Passing the test

Native Americans have been in a losing battle for hundreds of years now. Only 2-3 people still speak Tuscarora, about 200 speak Oneida and less than 100 speak Seneca. The cultures and languages are dying. Even Navajo with the most numerous (about 120,000 speakers) is at risk. Even today’s English will someday become a lost language. The English we speak today is not the same language as our grandparents spoke and the English of Beowulf from about 1100 AD is almost unreadable to us. There is only one thing permanent, the language of faithfulness (Luke 4:1-13). The devil tried to trick Jesus into using language to obey him. But, Jesus did not want to obey the devil in anything. He passed the test. He conquered the devil even when almost physically depleted. Is our language faithful to God?

The slanderer

Enemies are a part of life. How do we deal with our adversaries? Our enemies sometimes tempt us to do seemingly good things, but with strings attached. When life seems to offer us something good it is always wise to consider the source. The adversary tempts us with power and prestige. When life offers us authority and status it is wise to ask at what cost. The antagonist tempts us to be reckless. When we are tempted to take a leap of faith, it is wise to ask if it is not in reality a leap of foolishness. The personality that Jesus confronted as he was being tested in the wilderness was a slanderer. That’s what the word devil means (Luke 4:1-13). How do we deal with the devil? We have a handbook for that. It’s called the Bible.

Jesus and spiritual war

Some advice given under the title “spiritual warfare” is more like ineffective superstition than biblical instruction and can even be potentially harmful in the reality of spiritual combat. The devil would love for us to go into battle with useless weapons. Paul’s advice on putting on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-20) and Jesus’ battle royal with Satan (Luke 4:1-13) are two examples of truthful material whereby we can achieve real victory in spiritual battles. The weapons of engagement in Jesus’ case were fasting and the word of God. Jesus described prayer and fasting elsewhere as effective tools against the forces of evil (Mark 9:14-21). To the Ephesians Paul also described the Holy Scriptures as a sword, an offensive weapon in combat. Prayer and fasting and Bible skill are tried and true weapons of spiritual war.

The Holy Spirit’s work

Jesus was reported as being full of the Holy Spirit (Luke 4). What happened? The phrases “full of the Holy Spirit” or “Spirit filled” are often misused today. The Holy Spirit’s work was mentioned in this chapter three times. Each time different circumstances were described and it helps us understand some aspects of the Holy Spirit’s role in Jesus’ ministry. The first time in verse 1 when the phrase “full of the Holy Spirit” was used, it was associated with Jesus being led by the Spirit into the wilderness for a period of temptation and fasting. Then in verse 14 Jesus was again portrayed “in the power of the Spirit” and teaching. The third time verse 18 revealed the Holy Spirit as being upon Jesus for preaching. This chapter described the Holy Spirit’s work in Jesus’ preparation, teaching and preaching.

How restoration begins

When relationships are broken, it takes a very long time and a lot of patience to restore them. If we have made major mistakes how do we begin to repair things? Humanity made a major mistake at the beginning. Our ancestors rejected God and we have followed the same path. That restoration began in Jesus and it began with a fast and resisting temptation (Luke 4:1-13). A time of fasting before assuming a major responsibility has been the habit of many of the faithful down through history. Resisting temptation is an ongoing struggle for Christians. Lust, gluttony, greed, laziness, anger, envy and pride are always around. Idolatry, hatred, theft, sexual unfaithfulness, dishonesty, gossip and more tempt us every day. Jesus resisted the devil by recalling Scripture. The word of God is a powerful weapon in the face of temptation.

Good things I learned from foreigners

In Australia I learned to laugh at myself. Among the Chinese I learned how parents sacrifice for their children. Among the Bedouin I learned about hospitality. Among the English I learned about good manners. Among the Dutch I learned about tolerance. In Germany I learned about hard work and thoroughness. In France I learned about diplomacy. In Poland I learned about the love of children. From Africans I learned about faith and how to simplify. In America I learned about big thinking and a can do attitude. In North Carolina I learned about the importance of encouraging our children. In Maryland I learned to respect those who work with their hands. In West Virginia I learned about being sensitive to people’s feelings. How silly it is to be bigoted against strangers when God loves us all equally (Luke 4:21-30)!

Xenophobia and Jesus

In school I found foreigners to be very interesting people. I was the only white boy on our high school sports team. The rest were foreign students. Living in other countries I learned to love different accents, cuisines and cultures. Many people are xenophobic, fearing strangers. As a foreigner in different countries and even at times in my own, I have experienced ignorant prejudice. It is that precise attitude that Jesus challenged in Luke 4:21-30. America was founded on multiculturalism. Swedes, Scots, English, Germans, Spanish, Africans, Italians and more melted into a multicultural pot. One common thread runs through all cultures worldwide: people just want to live, love, laugh and have happy families. When we focus on bigotry and hatred we miss out on experiencing the variety of God’s wonderful creation. And the Gospel must also go to them.

Provocative Jesus

We love the little baby Jesus meek and mild. We do not want to hear the provocative Jesus (Luke 4:21-30). But how might our politics look if we allowed Jesus into the debate over immigration reform? How might Jesus inform political opinion about foreigners and similar outsiders? We don’t have to agree with someone to love them. Jesus even told us to love our enemies. But in the political arena, such commands fall on deaf ears. Why do so many Christians claim to follow Jesus, when our political opinions are often the exact opposite of what he taught? But that’s the same in many areas. We claim Christian standards that neither Jesus nor the Apostles claimed as criterion of Christian behavior and we ignore those that they did. Why do we not ask, what would Jesus do or teach?

Questions about truth

If Jesus confronted us with truth like his home crowd (Luke 4:21-30), how would we react? Are we offended when someone in our midst is promoted over us or does better than us? Are we bigoted against other nations or ethnic groups? If God blessed a neighboring nation and not ours, would we be angry at him? If Jesus healed people in the next town and not ours, would we reject him? If we heard that Jesus brings good news for all people, why do we reject some people? Do we reject the poor, prisoners, the blind and the oppressed to whom Jesus was sent? Who are the oppressed? Is it foreigners, migrants, minimum wage earners, single mothers, disabled people, ethnic minorities, the elderly or all of these? Jesus’ truth may offend us, but it is still the truth.

Lies about Christianity

Here are a few lies about Christianity: “God does not want you to suffer.” Wrong! All who live godly lives in Jesus will suffer persecution (2 Timothy 3:12). “Doctrine does not matter only love does.” Wrong! Love is a doctrine, the most important one (Matthew 22:34-40). “God helps those who help themselves.” Wrong! The Spirit helps in our weakness (Romans 8:26). “Sin is fun.” Wrong! Sin is short-term fun and long-term heartache eventually paying wages of death. “Christians are divided.” Wrong! Christians agree more than they disagree, especially on God’s gift of eternal life through Jesus (Romans 6:23). “Christians must be anti-intellectual.” Wrong! Christ taught us to love God with all our heart, soul and mind (Matthew 22:37). People don’t like the truth and that is one reason why Christians are persecuted (Luke 4:21-30).

We love to believe lies

We love to believe lies. Here is a short list of popular lies in today’s media: Obama is a socialist. NRA executives get a cut of assault weapon sales. They want to take away all our guns. Romney’s son owned voting machines in Ohio. Obama gave Alaskan islands to the Russians. General Motors is becoming China Motors. The debt has not increased under Obama. Obama gave stimulus money to China to build US bridges. According to factcheck.org all of these are false, but we love to believe lies that support our prejudices. When someone comes out with the truth we try to shut them up, denigrate them or find some other excuse to deny the truth. Like Jesus’ hometown we sometimes even want to kill those who tell the truth (Luke 4:21-30). The truth will set us free.

Telling the truth can be dangerous

What caused the crowd in Jesus’ hometown to want to kill him (Luke 4:21-30)? A recent book is called “A Patriot’s History of the United States.” It may be a good book, but for a lot of people the definition of a patriot is to gloss over a nation’s sins and only tell those parts of the story that make us look good. I doubt that such a book would tell of our war crimes, political and industrial corruption, or our terrible treatment of the poor, numerous ethnic groups, the unborn and immigrants. In fact, when people are brave enough to address such themes they are hounded off the air or boycotted, and at times the Mccarthyists have falsely accused them and even tried to put them in prison. Like Jesus’ home crowd, we don’t like hearing the truth.

Human nature good or evil

Is human nature good or evil? It depends where we start. If we start with the fall of man, then naturally we would be inclined to call human nature evil. However, those who say that human nature is good start earlier than Adam’s sin. They start with God’s original creation when he concluded that it was “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Catholics and Orthodox and mainstream Protestants say that the human nature that God gave us is “very good” and that claiming human beings are in “total depravity denies the image and likeness of God in mankind.”[1] On the other hand a positive theological anthropology sees that even in the vilest of human beings there is good. Such a worldview proclaims freedom for those held imprisoned by a negative perspective and freedom from depression and cynicism (Luke 4:14-21).

[1] http://www.orthodoxchristianity.net/forum/index.php?topic=787.65;imode

Free from ungrace

Since coming to mainstream Christianity I have experienced much wonderful grace. Superintendents, mentors and guides have accepted me with open arms and overlooked my many faults. I remember such wonderful grace in my grandmother and in my father in his old age. However, I spent years in a more legalistic part of the Evangelical world which rarely understood such wonderful grace. In discussion, one former district superintendent suggested that the theological basis of depravity prevented some Christians from seeing the good in people. Thankfully, some Protestant churches have retained our ancient heritage of remembering what God said of the original creation, that it was good. That foundation of goodness from creation sets us free from the prison of judgmentalism and oppressive negative thinking prevalent in some Christian denominations. Coupled with God’s forgiveness we are truly free indeed (Luke 4:14-21).

Free or squashed

A lady visiting a church was told that only prostitutes wear makeup. She never went back. A man was told that tattoos defiled the temple of the Holy Spirit. He thought that he was decorating the temple. A preacher once danced to Cossack music and was criticized for not acting dignified. A churchgoer practiced hard to become a champion poker player. Some people gossiped saying he had a "gambling addiction." They had a "gossip addiction." The judgmental, restrictive yoke that many churches have become, tends to squash people into a prison of negativity and discouragement. Are we free in Christ, or in a religious prison, squashed, oppressed, and stunted? Let’s take the freedom that Jesus gave us! We are free to be who God made us to be, so forget the criticism of others (Luke 4:14-21). Let’s live free!

Jesus’ homecoming debut

Homecomings can be awkward. Old friends find it hard to accept the new you. You have finished your education and are now a respected professional in your field or worse, a preacher. Preachers find it hard to pastor their home churches, because a prophet is not without honor, except among his own down home neighborhood folk. So what was Jesus going to do for his homecoming debut before a familiar crowd (Luke 4:14-21)? Would he shrink back and pretend he was not on a special mission from God or would state his purpose plainly and bluntly? Imagine the gasps and whispering as he told it like it was! The prophecy that Jesus read from Isaiah was fulfilled in their presence that day. He was not ashamed of it. He was not bragging. He was simply declaring a mind-blowing fact.

Jesus’ vision statement

Many churches have a vision statement. After months or even years of discussion, that vision is summarized in a few succinct words. Jesus also gave a vision statement of sorts, and he quoted parts of Isaiah 61 to do so (Luke 4:14-21). He implied that the Spirit of the Lord was upon him, because he had anointed Jesus to preach the gospel to the poor. He had sent Jesus to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Is that a part of our vision as well? Is our primary purpose to preach, heal, deliver, give sight and liberty, or are we so tied to our ways that we are unwilling to follow after Jesus?

What Jesus said about the poor

Jesus said the Gospel is good news for the poor (Luke 4:14-21). What else did he say about them? He told a rich man to sell everything and give it to the poor (Matthew 19:21), that we always have the poor but not him (Matthew 26:11), that the poor are blessed because the kingdom of heaven is theirs (Luke 6:20), giving to the poor cleans us on the inside (Luke 11:40-41) and provides us treasure in heaven (Luke 12:33). We should invite the poor to our parties (Luke 14:13) and the poor can be more generous than the rich (Luke 21:1-4). Some of us just play church, warm a pew, or pray and await a spiritual experience. And some of us know that real worship is taking good news to the poor.

When churches neglect the poor

Some Christians say they take the Bible literally. But then twist Jesus’ teachings about the Gospel for the poor (Luke 4:14-21) into spiritual poverty and preaching the Gospel alone without lifting a finger to help. We ought to take Jesus’ instructions about the poor more literally, because a part of bringing the good news is to live it out here and now. Half of Americans will experience poverty at some time. Income is declining for everyone except the very wealthy. A quarter of Americans earn poverty-level incomes. Educational costs are becoming impossible and yet low education causes poverty. Single and abused women are more likely to be poor. Only about a third of disabled people are able to find work. Jesus brings good news for the poor, and he expects us to deliver it not just in words alone.