The Joyful King of Riffraff

Blog »    The Joyful King of Riffraff 

Monday, December 16, 2013   Jeff Lampl

Today’s blog comes from the Shepherd’s Nook by John Frye  

When Princess of Wales, Diana, gave birth to Prince Henry Charles Albert David (“Harry”), it is reported that a town crier, dressed in bright costume and plumes, rang a huge bell and declared, “Her Royal Highness the Princess Diana has issued forth a second son.” Outside St. Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, London, over 300 news reporters and photographers jockeyed to get a scoop. There were two 41-gun military salutes. A child, third in line for the royal throne, was born. Little “Harry” made international news.

Hidden in the shadows of a stable-cave, Mary the mother of Jesus, gave birth in the less than sterile confines for livestock. No paparazzi. No reporters. No headlines in the Bethlehem Gazette. Jesus did, however, have something more impressive than a decked-out town crier. An army of singing angels announced Jesus’ birth. They did not sing to Herod or to Caiaphas or to Pilate. Not even to Nicodemus. The angels sang and spoke to a few powerless shepherds who were considered in that day to be like pick-pockets, con-artists and liars. The angels said, “Go, find Jesus. He is a deliverer for you.” Shepherds were not classy or spiffy. Shepherds were basic; basic humanity. Shepherds were people in the raw. They probably talked about and cursed kings, particularly Herod. They would never dream of being invited into the royal court. The angels urged, “Go, find your king.” We have to trust the word of the shepherds about the angels. And, oh, by the way, the word of shepherds was not valid in court in 1^st century Judaism.

A few years later a posse of pagan astrologers (magi) visits Mary, Joseph and Jesus. A starry phenomenon captured their attention. They followed a star for miles in order to find Jesus. They asked around Judea where to find him. As a matter of fact, they asked right in King Herod’s palace halls, “Where is the one who is born king of the Jews”? When they found Jesus, they worshiped him, giving him valuable gifts.

With visitors like these—no count shepherds and rich pagans—who needs enemies?

Amy, a friend of mine, shared a saying: “An expectation is a premeditated resentment.” What is God doing consorting with rural riffraff and Zodiac worshipers? The new Jewish king, surrounded by shepherds and pagans, seems to contaminate his court, to pollute his royalty. Yet, what if . . . just what if this new little king is happy to be the king of riffraff and be graciously open to pagan outsiders? What if this thoroughly Jewish king, with the blood of David in his veins (and Tamar’s, Rahab’s, Ruth’s), is, in fact, king of the www—whole wide world?

What is God doing? God is rearranging our expectations in order to protect us from resentment. As in last week’s post, I will close urging all us to let Jesus be the LORD of our expectations. If not, we might get caught saying, “He saved others, but he can’t save himself! He’s the King of Israel! Let him come down from the cross and we will believe in him.”

The riffraff line starts behind me. Come, worship our King!

 

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Mary knew her Bible

Blog »    Mary knew her Bible  

Friday, December 13, 2013   Jeff Lampl 

 Mary spoke Aramaic, which was a language with a strong poetic tradition. Her society valued the oral transmission of tradition, ideas, stories and news. Being able to talk well was a valued skill in the ancient world.   She would have known the Jewish Scriptures, especially the stories and prayers in them.  She would have also been aware of the strong women in these stories such as story of Hanna and her son Samuel.  And she would probably have known these stories by heart.  

Luke records Mary’s having sung a song glorifying God (the “Magnificat”, “my soul magnifies”,  often sung in traditional services) in chapter 1 verses 46- 55.  Your study bible will probably list them for you. They speak of the lowly being exalted, and the humble being honored.   It’s a song that subverts all pride of the power structures of the world, and elevates God’s reach into the lowest rungs of society.  

Just as one who works in a factory and operates a machine knows exactly how to push the buttons and what to do next, May knew her her bible, her history, her God, and how live within in the great story that her God was weaving.  When it came time for her to live out her calling in unique way she was perhaps as prepared as any teenager could have been.  

Take a moment to read Mary’s song and notice how well she understood exactly how well she was able to place the task ahead of her into the story told in the Hebrew scriptures in which she was immersed from childhood.  

“My soul glorifies the Lord
               and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
 for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
                      for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
                holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him,
                from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
                has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
                but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
                but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
                remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
                just as he promised our ancestors.”  Luke 1:46-55 (NIV2011) 

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Do you actually believe all those Christmas Miracles?

    Blog »  Do you actually believe all those Christmas Miracles?  

Wednesday, December 11, 2013   Jeff Lampl 

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen not only because I see it
but because by it I see everything else."  

The following blog is from one of the many C.S. Lewis “Insituites” around the world.  It might be a little bit hard for some readers, but it is well worth the read for those who want to think through how the Christian Story is both reasonable and believable in a very, very skeptical age.  Jeff  

This famous quote by C.S. Lewis comes from a paper given to The Oxford Socratic Club entitled, Is Theology Poetry? Lewis sets out to answer the question, "Is the imagination of followers of Jesus so aroused and satisfied by the poetry of the Gospel message that they have mistaken intellectual assent for mere aesthetic enjoyment? In other words, has the romantic attraction of the story of Jesus trumped the place of reason in coming to faith?  

Lewis writes,

I was taught at school, when I had done a sum, to "prove my answer". The proof or verification of my Christian answer to the cosmic sum is this. When I accept Theology I may find difficulties, at this point or that, in harmonizing it with some particular truths which are imbedded in the mythical cosmology derived from science. But I can get in, or allow for, science as a whole. Granted that Reason is prior to matter and that the light of the primal Reason illuminates finite minds, I can understand how men should come by observation and inference, to know a lot about the universe they live in. If, on the other hand, I swallow the scientific cosmology as a whole, then not only can I not fit in Christianity, but I cannot even fit in science. If minds are wholly dependent on brains, and brains on bio-chemistry, and bio-chemistry (in the long run) on the meaningless flux of the atoms, I cannot understand how the thought of those minds should have any more significance than the sound of the wind in the trees. And this is to me the final test. This is how I distinguish dreaming and waking. When I am awake I can, in some degree, account for and study my dream. The dragon that pursued me last night can be fitted into my waking world. I know that there are such things as dreams: I know that I had eaten an indigestible dinner: I know that a man of my reading might be expected to dream of dragons. But while in the night mare I could not have fitted in my waking experience. The waking world is judged more real because it can thus contain the dreaming world: the dreaming world is judged less real because it cannot contain the waking one. For the same reason I am certain that in passing from the scientific point of view to the theological, I have passed from dream to waking. Christian theology can fit in science, art, morality, and the sub-Christian religions. The scientific point of view cannot fit in any of these things, not even science itself. I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen not only because I see it but because by it I see everything else.  

This Christmas season, know that while the Nativity story of the birth of Christ is poetic, beautiful and powerful, that it is also true and took place in the midst of real time and history. Once we come to know Jesus as the actual Lord and Savior of this world, then everything else begins to make more sense.  

"Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?"
Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."
JOHN 6:28-29 (NIV)

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Why didn't Joseph resist?

Blog »   Why didn't Joseph resist?  

Monday, December 9, 2013   Jeff Lampl

 “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was
governor of Syria.)  And everyone went to his own town to register”      Luke 2:1-3 (NIV)

When Caesar Augustus called for a census, Joseph dropped the work that he was doing and took his family to Bethlehem to be registered.   “Registration” was a compiling of information which later could be used by the oppressing Roman empire for the purposes of taxing its subjects.  

But to take that step of obedience was not easy.   In Joseph’s day, the Romans controlled the country of Israel and sometimes did so brutally.  Many Jews resented the idea of Roman control, and therefore the idea of a census. Some would simply ignore the law, but others, the zealots, strategized to resist with violence.  

The Jewish historian Josephus tells how the Zealots (political extremists) made life hard for the people who did go to their hometowns and register.   The Zealots often plundered their property and drove away their cattle and set fire to their houses while they were gone.  

Yet, Joseph submitted to Caesar and went.  He simply obeyed the law.  Shouldn’t he have stood up for and with his people against injustice?    Perhaps he looked weak to his friends, co-workers, and family.  One might think that His encounter with Gabriel would have made him bold enough to resist, concluding that God was on his side.   But he went to Bethlehem and registered.  He played the good citizen.   

Apparently Joseph had the idea that civil disobedience violence were not called for.  Could it be that he had remembered Zechariah’s plea, “not by power nor by might but by my Spirit says the Lord” (Zech 4:6).  It occurs to me that one could say, “like father like Son”.   I find it really hard to picture Jesus sanctioning rebellion, violence and war.

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YouVersion for Kids (and Adults)

Blog »   YouVersion for Kids (and Adults)  

Friday, December 6, 2013   Jeff Lampl 

“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”       
                                                       2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NLT)  

The above picture is from the brand new YouVersion Bible app for Kids.   I think it’s great.   It’s free.  I got it on my iphone on Thanksgiving Day, the first day it came available.   I then tested it on my six year old grandson and he loved it.   YouVersion for adults or for kids is great Christmas Gift!  

When our children were young, one of the things I did (which all parents do) was to help them with homework.   In doing so I read history books for pre teens and early teens and I learned so much, unfortunately because I didn’t learn all that I should have when I was that age in school.  

Sometimes it works that way when reading a children’s Bible to your kids.   You’ll get the big picture and (re)learn the great story of the Bible!    

Check out all the great reading plans below!  

Try an Advent Bible Plan this Season
During the Christmas season, so much can pull us away from the significance of what we’re celebrating—the gift of Immanuel, “God with us.” Advent, spanning the four weeks before Christmas, brings us the opportunity to redirect our focus. YouVersion offers several Bible Plans to help Jesus’ birth become a point of your daily reflection. And this year, we have 20 plans—more than ever before. Find the plan that’s just right for you—or try one with your family!  

• Rediscovering the Christmas Season offers a non-traditional twist on Advent, with reflection questions and action steps that help individuals, families, and small groups center each day on Christ. From LifeChurch.tv. 25 days
• The Christmas Story chronicles the humble beginnings of the Savior that the world had been waiting for.  From YouVersion.  7 days

• Good News of Great Joy helps you adore Jesus throughout Advent, with short daily passages directed toward feeding your joy in God. From John Piper and Desiring God. 25 days

• Our Daily Bread Christmas Edition features daily devotionals specifically selected to help you find encouragement, comfort, and true joy through God's love for you. From Our Daily Bread. 10 days

• The Songs of Christmas highlights Christmas song devotionals from popular Christian artists like Mandisa, TobyMac, Amy Grant, Colton Dixon, Kari Jobe, and Hillsong. From Capitol Christian Music Group. 14 days

• 12 Days of Christmas with The Overflow brings you stories about Jesus’ birth through Christmas songs, presented by such artists as Sidewalk Prophets, James Fortune, Jason Castro, and Building 429. From The Overflow. 12 days
• You can find even more Christmas and Advent plans on YouVersion!

The Free Bible Experience Just for Kids

Have you heard? The Bible App for Kids is available now! Packed with delightful stories and interactive animation, this completely free Bible experience will help your kids fall in love with God’s Word. Find out more, download it for free, and learn how you can share it with others, all at bible.com/kids!

The holidays offer us unique opportunities to share our faith with friends, family, and others. And the Bible App makes it so easy! This season, watch for chances to share your faith simply by showing your Bible App:

• When someone receives a new mobile device as a gift
• As you attend Christmas services
• When you read the Christmas story with your family

Best of all, it’s quick and easy to help others get their own Bible App—no matter what kind of mobile device they have. Tell them they can just go to www.bible.com/app—or even better, install it for them!

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What Good are the Genealogies?

Blog »   What Good are the Genealogies?

Thursday, December 5, 2013   Jeff Lampl

Actually the above graph doesn’t jive with scripture.  Luke 1:23 reads,  “Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph, the son of Heli”  which means it’s a stretch at best to claim the Luke gives the ancestry of Mary. Furthermore, the genealogies of Matthew and Luke differ between David and Jesus.  So what gives?  

Matthew is emphasizing that Jesus belongs to the “House of David”.   Hebrew letters and numbers use the same symbols and the three consonants of the name David add up to 14.  Therefore Matthew selectively chooses ancestors in three groups of 14, making each grouping add up to “David”.   He also includes four women who were married to gentiles.   The point?   Jesus has come as King (as promised from the lineage of David), but not only of the Jews but also of the world.   

Luke begins with Jesus and ends with Adam (Matthew had begun with Abraham) followed by “the Son of God”.  Having placed his genealogy between Jesus’ baptism and temptation, Luke is emphasizing Jesus’ deity as Son of God (Luke 3:22, 38, 4:3).  Luke’s list is more complete and includes many people we’ve never heard of.   This plus his taking the ancestry all the way back to Adam gives Jesus’ genealogy a universal thrust, emphasizing that Jesus came for all of humankind.  

These genealogies are not simply a list of names assembled by a family historian.   They are generations of lives lived, some well, some poorly, all imperfectly.   Yet out of it all, Jews, gentiles, sinners, royalty, women, immorality, heroism, and all the messiness of humanity comes the raw material for God’s arrival on earth.    

God  requires neither dignity nor purity in order for Him to come to any of us.   He just comes and says, “I’m here, I’m with you, I Iove you.   Now trust me. Let me forgive your sin.  Let me give you a fresh start.   The meaning of trust is obedience.   Obey me and live the Good Life that I’ve come to offer you”.  

 

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Messy Bible, Clean Lives

   Blog »    Messy Bible, Clean Lives  

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Here’s another “spot on” blog from John Frye at the Shepherd’s Nook.   Do his words strike a cord with you?   Do you find the Bible boring?  Has familiarity led to unfamiliarity?  Hope you read this and live with his words today.   Jeff  

Readers of the Bible discover very soon that the Bible is a messy book. Chocked full of stories—some familiar and others quite odd, and poetry about all kinds of subjects: speech, sex, enemies, searing pain and God, and enigmatic apocalyptic images with fire-breathing dragons and tattoos on the thigh of Son of God, the Bible distances itself from our tidy morning devotionals and crisp, clean “principles” to support a comfortable American life.  

We don’t like mess, so many have pursued the self-appointed task of cleaning up the Bible. We do like to categorize stuff. We come to the Bible as if we’re separating the pieces of a jig-saw puzzle according to color. We end up with piles of verses here and there—these are about Jesus, these the church, these salvation, these angels and demons—leaving us no clue about the “big picture” the pieces are supposed to offer. Just last night I heard N. T. Wright speak at Mars Hill Bible Church about the Bible’s big picture—the mission of God. Yet, we like our little piles of verses here and there because we can ignore the picture they show us of God, of sin, of our self-absorbed selves. Sadly, we also miss the variegated colors of operative grace, cosmic redemption and Jesus’ wildly radical life in the picture.  

The Jesus most of us know is a narrow theological and safe Idea whose most important, if not only role is “to get us to heaven when we die.” All his spitting and making mud, all his fierce rebellion from Jewish custom, his last name “Christ,” all his down-home stories for the very common people–these things for many are very marginal, even meaningless to his supreme ability to get folks to glory at death or, for some, the rapture.  

In the meantime, we die of the commercialization of everything we say, do and have, even the Christian faith. We hunger for the Midas touch; we flee the Messiah’s touch. We die while standing against abortion and same-sex marriage. We die of suffocating entertainment. Most of our TV commercials are sexless pornography. We die of every diversion possible from encountering the fear-provoking God of our very messy Bible and the call of the wild-eyed Son of God. We get busy, tidying up God and the Bible so we can maintain our tidy, mediocre lives, all the while throwing away tons of food while thousands die of starvation and lack of clean water.  

Seeing Jesus, exalted with fire-shooting eyes, no longer causes us to fall down as dead like John on Patmos did. Not us, no. We merely yawn from boredom. X-box is so much more entertaining.  

There is hope. A host of new Jesus-followers are discovering that the messy Bible synchronizes with and gives meaning to our messy lives. Even some of the “giants” of the faith lived messy lives: Abraham and Sarah, Jacob, Moses, David. Yes, Peter and Paul were flawed. God likes mess and where God finds sterile cleanness, God most likely will make it a mess. Jesus would rather be in the brawl of arguing parents at the pee-wee T-ball game than in the cushioned pews of the immaculate church populated by “good” people. Ken Medema sang, "the kingdom comes in the streets.” Jesus mostly walked the messy streets of villages and towns showing us that the kingdom of God resides in and transforms mess. Can I get a witness?

 

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