The contrast in attitude between two people can be striking. In Luke 18:18-30, there's a story about a rich young ruler. He came looking for an audience with Jesus. I think he must have been somewhat pricked of conscience. He sought eternal life, and confessed his obedience to God's commandments. Then He was challenged to sell what he had and give to the poor. This was a man who was doing his best to live a godly life. The commandments he had kept "since I was a boy." As far as his actions went, you would imagine a person who was respected. I imagine that the riches he had he had earned fairly. Yet when it came down to it, those earned riches were too hard to give up.
Then there's another man. He's in Luke 19:1-10. He was also rich, but not in the same way. He was a tax collector and a cheat. He defied the saying, "Cheaters never prosper," because he seemed to be prospering quite nicely on the backs of regular folk trying to make a decent living. He did not come looking for Jesus--the people wouldn't have let him in anyway. He waited to see Jesus, just get a glimpse, crawl up a tree and hope he wasn't noticed.
One man came wondering what else he had to do, as if what he'd done was great but not quite enough. He was confident in his commandment-keeping. Not so with Zacchaeus. He “... was beginning to realize how bitter are the fruits of sin, and how difficult
the path of him who tries to return from a course of wrong. To be
misunderstood, to be met with suspicion and distrust in the effort to correct
his errors, was hard to bear. The chief publican longed to look upon the face
of Him whose words had brought hope to his heart.” (Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, page 553).
Quite a contrast in attitudes. Quite a contrast in humility. And look at which one Jesus Himself approached! The man up a tree and out on a limb!
I think about where Jesus found me. I was a bit of a broken person, not because of any observable behavior, but simply because I had lost my way and my anchor point in life. He found me, an adrift college freshman studying in his dorm room one day. When a fellow student came in that day and wound up sharing Jesus with me, it was as if Jesus was looking up at me in a tree, just trying not to fall out! It hasn't been perfect since then, but I've never doubted that He has been dining with me every day since, even on those days I haven't seen Him there.
Where do you find yourself? Wondering what else you have to do? Thinking you've been doing what you're supposed to do? Friendless, helpless, up a tree, and out on a limb? Riddled with guilt over things you've done?
Either way, Jesus seeks you. Either way, you have His attention. Either way He says, "Make Me your everything. Make things right. I love you."
(Based on Luke 19:1-10. Check out http://carrollwoodchurch.com/2013/06/today-with-jesus-june-27-2013.html for a study guide one this).
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Parental Expectations
I consider myself to be one of the fortunate few I've spoken with whose parents didn't have unreasonable, inflated expectations of me. Never did I note anyone implying that I should be a doctor or a lawyer or anyone other job considered to be high-paying or extra respectable. I didn't hear that I had to be a teacher like my parents, or a musician because my grandmother and mother taught music. To be honest, I felt quite a bit of freedom to be whoever I would discover I needed to be.
Of course I feel concern about the choices my children will make in life. The job situation is not what it once was. Employment opportunities change seemingly by the minute. I'm sure that by the time they are striking out on their own, things will look much different than they do today. Who knows what will even be respectable by then? Or high-income? Or what will even put food on the table?
James and John were two of Jesus' disciples whose mother had some pretty high ambitions for her children. For them to be disciples at all would have led her to believe that one day they could be rabbis as well, although it's appropriate that no other person in the Bible would carry that title after Jesus left--Jesus being the ultimate rabbi, a standard no human has any right to after He did it so perfectly. They had left all to follow Jesus, so it's not unreasonable for a mother to desire greatness for her children's future prosperity and prestige. Honestly, I don't look at her and think badly of her. Was she ignorant of the nature of God's Kingdom? Yes. Did she understand what kind of earthly future awaited those that followed Jesus? No, obviously. Based on what she knew, was she unreasonable? I'm not sure I can say that.
I leads me to wonder how much of Jesus' Kingdom I understand. I don't like suffering. I don't like, in my nature, to sacrifice too much. I don't like to feel ostracized. I don't like conflict.
Yeah, I'll admit it. I don't always like to carry the cross. I love the idea of it. It want to follow Jesus. And I even want to love that part of it that might not feel pleasant in the moment.
In the moment, as I accept Christ, I'm a member of His Kingdom. On this side of eternity, there's not a lot of real prestige that comes with it. Even within the church, you can follow Jesus to the very best of your ability, and someone will find fault with you and call you unworthy of something (ministry leadership, membership, etc.). But that's the cost of serving.
And I have to remember that word that is so important: serving. At the end of the day, it has to be about people. "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28). If I suffer for serving people, I may not like it in the moment, but so be it. If I am recognized for serving people, granting that I don't seek the recognition, so be it. Whatever may fall, if I'm truly following Jesus, mistreatment or praise won't be something I get wrapped up in.
I can accept being the closest to Jesus if that's what He wills. I can accept being mistreated for serving people as He did. I think that's what's really the gist of being a Kingdom citizen. It's about Jesus. Not me.
I just want to be that person described like this: "The one who stands nearest to Christ will be he who on earth has drunk most deeply of the spirit of His self-sacrificing love,--love that 'vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, ... seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil' (1 Corinthians 13:4, 5),--love that moves the disciple, as it moved our Lord, to give all, to live and labor and sacrifice, even unto death, for the saving of humanity."(The Desire of Ages, Ellen G. White, page 549)
Jesus. All.
(Based on Matthew 20:20-28. If you'd like to study this further for yourself, check out http://carrollwoodchurch.com/2013/06/today-with-jesus-june-26-2013.html)
Of course I feel concern about the choices my children will make in life. The job situation is not what it once was. Employment opportunities change seemingly by the minute. I'm sure that by the time they are striking out on their own, things will look much different than they do today. Who knows what will even be respectable by then? Or high-income? Or what will even put food on the table?
James and John were two of Jesus' disciples whose mother had some pretty high ambitions for her children. For them to be disciples at all would have led her to believe that one day they could be rabbis as well, although it's appropriate that no other person in the Bible would carry that title after Jesus left--Jesus being the ultimate rabbi, a standard no human has any right to after He did it so perfectly. They had left all to follow Jesus, so it's not unreasonable for a mother to desire greatness for her children's future prosperity and prestige. Honestly, I don't look at her and think badly of her. Was she ignorant of the nature of God's Kingdom? Yes. Did she understand what kind of earthly future awaited those that followed Jesus? No, obviously. Based on what she knew, was she unreasonable? I'm not sure I can say that.
I leads me to wonder how much of Jesus' Kingdom I understand. I don't like suffering. I don't like, in my nature, to sacrifice too much. I don't like to feel ostracized. I don't like conflict.
Yeah, I'll admit it. I don't always like to carry the cross. I love the idea of it. It want to follow Jesus. And I even want to love that part of it that might not feel pleasant in the moment.
In the moment, as I accept Christ, I'm a member of His Kingdom. On this side of eternity, there's not a lot of real prestige that comes with it. Even within the church, you can follow Jesus to the very best of your ability, and someone will find fault with you and call you unworthy of something (ministry leadership, membership, etc.). But that's the cost of serving.
And I have to remember that word that is so important: serving. At the end of the day, it has to be about people. "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28). If I suffer for serving people, I may not like it in the moment, but so be it. If I am recognized for serving people, granting that I don't seek the recognition, so be it. Whatever may fall, if I'm truly following Jesus, mistreatment or praise won't be something I get wrapped up in.
I can accept being the closest to Jesus if that's what He wills. I can accept being mistreated for serving people as He did. I think that's what's really the gist of being a Kingdom citizen. It's about Jesus. Not me.
I just want to be that person described like this: "The one who stands nearest to Christ will be he who on earth has drunk most deeply of the spirit of His self-sacrificing love,--love that 'vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, ... seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil' (1 Corinthians 13:4, 5),--love that moves the disciple, as it moved our Lord, to give all, to live and labor and sacrifice, even unto death, for the saving of humanity."(The Desire of Ages, Ellen G. White, page 549)
Jesus. All.
(Based on Matthew 20:20-28. If you'd like to study this further for yourself, check out http://carrollwoodchurch.com/2013/06/today-with-jesus-june-26-2013.html)
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