IN SEASON

Oh, you guys are so funny.  I disappear a little while from any kind of social scene, and here many of you are, asking if I’m alright.  Yes, friends, I’m doing fine, thank you very much.  Life keeps on getting more hectic, I guess.  My best friend told me the other day that I have been “weird” lately – it gets kind of scary when Michelle, the queen of weird in my book (fondly said), hoists upon me that description.  Something must be up.  J

I’ve been really busy.  And I feel that I need space now for ME.  In the movie War of the Worlds, the young girl played by Dakota Fanning would close her eyes, put her arms in a circle in front of her, and take deep breaths while everything around her was going crazy.  That circle was her “personal space”, her quiet spot where no one could harm or faze her.  I borrowed that idea for myself the other day, figuratively speaking, but I realized I had no arms to put in a circle in front of me because they were laden with stuff -- things to do, deadlines to meet, conferences to tackle, domestic issues to resolve, family and friendly visits to host, etc.  It was a whirlwind. So I had to let go of a whole bunch of things, and be in my quiet world even for just a little while.  That’s why I’m writing to friends; you are part of my quiet world.  Michelle will have to take back her description of “weird.”

“Quiet”, though, really runs contrary to my personal instinct. I’m one of those who torpedo through most of life, and am pretty predisposed to this “perpetual motion” concept.  That’s not so bad, really – except when I begin to think (and this is quite often, too) that the world as I know it would get sucked into a black hole if I’d quit working!  I know this arrogance doesn’t paint a pretty picture of myself, but I had often thought that if I don’t do what I do or need to do, everything would tumble faster than I can say “fuzzy-wuzzy slippers” (that’s my quiet world companion).

Well, tough!  I’m not that important.  Neither are you.  At least not in any way near of a savior status. Nobody is looking to you to save the world – and if anyone is, he’d just have to get over it.  J There is just our small, small slice of life, and even in that area, we simply do what we can, the best way we can, and call it a day.   “Rest” is a biblical mandate, and it does not mean just sleeping the hours away.  It means being refreshed and restored in every aspect – physical, mental, emotional and spiritual – because of intimate fellowship with the One who is  equipped to save the world and myself: God.

Going back to that picture of “personal space” a la Dakota Fanning.  That would be a picture of me, with arms stretched out in a circle before me.   But this has more substance, because right in the center of my arms is Jesus, and He likes being there.  Nobody can shake Him away.  The best part is that while I bring my arms around Him, He wraps His around me too, and no one – absolutely no one – can rattle me while He has me in that loving and protective embrace.  I am safe.  Everything around me can go crazy, but I am quiet in the arms of my Savior.  And I know that when it’s time, He will raise one arm against the storm, rebuke the wind, and say, “Peace!  Be still.”  (Mark 4:39)  And everything will be quiet, as again He leads me to a sizzling, bright new day.  With my fuzzy-wuzzy slippers.

When Jacob sent Joseph, I thought right off the bat that this was just a little foolhardy of Jacob because this dad knew that Joseph wasn't liked by his brothers (v.11).  But on the very same token, he knew that something was afoot with Joseph as well.  He could feel it in his heart :  Joseph possessed a quality, a special gifting about him.  Jacob couldn't understand it much, but he could always see it, maybe by the way Joseph carried himself, or spoke, or transacted with others, be they brothers or servants.  And it was this knowledge of Joseph's quality that became the basis for this "order to go to Shechem."  I sometimes wonder why Jacob didn't send a servant -- he could certainly afford that!  Maybe Jacob had in his heart that this would be a bonding time between Joseph and his brothers.  It seems reasonable to think that.  But the main point still is, Jacob entrusted to Joseph a sensitive task -- that of bringing something good to his hungry brothers.

 

Isn't Joseph a "type" of Jesus this way, a foreshadowing?  Think about it.  Jacob knew that the task would be dangerous for Joseph, but he sent Joseph anyway.  God did the same with us -- He sent His Son to bring life.  And He did ... bring us life, that is!

 

Personally, I want to be such a bearer of quality as Joseph.  I want people to see something in me, and entrust me with tasks that even though they know would test me, they'd still say, "She can handle that." 

Joseph was instructed to check on the welfare of the brothers who hated him.  It would be no picnic, but he obeyed.  That impressed me.  But what really hit me was what Joseph did when he got to Shechem -- this was what made hima person of Quality Righteousness.  When Joseph reached Shechem, the brothers weren't there. At this point he could have gone home and told his father in all honesty that he had tried but couldn't find his brothers.  But listen to this: Joseph obeyed or honored not only his father's WORDS, but also his father's INTENTIONS.  Isn't that just the coolest thing?  His father wanted him to check on his brothers' welfare, so Joseph, through the help of a stranger in v. 15-17 (I wonder if this was an angel!!), tracked them down in Dothan, which was like 15 miles away.

 

Joseph didn't stop just because his brothers were not in Shechem.  He went on ahead to where intel had told him his brothers would be.  He went the extra mile -- all because he knew his father had a mission for him, and he would follow that order to completion.  That's quality!

 

And this is how how I want to be -- in all departments of my life, I want to be the one to go the extra mile for what I know is my task.  If it's to be a blessing to a friend, then I will be the best blessing I can possibly be, each time I get a chance.  If it is to be a mom, as indeed it is, then I shall go the extra mile for that too.  So long as I bring a blessing to people, I will milk that blessing for what it's worth.  Because I know that in blessing others, I myself will be blessed.  Proverbs says, "Blessed is he who brings refreshment, for he himself will be refreshed."  Joseph probably carried the same principle -- and though his refreshment took years before it saw fulfillment, he kept faith.  His perspective was more elongated than his circumstances.

In 1992 in New York, there was a ticker tape parade for Nelson Mandela after he was released from prison in South Africa.  Mandela came to New York City to celebrate and to thank those who supported him during his long fight against apartheid. What was different about this parade was that, though it took place in the usual place in the heart of Wall Street, the people of the city who turned out to greet him were the poor, the homeless, those on the fringe. They were all there to thank Nelson Mandela for giving them hope.  And as this popular figure moved through the streets, the people began to sing a South African Hymn: a song of freedom and liberation.  And then they began to dance, a very stylized dance, raising their arms to say that they were with him.

This reminds me of the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem just a few days before He died, then rose again.  He came to Jerusalem a much-loved man, so did Nelson Mandela.  There was singing both in Jerusalem and the streets of New York.  The songs were about freedom and liberation, both in Jerusalem and New York.  Mandela was viewed as a savior by the poor people of New York; Jesus also viewed a savior by the poor oppressed Jews of that time, albeit a political savior, which we will discuss later.  The difference was that while Nelson Mandela had the parade because of a past victory that the crowd already knew about, Jesus had a journey to a far bigger future triumph, but one which nobody in crowd knew or even understood. 

As Jesus entered Jerusalem that day, people spread cloaks and palm branches on the road before him shouting "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest!" (Matthew 21:9).  John's gospel said that the people also added one line to this traditional "Hosanna":  " ... the King of Israel!" (John 12:13). 

You see, to the Jews gathering for the important Passover festival, Jesus was the king -- just not a spiritual king, but a political king ... someone to overthrow the oppressive Roman government, not to save their souls.  They shouted "HOSANNA" (hoshi-ya-na)  which literally means "Save us, now!".  Often, we think of Hosanna as an acclamation, and it is.  But in the context of the Jews of that day, this phrase taken from Psalm 118:25, was a cry for help.  Psalm 118 is part of the Hallel psalms, sung during the important Jewish festivals.  It is therefore familiar to all Jews, much like our Christmas carols would be familiar to those who celebrate Christmas.  This same word Hosanna is used in 2 Kings 6:26, where we read of a woman who cried out to the king of Israel during a terrible famine. Dying from hunger, she cried, “Help me, my lord the king!”  The Jews were looking to Jesus for help, for they long have been under Roman rule, and never liked it.

Not long after the crowds were shouting Hosanna, though, the atmosphere in Jerusalem changed. Other shouts began to be heard -- not shouts of adoration this time, but shouts of anger.  "Crucify him!" (Matthew 27:22).  What happened? Jesus disappointed them.  That is what happened. 

But did Jesus really disappoint them as much as they disappointed Him, and the One who sent Him?  Remember, as Jesus approached Jerusalem, His heart broke, He wept and said, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes."  Jesus was actually addressing the Pharisees and the hard-hearted people -- individuals whom He loved and wept for! That  should encourage you:  Jesus weeps for you if you are lost or are missing the mark of God's plan! 

Is this you?  The reality is, there is a Pharisee in all of us.  We disappoint God and make Him weep sometimes (Ephesians 4:30).  Let's take a look at these people during Jesus' time, Pharisees and ordinary crowds alike, and see how we can relate.

1.  They misunderstood His mission.  Twice during Jesus' 3-year ministry on earth did the throng try to make Him king.  The first was when he fed the five thousand using only five loaves and two fish (John 6:15).  Jesus slipped away from them, just as He slipped away from these politically minded people when He came to Jersualem during the Passover (John 12:36).  The Jews did not understand that Jesus had come to "seek and save the lost" -- they only saw Him as good for the Jewish economy (He could make endless bread!) and Jewish politics. They saw Him as an escape.  Their thoughts were probably that once Jesus was King, they could just lie back, relax and live happily ever after.  King Jesus would do all the work.

Isn't this still true today? We think it's God's job to make us happy.  We don't understand that as Jesus had come to seek and save us , He also had come to refine us.  We just want Him as a king who would give us peace, and daily bread.  Jesus could certainly have called on God's angels to annihilate the Romans, the Jews' thorn on the side, but He didn't do that.  His purposes were much higher (John 12:27): He wanted them to see the face of God and in seeing, love Him, find joy and all in all.

Bill Hybels, pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in the Chicago area, said that Christians often like going from the triumph to triumph -- from the joy of Palm Sunday to the ecstacy of Easter, with no Good Fridays in between.  But that's not going to work.  Jesus' mission is to draw us to Him forever.  He refines, sustains, lifts up, empowers ... and best of all, He saves our hearts for eternity.

2.  They misread all the signs.  Jesus on a donkey was a direct fulfilment of the prophecy of Zechariah over 400 years earlier. Zechariah 9:9 "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!  Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey."  The Pharisees knew the passage, and hence they were even more upset that Jesus had come.  If you had one prophecy after another being fulfilled right before your eyes, would you not be convinced that "there is more to this Man ," and would that not open your eyes to something that God wants you to realize?  Not the Pharisees.  Of all people, they were the ones who knew about prophecies, but they deliberately misread the hand of God.  The pharisees saw a threat to their power; God wanted them to see their gentle, loving God.

It wasn't just the Pharisees who easily missed the signs.  Jesus' disciples had been with Him all the time seeing miracle after miracle, yet they still did not completely understand who He was.  John 12:28-30 has a very short account of how far the disciples themselves missed the mark; here, Jesus said:  "Father, glorify Your name."  And a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.”  People stood by and heard it too, but they said that it had thundered. Others said that an angel spoke.  Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake.  Now is the judgment of this world."

The disciples heard the sound, and figured it to be THUNDER!  Others said that  "an angel spoke to Him."  They were off the mark.  We still are. Let's read all the signs right, and know indeed that Jesus is the Son of God, and He is our Lord.

Do you recognize Jesus for who He is?  The Bible is God's revelation to us, and if you want to see God, you have to read His word. God may also show Himself to us through different things: through people we meet everyday, circumstances that happen, or even just the stirring of your soul about something.  Many people see God through hindsight -- they look back at some things in their past, and suddenly it becomes clear how God HAD been there with them,  though it did not always feel that way.  I encourage you to look ... God is with you, "just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey" -- and He wants you to put your faith in Him.  The Pharisees did not do that, even believers fell short of that, and they missed out on the best opportunity ever to be with the Messiah as He fulfilled His mission.

3. They misdirected their energies.  Just prior to Jesus' triumphal entry, Jesus brought Lazarus back to life.  This made Jesus very popular, also because He made other miraculous deeds everywhere He went.  Instead on believing, though, the Pharisees spent all their time hating and plotting against Him.  What a waste of energy!  They also wanted to kill Lazarus, because he was living proof of God's power, and the miracle involving him was causing many to turn to Jesus (John 20:10).  

Many of us are like the Pharisees this way.  When we see the hand of God in a mighty blessing on others, we spend a lot of time being envious.  Then we try to shift the favor on us, so that we would not miss what we think are OUR advantages.  The Pharisees did not want to lose their societal advantage, so they plotted to kill.  The followers didn't want to lose their advantage of having a supernatural champion in their corner, so they worked hard to make Jesus King.  Neither was what Jesus wanted.

Do you know what pleased Jesus?  It was this act: "Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil."  WORSHIP -- that's all that Jesus required.  Mary, the sister of Lazarus, did this wonderful act of worship very shortly before the triumphal entry.  Again, we see Judas who was later to betray Jesus, being filled with envy.  He asked, "Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it. But Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial.  For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”

Jesus does not want us going around trying to make things perfect according to whatever standard we have.  All He desires is our time, love, devotion, and worship.  And when we do that, we will be like Mary's perfume:  "We will fill the house with fragrance."  Don't misdirect your energies; just stay close to Jesus' feet.

4.  They misjudged His scope.  There is an important passage in John 12 that foreshadowed how great Jesus' reach would be, but this is often overlooked.  It is the arrival of some Greeks who come to Philip with the request, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus" (v. 21). Now in spite of the universal and worldwide implications of Zechariah's prophecy in Zechariah 9, and in spite of the Pharisees' "unintentional prophecy" in v. 19, "Look the world has gone after him," the predominant mindset of the crowds at the triumphal entry was very nationalistic and narrow—indeed, very Jewish. You see that from their cry, "Blessed is the King of Israel."

So this incident of the Greeks stands again in contrast, precisely because it is so international. As they were coming to Jerusalem to worship at the Feast of Passover, it is clear that these Greeks were "God-fearers." But the fact remains they were Greeks! They weren't Jews! And for John this coming of the Greeks and their heartfelt desire to see Jesus is very significant. It represents a small yet very real down-payment of the world coming to Jesus. It is the beginning of the fulfillment of Jesus' promise in v. 32: "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men (Greeks and well as Jews, and all the world) to myself."  And we again note the prophecy in Zechariah 9:10, "His dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth."

Application: We do tend to limit in our minds what God can do.  Let's not do that anymore.  The Jews took the mistaken notion that Jesus was theirs alone.  The Pharisees had the wrong idea that Jesus challenged them alone.  In truth, Jesus had so much more in mind than the inhabitants of Jerusalem, although that ancient city will always be special to Him.  But God said in His word that it is His desire that ALL shall be saved ... that is, all the peoples of the world.

In our own lives, this concept follows, in that we tend to give to Jesus only a portion of our lives.  But His desire is bigger -- He wants us to turn ourselves over to Him so completely, that we find our fullness in Him.  We are famous for being Sunday Christians.  But God desires that we be Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, on to Saturday Christians too!  God's scope is far-reaching.  If we give to Him all that we have, He returns all blessings many times over.  Luke 6:38 says, "Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”  We should all learn the lesson that we cannot outgive God.

5. They misaligned their priorities.  John 20:42-43 has an intriguing phrase:  "Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God." 

Nothing more need to be said about that -- it is pretty much self-explanatory.  But I think we all see ourselves a lot in that verse -- we love the praise of men more than the praise of God.  When things are good and energetic, like the time of the Triumphal entry, we join the crowd and sing "Hosanna to the King!"  But when things turn against what we find comfortable, we cower in fear.  Where were the people who professed loyalty to Jesus, at the time the scourging took place, four days after the triumphal entry?  They ran away.  They hid.  Not that we blame them -- it was a pretty scary moment. 

But in the final analysis, we need to choose: do we follow God, or do we follow men?  Do we go to live in His power, or do we whittle and die with no contribution to the kingdom?  Many of the rulers believed in Jesus ... but they were afraid to get out of their comfort zone.  Are we?  Are our priorities godly in His sight, that we will take our cross and follow Him?  Are we light to the world, or are we hiding under the pitcher?

It is time to choose.  The Pharisee in all of us must not win anymore.  The hour is at hand, says the Lord.

The movie “The Golden Compass” opens in theaters today, and much has been written about it as being anti-God.  Philip Pullman, the author of the book from which the movie was taken, is of course a devoted, outspoken atheist, and through his writings openly suggests the idea of “killing God in the minds of children.”  This book is part of a trilogy called His Dark Materials, where he promotes doing away with God for the betterment of man.

I’m really not that much interested in telling you about the film.  I’m sure many of you have received an email or two (or more!) about it, most probably calling on you to not watch the movie.  Sometimes, though, this press to boycott has opposite effect: it drums up so much controversy about the movie that theater buffs are intrigued, and they rack up the numbers in the box theater.  I hope for that not to happen.

Yes, I will refuse to watch the film … not so much for its content, but more for the purpose behind that content.  Philip Pullman has blatantly thrown down the gauntlet by saying he wants to “kill God in the minds of children.”  That statement of purpose is to me no less than a statement of war, and he is going after my children.  Why should I back down?  Why should I give him the satisfaction of even knowing that his filth has infiltrated my camp?

Really now …you can be lax and choose to take the story-teller’s words as simply harmless tales -- or you can see the pied piper as the harbinger of death that he is.  Author Sandra Meiser wrote about that in The Pied Piper of Atheism, where is outlined the mercenary deceit of atheists in mainstream media.  In “The Golden Compass”, for example, we see dishings of clergy who kidnap and torture children, gay angels and fickle witches who patrol the skies, a wise shaman, warrior polar bears, a brilliant ex-nun and countless opportunities for children to get in touch with their inner “daemons,” talking animal-spirits who represent their souls.  All these revolving around Lyra and Will who eat forbidden fruit (sound familiar?) and finally get the opportunity to destroy God, which is premised as something they should have done the first time around.

To me, the stakes are too high. The enemy has called for war, and while I will not back down, I can and will fight this battle on my own terms, not his. 

In another interview, Philip Pullman says, “My books are about killing God.”  I almost wanted to laugh and say, “Oh yeah?  Well, His book is about killing YOU.” But then I thought: while that may be true in consequence (God will annihilate evil and all those who choose its path), it is not true in intent for each person that God has created.  Therein lies the difference.  God’s Word is love and hope, Philip Pullman’s books, and those of his minions, are just full of hate and darkness.

No contest in that one about which one I choose.