Jesus and the Psalms

When's the last time you read the Psalms on purpose? Sometimes it is hard to know what to do with those ancient songs - they're born out of a different culture, a different mindset, a different style of music. But the one thing we hold in common with those psalters? Misery is misery, suffering is suffering, pain is pain, disappointment, sadness, frustration, betrayal, despair, sorrow is still the same three thousand years later. It's this connection that keeps us going back to the Psalms, even if we have a hard time filtering out the cultural differences.

Another way we discount the Psalms is in failing to understand how much Jesus valued them. Jesus had them memorized - not for the sake of a contest, but for the sake of love, for the sake of expressing what is most intimate. The Psalms speak in raw language about love and hate, hope and despair, rescue and destruction. What's fascinating is to see how Jesus, in so many ways, lives out the hopes of the Psalms - in his day, and in his way, Jesus brings to life the prayers of the Psalter.

For example, having read the Gospels, and then reading Psalm 103, it is clear that Jesus lived out that song. I wonder if God wants the church - which is the body (the hands, feet, heart) of Jesus to be living out this Psalm in our day, in our way?

1 Praise the LORD, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the LORD, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—

3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,

4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,

5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

6 The LORD works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.

7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:

8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.

9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;

10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;

12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;

14 for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.

15 As for mortals, their days are like grass,
they flourish like a flower of the field;

16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.

17 But from everlasting to everlasting
the LORD's love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children's children—

18 with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.

19 The LORD has established his throne in heaven,
and his kingdom rules over all.

20 Praise the LORD, you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
who obey his word.

21 Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts,
you his servants who do his will.

22 Praise the LORD, all his works
everywhere in his dominion.
Praise the LORD, my soul.

Jesus Heals

In our modern era, Jesus gets mixed reaction: IF people believe in him, they usually cast him in a good light and regard him as a good person who helped people, and he was a good teacher who inspired people to love each other. What's interesting to me is the fact that when looking at the actual stories we have of Jesus, the reason he was regarded so highly, what made him so helpful was his healings. And all the healings are miraculous. And the things he taught were all connected to living in line with the rule of God. So today we applaud Jesus for his good work and good teachings, but discount the divine miracles that made his work good, and downplay his divine message that made his teachings good. No wonder so many people these days don't know what to do with Jesus.

People in Jesus' day had doctors, had advanced knowledge of medicine, of herbs and healing remedies. But many of the people who came to Jesus either couldn't afford a doctor, or their wretched poverty was causing the misery, and they were caught in a cycle they couldn't get out of. The other terrible condition was affliction from unclean spirits. We don't talk much about that part of Jesus' ministry, mostly because we don't know what to believe about them.

Most Americans don't believe in demon possession, and if they do it is totally influenced by Hollywood. In reading the Jesus-stories, it seems like other than Jesus, these people who were filled with unclean spirits had no hope for release. It wasn't like Jesus was competing with other exorcists in the region. People were amazed that Jesus could cast the spirits out, and that the people were completely healed of the effects of the possession. Amazed because what they were witnessing was so rare and so beautiful.

Some scholars wonder if possession by unclean spirits is comparable to some of the severe mental illnesses that we have diagnosed today. It's possible. But we also know that in other primitive parts of the world there is very strong belief in dark spirits, there are situations and circumstances that seemingly can only be explained by supernatural action. It's not like the people that Jesus freed had been playing with a Ouija board and went too far, or had done incantations and gotten them wrong.

What we do know is that the oppression of Rome was so brutal, the rule of Herod so cruel, and the abuse of the temple leaders so corrupt, that when millions of people are subjected to unending injustice, grinding poverty, and unmediated terrors, they become susceptible to severe mental and spiritual trauma. How unclean spirits take advantage of people in those conditions is unclear to me. What's important though, is that Jesus freed these oppressed people from spiritual and mental bondage, and then gave them directions and hope for a way to not only survive Rome and Herod, but how to thrive in this hard life and in the next.

Jesus heals still today. He heals through doctors and nurses, through counselors and therapists, through pastors and friends. Jesus once in awhile does miracles yet today, but his rationale for doing so is mysterious to us and known only to him. What we do know, from reading these stories of Jesus, is that Jesus heals in connection with his message of renewal. Jesus wants to renew us and restore us to God, and everything he does intends to help bring about more restoration in this life and the next.

God and Jesus seem to take a long-view of things, they seem to be working very slowly. Two-thousand years later and there still seems to be so much work to be done in the world, so many more people who are in need of restoration. We see people now who need healing, and we wonder why God doesn't intervene more. God sees people who needs healing and wonders why we don't intervene more. God sees people who need healing, and he sees people he'd like to use to help bring about that healing, and God works to bring those people together. But will we respond to his promptings? Will we line ourselves up with his bigger work of restoration? Or will we only focus on why God doesn't heal more people more often?

Anchor & Literacy Alliance

Since 2005 Anchor has been a host-site for Literacy Alliance, an program designed to increase and improve literacy amongst adults. They provide basic adult education and GED preparation for adults - particularly those who have not graduated from high school.

In the most recent newsletter (2008 Issue 4) the executive director Judy Stabelli noted the increasing need for their programs: 14% of adults 25 years and older in Allen County did not graduate from high school - that's almost 30,000 adults. Judy also noted that 78% of the 288 students who attended intake session from June - October arrived with skills at or below the eighth grade level. This is a serious problem.

According to the mayor's Social Services Summit, adults without a high school diploma have a very difficult time achieving family stability. In fact the lack of that diploma is a primary barrier to that stability. In thirteen tracts throughout the greater Fort Wayne area identified with the greatest need based on education and household factors, ten of those tracts had a non high school graduation rate of higher than 14%, and in three it was greater than 20%.

It's important that Anchor keep hosting Literacy Alliance in our neighborhood, it's important that we help remove such obstacles as distance and space in order to increase the likelihood of more adults needing help getting help. It'd also be awesome if members of our church made a commitment to serve the neighborhood by volunteering with Literacy Alliance.

To volunteer, call 426.7323; email: judith.stabelli@fwliteracyalliance.org
Volunteer to help with adult instruction programs, learning centers, KeyTrain computer training, one-on-one, or group tutoring.

Jesus and the Holy Spirit

Starting with the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River, the Holy Spirit has become a prominent partner of Christ and his mission. Luke recalls that while Jesus was yet wet and still praying, the Spirit of God descended from the sky - in the appearance of something like a dove - and rested upon the Son of God. It's at this point, says Luke, that Jesus began his ministry. And so what is the first thing the Spirit does with Jesus? Lead him into the wilderness of Judea - a harsh and wretched place to dwell for any length of time.

It's interesting to note that, according to the text, Jesus was "full of the Holy Spirit" - this indicates something more than the experience of the OT saints, for them the Holy Spirit rested upon them only. For Jesus, the Holy Spirit has not only come upon him, but come inside him as well - Jesus is full of the Spirit of God. And this Spirit of God leads Jesus into the wastelands outside of Jericho.

Once Jesus completes his time of testing with the devil, he walks out of the desert ridges and makes his way north to the cooler hills of Galilee. But notice what Luke says of Jesus - he is now not only full of the Holy Spirit, but is now coming in the power of the Holy Spirit. There is something electric about him, a surging energy, a vibrancy, a readiness to pour himself out. As the story goes, Jesus starts teaching in the synagogues much to the delight of all those in attendance. Being a brilliant man, Jesus has a strategy for what he is doing, and he is preparing the people for his reading of Isaiah 61, which connects him with the Spirit of God.

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor...

Jesus ends up almost getting killed for his instruction following the synagogue reading of this text. So Jesus leaves his hometown of Nazareth and goes a couple of miles over to the town of Capernaum and starts teaching there. Interestingly, the people remark at the authority with which he taught - they were amazed and inspired. Hmmmmm....

In the stories that follow, we see more implications of Jesus being full of the power of the Holy Spirit of God: Jesus demonstrates power and authority over evil spirits and is able to throw them out of the afflicted people; Jesus is also able to heal people of all kinds of sicknesses. Jesus taught and healed through the power of the Holy Spirit of God - and people were amazed, were healed, were inspired.

Jesus refers to his actions as proclamation of the good news of the kingdom of God. His work in the Spirit resulted in good news - but his work was more than just about making people happy. His work in the Spirit was about revealing reality about the way and rule of God in the world. When God shows up as King, he makes things right, he confronts evil and defeats it, he heals and restores, and he reaches out to all who will reach out to him. This is good news indeed.

To think what God could do these days with a church full of the power of the same Spirit of God...

Jesus and Rejection

Terry Leatherman and I were talking the other day about the story in Luke where Jesus almost gets thrown off a cliff because he ticked his neighbors off. As we went over the details of the story, he asked me about what Jesus said that prompted such a violent reaction. The story does take an odd and unexpected twist - and in this case some OT stories help illuminate the reason for the rejection.

As the story goes, Jesus goes into the synagogue he grew up in as a child, and is given the scroll of Isaiah to read for the morning's discussion. Jesus thumbs his way through the scroll to one of the last sections and reads a beautiful, politically charged, hope-inspiring poem about God's deliverance, about healing, about favor, about freedom. Everyone nods their heads at Jesus' selection, and they speak well of him when he begins the discussion by stating: Today, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.

But then Jesus takes this brief wave of affirmation and turns it into a tsunami of truth-telling. Jesus won't have people flatter him and get away with it, especially not with the task he's been given: to save the world. So Jesus takes their flattery and flat out rejects it, noting that sooner than later their going to reject him because he's just a local boy, one of us, nobody of much account. Jesus can see where their attitude is going to take them, so he pushes the envelope to bring out their true feelings.

Jesus recalls for them two stories from two of the most famous, most powerful, most revered prophets of Israel's history - Elijah and Elisha. Everybody in Nazareth talked well and proudly of Elijah and Elisha. But Jesus points out that just as in their day, Israel rejected these two prophets, so in his day Israel will reject him. Obviously the neighbors didn't like this association - Jesus was shaming them, wounding their national pride...the truth hurts. It was for this reason that they rejected Jesus and tried to throw him over a cliff - they didn't want to hear the truth, and they certainly didn't want to hear it from that punk kid Jesus who grew up in that scandalous home of Joseph and Mary.

Will you listen to the truth? Even if you don't like the way it gets communicated to you?

Will you listen?

Jesus in the Wilderness

Everybody seems to think that this story in Luke 4 about Jesus being tempted is given to us to teach us how to resist temptation. While there can be some clues to resisting temptation in this story (quoting Scripture at the devil is effective, seemingly, if it is the devil himself who is tempting you...which doesn't seem to happen too often these days); the clues to what the story is about center on the Scriptures he quotes.

Luke's account of Jesus' time in the wilderness mirrors the nation of Israel and their time in the wilderness. Just as Israel emerged from the wilderness ready to cross the Jordan and enter the promised land to fulfill God's mission for them, so Jesus is going to emerge from the wilderness, tested and ready to cross the Jordan and enter the promised land to fulfill God's mission for him. According to Luke, Jesus is the new Israel; God is going to do through Jesus what he always meant to do through Israel - rescue the world, restore it for good. So Jesus is re-enacting Israel's story, and this time "Israel" is going to get it right, in Jesus.

Notice how the two stories parallel each other: both Jesus and Israel were led away from the Jordan into the wilderness by God; Jesus was there for forty days, Israel was there for forty years; while in the wilderness God provided bread for the people - Jesus resist's providing his own bread as the devil would have it; The first temptation draws attention to the "manna" that God provided. The devil takes Jesus to a high place to see all the kingdoms of the world, God took Moses up to the top of Mt. Nebo to survey the promised land; the devil tempts Jesus to test God just as the Israelites tested God at Massah (when they whined for water and God had Moses hit the rock).

Notice also that all three of Jesus' quotes come from Deuteronomy - 8v3, 6v13, 6v16; the significance being several - first Moses delivered the speeches in Deuteronomy while in the wilderness, just beyond the Jordan, as they were about to cross it and enter the promised land, and so Jesus is quoting the same speech as he is in the wilderness, about to reenter it as the New Israel; second, if you read each of the verses in Deuteronomy in cotext (the surrounding verses), the whole Luke story will come alive in a whole new way as you make connections with what Moses said and what Jesus is doing with those words for his situation as the new Israel.

Jesus, a Dove, and Mary's Genealogy

Luke 3 ends with a very brief account of Jesus' baptism as well as a lengthy genealogical record. For most people, they'd be okay if Luke had included a more extensive account of the baptism and left out the genealogy. But, as Luke would have it, he's trying to communicate something about Jesus by how he arranges his material.

One main point of the baptism and the genealogical record is to reemphasize that Jesus is the son of God - and God is pleased with his son. Another main point: how we go about recognizing Jesus as the son of God - well, let's just say it's unconventional. Think about it: why does Jesus need to be baptized? John is baptizing those who need to repent of their sins for forgiveness. So why does Jesus get baptized? Luke doesn't tell us why, but he does reveal an outcome of the baptism: many in attendance hear the voice which affirms Jesus of Nazareth as God's son.

So what about the genealogy? We wouldn't think too much of it, except if you've read Matthew, you'd realize that these two records are very different. The one similarity? They include the same names from David back down through Abraham. Luke goes all the way back to Adam, and he also includes different names from David to Jesus. Which leads some to conclude that this is Mary's record.

Interestingly, both Mary and Joseph are descendants of David - but only Joseph is descended from King Solomon. The crown passed on from David to Solomon to his son Rehoboam and so on, but the crown became corrupt in Solomon's age. In fact God was so displeased with Solomon that God began to make plans to divide Israel and take much of it away from him. You can read about Solomon's fall in 2 Kings 11. Not good. And it seems that God also took away from Solomon the blessing of Abraham: God would not bless the world with Jesus through Solomon directly.

God was pleased with David, especially since he repented of his sins for forgiveness (unlike Solomon). God reveals through the genealogical record that David was rewarded with a descendant whom God would use to bless the world. Mary was favored by God, much like David was; Solomon was blessed with wisdom, much like Jesus was. Jesus would be a man after God's own heart, like David; Jesus would be the wisest man of all like Solomon; but unlike David and Solomon, Jesus would rule without wrecking lives, and he would not be corrupted.

John and Jesus

It's interesting to note the ways that John prepares the way for Jesus. John is a prophet, and so is Jesus; John's preaching is immersed in Isaiah the prophet, and so is Jesus'. What we read in Luke 3, the content of John's message is fundamentally the same as that of Jesus. Jesus and John have a similar message: repent for forgiveness of sins.

It's important to know why the message is so similar: both John and Jesus are trying to point people to God. Both John and Jesus are servants of God, committed to hearing the word of God, communicating to the crowds, and living with integrity - they walk the talk. John and Jesus are not equals, and they do not have the exact same message - their lives play out differently in some ways, they they both have similar birth and death stories. In terms of their relation to each other, John has come to serve Jesus, to prepare the people with a message. Jesus needs John to prepare the way, to reintroduce the message of Isaiah, to reinterpret it so that the people will see Jesus rightly.

In many ways, we ought to pay more attention to John, if we are to better understand Jesus. John's message is full of rich allusions to Isaiah and other OT prophets, and from it Jesus builds his message to the masses. But what is most important is that we catch what John and Jesus together reveal to us about God, his work in the world, and what he is trying to communicate to us still through these two prophets. Does John's message still have a place in our world today? You betcha. It maybe that we need to preach a little more John in our work to help people get prepared for Jesus. It maybe that we need to get more of John if we want to get more of Jesus.

What kind of questions might John ask that rattle us, disturb us, get a rise out of us - a reaction that moves us to considering reality and our readiness of Jesus?

Am I slithery snake trying to escape the consequences of my actions?

Am I producing fruit in keeping with my repentance?

Am I pretending to be something I am not?

Am I afraid my secrets will get out?

Am I avoiding the truth?

Am I ready to do right?

A Dangerous Era for Preaching...

Luke 3 begins with what seems to be a boring list of names. On one level, it is Luke's attempt to ground his Jesus-story within the historical context of a specific times - it was common practice for historians to date events by the rule of the Emperor or King (ie. in the fifteenth year of...). On another level, Luke is providing the moral milieu of the day - it will be a dangerous duty to preach repentance of sin.

Seven men of power are listed at the start of the chapter - each of them powerful and corrupt. Tiberius Caesar of Rome, Pontius Pilate of Jerusalem, Herod, Philip and Lysanius rulers of local regions (as appointed by Tiberius), and then there is Annas and Caiaphas who are the high-priests during this era. These men will resist the good news of John and Jesus, they will balk at the call to be baptized and forgiven of their sins, and they will imprison and kill the messengers in an attempt to kill the message.

Fortunately these seven men can't stop the message, and for awhile they can't stop the messengers. John comes out of the gate boldly and furiously, preaching and calling people to repent of their sins and find forgiveness, healing, restoration, justice, mercy. It's really, really, really interesting to read what moral instruction John gives the crowd when they ask what they must do to be saved from the coming wrath of God. If people would follow John's instruction, they would see God's salvation, they would find freedom.

To the crowd coming to be baptized: if you have two shirts, give one away to anyone who has none.

To the tax collectors coming to be baptized: if you are swindling, cheating, embezzling, or stealing - stop it!

To the Roman soldiers coming to be baptized: if you are extorting and bribing people for money - stop it!

Stop to consider how radical this context is: to the crowds, their salvation rests in their care for the cold and hungry. Even tax collectors (Jews who work for the Romans, responsible for getting money from their neighbors to prop up the corrupt and terrible empire) are coming to be baptized - and John does NOT tell them to abandon their job, just not to abuse it. What???? And Roman soldiers, of all people, are coming to be baptized - their key to salvation? Be content with your pay.

Luke summarizes these kinds of moral instructions as "good news" and people flocked to hear it, be baptized into it, and exhorted to live it out. Obviously not everyone in the crowd like the idea of caring for the cold, not every tax collector quit stealing, and not every Roman soldier stopped extorting - some didn't think John was full of good news. Herod didn't, and when he heard John's moral instruction, he put John in prison.

It was a dangerous era then to preach repentance of sins. Probably still is today. But when you look around at all the broken homes and hearts, the lonely souls and tears, the addicted and medicated individuals...our friends and neighbors are in need of mercy and restoration, forgiveness and renewal...and it starts with good news of new beginnings in God.

Background to the Words and Works of John the Baptizer

Luke 3 is the final background chapter to the teachings and stories of Jesus the man from Nazareth. The chapter is mostly about the work of John, Jesus' cousin. The chapter is really just a snapshot of what John was all about - in verse 2 he receives the word of God, verse three he starts preaching, and by verse 20 he is locked in prison (where he would soon die). But the snapshot we receive is a complex picture, a deep image, a many-layered vision of what God is up to in the world (at that moment...and still today) through Israel, through John, and eventually through Jesus.

To get a richer, more detailed image of John and his work/words, it is really helpful to read slowly through Isaiah 40...and on through Isaiah 61. It's a lot of reading, but it is the beautiful and potent lyrics of God's work in the world in and through Israel - and it is the lyrics that John memorized and meditated upon while in the wilderness. I'm sure John reflected upon more than just that section from Isaiah, but what we read in Luke 3 is chock full of the messages we find in Isaiah 40-61.

John and Jesus aren't making stuff up out of thin air, and they are not just speaking in a vacuum, solely filled by the Holy Spirit. They are addressing the Jewish people who have a particular history with YHWH, who are at a particular point in their relationship with him, and God is coming to them in a particular way...a way that he has laid out (albeit with some mysterious stuff wrapped into it) in Isaiah and Deuteronomy and the Psalms. John and Jesus are preaching the word of God as revealed in Torah, and Prophets, and Writings - but they are preaching it in their new context, modifying the message to hit the hearts of their fellow neighbors.

What's new is not so much the message, it's more the medium of the message. The preaching of the forgiveness of sins is not radical, what's radical is that God himself would come as a fellow human to forgive people in person. God wasn't going to just have John talk about forgiveness, God was going to come in Jesus to start forgiving people on the spot. Actually, forgiveness of sins for Jews and Gentiles is a radical idea, even if it is found way back in Isaiah 49 - it's an old idea, but radical only because most people didn't believe it to be true, or didn't want it to be true.

Jesus the Kid

Luke records the only story of Jesus as a kid. Twelve years old is an interesting age, no longer a child, not yet a man. And Luke purposefully selects a story full of symbolism: Jesus getting lost and found at Passover.

Passover was one of the seven major festivals of the Jewish year [see Leviticus 23], Passover being one of the three which required all men to travel to Jerusalem for the events (the other four festivals could be celebrated in our own home town). Passover celebrates the night that God delivered the Jewish people out of slavery from the oppression of the Egyptian Empire. On that night God sent an angel of death who took the life of every firstborn male - except those who dwelled in a home with the blood of a lamb smeared on its doorposts. For those with lambs blood on the doorpost, the angel of death passed over that home.

Most Egyptians didn't cover their doorposts with blood, and their home was stricken with grief. They had their warning, they disbelieved the announcement, and their sorrow prompted the release of the Hebrew children. The angel of death was the LORD's way of bringing justice to the Egyptians - their cruelty had killed many innocent people, orphaning children and widowing mothers. Now the LORD was going to avenge those deaths - and yet he still gave them an opportunity to receive mercy.

According to the story of Jesus, every year his family went to Jerusalem for Passover - a very exciting and dangerous time. Over a million people would cram into the city and it's surrounding villages for the day, which was followed by the week-long Feast of Unleavened Bread. This eight days of festival was also a highly charged political event - whenever you get that many oppressed people together in their most holy city celebrating a day of freedom, well Rome wasn't too thrilled with the gathering.

They bulked up the garrisons, sharpened their swords, and sometimes they acted violently - shedding more innocent blood. Many Jews were waiting for the angel of death to come again, this time to release the Jews from the oppression of the Roman Empire. And we know the story: Jesus would be the lamb whose blood was smeared on the doorposts of the earth. God sent the angel of death on the day Jesus died - and his blood covered the world. What mercy...

Thoughts on the Jesus-story:
* Jesus and his family were Torah-observant.

* Jesus and his family were eventually accepted by relatives and neighbors

* Jesus had an impressive knowledge of Torah, sought greater understanding of it, asked inquisitive questions, and gave sharp answers.

* Jesus was a typical twelve year old in many ways.

* Jesus’ parents didn’t always know what to do with him.

* Jesus chose to be obedient to his parents at the expense of seeking more knowledge of Torah from the famous Temple teachers.

* Jesus matured and grew up in a small, rural, poor, no-account village in Galilee, a backwards region of Palestine, a despised province of Syria, and a vital but troublesome merchant area for the Roman Empire