Brian's got a Problem with the Bible (and so do most of us)

Blog »    Brian's got a Problem with the Bible
(and so do most of us) 

        Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Here’s Luke’s record of Jesus teaching the crowds but not on a hill.   It’s similar but different to Matthew’s record of Jesus’ “sermon on the mount”.     

          Looking at his disciples, he said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
 Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. "Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.
                 "But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.  Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.          Luke 6:20-26 (NIV)  

Now take a moment to read about Brian’s problem, which is also a problem most of us have.   His comments come from Scott McKnight’s blog site, Jesus Creed, and will help us to read the Bible a little bit differently and a little more accurately.

“I have a problem with the Bible. Here’s my problem…
I’m an ancient Egyptian. I’m a comfortable Babylonian. I’m a Roman in his villa.
That’s my problem. See, I’m trying to read the Bible for all it’s worth, but I’m not a Hebrew slave suffering in Egypt. I’m not a conquered Judean deported to Babylon. I’m not a first century Jew living under Roman occupation.
I’m a citizen of a superpower. I was born among the conquerors. I live in the empire. But I want to read the Bible and think it’s talking to me. This is a problem.
One of the most remarkable things about the Bible is that in it we find the narrative told from the perspective of the poor, the oppressed, the enslaved, the conquered, the occupied, the defeated. This is what makes it prophetic. We know that history is written by the winners. This is true — except in the case of the Bible it’s the opposite! This is the subversive genius of the Hebrew prophets. They wrote from a bottom-up perspective.
Imagine a history of colonial America written by Cherokee Indians and African slaves. That would be a different way of telling the story! And that’s what the Bible does. It’s the story of Egypt told by the slaves. The story of Babylon told by the exiles. The story of Rome told by the occupied. What about those brief moments when Israel appeared to be on top? In those cases the prophets told Israel’s story from the perspective of the peasant poor as a critique of the royal elite. Like when Amos denounced the wives of the Israelite aristocracy as “the fat cows of Bashan.”?

 

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Pastor Jeff's Vision for 2014

 

 

 

Dear CLC Family,  

Following is the Vision for CLC for 2014 that I presented at the CLC annual meeting yesterday, March 9, 2014.   It’s nothing new, but it’s real to me and I believe it reflects God’s heart for the world.  It is the outgrowth of the fundamental meaning of the cross and the resurrection.  I love how Mark portrayed CLC as Changing Lives with Christ.  I hope you take time to read it and consider its implications.
God is great, Jeff

1.   That each of us experience the deep, living, energizing, freeing, happy, extravagant Breath and Grace of God that keeps on giving and giving and giving and giving  and that each of us begins to taste that this Breath of God is better than life itself, that we are safe secure and full of overflowing life in God’s Good world. 

o    That in 2014 God gives each of us a hunger for more and more and more of God and that this hunger results in each of us taking control of what or who mentors us.

o    We are all mentored by something and someone.  We are all students, learners and disciples.  This isn’t negotiable.   We are mentored, taught, shaped and discicpled by TV, Hollywood, ideologies, our circle of friends, our prejudices, the ad industry, the internet, our culture, the academic world, and more.    My/our vision is that we grow as a church family and individually to the point where we feel increasing compelled by, to the point where we find ourselves succumbing to, the pull of the Spirit which draws us to be mentored by Jesus.  

o   So that each of us in the family find ourselves succumbing to the pull to read scripture, especially the Gospels.

o   That we succumb to the call of the Spirit to just stop and listen first and then to talk to him.

o   That we grow in the confidence that Jesus actually knows what he’s talking about and that confidence results in the scary risk of actually doing what he tells us to do.

o   That  for each of us God is just the greatest thing in the world and Jesus is greatest, most brilliant, most wise, most intelligent, most trustworthy person/Lord/Master in the World, and that we are happy to be one his followers, and that it is just normal for us to express that and it does get expressed because we’re so happy about God other’s notice God too. 

o   That it becomes the most natural thing in the world to explain to someone why God makes us happy.   I know nothing about refrigerators but I can explain why it makes me happy to have one.

o   That we are people of overflow.

o   And just like some say, “I listen to Dr. Phil or Dr. Oz or Oprah," that it would be as natural as that for us to say “I follow Jesus, he’s my mentor for doing life”.  

2.   That we become generous,  promiscuous,  indiscriminate Grace Givers:  that we not only breathe deeply the breath of God ourselves but that that we breathe the breath of God into our work places and homes and neighborhoods and community.  

o   That every one of us becomes like an enzyme that transforms lives and communities.  That we are like a good infection, infecting our worlds with the Kingdom of Heaven.

o   In a world that draws, sets and defends boundaries, where Christians even study a best selling book called Boundaries,  in a world that works to create insiders and outsiders, in an increasingly tribalized world, that we instead are a church that majors in removing the categories of insider and outsider.

o   That we are not satisfied to have a good church with good people.  God may bring us new problems with people because different kinds of people, people not like us,  keep coming to us and we keep going to them.

o   That God, starting with Sunday mornings, turns each of us into “just walk across the room” people,   people who, yes are drawn to their friends, but who just can’t walk past some individual or couple standing alone, who, while talking to friends can’t keep from noticing those people that no one else seems to be noticing.  

o   God’s spirit is just too compelling.   God turns us into serial “walkers across rooms”.   We simply cannot  escape our call to be doors through which others taste heaven touching earth.  

3.   That God turn every one of us into “Total Life Worshippers”.    

o   Last Sunday we heard it said that Christians don’t go to work to do what we are paid to do, rather we go to work to do what you are made to do.  That’s worship . . . . . when I place the totality of my life before God as an offering.

o   That we see that leading my family is worship, interacting at work with my colleagues is part of my working hard is an act of worship, that coming home and reconnecting with my spouse is an act of worship,  that when we “get this” then singing is also worship.    Without it singing is just singing.  Without this sermons are just forgettable self help tips.

o   Other ways to put this include:   Being Miss ional, Being Stewards of all of Life, Being on mission as we leave, Going back to our World as a mission field, Evangelism.   

***** If these three things happen then we will be living into the whole purpose for our being here.   The picture that God gave us of being an airport of extravagant grace where those who land breath deep the breath of God and that breath of god is like a wind that compels all of us outward to be a breath of God to others who then ask us “where did you fly out of? And you’ll say “well let me tell you about it”.  

How?  What’s your strategy?   

1.  For my part:  I will do my best to teach, preach,  encourage, and live this way myself so that we are increasingly connected to, trusting of, and mentored by God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit in particular through the Bible.  I will do my best  to help each of us to know Bible well it mentors us.   That’s my personal strategy.  

2.  Organizationally:  We will do everything we can to connect everyone to the vibrancy of God found in and through the Body of Christ, doing through Groups, service, tasks, and personal relationships. This is a short sentence, yet everything we do ultimately comes down to this.

 

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The Beatitudes - An Encore

Blog »    The Beatitudes - An Encore
Friday, March 7, 2014   Jeff Lampl 

"Blessed are
       the poor in spirit . . . the meek  . . . . those who hunger and thirst for righteousness . . .
       the merciful . . .  the pure in heart . . . the peacemakers . . . . those who are persecuted 
       because of righteousness . . . .you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely
       say all kinds of evil against you because of me.Rejoice and be glad . . .!   
                                                              Matthew 5:3-12 (NIV) 

So, what do you think?   Do you like the beatitudes?  Obviously somebody does because they are so famous!   I can’t say that I have really liked them.  

Someone recently put it very well,  

 “I’m not poor (Luke’s version in 6:20), I’m not hungry, and I’m not particularly sad. I’ve hardly experienced any meaningful rejection or scorn or persecution because of my Christian faith. Moreover, I don’t want to be or experience any of these things if I can help it!  

“I can try to take some refuge in Matthew’s version: “Sure, I’m not poor,” I tell myself, “but I can still be spiritually poor in spite of my wealth.” Except I’m not even that hungry for righteousness? Please! I’m not meek. I’m not much of a peacemaker. Forget purity of heart.  

“Does the fact that I strike out on all these Beatitudes make me a horrible Christian? Does at least feeling guilty about my failure make me slightly better? Is there still a place for me in God’s kingdom?  

“Is Jesus really saying that if you are this way, or you do these things, then all these good things will happen to you—including heaven when you die, as in ‘I earn my to heaven’? Or, as in Luke’s version, if you aren’t and you don’t, you’re in trouble?”  

Do you remember the qualifications for who got healed?  That’s right, NONE!.   Those who asked, got.   Do you remember the qualification for being part of God’s New World after death?  That’s right NONE!  John 3:16, 17 and 14:6 (the cross is door for everyone whether they know it or not)  tell us his death opened the door for ANYONE!!!!  

Check out Revelation 3:20.  The doors to the Kingdom are locked only by you from the inside.   The Kingdom of God is available to you.   Unlock the door, swallow your pride, face your fear, and enter.   Yes it will hurt for a while, (what good and ultimate thing isn’t hard) but slowly and surely you’ll be shaped into a person who sees blessing everywhere and one day you’ll see them so vividly that those blessings will overwhelm you with an overflow of excruciatingly good Goodness, Happiness, Freedom, Wellness, Wholeness, Joy, and Purpose.    

Grace is good.  

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The Sermon on the Mount 4

Blog »    The Sermon on the Mount  4  

Thursday, March 6, 2014   Jeff Lampl

"Let me tell you why you are here. You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage."

"Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill.  If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand.

Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven."             Matthew 5:13-16 (MSG)  

Early on in my life as a believer I would get really confused about what Jesus was talking about when he would talk about faith and belief and trust and obedience.   If I believe, does that make me a Christian even though I’m really, really bad at the obedience thing?   Is faith an effort and therefore a “work”?, but I’m saved “not by works” says (Ephesians 2:8,9).   And didn’t Jesus say I’m his friend if I obey him?  (John 15)  So, what’s it take to “get saved” anyhow?  And what does “saved” mean?  Does it mean I get to go to heaven when I die, but meanwhile I just strive to do my best, never succeed, feel guilty and then finally get to die and go to heaven?  As you can see I started out as one confused pastor!!!  

But then one day it dawned on me.   If I believe or trust someone, actually trust that what that person is saying is true and is good and am convinced what that person is telling me is not just good, but good also for me, then I’ll actually seek to do what that person says.     Breakthrough!   Faith, belief, trust, obedience are all the same thing!  

Jesus said “believe me” a ton of times.   And right after he told that representative list of hopeless people (the beatitudes) that they can have the happy life, He then said that they were the seasoning that the world needs, that they were the examples of a flourishing life that the world needs to see!   

And he expects them to believe it!!!!   He’s saying that as you live into this new reality where Psalm 23:1 (“Because the Lord is my shepherd, I have everything I need”) is what’s real and what makes me happy and alive, not money, sex and power . . . . .  as we begin to live in the Kingdom of God, available to all, but accepted by few, others will see this really, really good life we’ve got and want it for themselves.     

Kind of mind blowing I think.    

A young single guy who was a believer and happy about his life as a believer moved into a low rent apartment complex in an inner city neighborhood.  After six months or so a neighbor approached him and said, “You know something has happened since you moved into this neighborhood.  It’s hard to describe, but it’s like an enzyme has been added.  Where once there was not life, now there is life.   What is that?”  

 
 

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The Sermon on the Mount 3

Blog »    The Sermon on the Mount 3  

Wednesday, March 5, 2014   Jeff Lampl

So, what’s with all these  KEEP CALM . . . . posters all around the church?  

Perhaps you’ve seen them elsewhere, usually worded, KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON.  It was a motivational poster produced by the British government in 1939, several months before the beginning of the 2^nd World War, intended to raise the morale of the British public in the aftermath of widely predicted mass air attacks on major cities.  Today many companies are using these posters and graphics to sell their products.  

So, a couple of us thought why not capitalize on the trend and co-opt them for Jesus.   

It seems to me that Jesus came to earth to bring Good News, a fix, healing, redemption, a new kind of good and flourishing life.  He came to save us.   I remember watching the Lone Ranger (the recent movie ruined everything about him!!!!) as a child.   When he and Tonto and Silver rode into town I knew that evil was toast.   

It felt good to know they had shown up!!!   Who couldn’t feel good!!!?? (except the bad guys) Check it out  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxIuIxqo2So.   And the William Tell Overture was perfect because William Tell was a sort of a good guy, who, sort of like the Lone Ranger, fought for the average guy against their oppressors (okay a stretch but you get the point)  

When God shows up in Jesus and says, “You’re going to be blessed.  Yes you, you who are meek, sat upon, spat upon, ratted on (https://www.google.com/#q=simon+and+garfunkel+blessed) hopeless, full of guilt, lonely . . .  whoever is left out of the Good Life, I’m here to offer it to you . . . free of charge!!!!!  

When the Lone Ranger (Clayton Moore, not the other guy and Johnny Depp) rode into town, evil was in trouble.   He did something about the bank robbers and the people got their money back.   Jesus, however, did not come with guns ablazing.   He did not come with quick fixes.   He came to explain, teach, demonstrate an entirely new and different path to overcoming evil and experience human flourishing.    He didn’t get anyone’s money back or throw criminals in Jail.   In fact he came to offer the good life to the criminals too!    But talk about power!    He was killed but rose from the dead!  And then he says,  

“now boys and girls, women and men, what you’ve seen here is power.   The Lone Ranger, all he could do was shoot ‘m up.  I take those who trust me, who learn this new way of life and actually begin to live it and I raise those lives from the dead, and I do this before you’re dead, and then afterward too.   That’s power!”    (in case you’re wondering which passage this is, it’s actually a paraphrase and hard to find in your actual Bible)

Are you living the Good Life?  Is yours a life of flourishing?   Jesus said it’s yours for the taking.  And he said, “it’s available through me."  How do you access it you ask?  Keep Calm and Carry on with Trust, belief, obedience, doing what I say.  As you do you’ll begin, always slowly, but always surely, to experience exactly  what I’m talking about” (another paraphrase but a really, really good one)  

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The Sermon on the Mount 2

   Blog »    The Sermon on the Mount  2  

Tuesday, March 4, 2014   Jeff Lampl 

 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
  Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
  Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
  Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
  Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
  Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
  Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the  
  kingdom of heaven.
  Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of
  evil against you because of me"         Matthew 5:3-11

You have just read what are often called the “beatitudes,” which means that these verses display a beautiful (beatific) vision of the Kingdom of God.    Believers have understood these verses in many different ways over in the 2,000 years since Jesus spoke them.    Some think they are impossible standards which simply show how much we need Grace (sort of like God telling me that in order to get into heaven I have to golf like Tiger Woods or I go to hell, except, wait, Jesus died for me and forgave me of my inability to golf like that).   Others think these are a list of the good guys who get into heaven and the bad guys are listed in Luke 6:24-26 and Matthew 24:13 ff.    I’m certain I’ve believed and taught and questioned as many different understandings of the beatitudes as anyone.    

But I’ve finally settled on what rings true to me, an understanding of what Jesus is saying that’s been around since Jesus spoke those words, but which way too easily gets twisted into another list of “to do’s” in order to be a “living right” Christian.  

Jesus is saying that no matter who you are, poor (Luke 6:20), spiritually bankrupt (Matt 5:3), grieving, weak, a legalist, a “bleeding heart”, a perfectionist, part of the crowd who is always appeasing, always beaten down, insulted,   (and I agree with those who say this is a representative, not comprehensive list) . . . . . even those people who are not respected and honored in society, even these people, even you, even anyone, anyone at all . . . . . have God, Jesus, the Kingdom of God, the Blessings of God, the Good Life, available to them!!!!     To  you, even you, the least of the least of the least,  the Good Life of God’s Kingdom is available.    

Now, the next big step is to actually believe that.    Are you willing to actually believe that you can have, can experience the blessings of God, the Good Life offered by God, right now simply by allowing Jesus to give you exactly what you need (inevitably not what you want) in order to live a flourishing life? Are you rich and selfish?   Jesus, God, the Kingdom, and the Good Life are available to you!   Are you poor and miserable?  Jesus, God, the Kingdom, and the Good Life are available to you!   Are  you a good person in the eyes  of your friends, family and neighbors, but inside you know the wreckage of your heart?    Jesus, God, the Kingdom, and the Good Life are available to you!   

What about the woes of Luke 6 and Matthew 23, the bad guys who end up on the outside and missing out on God’s Coming New World?   They miss out only if they, in their stubborn pride, refuse to trust, refuse the offer of the Kingdom of God, refuse to release their pride and actually listen.    In the end it is “only” our pride which slams shut the doors to the Kingdom.
 

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The Sermon on the Mount 1

  Blog »    The Sermon on the Mount  1  

Monday, March 3, 2014   Jeff Lampl

"Jesus went up on the mountainside and sat down”   Matthew 5:1  

“Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to fulfill them, to accomplish their purpose”                                                                                        Matthew 5:17  

The “Sermon on the Mount” is the name given to Matthew’s collection of the big teachings of Jesus.  Luke gives a different version in Luke 6.    It may be that Matthew and Luke record two different sermons or that each gives different versions of the same event or that there were two or more events recorded differently or in summary fashion.   However Matthew and Luke recorded them, we can be sure that we have Jesus’ teachings and that Matthew and Luke recorded them in the context that Jesus meant them to be heard.  

At the end of Matthew 4 we read that Jesus healed all kinds of diseases and therefore tons of people followed him.    We read the same in Luke 6:17-19.   It’s exactly what Jesus came to do according to his first sermon in Luke 4:18-19 which he quoted from Isaiah.   

 In other words, Jesus was God having come to earth to set things right.    

This is Good News!    This is where we start.   Jesus came bringing Good to anyone who would receive it.  

Then in Chapter 5 vs. 1, with all kinds of people crowding to him he sits down on a mountainside!!!!!   Only those with authority do that!   In fact most of those present would have immediately connected that action with Moses (think Exodus and the 10 commandments)!  Who does He think he is!    

THEN, he goes about telling everyone that HE has come to FULFILL/ACCOMPLISH everything that the Law and Prophets intended!     THEN he finishes the whole sermon with a story at the end of chapter 7 in which he says HIS WORDS are the rock upon which you must build your life or else you’ll sink!   

WHO IS THIS MAN?    

This is the big question each of us must answer.   If he is who He in so many ways claims to be, simple logic would seem to demand that we not only listen, but that we take the big step of actually believing that what he says is right, and then take the really, really big steps of actually doing what he tells us to do, which, he implies and says in so many different ways, is the Good Life.

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