John 1:19-42; The Question

Andrew and his friend had obviously spent time with John. Their minds were already thinking about the Messiah, sin and forgiveness. They were focused on some pretty substantial issues. Then came their opportunity and they seized it.

I can imagine a giddy feeling in their hearts as they walked a short distance behind Jesus. Then Jesus spun around and asked, "What do you want?" I think it caught them off guard. All they could come up with was "Where are you staying?" Really? That's all they could ask? You get a chance to ask God anything and all you come up with is "Where are you staying?" I can only imagine Jesus got a chuckle out of it.

But what if Jesus walked in my door and asked me the same question right now? What would I say? No time to think; just answer now. Perhaps the shallowness of my answer would make Andrew look like a scholar. I think it is an awkward question because we expect God to do all the spiritual work. I think we come to him and expect him to zap us with his spiritual wand so that we automatically are different. Where does he come up with asking our opinion? That implies that I have to think, to work, to do something. No, I'm fully North American and I want God to do everything for me including tell me what it is that I'm supposed to want him to do for me.

Yet God always shows up asking questions. To Adam, where are you? To Cain, where is your brother? To the teacher, what is written in the law? To the Apostles, who is the son of man? It seems that being made in his image means he wants our intelligence and our intent involved in our spirituality.

So back to the scene, Jesus walks in the door and asks "What do you want?" The answer . . ?

Philippians 1:20-26; Meaning

Singleness of purpose; that's what I hear in this passage. In life or in death, there is only one purpose, i.e., to live for the glory of God. That might mean to live directly in his presence or to enhance the image of the glory of God in others. Yet it is all focused on the glory of God.

"If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean . . ." For most of us it means to go on working and seeking entertainment through some form of self-gratification. It means acting just like everyone else who has no clue regarding what life is really about. It should mean that thousands of us make decisions that look really strange to those around us. It should mean that we distinguish ourselves from everyone else by service to them. It should mean more time to be more different than the rest of society.

One of the great driving motivators in this has to be that death is not death but rather a transition to the presence of God. On the Mt of Transfiguration, Moses and Elijah talked with Jesus about his "departure". In John 13, Jesus knew he was about "to leave". Here Paul talks of departing and even qualifies living as "in the body" since a follower of Christ never really dies.

So why not be different? Why not live as one who is in on the big secret (the mystery as Paul calls it) while others don't know what the game of life is about. Life is never-ending and should forever have the same focus, i.e., to live for the glory of God.

Romans 13:8-14; Focus

Its all about focus. If you focus upon details, you lose the big picture. If you focus on details, you lose sight of what the end product is supposed to be. How often do we teach on the details but forget to teach on the big picture.

Love is the goal and the journey. All the commandments give love shape and direction. However, focusing on the detailed commandments has a subtle way of focusing us upon the negative. If I spend all day focused upon not lusting, still the only thing on my mind is lust. If I spend all day focused upon not reacting in anger, my first thought is going to be anger. So the little line at the end of this section that says "do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature" is quite profound. Instead of meditating on or questioning where the line is and how far can I go, the concept is to question how close to the heart of God can I live? If the focus is upon loving others who have the image of God rather than "thou shalt not", the result will have to be quite different, the result surely will be more positive and loving.

It is such a simple concept that it sounds almost ridiculous. Yet, living in a ridiculous way sounds a lot like Jesus.

Luke 12:22-34: Little Things

Jesus called it a little thing. He asked, "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing . . ." Amazing. Adding an hour to my life is considered not only a little thing but a "very little thing" by Jesus.

How much time and effort do we as a society throw at health care? How much worry and constant monitoring of exercise, sleep and diet goes on? Yet, he calls it a "very little thing."

It sort of jogs our sense of priorities. His view is so different from mine. Yet, that seems to be the very point of the passage. I get stuck in this world and lose sight of the big picture. I care about one hour of life; he calls that very little. I worry about money for living; he says I have an entire kingdom coming so I should feel free to give it away now. I worry about my things wearing out; he says I have possessions coming that will never wear out.

Today, maybe for once, I can live with a different focus . . . an eternal one.