iHOPE

The 167 for March 26: Table Talk

God's Cure for Selective Vision

"Can you see anything?" The man looked up and said, "Yes, I can see people, but they look like trees walking around." Jesus again placed his hands on the man's eyes. This time the man looked intently, his eyesight returned, and he saw everything clearly. 

 The meaning of our passage is not only in what it says but in where it's placed. It is preceded by a series of events that form a pattern leading up to a most peculiar story. It is a story about the healing of a blind man that required a second touch from Jesus to complete the effect. 

The next story is the famous interaction between Jesus and the disciples culminating in Peter's confession:  You are the Messiah!

Or does it? It seems Peter is able to see no more clearly than the blind man. He can see that Jesus is God's Messiah, but he needs a 'second touch' from to clarify his vision. The rest of the gospel acts as that 'second touch,' so they could perceive that Jesus did NOT come to overthrow Rome and destroy the enemies of the nation but to submit and be killed by them. 

Jesus began to teach his disciples: "The Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law. He will be put to death, but three days later he will rise to life." He made this very clear to them. 

Then it got worse.

"If any of you want to come with me," he told them, "you must forget yourself, carry your cross, and follow me. For if you want to save your own life, you will lose it; but if you lose your life for me and for the gospel, you will save it. Do you gain anything if you win the whole world but lose your life? Of course not! There is nothing you can give to regain your life. 

This is not a message people wanted hear then- or now, but it reveals something central:  Death and resurrection are not only the path of Christ, but they are the pattern of living for Christ's followers. It is in dying to our ego, pride, need for security, and control, that we have the chance to experience new life. Resurrection only comes after death. 

Questions for Reflection & Discussion:

Describe some of the times when you have had your understanding of God altered?  

What changed?

What is still changing? 

Dying to Self as Letting Go

I used a familiar illustration known as a Confederate Soldier's Prayer. It is an example of someone who had their vision changed (healed?) as they let go of their expectations for life and found something better.

I asked God for strength, that I might achieve.

I was made weak, that I might learn humbly to obey.

I asked for health, that I might do greater things.

I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.

I asked for riches, that I might be happy.

I was given poverty, that I might be wise.

I asked for power that I might have the praise of men.

I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.

I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life.

I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing that I asked for but got everything I had hoped for.

Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.

I am, among all people, most richly blessed.

In what areas do you sense you need to 'let go' of what is, in order to experience what God still wants to do?

Ready for More?

Don't miss the material in this week's Music & More!

 

The 167 for March 19: Table Talk

There are 168 hours in a week. We spend one of them in worship. What about the other 167?

The Antidote for Toxic Religion

God For Us

It is not just the name of our series, it is what we long to hear. 

At its best, religion is able to connect us to God in ways that proclaim

There is nothing you are going to do to make God love you more...or less. 

 

At its best, religion helps us embody and extend the unconditional love of God.  But the truth is, religion is not always at its best. In fact, many people wonder if it is the source of much of what is wrong with the world. 

There is bad religion- and then there is toxic religion- and there needs to be an antidote for both.

The 167 for March 12: Table Talk

Let us go to the other side...

 

While there is an actual geographical place where Jesus and his disciples would have gone, the "Other Side" is more than just a place on the map. It is also a place in the heart.

The "Other Side" is not just a destination on a shoreline, it is a mission statement of Christ- and an invitation for us to experience 'holy ground' in new and powerful ways.

The "Other Side" is where "They" live- those who are different from us, scary to us and a problem for us.  "They" always embody the worst- as opposed to "Us"

They are bad, We are good

They are deceptive, We are merely clever

They are greedy, We are generous...within reason

They are...well, you get it

Besides being a blind spot in our perception, it can be dangerous, when we bring God into the equation.  The worst and most brutal wars tend to be the Holy Wars. Anne Lamott has a pretty good litmus test:

You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people as you.

 

Our usual approach to the "Other" is to ignore them- or want to eliminate them. Somehow, it gets into our mind that if only "They" would change, then We would be happy and the world would be set right.  We are convinced that the problem is those who are on the "Other Side". Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was locked up in a Gulag for decades. His understanding on the human condition is worth noting:

“If only it were all so simple!

If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from

the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of [their] own heart?”

The problem is not the people on the Other Side, but our attempt to define our world in those terms. Jesus spent a lot of time going to the Other Side. His message: there is no Other Side. There is only this side- and we are all on it.

How do we live this out? Here is the story I mentioned in the sermon about the "We Dine Together" movement. 

Some questions for Reflection and Discussion:

1. Who were the people on the Othe Side (different, unacceptable, embarrassing) people when you were growing up?
2. What type of people do you avoid today? 
3. I believe every day has an implicit invitation to go with Christ to the Other Side. What keeps us from going with him? What do we prefer about where we are?
4. How is the gospel of God affected?
5. What would be an extension of the We Dine Together movement in your world?

 

 

 

 

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