Building On Sand

{Adapted from Matthew 7.21-23 in the NRSV}

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the Kingdom of God.

But Lord, Lord, did we not keep clean and secure the beautiful structures we built so that we could gather in your name?  And did we not try our best to replace secular influences with our own sub-culture of media and merchandise in your name?  And do we not attempt to spread our religious influence to the world around us through powerful means?  

Jesus answered them, "Only those who do the will of my Father in heaven are fit for the Kingdom of God."

Hell of a Discussion...

Seems like the blogs are buzzing about hell again.  I really like what Out of Ur is doing by highlighting teachings on hell from influential people.

Here are the last couple videos they've posted - the first from N.T Wright and the second from John Piper.





I have a lot of my own opinions about what these guys have to say, but I want to know what you think.
What are your thoughts?

Did We Leave This Out? - Reflections on Jesus' Anointing: Part 3

Mark 14.9 (see also Matthew 26.13) ends the Gospel's story about Jesus being anointed by the woman with very costly perfume with this -

"Truly I tell you, wherever this good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her" (NRSV).

Waiting tables for several years has afforded me the wonderful opportunity of not receiving tips for my work, but gospel tracts instead.   Tracts are those brochures you get on college campuses and subway stations that remind you why you cringe at the word "repent".  I used to have quite the collection, and to be honest, many were quite creative.  All of them however, made me simultaneously giggle and feel ashamed to be part of a religion associated with people who pushed the "good" out of the Good News.

In Matthew and Mark, the stories of Jesus' anointing end with Jesus telling everyone that what the woman has done will be told wherever the gospel is proclaimed.  What will be told of her along with the Good News is how she humbled herself before the King in a manner from which her heart lead her, not how well she followed the particular rules of a religion.  And - If our attempts to get anyone to embrace the Gospel (good news) comes with any strings attached that are man-made rules, then we're not spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ, we're making our own religions in the name of Jesus while leaving out what he actually taught.  This is why the Pharisees always butted heads with Jesus.  Their lives were wrapped around a religion with rules that didn't affect their heart in anyway.  "Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness" - Jesus in Luke 11.39 (NRSV).

Religious rules don't matter to Jesus.  There's no such thing as a "good" Christian.  Jesus doesn't care what we wear on Sunday mornings (shout out to my friend Ann Lantz), nor does he really mind if we sleep in on Sunday mornings (granted there's some Sabbath in your life).  He isn't concerned whether or not we can recite creeds, or if we memorize Bible verses.  God doesn't care if we wear Christian clothing or listen to Christian music.

He cares about where our hearts are and what our intentions are.  He cares how we make decisions, and why we do anything we do.  God cares about how we view and treat ourselves and others.  And he cares deeply about our devotion to him over all other potential gods (which includes religion).

An important aspect of the Good News is that God loves us for who we really are.  Not who we're told we should pretend to be.

So where are you?

Do you live out the Gospel, individually or communally in a manner that reminds people of what this woman did?

Do you proclaim the Good News of Jesus with her in mind?

Smile like a Saint, Love like a Sinner - Reflections on Jesus' Anointing: Part 2

My last post had to do with the somewhat similar stories of Jesus' anointing in Matthew, Mark, and John, in particular in reference to the relationship and sometimes difficult conflict between worship and charity.  Luke's Gospel has a lot of parallels with the other's regarding Jesus being anointed, but is unique unto its own.  Luke gives us a very different story in 7:36-50 that I highly suggest reading here.

(picture of sculptures I took at the Santa Barbara Mission depicting Jesus helping sinful woman)

As we read here, Jesus understood something about the relationship between seeking forgiveness for sin and the ability to love God and his people.  I really want to pick apart verse 47 - which reads, "Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love..." (NRSV).  On the surface, one could argue that Jesus is implying here that to have "great love" for God and his people, one must have many sins for Jesus to forgive - so sin away!  But we know that reading the passage in this way doesn't make a whole lot of sense.  Instead, we can infer that Jesus is implying that we all have sinned much, but some of us, like Simon the Pharisee, have issues recognizing or admitting our sin.  

Its difficult for us to be a church full of loving people if we're trying to sell ourselves to Jesus and our communities as saints instead of just being transparent as sinners.  Simon the Pharisee believed that he was good and had little to be forgiven for because of his religious fervor.  Jesus tells us that "... the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little" (47).  Its easy for any of us to fall into the trap of thinking we are saints on account of our own merit (i.e. going to church regularly, tithing, serving the poor) instead on account of what Jesus has done on our behalf.

If we're going to follow Jesus' commandments to love God and his people as best we can, we need to start understanding that it starts with us constantly confessing our sinfulness, letting our tears fall on Jesus' feet in passionate worship, and learning the differences between what God and man see as righteous.  May we all wrestle intently with this passage.

Reflections on Jesus' Anointing: Part 1 - Feet

The story of Jesus' anointing can be read in all four of the canonical Gospels.  We'll take a look at Mark 14.3-9 (NRSV).   [Picture - I took of sculpture at Santa Barbara Mission depicting sinful woman being helped by Jesus]

³While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head.⁴But some were there who said to one another in anger, “Why was the ointment wasted in this way? ⁵For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they scolded her. ⁶But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me. ⁷For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me. ⁸She has done what   she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. ⁹Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”

What's tough for the disciples to understand here is that even though Jesus taught them that care for the poor is a priority, it is not thee priority of a follower of Jesus.  When Jesus tells them, "you always have the poor with you" (14.7) he is not telling them that poverty will never cease, so they might as well not worry about it so much.  Instead, he is teaching them that as followers of The Way, they should purposefully be surrounding themselves with the poor.  Even as we should be creating relationships with and caring for the poor, we should even more so be cherishing our time with Jesus, who sustains us and enables us to care for some one other than ourselves.  

This is why we worship.  I would argue that the definition of worship is to figuratively and often times literally fall at the feet of someone or something.  In our case, I really like the Gospel of John's twist on the story (John 12.3),  where the very costly perfume is poured on Jesus' feet (instead of his head).  Mary (according to John's Gospel) anoints Jesus' feet as an act of worship!  

So the deeper message and reality for disciples is that when we have the opportunity to fall at Jesus' feet, and give to him what is so very costly to us, we do so as we give our lives in worship.  It is here where we lay our gifts and our crowns at the feet of the King.  And, it is here where we expose our broken selves to the mercy of Jesus where we receive our calls to serve and care for the poor.  All attempts to care for the poor without the sustaining patience and guiding wisdom of God, as we see here, have much potential to be in vain, no matter what we perceive our motives to be.  

What are your thoughts on the relationship between worship and charity?

This is a New Year

I apologize, I took a blogging break to focus on work and my personal life during the holiday season.  Yes, church work is ridiculously busy during December!

Anyways - here's a devotional for your new year.

Lamentations 3 -

²¹But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: ²²The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; ²³they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ²⁴“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” ²⁵The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. 


You should read the whole chapter!  Heck - read the whole book of Lamentations!  Either way, Lord help us to embrace what is new this New Year.  G. K. Chesterton wrote - “The object of a new year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul” (thanks @philosophytweet!).  His promise of love and mercy never end, no matter what has happened in the past.  Let us be made new by this promise.

Keeping the 'X' in Xmas

When it comes to Advent, I have never really experienced such a general blanket of misunderstandings concerning something that so many people confidently believe they know.  The more years I teach on advent and the birth of Jesus, the more I realize that the majority of Christians not only aren't sure what advent is really about, we also haven't the faintest clue about what the Bible really narrates about the birth of Jesus.

I will begin writing a series of posts concerning the season of Advent and the birth narratives of Jesus according to the Gospels.  I am really looking forward to writing these so please keep reading!

But first - here's something I wrote (with a couple revisions) and posted on facebook on December 14, 2006.


Okay, you caught me, and yes, I am guilty. I am one of “those people" who writes X-Mas instead of Christmas. Now, before I am thrown to the dogs of blasphemy and heresy, I feel compelled to make my case. You see when people write X-Mas, they are not “taking Christ out of Christmas". Instead, this is actually a Greek X (Chi) which is the first letter (or initial ) of Christ in Greek; Christos, meaning “anointed". Thus, we both are keeping Christ in Christmas. The Church uses initials as symbols like this quite frequently, like the IHS that can be found sporadically throughout our own sanctuary. These are the first three Roman transliterations of Jesus’ name in Greek; Ἰησοῦς (iota, eta, sigma).

This Advent, I pray we as the body of Christ can focus on what is important to the season, even if this means halting the quarrel between those who sign Merry Christmas versus Merry X-Mas. I fully agree, let us keep Christ in Christmas, but let us do so understanding that this means offering patience and love towards our neighbors, as Christ would have wanted us to.  And, in keeping Christ in Christmas, this has nothing to do with giving gifts, trees with glass ornaments, or who has the most lights in the neighborhood.  It's time to remember and be changed by the fact that...


God is with us.