Powerful Secrets

Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him." Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus *said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?" Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." (John 3:1-5, NASB)

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I was listening to a reading of John's Gospel the other day, and the familiar story of Nicodemus was playing. Like many of you, I've heard this story since my early Sunday School days. We learned early how the man came at night, what his position was, and his puzzlement at Jesus saying he had to be "born again" to experience God's Kingdom personally. I even remember one of these verses being used for "X" in the alphabetical listing of Bible verses we were to learn (relying on "except"). But this time through, a different thought struck me.

Nicodemus, a Pharisee, came to Jesus and presented a confirmation from the council regarding who Jesus was. Now, they may not have all believed He was Messiah (though Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea did), the statement made reveals that the most learned, religious men in Israel recognized that Jesus was teaching with specific authority from God. This had to have been some sort of secret acknowledgement, because any public position from the council was that Jesus was an insane heretic!

Yet, here we have a man who genuinely is seeking the truth about something he has seen but cannot explain. We may never know the exact transcript of the conversation that took place that night, but something in Nicodemus' tone or words prompted our Lord to point him to new birth as the key to God's Kingdom. Jesus goes on to describe a second birth - a re-birth of the heart that is now pitched toward God. It wasn't about religion (Nicodemus had that nailed as a Pharisee), it was about something else entirely. And then, as every Sunday School kid will recite to you, Jesus sums it all up with what we know as John 3:16.

God's heart, embodied in Jesus as a man, reached out to Nicodemus encouraging him to believe even though he didn't completely understand it. The "powerful secret" that the council tried so hard to cover up was not only true, it was so much more. It wasn't just about a new authority coming with God's blessing; it was about God blessing us all with His very presence and taking on the complete human experience to show us just how passionate He really is about His creation. That passion is so great, it requires a re-birth of our souls, a heart transplant to make us capable and fit for the Kingdom. It comes at no price to us and yet the cost was immeasurable. Ultimately, Nicodemus embraced his own inability to comprehend it all from a textbook perspective and followed Christ. He was re-born!

How about us today? What are we looking for and how are we going about it? As I see it, God is still the same (at least that's what I read that He tells us) and offers that same point of entrance. However we frame it: new birth, coming as a child, transplant of our stone hearts for a flesh heart, or connecting to the Spring of Living Water ... the call is the same. Jesus wanted a relationship with Nicodemus and He wants one with us.

As I journey by Crooked Path, I am astounded how much God looks out for me. In times of trouble or want, blessing or relative ease, and every step of the way, the God of Eternity has my best interest at heart. He continues His pursuit of me for the sake of the relationship He desires. Like Nicodemus, my only part is to come to Him in honesty and humility. He will take care of everything else the best way He can think of.

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1. Does God's requirement for being "re-born" strike you as odd? Do you find yourself in the position of Nicodemus, questioning the logistics of it all?
   
2. Are you able to see past all the metaphors and images? Can you grasp that what God is really after is a change of our heart?
   
3. Do you find yourself comfortable or uncomfortable with this type of God? Does His passionate pursuit make you uneasy? Or can you swallow what you think you "know" in order to experience a deeper relationship and understanding of the Kingdom?

I Contribute Nothing

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. (John 7:37-39, ESV)

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As we wrapped up our last class of the quarter, we reflected on what we had discussed. We had talked about Lent, to which most of my friends had never given a second thought, and how we might apply that in our non-liturgical forms. We had moved through several Christian discipline subjects (Meditation, Silence/Solitude, Prayer, and Study) after our initial discussion and challenged each other how we can deepen our relationship with Christ and know God more fully. We generally agreed that Meditation and Solitude are foundational to all the rest and are not an easy thing to accomplish. And today, as we summed it all up, my friend Jim made a fascinating observation.

We aren't required, or even capable, of doing anything to enhance our relationship with God. In choosing to pursue the disciplines, whether at the time of Lent or in some other way, the goal is not to give something up for temporal, human reasons (though there isn't anything wrong with that by any means). The goal is to lay aside what I think is important so I can hear and experience God. I need to, as Jim said, let the life He offers wash over me completely. Only in doing that can I deepen the experience God wants me to have and grow in the relationship. Much like Christ said in this passage from John, the result of this connection is not an increase in me, but in the Spirit flowing from God through me.

The Crooked Path offers many opportunities for learning and spiritual growth. I have been challenged, as were those in the class, to take every opportunity provided to move closer to God. He is the constant and has already provided what will suit me best. God is the single source for it all and I, in the end, contribute nothing except my obedience and a willing heart.

A Noisy Gong

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3, ESV)

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We're nearing the end of the sojourn discussing Lent and the Christian disciplines. Only one more class remains and this week was the second discussion on study. I was particularly influenced by some writing by Francis Chan regarding the goal of study and how we relate to the world around us. A core question was, "When people are around you, do they get glimpses of God? Or do they just see a lot of knowledge?"

Taking this question to heart, I have to ask myself, "To what end do I do my study?" I've said all along, the practice of disciplines - whether in conjunction with Lent or not - is to deepen my relationship with God. But if I'm seeking to go deeper without any regard to what others see, then I'm doing what Paul warns about in the 1 Corinthians passage. I'm a lot of noise with no real substance.

Practice of the disciplines is a good thing. Study, the kind that digs deep and seeks to learn and apply something that will truly change my life, is also a very good aim. But if that life is changed only in a superficial way, then Paul is correct - "I am nothing." My focus needs to seek to strengthen my relationship with my Father and extend my reach to my brothers and sisters.

Along my travels on this Crooked Path, hen a dark, lost world sees me they should see Christ. As Chan says, when I encounter someone, I need ask the question, "How can I lift up this person with the knowledge I have?" Anything else, is just a noisy gong.

Knowledge Isn't Enough

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 2:15 & 3:16-17, ESV)

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Our world seems to value knowing "stuff" so much. The information age (and the accompanying overload) have given us 24x7 access to pretty much everything. Yet in the midst of our hurried and harried lifestyles, the art of true study has taken a back seat - or even worse. So many of us have lost or never even had the patience, diligence, and just plain old desire to really learn about something and experience it deeply. And even those that do study, narrow their focus to the point where the results don't lead to much more than being a knowledgeable expert on a subject which nobody really cares about anyway.

As one of the topics in his book Celebration of Discipline, Richard foster discusses the pursuit of study. He equates true study with the "thinking on these things" we know so well from Philippians 4:8. And study isn't limited to books or articles or research either. Study includes the observation of our world around us and the people we encounter. Study embraces every possible aspect of learning so that we may evaluate the lesson to be learned and see how it can deepen our relationship to God and, in turn, cause us to advance His Kingdom here and now.

In my travels on this Crooked Path, I will doubtless acquire knowledge of all kinds. I should never allow myself to think that knowledge is, by itself, sufficient as a means to an end. I need to go deeper and study ... learn. I must reach out to the One Teacher who will shape my mind so I reflect Christ, not just facts and knowledge, to all who I encounter. Only a true student of the Master can achieve that end.

A Prayer Challenge

As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. And I said, "O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father's house have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.' They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man." (Nehemiah 1:4-11, ESV)

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This week, in our class on Lent and the Christian Disciplines, we discussed prayer again. I opened with this passage from Nehemiah and we talked through it on its own and in comparison to the Model Prayer our Lord presented the disciples. We talked about Nehemiah's penitent heart and manner, his sincere humility before his God. His acknowledgement of who God is and what He had promised to His people. If ever there was a model prayer, this is definitely in the running.

The challenge here is to evaluate my own prayer life and practice. Am I investing in it the way I should so that it is as rich and complete as it can be? Or am I approaching the work of prayer as a "necessary chore" that I'd like to get over with as quickly as possible? The latter accomplishes very little in terms of my spiritual progress. The former will change my life completely.

In preparation for this topic in class, I found a couple of posts from Christianity Today (www.christianitytoday.com) by Anna Broadway. I hadn't read Ms. Broadway's work until I found these posts, but she offers some great insight on personal prayer. She talks about "prayer walking" and truly praying for those around her in her NYC neighborhood. The focus on compassion (which she noted was distinctly lacking in her prayer life) was challenging. Foster had noted this in Celebration of Discipline as well. I left the class today knowing I want to learn how to pray in a deeper, more passionate way that seeks what God wants - not merely what I think should happen.

The Crooked Path being what it is - crooked - needs to be surrounded in prayer. Those prayers should become an integral part of who I am and seek to advance God's Kingdom here on Earth. They should be compassionate prayers that ask Jesus to reign not only in my life, but in the lives of all those I encounter, even if it is a casual one. My prayers need to be more than just talking to God; they need to listen to His voice and seek out a way to be His hands and feet in a difficult world.

Lord, Teach Us to Pray

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." And he said to them, "When you pray, say: "Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation." (Luke 11:1-3, ESV)

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Such familiar words ... and so many thoughts behind them. While these might not have been the best educated of men, they were "good Jews" from their youth and they certainly had said their prayers since they were old enough to talk. Yet, here they are asking the question of their Master and it should give us pause to think. Just why did they choose this time in their relationship to ask Him that question?

I asked my Sunday School class about this today. We talked about how long they had been together (we speculated somewhere around a year or so) and what they had seen. In Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline, he offered that they had seen something in Jesus that was different. We discussed the authority and power with which Jesus prayed - direct prayer for people that resulted in lives being changed. And, it made us think a bit about our approach to prayer.

In James (specifically 4:3), the brother of our Lord says the believers of his day didn't see results from their prayer because they asked the wrong way for the wrong reasons. We discussed this a bit in terms of treating God as some "cosmic slot machine" or a "genie" of some sort. But it is more than just "asking the right way". It extends to our hearts as we approach God's throne.

Foster says, "Prayer catapults us onto the frontier of spiritual life." I think that really meshes well with the thoughts we've shared in class and on this forum regarding meditation (having our hearts in the right place to be able to hear God when He speaks) and silence/solitude (putting ourselves physically in a place away from the noise of life so we are more apt to hear God when he speaks). Prayer, in this frame of mind, is a natural extension of our hearts as we commune with God.

The Crooked Path is varied. It brings so many different things into my experience, all of which are seen by God. He wants me to seek him diligently and deepen my relationship with Him. This is more than mere "talking to God" - it is an active practice of moving closer to Him. In choosing to do that, I need to echo the words of that disciple quoted in Luke ... "Lord, teach me to pray."

Easter in Heaven

When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands. And standing in the middle of the lampstands was someone like the Son of Man. He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest. His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were like flames of fire. His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves. He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was like the sun in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said, "Don't be afraid! I am the First and the Last. I am the living one. I died, but look - I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave." (Revelation 1:12-18, NLT)

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Invariably, when I hear about someone losing a loved one (or even one who has such a loss pending), I am transported back to the deaths of my father and brother. The tears come swiftly, and at times I find it hard to speak. This occasion was no different, even though I had never met Louise. I had served briefly with one of her sons on the deacon board and, though he had moved away, he happened to be there that morning when we learned that she had been brought home for hospice care. Given the calendar, I had a single thought - Easter in heaven.

She was reunited with her Savior shortly after that, and this entry began to solidify in my mind. The passage in Revelation pressed on my heart and, in some sort of fulfillment of the Lenten study I have undertaken, thoughts about Heaven came closer to the forefront. If I read this passage correctly, I'm thinking that it must be Easter in Heaven every day. Frankly, that's an almost overwhelming thought, yet it seems to ring so true.

I wonder if our loved ones are at first a little terrified when they see Jesus. John says he was, though he wasn't actually dead at the time. But the powerful image he records and the comforting words that echoed from the throne still embody the message of Easter in such a unique way. Easter is the culmination of the Incarnation and the gateway to our eternal life with God. And there Jesus stands, in all His glory, proclaiming that He is "the Living One" and holding the keys to death and the grave.

If I ever write a story about a true conquering hero, I'm thinking I should use this as a model. Oh, we've seen the images in so many ways. Gandalf's second coming to the Fellowship is as a newly risen white wizard. The Pevensie children are called from one world into the next and anxiously await the arrival of Aslan for their rescue. But even these great tales pale in comparison with the words Jesus spoke to John. There He stood - the Risen One who had conquered death and dying once and for all. Easter was more than just some event on the Christian calendar ... it was and is the reality of Heaven each and every day.

The absolute wonder and bliss of that moment, seeing the Savior face-to-face, must be an amazing thing! And while our journey here on Earth cycles through the seasons and feasts and events that seem to repeat, in Heaven, I think it is truly Easter every day. Because Easter is the symbol of the Empty Tomb and the Risen Lord that says all the Law has been forever satisfied and death no longer has its hold. We stop reverently at the Cross on Good Friday, but Easter is what really draws us forward and holds our attention.

As I travel my own Crooked Path, experiencing what God has in store for me daily, I live in hope of Easter in Heaven. I live in anticipation of Christ saying, "Don't be afraid anymore. I am the One you have been following. I am the embodiment of Easter and death no longer has a grip on you." Alpha and Omega has spoken ... He is risen indeed!

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1. Where is your heart this Easter season? Is it only a fleeting day in the midst of your difficult life?
   
2. Can you stop just a minute and hear the words John recorded ... "I died, but look - I am alive for ever and ever!" Can you claim those as your own, if even briefly?
   
3. Are you ready to rise above the death that this life brings you and experience the reality of Easter in Heaven - every day? Can you even catch a glimpse of how wonderful that must be?