The Little Man

We were traveling in a small Midwestern town, when a crowd came out to meet us at the main street. Jesus had preaching through the area for a few weeks, and after some healings and other miracles he had started to catch quite a bit of attention,so it wasn't unusual to have people coming out to meet us at new locations. While we were coming in, Jesus suddenly looked up, pointed in the air and shouted, "You!" The rest of us looked to where Jesus was pointing, and there we saw a short, dirty looking and hairy bald man, who had apparently climbed up a telephone pole to see over the crowd. Still pointing, Jesus said "Zaccheus, come down here and walk with me, because tonight I want to have dinner at your house." The townspeople were looking confused, a few of them even looked disgusted at Jesus. Zaccheus came down and began to walk and talk with us, and we came to learn that he was the owner and operator of a strip club just outside of town. He admitted that he had been abusive to the women working for him, and that he often cheated them out if the money he owed them. He also regularly gave the drugs to keep them addicted and make it even more difficult for them to leave and find other lines of work. While the rest of us were shocked, it was clear by the way he responded that Jesus was not only surprised, be he'd already known about all of these things.

We went with Zaccheus to his club, where he also lived in a room above, and he had tables pulled together and he began to serve out food. He called all the women who worked for him, as well as many of his regular customers, and invited them all to come and join us for dinner. He served the food himself, and asked everyone to be seated, leaving him to serve everyone there, including these women who he'd been a monster to for years. He then announced to Jesus, where everyone could hear, "Today, this club is closed forever. I hereby give everything that I have back to those whom I took it from. The women who have worked for me, I hereby pay you not only what I've taken from you, but also three times over that amount. Today I swear that I will never raise my hand against someone, and I will never cheat or take anything that is isn't clearly mine." But the religious leaders were incensed that Jesus was there having dinner with strippers, drug dealers, alcoholics, prostitutes, and all of the other "scum" that were in that place.

Years later, I heard about Zaccheus. In the time after, he followed through on all of his promises. He'd closed his club and turned it into a soup kitchen for the hungry in the area. Later, he began to travel and raise money for halfway houses for battered women. He devoted the rest of his life to helping those he'd hurt. Unfortunately, that wasn't long. A few years after Jesus' Resurrection, Zaccheus came afoul of a man who he'd seen beating a woman outside a truck stop. Zaccheus stopped the man, but later found out he was a city councilman. A week later, Zaccheus was lynched by klansmen who showed up at his house.

MadMonkMinistries

So you may notice that the site's url has changed. On a whim, I bought the domain madmonkministries.org yesterday. I'm mostly just playing around with some web administration stuff, practicing setting up email service and probably going to try my hand at coding at some point later. For the time being, I've moved my personal blog to that domain, but eventually I'd like to try setting up some more formal stuff as I get into it. Keep checking back here for changes!

Friday night

It was the night after we arrived in D.C.,and the Passover, the holiday to celebrate our freedom and the end of foreign oppression, was coming. We hadn't really talked about it, but everyone assumed that Jesus was going to be doing something special for the celebration. In fact, we'd assumed it was most of the reason he'd had us drive to D.C. in the first place. We asked Jesus where he wanted to celebrate at, and He looked at James and John and told them to go to the east side of town, and a man would be unloading a delivery truck. They were supposed to tell him that the teacher wanted a place to celebrate the Meal at, and the man would show them the place. Sure enough, right after following Jesus' directions, they found a man unloading a truck, who happened to be a catering company manager, and he was able to set us up with a room, which was a larger space above his normal gathering hall. For the dinner, we were set up with cushions on the floor, seated around an only slightly raised table. The room was lit with candles, so it was still fairly dark when we sat down for dinner at sundown. We all sat around the table, and some of us had to lean against each other to stay up.(especially as we got drinking the wine later).

At first there was an awkward bit at the beginning. You see, traditionally, you’re supposed to have a servant come around and wash everyone’s feet before the dinner could begin, but we didn’t have a servant. When we rented the room, there was a large party already renting the hall downstairs, and the catering staff were all tied up down there. We sat around looking at each other, wondering who would get stuck with it, when Jesus got up. I figured he was going to walk over and ask James to take care of the washing. My brother James was the youngest of the group, and honestly he mostly just did gopher work most of the time anyways, so I was pretty sure Jesus was going to give him a hard time for not getting started earlier. Sure enough, Jesus went to the back of the room where a bin and some towels were set aside for the washing, then brought them over to where James was sitting. Then Jesus did something I absolutely was not expecting. He poured out water into the bin, got down on his knees, then he started washing James’ feet. The look on my brother’s face was something like what I was feeling. He looked horrified, embarrassed, and just about to jump out of his own skin. Jesus was not supposed to be doing this. He absolutely should not have been the one to wash ANYONE’s feet, let alone the youngest person among us.

That’s when Jesus took it to the next level. He finished up with James, and naturally, I assumed he’d hand the bin over to James to wash the next person’s feet. We’d all take turns, and it would be fair. No one was stuck in the servant’s position, and because Jesus started the chain, no one would have to be embarrassed by it. Instead of that very natural plan, one that I was sitting there feeling smug for figuring out what Jesus was doing, he instead did something completely against that. He was moving over to start washing the next person’s feet. Mine.

I was so caught up in my thoughts of trying to figure out Jesus’ intention, I hadn’t even noticed he’d moved over to the spot in front of me. He was pulling off my shoes, then tugging at my socks. I looked up at John and Peter, and sure enough they were looking just as freaked out as I was. Thomas was rocking back and forth in his seat like he was just about to jump up and start yelling at Jesus to get back in his seat so that someone else could take over. Judas just looked like a stone. His face was set like granite, not moving an inch. He stayed that way through the whole process, and I noticed even then that he didn’t make eye contact with Jesus the whole time he was getting his feet washed. Peter tried to start arguing at one point, but Jesus had simply said, “If you can’t let me do this, you can’t be a part of who I am” That shut us all up for good

Finally, it was all done, the bin and towels were put back, and Jesus returned to his seat in absolute silence. He looked around the room with this serious face and said, “Do you all understand what I’ve done here tonight? The world we’re building, the kind of life we’re going to make, it’s not about who’s the most powerful, or who sits in the seat of greatest honor. It’s about whether or not you’re willing to serve the person next to you. Whether you can put other people ahead of you.” He pointed at the wall almost angrily and continued, “Out there it’s all about ‘get yours.’ They tell you it’s a cut throat world, and you have to do whatever you can to get to the top, but that’s not what you’re going to do if you’re with me. If you’re with me, you’re going to feed the ones who can’t pay you back. You’re going to put clothes on the people who’d be naked otherwise. You’re going to watch out for those people that the rest of the world says they hate, or that they try to shut out, and you’re going to take care of them. If you’re going to belong to me, you’re going to get dirty. You’re going to get looked down upon, because you don’t belong to them. You’re not a part of their system. You aren’t going to keep the cycle of killing. of taking an eye for eye, going. You’re going to forgive. You’re going to love.”

We just kept staring at him. Some of us were glancing around, like we were wondering if someone else in the room was getting it, and maybe we were just the stupid ones. He kept going, getting weirder. “I am like a tree, and each of you are branches that grow off of me. I’ll hold you up and connect you to my father, who is the roots. The sun will shine down on us, and we’ll grown above the weeds and the dead things, to reach to the sky, and we can stand against anything. You don’t have to do the heavy lifting, that’s on me. I’m going to be lifted up, but the father will support me. I’m about to go, and where I’m going, you won’t be able to follow for now, but I’ll make a place for you there. My father’s house is huge, and there’s room for everyone there. We’re going to make this place ours. They’ll think they’re winning for a little while longer, but soon they’ll see.”

He looked around the room, with his eyebrows raised and his eyes wide, with this look on his face that said, “do you get it?” His hands held out and shaking. We were all just dumbfounded, like kids who, on the day of the final exam, realized they hadn’t studied, didn’t bring notes, and in fact that been attending the wrong classes lectures all along. Obviously frustrated, he sighed, dropped his hands-slapping them on his lap, and stood up. He went to get the food and came back. “It’s like this,” he said as he held up the food and wine, which he started passing around. This bread is my body, and this wine is my blood. When you take me, who I am,as part of you, you’re changed. You’re going to be finding out you’re a part of something new. I’m going to show you all something truly wonderful. But not all of you will see it.” On this last bit, he started to look sad.

“Sir, what do you mean? None of us are going to leave you at this point. We’re bought in” Thank goodness for Peter, because he was always willing to ask what the rest of us were thinking, but were just too scared of looking stupid to say it out loud.

Jesus looked around at all of us, thinking back now, I feel like he lingered on Judas for a while but maybe it was my imagination. Landing back at Peter, he said, “Peter, all of you are going to abandon me by morning”

Before anyone could respond, Pete was on his feet, flailing his arms, “That’s ridiculous! Never happen! I’m in man, I gave up on everything else to be here!”

Jesus said back to him, “Peter, by this time tomorrow, you’re going to lie three times and say you don’t even know me.” In the hushed silence that followed THAT statement, while the rest of us were still staring at Peter, Jesus finished passing around the food and wine, giving the last plate and glass to Judas. I briefly overheard him say, “I know what you’re going to do, it’s time to go do it.”

The next night, I kicked myself when I had thought back to that moment. I wished I’d looked up at what Jesus was doing, I wondered if I’d seen Judas’ face if I would have realized what was going on. Even knowing now that it was set to work out the way it did, I still wonder if I might have spotted something in his face. As it was, the rest of us didn’t even catch that something had happened until we looked back from staring at Peter to realize that Judas was leaving, tossing back the wine, but leaving his food untouched. He threw on his coat and ran out of the room. Now you have to realize, Judas was in charge of our money, so some of us just assumed that maybe he was running out to buy something for the dinner that had been forgotten earlier, or if he had something else he had to do that he and Jesus had discussed earlier. It’s a good thing that none of us put it together then, because we probably would have tossed him out of the window otherwise.

Later, when the food was eaten and the wine consumed, we left out into the night. I’m not sure how much we all drank that night, but I know for myself I’d had enough that all the confusion of earlier was forgotten. We were singing the traditional songs, blaring at the tops of our lungs into the night, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is Good, His mercy fights on forever!” Jesus lead us through the streets to a local park, where we could be alone. He said he wanted to pray. The rest of us didn’t notice at the time, but looking back I’m sure he was on edge. We all sat down on some benches, while he walked away deeper into the trees.I’m not sure how long he was gone praying when he came back. We’d all fallen asleep,(did I mention the wine?) but as I was waking up, I could see by his face that he’d been crying. He shouted that we couldn’t leave him, then turned around to go back to praying. We tried, we really did. Again, like I have so many times, I’m frustrated with myself that I couldn’t make the effort to keep awake for just a while longer, but it had been such a long day, and of course, none of us knew what was coming next.

Again, I don’t know how long we were asleep, but Jesus came back out, shaking us all awake, and saying to each of us, “it’s coming.” He looked up, and the last of us were standing up, just as a crowd of cops showed up with Judas.

That ...look, right now, even years later, as I’m describing this, the words that come to mind that I want to use to describe Judas are not at all polite or appropriate. I know we’re supposed to forgive, and I find myself teach every day that mercy is something we’re supposed to live by, but I just haven’t gotten to a point that I can forgive Judas yet, but I’m still praying about it.

Anyways, he walked up to Jesus and wrapped his arms around him, hugging him like they were old friends coming together after a long journey. We were all nervous, of course, the cops had their guns out, and no one knew what was going on. Jesus looked at Judas with this shocked and hurt expression and said, “Judas, is this how you betray me? Like a brother?” Judas, paused for only a moment before he put his arm around Jesus’ shoulders and turned to the officers and raised his hand. They came forward, and one of them started to put hand cuffs on Jesus.

“Oh HELL no!” Peter pulled out a switchblade, and James and John both raised their fists. Peter jumped forward and took a swipe at one of the cops, blood splashed out, and the cops had their guns raised.

“STOP!” Jesus’ voice rang out, his hands, one of the wrists dangling a pair of cuffs from them were lifted up. We all froze, the cops too. It was like he had everything centered on him for just one moment. It was a moment in time frozen in ice, and Jesus stepped forward. The sheriff’s deputy Peter had tried to kill was holding his hands to his face and head, blood pouring out, there was a piece of ear on the ground. Jesus bent over to grab the ear, then put his hand to the officer’s face. It was just a second that their eyes met, and the blood stopped. When Jesus stepped back, I could see dried blood on the man’s face, but his ear and the rest of him was fine, not even a scratch, looking at us, he said, “That’s not how we work.” The weapons were put away, eyes went down. Then Jesus turned to the rest of the cops and said, “Why are you here?”

Two men in suits came forward, “You’re under arrest for charges relating to terrorism and treason. You’re coming with us.”

Jesus looked around, holding out his hands, “I teach everyday out in public, where everyone can see, why didn’t you arrest me then? Why come here in the middle of the night while I’m alone? You get tonight, while it’s dark, but the morning is coming, and you’re going to have to face the dawn.” The man in the suit who’d spoken rolled his eyes and waved his hands at the uniformed officers, they finished handcuffing Jesus and started to walk away. For a moment, we were all expecting to be arrested too, but it was like we weren’t even there, they ignored us completely.

After that, it moved fast. Jesus was taken into custody, we weren’t able to follow, but someone said a court was already formed to hear the charges, he wouldn’t be tried in public due to “national security,” but he was arraigned. He refused to enter a plea, so the judge entered not guilty on his behalf. After that, he was taken to some hotel, which at first we couldn’t figure out  since we’d expected him to go to jail, but Thomas had an old law school friend who was working as a staffer in congress who let him know that several senators, cabinet members, and others had been called for a late night conference. It looked like they were questioning Jesus, and he was going to be facing a full trial soon. We all hopped in a van and drove over there. We couldn’t all get in, but Thomas’ friend was able to Thomas, Peter, John, and myself into the lobby, where several other staffers were waiting around. There were armed guys in suits walking around, and they kept looking at us in a way that was getting us really nervous. There were closed circuit tvs set up, watching the session. It looked like they were trying to decide exactly what Jesus was going to be charged with. The senators and whatnot were all sitting at a long table, and they kept bringing up different witnesses. One tried claiming that Jesus had been encouraging them to make bombs, another was saying that he’d been telling people to set government buildings on fire. Thomas’ staffer friend shook his head and mentioned something about paid informants being worthless.

Finally, one of the senators looked at Jesus and asked him if he had anything to say. Jesus sat there quietly. Another man started talking, went on about how they were just trying to get to the truth, that Jesus just had to give his side of the story. They asked him if he was really trying to lead a rebellion, or if he’d encouraged others to overthrow the government. While we were watching, one of the women staffers asked if we were with a representative's office, or if we were friends of Jesus. I wasn't sure how to answer, but Peter quickly responded that we were with Representative Brown's office, and then pointed at the screen showing Jesus and made a snort/laughing gesture. She gave him a weird look, but left us alone.

"Figured there had to be a representative Brown somewhere," was all Peter had to say to us when she finally walked away.

Back on the screens, Jesus was responding. “I am not here to lead you. My kingdom is going to show up, and my father will take this world back, but this isn’t my father’s kingdom yet, otherwise you wouldn’t have been able to bring me here. You’re just playing at the wind, but the storm is coming, and it’s going to bring a new rain, and feed a new harvest.”

“This is ridiculous, I think we’ve heard enough” The man sitting in the middle of the table said. He waved his hand, and a man in a suit, his jacket just barely hiding his gun holster, came oable to bring me here tonight. You're fighting against the wind, but there's a storm coming, and it's bringing a rain to raise a new harvest, while you're going to be left for the trash pile."

The man seated at the center of the table waved his hand in the air, and the microphone Jesus was using suddenly cut out. "I think we've heard enough. If you can't be respectful of this committee, I'm afraid there's nothing we can do for you." Two armed men came forward to take Jesus. Meanwhile, a man in a suit who's jacket just barely hid his gun holster leaned over to whisper to the lead senator. After a few moments, he motioned to the armed guards and they lead Jesus out of the room. Thomas' friend turned to tell us that they were moving Jesus to a holding facility, and he could get us a seat with the caravan as long as we could pretend to be office assistants. John was definitely not going to pass, but Peter and I could probably come along. We went outside and got into a big passenger van that all the switched out to look like a mobile conference room. The news was on, and they'd started running the story of Jesus' arrest with full storm. They had clips of the whole mess at the church building playing, and had even gotten an interview with Jesus' brother talking about how Jesus had always been "troubled" as a kid, and that maybe he could finally get the treatment he obviously needed. (Fun note, the brother came over to our side later, and he tells the story of that interview to this day as a part of his testimony about Jesus) The press was playing the "Jesus is a crazy dangerous loner" angle to the hilt, but nevermind that they'd been discussing him as a candidate for president just the week before.

The van pulled out of the parking lot, and started to follow a whole host of vans and trucks. Thomas’ friend mentioned that Jesus was in the back of a humvee up closer to the front, riding with a group of soldiers. We drove for a while, and the group in the van settled into conversation, mostly about some couple in the office who’d been caught in a closet together at a party the week before. We didn’t say much to join in, so some guy in a shirt and tie with a jaw that screamed “all state quarterback” looked up and asked us which office we were with, but before we could answer, he shifted gears and asked us if we were, you know, with “him” motioning up towards the truck where Jesus sat. Again, Peter was the fast thinker who hurriedly mentioned we were from the Chicago office, then asked if anyone had heard about Deborah. This launched into a whole nother discussion of gossip, and Pete gave me that look that showed he had it under control.

It was about ten minutes after that we realized we’d passed the facility where they were supposed to be taking Jesus. Quarterback guy started to ask when the guard driving the van just said, “detour” in a tone that also said “don’t ask questions. We left the city limits and just kept driving into the night. I tried to think how long it had been since the garden, and before that dinner. A few hours? It felt like days. And it didn’t help that this “detour” was tying my guts into knots.

It took a bit, but we eventually turned down a series of side roads, until we started to slow down on a dirt road. I saw a bonfire with figures standing around. It wasn’t until we stopped that I finally saw the thing that made everything inside me freeze.

The people standing around were wearing robes and white hoods.

After we stopped, the guard driving  turned to us and shouted, “stay here” while he got out. We could see out the window that they were gathering up ahead around of the humvee. For a moment, we thought the guards were going to keep the mob from getting to Jesus, then we saw them, the sheriff’s deputies, the guys in suits, the soldiers, they were all pulling on the white hoods. That was then they brought Jesus out. The dragged him over to the fire. The crowd was gathered around to watch, so Peter and I got out. They were taking Jesus’ clothes from him, passing them back, dividing up his things, like they were trophies to be kept to remember the evening by. One of the guards pushed him to the ground, and they all started kicking him, his shoulders, stomach, head, everywhere they could get a good hit in. Finally, one of them picked him up by the hair, and dragged him over to a tree stump, bending him over it and tying his hands. Someone else brought out a freaking whip, which it looked like was studded for a second, until we got closer I could see it had razor blades and fish hooks shoved in various spots. They started beating Jesus with it, taking turns to see who could get in the best shot. Pieces of skin came off, wet and red with blood, then hunks of flesh followed, his back muscles torn bit by bit. Someone started passing out beer. It was like they were having a party.

Just when I thought it could get any worse, someone started backing up a pickup truck, then came out with some rope. At first, I thought they were going to drag Jesus through the field with the truck, then I saw their plan. They tied a noose up, then put it around his neck as they made him stand on the back of the truck bed. The rope was pulled taught on a tree branch, and the truck’s engine was revved loudly. The drunken hooded crowd started to cheer, as broken bottles were thrown at Jesus. One of the guards turned and did a double take as he noticed us standing behind them. He pointed at us and shouted to get back in the van, just as someone else, I think the woman from earlier, started to say that we were friends of Jesus. A few other armed and cloaked heads turned our way, guns started to angle up. Again, Peter jumped to action, “No way. Not with that guy. Then Peter picked up a clod of dirt and threw it in Jesus’ direction. It was at that second that Jesus looked at us, and he met Peter’s eyes. That was all we could take. We went back to the van.

As we were walking back, we heard the crowd begin counting down from ten. We turned back, just in time to see the truck pull away, leaving Jesus hanging from the tree.

Lazarus

Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were good people. When we were out on the road, their house was one place that we always knew we could stop at, it was the closest we had to home in those days. Mary was the perfect hostess, remembering not only everyone's name(a bit of a feat when you consider how many of us there were sometimes) but she remembered every conversation we'd had with her and could follow up at the drop of a hat, despite there sometimes being months between our visits. Mary loved to read, and I usually had a book or two on me while we travelled, so she'd always pushing me for reading suggestions, and inevitably would have four or five to suggest herself. She'd remember what I'd been reading the last time she'd seen me, and she'd make sure to have read it too, almost like it was just to have an excuse to talk about it with me. This would have been impressive enough, but she did it with everyone. Thomas was a huge soccer fan, and she always knew about any recent big games to talk to him about, while she was the only person on earth I think who cared about those weird indi albums Phillipe was listening to. Heck, she's the only person I'd ever met who could genuinely make Judas smile.

Martha was Mary's opposite. She was quiet, and I barely ever heard her speak, but I swear to you, we would all would have been dead in less than a year if it hadn't been for her. She had been a nurse at some point, and even served in the army for a while. She made sure we were always in one piece and gave us all full check ups when we stopped in. What's more important was that she listened. There's something about her that no matter what was on your mind or bothering you, it would come out within mere minutes of meeting Martha. Mary always had something to say, Martha just had to look at you. She knew exactly how to make you feel better too. She could cook like no other, and I swear she put something truly addictive in her pies. She did our laundry, mended our clothing, and basically was our mom at every opportunity.

Both of them lived with their older brother Lazarus. He'd been in the service for years, and had stories that could entertain anyone. At some point he'd been married, but his wife had passed away. He'd invited them to come stay with him after that. Who was taking care of who depended entirely on who you asked and who else was listening at the time.

So when we'd heard that Lazarus was sick, we'd all immediately began packing up, thinking we'd be there before nightfall. But Jesus said we weren't going. At first, I thought it was going to be another one of those distance healing things, like with the city councilman's daughter, but Jesus never said anything about it. We were camping out at some highway rest stop in Indiana at the time, and it seemed like we were just killing time. Jesus had a few healings come up, but nothing spectacular, and certainly no crowds were there. It wasn't a major through point, and a sizeable truck stop up the road ensured that it wasn't even a necessary bathroom stop for most. Then, after a week, Jesus suddenly started packing up and announced we were leaving. Lazarus needed us to wake him up. John looked at him like he'd stated we had to go was Lazarus' car. It might be a favor you'd do for a friend next door, but not drive across the state for it. "Why not just let him sleep?"

Jesus looked up as if he'd remembered to grab an extra pair of shoes and said, "Because he's dead, and I'm going to show you something awesome" We finished packing up and got in the road, but I don't think anyone said anything for hours after that. Just pointed looks and head tilts whenever Jesus was thought to not be looking. What was going on?

When we arrived, I knew Jesus had been right. You don't get that many black cars out front of a house without threatening the president. It was a wake for sure. Lots of hushed voices in the front room, and piles of flowers and cards by the door. In the kitchen were rows of casserole dishes and plastic forks. It had the awful feeling of an awkward high school graduation party for someone you barely knew. Martha, of course, was busy trying to sort everyone out, and trying to get bags, coats, and cars directed to where they needed to go.  Mary, though, had me freaked out. She looked like she was barely keeping it together, not saying a word as we all filed in and said our condolences. Then Jesus walked in last. She ran out of the room, then out of the house. She got as far as the back yard, when Jesus, following slowly, finally called out to her saying her name.

She stopped and looked back at him, a face full of rage and pain, her eyes were wet, and her cheeks swollen from held back sobs. The rest of us stayed inside, watching like voyeurs through the back house windows, like we knew we shouldn't have been watching, but couldn't think of anything else we could do. Instead, we watched in anticipation of what they'd say to each other.

After a few moments of tense silence, Mary said angrily, "You could have saved him. If you'd shown up for just one second when we needed you, when I needed you, you could have done it. But what now? I know you could do anything if you just said it. What would bring the world to an end if you asked it? What have I got left to give you? She finally let the tears and the sobs go. Her head dropped, her shoulders sagged, and she just shook. Jesus walked up and put his arms around her. After a few minutes, he started crying too. It was hard to see him cry, like there was something more to it. I think as long as I live, even with all the other things I've seen and done, I'll never forget that night, watching Jesus and Mary cry together. At some point, I saw Martha standing just to the side of them. I never saw her walk up, so fixed in the other two I'd been watching, she was just there. After a bit, Jesus looked up and saw her. He reached out to hug her too, but she just fixed him with this look that said,  "Well?" Jesus met her eyes for a few seconds, and then said, loud enough that I knew he was talking to us, despite never breaking eye contact with Martha, "Let's go to the cemetery."

It took a bit to get us all loaded in, especially when the other visitors in the house saw us all going out to the cars with Mary and Martha, assuming we were taking them somewhere else to grieve, and no one could decide who was close enough family to be invited along. We were on our way, but when we got there, other cars had somehow beaten us there. We made straight for the mausoleum where Lazarus was being stored. As we all got out, Jesus looked at Martha and said, "You know your brother isn't gone forever?"

"I know he'll be back at the resurrection." she muttered.

"I am the resurrection," Jesus replied, but he said it in a way that made it feel like a whole conversation with just those words. He looked back at the mausoleum and said, "open it up"

Martha ran forward to say that it was too late, it had been days since he'd died, and the smell would have been too much. Jesus pushed on though, and as the doors were automatic sliders, leaving him standing just outside. He stood for a moment, and then shouted "Lazarus, come out!"

It was a few very long moments of tense doubt as we stood there in the silence Jesus' words left, when slowly, out of the dark if the tomb, out stumbled Lazarus. Slowly, but alive. It was an amazing moment, and everyone was smiling. I couldn't believe it myself, but the smile on my face died when I saw the looks on the faces of the religious leaders who were there.

Their faces stopped me cold. Because I swear to you, they looked like death

Caught

One night, Jesus was teaching in the town square, when a group of men came dragging a woman. She'd been beaten and and looked torn.

"This woman has killed her unborn child. She is a murderess, and we'd like to hang her at a tree as a warning to others, what do you say, Jesus?"

The gathered crowd looked back and forth between the men holding the woman, and Jesus. They waited to see what he would do or say. Instead, he bent down to pick something up. It was a can of spray paint someone had left behind. He began to idly draw something on the sidewalk. I couldn't see what it was from where I was standing.

After several silent and tense minutes went by, where the only sound that could be heard was the woman sobbing, of the the men finally shouted, "WELL?!"

Jesus calmly looked up, like he'd been waiting for them, and said, "Whichever one of you have never sinned, you can be the first one to hang the rope."

A stunned silence came over the scene, even the woman sat silently. One by one, the group of men dropped away, starting with the oldest. Finally, the man who had shouted at Jesus, and was still holding the woman by the hair, looked around, realized he was alone, and stormed away, spitting as he did.

Jesus walked over to the woman, took her by the hand, and helped her up. He looked her in the eye with this expression that I don't think I could ever describe properly. It was something of love and sadness, but so deep it almost made me weep. He said to her, "My daughter, who still accuses you?"

She looked around, almost confused, she scanned the audience, and no one would meet her eye. She looked back to Jesus, and she looked like she was trying to speak, but then started to cry again, shaking her head no. Jesus took her by the shoulders, looked at her until her eyes met his, and he said, "No go and sin no more."

Late Night Visitation

Late one night, after most of us had gone to bed, a man named Nicodemus, who was a high ranking official in the federal government, came to visit Jesus. He didn't mince words.

"Look, there's a group of us who think that you're the real thing, but we're not going to stick our necks out for just anybody. We have to know for sure that you're not going to pull us into some mess. The last thing we need is for the governors to start making excuses to have people disappear into black bags never to be heard from again."

Several of us were still sitting around. Peter, James, John, and myself. I think they were trying to get some time in to ask Jesus some stuff about what he'd said earlier in the day. Me, I just couldn't sleep. Regardless of why we were up, Jesus' reply left us more than a little confused.

"The only people who will make it in my new Kingdom are the ones who are babies. Idiot kids and layabouts."

Nicodemus looked at us, like maybe we were in on some joke Jesus was playing. Understandably enough, I guess, but we were just as confused as he was.

"I... don't understand, are you saying you're going to start some child army? Like the guys in Africa and South America?"

Jesus did something that I hadn't really seen him do much yet (he'd seem to get a little more free with it as time went on). He rolled his eyes.

"No. I mean the only way you're going to get in on this is if you're starting over. You're in on the foundation. There's a hurricane coming, and it's going to go where it goes. You can either be a child of the wind, or you can be the old buildings."

"I don't get it" (heck, WE didn't get it, and we were supposed to be the core circle)

Jesus slapped his hands on his knees and let out a breath that was half growl and half laugh. "You're supposed to be a teacher and a leader, and you don't get these basic things? I'm talking to you about things you should know, and see everyday. I'm trying to put it in words you can understand, and you're not even meeting me halfway. If I can't talk to you about things of this Earth, things that you would see on the news, how are you going to understand if I start talking about things of Heaven? If I go so far as to tell you that the Son of Man must be lifted up, just like Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, I'm showing you my hand and trying to let you in on God's plan, but I honestly don't think you'd get it."

Nicodemus didn't stay much longer, and when he left, I think he was even more frustrated than when he'd shown up. I've got to give it to him, though, later when things got real tough, he was one who stepped up when we would have least expected it.

Looking back though, I finally understand what Jesus was saying that night. He was talking about change. The world wasn't going to be the same. God had given us his own son, and while we were just thinking it was going to be a new prophet, it was like the storm of heaven, and anyone who was willing to sign up would get in on the ground floor, experiencing a whole new life.

The Twelve: The Samaritan

One day, Jesus was in the town square, teaching and a group of religious leaders and activists had shown up to harass and question him. One of them in the crowd stood up and asked, "What is the most important command that someone should obey to be a follower of God?" Several people in the crowd murmured, because this was a blatantly simple question.

Jesus responded, "How do you read the law?"

The man answered, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

Jesus then said, "Correct, do this and you will walk with God."

Trying to justify his seemingly simplistic question, the man then followed up with, "But who is my neighbor? Do I only have to love the people living next to me? Or everyone on the block? What about people from the next city over, or a different state?"

Jesus looked at the man for a long moment. The man was wearing a basic suit, but well pressed. He had a dark red silk tie on, with a small golden tie pin, in which was set black stone and a sliver of what appeared to be a diamond. His Bible was well worn from carrying, but still carried its rich leather binding and the gold edging to the pages. After the pause, Jesus said "Once there was a white businessman who was driving overnight from Columbus to Chicago. While travelling, his car broke down at the side of the highway in the middle of the night in Indiana, surrounded by cornfields. He attempted to flag down a passing driver for help, but the driver who stopped beat him unconscious and robbed him of his belongings, leaving him bleeding in a ditch to die.

The first person to then pass was a preacher who was travelling for a revival festival scheduled the next day. Seeing only the abandoned car with the hazard lights flashing, the preacher thought to himself,"I can't stop to help, I might be late for my meetings in the morning. But I'll remember to pray for them when I get there."

The next person to pass was a state senator, on his way to speak at a fundraiser. Seeing the abandoned car, the senator thought to himself, "What a shame. People should be responsible for getting their own cars towed by a service, rather than relying on the government to take care of it for them. It's another example of failing society I'll remember to mention to my supporters tomorrow."

Finally, a battered Uhaul truck stopped. In the back was a large group of illegal immigrants, travelling as migrant farm workers. The brought the man into their truck, treated him with first aid and gave him warm clothing. They took him to the nearest hospital for treatment, and took a collection of what little money they had to pay for the man's treatments and ensure he would be fed and housed until he could be back on his feet."

Jesus paused for another moment, then looking at the man, asked, "Who was his neighbor?"

The man questioning Jesus screwed up his face in an apparent state of disgust and said, "The... ones who took care of him." It was apparent by the look on the man's face that instead of "the ones" he'd almost intended to use another word. 

Jesus looked over the whole crowd and said, "Go and do likewise."

Later, as we were walking through the mall, a man called out to Jesus, "teacher, help me!"

Jesus, and all of us walking with him, turned to look at the man, who was laying propped up against the wall with a sign saying "please give money for food." The man had open sores all over his skin, and his legs were bent under him at an awkward and painful angle. Later, Simon told me that the sores must have been from drug use, the man had obviously been using something that damaged his immune system. Even without that, at the time, I could see the self evident track marks on the man's arms. 

Jesus walked over to the man and said, "What would you have me do?"

The man replied, "heal me, please."

Jesus, looking at the man said, "get up, put aside your sign, and walk." Shakily, the man slowly stood, setting his sign to the side. He looked down in apparent shock at his legs and I realized that he hadn't been able to walk in some time. As he stood there, trembling, I saw the sores on his skin slowing going away, his skin taking on a healthier glow, and the man was shaking with deep, broken sobs, tears coming down the sides of his face. Jesus embraced him and said, "Son, your sins are forgiven. Come and walk with me"

Blessed are We

A prayer for today, based on Matthew 5:3-12

Lord Jesus, we thank you for your presence today.

Father God, we come to you in a desire to know you more deeply

Holy Spirit pray with us now.

Let us be poor in spirit,

    So that we may live in the kingdom of heaven.

Be with us as we mourn,

    For by you will we be comforted.

Teach us to be meek,

    As we inherit the earth.

Give us a hunger and thirst for righteousness,

    for by you will we be filled.

Show us how to be merciful,

    for then will we be shown mercy.

Make us pure in heart,

    So that we will better see You

Give us the heart of peacemakers,

    For we are children of God.

 Walk with us as we are persecuted because of righteousness,

    For we are citizens of the kingdom of heaven.

Give us your heart when people insult us, persecute us and falsely say all kinds of evil against us because of  You.  Teach us to rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward for us in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the You before us here on earth.

In all ways, give us Your heart and Your guidance. Teach us first to love and serve our neighbor as ourselves, and to love you with all of our heart, soul and mind.

Amen

Begin Here Week 2 Discussion Guides

The following is a rough draft of a small group discussion guide I wrote for my local church for a series entitled "Recalculating." Original messages can be found at vineyardchristian.org/media/2015-messages

Begin Here
Seeing where it all began

There’s joke, credited to the writer Micheal Giordano, that goes like this.

A new ambassador for the country of Norway to the United States is appointed to

his position in the late fall. While he was a politician in his home country, he had

very little international experience and had never served as an ambassador before.

One day he received a call on his cell phone from a New York Times reporter who

asked what he wanted for Christmas. The ambassador politely explained that he

could not accept gifts in his position, in case it may seem like bribery. The reporter

ended the call with a confused tone. Two days later the reporter called back and

asked the same question, again, the ambassador declined the offer.  Finally, the

following day, the reporter called a final time, this time, the ambassador stated he

would take a fruit bowl. After all, who would be upset over a fruit bowl? Besides, he

felt rude turning the man down so many times. Again, the reporter sounded

confused, and asked the ambassador if he was sure that was what he wanted, and

the ambassador assured him it was. The following day, the New York Times ran the

following story:

What the foreign ambassadors here want for Christmas

During a few hectic days, I've been calling all the embassies here, and asking the ambassadors

what they want for Christmas. This is the result.

Great Britain. Good economic welfare.

Western Germany. Even better east-west relations

France. Free trade between Europe and USA.

Switzerland. Better European cooperation, and better US relations.

Sweden. End of the starvation in the third world.

Belgium. Better environmental care.

Norway. A fruit bowl.

Icebreaker discussion: If you were selected as the ambassador of the United 

States to a foreign country, what do you think would be the first thing you’d do 

to introduce yourself?  Think of a country you’ve always wanted to visit. If you 

met them ambassador for that country, what do you think they’d be like?

We’re going to be talking today about what it means to be God’s representative, his 

“image” or ambassador on Earth.  How does this affect the way we view ourselves? 


How should it affect the way we treat others? And how should it affect the way we

approach the world around us?

Let’s start with prayer:

Father God, you’ve given us the awesome responsibility of being your 

representation here on earth. As we meet together tonight, tear down any walls 

of understanding that might be in place to let us look at this in a fresh light. 

Take away our assumptions and our prejudices and replace them with your 

truth. Help us to see the truly glorified dignity that we have been given through 

you and how it’s rescued in your Son Jesus. Amen

The opening chapters of Genesis are incredibly interesting, but there are some

things about it that we may not see when we’re reading in the English translations

that most of us use today. When it’s read by someone in the original Hebrew, some

really interesting patterns begin to develop, namely that these chapters were

originally written in a poetic method. Hebrew as a language in poetry was less

concerned with rhyming words together so much as ideas. That’s why when we read

Psalms or Proverbs, we find things either repeated or contrary thoughts stated

together. For example Proverbs 19:5 says “A false witness will not go unpunished,

and whoever pours out lies will not go free.” This is interesting when we compare

Genesis 1 and 2, which list the order of creation. Some people reading in the English

might think there’s a contradiction here. In Genesis 1, it lists all of creation, with

human beings coming last, but then Genesis 2 lists Adam first, then all other animals

followed by Eve. A Hebrew reader, however, knows that this is actually due to the

construction of the poem of the verses. Don’t forget, the chapter breaks and

numbers that we use for reference were added much later on and were not an

original part of the verses, so while they are helpful, the text is often meant to be

read straight through rather than stopping at some of these artificial breaks. So

when you read these passages together in the Hebrew mindset, you see this as a

great epic poem that builds and then recedes like a mountain, with the creation of

human beings at the top. (remember, until Eve is separated from Adam, he is

actually a representation of all humans, both male and female)

So the story of Creation is a story about a special place in it for human beings that’s

been set aside by God. We are considered the rulers of this world, as His

representatives, but what kind of rulers are we? That’s ultimately the question we

have to answer, how are we taking care of the possession we’ve been given. There’s

a parable that Jesus tells in the Gospels that often gets used by teachers as an

illustration regarding talents or finances, but let’s read this together and consider

how God might see this regarding our place as his representatives as rulers of this

creation. [leaders, ask a volunteer to read the following verses or take turns if

more comfortable]

“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted 

his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to 

another one bag,[a] each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.  The 

man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and 

gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more.  But the 

man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s 

money.

“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with 

them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ 

he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’

 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with 

a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s 

happiness!’

“The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with 

two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’

 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with 

a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s 

happiness!’

“Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that 

you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you 

have not scattered seed.  So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. 

See, here is what belongs to you.’

“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have 

not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?  Well then, you should have put 

my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received 

it back with interest.

“‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags.  For 

whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not 

have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant 

outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Discussion question: How do you think God will see the way we humans have 

used the Creation He gave us? How do you think He’ll respond to your 

individual actions?



How we treat the world around us is a crucial part of the Good News of the Kingdom

of God, in Romans 8:19-21, Paul writes recognizing that it’s not just individuals, but

all of Creation that will be remade by the work of Jesus.

“For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For

the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the

one who subjected it, in hope  that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage

to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.”

This is God’s Kingdom at work, and as His image, we have a great part in it!

Finally, the fact that we are created in God’s image and our relationship with

Creation has another consequence. It affects how we view ourselves each other.

Each of us is formed by God, made in His image. Consider the following verses:

Psalm 139:13 “For you created my inmost being;

    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.”

And

Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

    before you were born I set you apart;

    I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

When we recognize that all of Creation is a gift from God, and that human beings are

set as the ruler of that Creation, we have to recognize that we, too, are a part of that

Creation! What’s more, as the image of God, we have a responsibility for how we

view ourselves and our fellow humans. Look around the room, imagine that god is

someone who is the ultimate original from which each of us is made. How does this

affect your view of God? Ultimately, how does this affect the way we see each other?

Discussion Question: When we consider that we are all created in the image of 

God, how does this affect, or should affect our marriages? Our dating life? How 

should the way you interact with your boss or co-workers be defined by this? 

Think about some of the news stories that Barry mentioned. When you consider the

way that the weak and helpless are often treated in our world, what is the place for

those of us who know that we are all created in the image of God when dealing with

these issues? It should be noted, Christians are not the only ones who try to serve

others. Right now in downtown Cincinnati, there is a group of anarchist activists

that are giving out donations of food and clothes to the homeless. While it’s certainly

true that there are Christians who are members of this group, it’s also true that a

large number of the group are not Christians. They aren’t caring for the homeless

because they know that they’re made in the image of God, but because they care

about their fellow human beings. These actions alone are not the Good News of the

Bible, but on the surface it might look like it.


Imagine you could travel anywhere in the world instantly. First you go to the shore

of one of the Great Lakes, maybe Lake Superior or Lake Erie. Everywhere you look,

you see water, stretching off to the horizon. When you look to either side of you, you

see the shore running off in the distance. You may see seagulls flying along, and

swimmers going out into the waves. Boats will almost certainly be in view, and they

may be of a variety of sizes. Now, imagine you could travel then to the shore of the

pacific ocean. Again, you see the water, stretching as far as you can see. The shore,

seagulls, and boats are there too. On the surface, the two places look very much the

same. If you did some digging, you’d certainly start to come across clues as to where

you are, but the initial impression is quite likely to be the same. But the ocean is

different. Hiding beneath its waves is the largest body of water on earth. There are

whales in there, and sharks, and microscopic creatures that are responsible for most

of the air we breathe. The ocean has depth. When you look on the surface, some

actions can look very much like the Kingdom of God. The sick are cared for, the

homeless are fed, but there is a heart that’s missing. It doesn’t have the same Why.

At the same time, there are vibrant churches you can go to. People show up every

Sunday to worship and pray. Some might wear crosses as jewelry, and say “God

bless you” in conversation. But they would be disgusted at the idea of caring for a

homeless person, or helping to feed someone diseased and dying. They may know

the Why, but they fail to Act.


This combination of the Why  and Action is shown throughout scriptures. Jesus said

to the Pharisees, Matthew 23:23  "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you 

hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cumin. But you have 

neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You 

should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.” The Pharisees were

highly religious people, they went to temple, they prayed, they tithed, but they’d

forgotten their place as God’s image. They’d failed to care for the Creation around

them that included their fellow human beings. Let’s consider the following verses

from James 2:14-19

 “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no 

deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and 

daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does 

nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?  In the same way, faith by itself, if 

it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You 

believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.”

Discussion Question: Knowing what we know about ourselves as the image of 

God and His ambassadors to Creation, how do we act on this in a way that 

shows the depth we have in our Why? What will set us apart from others who 

also want to take care of those in need?

Let’s close in prayer

God, we thank you for your gift of Creation. We pray for your strength as we look for

ways to serve our purpose. Help us to see others through your eyes. Help us to do

them same when looking at ourselves. Let us see your image. And let us treat it with

the dignity it deserves. Amen.


January 17th and 18th

Original Teaching by Barry Long

Facilitation Guide by James Scott

Begin Here part 1

The following is a rough draft of a small group discussion guide I wrote for my local church for a series entitled "Recalculating." Original messages can be found at vineyardchristian.org/media/2015-messages

We’re going to start by playing a quick game. I’m going to read a few famous names and I want you to try and name their places of birth.
Abraham Lincoln Answer: Hodgenville, Kentucky
Gene Simmons (musician) Answer: Haifa, Israel
J.R.R. Tolkein (writer) Answer: Bloemfontein, South Africa
Nicki Minaj (musician) Answer: Saint James, Trinidad and Tobego
Steve Jobs(Founder of Apple Computers) Answer: San Francisco, California
Thurgood Marshall (justice of the Supreme Court) Answer:  Baltimore, Maryland
Stefani Germanotta (musician known as Lady Gaga) Answer: New York, New York
George S Patton (US Army General) Answer: San Gabriel, California
Edger Allen Poe (poet and writer) Answer: Boston, Massachusetts
Superman (Superman) Answer: Krypton

Icebreaker discussionIf you were to describe where you came from(your hometown or your family) in one word, what would it be?
When we talk about who we are, we often have to start with where we came from. On a first date you talk about your family or your hometown, while in a job interview you talk about your work history. When we talk about God and the Universe, we talk about The Beginning. The Bible isn’t just a collection of random books and sayings, it’s a huge interconnected story about God and the world we live in, so when we talk about where to start, we start at Genesis

Let’s start with prayer:
Lord, you created the heavens and the earth, and you also made us. We thank you for the chance to get to know you better, to experience your wisdom and your power. We thank you for the opportunity to understand our beginnings and our place in the world. Open our hearts and eyes to the wonder you have in store, and help use realize the blessings you have in place in your creation. –Amen

A quote that Barry gave this week is a great place to start when we talk about why we read Genesis. "Genesis is not about how things were, but how things always are" –Leonardo Kass. There are a lot of things that we can say about the world we live in. It’s certainly far from a perfect place, and we’ll be learning more in the next few weeks about exactly how things got broken.

In the spring of 1876, the Saint Pancras Renaissance Hotel was opened in London. At 300 rooms, gold leaf on the walls, and the most cutting edge in late 1800’s technology, the hotel was a huge expense for the builders, but an amazing sight to behold. However, the hotel closed in 1935 as the expense of running the huge establishment, as well as the fact that it’s interior workings were no longer up to the current expectations of the public(personal restrooms were not in style when it was first built, but quickly became the norm in the following 50 years) The building fell into disuse and disrepair, developing a reputation to be haunted, largely inspired by the pitiful broken walls and shambling roof.  In the 1980’s, the building was shut down entirely  for failing fire and safety codes. If you were to look at the building from the outside, you would likely assume it was a worthless dump, and think that it could be moved away to make room for more parking, or a more efficient building.

However, in 2004, a group began to work to rebuild the hotel. They found the beauty of the original frame and vaulted ceilings. At huge expense, the building was revitalized and brought back to life. Now it stands as a premier 5 star hotel in London, and it’s interior is an example of some of the most gorgeous architecture in that major city.

When we look at the world around us, it’s easy to have our eyes drawn to the pain and brokenness that exists. It’s easy to think sometimes why does anyone bother with wanting to take care of the world around us when it is so broken and shambled. But we have to look at it’s core. What’s inside, what’s its foundation? When we know where the world comes from, that it originates as God’s creation, we can learn to look for the beauty He has placed inside. True, we can also see where things have gone wrong, but we can also see where it can be fixed.(And really, that’s what the Bible, Jesus, and Christianity is all about, God fixing what’s gone wrong in His creation, and how he’s inviting us to take part!)

Discussion question: When you consider that the world around us is God’s creation, what are the things that come to mind? How do you react to the idea of God as the source of existence? When you consider that God saw the trees , oceans, animals, and sky and said “It is good” what do you consider the natural reaction? Is this a struggle? Why?

Have you ever visited a building site? Maybe it was a house being built, or a new business. I get excited whenever I see a building site in my neighborhood. I always want to get nosey about what’s going to be going in there. Maybe it’s a new restaurant, or a new place to hangout. Maybe a store that will sell something I really like, or maybe it’s something boring but necessary like a bank or a post office. One way to tell what’s going to be built is to look at its foundation. You might be able to tell how big the building is, or if you know more about construction you can see how many rooms will be in the building. The foundation tells you a lot about what is to come. In Genesis chapter 1 we see God as the foundation of creation at every step. In Genesis 1:2, we have a phrase in the Hebrew  “Tohu wa bohu” (תֹ֙הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ) which gets translated in the NIV as “formless and empty,” while other translations use words like “the void” or “Chaos.” Think of this like a wild and huge ball of clay. The rest of the creation story is about God bringing order to that chaos, forming existence like an artist might form clay on a wheel. God has His very specific plan for creation, building to something that He considers to be great. (I promise, we’ll be getting into that more later) The fact that all of creation, including us, comes from God, tells us something fundamental about that creation. Again, we know that things are broken, we know that things in this world are not perfect, but we also know where we came from. Some of us may come from what might be referred to by some as “broken homes.” We may have grown up with serious disadvantages or painful relationships with our parents. There may be pain and injury in our past, but that’s not where we ultimately come from. Our true source, our “First Cause” is God. Just like the hotel that at one point looked broken and destroyed from the outside, we have a chance to get back to where we first came from, our first source, God. And that’s the story the Bible, and Jesus, and every day the Holy Spirit, is telling us.

Discussion Question: How does considering God as your creator change the way that you think about yourself? How should you change the way your see yourself knowing that God is your creator?

In the Hebrew tradition, this nature of the universe as a creation of God, has a deeply central point in the way they see the world. This has carried over for us as Christians, we’ll be learning more later about the nature of our mission as given by God as “image bearers” and stewards of creation, but for the moment, let’s consider this following passage from the Psalms

Psalm 19:1-6 “The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice[b] goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is deprived of its warmth.

Creation is a gift from God. Again, we recognize that there is brokenness in this world, and we’ll be talking later about how God’s Kingdom covers creation too. Creation is God’s expression of love. We saw during the weekend service the video showing the beauty of nature set to the lyrics of “Wonderful World,” and it truly is a wonderful world! Throughout history there are many stories of Christians who were brought to God, or found a deeper relationship with God, through the joys of the beauty of nature around them. One of the greatest poems of prayer in the Catholic church is the “Canticle of the Sun” by Saint Francis of Assisi, which among other expressions of the beauty of creation includes the lines:

“Be praised, my Lord, through all your creatures, especially through my lord Brother Sun, who brings the day; and you give light through him. And he is beautiful and radiant in all his splendor! Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness.
Be praised, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars; in the heavens you have made them, precious and beautiful.”

Creation is God’s gift, and we’ll be talking later about how it’s part of our job to care for it as stewards, but for now we’ll touch a little bit about how part of our place in relation to nature is to view it as the gift it is. If you give someone a gift, say a kitchen pan, or a nice living room chair, how do you feel if you go to visit them and you find out they’ve broken it? Or what if you give them something like a car and you find out they aren’t taking care of it? At the same time, imagine a parent buying a child a pet, but then the child spends so much time with the pet that they ignore their parents! All of these things can come close to how we might view our relationship with God’s gift of nature. Barry said this weekend that anything we worship that is not God is an idol. Many people over the years have taken portions of nature and made them into idols, but that also doesn’t mean we should cast nature away and treat it as something to be used and abused.

Discussion: How should our approach to creation be informed by the knowledge that it is a gift of God? How should we work to find the proper place for the care for this gift in our lives?


Finally, we see in all of this that creation is an expression of God’s love. English author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the writer of Sherlock Holmes stories, said in his short story, as spoken by the famous detective character, “’There is nothing in which deduction is so necessary as religion,’ said he, leaning with his back against the shutters. ‘It can be built up as an exact science by the reasoner. Our highest assurance of the g

Recalculating...

The following is a rough draft of a small group discussion guide I wrote for my local church for a series entitled "Recalculating." Original messages can be found at vineyardchristian.org/media/2015-messages

The 1997 comedy film, Waiting for Guffman, tells the story of a fictional town called Blaine, Missouri, preparing for its 150^th anniversary celebration. At one point, they tell the story of how the town is founded, and mention that the early settlers had hired a guide to lead them to California. Late one night, while sitting around the campfire, their guide announces to them, “Smell that air. Smell the salt in the air? That’s the ocean. We’ve made it. I’ve brought you to California.” It’s only later that the settlers realize they’re actually in Missouri, and decide that’s still good enough for them. (they later name the town after the guide, so obviously there’s no hard feelings.)
Icebreaker discussion: When was a time when you got really lost? What happened? Where were you going? How did you get back on course?(or did you?)
Sometimes, we can feel a little lost in life like that. And it can be very easy to settle down where we’re at, far away from our true goal, tired of the barriers we’ve faced, and say “well, this is good enough.” But God doesn’t want us to settle for what’s “good enough,” He has a much more powerful, and sometimes much more difficult, but always worthwhile, road ahead for us. This is a great time of year for us to refocus, find our “inner GPS” and “recalculate” our possibly off route course!
Let’s start with prayer:

God, we thank you for the chance to get together and learn from you. We ask that you open our minds and hearts to what plans you may have for us, help us to find the route you have laid out, and to conquer the barriers that will get in the way. Let us listen to what you may be saying to us tonight, and leave us open to your Word. –Amen

For the last two weeks, Scott and Barry have talked about the story of Joshua taking over from Moses. Imagine what that experience was like! Moses is still one of the most famous people in history, so how must it have felt like to be his successor as the leader of the Israelites? Joshua doesn’t seem to have shrunk away from the responsibility though. We have the story of how Moses resisted being made the leader of the Israelites, but no such story with Joshua. Instead, we seem to see he was a gung ho warrior leader who was ready to run forward and trust God at any point, even when the odds seemed stacked against him. A great illustration of this is another story from actually much later in Joshua’s life.

Let’s set the scene. This is after the invasion of the Promised Land by the Israelites, capping off 30 years of warfare. The Israelite army has defeated almost all of the armies they’ve faced off against, and they’ve cleared most of the land for them to settle in. However, there are still some enemies left, and they’re separating out into their individual clans to settle down and finish the job. Joshua stands before the people and offers them a choice. After decades of following God in the wilderness, followed by long years of war, the Israelites are being given the option to choose whether or not they will continue to follow God. Joshua starts by giving the whole history of everything God has done for them, and then he puts the decision to them in Joshua 24:14-15a

“Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. “

This is a big moment. Joshua is standing in front of all of the people of Israel. He’s standing in front of the nation he’s lead through war. Almost all of them were children or grandchildren of the people he’d grown up with. Of all the people who originally left Egypt, only Joshua and his friend Caleb were left, everyone else had died off before entering the Promised Land. Joshua looks at them. I like to imagine at this point, he looks something like Clint Eastwood in an old western, facing off against some bad guy gunman, his eyes are squinting, he mouth is barely smirking, and then he says this (Joshua 15b)

“But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Boom.

Joshua is basically saying, “look, after all of this stuff that God has done for you, if you want, you can leave. You can go back to being comfortable worshipping the pagan gods of your neighbors, or worshipping the gods of Egypt. But even if you all choose to leave, my family and I are going to stick this out, because God’s all I need.

Pretty awesome, huh?

But what does it mean to choose to serve the Lord? How does our life change, how is our course recalculated because we are serving God?

Discussion Question: What is one thing in your past life that you’ve had to change to more closely match what you felt God wanted for you? What was it like to “recalculate?” What were the struggles you had? Did you succeed right away, or did it take a few tries? What was something you did that made it easier?(or even possible at all?)

So we’ve all had some opportunities to recalculate with God, and it’s usually because of something or someone (the “someone” so often being ourselves) that gets in the way. These barriers that come up may be the result of our own poor decisions, the actions of others in our lives – sometimes well meaning, or due to a spiritual attack, either directly against us or as a consequence of living in a broken world.

Think through some of the barriers we’ve just shared with each other. Do these kinds of barriers seem to go away at any point? Is there a place in life where the challenges we face suddenly fall away and everything becomes easy? Definitely not! But after we face a challenge, does that sometimes help prepare you for the next one? Think about the first challenge you ever faced in life that you can remember. Now compare it to the most recent challenge. Chances are, your more recent challenge was more difficult than your first, but if you hadn’t faced that first challenge, and all the other ones between, you probably wouldn’t have been as prepared for the most difficult ones.

There’s a great verse for this in the book of Jeremiah in the Old Testament . In Jeremiah 12:5 it says.

“If you have raced with men on foot

and they have worn you out,

how can you compete with horses?

If you stumble in safe country,

how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?”

Now, there’s a lot going on in the original context of this verse that’s definitely worth studying when you have time, but we’re going to look at the verse by itself for a second.

[Leaders, the following story is meant as an example, please feel free to replace it with a personal example from your own life] Personal story, when I was in junior high, I decided to try out for the track and field team. This was odd to my family and what friends I had at school because I was by no means an athletic person. I was, to put it lightly, a heavy set nerd who was reading on average 2 or 3 Star Trek novels a week, and was in the process of trying to teach myself Klingon. I was NOT your stereotypical jock! As might have been expected, I didn’t do terribly well, but I showed up for every practice and tried hard. I had the absolute lowest time for running a 100 yards for anyone on the team, and when I threw a shotput it was a major accomplishment to even get it into the pit, let alone throwing it far enough to be even close to the rest of the team.

Now imagine if after a few weeks, I trotted over to the high school field, walked up to a member of the varsity team, and challenged them to a race? Imagine I’d danced around and sang a tune trying to rhyme their name with some embarrassing word, like banana. What would have happened? If the varsity runner had even deigned to race me instead of beating me and shoving me into a locker, I certainly wouldn’t have faired well in the race, and chances were I’d have been thoroughly embarrassed. However, if I’d stuck with running in track and field all through high school, I might have one day become pretty good at it, certainly better than I was in the seventh grade.(I quit in high school to join the public speaking team instead)

Moving “straight ahead” through earlier barriers in life helps us deal with barriers later on. We learn techniques for striving through, and we learn the importance of leaning on God for our strength. That’s why in James 1:2-4 the author says

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

Discussion question: What are some barriers that you’ve faced in your life that you think help prepared you for later on? What are the main lessons you’ve learned from past barriers that you have remembered for facing future ones?

One way to recalculate and learn lessons to move through barriers is to spend time in God’s word. New Year’s is a GREAT time to start this habit if you haven’t already.

Discussion Question: What are some ways that you’ve studied the Bible in the past? How has Bible reading helped you with some “barriers” you’ve faced in life? What are some struggles you’ve had with getting in regular Bible reading? How can we help each other in this goal?

There’s a lot of great reading plans out there, most of them available for free. One great resource is www.youversion.com They have plans designed for reading the entire Bible in a year, or just taking a week or two to dig into a particular book of the Bible. The reading plans can be shared with friends or small group members for accountability, and are completely available for free! Don’t feel like you have to jump into a full year long study, if you haven’t read the Bible consistently in a while, feel free to start by just reading the Psalms, Proverbs, or the Gospels! Any time with God is great, just make sure you’re setting aside time to pray, both before and after reading if possible. Remember, quality over quantity, it doesn’t have to be an hour, even fifteen minutes with God everyday can have a HUGE impact on your life!

For closing prayer, let’s take some time and break into smaller groups and pray together about the areas Scott highlighted in last week’s message. Pray for each other on each area, and feel free to share with each other what you might be hearing from God about how you might need to “recalculate” for each area as well as what barriers you might be facing.  How will you go “straight ahead”?

·        Spirituality

·        Emotionally

·        Physically

·        Family and Friends

·        Job

Feel free to close with the same prayer Barry used, a rewording of 2 Chronicles 32: 7,8

"May I be strong and courageous; may I not be afraid or discouraged because of my adversaries; there is a greater power with me than with them, for you, the Lord my God are with me to help"