a.k.a. - sh*t disturber

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”  Jn. 1:14   NKJV “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, generous inside and out, true from start to finish.”  Jn. 1:14   The Message “I believe it is a grave mistake to present Christianity as something charming and popular with no offense in it…We cannot blink the fact that Jesus meek and mild was so stiff in His opinions and so inflammatory in His language that he was thrown out of church, stoned, hunted from place to place, and finally gibbeted as a firebrand and a public danger. Whatever His peace was, it was not the peace of an amiable indifference.” “To those who knew him…he in no way suggests a milk-and-water person; they objected to him as a dangerous firebrand. True, he was tender to the unfortunate, patient with honest inquirers, and humble before heaven; but he insulted respectable clergymen by calling them hypocrites. He referred to King Herod as ‘that fox’; he went to parties in disreputable company and was looked upon as a ‘gluttonous man and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners’; he assaulted indignant tradesmen and threw them and their belongings out of the temple; he drove a coach-and-horses through a number of sacrosanct and hoary regulations; he cured diseases by any means that came handy, with a shocking casualness in the matter of other people’s pigs and property; he showed no proper deference for wealth or social position; when confronted with neat dialectical traps, he displayed a paradoxical humor that affronted serious-minded people, and he retorted by asking disagreeably searching questions that could not be answered by rule of thumb.” “…The people who hanged Christ never, to do them justice, accused Him of being a bore – on the contrary, they thought him too dynamic to be safe. It has been left for later generations to muffle up that shattering personality and surround him with an atmosphere of tedium. We have very efficiently pared the claws of the Lion of Judah, certified him “meek and mild” and recommended him as a fitting household pet for pale curates and pious old ladies. Those who knew him, however…objected to him as a dangerous firebrand.”  Dorothy Sayers ((I've been called a person who 'likes' being a sh*t-disturber.  That description of me should not have hurt me as much as it did.))  I'm not a big fan of 'safe' Jesus, of 'pat on the back, everything will be fine' Jesus, of 'I didn't come to change anything' Jesus, of 'carry on, as you were' Jesus, of 'paste on a smile even if your life sucks' Jesus.  I much prefer the sh*t disturber.   Having trouble finding him lately... :( ((I acknowledge that Christianity is often portrayed as 'offensive' in the media, but, sadly, not for the right reasons.))

old tricks...

If you go back, way back, really far back, all the way back... to the Garden of Eden, you'll find an old, old trick.  The saying goes 'don't fix it if it ain't broken'.  This trick works so well, that, in all the years, it ain't needed no fixin'.  It works just as well today, as it did back then.

The trick is a question, just a simple little question, just a few words long. It's not a 'trick question', the question is a trick!  It goes like this:  "Did God really say...?"

Here goes:

"Did God really say... by grace you are saved?"  The answer... "Yes, he really did."
"Did God really say... his gift is for everyone?"  The answer... "Yes, he really did."
"Did God really say... he forgives all my sin?"  The answer... "Yes, he really did."
"Did God really say... he heals all my diseases?" The answer... "Yes, he really did."
"Did God really say... he crowns my life with love?"  The answer... "Yes, he really did."
"Did God really say... he has borne my sorrows?"  The answer... "Yes, he really did."
"Did God really say... he took up our infirmities?"  The answer... "Yes, he really did."
"Did God really say... by his stripes we are healed?"  The answer... "Yes, he really did."
"Did God really say... he would send his Spirit?"  The answer... "Yes, he really did."
"Did God really say... this gift of the Spirit was meant for all who believe?"  The answer... "Yes, he really did."
"Did God really say... that we would receive power when the Spirit came upon us?"  The answer... "Yes, he really did."
"Did God really say... we've been adopted as children, as heirs?"  The answer... "Yes, he really did."
"Did God really say... we are children of the Most High God?"  The answer... "Yes, he really did."
"Did God really say... we are no longer citizens of this 'fallen' world, but rather, are citizens of heaven?"  The answer... "Yes, he really did."
"Did God really say... we are his ambassadors?"
"Did God really say... we should ask that His will be done, here.. here on earth... as it is in heaven?"  The answer... "Yes, he really did."
"Did God really say... he came that we might have life, and have it more abundantly?"  The answer... "Yes, he really did."
"Did God really say... we have authority to cast out demons?" The answer... "Yes, he really did."
"Did God really say... we have authority to heal the sick?"  The answer... "Yes, he really did."
"Did God really say... all His promises are YES?"  The answer... "Yes, he really did."

This stuff is EVERYWHERE in the Bible.... and yet, the question... the trick... still works. This question is the reason we doubt...  What would change if, knowing what we know, we pictured the Serpent asking the question...  What would change if our answer was The Answer... "Yes, He REALLY did." What would change if we spoke the Truth and refused to be tricked?

I'm just a girl...

I’m just a girl... with a fish.  I’m just a girl... with a fish.  I’m just a girl ... with a fish.  I’m not a fancy girl.  It’s not a fancy fish.  It’s just a fish.  Oh, and a loaf of bread.  That’s all.  It’s my lunch.  It’s my lunch.  I’m out for a walk. My feet are dirty, my clothes a little tattered, rumpled, probably out of style but, whatever.  I’m just a girl, with a fish, out for a walk. I’m on some kind of errand that’ll probably take a bit of time.  I’ll get hungry before I’m done, so mom made me take a lunch.  I’m always hungry.  Mom says it’s ‘cause I’m growing.  She doesn’t have a lot, but, she takes good care of me.

I’m walking along a little path in the hills, kicking up little puffs of dust with the tops of my toes.  There are sheep on the hillside, and off in the distance, on the lake, there are fishermen fixing on their nets.  It’s quiet, mostly, like I like it.  Sun’s shining, an eagle soars overhead.  It’s a good, normal day.

I come around a bend in the trail.  It’s a bit rocky here, I have to be careful, the trail gets pretty narrow, and there’s a bit of a cliff on one side, so I don’t notice right away. But after the trail smooths out around the bluff I see people.  I mean a lot of people, like, a lot a lot... gathered around this guy.  He’s not even very far from me.  He’s talking to them.  Telling them stories.  I come a bit further down the trail, closer to him, so I can hear.  He’s really interesting.  I’ve heard some guys blabbing on about stuff that’s supposed to be oh-so-important.  Do this, do that, don’t this, don’t that.  B.o.r.i.n.g.  But this guy was different. I liked him right away.  Felt like I knew him somehow.  For sure, like he knew me.  ?  He looked like an ordinary guy, and talked about ordinary stuff, but then somehow he wasn’t ordinary at all.

I listened for a long time, kinda snuck around to the edge of the crowd, sat down.  Picked some grass, drew little pictures in the dirt.  Didn’t miss a word.

After a bit I started getting hungry.  Actually, a LOT hungry.  What time was it, anyway?  Seemed late!  I should probably get going, but this guy... he’s just so... one more story...  I see other people getting a bit restless, looking at the sun... probably thinking it’s late. Just like me.  Probably hungry.  Just like me.  I see a couple guys come over and talk to the preacher or whatever he was.  They’re making gestures.  They’re looking at the sun.  Looking at the crowd.  He looks around a bit, looks at the crowd, grins, laughs a bit, says something to the guys.  The guys look like... well.... like... ‘huh??’... like ‘are you serious??’  They look at the crowd.  They look at him.  He laughs, claps them on the back, nods at them, gives ‘em a little shove.  They’re still looking incredulous (I just learned that word... do you like it? Haha!)  My stomach is g.r.o.w.l.i.n.g.  I grab my bag and pull out my fish.  My fish... just as one of the guys looks over at me.  He sees my fish.  He rolls his eyes a bit, shakes his head, shrugs his shoulders, and comes over to me.  He still looks kinda stunned, even a bit shy, when he says, ‘Hey... the Master wants to know if he can have your fish...”  He looks a bit embarrassed.  I’m thinking this is pretty odd, but, then hey... if that guy... ‘the Master’... wants my fish... well...?  He can have it!  He’s so cool!  I wanna be friends with him!

The guy asks, kinda friendly now, ‘You got anything else in there?’  I go ‘Ya, I’ve got some bread.’  And he chuckles a bit and says, ‘Awesome!’  He’s laughing now.  Offering me a hand up, leading me over to Jesus.  Jesus is awesome.  The guy tells him I have a fish... and some bread.  He nods kinda too big, bounces on his toes a bit, shakes his head, nods up and down a bit more, laughs a bit more... looks at the crowd... looks at my lunch... shrugs his shoulders.  Looks down right confused.  “What’s this gonna do among so many?” he asks.

Jesus laughs, claps him on the back, looks at me.  He asks me with his eyes if I’m really willing to share, and I’m like ‘sure!’  It’s just a fish.  He says thank you, then tells the guys to go get everybody sat down and organized.  He chats with me about all kinds of stuff while we wait. About my mom, about school, about the beautiful day, and the eagle.  Then he quiets the crowd.  They hang on his every word.  He looks up to the sky and starts giving thanks, for the fish, and the bread.  My fish.  My bread.  Then he starts breaking it up.  It’s the craziest thing!  It didn’t matter how many times he broke a chunk off that fish, it never ran out!  Same with the bread!  Weirdest thing I ever saw!  Sure never did that when I ate it!!  He ended up feeding every last person there!  Did I tell you there were lots of people there?  Like, thousands?? Ya! Crazy! 

They all had their fill.  We... all had our fill, with leftovers... Never seen such a thing!  He’s smiling, and laughing, and talking with everybody, having a grand time.  Eventually, we had to go home.  I never got my errand done, but I sure had one crazy story to tell my mom!  She didn’t really believe me at first, thought I was making it up, using my ‘wild’ imagination, as she said.  But eventually she started hearing it around town.  Not many people knew it was my lunch that fed them all, just that Jesus was awesome, and their bellies were full!

Weird thing happened later though, after Jesus had moved on, a couple of weeks maybe.  People were still talking about it, but, it got kinda weird somehow.  Somehow, instead of it being this amazing thing done by an amazing guy, it got to be about the fish.  Seems some people thought the fish was a little boring, a little bland (even though just as many people said it was too salty...).  It was the ‘wrong kind’ of fish.  They’d have much preferred it was this kind of fish, or that kind of fish, and why was it pan fried?  Everybody knows it should be grilled.  It was really weird.  The bread was wrong too.  This guy wanted white bread, that guy wanted 7 grain, still another wanted rye bread. This one said it was dry... ‘probably day old, if you can imagine! I mean really... ‘  Lots of people wished there’d been cheese.  And figs!  Why weren’t there any figs?  Maybe a mango???  Would that be so hard? They didn’t know it was me... so they just said stuff, right in front of me, right in front of my mom. They said it wasn’t good enough. They said ‘whoever it was’... (being... well... me...) should have tried harder, should be better.

On one level, I feel kind of hurt, like maybe I’m not good enough.  But on another level I think... Hang on a minute.... I’m just a girl, with a fish, willing to give my lunch, my whole lunch, everything I had, to a guy that knew me, to a guy that got me, to a guy that valued  me.  I’m not a chef.  I’m not a caterer.  I never set out to feed them all.  I was out for a walk, living my life, minding my business.  I’m just a girl.... with a fish.  I know that Jesus took my stuff, and gave thanks for it, and that’s good enough for me... most days.

Say What?

Some things that I believe need to be spoken over our lives in no particular order:  

I praise God because I am fearfully and wonderfully made, and I have an exceptionally well designed immune system, able to fight off all kinds of sicknesses and diseases.  The God who created the sun, moon, and stars, also created me.  He knit me together in my mother’s womb. I am his workmanship.  He does all things well.  If my immune system is not functioning well, it is acting contrary to it’s created design.  I have authority to speak to it.  What I bind on earth will be bound in heaven.  What I release on earth will be released in heaven.  I may need to ‘bind’ an unseen force that has come to steal, kill, and destroy, and ‘release’ the immune system to function properly.

My body is designed to heal itself, to regenerate.  A weak heart can be made strong again through exercise and good nutrition.  This is not true, say, of a weak link in a chain, a cracked handle on an axe, a tear in a sheet of paper.

God’s names are indicative of his nature, his character, his desires, and his will.  Since one of his names is HEALER, I can rest assured that it is his nature, his character, his desire, and his will to heal.  I do not need to doubt his desire or his will, since his name has revealed his desire and his will to me.

Jesus came to give me LIFE, and that more abundantly.  The Greek word for LIFE is ZOE, which is: the quality of life as possessed by the one who gives it.  Is the one who gives me life plagued by sickness, weakness, disease?

The Greek word for SAVED is SOZO, which is an immensely inclusive word that includes physical healing.  Look it up.  Begin to use the word healed everywhere you would normally use the word saved.  For it is by grace we are healed through faith, not of works lest any man should boast.  This is equally accurate to the thoughts we normally associate with the word saved.  The Greeks will have known this, and therefore not needed to write every verse about salvation specifically mentioning the word healed.  If we were to include physical healing in our definition of the word saved, as it was originally meant to be, we would increase our Biblical reference to healing probably tenfold!

We have been asked to pray that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  God’s will on earth is not always done... but in heaven it is.  And there is no sickness in heaven.  If we are to pray that his will be done here, then we can safely presume that his will is for health, on earth.  We cannot hold to a belief that he ‘wants’ us to be sick, or that it is his will for us to be sick.  If it is his will for us to be sick, then it was contrary to his will for Jesus to take up our infirmities and carry our diseases.

I am a child of the Most High God.  God is my Father.  My Father is the great physician.  I have been purchased by, and am covered by the precious blood of Jesus Christ.  I am a citizen of heaven.  I will declare these things.  The prince of this world, the devil, has NO authority over me, in fact I have authority over him.  I can bind him, rebuke him, cast him out, command him to be silent, and, as a child of God he is required to obey me.  All of heaven backs me up.  The weapons we fight with are not of this world and they are POWERFUL to demolish strongholds. 

Sickness, disease, infirmity, etc, etc are all listed in Deuteronomy under ‘the curse’, and not under the ‘blessing’ which were the direct consequences of disobedience to the law.  Jesus Christ both fulfilled the law for us, and also became the curse for us.  In him we are blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing.  We are not under the law, or under the curse.  We ‘live in a fallen world’ as many people say, but, we have been redeemed.  We are citizens of heaven.  We are ‘in’ the world, but we are not ‘of’ the world.

I have NOT been given a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.  If I am experiencing fear, I can rest assured that it is NOT from God, and I have been instructed to take these thoughts captive and make them obedient to the knowledge of God.  I am able to do this, because I have been given a sound mind.

We have been instructed to take captive every thought and make it obedient to the knowledge of Christ.  If our experience does not line up with the word of God, this does not make the word of God untrue.  We need to take these kinds of thoughts captive. We cannot decide that God’s words are not true because we have not yet experienced them.   “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” There was an event.  Stand on the truth of the event. This event occurred once and for all... for all... We need to take captive thoughts that suggest that this may be true for some, but is not meant for me.

Jesus healed liberally.  He healed everyone that came to him.  Many times it is recorded that he ‘healed them all’.  Although we only usually hear about the specific, individual cases recorded by the disciples, the Truth is that he ‘healed them all’... and... “there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.”  Healings were not isolated incidents, few and far between.  He did these things because he ‘had compassion on them’... and also, to fulfill scripture... “This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “ He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.”  This ‘taking up’, this ‘carrying’ happened in the courthouse, on a whipping post, by use of a ‘cat-o-nine-tails’, rods, staffs, slaps, beard plucking, spitting, etc.  There was an event.  We know where, when, how, and why. By his stripes we are healed.

The disciples and the apostles also healed liberally.  In fact Jesus himself said that “these signs will accompany them that believe....  They will lay hands on the sick and they will recover.”  We have been instructed by Jesus to preach the gospel, cast out demons, heal the sick, and raise the dead.  Luke says in Acts that the disciples spoke boldly and God confirmed the message of his grace by allowing them to perform miraculous signs and wonders.

In the recorded miracles of Jesus, some of the illnesses, diseases, infirmities, or whatever, were in fact caused by demons.  These demons did have the ability to inflict harm on physical bodies. They could, in fact, create physical symptoms.  The woman bent in two, the two different children, a boy and a girl, who threw themselves in the fire and constantly tried to harm themselves, the blind, the deaf, the mute to name a few. The (psychotic) man that lived in the tombs.   Not all... but definitely some.  Jesus rebuked a fever... like he did the waves...  He gave us not only instructions to, but also authority to cast out demons.  I doubt they’d listen to us though, if we denied their existence, or their possible involvement. We would not be instructed to wear armor if we were automatically immune to attack. We’ve also, somewhere in the body of Christ, been given people who have the gift of discerning between spirits.  They may be useful in determining how to deal with a particular situation.  We’ve also been given, in the body of Christ, people with words of knowledge, and people with gifts of healing. These people are meant to all work together, as a body.

Some, NOT ALL, of the illnesses were the result of sin.  We cannot count this out in our prayers.  We are instructed to confess our sins that we may be healed.  It can’t possibly hurt to confess our sin, and, if we say we are without sin, we lie.  There is for sure one case where Jesus said the illness had nothing to do with sin, so don’t get all freaked out about it.

We are, unquestionably, in a war.  Our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.  We are to be on our guard.  We are to put on armor. We are to discern between spirits. . For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. We are not passive.  We do not accept the acts of aggression committed against us by the thief who comes to steal kill and destroy, and call these things the will of God.

We have been given authority.  Authority is rooted in identity. A 150lb police woman can apprehend a 280lb man, not because she is stronger than him, but, because she has authority to do so.  She is not alone.  She has a police force behind her.  She has the law.  She has weapons.  She does not apprehend him based on her own anger over a situation, but rather on her right and her obligation to uphold the law.  The 280lb man has violated the law.  He has done something he is not allowed to do.  She has the right and the authority to apprehend him. If he has stolen something, she has the authority to make him give it back.  An employee cannot fire his boss. He cannot tell his boss what to do. The worker does not have authority over the boss.  The boss has authority over the worker. A parent has authority over a child.  The best use of authority does not involve anger nor does it always involve aggression. It is rooted in identity.  It is knowing who you are and what you are authorized to do, knowing what is, and what is not, acceptable, knowing who is backing you up.

Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.  Seeing is not believing.  Believing comes first.  Believe in the event.  Believe it was for YOU.  Believe that it is a gift of grace.

Think about this.  IF a doctor required you to change your diet  one hundred percent to exclude salt, or sugar, or gluten, or whatever else, we would obey him regardless the personal cost in order to preserve or improve our health.  If a doctor told you to exercise 45 minutes a day, we would.  If he told us to take ‘x’ amount of pills three times a day we would, (this would be much easier than exercising and/or dieting...) and we’d accept the side effects as a necessary evil. If he said come and see me twice a week, take time off work, sit in an office, wait an unspecified amount of time for me to see you, we would.  If he said he’d like to experiment with something new that he ‘hoped’ would work, we’d say sure.

But, ...  IF the God of the universe says to think differently, to be transformed by the renewing of your mind, to pray continuously, to take captive every thought, to ‘not be anxious’ but in everything, with thanksgiving..., to go to the elders of our church and be anointed with oil and prayed over, if he asks us to learn and to study about authority, about spiritual battles, about the promises and provisions made in his word, by his son, if we are asked to accept and receive the work of the whipping post, in the courthouse, we will accuse him of being unreasonable.

Speak the Truth

I have much on my mind tonight...  I’m just gonna spit it out and let the chips fall where they may... This is what I believe.  Feel free to ignore it.

I believe that we need to start speaking the Truth over our own lives, and over the lives of those we love.  I believe that we need to study and learn the word of God and then begin to ‘take captive every thought and MAKE it obedient to the knowledge of Christ.”

We have this internal dialog in our mind, in our thoughts.  This dialog affects our emotions, our behavior and, I believe, even our heath.  I’m not talking about ‘positive thinking,’ although positive thinking can take you really far as a starting point.  I’m talking about Truthful thinking.  Thinking that is in line with the Truth of God’s word.  Proverbs claims that the ‘power of life and death are in the tongue.’  That’s a lot of power and God’s word has abundantly more power. The tongue speaks out of the thoughts of our hearts and minds, our internal dialog. We need to control it.  And, we ARE able to control it.  God does not ask us to do things we are not able to do in the power of his Spirit.  We need to choose to speak the Truth.

I believe that we need to start saying thank you to God for the things he has provided even before we begin to see the evidence of it in our own lives.  We are urged to “not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present our requests to God.”  I believe there is a VAST difference between ‘asking’ God to save me, and ‘thanking’ him for taking the necessary steps to provide my salvation.  Does that make sense?  I know many people who ask and ask and ask and still always live with an uncertainty about whether he ‘will’, whether he ‘has’ or whether he ‘wants to’.  However, once they are convinced of the Truth that the necessary steps have already been taken, that he has offered it freely to any and to all and to ME... , they will begin to live in awe of the grace of God.  They will, in reverence, begin to say ‘Thank You for Saving ME!!’  They will begin to experience the peace of God which passes understanding! They will experience the joy of their salvation!  They will stop ‘asking’ and continually ‘thank’ him for providing a way, for paying the price!

This feels very foreign at first.  Bold.  Even, presumptuous.  But, speaking the Truth builds faith and soon we begin to live in glorious gratitude that we don’t have to ‘ask’ anymore.  Such freedom!

We do not ‘ask’ Jesus to die on the cross again for our sin when we come to faith in him.  The necessary steps have already been taken.  “It is finished”.  We do not ‘ask’ him to decide if he wants to save us, because it is clear from the Word that “it is God’s will that all should be saved” and that he will never turn away any that come to him.  I believe we need to consciously STOP asking him to do what he has already done, and begin thanking him for doing it.

OK... got it??  Let’s move on...

I believe that these same things are true of every aspect of our salvation, including power over sin, freedom from our old identity, the Truth of our new identity in Christ, our emotional healing, and also our physical healing.

IF.... we believe what I wrote in my last posting... More importantly, what God wrote in his word, THEN... “By his stripes we are healed.”  I believe we need to speak this truth over our own lives and the lives of those we love.

Our minds will need to be convinced of this in the same way it was convinced of the former.  We will need to study and learn the (actual... as opposed to perceived) word of God about this subject and then begin to take captive every thought and MAKE it obedient to the knowledge of Christ.  Then we will need to speak this Truth over our lives.  Audibly, inaudibly, I don’t know that it matters... I don’t think it does... what matters is that your heart ‘hears’ and believes the Truth.  As we do this we can begin to start using the word ‘thank you,’ even before we begin to see physical evidence because we know and are convinced that the necessary steps have already been taken.  The event occurred “in the courthouse, with a cat-o-nine-tails.”  We can thank him that physical healing is included in our salvation, and as such, given freely to all who receive.  Because the event occurred, we can know that God does not sit up in heaven and decide on a case by case basis if he will or will not heal.  Jesus already bore our weaknesses.  By his stripes we are healed!

This will feel foreign at first.  Bold.  Even, presumptuous. 

As a side note... I believe there are those who begin to say ‘thank you’ because someone told them to, prior to their hearts being convinced of the word of God, before being convinced of the event of the courthouse.  I think that ground is shaky, because faith needs to be grounded in Truth. Be convinced first...ask the Spirit of Christ to teach you... then take those first shaky steps.

We do not ‘ask’ Jesus to stand at the whipping post again for our healing.  The necessary steps have already been accomplished.  “It is finished”. ... You get the point...  I believe we need to consciously STOP asking him to do what he has already done, and begin thanking him for doing it.

This is very bold.  I realize that.  But, people are hurting.  They’re dying.  IF this is the Truth, then it NEEDS to be heard, even at the risk of offending.  You should know that after my ‘preach’ in my church, there were several who told me that I was dead wrong, that I had crossed the line, preached heresy, that what I spoke was not the Truth, that I had been abusive, offensive, and hurtful.  I still stand by what I said.  I stand by this.  In no way was it, nor is it my intention to offend, abuse, or hurt anyone.  I feel compelled to speak the Truth, come what may.  I know many that have been deeply offended by the message of salvation by grace when they first heard it.  They denied it, argued it, fought against it, and are now eternally grateful that someone took the time to share what they believed.  There are many who are offended by the thought that we need to be saved at all... ... Offence is not evidence of untruth...  I wish I had more courage to share this with more people, face to face.  It is substantially easier to hide here behind my computer screen. I am ashamed of that.

This is so long... but I still have more to say... 

I preached this in my church on May.06.12

I want share with you something that I’ve been learning, and trying to wrap my head around, trying to ‘apply’ to different situations in my life.  There is something that I’ve believed all my life, that I will never be able to think about in the same way again.  There is something that, though it was wonderful to start with, is now, even more wonderful!  There are phrases that I’ve used, in my Christian ‘lingo’... that I’m struggling to use now, because they fail to represent the whole of what I now believe.  There are deep and profound traditions that hold so much more meaning to me now, than they have in the past.

I’ve been feeling like God wants me to share this for some time now, but, the Good Friday service really kind of clinched it for me.  It was such a good service.  We had this, sort of, drama... monologue thing, where all sorts of different characters from the Bible, who’d had personal interaction with Jesus, told their stories.  They all started with the same phrase.  Words they had heard Jesus say just before he died on the cross.  “It is finished.”  None of them knew what it meant... why he said it.  In the end, they just kind of left the question hanging...  What was finished? 

I`m going to try to explain what I`ve learned, am learning.  I`ll start by reading a few parts of the “Easter Story”  Three separate ‘events’ that occurred in the biography of Jesus Christ.  I want you to imagine three different locations as we read.

Mark 14:32-42 – Gethsemane

 

32 They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray." 33 He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34 "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," he said to them."Stay here and keep watch." 35 Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 36 "Abba", Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." 37 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Simon," he said to Peter, "are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? 38 Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." 39 Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. 40 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him. 41 Returning the third time, he said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.42 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!"

Matthew 27:22 – 31 – the Courthouse

 22 "What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?" Pilate asked. They all answered, "Crucify him!" 23 "Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!" 24 When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man's blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!"25 All the people answered, "Let his blood be on us and on our children!" 26 Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.27 Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!" they said. 30 They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. 31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

John 19:1-16

John 19:28-30 – the Cross
28 Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." 29 A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips. 30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. 

I`ve had the amazing privilege of being born into a loving Christian family.  I have known about Jesus as long as I`ve been alive.  I accepted Jesus into my ‘heart’ when I was just five years old.  I knew nothing of sin, or death, or the cross, or the blood.  I knew only that Jesus loved me, and wanted to live ‘inside’ me in some mysterious way that made me feel safe, and loved, and precious.  Since then, there have been milestones, insights, revelations, things that I learned that opened my heart more and more to his love and his grace.

 I had the privilege of being raised in a home that taught and modeled grace.  I never ‘struggled’ to ‘live under the law’ as so many have, because I lived under grace my whole life.  That said, I remember very clearly the day that I realized that I was a ‘sinner’!  And that Jesus died a horrible death for my sin.  Since that day I have lived in gratitude that Jesus took my sin, on the cross, and that his blood, his life, was an acceptable sacrifice making me holy and blameless in the sight of God.... A crazy exchange, a profound mystery!

I have had the privilege of always being in churches that valued and taught about the ‘cross of Christ’, the death of Christ, the blood of Christ, the acceptable sacrifice.  In this atmosphere, when I think back on it,  pretty much all of the teaching I’ve had has been centralized on the ‘cross’.  Everything of value occurred ‘on’ the cross.  I grew up believing that ‘one’ event, solved ‘one’ problem... if you know what I mean.  Death ‘on the cross’ paid for my sin.

 

Here’s the thing I’ve been learning....:   Here`s my question, looking back on what I’ve been taught:  If everything of value occurred on the cross,...did anything of value occur... in Gethsemane?  Whatif... They had arrested Jesus in the dining room at the last supper, and taken him straight to the courthouse?  What would change?  Ummm... yes... God the Son surrendered his will to God the Father and paved the way for the death on the cross, which saved me from my sin.  Ummm.... anything else?  

Did anything of value occur, say... in the holding cells of the courthouse?? 

The thing I’ve come to see, to believe, the thing that’s changed for me....   Is that I believe each of these ‘locations’ have a profound value, that, were we to truly understand them, would radically transform our lives!  Each of these ‘locations’  are loaded to the brim with ‘Good News’!!  I’ll try to explain:

These verses really grabbed my attention a while back:

 Psalm 103:1-5

1 Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 2 Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-- 3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, 5 who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

All his benefits.... Wait... All?? Plural?? More than one?  Forgives ALL... Heals ALL... redeems... crowns... satisfies... renews....  ALL one sentence... no breaks... no changing of subjects,  no context issues... All one sentence... All his benefits.  I’ve come to believe that sin is not our ONLY problem.  We have more than ‘one’ problem.  And that Jesus, has ‘done’ something.. to fix them all.  I see here that sin... is a problem. Disease... sickness....unwellness... are also a problem.  Depression, anxiety, fear, sorrow, emotional pain... is a problem.  And there is an answer to it.  There is Good News for all these things.  There was a heavy, heavy cost, paid in full by our Lord Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 53

1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. 

He...took up our infirmities... carried our sorrows... was pierced for our transgressions... crushed for our iniquities... by his wounds we are healed. 

More than ‘one problem’, more than one solution... All his benefits... Most of the teaching I’ve received, (and I suspect that you’re in this with me) has only just scratched the surface of what Jesus meant when he said ‘It is finished.’  Whatif... it’s even better than we thought?  Whatif... there’s even more to this wonderful salvation than we’ve heard about?  I’m hoping that, after this, whenever we come to communion together, whenever we think about Easter, whenever we hear the phrase ‘at the cross’... we’ll think differently about it.

Here’s what I believe.  I believe that when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, something of profound value was accomplished for me. Jesus surrendered his will to the father, which has enormous benefit to me, but, I believe there’s more.  I believe that ‘surely he has borne my sorrows.’  Jesus declares that he was ‘overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.’  To the point of death. He sweat drops of blood.  Did you know there was blood shed there?  Angels had to come minister to him when it was done.  Enter into the story here.  Imagine, the ‘sorrow’ of all the earth, from the beginning to the end, laid onto one man at one time.  All the mothers tears...from all eternity.  All the heart wounds.  All the betrayals.  All the ‘nobody sees me’s.’  All the harsh words spoken to us.  All the name calling and labeling we grew up with. All the wrongs done TO us.  How often do we feel that we cannot bear our own sorrows because they are too heart wrenching, too devastating, too overwhelming.  Take some time in the next little while to imagine Jesus bearing our sorrows.  Bearing the sorrows of the world.  To the point of death.  Really think about this...

When we talk about having our sins forgiven, we talk about being free of guilt and shame, and what a huge relief it is to release that guilt and shame to him.  We talk of the weight that is lifted.  We rejoice in it.  We encourage others, when they say they feel so guilty, to lay it at the cross, to be free!  We know we can do this, because we know that he paid for our sins on the cross.

Now imagine.... if we could lay our sorrows in the Garden, in the drops of blood there, at the feet of Jesus.  Imagine if we didn’t have to carry our sorrows anymore... If the things that overwhelm us could no longer be part of our identity.  If the wrongs done TO us... could be left behind...  Think about that for a while.  Would it be wonderful?   Would you have to give your head a shake a few times to remember the truth?  Would you have to try to figure out a ‘new’ identity for yourself?  We hang onto our hurts pretty hard sometimes.  Would it be hard to let them go?  If he has already borne them on our behalf... do we really have the right to ‘bear’ them ourselves?  Big questions... Big significance... Big transformation if we can grab this and run with it...  Big freedom!  What does this even look like??

I believe that sorrow is a problem.  I believe that Jesus solved it, took it, carried it, in the Garden.

Here’s a little aside:  Do you know what Jesus actually died of?  I mentioned..., and the Bible mentions ‘to the point of death’ for a reason.  What did he actually die of?  Did the Jews... the Romans kill him on the cross? 

John 10:17-18  Jesus says,  “I lay down my life – only to take it up again.  No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.  I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.”

He ‘lay down’ his life.  He ‘gave up his spirit’ and breathed his last.  This is significant... because on the cross... he was ‘at the point of death’... but so was he ‘at the point of death’ in the Garden.  He gave up his spirit on the cross because then it was ‘finished’.  Everything he intended to do, was done.  He did not give up his spirit in Gethsemane, even though he was at ‘the point of death’ because there was still more to do...  Interesting??  I missed the significance of this most of my life.

                                                                                                                          

Next thing:   Next ‘location’:  Next ‘event’...:  What about the holding cell?  What about having him flogged?  Such a short little throw away line for such a horribly violent event.  You’ve heard the stories of blood and gore.  You’ve heard that many, many didn’t survive a flogging.  Besides that he was beaten, bruised, punched, slapped, spat on... you can imagine what all else.  We’ve seen the movies...

What of value, occurred there??  Have you thought about this?  If my sins were paid for on the cross... and they were... Then what was the point of being flogged?  Being beaten?  Was it simply a demonstration of Roman brutality?  Was that God’s point?  To show what a nasty bunch the Romans were?  What value is there in that for me? 

In my past, this little segment of brutality has been used, ironically,  as a whip, a club, an attempt to make me feel guilty.  Jesus went through all of this for you and you can’t even do a), b), and c) for him??  What a worthless piece of... whatever... you are... You ungrateful little... blah, blah, blah... Do you think that was the intent?  Is guilt... the fruit that God intended when he orchestrated this little segment of the story?  I hope not!?  Is this part of the story important?  Significant? 

So...?  WHY DID IT HAPPEN?  Think about it a different way.  What would change if it hadn’t happened?  Would your life be any different if this had never happened?  Would your sins still be forgiven?  Umm... Yes they would!  So....??  What do we make of this?  What does the Bible say?   “By his stripes we are healed.”  I’ll say it again... Because by his stripes we are healed.  We have so much uncertainty in our lives about healing.  We’ve had so little teaching about healing.  While we know for sure, based on scripture, that God can and has the power to heal, we are very uncertain about whether he will. 

Whatif... this very same uncertainty was applied to forgiveness of sin?   We know he can forgive, he’s done it before... We’re not sure if he will... if he wants to...   We’ve lived there, haven’t we?  Unsure? “He wants to forgive Me?  Really?  Does he know what I’ve done??  He’ll forgive good people, that try hard... but, not me...?”  How would we answer them now?  We would say, “Of course he will forgive you!  He DIED ON THE CROSS for your sin!  HE ALREADY PAID FOR IT!”  We would point to ‘the cross’!  We would say ‘the Bible says...”  and attempt to lay these questions to rest!  And we would be right!  This is the Good News!  That Jesus Christ layed down his life for us!

Whatif... we could apply this same confidence to ‘By his stripes we are healed’?  Whatif... we could point to an event that says HE WAS FLOGGED FOR YOUR HEALING??  HE ALREADY PAID FOR IT!  We know where it happened, we know when it happened, we know why it happened. We could point to the whipping post...  We could say “The Bible says....!!”  Whatif... it’s really true that “He forgave ALL our sins, healed ALL our diseases, redeemed our lives from the pit, and crowned us with love and compassion so that our youth is renewed like the eagles??”

Here’s what I believe.  I believe that this was a significant event that holds enormous value to each and every one of us.  I believe that ‘by his stripes we are healed’.  I believe that we need to take the phrase ‘if it be thy will’ out of our vocabulary in regard to physical healing.  Isaiah says “it was God’s WILL to crush him.”  I believe we can stand with the same assurance on the ‘event’ of his stripes, as we can on the event of his cross, as on the event of his sorrow. 

Here’s what I don’t know:  I don’t know how to ‘flesh it out’... I don’t know how to walk in it.  But I know that I know that I know that I can’t argue against it.  It happened.  It’s done.  Do we have questions, doubts??  Of course!  We’ve had questions at every step of this journey we’ve been on... have we not?  We’ve doubted the truth of God’s word at every turn if we’re being honest.  We wonder if he loves us, even though the Bible clearly says that he does.  We wrestle with it.  We believe it, don’t believe it, believe it, don’t believe it...  We wonder if he sees us... We wonder if he’s really forgiven us... We wonder if we’ve strayed too far.....  We wonder if he even exists sometimes...  But “faith comes by hearing, and hearing, by the word of God.” (Rom.10:17) So let’s take our questions to the Word of God.  Let’s learn about it.  Let’s ‘Ask’, ‘Seek,’ & ‘Knock.’ “For everyone who asks, receives, and anyone who seeks, finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”(Matt.7:8)   And if we ‘lack wisdom, let us ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault.’  (James 1:5)

What would change in our lives if we BELIEVED that our healing has  ALREADY BEEN PURCHASED FOR US by an event in history, by the brutality of a cat’o’nine-tails, by the WILL of God.  How many people in our lives would benefit if they knew this to be true?  We talk about the nails... Can we talk about the whip?

I believe that sickness and disease is a problem.  I believe that Jesus solved it, paid for it, at the court house.  Please give it some thought.  Pray it through. 

Moving on...   I’m sure that after being flogged, and beaten, and whatever all else... he must have been ‘to the point of death’ there as well.  Although it doesn’t say so in the Bible, he must have been.  But he didn’t ‘give up his spirit’ there either... because there was still one more thing to do.  He had to be nailed to the cross for our sin.  He had to be lifted up.  He had to pour out his life.  He had to be pierced for our transgressions.  He had to fulfill scripture.  There had to be a sacrifice, because, “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” (Heb.9:22)  Then, when everything was accomplished, he said “It is finished” and he gave up his spirit.  What was finished?? 

He had borne our sorrows, in the Garden... he had healed our bodies with his stripes, in the holding cell at the courthouse... he had taken our sin and our shame on the cross.  He had done it all.  He had forgiven ALL our sins, healed ALL our diseases, redeemed our lives from the pit, and crowned us with love and compassion....  ALL HIS BENEFITS... FORGET NOT!!  Bless the Lord O My Soul.

So,  now, whenever I come to communion... whenever I think about ‘the cross’... I think about these three locations... these three ‘events’... these three benefits.  I can’t think about it as a single event anymore.  Even the very act of communion... involves more than one element... the bread AND the wine, the BODY broken & the BLOOD shed.  More than one thing....

1Corinthians 11:23-30

 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. 

1Peter 2:24

 “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness: by his wounds you have been healed.”