Brats?

Have you ever spotted spoiled brats?  The cereal aisle at your local Wal-Mart is their natural habitat.  The parental choice of healthy over sugary brings out their rage, hissing and showing of teeth, their violence revealing their savage hearts.

What happens when a child receives everything that he / she wants at exactly the moment that they want it?  What happens when the need for care and provision is replaced by a sense of rights and privileges?  What would happen to you if God, your Father, gave you everything you desired at the push of His button?  Brats are the most miserable humans in the world.

In response to their pleading, Jesus taught His disciples to pray.  They must have witnessed the richness of His relationship with the Father and desired the same intimacy.

Immediately following His model, the “Lord’s Prayer”, He shared the short parable of the persistent friend (Luke 11).  Who knew that impertinence was a valuable characteristic in the Kingdom of God?

God is not asleep and he is not reluctant to provide for your needs, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant.  He is, however, more concerned with the maturity of your character than with the realization of momentary comfort or pleasure. 

He will most certainly answer prayer and come and inhabit the human heart with His supernatural presence.  What could be more important or more necessary?  What could possibly express more clearly the love and compassion of our Father? 

 "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

So, the attitude of prayer is very important.  God is my Father.  He longs to provide that which I really need.  He longs to see me grow and mature.  He also longs for intimacy and knows that He alone can fulfill our deepest longings.  So, He values impertinence, the type of insistence that will knock the door down desperate to know Him more intimately. 

He is our Father.  We can be “bold” in His presence.  We can express our hearts, our confusion and our desires knowing that He accepts us completely.

But, He is a loving and wise Father, who knows better than to spoil His children and so for many answers we wait….growing and maturing, becoming the children who not only know their Father, but honor Him through the character molding and revealing moments of every day.

The Hardened Heart

The seed is wonderful and miraculous, absolutely perfect.  It is sown by the master gardener, the maker Himself.  It has the capacity to break through the soil and create infinite results of transformation and beauty.  But the fruit depends upon the condition of the soil, the willingness of the human heart to be infiltrated and changed.

Jesus ‘parable of the Sower is the key to understanding the transformation power of His Kingdom. Since the word of God is perfect and life-giving, the sole variable is the sinful heart.

“A farmer went out to sow his seed.  As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.”  How did the path become hard, impenetrable? Could it be that it has been walked upon for many years, developing a tough surface that protects it from threat and pain? Have we ever considered the difficulties that others experience, the atrocities and the torture that shape the psyche?

Our defensive reactions to the proclamation of the Gospel may seem justified and even honorable, but they may simply make the ground harder.  What would it take to soften a heart that has been battered and beaten by years of deceit and abuse?

Jesus says that the hardened heart will not receive the word of God and the good news will quickly be erased from memory, no time to contemplate the beauty of Christ. The body of believers, the church, exists to be a permanent reminder of the grace of God, a safe community of peace and healing. Would acceptance and friendship help to “break up the fallow ground”?

Certainly, beating our swords and weapons into plowshares is a result of end-times fulfillment, but wouldn't it be helpful to skip ahead and stop using our weapons against people who are struggling and find creative ways to love them and allow God to create marvelous fruit in their hearts?

At the very least let’s not be so quick to shake the dust off of our feet and move on…

The guy really should have known better.  He was a teacher of the law.  He should have recognized Jesus as the authority, the Word Himself.  But, he chose to question Jesus about the requirements for eternal life.  It would seem like a teacher of the law would have already worked through that issue. But, that’s the way it is with religions. They always leave you wondering if you are in or out.

Without warning, Jesus throws the question back at him, “What have you read? What does the word say?  What has God demanded? What is the foundational truth that you religious folks recite several times every day? Is it not clear?” The lawyer stutters through the traditional response and somehow realizes that he has painted himself into a corner.  What must have been racing through his mind?  Did he really think that he loved God with the all-encompassing passion that He deserves and demands?  How arrogant would it be to assume such a standard or settle for such mediocrity?   So, he must skip this part and jump straight to the horizontal relationships.  “Do I love my neighbor? Now, that’s a better question. Of course I love my friends and family. They love me in return, but what about all those other people?  Some are quite rude and hateful.  Some don’t think like I do or look like I do.  Do I really have to love them?” 

So, in his panic, he creates a diversion.  “Jesus”, he says, “just who really is my neighbor?” That is quite the loaded question that reveals too much of the human heart.  “My arrogance and ignorance lead me to believe that I love the sovereign creator of the universe in an adequate manner, so let’s just skip that part of the exam and go straight to my real concern.  Whom can I hate?  Certainly I don’t need to love everybody?”

So Jesus tells a little story, a beautiful story that we have unfortunately used as an example for helping one another.  The story that we have titled “The Good Samaritan” is not a feel-good event.  It is an immaculate indictment against the sinfulness of the human heart.  There is not a single human being (apart from Christ) who could ever love his neighbor to the extent that the Samaritan sacrificed.  The story was perfectly designed to show the teacher of the law that he had missed the point.  He was incapable of loving both God and man.

Without God’s personal indwelling, you and I will never be able to attempt to love God with any kind of real passion, nor will we serve our neighbors with full-out commitment.  Jesus, the great story-teller, creates for us a painful story that reveals the darkness of our sinful hearts and points us to saving faith in Him.  (Luke 10)

Be careful how you hear...

 “No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a washtub or shoves it under the bed. No, you set it up on a lamp stand so those who enter the room can see their way. We’re not keeping secrets; we’re telling them. We’re not hiding things; we’re bringing everything out into the open. So be careful that you don’t become misers of what you hear. Generosity begets generosity. Stinginess impoverishes.” Luke 8:16-18 (The Message)

As a church we are working our way through the parables of Jesus. What strikes me as ironic is how familiar they are as little snippets and how startling and demanding they are with their full meaning.

Jesus was and is a brilliant story teller, teacher, a craftsman of words and phrase.  Makes sense that John the Apostle would use the philosophical word "logos" to describe Him. "In the beginning was the Word"....the order and reasoning of the universe...the meaning that under-girds it all.

So immediately following the parable of the Sower...which by the way is the key to understanding much of Jesus' teaching, He speaks about lighting a lamp and the absurdity of hiding it.

If you want to grasp Jesus' teaching and His miracles, change your lenses and try to see everything through the long-term plan of preparing His disciples for future ministry.  He was whispering in their ears...but He would soon expect them to shout it all from the rooftops.

Which brings us to the parable of the lamp.  Who would light a lamp with the idea of hiding it?  Certainly, God would not.  His investment in you, the truth He has shared, the grace He has lavished, the salvation He has poured upon you....would they not all be for some greater global purpose?

"Take heed therefore how you hear"....was the old English version of saying.."don't be stingy with the truth and grace that you have heard and experienced." Spread it around.  Shine your light so that others can keep from stumbling around and stubbing their toes....or falling off a cliff. Don't you want to help them find their way to Christ, the source of truth and life? 

Can we not see that God has long-term ministry plans that will produce eternal results?  "You are the light of the world..."