I'm just a common ordinary pastor, chaplain, father, grandfather, and dog owner who loves the smell of a genuine leather Bible and the aroma of its message. I'm on a quest to track down the best Bibles, how to best read and use them, and to discover the encouragement inside.
Cultural depictions of Jesus throughout the world.
Yes, we have many troubles in this old fallen world and in our various families and individual lives. And, yes, there a lot of things we need right now such as wiping the terrible COVID-19 virus off the face of the planet; healing from the ravages of disease and of our damaged emotions; economic stability to make ends meet; and, solutions to the awful human ailments and conditions that beset the world. We need relief, guidance, and wisdom.
So, I declare with conviction that out of all the great needs which surround us, the greatest need is for Jesus. I do not just need his teaching. I do not just need Christ’s instruction. I do not only need to imitate his model of loving service. I need Jesus himself!
Jesus was speaking with his disciples in the Upper Room on the night before his crucifixion. He told them he was leaving (dying) and that it must be this way. The disciples were understandably troubled. Thomas was worried about what was going to happen and how he and the others were going to deal with an uncertain future. (John 14:1-14)
I will tell you how millions of people have dealt with their past difficulties, their present troubles and their worries about the future: Jesus.
Jesus is the Way
Jesus is the way to deal with our current concerns and anticipated anxieties. He himself is the way. The way is not through a program of self-improvement. The way is not through a fake-it-till-you-make-it approach. The way is not through an ability to articulate well-crafted words or through being able to answer with certainty every question of faith. The way is not through finding just the right plan or system.
Jesus is our way – he is the way of rescue, the road to a life of harmonious peace and settled rest even when the world is going to hell around us, as well as the connection with God. To trust Jesus is to give up the personal delusion of control and to walk with him on his terms.
Jesus is the way for the church everywhere – fellowship, encouragement, acts of loving service, teaching, and strengthening of faith all center around Jesus because he is love incarnate.
Jesus is the way for the world – serving neighbors and nations, advocating for those who are mistreated and victims of injustice, tackling the dozens of world problems which oppress humanity come through the continuing presence of Jesus here on this earth (the Holy Spirit indwelling God’s people).
Jesus is the Truth
Jesus does not only speak truth; he is truth incarnate. Truth is more than abstract ideas and personal perspectives. What is true about God has its ultimate expression and demonstration in the person of Jesus.
“True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth… God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:23-24, NIV)
“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32, NIV)
To see the face of Jesus is to see the reality of Truth. God’s character and attributes expressed through creating, loving, sustaining, healing, and providing all have their highest expression in Jesus.
Jesus is our truth. When troubles abound, Jesus is the ballast of truth we can rely upon, the rock of our salvation, and the anchor of our soul.
Jesus is the truth in the church. All teaching, mentoring, and instruction points to the person and work of Jesus. Guidance and direction, whether in marriage, family, work, school, relationships or interpersonal communication flows from Jesus. To merely dispense homespun advice falls short if there is no Jesus.
“Since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:14-16, NIV)
Jesus is the truth for the world. Proclaiming Jesus is more than mere words; it is an embodying of truth. At the beginning of his earthly ministry:
Jesus “went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written [Isaiah 61:1-2] “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach [to embody] good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:16-19, NIV)
Followers of Jesus embody him, the Truth, through looking for ways to be Jesus to the lost, the least, and the lonely in acts of basic human compassion and advocating for their social justice.
Jesus is the Life
“Life” and “death” in Scripture are relational terms, not just physical references. When Adam and Eve fell into disobedience, they spiritually died without being physically dead. They originally enjoyed the connection of life with God; then, after the Fall, experienced a separation from God by being cast out of the Garden.
Jesus is our life. He is the person in whom Christians have their identity. Instead of connecting myself to a narrowly expected outcome, I tether myself to Jesus because he is my connection, my life.
Jesus is the life of the church. Christians experience life as their prayers and their praise are directed toward Jesus as both the subject and the object of worship.
Jesus is the life of the world. The good news of Christ’s redemptive events of incarnation, earthly ministry of teaching and healing, death, resurrection, ascension and glorification is good news for everyone. There is forgiveness of sins and deliverance from the hell of separation through Jesus.
“I am the way, the truth, and the life.” –Jesus
Our problems, concerns, and troubles on this earth are not be sufficiently addressed by simply acknowledging Jesus and his teaching. I need Jesus himself. For he has the power to give life.
“Salvation can be found in no one else. Throughout the whole world, no other name has been given among humans through which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12, CEB)
“I need Jesus!” is my affirmation and my declaration, my proclamation and my preaching. I need Jesus as the way to live my life instead of trusting in my own power and ability. Jesus is the truth I choose to bank my life upon. Jesus is the life graciously given for which I can say with boldness that I belong to God.
Jesus is the midpoint of history to which all events point; the center of my life upon which all my devotion is directed; and, the subject and object of Holy Scripture:
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is the King of Kings with authority to back it up.
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is both the Servant of humanity and all of creation’s Authority.
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is the Son of Man who relates to us and is attentive to humanity.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus is the Word become flesh, the Good Shepherd, the Bread of Life, and the Light of the World.
In the Acts of the Apostles, Jesus is the risen and ascended Lord who will come again.
In Romans, Jesus secures our union with God and justifies us according to his mercy and grace.
In 1 Corinthians, Jesus is the Wisdom and Power of God, despite the foolishness of the cross.
In 2 Corinthians, Jesus is the One who has brought forgiveness and reconciliation to the world.
In the book of Galatians, Jesus is our Substitute for sin.
In Ephesians, Jesus is the One who has subdued all the dark forces of this world.
In Philippians, Jesus humbled himself and submitted to death on a cross for our deliverance.
In Colossians, Jesus is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe.
In the First letter to the Thessalonians, the coming of Jesus is near and will soon be here!
In the Second letter to the Thessalonians, we are partakers in God’s glory through Jesus.
In the book of First Timothy, Jesus saves sinners of whom I am chief.
In Second Timothy, Jesus is the Righteous One who will come to Judge the living and the dead.
In Titus, Jesus is the Redeemer, snatching us from the realm of wickedness and godlessness.
In the little book of Philemon, every good thing we have comes from Jesus.
In Hebrews, Jesus is our faithful High Priest, the Pioneer of our salvation and our Champion.
In James, Jesus is the Wise Teacher.
In First Peter, Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
In Second Peter, Jesus is the Divine Power that allows me to live a godly life.
In the Epistles of John, the God of Love is Jesus, who demonstrated love through the cross.
In Jude, it is Jesus who keeps us from falling and presents us faultless before God.
Finally, in Revelation, Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
I need Jesus, the Son of God and Son of Man; the Lord and Judge of all, the Redeemer and Savior of humanity, my Healer and my Friend. It’s all about him.
In you, O Lord, I seek refuge;
do not let me ever be put to shame;
in your righteousness deliver me.
Incline your ear to me;
rescue me speedily.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a strong fortress to save me.
You are indeed my rock and my fortress;
for your name’s sake lead me and guide me,
take me out of the net that is hidden for me,
for you are my refuge.
Into your hand I commit my spirit;
you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God….
My times are in your hand;
deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.
Let your face shine upon your servant;
save me in your steadfast love. (NRSV)
Shame is powerful. It keeps a person locked within themselves with their secrets hidden far from others. Far too often we try and cope with our shameful words or actions through promising to work harder, pledging to have more willpower, and/or plain old complaining that life is unfair. None of this gets to the root of our shame. Unlike guilt, which our conscience identifies as specific behaviors to repent of, shame is the message of our inner critic who obnoxiously decries that we are somehow flawed, not enough, and inherently lacking intelligence.
Shame is the insidious mechanism which interprets bad events as we ourselves being bad. Shame lives in the shadows and feeds on secrets – which is why the posture of shame is to hide our face in our hands. If shame persists, we withdraw from others and experience grinding loneliness. Therefore, the path out of shame is to openly name our stigma and tell our stories. In other words, throwing a bucket of vulnerability on shame causes it melt, like the Wicked Witch of the West.
In contrast to the unhealthy hiding of ourselves within prison walls of shame is seeking refuge and hiding ourselves in God. Even a cursory look at today’s psalm evidences an open and vulnerable person who wants nothing to do with shame. The psalmist unabashedly and without shame is quite forward in presenting his wants to God.
The psalms are meant for repeated use, to be voiced aloud again and again. In doing this simple activity, we shame-proof our lives. God’s face shines upon us and takes away the shadows of shame. It is no coincidence that Jesus forsook the shame of the cross through publicly uttering the words of this psalm: “Into your hands I commit my spirit.” (Luke 23:46)
Unchecked verbal violence will eventually lead to physical violence. If wordy persecution comes from others, the primary tactic will most likely be shaming the people such persons want to control. Abusive people will frame a justification for violence because the people for whom they are leveling shame are “bad,” even “monsters.” If the verbal persecution comes from within, the shame can reach a critical mass of suicidal ideation and perhaps outright attempts at ending one’s life.
There is no living with shame. The good news is that we don’t have to. Instead, we can live in the strong fortress and the rock of refuge which is God. The Lord traffics in redeeming mercy and steadfast love, not in the demeaning judgment of shame. We can flee to God and find grace to help us in our time of need. There is no shame in reaching out for help. We all need deliverance from something. Its a matter of whether we are open to ask for it, or not.
Father God, into your hands I commit my spirit – everything I am and all that I hope to be – so that Jesus Christ might be exalted in me through the power of your Holy Spirit. I choose to leave shame where it belongs – nailed to the cross. With your divine enabling, I shall walk in newness of life through expressing my needs and wants with courage, confidence, and candor. May it be so according to your steadfast love. Amen.
Click You Are My Refuge sung by Shannon Wexelberg and Matthew Ward and allow your spirit to open.
Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So, Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”
“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” (NIV)
The burning bush is one of those iconic objects and stories in Holy Scripture. The experience of Moses changed both his life and the lives of all the Israelites then and now. Having spent the first forty years of his life as a darling in the Egyptian court, then the next forty years far from that life on the backside of the desert with a bunch of sheep, it is an understatement to say Moses did not expect or ever envision encountering God in a burning bush.
The impossible has no possibility. Or, does it?
That incredible encounter engaged the senses of Moses: the paradoxical sight of seeing fire in a bush that isn’t burning up; the smells of sheep, the outdoors, and perhaps, even of fire; hearing the call of God from within the bush; spiritually and emotionally tasting the attentive justice of God; and, removing the sandals to touch and feel the grounding of sacred space.
The story comments on the senses of God, as well. Even though God is Spirit and is worshiped as such, God is alive with his own sensations: seeing the approach of Moses, and the misery of the Israelites; the smell of injustice wafting into God’s nostrils with a stench that brought a strong divine reaction; hearing the cries of suffering; anticipating the savory taste of showing mercy and justice together; touching Moses in such a profound way that he and the Israelites would never be the same.
Through it all, the close identification between God and God’s people is expressed. The Lord feels the humiliation and pain of the Israelites and vows to uproot them from the Egyptian factory farm of slavery and plant them firmly into rich Promised Land soil.
And what God promises to do, God has the authority and power to make good on.
An impossible situation, Moses thinks. How can hundreds of years of backbreaking bondage to a national force so mighty that nothing can be done about it be broken? Who am I, Moses, to face such odds? Ah, but God specializes in systems of oppression and miserable people. It is the Lord’s abilities which conquer the mightiest of foes and can extend mercy to the lowest and the least powerful. The entire situation is ripe for divine intervention and supernatural wonders to occur.
God will make a way where there seems to be no way. God works in ways which transcend our senses. Where we are blind, God gives sight. Where we are deaf, God opens our ears with the sound of justice. When our taste buds are shot with the gruel of poverty, God causes our tongues to dance with the zest of mercy. When our nerve endings are raw from cruel bondage, God touches us with freedom. Where our nostrils have become accustomed to the smell of death, God’s aroma of life awakens us to new hope.
My friend, I believe with all my heart that:
You already intuitively know deep in your spirit that the impossible is possible with God.
It is never a question of God’s ability, but of God’s timing. God is able – and the Lord works the impossible in its proper time so that justice and mercy will have their full effect.
God of the impossible: I believe. Help me in my unbelief.
God of mercy: I receive. Help me in my denial.
God of justice: I accept. Help me in my rejection.
God of all time: I endure. Help me in my impatience.
God of All: I submit. Help me in my rebellion.
God of power and of might: I trust. Help me in my distrust.
God of our Lord Jesus Christ: I follow. Help me in my wandering.
God of the nations: Yes, you know that I love you. Yes, Lord, you know I love you. Lord, you know all things, and you know that I love you. So, yes, I will answer your call to go. Help me in my sending. Amen.
