Wednesday, August 31, 2011

A Light in the Darkness

When I was in college there were a series of tunnels that ran underneath the campus. These tunnels carried steam to heat the buildings and supply hot water. Although it was against school policy there were many times when I used these tunnels to get from one place to another especially if it was very cold. The real danger in using the tunnels was that it was often dark and you could easily stumble while walking and accidentally reach out and touch one of the steam pipes. Touching the pipes would result in severe burns as I learned on more than one occasion. The key while walking in the dark was not to stumble or else you would get zapped.

As a general rule in Old Testament times, the same held true for the Israelites and their relationship with God. If they stumbled they got zapped. A good example of this can be found in Joshua Chapter 7 where we learn about Achan. Achan coveted and stole a few items from Jericho that were supposed to be consecrated to God. For this he was stoned.

This happened shortly after the Israelites had spent 40 years wandering in the desert. The doubters of Moses’ generation had all died in the desert prior to them entering the Promised Land. The people that were left had all been provided for by God. He had been their pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night to guide their every step. He had provided them with the manna and guided their decisions. If ever there was a time when people were going to trust in God this was the time; and yet Achan failed. Unfortunately for the Israelites this was not an isolated incident but the beginning of a trend. God would forgive them and provide and they would turn away and fail and get zapped.

I guess there are a couple of ways that you could read these passages and unfortunately many people today have not learned from the Israelites and Achan. They read this passage and see the need for us to be perfect. We must do better than Achan or God will zap us. Don’t get me wrong- there is a definite call to holiness and I am not making light of that but counting on our own perfection will only lead to death. We can not obtain the perfection that we aspire to or that we need to be righteous on our own. We need a guide.

On one particularly cold night at college when I was returning from the other side of campus I went through the tunnels with a friend of mine that used them all the time. He knew the tunnels better than anybody I knew. We came up to an extended passage where the lights had been knocked out and it was pitch black. I did not see how I could make it through the passage without getting burned and then my friend turned to me and told me to hold on to him. He knew the way through the dark and as long as I held on to him I would be fine.

Often when we read a passage like the one in Joshua we are left with a feeling of hopelessness. There is no way we can make it through life without stumbling. The passage is long and dark and there are many obstacles along the way that can trip us up. One misstep and we will fall. However we still have hope even in the darkness. John tells us that Jesus is the true light that shines in the darkness and that the darkness has not overcome this light. In our darkest times our hope is not going to be found in our own righteousness but in holding on to the one who knows the way. As long as we hold on to Him we will be fine.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Chains, blood, death, and unworthiness

Perhaps we have lost our way…

I was reading Mark Chapter 5 the other day and I made what seemed to me to be an unusual discovery. Maybe I am mistaken. Perhaps there is nothing at all unusual about it.

When I left home and went to college when I was 18 I was looking for acceptance. In the world of an 18 year old there may be nothing that is more important than that. What I found when I got there was rejection in many forms. The fraternities were not that impressed by me. For the most part they found me to be unworthy of their approval. There was one that wanted me to join but for the most part I did not know the right people, make enough money, or have the right parents. I had a hard time making friends. It seemed that the same qualities that made me desirable (or not) to fraternities were in demand for friendship as well. I did not like my classes either. It seems that I chose poorly and did not realize it until it was too late. Everywhere I turned I found that I was unfit, unworthy, not desired, and not wanted. I was crushed.

This was not my first experience with being rejected. There were girls that I had asked out that had politely refused. There were sports teams that had declined to pick up my option. There were jobs that had found better applicants. Rejection was not an every day experience for me but I was certainly used to it by the time I went to college. Why did my college experience cause me so much more distress than the other rejections?

In retrospect, I think that I had unrealistic expectations of what life would be like when I was in college. I had wanted to go to the school of my choice for a long time before I was accepted there. I had idealized what it would be like and I was (quite simply) wrong. Looking back now it is easy for me to think that I should have adjusted my expectations. It would not have been what I wanted but I could have made due with what it was and got along OK. Rather than doing that I left- never to return and totally disillusioned with the whole experience. The real question is this: should I have had to readjust my expectations at all?

So what does this have to do with Mark Chapter 5?

There is a picture that is painted by the whole chapter that is not evident at first glance. We have the man possessed by demons roaming amongst the dead, the woman plagued by bleeding, and the dead girl. In each case Jesus stepped in and healed someone in a miraculous way. Each one of these people though would have been seen by the first century Jew as unworthy, unfit, unwanted, and unclean. Indeed, perhaps the central message of the Gospel is that each one of us is in our own way much like the central characters in this chapter. We are all unfit but Jesus has reached out to us and made us fit. We are all unwanted but Jesus desires us anyway.

I guess the question I have is why are so many of our churches today so ready to declare people unworthy and unfit and unwanted? This seems more in line with the message of the Pharisees that it does with the message of Christ. It seems to me that today we are still looking for reasons to exclude people from the good news rather than letting Jesus make them worthy. He does not make enough money. She is a liberal. He is a Jeff Gordon fan (joking). He drinks. She smokes. He cusses. Unclean, unfit, unworthy.

I heard a really good message the other day that included an allusion to Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth was a crippled man that nevertheless was an heir to the throne of Saul. When David took over as king he called for Mephibosheth and told him that he was always welcome at the King’s table. Here is the reply:

And he paid homage and said, "What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?"
2 Samuel 9:8

Perhaps this is the response of every lost soul who has been found by the King. I know that it captures my sentiments pretty well. How can we so quickly turn from this wonder and astonishment to locking the doors to prevent any other dead dogs from wandering in? I imagine that many people today have an ideal of church that is not unlike my view of college. They would see church as a place where they could be accepted regardless of their flaws. My guess is that many who find this not to be true will likely leave- never to return. Can you imagine the demon possessed man returning to wander amongst the tombs once he had been healed? Somehow I don’t think that happened and yet people today are leaving churches to return the tombs they had escaped. We need to fix this.

What I found unusual about Mark Chapter 5 is that Jesus went to the unclean and made them clean. This was a scandal that eventually got Him killed yet He did it anyway. The church should be doing the same.