John 3:22-36; Rhythm Guitar

John knew what his purpose was and he played his role well. When his disciples were jealous for him, John could still point them to Jesus. He didn't have to but he did. He could have been irritated, started his own following or just walked away. Despite the shift in the limelight, he stayed true to his call.

I think there is a lot we can learn from John. So many of us go through life without any sense of purpose. We eventually land on work or family or something else. But John understood his call early and he stayed faithful to it.

John also is a great example of not letting his ego keep him from pointing people to Jesus. He could rejoice in the success of others and even be content with becoming less.

Surely it was not easy to be John. Today so many of us are tying to be number one that very few are content with letting Jesus become number one. An old country song said, "Nobody wants to play rhythm guitar behind Jesus; it seems like everybody wants to be the lead singer in the band." I respect John for letting go of the spotlight and hope that when I'm gone I'll remind people more of John than the old song. Yet I know that a reputation is built little by little over a lifetime. So, with that in mind, hopefully by the end of today someone will be able to compare me more with John than the song.

John 3:1-21; Followership

It is ironic that most of the messages I have heard from this passage deal with the "born of water" portion. Was Jesus talking about baptism or physical birth? I've heard both argued and have my opinion; however, I don't think that was the point of the conversation.

The conversation was about following the Christ through spiritual rebirth. How hard that must have been for a Pharisee. How hard it still is for us. When this entire Christian thing gets boiled down to its basic ingredients, it is still simply submitting my human experience to the leadership of Jesus. It is a spiritual decision to follow the God-man Jesus.

I don't know what Nicodemus anticipated hearing from the lips of Jesus that night, but I doubt he anticipated a statement of faith ("we know you are from God") to be met with a challenge ("You must be born again"). Apparently Jesus makes a clear distinction between verbal assent and followership. Unfortunately many Christians don't seem to make the distinction while much of society does. While most Christians seem content with hearing another say, "I am a Christian", most of society wants to see followership in action. Verbal assent and kingdom living are not the same; in fact, Jesus says that if all you have is verbal assent, you have not even seen the kingdom yet.

Jesus concludes with the statement, "But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God." To rephrase it, "It will be obvious when someone is a true follower."

May today be spent in obvious followership and not simple verbal assent.

John 2:13-25; AntiChurch?

Jesus went to the temple to find a house of prayer; instead he found greed and corruption. His reaction was swift and clear. Animals were driven out, people rebuked and tables overturned. I have serious doubts that it all came to an end. I doubt that they left and never came back or took their business elsewhere. Instead of repenting they questioned his authority, the age old reaction of shooting the messenger.

I wonder how Jesus would feel walking into a US institutional church today? Would he find a house of prayer or house of greed? Would he be able to walk through the parking lot with the new cars and feel OK when he got inside to a building devoid of the poor? Would he rebuke us for our budgets that spend vast sums on self rather than the community? Would he be upset? How would we react to him? How do we react to any messenger that points this out?

Recently I talked with two missionaries that simply said, "I hate church." They clarified that they love the church that Jesus established but are incredibly frustrated with the US expression of that. Their church meets in a rented area of the mall; it is accessible by bus from anywhere in town so that the poor can participate. They have found a way to pursue Jesus' kingdom here on earth and stay faithful to church without letting their frustrations with human adulteration drive them away. And I think that is exactly what Jesus did. His frustration with human error did not cause him to stop going to the temple, quit being a Jew or give up on the people around him.

May we follow his example even in handling frustrations.

John 2:1-12; Prayer

This story challenges my prayer life. Jesus clearly told Mary, "No." But she was undaunted. Her faith remained strong that he would respond to her petition.

So what do I do with this? I don't want to be Abraham who pushed for his dream so much that he gave birth to Ishmael and many have regretted the decision ever since. He acted apart from God. I don't want to be Israel who asked for a king even though God said it was not a good idea. They persisted and he gave it to them; later it caused division and their downfall. Their hearts were not in harmony with God even though they called out to him. Here Mary knew her son but was not in sync with his wishes nor his dream. Yet he still responded and it was a good thing (apparently).

And so I struggle. There are ways I would like God to respond but I don't know if it is in his or my best interest. Can I appeal to the presidence set by Mary while avoiding the mistakes of Abraham and Israel? I hope so but I don't know so. It times like this where I just count on God knowing my heart while I try to know his.

John 1:42-51; Me or Thee?

Nathaniel almost missed him. He was hung up on a detail and almost missed God on earth. I think we do the same thing at times. Instead of seeing God touch a group of people, we take offense at how the worship service was conducted. Instead of appreciating the breadth of Jesus’ love, we take offense at his condemnation of some. Instead of diving into his teachings, we dislike that they were in a style we don’t like. Like Nathaniel, we get hung up on little personal details and miss Jesus.

Also like Nathaniel, we just love it when Jesus does something neat and personal for us. Jesus, on the other hand, was more concerned for his worldwide influence, hence the reference to Jacob’s dream where heaven and earth are connected and God makes a promise to influence the world through Jacob. We have been trained to shop around for the best product that fits me personally, e.g., car, house, job, clothes. Our mission trips are planned around our schedule more than the world’s needs. Our selection of a home church is more about ease of traffic getting there than discerning where God is at work. We come to Jesus with the same mentality, i.e., we don’t really want to influence the world; we just want Jesus to show up and make me feel good. Nathaniel was impressed by Jesus knowing where he was sitting. “He saw me! He knows me! I had God come to me!” Jesus’ response? “There are greater things than that.”
The question is “can I see them?”

Am I so hung up on me that I can’t see God going and coming around me? Maybe worse yet, am I so hung up on me that I don’t really care about God working around me? After all which would I rather experience: an insignificant revelation about me or the transformation of the dysfunctional family down the street? Do I prefer a great personal devotional over seeing God change a neighborhood? Would my faith grow more from hearing God speak to me about me or from hearing how Jesus changed the leadership of a country? Is my Christianity about me or him?

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 . . ?

John 1:1-18; Unrecognizable Jesus

John says that Jesus came to that which was his own but was unrecognized by some and unreceived by others. Ending Acts a couple of days ago, I was thinking about this exact idea. What would it look like if Jesus / God intervened in my world today? Would I recognize him? Would I accept him? Would I like him?

Culture packages our spirituality. I think that is why it is often hard to recognize the hand of God in others. God came as a Jewish laborer. No trumpets, no CNN reporters, no Academy Awards; just a simple man in a Semitic culture sweating in his robe and sandals. Since that didn't fit a lot of people's expectations, he was mostly unrecognized and unreceived.

What if God came in flesh to Abilene today? Maybe he would be the homeless guy with a "will work for food sign" at the intersection. Maybe he would be the WalMart greeter (somehow I think Jesus would like that job). May he would be a sophomore business student. More than pondering options, I think I'm challenging my own bias. Do I take the time and make the effort to look past a person's job and social status to really see the spiritual being inside? Do I think more highly of the mayor than the janitor because of their positions or do I see them both as made in the image of God? Surely it was respecting position and foregone conclusions about what the Messiah would look like that messed everything up in the first century. I wonder how much it is still messing up my life?

I was once with a friend that introduced me to the mayor of the capital city, then turned and introduced me to the top news anchor and then turned and called the waiter by his first name. On the way out of the building, he asked the parking lot attendant how her mother was doing since her recent illness. I was amazed. He treated everyone the same, perhaps giving more time to the parking lot attendant than either the mayor or newsman. He saw beyond culture and jobs to the soul of the person. I want to be that guy, the one who can see the creation of God in everyone. Maybe then Jesus won't sneak by me unrecognized or unappreciated.