believed that when the Messiah came that a new law would be established — the laws of the Old Testament would go away, and new rules would be established. Jesus is correcting that, simply stating that the prophecy points to him (he is fulfilling) and that he embodies the law. In the coming passages of Jesus’ sermon, he explains this thinking more specifically — for example, the OT says “do not murder”… and here is what that really means.

So this passage is part declaration: Jesus is the Messiah. It is also an introduction: just you all wait and see what the law really means.

There is an important application for us, in the context of our modern faith. We may have developed expectations about what the law of the scriptures is and what it means. But like Jesus did in his day, we need to recognize that Jesus is the completion of the law. We need to follow him. He will show us what the law really means.

Be God’s — every day.

Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
Luke 2:34-35

Simeon projects an image of Jesus that we can forget sometimes. He is not a sanitized, everyone-is-great teacher and healer. He taught and healed… But he also shined the light on our human nature, looking into our souls and asking us to be different than what human nature pulls us to be.

Especially during the holiday times, we can create an image of Jesus that isn’t the full Jesus. It’s about more than being born miraculously. It’s about more than magi visiting. Christmas is about the coming of a man who is God, and who brought about the biggest change to humanity ever.

Rather than just reading the nativity story in Luke as a Christmas tradition, maybe it’s time to read ALL of Luke, to get a broader picture of the whole Jesus that Simeon is hinting at. Let’s celebrate the coming of Jesus — the whole Jesus.

Be God’s — every day.

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.
Isaiah 9:2

We all walk in darkness. Look back at human history, and it’s clear that we all share a dark walk.

The coming of Christ into the world represents the initial coming of that great light. This verse appears in Handel’s Messiah for that reason — Jesus is the light of the world, who came to illuminate and guide us all. For this coming we are all grateful.

How can the celebration of Christ’s birth illuminate you this year? How can Christ light up your darkness?

Be God’s — every day.

P.S. I leave for vacation tomorrow, and time zones will be all wacky. If you miss any blog posts or get them at strange times, my apologies. All should be back to normal after Christmas. Merry Christmas!

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
Exodus 3:14

I used to really struggle with this concept. I really enjoy and live the intimate, personal Jesus who walked among us and served, so the more distant and authoritative God who wouldn’t be named was a challenge.

A commentary on this I read this morning, though, put it in a new light that makes so much more sense.

God wasn’t being distant and evasive… He just wasn’t going to be labeled. Names were used at that time when you really knew someone, and neither Moses nor the rest of the Israelites could really know God. He’s a BIG God, and to put him in a box and make him into “a person” wasn’t right for how he would lead his people.

When Jesus came, he became the face — the person — of this BIG God, to send the message that he is both really big and unknowable and simultaneously very intimate and knowable. Rather than struggle with the duality, perhaps it makes more sense to embrace that our God is both!

How do we label God in ways he shouldn’t be labeled? And yet, at the same time, how do we forget to know Jesus personally?

Be God’s — every day.

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
1 John 4:9

Okay… So I’ve taken a tour through the Bible exploring God’s love. This is in response to reading Rob Bell’s “Love Wins,” and also reading through Michael Wittmer’s rebuttal “Christ Alone.” I am not a trained theologian, nor do I think I have all the answers. I also know there are still a few weeks of learning and discernment in store for me on this topic. But, that being said, I thought I’d share my preliminary conclusions to stimulate your own thinking and reaction. Here goes:

1) God loves us more than we can comprehend, because God is beyond our comprehension. I love the mystery of God’s love… We can’t contain him!

2) The Bible clearly states that we are saved through Jesus Christ, but it does not provide an instruction manual for how that mechanism works. Kind of a bummer, but also part of that wonderful mystery. It is our “belief in him” that saves… But how? What is required? We don’t know.

3) I believe (without perfect evidence) that we accept God’s gift of grace by recognizing the Lordship and resurrection of Christ as paying for our sins. I also believe this is required to receive eternal life. This is stated in the Bible, and I have not found/seen/heard a Biblically-based argument to refute it.

4) I believe it is dangerous for us to state what God can, can’t, will, or won’t do. God has a history of shocking the world, and God has more power than we know. The Bible may tell us what he has done, but the Bible almost certainly leaves out what God can do. We need to embrace the mystery of who God is and how he works among us.

5) Because the mechanism of Christ’s redemption of our sins and path to salvation is a mystery, and God has more power than I know, I have to allow for the possibility that a commitment to Christ as we know it on earth as Christians may not be the only way to experience eternal life. Ghandi might be hanging with God right now — I don’t know. Within God’s loving nature, it wouldn’t shock me.

6) Allowing for the possibility that a non-Christian life on earth can still lead to salvation doesn’t mean I’d trust in that. We have no evidence it’s false… But we have no evidence it’s true. I choose to live my life according to what we know: Jesus is the way.

Agree? Disagree? Feel free to disagree — we can both learn from each other’s points of view.

All I know for certain: GOD LOVES US. I start each day at peace and with hope because of this love and the freeing, transformative power it has had for me, and I know his love will continue to shape who I am for the rest of my days. Amen!

Be God’s — every day.

For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.
Hebrews 2:17

Like many others, I often wonder why Jesus had to be human. An all-powerful God can save us any way he wanted, right? Why Jesus?

I believe Jesus was fully human to serve as an example for what we should be as humans. He was a servant. He dealt with human emotions. He was tempted. And the gospel writers captured the ways he responded. Fully human yet fully God, Jesus is who we worship yet also who we can relate to.

Thanks be to God for sending one who could show us how to live as humans, yet have the power to save us all!

Be God’s — every day.

Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
Revelation 2:4-5

Some background is helpful, here. In this passage of Revelations, the church of Ephesus had been working hard at keeping their church safe from false teachers. They were serious about the truth of Scripture. Yet in their focus on truth and Scripture, they had lost their love for Christ.

This sends a strong message to Christians and churches today. We can do all of the right things for the right reasons, yet not have the right heart. This devolves into a church that is technically correct, yet spiritually wrong.

When we are willing to allow love to govern our usage of truth, then we hold true to the essence of Christ’s ministry on Earth. Love the Lord, love one another. Let us not lose this “spirit of the law” when pursuing the letter of Scripture.

Be God’s — every day.

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.
Colossians 2:9-10

There is more boldness in this statement when you put it in context. Greek tradition believed in demigods… Humans who took on such greatness that they become heroes and god-like. This bold verse isn’t declaring that Christ became god-like, but rather that God became Christ. He was God.

The verse goes further. Because Christ was God, he was above everything else.. He was not just a man doing great things, or a great leader and inspirer. Rather, he was God, and as such had more authority and power than the other authorities and demigods of their culture.

I have a hard time grasping the whole Trinity thing sometimes. If you try to apply human principles and logic, it just doesn’t work. We need to accept fully human, fully God image of Christ as a great mystery — yet a sign of the wonderful power and grace of God.

Be God’s — every day.