Smile
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New for old
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| by John Fischer Jesus once warned against trying to patch an old garment with new cloth or put new wine into old wineskins. In the case of the garment, the new unshrunk piece of cloth will tear away from the rest when the clothing is first washed. And in the case of the wineskins, the new wine will be too acidic for the old skins and they will burst. New wine and new skins need to grow old together. I used to wonder about exactly what this meant. I’d heard it taught as being related to new methods of sharing the Gospel and pretty much left it at that. Recently I found something new. I found out that Jesus told this story right after being criticized for hanging around tax collectors and sinners at Matthew’s house. (Matthew was a former tax collector who, upon being invited to become one of Christ’s twelve disciples, decided to celebrate his career change by inviting all his friends over to dinner to meet his new boss. Tax collectors were thought of as pretty much the scum of the earth.) When the religious leaders (Pharisees) questioned Jesus as to his choice of friends, he promptly replied, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:13) Which translated meant, I didn’t come for you; I came for them. And shortly after that is when Jesus is suddenly discussing garment repair and proper wine storage. Here’s what I think. I think that little piece of advice was meant for the Pharisees. It was meant to announce to them that God was now going to usher in a new thing entirely. Jesus did not come just to fix religion. He did not come to patch up the Old Covenant. Nor did He come to pour new life into it (new wine into old wineskins). He came to do something entirely new. And in order to “get it” you can’t come in through the existing door. The Pharisee’s framework of thinking about God and religion will forever prevent them from being able to understand and partake in something new — what Jesus came to establish. Therefore, Jesus is pleased to start with people who have no preconceptions of God and how to please Him; they just know they’re messed up. That’s all Jesus wants. He doesn’t want the religious sacrifices of “good” people. He wants the entire lives of people who know they are sinners and failures so he can begin something entirely new with them — new clothes… new wine… new skins. Now all this should come as terribly good news to anyone who knows he or she is not a good person. That’s precisely the point. Jesus didn’t come for good people; He came for sinners. He did not come to make good people better, but to make bad people good. And Lord knows that’s what we all need. |
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Stretching
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“The Lord detests lying lips, but He delights in men who are truthful.” Proverbs 12:22
Fear of failure
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“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10
Suffering colors….
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“Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” Romans 5:3-5
Why does God allow suffering? It’s a question that, in one form or another rears its ugly head time and again. Whether it comes from someone who has just lost a loved one, been diagnosed with an incurable illness or even just surveyed the plight of the poor in the third world. A few days after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 the question that was being asked around the world was Where was God in this?The question is one that has dogged Christians down the ages. A number of answers have been offered and indeed all world views attempt their own response. John Currid brings Biblical teaching to bear. God does work in suffering, he is not a worried observer unwilling or unable to intervene, rather he has a purpose at work and is in control. As Abraham said “Shall not the Judge of all the Earth do right?”
Grasping that truth will help us as we face the future and ensure that when we are next faced with that most tricky of questions we will know where to begin.
What does it feel like to be loved by God?
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by John Fischer
Well, all I can say is: you people are unbelievable.
I was getting ready to write tomorrow’s “Catch” when I realized I hadn’t posted comments in a while and I got caught by you this time. I read through seven or eight and got all choked up by the time I finished.
One was about ordinary acts of kindness received while a husband was battling cancer, right down to someone who came in every day with a joke to make everyone laugh. Then a daughter strayed off into danger zones while Mom prayed the “buzzards” away. And there was another mom who is going through dark times right now with a child and struggling to hold on. And I love the story of the woman who is helping single moms with unplanned pregnancies to have their babies and get a start in life with assistance and a watchful eye, keeping the buzzards at bay.
And there were others taking the “point” for a brother or sister in that time of need, performing the purpose God gave them at that moment without any thought of what they might gain or lose by it. And one who lost a husband but gained the voice of God. Right down to the story of a new believer whose faith wasn’t yet strong enough to overcome the depression that snuffed out his will to live, yet could not take away his hope in Christ and love for God, thus depriving the devil of his last laugh.
But then I ran smack into the chilling, stark words of Leslie, and honestly, I can’t follow this up with anything. I’m just going to let her words sit there, and if needs be haunt you all day long, because I know they are felt many times over by the people we will rub shoulders with yet today. How will you answer this?
“I’ve never had any sense that the God of Creation knew I existed. It has just been within the past three years that I heard in my church that He is supposed to love me. But I don’t know what it feels like to be loved by God. What do I look for?”
Forgiveness
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“For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Matthew 6:14-15
Being a child
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Buzz off, buzzard!
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by John Fischer
Mark Peevler, who, as far as I can tell has a farm in Texas (what does a city boy like me know about these things), is responsible for our “catch” today. He cites Paul’s observation in Romans 1 about the hand of God in the natural world as giving him the right to the spiritual impact of this story, and I think he’s right on.
My 10-year-old son and I had gone to feed our horse, and as we drove up to the gate we found a big event was going on. In the pasture across the road, a new calf had just been born. The cow was still cleaning the afterbirth. The calf was lying so still that at first we thought there might be something wrong with it. Now within a few feet of the calf there were four or five buzzards eagerly eyeing the calf. Yes, buzzards are known to attack a young vulnerable animal until they cause it’s death, and produce a meal. This is where the story gets interesting. Another cow other than the calf’s mother was determined those buzzards were not going to get near the newborn.
As one big bird landed on the ground, this cow would make a run at it like a bull chasing a matador. If one landed on a fence post, she charged as if the fence wasn’t even there. While she was thus engaged, the calf finally moved its head and we knew it was alive, and the mother merely continued on with her cleanup process.
Now my son and I had seen cows grazing in the field with birds standing on their backs, or eating all around them, and they could care less. Somehow, this cow knew that these buzzards represented harm and possible death, and she was determined to do whatever was necessary to protect the mother and the baby.
I have a degree in animal science, and have taken animal behavior classes, but I couldn’t begin to tell you how she had that knowledge without our Heavenly Father placing it there. And by doing so, I believe He taught me an important lesson. If we could just help our fellow believers in this world by fighting off the buzzards of life until the weak are strong enough to stand, and those around them are given the opportunity to do their jobs without having to fight the distractions, we would all be much stronger Christians, don’t you think?
Yes I do, Mark. Yes I do.
Later that evening, we went back and there stood the little calf all wobbly-kneed next to Mom. The other cow sat on the other side of the pasture chewing her cud. Under most circumstances, no one would have witnessed the earlier events, and admired the cow for her selflessness or thanked her for her kindness. I just know she performed the purpose God gave her at that moment without any thought of what she would gain by it. I’m just thankful that God let my son and I share the moment.
And I’m grateful you shared the moment with us. This story speaks to us in many ways if we just listen. Thank you, Mark.
The new normal
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Actually, Cindy… No, your family isn’t normal. Your family is dysfunctional. What makes that seem normal is the realization that every other family out there is dysfunctional too. The truth of the matter is: There is no normal. There is just us, and we’re all hurting. Just imagine how much easier it would be if we all just admitted that. And imagine how much help we could all be to each other, and how much help we could get from the Lord, too.
One of my favorite song titles remains to be a Bruce Cockburn song, “The Trouble with Normal.” I love that because it suggests that things might not be okay with “normal,” and when you think about it, “normal” causes us all a lot of problems, anyway. Here is the trouble with normal: it becomes something that everyone assumes but no one pulls off. Therefore, “normal” only exists in our heads, and it makes us all miserable, because even though we all know we aren’t normal, we assume everyone else is. I mean, we got the idea from somewhere, didn’t we?
Here’s a new idea of normal. It comes from Paul, the Apostle. “We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.” (2 Corinthians 4:8-10 NLT)
There. Don’t you feel better already? You see, all this “abnormal” stuff is there to cause us to find, experience and attest to the power and presence of God in our lives. If we could just realize this, then we would know that what Paul describes here is really the new normal for the follower of Christ.
Maybe we should just ship that bright, happy, shiny people notion of normal down the river and pick up the new normal of “pressed on every side… perplexed… hunted down… and knocked down.” But at the same time, don’t forget the other side of normal either: “we are not crushed… not driven to despair… never abandoned… and not destroyed,” with the life of Jesus being the thing that holds us all together and leaks out to the world as the source of our strength.
