Get growing!--part 1

The Word for today:
Luke 2:41-52

mark this: Luke 2:52
And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

How do we grow up to be like Jesus? The opening chapters of Luke show us Jesus' formative years, and serve as our example for spiritual development. Today, in part 1, and the day after tomorrow, in part 2, we will take a closer look at how God takes a child from "here" to "there."

***

I am a big student of process in scripture. I am avidly interested in how we make progress in this new life Jesus purchased for us--because I don't want to stay a spiritually immature brat all my life.

How do we proceed? How do we progress? How do we get from here to there in the spiritual realm?

The key to these questions lies just ahead of us, in the chapters we are about to read. These are crucial chapters because they present our model for growth.

Here's what we must remember:

1. You might be 57, or you might be 17, or you might be 97. But according to the Bible, as a believer, you are a child:
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. (John 1:12)

So, stop acting so mature all the time. You are not! And this mature act you're foisting upon yourself is getting in the way of your progress. It's stifling God's re-creative flow! We can't grow until we admit we've got a lot of growing up to do. Some of us have got to "grow down" before we can grow up!

2. Jesus was once a kid like you, in the process of growing up:

"The eternal Son of God, Jesus, actually became a baby. God became an embryo. Deity in diapers! Once Jesus arrived on earth, He went through a learning process, just like anyone else. Luke tells us that "Jesus increased in wisdom and stature." (Luke 2:52) Some hear this and say, "Hold on! If you are God, then you're omniscient, which means you know all things. So how can you learn anything?" That's a valid question. And here's the biblical answer: Jesus continued to possess his divine attributes without choosing to use them. In the words of Scripture, he "emptied" Himself and "humbled" Himself. But self-emptying is not self-extinction. In coming to earth He did not lay aside His deity--that was impossible--but rather the privileges of deity. He emptied Himself, not of His essential being or character, but of His right to draw upon the staggering privileges of His deity."
--from "START: The Bible for New Believers." Greg Laurie, General Editor. Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2010.

3. God devotes the beginning of Luke to the essentials of our growth, modeled in the life of Jesus, our pattern in this and all else. (When Jesus says, "Follow me," he means in every way!) God goes to great lengths in this section of scripture to make it clear that Jesus grew into himself--just as we are to do.

4. God very carefully illustrated the way and the means of our growth:
a. Scripture (Luke 2:41-52)
b. the Holy Spirit (Luke 3 and 4)

("Scripture and the Spirit"--We hope you'll hold that thought until the day after tomorrow, when we will conclude this article...)

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Have you felt the sword?

(by Pastor Joe)

The Word for Today:
Luke 2:21-40

mark this: 2:35
"and a sword will pierce through your own soul also..."

Woody Allen once quipped, ""I'm not afraid of death, I just don't want to be there when it happens." For most of humanity, that's not only how we approach death, it's also how we approach pain. In theory, we understand that we will have to face much pain in life, but in practice, we do our best to avoid as much pain as possible.

And to some extent, this makes sense. As a reflex, we quickly remove our hands from a hot stove. And almost like a reflex, we avoid things in life that hurt us: insults, Charlie horses, root canals, Buffalo Bills games, etc.

The problem occurs when we confuse the Gospel found in the Word of God with the Gospel of pain avoidance. Whether consciously or unconsciously, we assume that in exchange for our trust, God has certain responsibilities to shield us from the hurt, disappointment, loss and suffering that come with existence on a fallen planet. We then can become disillusioned with Him, even though He has made no such promise.

A.W. Tozer wrote "It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply (1)." Again, this is a message that we can agree with, in theory, and yet run from it when it becomes reality. We know from the Bible that God is in the refining business, and yet we all hope that it's someone else's turn to be refined.

Have you felt the sword? In today's passage, we see Simeon's warning to Mary. This great news of a Savior born comes with a tremendous cost to Mary. From the rest of the Bible we see how that is played out in her life:

- The threat of divorce before she's even married

- The whispers and rumors concerning her pregnancy

- The joys of labor on the road and in a stable

- Barely escaping the clutches of a murderous tyrant

- The sting of your son clearly prioritizing other things than you

- Being unable to shield your son from rejection and torture

- Watching your firstborn suffer and die on a cruel cross

No wonder that so many of us, like Moses before, respond to God's call with a "O Lord, please send someone else...(2)"

But Tozer is right- because he's aware of what the Bible teaches- No pain, no gain.

The apostle Paul stated: "For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him." The early church declared: "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God" James wrote: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds." Peter concurred with this: "Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. (3)"

Have you felt the sword?

We know that Job, and Abraham, and Joseph, and Moses, and Ruth, and Hannah, and David, and Elijah, and Amos, and Jeremiah, and Daniel, and John the Baptist, and Mary, and the 12, and so many more in church history have. In fact, there is not a single hero of the faith who has not.

Have you felt the sword?

Because not even God Himself is immune to pain and suffering, but instead took the very difficult road of offering His one and only Son who was "pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities. (4)"

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(1) taken from "The Root of the Righteous"

(2) Exodus 4:13

(3) Philippians 1:29, Acts 14:22, James 1:2, 1 Peter 4:12

(4) Isaiah 53:5

A Mary Christmas, part 3: "Son of Mary"

The Word for today:
Luke 2:1-20

mark this: Luke 2:6-12 --

And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

All the Christmas cards and stained glass in the world don't begin to convey the fascinating, delightful, and lovely Mary.

Although there's not much in the Bible about her--most of it can be found right here at the beginning of Luke--she emerges as a character of great depth and dimension, and with a touch of mystery besides; reminiscent, in fact, of her eldest son, whom she knew as "Yeshua."

Today we conclude a 3-part series by looking through his Mom's eyes as little Yeshua steps into the man that he becomes.

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It wasn't long, in miles or years, from Nazareth to the wedding party at Cana, where Jesus cut the cord: "Woman," he called her, distancing himself, "what have you to do with me?" (1)

She'd known this day must come. He'd distanced himself before, when he was just a boy, when they'd searched in vain for him among the convoy. Three days later, relieved to find him in the Temple among the teachers and the experts in Scripture, they'd heard him declare that he must be about his Father's business (2).

She'd winced at the insensitivity of the phrase and reflexively looked to Joseph. How that remark might have stung the humble, hardworking carpenter. But Joseph withstood, solid as a rock, ever the backbone of the family.

The boy, until lately just a go-fer in the shop, had begun to show a real knack for carpentry and had become his right-hand man. But he also knew that Yeshua was on a mission from God, and that he was the kind who played to win. No offense taken.

And Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. (3)

Then--so soon, too soon--from Cana to Jerusalem, where the son of her sorrow (4) would fall, and rise…

***

To his own nation, Israel, he is Son of David (5). To the wider, Gentile world, he is Son of Man. To the believing universe, he is Son of God.

But to just one person, he is bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh (6).  When they pierced his side, they'd pierced her own soul too (7). To one person, to her alone, he is Son of Mary. (8)

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(1) John 2:4; (2) Luke 2:49; (3) Luke 2:19, 2:51 (4) a reference to Genesis 35:18: see "A Mary Christmas, part 3"; (5) Mark 10:47; (6) Genesis 2:23; (7) Luke 2:35; (8) Mark 6:3

A Mary Christmas, part 2--"A sword will pierce your own soul too"

The Word for today:
Luke 1:57-80

Most of what we know about Mary is found right here, in the opening chapters of Luke.

So in a three-part series that began yesterday, Stand in the Rain is attempting to cut through the cultural and religious clutter that has obscured this complex character.

Yesterday we met the Mom-to-be. Today we will follow Mom and baby from Bethlehem to Egypt to Nazareth.

Tomorrow we will look at the man that baby becomes--from a unique perspective: through the eyes of his Mom.

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When the angel announced to her that she'd been chosen to be the mother of the Son of God, she counted the personal cost of submission to God's will, then simply trusted Him to work things out. She composed a song that magnified the greatness of the Lord while she willingly faced the rejection and the snide gossip. She and Joseph marveled, and wondered, as the elderly prophet Simeon held the child in his arms and blessed God for allowing him to see His salvation:
Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.  And a sword will pierce your own soul too." (1)

It is apparent from the song she composed (Luke 1:46-55) that Mary had memorized and skillfully spliced together many Old Testament phrases in her praises to God. Knowing Scripture by heart, leaving Bethlehem with her child in her arms, re-playing Simeon's freshly fallen prophecy as they escaped from Herod to Egypt, this new Mom's thoughts turned to some of the Bible's other Moms. She thought of Hannah, whose song at the dedication of her child, Samuel, had inspired Mary's own song. And then she thought of Rachel and Jacob, on their way to Bethlehem, so long ago:

And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labor.
And it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also.
And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni, 'the son of my sorrow'…but his father called him Benjamin, 'the son of my right hand,' the victorious one…

Then from Egypt to Nazareth of Galilee, her thoughts must have been filled with images in conflict:
"And a sword will pierce your own soul too…
The falling and rising of many…
A sign spoken against…
Hearts revealed…"

("A Mary Christmas" will conclude tomorrow.)

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(1) Luke 2: 34-35; (2) Genesis 35:16-19

A Mary Christmas, part 1: "the hopes and fears of all the years"

The Word for today:
Luke 1:39-56

mark this: Luke 1:46
My soul magnifies the Lord.

According to the calendar, Christmas has come and gone.

But according to our reading schedule, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Over the next three days, Stand in the Rain will be blending the Song of Mary (known as the "Magnificat," found in 1:46-55) and the Christmas Story (2:1-20) into our own Christmas carol.

We wish you "A Mary Christmas…"

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O little town of Bethlehem,
How still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by;
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight.

This isn't about Christmas as much as it's about Mary; the biblical Mary, the mother of Jesus on every day of his life, who bore him, who watched him die (1), who believed in him before the first Christmas (2) and, unlike his brothers, before the first Easter (3).

Over the centuries, Mary has been misshapen. She's been over-emphasized by the Catholics. Then, in reaction, she's been under-emphasized by the Evangelicals. Prayed to by some; nearly forgotten (except for Christmas and Mother's Day) by others. Wrong and wrong.

Mary is merely awesome! The 'merely' part is because she's a sinner in need of a Savior, just as I am (4). The 'awesome' part is found, for the most part, in Luke 1 and 2. Read her brief moments in Scripture and you'll be able to discern not only who taught the Savior to walk and talk, but also who taught him to fear the Lord, and to trust in God's amazing, unfathomable, tenacious grace. If you're going to turn the world--and the tables in the Temple--upside down, this is the kind of Mom you'll need.

For the Bible student, she serves as a prime example of how important (and difficult) it is to read what Scripture says without the layers of cultural pre-conditioning we accumulate over time. Mary is merely awesome, like Scripture itself--if we take them straight, unfiltered.

(Tomorrow: "A sword will pierce your own soul too." )

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(1) John 19:25; (2) see Luke 1:34-38; (3) see John 7:5; (4) Luke 1:47

I met her in the Bible (but not in church)

The Word for today:
Luke 1:26-38

You'll hear more about Mary in the coming days, because this writer can't get enough of Mary! In fact, I'm crazy about her, but it wasn't always that way…

When I was a kid, I went to a church that made way too much of Mary. I heard more about Mary, it seemed, than about God. We said prayers to Mary, and some people said the same prayer to Mary about 100 times a day.

I didn't like their Mary. She was placed in her own category, on some semi-god or demi-god stratum that I couldn't reach or relate to:

"From the first moment of her conception, the Blessed Virgin Mary was, by the singular grace and privilege of Almighty God, and in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of mankind, kept free from stain of original sin." --Pope Pius IX, 1854

Whatever. So I left her there, with her "singular grace and privilege," for about 30 years. Then, after all that time, I met the real Mary in, of all places, the Bible. (Who would have guessed?)

And the real reason she became so special is because she's so ordinary! Ordinary enough to be a model--a prototype--for sinners, just like you and me, who experience the birth of the Savior in our lives.

***

In all of the gazillion hours I've studied scripture, I've had two Road to Damascus moments. (The Road to Damascus (1) is where Paul the Apostle "saw the light," and came to faith in Jesus.)

Two epiphanies doesn't sound like a lot, but each one of them was more than enough to open my eyes to scripture's profound prototypes.

One of those moments happened for me in the little book of Philemon, when I found myself and Jesus in two verses (Philemon 17-18) which are, ostensibly, about Philemon and Paul. The Bible began to sing to me that day.

The second of these moments happened just a few years ago as I was reading what we're reading today:
"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God." (Luke 1:35)

I must have read that verse 50 times before; but somehow, on my fifty-first reading, I saw right through those lines, right past Mary's unique circumstances as the virgin mother of the Messiah. What I saw in that verse was every believer's story:

The Holy Spirit comes upon us, and now Christ lives within us. (2)

See, Mary's not so special after all! And that's why she's become so special to me.

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(1) see Acts 9; (2) see John 3:6 and Galatians 2:20

he looked for me 'til I found him

The Word for today:
Luke 1:1-25

I've often been asked what the most important book in the Bible happens to be. But I consider that God's business; the question is not mine to answer.

I've also been asked which book is my favorite--Which book would I choose if I could have only one of the 66 books. That's a question I can answer:

Luke. If I could have just one, Luke's the one.

Why? Let me count the ways…

The writing, itself, is exquisite; at times it is sublime.

Evocative and essential stories appear here and no where else: "The Prodigal Son"; "The Road to Emmaus"; "The Good Samaritan"; and the story of Zacchaeus, the little man who climbed a tree and met a great big Jesus.

The best telling of the Christmas story is found in Luke. (Ironically, the greatest moment in the history of godless commercial TV--"That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown"--is quoting Luke.)

Simeon and Anna, reminiscent of many today who are watching for Jesus' return, are found only here.

Zechariah and Elizabeth and the young--nascent!--John the Baptist can only be found here.

The awesome and breathtaking Mary is found here as nowhere else. Read her words very carefully, and you will find out where Jesus, literally and figuratively, is coming from.

But most of all, here's Jesus:

Jesus at twelve years old--the Word of God lost in the Temple--can only be found right here. Turn the page, and here's Jesus at 30; preaching his first sermon, then informing his audience that the scripture he'd just taught was fulfilled in the moment that they'd heard it!

Turn the page, and someone's hunting me: the Son of Man, who came here looking for me--and kept on looking and looking and looking for me, right up until the day I found him:
"For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." (Luke 19:10)

***

I'm so glad for the sixty and six, but if it came right down to it, Luke's the one. Because Luke's all about the one who left behind the ninety and nine to come looking just for me. (1)

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