Judgment & Grace: Missing the Middle

Just a couple hours ago, I preached on essentially, this very topic. I'm going to take a few days this week to work through a few things I've been thinking about with Judgment & Grace, and I thought I'd begin with throwing up some of my sermon. As I prepared for this sermon, one thing came through loud and clear - it's often in the midst of what seems like judgment, that we find, if we have ears to hear it and eyes to see it, the grace of God.

Missing the Middle

Let me tell you a story… I’ve always wanted to open a sermon up with that line. I’m not entirely sure why – but as I say it and as I hear it, there’s a part of me that wants to lean in and listen a little differently than when I’m reading or listening to a sports score, or the stock market numbers, or some other mindless data that seems to stream across my face on a constant basis. Story – narrative, is one of the most powerful mediums that we have with which to communicate. Stories have the power to band people together – they have the power to form and shape people to be about a particular mission – for good and for bad. We see evidence of the bad in our world all of the time. We tell stories about people we don’t like, fueled by fear and hatred, hoping to stir up the worst in people for our own advantage. We misuse and abuse stories and they become nothing more than a tool – they become propaganda. On the other hand, we tell stories to fill the empty spaces in our minds and hearts. Instead of living our lives we end up drowning ourselves with stories that we’ve twisted and turned for our own amusement – we turn them into mere fantasy. But when stories are used well, when stories are used in the way they are intended, they have the power to break down the illusions of propaganda and fantasy – the false idols we erect around ourselves. When stories are uses properly, they have the power to open our eyes, to give us hope and to bring us knowledge of the truth.

Jesus knew how to tell stories. While Jesus taught in various ways, stories were one of his favourite mediums. In Jesus’ final week before his crucifixion on Good Friday, Mark’s gospel includes just one story told by Jesus. This one story, this one parable, is included in Matthew and Luke as well, so it’s safe to say that the disciples understood this to be a fairly significant story – a particularly powerful part of Jesus teaching. It’s usually referred to as The Parable of the Tenants – and it begins in Mark chapter 12: He then began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard...

To give a little background on this – Jesus at this point has had the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, he’s made his demonstration in the temple courts by clearing them of the people, kicking out the money-changers and generally disrupting the sacrifices for part of a day, and this lead to the Jewish authorities confronting Jesus and demanding that he declare on whose authority he was doing these things. Jesus, always wanting to reach beyond the situation at hand, tells this story instead. So, it’s safe to say that this story, this parable, is directed initially to the religious leaders and secondarily to his disciples and the other various witnesses.

If you were a Jew listening to this story, it’s not unlikely that you would have identified this story as a parable – as an allegory that has parallels to the whole history of the people of God. It begins with creation – and particularly the creation of the people of Israel: "A man planted a vineyard..."

Vineyard imagery is pretty common in the middle east, and very common in the bible. To Jesus’ hearers, they’d recognize that the man represented God and the farmers Israel & her leaders. God had provided a promised land, filled with milk & honey – everything they would need. God provided for them, cared for them, tended them. But there were also requirements of them in this relationship: "At harvest time he sent a servant..."

At various times in Israel’s history, God sent specific individuals, prophets mainly, to remind the people and to remind their leaders what God required. God required right worship – but even more, God required justice, mercy & kindness. Religious observances were always secondary to acting rightly with your neighbor. Loving others was always part of loving God. Unfortunately, time after time, Israel and Israel’s leaders responded to God’s prophets with ridicule, rejection and even murder. So, God is left with one final option: "He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved..."

Here, we see a subtle prediction of Jesus’ rejection by the people and by the religious leaders. Jesus is going back to answer that question they had of him earlier – where does your authority come from? The religious leaders have already taken on the roll of the tenants and they didn’t even know it. But if they didn’t know it before, they do now. Jesus, through this story, is staking his claim that God the Father has given him his authority, that God has sent him to turn the hearts of the people back to God. But when they reject him – what will God’s response be? "What then will the owner of the vineyard..."

The response of the vineyard owner is what everyone would expect, right? Retribution, judgment, rejection. The religious leaders heard the judgment loud & clear because they knew in their hearts they were guilty, they knew in their hearts they had already rejected Jesus and his ministry. They had staked their claim on the people and they weren’t going to let some two-bit low-life from a middle of nowhere town come in and mess things up. So they left. And they continued to plot a way to overthrow Jesus.

Now, we often call Jesus’ stories parables because they’re easy to follow and they have some kind of moral. But sometimes, the word parable gives the wrong impression. In fact, it would be very easy to read through this story and see only the warning and judgment and miss… and miss the whole point of Jesus story. You see, the disciples, the crowd that were listening, there’s no mention of them being angry, there’s no mention of them being afraid of a coming judgment. My guess – they’re still stuck in the middle of the story. They’re stuck at that pivotal moment when the vineyard owner has sent all of his servants, save one – and he decides, he chooses to send his only son as his final emissary – to these rotten tenants who’ve mistreated, abused and killed all of his previous servants. “What is he doing? Why would he send his son? Doesn’t he know what they’re going to do?” All of these thoughts must have come flooding to mind.

For the vineyard owner, this last act, this one final play is made for the simple fact that he is yet unwilling to render condemnation. He is unwilling to usher down judgment. Instead, in response to the injustice that his servants have suffered, he reprocesses his anger into grace. The risk of losing the vineyard, and even the wretched and evil tenants is still too great, that he isn’t willing to risk all that he has and all that he is. THIS is the climax of the story. THIS is the key point in Jesus parable. It’s not the impending judgment on the tenants – it’s not the word that the religious leaders of the day heard. Certainly – if you’ve already rejected, if you already stand and condemn yourself – if you want to have nothing to do with Jesus, certainly there’s that word there. But, if you have ears to hear it – if you have a heart that is open to receive it – Jesus words are not about judgment and condemnation – they are about love and grace – love and grace that are greater than anything we could imagine. Love and grace that stagger our sensibilities.

We hear a lot of stories. We tell a lot of stories. Whether we realize it or not, these stories have a way of shaping us, a way of forming us. The story of God’s grace, love and faithfulness opens us up to be the kind of people that offer others grace, that offer others love, that offer ourselves in faithfulness.
Author and theologian Kenneth Bailey in his book, Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, shares a wonderful story about the late Hussein bin Talal, King of Jordan, that he relates to this vary parable of Jesus. What’s great about this story, is that Bailey, two decades after this story took place, was able to confirm that the incident took place – all of the best stories are really true, aren’t they?

One night in the early 1980s, the king was informed by his security police that a group of about seventy-five Jordanian army officers were at that very moment meeting in a nearby barracks plotting a military overthrow of the kingdom. The security officers requested permission to surround the barracks and arrest the plotters. After a somber pause the king refused and said, “Bring me a small helicopter.” A helicopter was brought. The king climbed in with the pilot and himself flew to the barracks and landed on its flat roof. The king told the pilot, “if you hear gun shots, fly away at once without me.”
Unarmed, the king then walked down two flights of stairs and suddenly appeared in the room where the plotters were meeting and quietly said to them:
“Gentlemen, it has come to my attention that you are meeting here tonight to finalize your plants to overthrow the government, take over the country and install a military dictator. If you do this, the army will break apart and the country will be plunged into civil war. Tens of thousands of innocent people will die. There is no need for this. Here I am! Kill me and proceed. That way, only one man will die.”
After a moment of stunned silence, the rebels as one, rushed forward to kiss the king’s hand and feet and pledge loyalty to him for life.

That kind of vulnerability is exactly what the vineyard owner did with his tenants. That kind of vulnerability is exactly what God did in Jesus Christ. That kind of vulnerability is exactly what Jesus invites us to take part in. Because it’s not just a story – it’s a true story – and when we experience that grace & love and faithfulness we are truly alive!

Lent

I think I woke up and it was Lent. That whole "season of preparation" think seems to have caught me by surprise. Instead of attempting to prepare for Easter, I'm in the middle of preparations for a week in Honduras as part of a Medical Mission Team, a week away of Study Leave and a weekend event taking place on Palm Sunday where we'll build the walls of a Habitat House on our church property. Oh yeah, and then there's the 11 Adult Discipleship opportunities we're in the midst of launching as part of our "Forward in Discipleship" campaign.

Unfortunately, there's been a few things that have been pushed to the back of my life, or so it seems. One of those is blogging, another of those is my wife and family (although I seem to see them, just not exactly see them) and yeah, God is there but I'm having a hard time preparing for anything special with God. I'm hoping that once I get in the air things will change, unfortunately I've got 2 months worth of work (or so it feel) in these next 2 weeks before flying away March 15.

So, is it too late to give up something for Lent, like maybe all of my work? Seriously...

Saturday's Song - "Never Let Go"

For Christmas, Bridgette bought me the "new" David Crowder CD - Remedy. It took a few listens, but I'm pretty happy with it. In particular, the 5th song on the album, Never Let Go, has struck me and I think it's my favourite. It's a piano driven ballad of sorts and as I told Bridgette the other day, I think Crowder is at his (their) best on these types of songs. When it requires reaching inside and finding that deep passion, those songs are their best. But what might be the coolest part about the song is how Brennan has gotten into it. He now regularly sings the chorus "you never let go, never let go, never let go-o-o"

It's a simple song with a powerful message - no matter what happens, God doesn't let go. It's one message that I hope my boys learn as they grow up. God loves them, and no matter what happens, God will not let go of them...

When clouds veil sun
And disaster comes
Oh, my soul
Oh, my soul
When waters rise
And hope takes flight
Oh, my soul
Oh, my soul
Oh, my soul

Ever faithful
Ever true
You I know
You never let go
You never let go
You never let go
You never let go...

Proud to be a Canadian

If I wrote a blog for every time I got bagged on because I'm Canadian, I'd probably have 1000 posts by now, so I feel it's ok every few months or so to post something. I happened to come across a great article today from the Christian Science Monitor, via Google News, all about Obama's visit to Canada, but more specifically, about the difference between the Canadian economy & the US economy in light of the global economic recession. There were a few things that caught my eye:

"Canada's largest five banks reaped profits of $8.2 billion, the top five US banks lost a combined total of $8.3 billion last year."

"For 12 consecutive years, Canada has posted budgetary surpluses, compared with the $1 trillion US federal deficit – a figure that doesn't include the $787 billion stimulus package signed into law this week."

"healthcare costs are lower in Canada, accounting for 9.7 percent of the GDP, compared with 15.2 percent in the US."

That last one is particularly telling. I hear over and over how "bad" the healthcare system is in Canada - particularly from middle class & upper middle class people who have never experienced Canadian healthcare or the enormous problems on the US side. Everyone's got "a friend" or some story about somebody being denied treatment or some crap about having to wait months for some surgery or something. I spent the first 19 years of my life living in Canada and never once heard a story like that. I've had family go through cancer treatment, heart surgery, stoke recovery & long-time assisted care and I've seen the same in the US as a pastor. The only major difference is that it costs an arm and a leg to get the kind of care here in the US that you get in Canada.

So, laugh all you want to, the truth is, I can take pride in the fact that Canada, more often than you'd like to admit, gets it right. Maybe Obama can learn something from that 2hr visit...

Safe Places & Safe People

A safe place. That’s the concept that is often used to describe a good environment for a youth ministry. I know I used it when I worked with youth to describe our program and I have heard it used on numerous occasions by others. But if we’re being honest, I think a safe place is something that we look for, something that we want, something that we need no matter how old we are. Feeling unsafe often causes us to create different mechanisms, different safe-guards to ensure that we will be safe. We drive through certain neighborhoods and we lock our doors. We enter certain places and we hold our bags a little tighter. We walk into the presence of certain people and we watch what we say. All because we don’t quite feel safe there.

Author Brian McLaren, in his outstanding novel A New Kind of Christian, describes the initial encounter between a struggling pastor and someone who would later become both friend and mentor: “While he walked over to the trash can, I remember a strange feeling coming over me. The best word I can use for it was safety: this guy is safe to talk to – he understands, I thought.”

The church has not always been a safe place. The church IS not always a safe place. I've heard stories in the past from people who have been hurt in various ways by "the church." One of the problems though, is that we often swing the pendulum back too far in response to these "un-safe" experiences. And that's not right either. Often, in order to be perceived as safe people, or as a safe place, we hide behind dishonesty. We project something we're not, we wash ourselves with in-authenticity and we become worthless as witnesses.

What I love about McLaren's book & the relationship between the pastor (Dan) and the teacher, (Neo) is that they argue, they disagree, they even "fight." They're not hiding behind anything, they're real with each other. Neo is safe, and yet there's a bit of him that is un-safe. You can come and talk, but don't expect to leave feeling settled, just the opposite. Neo leaves Dan often feeling unsettled, because Neo's safety is not inauthentic.

In CS Lewis' the Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe, there's a great exchange that happens between Lucy and Mr & Mrs Beaver about Aslan:

"if there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most or else just silly."
"Then he isn't safe?" said Lucy
"Safe?" said Mr. Beaver; "don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you."

See, Mr. & Mrs. Beaver are safe. But they don't try and wash over the fact that Aslan is scary. They don't pretend he's a pussy cat. He's a lion. To extrapolate that out, I think it's important that we, as Christians provide people both with a safe place & person to talk with & to, but we can't pull punches. God isn't safe. But in this world, safe isn't what we ultimately need. What we ultimately need, is good. And beyond anything else, God is good. Jesus is the ultimate good news. And fortunately for ALL of us, that good news isn't safe to us and our sin...

Driven or Called?

This is the third part of my reflections on Gordon MacDonald's Ordering Your Private World.

"rrrrring!.........rrrrrring!" I'm in the middle of doing the 3rd thing on a list as long as my arm and the phone is ringing. That interruption is not what being a called person is about. MacDonald, in the fifth chapter of his book describes the called person like this:

Called people...possess strength from within, a quality of perseverance and power that are impervious to the blows from without. p.53

When comparing a Driven person to a Called person, the single most important difference is where the drive comes from, where the energy comes from, where the force of engagement comes from. Is it coming from with-out? From somewhere out there? Someone who is pushing you toward some goal? That's being driven. Or is it coming from within? Is there a strength of character, an ability to withstand the pressures and drives from outside and continue to be about the purpose to which one was, wait for it, called?

Using John the Baptizer as his model, MacDonald goes on to describe the attributes of a called person:

1)Called People Understand Stewardship
"The task of stewardship is simply to properly manage something on behalf of the owner until the owner comes to take it back."
This is a very hard concept for us to understand, especially in our buy-now, pay-later culture. We want to own and often grow bored with it before we've even paid for it. I'm certainly guilty of that.

2)Called People Know Exactly Who They Are
"Today in our media-fashioned world many good and talented leaders face the constant temptation to begin believing the text of their own publicity releases."
This is definitely something I am concerned about, when I think of my boys, growing up, seeing "Pastor Daddy" and then seeing "Daddy" at home. I hope they're both the same daddy.

3)Called People Possess an Unwavering Sense of Purpose
This for me is key in differentiating it from being Driven. You always think of purpose and passion as signs of drivenness, but MacDonald wants to remind us that if you're truly called, you understand in a deep way that the call you've received is the most important thing in the world. You run after it with passion.

4)Called People Practice Unswerving Commitment
Here's a great story that MacDonald shares that really explains this:
"Somewhere in my library is a book in which the story is told of an English headmaster who was appointed when he was forty-five years of age. His first act was to write himself a letter to be opened on his sixty-fifth birthday. In it he wrote (and I paraphrase), 'Today you are sixty-five, and it is time to give the task of being headmaster over to a younger person. You will tell yourself that there is no one who can replace you; that the school cannot do without you. But don't believe this self-aggrandizing propaganda.'
Sure enough, when he turned sixty-five and opened the letter, he found that he entertained those exact feelings about his indispensability. But he took his own advice and released the leadership to another. Which is exactly what John [the Baptizer] did [Jesus]."p.60-61

The biggest thing that I come away from this chapter with is the idea of forethought. With the right preparation, being called is possible. If you have a long-range outlook you can remember you're just a steward, remember who you are, what you're about, and allow you to be committed. For me, the main thing I keep coming back to is the need to give something up. I'm not making more time in my day - it just doesn't happen. And in order to be, well, ordered, I need time. So, I'm gradually being won over to the idea that something, or some things in my life need to be given up so that I can indeed have that privately ordered life...


Part I: Ordering Your Private World
Part II: Symptoms of a Driven Person

Rhythms

Three days of good rhythms
does not a habit make
But one day of abstinence
sure does a habit break

That's a little phrase I just coined, which speaks well to the last half of last week. I'm going to follow-up either this evening or tomorrow morning with MacDonald's description of the Called Person in comparison to the Driven Person, so please stay tuned...