jeff’s blog

“Love your neighbor as yourself.”

“And who is my neighbor?”

Is it only your brother?
your friend?
your spouse?

Is it the acquaintance?
the passer-by?
the person behind the counter?

Is it the policeman?
the tax collector?
the guy who hit your car?

Is your neighbor the influential guy?
the rich man?
the powerful man?

Is it the homeless?
the outcast?
the poor?

Is your neighbor pretty?
smart?
popular?

Are they unattractive?
annoying?
forgotten?

“Which of these three
do you think
was a neighbor
to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

And who is my neighbor?

“Go, and do likewise.”

We often find it easy to love those who love us. We find it easier to love those who it benefits us to love in some way. The real test of love is not whether we love those from who we gain something, but whether we love those who can offer us nothing in return.

Christ’s love knows no bounds. We have nothing to offer him, and he loves us anyway. He loves people regardless of their social status, their income level, their intellect, their ability, their family situation, their past, their appearance, their clothing… there is nothing about anyone that causes Christ to love them any less.

May we love with the love of Christ. May our love reach out across social barriers and cross racial lines to bring healing to a world in desperation. May we seek to love selflessly, giving of ourselves to those who can give nothing in return. And may we find courage to love boldly those who need it most, even when it’s easier not to.

“Communicating Jesus in a Post-Modern Context”

In our changing world in which we are bombarded by all kinds of differing messages, where does faith in Jesus Christ fit in? This class will help us begin to notice and wrestle with current issues of culture and morality and suggest ways that Jesus can be communicated to our friends and neighbors.

If you have no clue what Kelly’s marketing jingle means, that makes at least two of us. But James and I will hopefully figure it out before we start teaching this class on Thursday. If you came to our last class, this is a friendly PSA to announce that while there may be some overlap between the two, this class *is* enough different that you should consider taking it, espeically if you liked the last one.

That being said, we’d love to see you on Thursday!

“Teacher,”
he asked,

“what must I do
to inherit eternal life?”

I’ve known people who ask this question. They ask because they want to know – to know beyond the shadow of a doubt that they are fine, that their passport is stamped and their ticket is punched. What do I have to do, in order to guarantee that my reservation is secure?

Jesus’ answer is remarkably simple:

Love God with everything.
Love men like you would love yourself.

So simple.
So complicated.

And we say we love God.
And we say we love men.

And still we ask.
And still we ask.

There is a paradox in our Christian walk that renders our journey both simple and complex simulteneously.

The commands of Jesus can be boiled down into four words: Love God. Love others. Though amazingly simple concepts, they become exceedingly complicated when we try to put them into practice.

While a rather simple set of “rules” and “guidelines” govern how relationships and love work, any of us who interact with people know that there’s no formula that accurately describes a relationship with a person - you can read a 10 step book to making a friend, but it isn’t going to describe every situation you might encounter, nor will it have the “answers” to how to make every person like you.

As we encounter God, it is not with a rulebook or with a score card, but in relationship - a relationship where our call is to honor the heart of the Living God.

“A man with leprosy came to him
and begged him
on his knees,

‘If you are willing,
you can
make me clean.’”

What an attitude!

To come before Christ in humility,
knowing his position,
knowing that the decision was Christ’s,
knowing the Savior’s power to cleanse.

He demanded nothing,
But received everything.

And when I come before God in my pride,
thinking I am good,
thinking that I have control,
thinking that I am holy because of me.

I demand much,
And receive nothing.

So often we come to Christ expecting to be healed. Christ commands us to come knowing in faith that he can heal us, but sometimes we take this a few steps too far and feel that we are entitled to his healing, rather than receiving it as an act of grace - unmerited favor.

The fact is that each of us comes to Christ empty and broken. Some of us have tried to glue parts of the pieces of our lives together, but none of us come as whole people. We come helpless, missing the very thing Christ offers - Himself.

Faith is interesting. So often it stands in contrast with knowledge. Faith demands that we look at all we see and then take a step beyond pure knowledge - a step into the unknown of doubt.

That is not to say that faith is without experience. We have faith that the world will continue in the future much as it has in the past. We have faith that gravity will continue to hold us down, that the sun will come up tomorrow, and that the laws that govern the universe will hold relatively constant, at least within our ability to measure them. We cannot know any of these things for certain - the future is truly the undiscovered country, and objective knowledge about it cannot be obtained. Yet this does not stop us from believing that a future exists, and furthermore believing it will have certain properties - namely properties that resemble our present. While we cannot objectively prove these things to be true, we believe them with a fierce passion, and we have yet to be disappointed. Our experience suggests certain things about how the world works, and causes us to believe them and trust them, even though we have no real emperical basis for doing so.

In the same way, our experience leads us to believe that certain things are true about the human condition: that service is greater than selfishness, that sacrifice is greater than greed, that love is greater than hate. Logically these things make little sense. They seem to go against everything our society teaches us. But in the hearts of those who have seen charity and experienced love, faith suggests to us that there is something more to life than the endless race to get ahead - that our lives are not measured by how much we get, but by how much we give away.

Even still, true faith cannot exist without doubt. Doubt is not the cancer of faith, it is the tester of faith. It is that moment where we examine ourselves and make the choice of whether or not to believe. Were there no doubt, faith would not be a real choice. If faith were certain, it would cease to be faith, its beauty robbed. The veracity of our faith is continually proven in our struggle with the realization that the seemingly illogical sometimes turns out to make more sense than what we have been taught.

Even though we look to the unknown future through the lens of our personal experience, it is sometimes difficult to believe what we experience - love, joy, hope - is something that will last.

But in faith, we continue to believe.

d200, 150 macro, some with 2xTC.

may you abandon all in your pursuit of Christ.

May you take courage
stepping out in faith
trusting the provision of God,
offering daily manna to his parched and hungry people
following pillars in the endless desert
awaiting the promised land.

the church’s family sized bible

well… kinda…