Stewart 5

I’m coining a new phrase – the tyranny of the important. Feel free to toss it around, but reference me as the originator ;P

Everyone uses/feels the tyranny of the urgent.  All those things that “have” to be done right away.  Props to Stephen Covey for helping many of us sort through important/urgent/unimportant/not urgent.  And kudos if you manage to get things sorted and a bit under control.  If that’s you, you’re in the minority btw.

But what about when you have TOO MANY IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO? (not sure why I used all caps, but can’t go back now).  Any advice on that?  Just don’t do it?  I don’t think so.  “Redefine what is important.”  Ummm, yeah.  Tell your boss YOU decided which part of your job “isn’t that important.”   Or your wife: “sorry honey, I didn’t get to that today.  But you know, even though you asked me to do it, I decided it wasn’t that important.”  Hello couch bed.

Sure, there are those things that are important and not urgent.  The goal, of course, is to work on those before they are urgent and freaking you out.  I’ve yet to make this work well for me.  Again, that system assumes that some things are important, others are not.  Now you tell me – in ministry, what or who is unimportant?

Why yes, I am facing the tyranny of the important quite a bit these days.  In one sense, it’s great.  Everything I am involved in is of consequence.  I get to be part of things that matter.  On the other hand, there is no let up.  Most days, I feel like I am going from one major thing to another.  I don’t now about you, but this wears me out!

Jesus, how did you do it?  People always wanted your attention.  You seemed to be on the go most of the time.  I am so conscious of your last week in Jerusalem right now – you had so much going on!  I am sure that I only feel a bit of what you did, and I am barely holding on.  I am being buried by the important.  Spirit, you helped Jesus make it through.  I could use a little help here myself.

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When I was in college, I took a class on the Gospel of John.  It was one of my favourite classes – partially because the professor was fantastic, and partially because that book is fantastic.  I’ve always loved John’s Gospel and find myself returning to it regularly.  A few Friday’s ago, we did an imaginative reading of John 9:1-12.  We read the story of Jesus’ encounter with a man who had been born blind, placing ourselves in the story.

Basics of the story:

• In coming across a man born blind, Jesus’ disciples ask him about the cause of his blindness.  Was it because the man or his parents sinned?  Apparently the prevailing thought was that a condition like blindness was caused by sinful behaviour.  Seem silly?  Pretty sure we’re still trying to figure out WHY things happen, and make false attributions all the time.
• Jesus says that neither the man or parents sinned.  It has happened so God’s work might be displayed in his life.  What??  How can God’s glory be seen in a blind beggar?  And what is God waiting for?
• Jesus spits on the ground, makes mud, puts it on the man’s eyes, and tells him to go to the Pool of Siloam to wash it off (interesting technique).
• The man does, and he can see!

Jesus, you are amazing.  You cut through the superstition and speak truth.  You show your power and the healing available in God’s Kingdom.  I know all this.

But something that struck me from our reading this time through is that like in many other episodes in John, Jesus is demonstrating what he is saying.  Seems like people always wonder why Jesus used the mud as part of the man’s healing.  How about this…  Jesus, in effect, is saying that GOD made the man blind.  He acts this out by putting mud on his eyes.  God has covered your eyes with blindness.  I am covering your eyes with mud.

Why?  So the work of God might be displayed in the man’s life.  Go and wash, and see.  And as you see, THE REST OF US SEE GOD’S GLORY.

I think this is also a case where Jesus is clearly showing that he is God.  If God made the man blind (remember, he was born this way, it was not due to accident or illness), then only God could make him see.  Jesus frees the man to see.  If this healing displays GOD’S glory, and Jesus was the one who healed, then Jesus is God.

I pray: Jesus, you are indeed the light of the world.  You shine loving light into our darkness.  I have so many dark places.  You help us to see what is real, what is true.  Take away my blindness, I want to see.

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There is a parable that Jesus gives in Matthew 21:28-32 that has been on my heart again recently.  He tells the story of a man who makes a request of his two sons, asking about the appropriateness of their different responses:

“What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’

‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.

“Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.

“Which of the two did what his father wanted?”
“The first,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

On a first reading, it would appear that Jesus gives two response options and the Pharisess choose incorrectly so Jesus chastises them.  One might believe that Jesus indeed favors the response of the second son – the willing heart.  Those bad Pharisees, always choosing the “do what is right, forget about your heart.”  Willingness is preferred to obedience?

HOWEVER

Look at the broader context in which we find the parable.  Before this parable, we find:

• Jesus clearing the temple (v 12-17) – turning the place of connecting with God into a place of personal profit
• Cursing the fig tree (v 18-22) – judgment for not fulfilling one’s intended purpose
• Answering questions about his authority (v 23-27) – God being the source of authority, not human institutions

After this parable:

• The parable are the parable of the tenants (v 33-46) – questions of ownership (God or us) and receptivity to God’s instructions
• The story of the wedding feast (12:1-14) – God’s open invitation and responding in obedience

Invitations. Receptivity.  Obedience/responsibility.  God’s authority.

I wonder if Jesus isn’t actually saying the Pharisees chose the “wrong brother”?  Look again at WHY he yells at them…

“…John came to show you the way of righteousness and you didn’t believe.  The tax collectors and prostitutes did and even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.”

You have had several chances to hear from God and respond, yet you continue in your wrong ways and don’t believe.  You are the temple and fig tree who live religiosity and aren’t living as God would desire for you.  You have made this more about you than God.  You are not listening to the Father.  Is that like one of the brothers, or both?

I think Jesus is actually judging the Pharisees as wrong NOT because the brother they chose, but because they are not even true to their own response.  They chose the obedient (but without heart) brother.  But they have not been obedient to the Father themselves.  You have not repented… Jesus is simply holding them to the standard they have set for themselves, something he does often in the Gospels.

Note that Jesus DOES NOT SAY THEY ARE WRONG IN THEIR CHOICE.  Based on the teachings surrounding this parable, I would propose that throughout this section Jesus is advocating a willing heart that responds in obedience.  Which son did what the father wanted?  Neither.

What do you think?

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any religion/faith/philosophy that doesn’t offer actual and significant change for the present life isn’t worth much.  I’m not saying that eternity isn’t important (it’s a pretty long time, after all), but I’m not willing to put up with a boring, miserable, meaningless life in the meantime.  Think about it – how great can your offer be if it only has power for the AFTER-life?

Jesus offers full life – NOW.  May we all experience the rich and wonderful life God desires for us every day.

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I’ve just come across the NET Bible translation.  Wondering if anyone has read/used this one and could offer some thoughts?  I like the idea of an open and free Bible translation.

It is mentioned and used in the Breviary (book of prayer) of Missio Dei – a missional, neo-monastic community I resonate with.  Amongst other things, they have the Jesus Manifesto site, probably one of my favorite daily reads right now.  I’ve just received the Breviary and am thinking of using it for morning and evening prayers.

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God, may you pour out your Spirit today in Zimbabwe like you did in Jerusalem all those years ago.

Freedom.  Power.  Fire.  Wind.  Gospel in every tongue. Kingdom coming.

We are your witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

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How about this one… If you are like me and tend to define yourself by what you do, why not do less?

Shock.  Faint.  I can hear you fall on the floor from here.  “But I love what I do.”  Me too.  But just because you CAN do something doesn’t always mean you SHOULD.

I understand this is one of those “swing the pendulum really far the other way” type approaches.  I know this because even though I think it’s a good idea, at the end of the day I haven’t decreased what I am doing.  This has become a must for me because the “to do” list never goes away.  It will never go away.

Part of me takes great comfort in having things to do.  Part of me longs for the freedom to just live (and btw, do along the way).  Heck, when I really think about it, half the things I do aren’t all that significant anyway.

I submit the following piece of scripture which haunts me, partially because I know it is true and has the potential to be liberating.  Partially because it pierces me for the truth it speaks of my own heart:

What do you benefit if you gain the whole world, but lose your own soul?  Is anything worth more than your soul? Matthew 16:26

Is anything worth more than your soul?  What is the cost of doing everything you do (and most of us are far from “gaining the whole world” through our many efforts)?  Is it worth it?

Undoing the do-er #1: Do less.

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I am in Spain meeting with the other NieuCommunities team leaders.  This morning, we were sitting outside of our hotel room reading Colossians 1 together….

This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy.
We are writing to God’s holy people in the city of Colosse, who are faithful brothers and sisters in Christ.

May God our Father give you grace and peace.

We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people,  which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News.One of the guys cutting the hedge then walked over and asked us if we spoke Spanish.

“Un poco.”

So, he spoke in broken English… “Are you reading Bible”

“Yes.”

“I am also a student of the Bible.”

Big smiles, amens, Glori a Dios all around.  Resume reading…

This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.

Whoever was reading just stopped there.  All over the world, changed lives.  Just like us, just like him.  We live the story, don’t we?

Thank God for this small but powerful reminder today.  May He open your eyes just like this too,

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