You are "so that" I can....

As a Christian, I am supposed to live a life above reproach. I am suppose to be a person of good character and dignity. My Christian doctrinal teachings, like all other major world religions, tell me to strive to be a good person and live and good life. But why is it important and how is the Christian perspective any different than all the other ones? Well, most of the major religions of the world will tell you to live your life well so that you may gain merit and reward. In Hinduism, you can "move up the ladder" each time you are reborn into the life cycle. Buddhism teaches of respecting one another so that you can achieve the highest Enlightenment (separation of your soul from the physic al, suffering world). In both Islam and Judaism, the reward for living a righteous life is entrance to heaven. It is Christianity and Christianity alone that speaks of a completely unique doctrine. We are saved through grace, and not by our merits. Therefore, we are to live a righteous life, not in an effort to gain an eternal reward, but so that we might be an example of how grace can transform the life of even the most undeserving among us.

I think the entire message of the gospel of Jesus as the Messiah is presented with a "so that" banner. Jesus first loved us so that we might show his glory by loving others. I think the biggest miracle and testimony to Jesus' resurrection is the fact that his first followers lived out a "so that" lifestyle. In fact, the development of a new worldview and new faith is the single hardest evidence for historians and scholars to deny when looking at the resurrection story. From publicly spoken records citing eyewitnessed accounts during the life of the same individuals to a complete lack of belief in bodily resurrections in any of the existing worldviews to claiming a woman as the "first" resurrection witness when women could not even testimony in court to the sheer endurance and determination of first Christians through unbelievabe torment and persecution. They continued. Jesus showed himself to them so that they may show him to everyone.

I have told some people about how this past year, more than any other year of my life, I have experienced what I call a "love journey". God has allowed me to dive deep into the meaning of what love really means and how it looks to live out love in a real and unselfish way. It has been an incredible journey for me. But this journey through love has been coupled with the biggest and hardest financial suffering I've ever experienced.

I proposed to me girlfriend last March and then graduated in May school with a degree in the area of audio/video. Since I was working at school through a Federal Workstudy program, I lost my job upon graduation. Shortly after that I realized that not only would it be hard to find a job in my specialized field but due to the state of the American economy it would be a journey finding work period.

The summer, fall and winter has passed and I have find no sustaining source of income. In addition, my finance (only current breadwinner) is a server in an economy where people eat out less and when they do they tip less. Some people may think we are ridiculous for trying to plan a wedding with a single dwindling income.

I can tell you the stress has been significant. There have been so many things (deposits, dresses, plane tickets, suits, regular bills, rent, food, so much more) that we have had no idea how they were going to get paid and no idea what to do about it. However, one by one each thing has been lifted off our shoulders. One by one the burdens we can barely hold up are met by unexpected means. This wedding will not only be a beautiful day for me and my bride but it will be a testimony to how God loves us and will always take care of us.

Why do we have hard times? Why are we to rise above them and build a life of character and moral integrity? So that we may be the example of Jesus and his love for all of us.

Who I Say I Am.....

I was just thinking about how much who we say we are doesn't add up often with who our actions say we are. We live in a society where it is okay to say one thing and do/mean another thing as long as it helps you reach your goal in the end.

Marriage doesn't mean much anymore. People laugh at religion. No one trusts a politician.

I can't help but think about how often I say one thing and do another. Everyday. My intentions may be good and I may mean what I say but if I don't back it up with an action that agrees with my words then they mean nothing at all. Have my words become meaningless? Does my "yes" mean yes and my "no" mean no? I'm not so sure.

The only thing I know to do when confronted with such brutal truths about myself is what I always do. I look at Jesus. And like every other time, I find the encouragement I am looking for.

Jesus was teaching and preaching all over the area. Many people started following him and he was getting very popular. Some started saying he might even be the one who would save the Jewish people. He might be the Messiah they were looking for. John was another local prophet. He had been teaching and preaching to the masses before Jesus came on the scene.

John was very much in line with a long list of prophet the Jews had already had. He walked the walk. Talked the talk. And lived, generally, like all the prophets before him. Jesus was a different. He didn't exactly fit into the mold of what everyone thought a "Messiah" would be. So John sends some of his followers to Jesus to ask this question:

"Are you the ONE we have been expecting, or are we stilling waiting?"

Jesus' response is so great. He doesn't say anything. He just keeps on teaching and healing people and loving everyone there. Hours later he turns to John's crew and doesn't say "yes" and he does say "no". Instead, he simply says, "Go back and tell John what you have seen and heard".

I'll finish with a paragraph from the letter of the Apostle James:

"Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here's what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It's the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn't wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn't wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn't wisdom. It's the furthest thing from wisdom- it's animal cunning, devilish conniving. Whenever you're trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others' throats."

Matthew 14

I think it can be easy sometimes, especially for people who grew up in a church environment, to become a little calloused to stories we read in the Bible. Stories that you grow up hearing over and over again can sometimes lose their wonder. For me, it is always amazing to rediscover the splendor and awe of something you thought had burnt out long ago. In the Bible especially, it is easy to play down the glory of individual events (such as the miracles of Jesus) simply because we know the big picture and we did not have the honor of living in that moment, not knowing the end of the story. So it is in my times of reading about Jesus that I try most to reject my current mindset and put on the attitudes and thoughts of the first hearers of his words. That is when he really comes to life.....

I have read and heard (as have most people I know) about two certain miracles all my life. Everyone knows that Jesus walked on water. And almost everyone I know has heard the story of Jesus feeding five thousand people. Two amazing events by themselves, no doubt. But I think sometimes it is important to read around the stories to get a better understanding of what is really going on behind the scenes. You see, both stories take place in the same chapter, Matthew 14 and there is more to chapter 14. Now I know chapters and verses weren't added till much later, but nonetheless what precedes these two events is linked to them.

The scene is this, Jesus has been teaching throughout the countryside in and near his homebase. People have started to follow him and really take interest. Word of Jesus gets to the regional ruler, Herod, who has just executed Jesus' cousin John. This would have been a big deal for Jesus.

John was not only his cousin, but they were intimately tied together. They each has a miraculous birth and were raising with an expectation of greatness. John had preceded Jesus in his ministry. Before his death, John had been hailed as a prophet. But he was different than all the previous prophets. John spoke with a new message and a new hope. He was preaching that God's kingdom wouldn't be established sometime in the future, but that it was coming and they would see it present in their lifetime. John was there to pave the way for Jesus' ministry. If there was any human on earth that understand most who Jesus was and why he had chosen to come to earth, it was John. The disciples lived day in and day out with Jesus and they even struggled with who Jesus was and what he was trying to do. But John got it.

So it says that when Jesus got the news of John death, he tried to slip away. Jesus needed to mourn. So he leaves the crowds he had been teaching in and goes across the lake. But the people follow him. Jesus gets off the boat and sees all the people he had tried to break away from.

What would you do in that moment? Would you yell at the top of your lungs, "LEAVE ME ALONE!" Would you be gentle and try to explain to them your situation, "Please, I just need a day or two alone!" Or would you respond like Jesus did.

"When he saw them coming, he was overcome with pity and healed their sick."
-The Message

He loved them. Amazing. In a moment where Jesus was tired and burdened with grief to the breaking point, he still chooses to love those who are also tired and burdened. He heals people and helps them all the way up into the evening. Then he feds them. After dinner he lets the disciples get in the boat and go ahead of him. And he dismisses the crowd. It is only after healing and caring for everyone that he is able to be alone and release his grief.

That's the kind of man I want to be. Others, then me. I want to love those who can't find love for themselves. Why? Because he first loved me and I am no longer my own man. Jesus bought me with his love and I am forever his servant. My job is to show others that my master is faithful and he is good.

He is the love we have all been looking for.