We're on a Mission from God

Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields” (Matthew 9:35-38) 

Jesus never intended for his church to be a "Come and see what we can do" kind of Sunday gathering.  It was always his intention for the church to be a "Go and heal the hurting" kind of body.

A little more than a hundred years ago many churches in North American began to send missionaries to Africa, China, South America, and to the ends of the earth to announce the good news of the Kingdom.  My wife and I served as missionaries in Nigeria in the 80's and then again more recently.  What a blessing!  We will savor those experiences for the rest of our days.

Since our time in Africa, however, our understanding of what it means to be a "Missionary" has changed a bit. We used to think a missionary was someone sent by the church into a foreign land. We now understand that everyone who follows Jesus is a missionary. We are ALL on a mission from God!

Consider this: the Southern Baptists send out the largest number of traditional missionaries of any denomination in North America: 5200. This sounds impressive until you do the math and realize that 5200 missionaries out of 15.7 million Southern Baptists is only one missionary for every 3000 members.  And that is considerably more than other denominations.  The average for other North American denominations is one missionary for every 5000 members.  

If only one out of every 5000 church members sees themselves as a missionary, it is easy to understand why so many churches are on life support.  We are all on a mission from God!

If God calls you to go to Africa, you'd better go.  But most of us are called to go to those who live much closer to home.  Our mission field isn't in some remote, exotic land, but across the street, around the corner, down the block. Jesus saw every town and village he passed through as a mission field in need of workers.

We are on a mission from God!  Here's what we're called to do:

• Go to our neighbors
• Show them how much God loves them
• Share the good news of the Kingdom with them
• Heal their hurts, hold their hands
• Support the helpless, the confused, the broken
• Ask God to send others to help with the mission

Gathered Around the Word

The first book of the Bible some people read is the book of You and Me -- I don't know who said that but it is true.  So what translation do others see when they read the book of  You and Me?

Here are some interesting insights offered by Rick Warren, lead pastor at Saddleback Church in Southern California: 

I was once asked what the best translation of the Bible was. My answer: When you translate it into your life. That’s what Bible study is all about. If you’re not translating God’s Word into your life, you’re not studying the Bible the way God intended. 

God gave us the Bible to transform us, not simply inform us. It should give us a bigger heart, not a bigger head. In the Book of James, we're told, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” (James 1:22, NIV) 

In other words, God wants our beliefs turned into behavior.  

God makes his purpose for the Bible even more explicit in 2 Timothy 3:16-17: “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.” (NLT)

The purpose of Bible is more than just showing us what is wrong in our lives or how we should live; God gave us His Word to radically transform our lives.

The Bible describes itself in different ways. For example, it calls itself a hammer, a sword, and a scalpel. All of those are tools designed to make radical changes. God intends for the Bible to dramatically change our lives.

The Bible also describes God’s truth as milk, water, bread, and meat. What do all those things have in common? If you don’t eat or drink them regularly, you’ll die. We were never meant to live without the Bible. 

The Bible is essential to our lives because it gives us life. In fact, the Bible also talks about Jesus as the Word of God. John 1:14 says, “So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father.” (NLT) God gave you the Living Word -- Jesus -- to be the author and finisher of your faith, and He gave you the Written Word to prepare you to live out your faith.

Pray for PEACE in Nigeria

Please pray:

• For an end to Boko Haram’s campaign of terror in Nigeria and that the organisation would be cut off at the root; 

• Ask God to comfort and strengthen the survivors in Chibok, Gwoza, Baga and many other villages where people have lost everything and are hiding in fear of their lives; 

• Pray also for swift deliverance for communities recently seized by Boko Haram, 

• Pray for freedom and healing for the many women and girls who have been subjected to sexual violence and enslavement by Boko Haram; 

• Pray and ask for God’s mercy upon Nigeria, its leaders and people. Pray also that the Church would be persistent in prayer and that God would arise and defend the nation; 

• Ask God to strengthen and encourage the military, which is struggling to protect civilians from this insurgency;  

• Ask God to give the government compassion to deal with the victims of violence, and the wisdom to deal with those who promote violence; 

• Ask God to protect the communities all along and across Nigeria's borders  

• Pray for peace, healing and provision for those displaced internally or externally by violence;  

• Pray for a change of heart for Boko Haram members, their sponsors and supporters; 

• Pray that the situation in Nigeria would receive international attention so that Christians around the world would respond to the needs in Nigeria prayerfully and generously.

O God, we cry out to you in the name of Jesus, who is the Prince of Peace!  Amen 

Lead by the Spirit? Or Merely Spiritual

What does it mean to be Spiritual?  Over the past couple of decades, New Age thinkers, self-help authors and motivational speakers have redefined what it means to be spiritual. Wayne Dyer, a popular motivational speaker and best-selling self-help author writes:

"Once you believe in yourself and see your soul as divine and precious, you'll automatically be converted to a being who can create miracles." 

Believe in yourself... That is the Credo of Dyer and many other motivational speakers and self-help authors. To be spiritual, they believe, is to look within oneself to find the keys to happiness, freedom, peace, love, self-esteem, the meaning of life. 

Here are the 12 signs of spiritual awakening posted on a number of recovery websites.  The author is unknown.  

1.  An increased tendency to let things happen rather than make  them happen.
2.  Frequent attacks of smiling.
3.  Feelings of being connected with others and nature.
4.  Frequent overwhelming episodes of appreciation.
5.  A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than from  fears based on past experience.
6.  An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.
7.  A loss of ability to worry.
8.  A loss of interest in conflict.
9.  A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others.
10.  A loss of interest in judging others.
11.  A loss of interest in judging self.
12.  Gaining the ability to love without expecting anything in  return.

I think these are meant to be an addendum to the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous.  How ironic.  The 12 steps of AA begin with a confession, "We admitted we were powerless over alcohol -- that our lives had become unmanageable" And continues with a faith statement, "Came to believe that a power higher than ourselves could restore us to sanity." Bill and Bob, the founders of AA were Christians who believed the basis for healthy spirituality involved the confession of personal weakness and faith in the power of God as the only way to recovery.  Yet, the 12 signs of spiritual awakening listed above says nothing about either of these. 

Who wouldn't want to have the unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.  The world would be a better place if more people had frequent attacks of smiling and were able to love without expecting anything in return.  These are admirable qualities. Yet, with a boatload of self-help books and seminars, and enough mood-stabilizers  stimulants, antipsychotics, anti-depressant, and anti-anything-but-reality drugs to choke all the cows in India, we continue to be sad, depressed, lonely, selfish, unloving and and even hateful... far too much of the time.  

The Apostle Paul confessed that (while he might have longed for the unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment), "The very things I know I should do, I don't do.  And the things I know I shouldn't do, I do... wretched man that I am, who will save me from this life of sin? Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ," (read Romans 7:14-15).

Paul goes on to describe his spirituality in Romans 8:9-11: 

But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won’t know what we’re talking about. But for you who welcome him, in whom he dwells—even though you still experience all the limitations of sin—you yourself experience life on God’s terms. It stands to reason, doesn’t it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he’ll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ’s! (The Message)

Self-confidence is okay, but to trust in the Lord with all your heart is better.  Self-awareness is good, but knowing the goodness of God is better.  Self-appreciation is fine, but to love the Lord with all your heart, soul and strength is the only way to a deeply spiritual life.  

Things Go Better TOGETHER

One Body with Many Parts - 1 Corinthians 12:12-27

12 The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. 13 Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles,[e] some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.[f]

14 Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. 15 If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?

18 But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it.19 How strange a body would be if it had only one part! 20 Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. 21 The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”

22 In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. 23 And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, 24 while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. 25 This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. 26 If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.

27 All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.

Learning to Follow Jesus

One day when Jesus was walking along the Sea of Galilee he saw two fisherman, Peter and his brother Andrew, throwing out their net to catch fish.  He said, "Follow Me," and they immediately dropped their fishing nets and followed him... or did they?  Well, the head said "Yes!" and the heart said "Go!" but the feet had to learn how to follow. Learning to follow Jesus is more than a decision of the head and heart, it is a way of life that is learned, one step at a time.

Peter's decision to follow Jesus came after an "eye opening" encounter. Luke tells us Peter was washing his nets after an unproductive night of fishing when Jesus directed him to put his boat back into the water.   Jesus got into the boat and spoke to a large crowd gathered along the shore, and when he had finished speaking, he said, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch."

Peter said, "Teacher, we worked hard all night and catch nothing." But then he reluctantly did what Jesus had asked. Miraculously, the nets became so full of fish that they began to break, and Peter had to ask for help to bring in the catch.

While others dealt with the fish, Peter fell down at Jesus' feet and said, "Lord, please leave me!  I'm too much of a sinner to be around you."  It was after this sequence of events that Jesus invited Peter to follow him.

Even though this was only a FIRST step, it consisted of a number of connected motions. The decision to follow Jesus was made after Peter:

• heard Jesus' teachings
• accepted Jesus' direction
• witnessed Jesus' work
• recognized Jesus' identity
• and fell at Jesus' feet

Peter's heart said "I'm too much of a sinner to be around him." But when he heard Jesus say, "Follow me," his head told his feet to take that first step.

Peter's story meanders across the pages of the Gospels marked by a consistent pattern: he stepped forward one moment and then stepped back the next. He stepped onto the water and then quickly got in over his head. He was the first to call Jesus "Messiah," but then forbid him to go into Jerusalem.  He promised to die with Jesus and later that evening said, "I never knew him."  But inspit of his slips and missteps, Peter kept putting one foot in front of the other, gradually learning to follow Jesus.

We learn to follow Jesus the way a child learns to walk.  With the encouragement and support of those around us, we decide to give it a try.  After falling a bunch of times and being helped to get up again, we eventually learn to stand without falling.  Then we take our first step and quickly fall again.  We are helped back to our feet and try it again.  This process of standing, stepping and falling happens too many times to count, but we gradually learn how to do it, step by step.

Be encouraged.  Continue to faithfully put one foot in front of the other, and eventually:

"Those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.  They will soar high on wings like eagles.  They will run and not grow weary.  They will walk and not faint" (Isaiah 40:31). 

The Gathering... Clay in the Potter's Hands

"I'm in good shape, for the shape I'm in," she said with her unmistakable gravelly giggle. Over the past 92 years Anna Mary has aged with grace and is now at that point in her life when God is putting the finishing touches on a genuine masterpiece.  

All of us are like clay in the potter's hands.  As a master potter, God is continually in the process of creating and shaping, restoring and reshaping our lives. Paul says:

"We are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." (Ephesians 2:10)

Our lives are like clay in the potters hand, and the same is true of the body of Christ... the Church. This blog is the outgrowth of a rag tag group of the people who call themselves, The Gathering.  We have only begun to explore God's plan for our lives, but we want to become "God's masterpiece... created in Christ Jesus so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago."  

And though we are just beginning to sort out what God has planned for us, we are committed to several values that guide us. We want to become a body of believers who:

• Put Jesus at the Center - "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up.  And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.   We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith." (Hebrews 12:1-2)

• Gather as a COMMUNITY of Believers - "And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had.  They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord's Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity - all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved."(Acts 2:44-47)

• Are Guided by the Spirit - "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." (Galatians 5:22-23)

• Work for Peace and Justice -  "You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say, love your enemies!  Pray for those who persecute you!  In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:43-45)

• Gather around the Word - (Jesus prayed) "Now I am coming to you (Father).  I told them many things while  I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy.  I have given them your word.  And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world just as I do not belong to the world.  I'm not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one.  They do not belong to this world any more than I do.  Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.  Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world.  I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth."    (John 17:13-19)

• Are Mission Driven - "Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Jesus, “Rabbi, eat something." But Jesus replied, "I have a kind of food you know nothing about." -- "Did someone bring him food while we were gone?” the disciples asked each other. Then Jesus explained: “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work." (John 4:31-34)

We're not sure what we'll look like five years from now, but if we put Jesus at the center of all that we do, we're pretty sure he'll help us figure things out.

Guest Blog from SimpleChurch Journal

Prayer as the Main Thing

Some things don’t change. We may seek new wine skins. We may adopt new methods and tools for seeing God’s Kingdom come. We may give up worn out programs, systems, and paradigms. We may adopt the newest and most ‘in’ way of making disciples, living incarnationally, or gathering together.

But the most significant thing does not change regardless of where we are in our journey with church, life, and ministry: we love God and we spend time with Him. This is the heart, fire, fuel, and foundation that is the indisputable center of a meaningful, purposeful, God-infused life.

Our own prayer life may need to go through some retrofits of its own.  

Perhaps we have become stale or neglectful.

Perhaps we need to seek new ways to connect in deeper intimacy and to intercede with more faith.

Perhaps solitude is calling or a new encounter with Scripture is needed to stir up our faith-muscle in intercession.

Perhaps the New Year will spark in us a new desire to get back to the main thing as the main thing and find ways to be near to the Father.

Let’s not replace intimacy with knowledge, or the pursuit of ministry, or good activity. In fact the former will lead to the best activity as we seek His presence to live out of and His voice as our guide.  As David and Paul Watson say (Contagious Disciple Making), “A culture of prayer creates an environment and spiritual posture God can use to mobilize His people to do His will and catalyze complete social and spiritual transformation in a community.”

Perhaps this will be a year for an organic prayer movement that starts with each one of us and spreads to others until transformation, real transformation, is taking place in and around us.

You can connect with SimpleChurch Journal here.

The Problem of Wineskins

Jesus talked about the importance of putting new wine into new wineskins.  "Otherwise," he said, "the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed." The Gathering is one modest attempt to create new wineskins for the new wine (i.e. living water) God is pouring out to those who are thirsty.

Jesus uses wineskins as a metaphor for the church.  He suggests that just as wineskins become dry, cracked and unable to hold wine, the church can become hardened and fractured, empty and all but it's memory of the old wine.

Reggie McNeal puts an interesting spin on the old wine/new wineskin problem in his book, The Present Future.  Empty of all but memories of old wine, the weary North American church attempts to deal with the challenges of the future by asking the wrong questions and seeking the wrong solutions.  Here are a few excerpts from The Present Future: 

The current church culture in North America is on life support. It is living off the work, money, and energy of previous generations from a previous world order. The plug will be pulled either when the money runs out (80 percent of money given to congregations comes from people aged fifty-five and older) or when the remaining three-fourths of a generation who are institutional loyalists die off or both...

 Those with a refuge mentality view the world outside the church as the enemy. Their answer is to live inside the bubble in a Christian subculture complete with its own entertainment industry. Evangelism in this worldview is about churching the unchurched, not connecting people to Jesus...

 The North American church is suffering from severe mission amnesia. It has forgotten why it exists. The church was created to be the people of God to join him in his redemptive mission in the world. The church was never intended to exist for itself... 

McNeal claims God's people can create new wineskins to carry new wine to the world by rediscovering God's mission:

The movement Jesus initiated had power because it had at its core a personal life-transforming experience. 

The correct response, then, to the collapse of the church culture is not to try to become better at doing church. This only feeds the problem and hastens the church’s decline through its disconnect from the larger culture. The need is not for a methodological fix. The need is for a missional fix.

The appropriate response to the emerging world is a rebooting of the mission, a radical obedience to an ancient command, a loss of self rather than self-preoccupation, concern about service and sacrifice rather than concern about style.

God is raising up a new generation who understand his redemptive mission and are willing to create new wineskins able to carry God's redemptive mission into the world.

How Does Your Life Measure Up?

A recent ABC/Beliefnet polls found that 83% of all Americans identify themselves as Christians.  But what kind of Christians?  If being a Christian means believing in God and occasionally going to church, then it is understandable that 83% of Americans would consider themselves Christian. But how is Christianity defined in the Bible?

To begin with, a literal translation of the word "Christian" in the Greek language of the New Testament is "Follower of Christ." So what does it mean to follow Jesus?  Here are a few of the things Jesus had to say when he invited others to follow him:

• “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." (Matthew 16:24)

• "Whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me." (Matthew 10:38)

• “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” (Matthew 19:21)

• "And Jesus said to them, 'Follow me and I will make you fish for people....' Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him."         (Mark 1:17,20)

• Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

• "My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me."        (John 10:27)

• Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor."           (John  12:26)

I Have a Dream

Martin Luther King Jr. was a powerful preacher.  Here is an excerpt from, "I Have a Dream," considered one of his most important sermons.  On this day, set aside to celebrate his life, these words remind us of his passion for justice, equality and non-violence.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

                Free at last! Free at last!

                Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

The Theology of Change

We are constantly changing.  By this time tomorrow our bodies will bid farewell to between 50 and 70 billion cells.  But don't worry.  Our bodies are constantly in the process of reproducing new cells.  This process of change is mostly hidden and painless, but it is constant from the time we are conceived until the day we die.

Change is a necessary part of the cycle of life. Normal growth and health would not be possible without this constant process enabling the old to be replaced by the new.  This is true of the body, mind, and spirit. 

We know a lot about how to support the healthy growth of our bodies, but what about the healthy growth of our spirits.  What do we need to do to grow in faith, hope and love... to become more like Jesus? Paul lays out a pretty rigorous program for exercising our faith so we can grow as disciples:

The gifts (God) gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love. (Ehp 4:11-16)

Change can be painful, but "growth pains" are a necessary part of normal, healthy growth.  The Skit Guys offer one view of how God wants to work in our lives to chisel away the stuff that keeps us from growing "to the measure of the full stature of Christ."

Mr Rogers... TV Personality -or- Modern Day Prophet?

It WILL be a beautiful day in the neighborhood when more of us realize the Bible verse that says "Love your neighbor" is not a suggestion, but a commandment!

Jesus said the injunction to, "Love your neighbor as yourself." belongs right beside the first and greatest commandment: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart."

"But who is my neighbor?" someone asked.  Jesus answered the question with a story about a Good Samaritan.  You've probably heard the story before, but its worth reading again: 

Luke 10:25-37The Message (MSG)

25 Just then a religion scholar stood up with a question to test Jesus. “Teacher, what do I need to do to get eternal life?”

26 He answered, “What’s written in God’s Law? How do you interpret it?”

27 He said, “That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself.”

28 “Good answer!” said Jesus. “Do it and you’ll live.”

29 Looking for a loophole, he asked, “And just how would you define ‘neighbor’?”

30-32 Jesus answered by telling a story. “There was once a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way he was attacked by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him up, and went off leaving him half-dead. Luckily, a priest was on his way down the same road, but when he saw him he angled across to the other side. Then a Levite religious man showed up; he also avoided the injured man.

33-35 “A Samaritan traveling the road came on him. When he saw the man’s condition, his heart went out to him. He gave him first aid, disinfecting and bandaging his wounds. Then he lifted him onto his donkey, led him to an inn, and made him comfortable. In the morning he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take good care of him. If it costs any more, put it on my bill—I’ll pay you on my way back.’

36 “What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?”

37 “The one who treated him kindly,” the religion scholar responded.

Jesus said, “Go and do the same.”

Do you know where you are going?

When I was 8 years old I was on my own one evening when dad was at work, mom was shopping and my sisters were with friends.  I didn't mind, it gave me a chance to do some exploring. We lived in the mountains in a little community surrounded by forest.  But through the forest and down the mountain there was a fair sized town with bright lights, 3 movie theaters, a couple of donut shops and a Sears and Roebucks department store.  All of this was only a mile and a half away.

So I headed for the forest path that led down the mountain and found myself in the "big" city.  Though is was only half an hour from home, it seemed like a completely different world. The mixture of bright lights, the sound of metal trolley wheels clanging along their tracks, and the aroma of Coney Island hot dogs and fresh donuts was... intoxicating, but disorienting.  Time passed quickly and by the time I was ready to head home, night had fallen.

The forest was dark and the path seemed invisible.  I stood at the edge of the darkness waiting for my eyes to adjust, but the trees created a thick canopy that shrouded the light of the moon and the stars. I was afraid of the dark, but even more afraid of getting home after my parents were home.  So I blocked out the sounds of the forest by talking to myself, Out Loud, and slowly made my way along the path until I was safely home.

It was many years before I understood the significance of that night. Much more than the scary experience of a young child, it became an important paradigm for how to find the way through the darkness.

Jesus said there is a narrow way that leads to life and a wide way that leads to destruction.  As a child I thought of these as two separate pathways that moved in different directions.  One was narrow, but unmistakeable.  The other was so wide is would be hard to miss.  Simple!  Just take the narrow way and everything will be okay.

But my experience in the forest that night offered a more accurate picture of the narrow way that leads to life.  It doesn't go around the forest, but right through the forest.  And the narrow way can be hard to see because the forest is often dark.  

So how do we keep to the narrow way that leads to life?  Be alert: whatever intoxicates also distorts and disorients.  Be faithful: we walk by faith and not by sight.  Be persistent: stay on course and finish the race. Be  courageous: "It is not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord."  And never walk alone!