Today I said goodbye to one of my best friends. A friend who was by my side during some of the most painful and darkest times of my life. I also got to enjoy having him by my side during some of the greatest moments of my life. I got to watch him grow up, enjoy life, enjoy his brother, and grow old. Yesterday, he endured a horrible seizure that ended his consciousness. I came home from work to the horror of realizing the day that I had always wished would never happen. I thanked him, and reminded him of my love as he passed on.

One reflection from this great loss is how precious God’s creation truly is. How filled with beauty and wonder life truly is. I learned a lot of what it means to have and to give God’s love through taking care of and loving Kirby. Watching Kirby breath his last today will be something I never forget. His life is something I could never create, nor was his life something I could ever keep, but God’s grace to me, in allowing me to experience his life along the past 9.5 years, is countless in meaning and significance. I rest my heavy and broken heart in this confident hope: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor 2:9) Thank you, King Jesus. I long to see how you will restore all things at your appearing; when you truly make all that is wrong, ugly, broken in this world into your glorious perfection through the resurrection. Come Lord, quickly.

Why Pray? That is a question that I have wrestled with throughout my life. I’m a product of the enlightenment, and because of this I have struggled with the attributes of God being all powerful, all knowing, yet still requiring that I pray to him. Theologians and Christian philosophers have come up with fanciful concepts for addressing this problem in an intellectually satisfying manner, but as a biblically oriented Christian, I want to understand it from a biblical perspective.

As I was wrestling with this question, I was reminded of the time in the life of King David where Absalom, David’s son, was trying to take the kingdom from him. 2 Samuel 15 describes Absalom amassing for himself an army, and influencing the people to come to him so that he can bring justice in their lives by being judge for them. The King’s primary responsibilities were to go out to battle for them and to bring justice. These responsibilities are still apart of every nation even today.

When I juxtaposed the question of why pray with this passage of scripture, a huge light bulb came on for me. Jesus, the Christ, is the King. He is the resurrected King over all creation. That is the gospel. The good news is the proclamation that he is ruling and will, as N.T. Wright says, put all things “to rights!” By bringing our concerns, our problems, our needs for justice to him, we are in fact proclaiming to him and demonstrating with our lives that he is in fact our King.

So often in my Christian life when I have experienced problems I immediately go to trusted people in my life with my problems for counsel. Eventually I would bring my concerns to Christ, but seldom first. This has really struck me to heart and convinced me of why I should pray. Through bringing my concerns to Christ, through prayer, I am declaring to him that he is my King. I am manifesting my faith in the Gospel that he is the one who brings justice, and protects me from my enemies.

Praise you, King Jesus!

You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill cannot be hidden. People do not light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good deeds and give honor to your Father in heaven.

If you were to tell me that I am the light of the world, what would you be saying? It must have been an uncomfortable word from the famous rabbi from Nazareth to his disciples. These guys were lower class fishermen turned disciples of Rabbi Jesus. We can only guess what they thought and felt when Jesus told them this. We can see from their following discussions with Jesus that their understanding of Jesus was developmental. Growing up in the synagogue and learning Torah from their childhood Rabbi and community, they may have thought of the covenant that God made with Abraham. Part of that covenant was that through him, God would bless every nation of the world. (gen 22:17-18)

In the first century, Judea was ripe for the messiah. Many messianic figures rose and fell. It would be like today a leader who appears to be just what the country needs. Someone who can lead us out of economic, political, and social hardship into peace, justice, and restoration. Yet election cycle after election cycle the leader shows himself to be more than lacking. That was the case for the Kings of Judah and Israel from years past, prior to the exile in Babylon, and also their contemporary leadership appointed by Rome.

The one thing that they had at that time, that we do not, was prophecy that specifically addressed them and the Romans. The prophets told them that God would vindicate them in front of the nations of the world and return them from exile. In the midst of the oppression of the Romans, they were hopeful that Jesus might be this person. That he would be the promised anointed (king) son of David that would throw off the shackles of oppression, bring justice to the land, and restore the nation to unified relationship with Yahweh. For the people of Israel, kings functioned primarily in two ways. They were to go out to battle to fight for them, and to bring justice to the land. Jesus had just been baptized, or anointed by a great prophet, John the baptist. Not only did this happen, but the immediate falling of the spirit of God on Jesus would have brought powerful remembrance of King Saul, and King David. They no longer had the Philistines to worry about, but now it was the Romans, and the nation of Israel was divided into various factions. (Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Zealots, and the people of the Land.)

When Jesus told them that they were the light of the World, it is also possible that they thought in their minds of Jeremiah 31, where it speaks of the new Covenant that God was going implement, by giving them a new heart with the Law written on it. Jesus was revealing the gift of God’s covenant faithfulness to his people, and warning them not to hide the gift from others. The promise to be a blessing to all nations was being instituted and here Jesus was telling them to not put mirrors up around themselves so to keep the light for themselves. From the context of Jesus’ sermon up to this point, we can only assume that the light was the kingdom living that he had been describing. Just has John the Baptist had prophesied, Jesus would be transforming them such that it would be possible for them to be this light to the world. (acts 1:4-8)

Do you want to be apart the kingdom of God? Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” (rev 3:20) You have to open the door to him. He desires to come in and promises to do so if you open the door to your life to him. He will transform your darkness and make you a child of His kingdom.

You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

The salt of the earth? Its a strange description for Jesus to give to his disciples. Salt has two functions. The first is for bringing out the taste in a meal that would typically lack taste, and the second is of preservation for decaying meat. Prior to the invention of refrigerators and iceboxes, salt was necessary for preserving meat so that it would last longer. These are two aspects to salt. It is important to remind ourselves as we read this verse that Jesus is primarily emphasizing the aspect of taste. One can successfully argue that the aspect of preservation is definitely implied, and they would be right. If we want to hear the message intended by the author, we should first attend to the aspect that is being emphasized.

Another interesting thing about this phrase, the salt of the earth, is the genitive “of the earth.” Jesus does not say, the salt from heaven or the salt from light, as some dualists would prefer. The salt is centered in the creation as belonging to that very good creation that Yahweh created. We are to be the salt of this world, that bears the flavors that God intended. Sadly to say, so many Christians hold to almost a gnostic notion that God is going to finally liberate us from this world and bring us to some non-physical existence or altered world. Nothing could be farther from the Christian message. The message of the resurrection is this world renewed and restored with restored physicality. If we are the salt of this world, than we are not becoming something unhuman, but truly more human, as God originally designed and intended.

As I mediate on this passage a couple of things come to mind. In cooking, one would use salt for a number of purposes, but the final result of the salt is a better tasting meal, which is consumed by the recipients of the meal. If the meal is a piece of meat sometimes a lot of salt will be used as in a rub, or if its a delicate meal only a small portion of salt maybe used. No matter how the salt is used the final result is consumption. It seems best to think of the cook as the Lord Jesus and the salt as the corporate body of His people. When Jesus says you are the salt of the world, the you he is addressing is in the plural, not the singular. We can never truly become salt, that is useful in the hands of King Jesus, unless the I’s become united We’s.

If you are a Christian … You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. (1 Cor 6:19-20) The mark of the Christian is obedience to King Jesus, and specifically His creed of loving God, and loving others. Collectively, Christians are to be the salt of the world. The church is what reveals the flavor of Christ to the world. It is important to underscore that this flavor requires consumption. Just as Christ’s body was broken for us, so the church must be broken for the world. This is our spiritual act of worship. Why else would Jesus make taking up the cross daily a condition of discipleship?

Our life purpose is to know Christ, bear his fruit, and to have that fruit consumed by others. That might mean, with great pains, forgiving someone who is unforgivable, or providing for the needs of our enemies, or whatever Christ has instructed for us to do. If we, as the church, stop bearing this fruit or saltiness, what good are we? We have no other purpose in this analogy than being salt. The only true Christian community is one that is obedient to King Jesus. God declares his salvation to his covenant people and the only mark of membership in that covenant is faith, which is confirmed through obedience to King Jesus. If the visible church remains in disobedience, that community only has the reward of salt that loses its saltiness. This threat was carried out with the seven churches of Revelation, and as Jesus says, “It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.”

Jesus said that a good tree can not bear bad fruit, and a diseased tree can not bear good fruit. Do you want to be a good tree that bears good fruit? Do you want to be truly human? Only Jesus can heal and continue to heal your body, and only he can transform you. You can only produce what you are. Do you want the Kingdom of God? If you do, seek Him with all of you and only then can you become a vital part in the salt of the earth, by only the grace and work of King Jesus Christ alone.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Do you want mercy? That question assumes that we would need mercy. For the morally “upright”, “self” made, perfectionist, he or she perhaps thinks that mercy is only for the weak willed and minded. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. We are the product of our creator, and not one of us is self made. We have been created in the image of God, Yahweh. We have the ability to make decisions, to love, to create and to work. St. John’s words that those who say they are without sin, lie and deceive themselves assumes that our creator has particular demands and purposes for us. Deep down inside we know this is true. Deep down inside we desire justice. We hate injustice like the gas chambers of Nazi Germany, the genocide of Dar 4, the massacre of millions of inconvenient unborn innocents. Even just living the American lifestyle enslaves 2/3′s the world in debt that it can never repay and that forces them into lives of cheap suffocating labor. Do you want mercy when you are judged by your creator? When you are judged on your actions and your inactions? Be Merciful.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Who wants to see God? The tiresome argument of the atheist is the absence of empirical, testable evidence for the existence of God. If one wants to see God, know his character, touch him, and know that he is true then they will listen to this challenge by Jesus himself. Be pure in heart, and you will see God. What does it mean to be pure in heart? David in Psalm 24 says that He who has clean hands and a pure heart,who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. Picking up from the previous point, you have a creator. If you lift up your soul, or worship or serve with your life someone or thing other than your creator, than your heart will be impure. If you are deceptive, you are damaging the integrity of your heart. Do not make the focus of your life the exterior things that people look at and grade you on. God places little value on these things. Be concerned for the internal character issues, the purposes of why He created you. Being about the business of bearing His image, seeking justice, being focused on others, and yielding to Him. The creed of Jesus is only this… Love God and Love others. The life that is consumed with self only makes you into a loaf of bread that is consumed by the world and is no more. The life consumed with the passion for a pure heart experiences the fulfillment of existence, makes one truly human, and enables one in an ongoing basis to see and experience God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Do you want to truly be what you were created to be? Do you want to be the image bearer of God, the sons and daughters of God himself? Be producers of his peace. During the height of the Roman Empire, the citizens of Rome and those who benefited from its rule, experienced what is known as the Pax Romana. The Peace of Rome. For the most part, they were free from violence and were able to have a life without the threat of immediate destruction. It was a place where children could grow up and have the possibility of a meaningful life. The reason we need human government is because of ourselves. Within each of us is a sin nature that if let untended to produces violence and destruction. The gospel is this… We have a King, we have a true Caesar who has opened the kingdom to us by defeating sin and death through his Resurrection, and will resurrect and transform those who will freely serve him. Do you want to be a son of God? Be productive in producing the Pax of the Kingdom of God right now in the lives of people all around you. Give them a taste of what the Kingdom ruled by Lord Jesus is really like. Place Jesus as Lord / King / Caesar / President of your life by living for him and being obedient to him. Be a Peace maker!

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

What is the mark of those who are the citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven / God? Its the willingness and the experience of being persecuted for kingdom living. Its doing what God calls you to do despite the consequences. One might ask, why would you suffer for doing what is right? That question assumes that this world submits and is apart of the Kingdom of God. The truth is this world at some points mirrors kingdom living. This is because this world was created by our creator and continues to operate on His DNA. It bears his image, and has his imprint. Though this is true, the world is in rebellion to the its creator. It worships / serves itself and is inwardly focused. Those who operate outside of this rebellion are counter-cultural, and will experience persecution. As St. Peter commented…

20For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. 21For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. – 1 Peter 2:20-21

Do you want to inherit or be a citizen of the Kingdom of God? Be willing to live as a citizen now, regardless of the resistance.

You might be thinking… especially if you are a Christian. Does this guy believe in a works based salvation? Is he thinking one can earn the acceptance of God?

My answer to this is simple, No and yes. No for earning, but yes for obedience. In Koine Greek the present active indicative, which is usually not translated well into English, is of continuing action. One does not at one moment believe or have faith in general intellectual propositions about God, and is then saved. Those who are saved or apart of Yahweh’s salvation are those who are continuously believing. Even the word for faith or belief is dubious to our modern ears. As James says, faith without works is dead. The evidence of trust or faith is the ongoing action based on that trust. Do you regard Jesus as Lord, as your king, as your president? Strive to be continually obeying him!

Most of the Christian church as chosen one side of a two sided coin. On one side of the coin we see our temporal 4 dimensional reality of length, width, height, and a linear time line. The other side of the coin is the perspective of God, who is completely outside of dimensions. The bible describes realities from both perspectives. God already knows those who are in his Kingdom and will be resurrected for eternal life. We only know our next step, or breath. The mark of the Christian is perseverance of active trust / faith. The Christian is the one who continues after the merciful and just King, Jesus the Messiah.

I encourage Christians to accept both perspectives. Our obedience to God is the mark of his salvation work in our lives. Paul was quite serious that the Phillippian church should workout their salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is working in and through them. We need to be about the work that God has given us, and also aware of the work that God is doing in us. We need to accept both realities. One without the other is insufficient for producing spiritual maturity

Sometimes hearing something in just a different way helps in having it take on fresh life. The Sermon on the Mount starting in Matthew 5 is just one of those passages that I need that for. It has been said that this is one of the most often taught on but so infrequently practiced areas of scripture. That has been true in both senses in my life. I have heard it preached, taught, and I have read it so many times that it is difficult for those past experiences not to cloud my perception of God speaking to me anew through these most important words. I have been reading the book, Celebration of Disciple, by Richard Foster. The second chapter speaks of mediating on scripture and how the practice of that is so important. Just taking time to mediate on it, think it through, and have God reveal his word personally through it to your life. The following is my mediation on Matthew 5:3-6.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Do you want the Kingdom of God? Do you want to be able to live in the perfect state of Christ’s Lordship of your life? Do you feel just as frustrated and discouraged as I do that I fail at that goal each day? Be poor in spirit. Recognize that you can do nothing apart from him. When temptation is forcing itself on you, pray and humble yourself before your King, who is right beside you and ask him for help. Do you doubt he will give it to you or that he has the power to do it? Ask, and it will be given. Seek, and you will find it. The key is knowing that you are poor, naked, powerless and desperately in need.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Do you want to be comforted? That assumes that you are uncomfortable. What brings you comfort? Laughing with friends? Enjoying your spouse? What is your precious? If you really want to be comforted, you need to be willing to release what is precious to you. Release it such that it no longer defines what is comfort. As long as our definition of comfort excludes intimate communion with the Father, through Christ, our senses will be insufficient for experiencing His comfort. We cling to what we know, but Jesus is calling us beyond what we know. Do you want to be comforted? Be willing to mourn to that which insufficiently comforts you.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

The word for earth in Greek is ge, which also means land. Jesus, a jew, was speaking to jews. Which land do you think he was speaking of? Do you want to inherit the land of promise of YHWH? Do you desire the blessing of belonging to a YHWH established community? Do you desire the ability to enjoy the fruit of your labors? Does the vision of being united with others by the Spirit of God have any hold on your life? Would it be exciting to be apart of a community where it doesn’t depend on your power to maintain it? Where people love you, support you, accept you, want to build you up, and where YHWH’s peace reigns? Be meek. Be unassuming. Be kind. Be gentle. Don’t allow yourself to assume the worst of others. Acknowledge that those who surround you were created by God and bear his image. Be respectful of them if not only for the fact that they were carefully and wonderfully made by YHWH. To be brash, assuming, unkind, and harsh dishonors the one whose image they bear.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied

Do you want righteousness? Do you want to be to vindicated? Do you want the approval of God? Do you want to live a life that reflects in every way the image of God in perfect radiance? You reflect who or what you really worship. Do you really know what YHWH is like? Do you want to be of His character? Hunger and thirst for it. Put every ounce of your intelligence, heart, strength, and power into the pursuit of it. To do otherwise is to become like a piece of bread that is consumed. You are not bread, you were especially created by YHWH to become a daughter or son. Like Jacob and Esau, will you trade your birthright and position for soup? Something that is consumed?

“To us a human is primarily food; our aim is the absorption of its will into ours, the increase of our own area of selfhood at its expense. But the obedience which that Enemy demands of men is quite a different thing. One must face the fact that all the talk about His love for men, and His service being perfect freedom, is not (as one would gladly believe) mere propaganda, but an appalling truth. He really does want to fill the universe with a lot of loathsome little replicas of Himself– creatures whose life, on its miniature scale, will be qualitatively like His own, not because He has absorbed them but because their wills freely conform to His. We want cattle who can finally become food; He wants servants who can finally become sons. We want to suck in, he wants to give out. We are empty and would be filled; He is full and flows over. Our war aim is a world in which Our Father Below has drawn all other beings into himself: the Enemy wants a world full of beings united to Him but still distinct.” – Uncle Screwtape

From the Screwtape Letters, letter 8 by C.S. Lewis

If you want to become a son / daughter, hunger and thirst for it, and His promise for you is that you will be satisfied!

by Dr. William Lane Craig

(1) The beginning of the universe.

(2) The fine-tuning of the universe.

(3) The existence of objective moral values.

(4) The resurrection of Jesus.

(5) Is there Good Evidence for Atheism?

(6) Could the Universe just Pop into Being?

There are many people who have a feeling that God hates them. This belief often includes the feeling that God takes a special interest in frustrating their existence. Or that God some how is the great cosmic kill joy. The truth of the matter is that God is deeply involved in bringing redemption and life even to those who are most resistant.

“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
[John 10:10b]

The proper concept of God requires one to think outside of their tunnel of pain and existence. I would like to point you to Jesus as the authority for giving us an accurate picture of the nature of God. I would like to display for you what Jesus said in Luke 15 that directly addresses this painful misconception.

Let me set the stage so Jesus’ words can be understood within their context. Jesus was known as one who would hang out with those whom the religious community would not want to be caught dead with. Jesus had no interest in appearances, but rather was focused on his purpose. His purpose can easily be summed up in three verses.

38For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
[John 6:38-40]

Over and over again, Jesus was being charged with eating and receiving the tax collectors and sinners by the Jewish leaders at the time. Modern day American Christians tend to be defined by a similar stereotype of not smoking, cussing, or drinking nor hanging out with those who do. Terms like holy rollers or holier-than-thou ring resonance with the attitude and tone of the 1st century Pharisees that Jesus was interacting with.

In our age and culture a sinner is someone who doesn’t follow someone else’s religious “rules”. Being told that you are a sinner is usually initially reacted by a thought of how dare you judge me according to your own culturally relative “rules.” For the Jewish people sin had massive consequences for their ability to exist. On account of their covenant with God, their ability to live in the land and to remain as an autonomous people relied on them fulfilling God’s Law, the Torah. So those who engaged in willful sin threatened the entire nation. Hopefully that will lay the context for why these Pharisees and scribes were as critical as they were.

Lets take a look at Luke 15:

1Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
[Luke 15:1-2]

These two verses give us the setting for all that follows and is vitally important for understanding the symbolism and purpose for Jesus’ following three parables. First lets start with an observation and a question. My first observation is that I find it very interesting that those who would typically be on the outside of the religious community would be drawing near to hear him. There was obviously something about Jesus that made it irresistible to stop their required activities to listen to him.

My first question is why are tax collectors mentioned in this passage and included in the charge against Jesus? During the time of Jesus, the Romans occupied the land of Israel. Their occupation was a great insult and frustration to the Jewish community and also a sign of the judgment of God against the people of Israel. Not only were the Jews frustrated by having to pay taxes to Caesar but they also despised their fellow Jews who would act as tax collectors for the Roman tax. These fellow Jews were seen as traitors and even worse than sinners.

In response to this charge by the Pharisees, Jesus said the following:

3So he told them this parable: 4″What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? 5And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
[Luke 15:3-7]

This small parable is known as the Parable of the lost sheep. Jesus in this parable displays his intentions to the Pharisees and scribes by telling them that even one of his sheep are as important as all of them. Such that he loves and values them so highly that he would risk everything for even one. I think one can go so far to say from this parable that He values those who are truly broken and ready to receive, rather than those who are prideful and “self-made” in terms of righteousness.

He immediately interprets the parable as an illustration as to why he was receiving and eating with sinners. His purpose was to bring them to repentance for the purpose of saving them. His mentioning the ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance, was a subtle rebuke to the Pharisees and scribes who would know their sinfulness within their consciousness.

8″Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? 9And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ 10Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
[Luke 15:8-10]

Jesus continues on with the parable of the lost coin. The type of coin mentioned in this parable was a drachma. It is understood that the value of even one of these coins was a full day’s pay for a laborer. Again Jesus highlights how intensely God seeks out the sinner, and once repentance occurs how there is such joy.

Again and again the word sinner is being used in this chapter. Its important to point out that sin describes the act of violating God’s law. We are told that sin separates us from God and that even if we only sin once in our lives that it still makes us a sinner. The heart of any sin is idolatry. Whether its theft, murder, drunkenness, or false witness, all have their root in choosing our own way. Deep within every sin is the subtle sin of self-idolatry. Paul in his letter to the Romans tells us that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. That there is none who are righteous, none who do good, and that all have fallen away from God. The problem that the Pharisees and scribes had was that in some way they thought they were not sinners.

Now that Jesus had lead his Pharisee and scribe listeners through two parables, he then brings them to his pinnacle parable. This parable will draw them in through narrative to reveal the error in charging him with some type of wrong for caring for those separated from God.

11And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. 12And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. 13Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. 14And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. 15So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.
[Luke 15:11-16]

An inheritance is not received until there is a death of the parent, and only then are the possessions given to the descendants. By the son asking for his inheritance from his father he was in a sense saying to his father to give what is rightfully his and go die. Paul declares that we have all done the same thing to our father in heaven in the following passage from Romans 1:

18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

24Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
[Romans 1:18-24]

Regardless of our human parents, we all have a Father who is our creator. That creator has revealed Himself to us through his creation and also designed us for His purpose. Instead of embracing that purpose we have exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the created rather than the Creator. You might ask… I have? The truth of the matter is we love to worship ourselves. The moment that we believe that we are the makers of our own destiny, we are worshiping ourselves. Instead of being obedient to our creator we demand our rightful inheritance (our abilities, mind, bodies, etc) and tell our father to go and die. The lost son is clearly all of us.

The son leaves very quickly for another country and spends all his inheritance in reckless living. By stating it as reckless living, Jesus strays the mind from limiting it to one type of activity. This limiting language points the attention away his reckless living as being the egregious sin but instead the product of the real sin that he did to his father. Sinfulness almost always has a season of enjoyment. There is a brief period of time that sin affords the sinner a taste of enjoyment and fulfillment. But just as the drug brings us up, so the high must come down. The reality that the lost son experiences was being in a land of famine without a way to sustain himself. He hires out his body to the citizens of that foreign land where he is mistreated and malnourished. What addict can not identify with this?

17″But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! 18I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”‘
[Luke 15:1-19]

His suffering enabled him to see the futility of his life of sin. His mind immediately reminded him of the care that his father had for his servants. He began the first step of repentance, which is coming to terms with what he did wrong and experiencing sorrow for his evil. By confessing his sin, and acknowledging that he was no longer worthy of being called his father’s son, it is clear he understands the seriousness of his sin.

20And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’[c] 22But the father said to his servants,[d] ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.
[Luke 15:20-24]

The lost son does not remain in his sorrow, but makes the final step of his repentance. He turns away from his sinful life, and returns to his father just as he was. He had no idea what was next to happen as he started to approach his father’s property. His father RAN to him, embraced him and kissed him. As he rattled off his rehearsed confession to his father, his father doesn’t appear to even listen to his appeal. His father immediately tells his servants to get the best robe and the family ring. By doing so his father immediately restores him as his son, and rejoices with intense celebration. This is the perfect picture of the love that our real father has for us. Our real father is our creator.

25″Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 28But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 29but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. 30But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ 31And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”
[Luke 15:25-32]

Who do you think is the older son? If you think it is the Pharisees and the scribes you are correct. His anger for his brother’s return and his father’s response to his return displays the error that the Pharisees are making in their charge against Jesus. They think that the father’s response to the repentant sinner is uncalled for. They think that the father is making a mistake in receiving one who has not “earned” their place at his table. What the Pharisees were mistaken on is the nature and character of God, just like the one who feels that God hates them. God loves us with a love that none can fully understand nor replicate. His love for us is so intense that it is demonstrated in this…

8but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
[Romans 5:8]

God loves us so much as to take upon himself the penalty for our sinfulness, so that we can be justified and be restored as sons and daughters of God. The only thing that is required is the following:

8But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”
[Romans 10:8-11]

What Paul is saying here is that if we are to declare Jesus as our Lord / Master / King / Caesar, and believe that God has risen him from the dead, that we will be saved. By God raising him from the dead, God, within objective history for all the world to see, verified the truthfulness of all of the “blasphemous” things that Jesus said of himself that lead him to the cross.

In as much as Jesus’ purpose was to not lose one that was given to him, he made the following comment that includes you:

14I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. … 27My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29My Father, who has given them to me,[a] is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30I and the Father are one.”
[John 10:14-16, 27-30]

If you receive Jesus’ words and believe on him you are one of his other sheep who are from the other fold. Will you return to your father’s house? Will you turn from your rebellion to him? If you do, just like the lost son… he will run to you, embrace you, kiss you, and restore you as his son / daughter.

-jason batt

Jason and I are planning on selling our home so that we can move into town. We’re trying to go through our stuff to get rid of anything that we don’t need and at the same time, trying to get at least some money for some of these things.

At dinner the other night, a friend told us that he and his wife posted some of their books on half.com and made a decent amount of money. The ironic thing is, earlier that same day, Jason had gone to the men’s prayer breakfast at our church and upon coming home, I was in the process of taking pictures of his Electrolux vacuum cleaner bags and told him I was about to post it on eBay. He had long ago donated his vacuum cleaner to a thrift store somewhere but unknowingly still had the bags that went with it.

The day after I posted the vacuum cleaner bags, someone offered to “buy it now” if I gave them that option. I decided “why not just get rid of it now” so the eBay buyer got what she wanted and we got what we wanted.

Anyways, the same day, we went through out stuff and got rid of anything we didn’t need and could get money for. In the process of posting 28 books, 16 movies, and 1 music item, someone bought A BOOK. So it made us feel good that we made 10 bucks right away. Jason got excited and started looking for more stuff to get rid of. The trick is setting the price a few cents below the lowest price.

If you’re thinking about unloading and need some money, this is a great way to put some money in your bank account If you’ve seen the movie or read the book, just get rid of it and don’t be a packrat. Chances are, you probably won’t watch or read it again. You have many more books to read and movies to watch instead of watching a movie you’ve already seen or reading a book you’ve already read. Get whatever you can for it now and post it on eBay or

half.com.

On the other hand, if there’s a movie that you want to see and you’re someone who watches it when you “get around to it,” which means, late fees if it’s a rental, check out half.com because you can get some movies for as low as 75 cents. You pay for shipping and quite possibly, you can get your money back later once you unload it.