IN OVER TTHEIR HEADS

This post originally appeared five years ago. - STEVE

 BY STEVE DUNN

Reading: Mark 11.27-33

Have you ever heard the expression, "He's in a battle of wits with an unarmed man"? It's Tuesday and Jesus is right back to the Temple. The first day it was for a demonstration of passion for God. Today it's about challenging the so-called Teachers of the Law. Like a Clint Eastwood western, Jesus strides into the Temple and various groups-Pharisees, religious seekers, Scribes, Sadducees--all come at him one at a time like so many spiritual gunslingers. One after another he sends them packing, stung by his answers.

Smarting from the previous day's demonstration and Jesus' obvious support from the people, the Pharisees take their first shot as soon as they see him. "By what authority do you do this and who gave you that authority?" They want Jesus to justify himself, hoping they can regain the upper hand.

But wisdom-wise they are unarmed men in the presence of the Christ. "Before I answer your question, answer one of mine. Was John's prophetic message and baptism from heaven or from men?"

His opponents now have a problem. The people clearly believed John was a prophet and many had turned to God because of him. If they acknowledge John was from heaven, then he's going to say "Why didn't you believe him?"

They're the keepers of heaven, so they think. how will it look if they appear disobedient to God. So their answer, "We don't know."

Jesus' response is basically "I won't bother to answer you because you wouldn't recognize heaven if you saw it."

Are you questioning God's authority or when you see Him working do you rush to His side?

(C) 2010 by Stephen L Dunn

HOLY MONDAY

This post was originally published five years ago. - STEVE

BY STEVE DUNN

 

Reading: Mark 11:12-19

Key Verse: "My house will be a house of prayer for all nations, but you have made it a 'den of robbers." - Mark 11:17

Most people think of Jesus as "little Jesus meek and mild." In fact, people today who want to emphasize Jesus' love (read, loving and non-threatening) are a bit troubled by this story, And people who want to justify their angry, confrontative tendencies use this story as their mantra.

Jesus was clearly disturbed at the marketing and profiteering that had been introduced into the Temple. It had become a place where people were being taken advantage of. Where the worshiper had come out of an honest desire to honor God, they were forced to engage in the purchase of "just the right sacrifice" rather than simply letting God see what was in their hearts. Haggling had taken the place of psalm singing. And the people doing the selling seemed to have little regard for the worshipers and for the worship.

Jesus' response is not an angry burst of a violent spirit, it is a passionate heart for God confronting those who really belittled the things of God. Instead of casually accepting things the way they were, Jesus challenged the assumptions and actions of those who hijacked the proess of worship.

Do you have enough passion for God that you would go out on a limb, risk ridicule or repercussion rather than simply let "business as usual" occur when the business ceases truly being God's business?

(C) 2010 by Stephen L. Dunn

AN ACT OF EXTRAVAGANCE

BY STEVE DUNN

Reading: Mark 14.1-11

"She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial."

Jesus' appointment with Golgotha is now two days way. He knows that his journey will require him to go to the Cross. The disciples are still choosing to downplay his comments about his death. Together they go to home of Simon the Leper to enjoy a pleasant meal and a respite from the intensity of those two days in the Temple.

During the meal a woman (which we are told elsewhere is Mary, the sister of Lazarus) comes with an alabaster jar filled with incredibly expense perfume. She breaks the jar and pours the perfume on his head. Imagine its pungent aroma permeating the room as the perfume runs down over his face through his beard.

The disciples, especially, are upset. It is too extravagant a thing to do. They could have taken the money and fed the poor, thereby increasing Jesus' standing among the people. Yet Jesus defends her. "She understands," says Jesus. She recognizes the road I must take, the death to which it will lead, and the grace that it comes from. She has chosen to prepare me for that."

It is an extravagance that begins to approach the even greater extravagance of an unconditional love that will die for our sins. When was the last time you were extravagant in the service of Jesus?

I WONDER WHAT I WOULD HAVE DONE

by Steve Dunn

"So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.  He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.  While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,  and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them."

- Luke 2.3-7 NIV 

How many times have you read these words or heard them spoken over the years of your lifetime? As a Christian since an early age and a pastor for 43 years, my answer would "beyond memory or measure."  There are many voices and faces in the Christmas story; but there is one face you do not see or voice you do not here, yet that person played a major role in the Nativity Story.

The Innkeeper.  At some point he must have said, "We have no room" and so Mary and Joseph had to find shelter in a cave used by the domestic animals.  And when Mary's water broke in that unlikely and uncomfortable place, a baby was born and placed in a manger.

I wonder when it began to dawn on this nameless innkeeper that something extraordinary had happened on his establishment's grounds.  Was is it when those shepherds began singing in the courtyard?  Was it when the curious began to visit the mother and her new baby?  Was it when three astrologer Kings overwhelmed his courtyard with their entourage?

I wonder what he felt. Embarassment? Shame for his decision?  There is no historic record that would allow us to verify any answer.

What I wonder more about is "what would I have done?"  I am a practical man; sometimes a little too business-like.  I am a man who is busy and make too many decisions on the run.  I am a man who in the daily demands of life can lose track of the presence of the Holy.

Fortunately God understands our frailities and or sin.  In fact, that is precisely why he took on flesh and moved into the neighborhood.  Why he subjected himself first  to the humility of a manger and ultimately to the shame and pain of the Cross.

I pray that I would be so focused on Him, expecting Him, that I make room for Him in my life.

© 2014 by Stephen L Dunn

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THANKSLIVING

BY STEVE DUNN

In just a few hours, I will be celebrating one of my favorite holidays-Thanksgiving.  Dianne and I will be in northern Kentucky with our children and their families to share a day that my nation has wisely set aside to encourage its citizenry to do what my God has called me to do everyday.  To give thanks.

It is a simple holiday made complicated by overcrowded airports, the delicate balancing act between the dinner table and the Big Game on the big screen TV, and the rush to finish everything so that a place can be claimed in a Walmart parking lot for Black Friday's bargains (or is now, Black Thursday Evening),

Nonetheless, God's Word teaches us that we are to be thankful people--thankful for those who bless, thankful for what we have been blessed with, and thankful to God Who ultimately provides it all.

Colossians another twist.  Our thanks in not expressed simply in our words and prayers--but in how we live, how we work.  Thanksgiving is not relegated to a day.  It is a way of living.

Living in thanks to the God Who gives us life and calls us to share in His work.  Thanksgiving is ultimately at its fullest through thanks living.

WHERE WILL THEY SEE JESUS?

BY STEVE DUNN

"They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. "Sir," they said, "we would like to see Jesus." = John 12:21

Recently I came across this little vignette on-line.  "This morning, Jocelyn took a little Bible I have. She opened it, flipping page after page. She looked up at me and said, "Mom, I know this is the Bible. I know Jesus is in here. I am looking for his picture."

Every day there are people who are looking for Jesus.  Some out of need.  Some out of curiosity.  Some out of a desire to meet the One that so many of us call Savior.  Some out of s desperate need for a Savior.

Where will they see Jesus?

They might see him in the Bible, if they know to open it.

They might see him in a vision, but that is rare and would be unlikely.

There was a day in history that they could walk up to a disciple named Philip and then be ushered into his physical presence.  But that day has passed.

No, God intends people to see Jesus in the lives that our surrendered to his will and are living according to His purpose.

Just as God revealed himself to the world through taking on flesh--what we call the Incarnation; he continues to use incarnation to let people see him.

Only that incarnation is in us.

When people see your life, hear your words, experience your embrace, observe your actions--do they see Jesus?

That's what God intends.  Is that what you are doing?

FALSE HUMILITY

BY STEVE DUNN

"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor." - James 4:10 New Living Translation

I was greatly blessed by the sermon. The preacher had reflected deeply on the passage, he had framed his point in a clear and compelling key phrase.  His content reflected a respect for the Bible from which he had drawn the truth.  He had challenged me directly and yet had left me with a sense of what could happen if I let God help shape my response. He would have made his homiletic professor proud.

Then he blew it.

"I really appreciated today's message and thank you for sharing it."

"The Lord did it, not me," was his smiling response.

The response may have been ecclesiastically correct but it rang with false humility.  He acted as if he had nothing to do with its design and its delivery.  I found myself walking away thinking, he wasn't truthful.  It was enough to make me wonder about the truth of his content, as well.  Was he really speaking from the mind of Christ to deliver a message to God's beloved?

We sometimes make a mockery of humility by acting as if we are simply spiritual automatons, puppets of the Almighty.

God works in and through us.  He has blessed us with gifts and passions, experiences and understandings.  He empowers us for fruitfulness.  What He requires of us is commitment and obedience.  In other words, God works in us and through us.

That's the reality that is at the heart of true humility.   It is rooted in the authenticity of genuine relationship with Him. The preacher would have been more authentic (and therefore more helpful to me) if his answer had been, "Thank you, I tried to do my best with what God gave me." I would have someone who was submitted to the God Who had gifted him instead of making it sound like he was just a mouthpiece.