When Normal Is Not Normal

Mark 5:1-20

Mark 5: 3-4 This man lived in the tombs, and no-one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. (4) For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No-one was strong enough to subdue him. (5) Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones. Mark 5:14-20 Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. (15) When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. (16) Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man— and told about the pigs as well. (17) Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region. (18 ) As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. (19) Jesus did not let him, but said, Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you. (20) So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

The other day I was talking with one of my teenage sons about how we live normal lives in a society that no longer sees them as normal. Imagine the family that eats meals together, at the same time. Imagine the family that sits down with a calendar and plans holiday time each year. Imagine the family that keeps the tradition of a movie and popcorn every week. Sounds a little lame, doesn’t it?

Well, this is my abnormal family, but for us it is very normal. We have no intention of removing ourselves from the world in which we live. Our kids have always gone to public school, and that was not an accidental decision. If you check our ipods out, you’ll see a blend of secular and sacred music, though not always in even balance. (Mind you, I’ll work at improving this. It’s just that sacred music all starts to sound the same after a while, and the shallow triumphalism, so frequent in CC music, causes me to shudder.).

Nevertheless, we are very different. This was brought home to me very clearly when a guest of one of our kids commented at the dinner table that his family never sits down together to eat a meal. We were curious. So, what do you do? “Well,” he started, “my mom or dad fixes a meal and people come and help themselves when they want.” The defragmentation of our lives and the “decommunitization” of our lifestyles is now the operational norm in many families.

I don’t want to talk about families and daily living; or much less, about what is a right or wrong way to raise your family. I just wanted to illustrate how quickly and easily something that might have been very unusual 20 years ago has suddenly become the norm. In the case of the Gerasenian madman, his state of frenzied terror was normal. When I read the story of this demonized man I see a story where abnormal has become normal. This madman was known to be uncontrollable. He could not be restrained. Breaking chains does not mean super-human strength (as some readers might suppose) but that he devised ways to break any means of restraining him. He was, however, uncontrollable. In the eyes of the inhabitants of this region this was the normal condition of the man.

When Jesus healed the Gerasenian madman he was propelled back to normalcy. Who would dare say that this was not a better state of mind? Is there anyone who would not be content to see the man looking calm and content, no longer terrorizing their passage through the tombs? Yet, because the tormenting demons had been cast into the herd of pigs destroying them all, the people of the region begged Jesus to go away. They were not happy with this turn of events. They would prefer the previous state of “abnormalcy.”

The man, on the other hand, wanting to follow Jesus was told to go tell his God story. He had a story to tell about experiencing a change where what was normal, was changed for what was better.

This is the strange tension we feel while sojourning in this world. Subtle yet perceptible messages bombard our thoughts daily. To follow Jesus is to place ourselves outside of the norm of society. This was the case 2000 years ago and it remains the case today. The normal Christ follower is an abnormal citizen.

So what can we do about this? Why don’t we just follow the Lord’s instructions “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you” (vs.20). We, on the other hand, tend to preach and rail against society, when we should be focusing on the story of God’s mercy in our own lives. After all, what makes us alien to this world is that experience of God’s grace on our lives, and this is a story worth telling.

Liberty Before Service

Acts 26:15-18

Acts 26:15-18 Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. 16 ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. 17 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

I am fascinated by the process implied in certain elements of what we might describe as Paul’s missionary calling. Paul was struck blind on the road to Damascus and experienced an encounter with the risen Christ. In this amazing encounter, the blind man is told that he will be both a servant and witness of Jesus. He is actually appointed as a servant, and perhaps no greater servant can be found in the pages of the New Testament. This young man, who was busy climbing the ladders of privilege and prestige in the circles of the Pharisees was suddenly dashed to the ground, told to rise and appointed as a servant and witness of Jesus and the Gospel. There is something we can learn here about the calling to ministry in general and to cross-cultural ministry in particular: we are called to an attitude of servitude and this attitude can not be separated from the calling to witness.

In the process of missionary training, the hardest task put to the institution or the trainer is to help students acquire helpful attitudes for effective service, and shed destructive attitudes like ethnocentrism, subtle prejudices and any sense of superiority. If the sense of servitude accompanied our sense of commitment to a calling or ministry, we might make great strides towards dislodging some very destructive attitudes in the ministry. I’ve always worried that our concept of incarnational ministry must never be one of descending. We will never achieve a true incarnational ministry if we see ourselves as moving from a position of superiority to a place of lower position, status, development or cultural achievement.

We need to experience liberty before service. One important factor in working out our calling to cross-cultural service is the issue of liberation or deliverance from relationships that bind us. Jesus told the apostle that he would be rescued from his people and from the Gentiles (vs. 17). Was this merely a reference to what awaited him in Damascus? Is this a promise for protection, like Paul experienced on the Road to Jerusalem when his enemies plotted to take his life? Is this a reference to what he could anticipate awaiting trial before Caesar? I think not. Perhaps, I push a point too far, but there is an element in one’s calling that requires that we be set free from our relationships. We can cross cultures successfully until we break free from our own cultural chains. On the other hand, we also need to ensure that we are not bound to the people we serve.

There are two extremes in cultural adjustments. One extreme is the missionary who never really leaves home. His sojourn in the new culture is one of alienation with the occasional foray into the native culture from which he has separated and protected himself. The other extreme is the “gone native” approach where the individual vainly attempts to live a life alienated from his own previous culture. This person only sees the glories and benefits of the new adopted culture and despises her own culture rejecting her roots and values. Neither extreme is healthy. What we need is to live a life of liberty from both our culture of origin and the sojourn culture of adoption.

Once we have experienced this liberty and rescue from the two cultures that bind us, we can move on. Our eyes are opened – figuratively – but more importantly we are in a position to help open the eyes of others. How strange the apostle must have felt? Here he was struck blind, holding a conversation with a man he thought was dead, who was telling him that he would open the eyes of the gentiles. Amazing irony!

It is a dangerous thing to try to open someone else’s eyes if we are not in a position of cultural neutrality. We need to experience the first step of rescue from our own culture before we attempt to open the eyes of someone from another culture. Otherwise, we open their eyes to something other than the Lord and the pure Gospel of light. In a similar way, if we are bound by the culture to which we are called we might not be able to open the eyes of our hosts, or we might open their eyes to something other than the Gospel of light. In any case, our host culture must have their eyes open.

With eyes wide open, conversion can occur. The shift from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of Light is the goal, from the power of Satan to the power of God. They receive forgiveness of sins and are sanctified by faith in Jesus the Christ.

Contentment through Intentional Selflessness

John 3:22-36

After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptised.  23 Now John also was baptising at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptised.  24 (This was before John was put in prison.) 25 An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing.  26 They came to John and said to him, Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan— the one you testified about— well, he is baptising, and everyone is going to him. 27 To this John replied, A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.’  29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.  30 He must become greater; I must become less.    31 The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no-one accepts his testimony. 33 The man who has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. 34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.  35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.

If you were asked to describe what Christian character looks like, what would you say?  Well, it probably depends on your impressions of the nature of Christianity, based on encounters with people professing to be true followers of Jesus.

For some people, Christian character looks like a dour expression, accompanied by an agitated state grumpiness.  It would appear like someone afflicted with a bad case of hemorrhoids.  Someone else might describe Christian character as sweet and kind, like a fussing grandmother ensuring that her beloved grandchildren are happy and warm.  Another might describe Christian character as bellicose opposing change and liberal moral positions with viciousness, not unlike attitudes expressed by the tyrants behind Nazism. 

Our encounters with Christian character have not always been as they should.  John the Baptizer, on the other hand, expressed a quality of character that surpassed even those of the followers of Jesus.  When his disciples warned John the Baptizer that he was falling behind in the numerical race of success (vs. 26), he merely explained that his intention was to give way to Jesus.  John, knew who he was and what he was called to do (see next post – Identity: Contentment through self-awareness).  This was now supported by decisive action – he would diminish and allow Christ to take his lawful place (vs. 30).

Why don’t we talk more about intentional selflessness when discussing Christian character?  John was able to sacrifice all the fruit of his life’s ministry to ensure that Jesus was exalted and glorified.  This attitude of selflessness no longer appears to be popular in our expressions of Christianity. 

Perhaps, one might question whether this is the correct intent of this passage of scripture?  John succumbed to the divine order allowing Jesus to assume his full role and glory.  He was not becoming a door mat to any human endeavour.  Therefore, one might argue that this is not a universal prescription.

True enough, but there are attitudes embedded in the actions of John that are universally valid.  The attitude of putting others first is quite clearly biblical.  It is not a question of being a push over – Jesus described as meek saying, “learn from me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble in heart” (Matt. 11:29).  We need to consider brethren as better than ourselves (Rom. 12:10). 

John could have argued that his ministry also served the purpose of God.  He could have said that God was still using him to reach others with the message of repentance.  He chose to say, however, that his calling was to fade away, but Jesus would remain, and this filled him with immense joy, like the best man, rejoicing in his friends wedding.  There is something very fitting about this attitude of intentional selflessness, and it served to provide John with complete contentment.

Identity: Contentment through self-awareness

From: February 4, 2008 by s0j0urn

John 3: 22-36

John the Baptist enjoyed a successful ministry preaching a baptism of repentance. His followers were, therefore, quite surprised when John demonstrated little enthusiasm for defending his ministry from that upstart cousin of his, Jesus. The response that John gave provides us with insights into a unique character, one whose identity was secure and from that, one who might be described as content.

What made this man secure? There is evidence in this dialogue that he knew himself well and accepted his place in life. In verse 27 of John 3 the baptizer claims that “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven.” Self-awareness is one half of the equation. Knowing oneself requires an honest transparency with regard to one’s strengths and weaknesses. True, some people are so emotionally wounded this degree of self-awareness appears unlikely. The secret of missionary training, for example, is to assist a trainee to achieve this degree of self-awareness. Only in this light will hidden attitudes and biases be addressed so he or she can effectively adapt to a new culture. Insecurity is a sure sign of ineffective cross-cultural sojourning.

The other half of the equation is awareness of God’s supernatural and natural gifting. It is one thing to have a true picture of yourself, it is quite another to know your place in God’s scheme of things. The baptizer was a person who knew his calling. He was not the Holy One, merely the announcer. John, not blinded by ambition, accepted his place and enjoyed his ministry as the Elijah announcing the coming of the Messiah.

Why contentment? The attitudes John brings to his life and ministry facilitated a deep sense of satisfaction with who he was and what he did in life. Verse 29 speaks of this deep joy present in the life of this man. He says that this joy is his and is now complete. Complete joy is an excellent description of the contented soul. John knew contentment, and it came through self-awareness and acceptance of his place in life.

Temptations of Identity: Relevance

From: January 14, 2008 by s0j0urn

Last week I was tempted to ditch my second Monday morning musing of the year, and so inclined, I spent the morning in desperate preparation for a trip to Colombia. Now after a week of sojourning overseas I eagerly return to pen a few thoughts about temptations of identity.

As the taxi sped through the night, Wilson my energetic and companionable driver spent more time glancing at his fare through the rearview mirror than at the curves of the winding highway leading into Medellín. “I would like to live in Canada,” piped up Wilson, immediately upon hearing of the point of my departure. I responded by saying that many immigrants to Canada find the adjustments difficult and I have known those who were deeply dissatisfied with their life in the Northern exile. Wilson, incredulous and defiant, inquired about the reasons for such apparent inexplicable behaviour. I told him it was a problem of identity. Those who arrived in Canada and falsely believed that the path to cultural assimilation was through self-denial despising their culture of origin, rarely find peace of mind. They spend their emotional energy in a vain attempt to deny who they are. Cultural peace of mind comes eventually, but more quickly to those who are not tempted to be something they are not.

The first three temptations of Jesus were primarily temptation of identity. Yesterday I heard another sermon on the temptations of Jesus. I enjoyed the monologue and thought the outline was quite helpful, but pondered the sense of unease that our youthful pastor was pushing the text to applications that departed didn’t really look like the kind of temptations that Jesus faced. Matthew tells us how the Devil came to Jesus and said, “if you are the Son of God…” no less than two out of three times. The first point emerging from our weekly descant at the trough of spiritual nurture was the temptation to take short cuts. I was left with the conviction that this was more likely the theme or main point of the whole passage rather than just the first temptation. Jesus was clearly initiating his ministry following the baptism and announcement by John the baptizer. The Spirit led him into the wilderness and he was tempted to take a road never intended. The Devil was tempting Jesus to achieve the purpose of his mission by taking short cuts.

The first two temptations were a temptation to authenticate who he was and to quickly establish his public identity. “If you are the Son of God…” show us quickly! “If you are the Son of God…” do something that will make the world believe who you really are! Turning stones into bread would hardly be any different than multiplying loaves. None will dispute that the act of turning a stone into bread is sinful or by itself tempting. The problem was taking a short cut to become and to be accepted for who he really was. If Jesus did something so relevant as to feed the hungry from an abundant supply of stone, people would embrace him and receive him as a true saviour. Henri Nouwen makes this association in his little tome In the Name of Jesus.

I am frequently tempted to turn Jesus into something more relevant than the redeemer of lost souls. When I tell people about what God means to me, I am tempted to do so in ways that I think the spiritually disinclined might appreciate. “Finding Jesus gave meaning to my life.” “God helped me to kick destructive habits that were destroying my life.” “God gave me a higher calling to help this needy world.” Such feeble attempts try to make Jesus more relevant.

The Church is not isolated from this temptation either. As the Church is challenged to become missional she is tempted to do so in relevant ways. The fastest growing area of “missions” is Relief and Development, but growth in cross-cultural evangelism and church planting wane. Can we really say that this is merely a rebound correction of past oversights of the calling of the Church to engage in integral ministry? Personally, I am glad that we have returned to a more wholistic view of Christian ministry, but how much of our motivation is derived from a temptation to be relevant to a society that places little value on the spiritual needs of people, and some how, legitimizes ministry on the basis of its relevance. If you doubt by observation, inquiry about how your church or denomination is distributing its missionary budget?

Individuals do not escape this problem. Some temptations are both more subtle and dangerous. These are the temptations to be or become something we are not, or to do so in a way that was never intended. The temptation to achieve an identity that is “relevant” also applies to the individual. This is particularly true for those who serve God as a profession. People who serve God are swayed by the temptation to be relevant in many ways. “I’m doing Christian ministry that actually impacts people’s lives.” During my sojourn as a pastor, during a week moment in my life I recall thinking that the only relevant service I performed as a pastor was to sign government forms requiring a professional “guarantor.”

In what ways are you tempted to identify yourself in ways that make you or God appear relevant?

The Temptation of Identity: Sensationalism

From: January 22, 2008 by s0j0urn

Jesus was again faced with a temptation to prove his identity. The devil took Jesus to the top of the temple and tried to get Jesus to see if God would save him from hurtling down to the ground if he jumped. He even quoted scripture to make it sound good and plausible. Though Jesus responded by saying that we are forbidden from putting God to the test, we should not be misled by this answer into believing that this was the nature of the temptation. Jesus resisted the temptation by saying he would not put God to the test, but the temptation was more sinister.

Once again the issue of the Identity of Jesus Christ was at the heart of this temptation. If you really are the Son of God, you should be able to do something spectacular and sensational and everyone will then follow you. With a marvelous show of power and might, the throngs hanging around the temple would spread the word that he was the Son of God. Everyone loves a good show. Such an event would surely put this act up there as a top attraction. The problem is that a demonstration of the spectacular is not an earth shattering evidence of divinity. This was not God’s way. Jesus would not yield to the temptation to be sensational.

It is interesting how Jesus saw through the subterfuge understanding that the principle at stake was really faithlessness. The act of throwing himself off the temple was not about proving his identity but putting God to the test. Making God prove himself is an act of faithlessness. In Massah and Meribah the people of Israel complained over the lack of water, but the demand to produce water arose out of the question “is the Lord among us or not?” (Exodus 17:7). This was the antecedent referred to in Deuteronomy 6:16, a portion of which Jesus quoted the devil saying we should not put God to the test.

The temptation to be sensational toils within our hearts and we justify this in part out of a love and zeal for God. We are tempted to identify ourselves as part of the winning crowd, children of God, co-inheritors of the kingdom of God. If we are followers of the all powerful creator of the universe, then surely we should be able to conjure up some remarkable proofs of his presence and power among us! When John Wimber wrote his provocative book “Signs and Wonders” people assumed that evidence of the power of God was he missing element of effective evangelism. Yet, embarking on this path sets a president that causes me a little anxiety. By calling on God to perform miracles to convince unbelieving of the truth of his word, are we not simply yielding to the temptation of sensationalism? Are we not just putting God to the test?

I believe some people need to see miracles to become believers. I have heard many testimonies of people yielding their hearts to God after being convinced by a miracle that He was real and at work in the world. Demanding such a sign, however, was not an evidence of faithfulness, but weakness. This, the Apostle Paul, makes clear in 1 Corinthians.

For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. (22) Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, (23) but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. 1 Corinthians 1:21-23

In the same way that it is a vain effort to convince the “wise” through rational argument it is also useless to convince the unbelieving through sensational signs and wonders. From this we learn not to play the role of God. We need to let God do things his way, and surrender our drive to find a short cut. Jesus chose the right path. It took him around the Galilee for three years and eventually ended on the cross. Christ crucified: a stumbling block both to those who demand signs and to those who demand wisdom.

The Temptation of Expedience

From: January 29, 2008 by s0j0urnThe previous temptations directed toward Jesus probed his sense of identity. The third temptation in this series might also be described as a temptation of identity: to be a reigning king. The devil took Jesus to a view point where he could see the kingdoms and their splendour and was told they would belong to Jesus were he to bow and worship the prince of this world.

Establishing the Kingdom of God on earth was the mission before Jesus. From this first indication of the centrality of this purpose Jesus became singularly focused on establishing his kingdom. He began preaching about the Kingdom of God. Similarly to John the Baptist both preached a message of repentance, but Jesus the Messiah added one more element, the Kingdom of God, for it is near (Matthew 3:2, Mark 1:15). Few public teaching opportunities lacked a clear glimpse of the Kingdom of God. We find this in the Sermon on the Mount, “for theirs will be the Kingdom of Heaven.”* We encounter the phrase, “the kingdom… is like” as an introduction to most of the parables (Matthew 13). Of course, the Lord’s claim to kingship was the point of acrimony that Pilate could not avoid and the Jewish leaders backed him against a wall and forced him to release Barabbas instead of Jesus (John 18 and 19). The cross, the redemption of fallen man, was instrumental in establishing the kingdom. This pivotal event is what makes it possible for men and women to enter the kingdom (John 3 esp. vss. 3 & 5).

Yet, the third temptation wasn’t simply about establishing the Lord’s identity as reigning king. It was really about expediency – efficiency, the short cut to fulfill the plan of God and bring his kingdom into reality. Simply bow and worship the usurper – and Jesus could avoid the long, arduous road to fulfilling the plan of God. I doubt the devil knew in detail what the plan of God included. The devil was tempting the humanity of Christ to fast track the whole affair.

Most of the trouble we find ourselves in comes to us because we tried to fast track a prolonged process. A falsified résumé eventually catches up and that enviable position will be gone, a long with your reputation. The get rich quick scheme leads into deception and a very bad choice may well lead to financial loss, and worse, hard earned integrity evaporates overnight. A friend who excelled as a financial planner was deceived by such a scheme, against his better judgment and because the claims appeared too good to ignore, he backed a financial plan that cleaned his bank account, his clients’ accounts and led to the loss of his license. Soon after, his family fell apart and sadly, the man was left with nothing. The short cut usually proves very costly in the long run.

* Note: Matthew uses the typical Jewish circumlocution respecting the name of God by substituting Kingdom of Heaven(s), and Matthew uses the terms interchangeably while narrating the story of the rich young ruler in Matthew 19 (esp. vss. 23 and 24).

The Start of Monday Morning Musings

From: December 31, 2007 by s0j0urn

Certain days of the week lend themselves to a larger dose of pondering and meditation. After a weekend and especially following a thoughtful experience of the divine from the previous day, a gathering of thoughts and the cleansing filter of a keyboard lead to insights which are occasionally worth keeping. The purpose of this blog is to capture some of these Monday morning musings.

This past week was given to much contemplation regarding the end of a year. It has not been a particularly bad year, but with a life in transition and some uncertainty about the future, one is prone to give thought to such issues as, where is life taking me, what are the values of lasting significance, and what goals are worth pursuing?

My thoughts revisit the need for gratitude. As a state of thankfulness, gratitude is the precursor of many virtues. I believe it is not listed as a fruit of the Spirit, simply because it is an attitude that is made visible through actions of positive character. For example, what joy can there be without its accompanying attitude of thankfulness? From reciprocated love springs gratitude.

So, it is a word that the Apostle Paul uses in combinations of prayer, petition, singing and worship. Thankfulness is to be a common attitude that shines in our lives. In everything, give thanks (1 Thess. 5:18). Furthermore, the lack of gratitude leads to despair and despondent thoughts (futile thinking) and eventually we find our pathos has become dark and depressed. For an ungrateful heart has no reason to look to the divine and give glory to God our creator. As the Apostle Paul stated, “for although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Romans 1:21).

I remind myself never to doubt that there is much for which I can be thankful. Even in our darkest moments a simple exercise of thanksgiving can turn our perspective around. It reminds us that we are not mere pawns of fate. We have and we are because God loves us and we are never so low as to not have a reason to be grateful. This exercise cheers the soul and gives us hope in the grace and love of God.