Jesus' Genealogy could Preach!

One must not rush through Jesus’ genealogy in Matthew 1:1-17. One must take time with it, because Jesus's genealogy could preach.  It witnesses to God’s love that crosses all national, racial and gender boundaries to incorporate people of all types into one- big-happy-family of God. 

Matthew mentions Tamar (3), Rahab (4), Ruth (5), Bathsheba or the wife of Uriah (6) in his genealogy of Jesus. In the Old Testament and in the Jewish culture of that time women were seldom mentioned in the genealogies. A genealogy was traced through male line. And if women were included there was usually a particular reason.  What was Matthew’s reason for including these women and not some other prominent ones such as Sarah, Abraham’s wife or Rebecca, Jacob’s mother? The reason lies in the fact that all three women, possibly all four were non Israelites. Tamar, Judah’s daughter in law like Judah’s wife was possibly a Canaanite (Genesis 38), Rahab, the prostitute from Jericho was a Canaanite (Joshua 2), Ruth (Ruth 1:4) was a Moabite, and Bathsheba was a Hittite like her husband Uriah (2 Sam.11:3). Matthew included these Gentile or non- Israelite women in his genealogy of Jesus, because he wanted to tell the story of God’s love for all and his plan to include all in his family, both Jews and non Jews and both men and women. God's love reaches out across race and gender barriers to include all. Through this genealogy Matthew is saying what Paul uttered eloquently in Galatians 3:28: There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female. For all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

Only Love Remains

It is amazing that Jesus after resurrection still carried the marks of his crucifixion on his new body (John 20:24-27). This death defying, wall penetrating, heaven ascending powerful new body carried only those marks from his old body that spoke of his obedience to God and self sacrificial love for others. As Paul says in 1Corinthians 13:8, only love never ends. It always remains. A good reminder for us who seek after things of this world. Nothing remains. Our degrees, our wealth, our beauty, our social status, our stocks and bonds will one day cease to be nothing. Ecclesiastes 5:15 reminds us of this fact. It says, "As they came from their mothers womb, so they shall go again, naked as they came; they shall take nothing for their toil, which they may carry away with their hands."  The only thing that does follow us into our after life is our love for God and others. Let us remember that as we hear these words tonight: This is my body broken for you...

Why the Blood?

In Exodus 12 we read about the first Passover and God's instruction to the Israelites to put blood on the doorposts as a sign for God so that when God passes over Egypt no plague would come upon the Israelites (13). Someone asked a very good question. Did an all knowing God need a sign of blood on door posts to know?  I would argue that the blood marking was more for Israelites than for God. It reminded the Israelites that they were no more righteous than the Egyptians. It is the blood that protected them and not any inherent righteousness. As God's judgment passed over Egypt, the Israelites were protected by the blood Moses also reminds them in Deuteronomy 9:4-5 that it was not because of their righteousness that God has been gracious and generous towards them. The Bible is about God's grace from the beginning to the end. The same is true of the blood spilled for our sin on the Good Friday. It is not any inherent righteousness on our part that makes us deserving of God's grace, but it is the blood offered for us that makes all the difference. Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!

On the Way to Easter

Mark 8:27-10:52 is known as the travel narrative of Jesus. Disciples are on the way with Jesus to Jerusalem for the last time, and three times Jesus mentions his suffering and the disciples fail to grasp what it means to follow Jesus.

First of all, in Mark 8: 27-37 we read that on the way with Jesus, even though Peter declares Jesus as the messiah he fails to grasp Jesus' suffering. When Jesus mentions his suffering Peter rebukes him. For Peter messiah, the king of Israel is supposed to win victories,  and not suffer and die. Peter had a worldly view of things that hindered his understanding of the divine plan of God that was about to unfold through the cross. Jesus rebukes him in return, and explains to the disciples that following Jesus means denying the right to be in control over one's life. It means taking up the cross. That is living by God's will for one's life even if it leads to suffering just as Jesus did. As Jesus explained, in order to have the eternal life that we all desperately seek we have to be willing to lose our earthly lives for him. A paradox!

Secondly, in Mark 9:30-37 we read that on the way to with Jesus, Jesus once again mentions his suffering. But the disciples still do not get it. In utter shameful contrast they argue about who was the greatest. Since Peter, James and John had the sacred privilege of witnessing Jesus' transfiguration (Mark 9:2-8) they must have thought that they were better than others. But Jesus tells them in order to be first in the kingdom of God they have to be the last, a servant of all. After all, according to Jesus, God identifies with the children who were regarded as the powerless nobodies, the last in that culture. Another paradox!  

Thirdly, in Mark10:32-45 we read that on the way with Jesus, Jesus yet again mentions in vivid details his suffering. The disciples still do not get it. Yet again in contrast James and John who witnessed Jesus' transfiguration ask that they be placed in positions of power when Jesus is enthroned. Therefore once n tells them that following Jesus means participating in his suffering. It means to give up the worldly notion  of power and success and become a servant of all. After all, Jesus the Son of Man, a powerful divine being according to Daniel 7, came to serve and not to be served. Yet another paradox!

We Christians are all on the way with Jesus, because this Christian life is a journey. But do we get  what it means to follow a suffering God? Intellectually maybe, but existentially?

Ash Wednesday Reflection

Thanks to the Catholic commentator Mary Healy for pointing out in her fine commentary The Gospel of Mark that Mark mentions twice in chapter 14 that Peter was warming himself at the fire (54, 67). While Jesus was being interrogated, falsely accused, spit on and struck Peter was seeking after his own comfort and safety as he warmed himself by the fire. Isn't it true of all of us who claim to follow Christ?  Instead of identifying with our crucified lord we tend to seek after our own comfort and safety. I heard of a prosperity-gospel preaching church in Africa that changed its name from Calvary to something else. According to them, the name Calvary is too negative.

According to ancient tradition Mark as a disciple of Peter wrote down his gospel based on what he heard Peter preach. This is well attested by Papias, Clement of Alexandria, Irenaeus and Origen. If this is true then one could see in the writings of Mark the holy torment that Peter went through as he remembered in minute detail his failure that night when he denied Jesus. I could hear Peter say, "Can you imagine while my lord was being abused I was busy warming myself by the fire." I could see Peter shaking his head in regret as he holds back his tears. When we hurt the one we love, even once we have been forgiven, it never completely goes away. But it always comes back to haunt us. There lies the measure of true love.  Peter who once boasted of his dedication  to Jesus (Mark 14:29), remembered in all humility his failure.

Ash Wednesday is all about that type of remembrance and repentance; remembrance of how much we continue to fall short of the glory of God and how much we need to turn around to Jesus.

The Biblical Foundation for Unity Among Christians

The biblical foundation for unity among Christians is that we have One God and One Christian experience. Much of our conflicts in this world are based on differences such as racial, national, political, religious and personal differences.  When upper caste Hindus oppress and subjugate lower caste Hindus in India, they do it based on the caste differences. When some Americans look upon people from Iran with hatred, they do so because of political differences. When David Letterman mocks and puts down Jay Leno, he does so because of personal differences. Differences in our world cause conflict; differences cause hatred and disunity. The same is true of the Church. The Church is supposed to be not of the world. Yet the Church has allowed enough of the world to enter into its culture that now a church gets divided over differences that cause division in the world. We let the color of our skin, nationality, economic status and personal differences divide us. Pastor Tony Evans while attending Carver Bible Institute was refused membership at a church because of the color of his skin. He is black. Now as a pastor in Dallas, TX he serves a multi-racial congregation. He once mentioned in a sermon how he encountered reverse-racism in his Church when a black member of his church came up to him and complained about all the white flocks coming into the church. Pastor Tony Evans told that black man to go find another church where he could be more comfortable. Our denomination, Evangelical Covenant Church came out of a movement in Sweden that protested against the corrupt practices of the Swedish Lutheran Church. One of the corrupt practices that existed in the Swedish Lutheran Church was that they discriminated against those Christians who were poor. They sold church pews to the rich congregation members. As a result on a given Sunday morning while the rich sat the poor huddled together stood at the back of the church. These differences based on race, economic status and personality that divide the rest of the world at times have caused division and disunity in the Church also.
Yet Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 4:4-6 that there is a new kind of oneness that forms the basis of our unity other than the color of our skin or our nationality or our economic status, and this oneness is that we all have One God and have shared in One Christian experience. Therefore, Paul writes in Eph 4:4-6, “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.” Have you noticed how many times Paul uses the word "one." What Paul is underscoring here is that the foundation for our Christian unity is what we share in common, that is One triune God and one Christian experience. Talking about One God Paul gives it in reverse order. He says Christians have One Spirit referring to the Holy Spirit, One Lord, a popular way referring to Jesus, the Son in the NT, and One God, the Father. And Paul says furthermore that we as Christians share in the same Christian experience. And he gives four description of that experience. He says that there is One body. Here Paul is talking about the body of Christ, the Church of which we are a part. It is a fact that one cannot be a Christian without being a part of the Church. Paul in 1Cor.12:13 talks about being baptized into one body, the Church. What that means is that when we get baptized as a Christian we not only come to belong to Jesus but also to his Church. What that means is that being a part of the body of Christ, the Church is a common experience we as Christians share. We might have developed into various denominations, Baptists, Lutherans, Methodists, but from Paul’s perspective we are one body.  Next Paul says that we were called to One Hope of our calling; that is the hope that comes with the great salvation to which we have been called, the hope of the coming kingdom of God, the hope of resurrection and the eternal life with God. Now we may differ over when the end might come or how the end might come, but we do not differ in our hope. All Christians, according to Paul, have one hope to look forward to.  He then says that we have One faith, meaning the body of core beliefs known as the gospel such as that Jesus died for our sins. Lastly, Paul says we have One baptism, the water baptism as a symbol of the same faith commitment that all Christians share in common. What Paul is saying here is that these things that we share in common, One God and One Christian experience, are what form the foundation for our Christian unity.
Isn’t it interesting that what is of any significance in our lives, things that have eternal significance, Paul says, are things that we share in common as Christians, one God, one body, one hope, one faith and one baptism. Therefore, why do we let things such as race, economic status, political affiliations, personal preferences, things that don’t and never will get us into God's kingdom divide us?

 

True Love

Saw the movie "Frozen" with my wife and kids today. It is interesting that the movie is about true love expressed through a self-sacrificial gesture that brings life to Anna and to her town. As prince Hans lifts his sword to kill Elsa sister Anna runs over and puts herself between the sword and Elsa. She takes the blow for Elsa. As a result she does not die. But her true love brings life back to her frozen heart that would have ultimately killed her. As a result also life in terms of Summer returns also to the kingdom of Arendelle that lay in the frozen death grip of winter.   This is the story also of Easter. True sacrificial love bringing life and hope of restoration to a dying world. Jesus death on the cross for the sins of the world and his resurrection usher in a new life. Frozen hearts are now softened towards God,  and death now also melts away under the heat of an everlasting life.  It is so interesting that even though a secular world celebrates this love through this movie it mocks Christianity for its belief in such a love expressed through the cross of Christ! It is foolishness they say. Yet they crave it so much that they dream of it through a 150 million dollar movie.

1 Corinthians 1:18-25: For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹For it is written,
‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
   and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.’
²⁰Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. ²²For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, ²³but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, ²⁴but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

The Importance of Understanding God's love

Paul writes Ephesians 3: 17b-19: in verses 17b-19: I pray that you being rooted and established in love, may have the power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God (NIV). But why does Paul say that Christians need to be rooted in God’s love and grasp it? He could just as well prayed for them to be rooted and established in God. The fact is nothing is more stabilizing, more securing and encouraging and life giving than the experience of love.  Child Psychologists have diagnosed many children with Attachment Disorder. Some of the things that cause Attachment Disorder are unwanted pregnancy, abuse and neglect. Nancy L. Thomas in her book When Love is Not Enough writes, “Babies do know what the mother is feeling and thinking during pregnancy.” As a result in the case of an unwanted pregnancy a baby can feel what the mom is feeling, that it is not wanted. On top of it if there is abuse and neglect later on the child end up suffering from Attachment Disorder. Children with Attachment Disorder grow up with the need to be in control, without the ability to trust, and lack of ability to care from their heart, because caring takes trusting among other things. As a result they become destructive towards themselves, towards other children and towards their pets. And it all originates from this experience of not being wanted, of being abused and neglected. In essence it all originates from their experience of not being loved.

Therefore, just as having a mom is not enough, but being rooted and established in a mom’s nourishing love is important for the child to grow up into a healthy human being, similarly it is not enough for Christians to have a God, they need to experience the love of God, they need to be rooted and established in God’s love in order to grow up healthy in their Christian life and faith. God’s love is as character forming for Christians as a mother’s love for a child.

Goodbye Habituation!

My New Year's goal is to fight "habituation." Psychologist  Lynn Johnson in his book "Enjoy Life"  says that habituation is the reason why we can't be happy forever with what we have (X). A person thinks if he gets $10,000 he will be happy. Then that person gets his $10,000. But in time he gets habituated to that amount, and then he wants more in order to be happy. In essence habituation contributes to our profound sense of unhappiness and also makes us thankless for what we already have. As Proverbs 27:20 reminds us, "Death and destruction are never satisfied and neither are human eyes."

I have become habituated to my ministry, my church, my wife, my children, my car, my house....., and sometimes I wish if only my church would grow in number, if only I had a bigger house, if only..... then only I would be happy. And as a result I begin to envy my more successful  pastor friends and begin to work more hours for that extra money to buy that bigger something..... Habituation not only undermines my happiness but also my sense of gratitude toward God for all that he has already given me.  I want habituation gone in 2014. Therefore I do not ask God for anything new this new year. I ask God to break my bondage to habituation and help me rejoice in what he has already given me beginning with the year I was born through 2013.