Reflection from Luke 3

We were just dust. 

Settled. 

Then you came. 

Radiant. Like nothing we had encountered. 

And you looked. 

But when you looked, you didn't see just dust. 

you saw us.

And in a fullness of hope you let out a satisfied sigh and we were caught up into your breeze, 

surrounded by your brilliance. 

Animated, set into motion, illuminated in a way we had never known, 

in a way we could never have known if left to ourselves.

We couldn't help but abandon our complacency as the winds of your words enveloped us. 

We couldn't help but come together into something intricate, something beautiful, 

as you spoke your vision into us. 

In your light, and with your vision we could see. 

It was clear.

We were not just dust anymore.

We were you're reflection.

And it was good.

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But the newness...the goodness... faded into the familiar, 

and our complacency returned. 

Our excitement was in the transformation, not in any expectation of what we might become. 

See, goodness wasn't enough, we hungered after intrigue. 

We craved for a new thing.

And then someone made us a promise. 

Someone said they had what you weren't giving us, 

but that we could take it for ourselves.

What if we knew what you knew? 

Could we do what you do? 

What would it be not just to experience you, but to be like you? 

A Thrill. 

A transformation not just in form, but in nature. 

And we could take it for ourselves?

But we couldn't take it for ourselves. 

It wasn't that easy. 

It was too much for us, you must have known. 

We yearned to bring ourselves the best, when you were with us all along. 

We couldn't see what we had. 

So we traded you in.

We traded you for intimacy with a wretch.

We traded you for the embrace of a serpent.

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When we let you go, you let us go, too. You let us go back to the dust, back to settling.

It was you that had moved us. It was you that had stirred us. But you didn't make us stay.

You saw something beautiful, 

and gave a glimpse of what we could be.

Together.

But it wasn't what we were looking for.

You weren't what we were looking for.

So we went back to the dust. 

And settled.

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Time passed. 

We longed for the things you once showed us, 

things that had become distant memories. 

But we were the ones that left. 

What hope could there be for us?

None. 

So we spent our years being devoured. 

Swallowed up into a darkness like we had never encountered. 

We were fed into the serpent and he was fattened by our cynicism; 

nourished by our doubt; 

sustained by our hopelessness.

And we never quite figured out when, but somewhere along the line we, again, ceased to be just dust. 

We weren't just dust. And neither were we just his meal. 

We not only sustained him, but his offspring as well. 

We became a part of his children, their life, and their future.

We were integrated.

Inseparable.

We had begun a new transformation. 

We were taking on the life of the serpent and of everything that he would birth. 

In that womb, we became little snakes. 

And in that darkness, 

we grew.

We grew into the image of a serpent.

We took on the reflection, of a wretch.

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And here we are now. For so long, this womb is all we've known. 

But our spirit remembers that day you put a taste of your hopes upon our lips.

And we still long for transformation, but this is not what we meant. This is not the change we desired. 

What wouldn't we give to float freely with you again?

Just the thought of it makes our heart swell with longing and with hope.

So much that it hurts. 

It hurts because this womb leaves no room to swell.

Only to be stifled and to be choked.

Hope has no home here.

But...maybe our home doesn't have to he here either.

--------------------

We have to get out. We have to run back. 

We want more than dust, but not like this.

We want you to transform us again. 

We're getting out.

But the only way out is...

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These fangs. All they know is destruction. 

So we'll use them to destroy. 

We'll use them to destroy the inner linings of this womb; 

to sever the skin between us and you; 

to tear through the fleshy center and to pull us through the open wounds.

We'll use these fangs...

to find our release.

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We're free...What? 

Free. 

Stuck, held back, restrained for so long. 

But by...what? 

That's all? 

Such a thin layer between bondage and freedom? 

Such a thin layer between being children of darkness and creatures surrounded by light?

We are free.

But in this light, it is clear:

We are still serpents.

Yes. 

We are serpents.

But your light demands we remember:

You are still the one who spoke dust into man.

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Could we go back to that dust again?

These serpents want to be Children of Light.

These serpents want to be Men of Hope.

These serpents want to bear the Image of God.

Would you come near again?

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[Genesis 2. Genesis 3. Luke 15. John 8. Luke 3. Acts 16. John 1. Rev 21/22.]

Things about how I interact with God are so backwards sometimes. It's easy to say that I think faith in some shape or form action based on believing something that God said. It's equally easy to say that that by looking at my track record, that either

1)That's not what I actually believe.
or
2)That is what I believe the reality to be, I just don't care to live with faith.

Every model of faith and right relationship with God I can think of loosely follows
an interesting pattern, whether it be pre J's ministry, during J's ministry, or post J's ministry. It goes more or less like this:

1)The person lives their life for x amount of years as they see fit.
2)God says "Hey, do this instead."
3)The person does it, usually at high personal cost.
4)Somewhere down the line, after much random conflict, and confusion, plot twists, misunderstandings, misinterpretations, failures, and epic adventures, the person looks back and realizes God knew exactly what he was doing and it wasn't that random after all.
5)The passionately urges other people (younger generations, families, oppressors, peers, co-workers, whoever) to turn to, and be faithful to God.

#1-3 intrigue me the most. This is where I realize how backwards I am with God most days. In all of our biblical examples, people have to trust God based on the fact that he's God and maybe God should be trustworthy in order to experience first hand that he is, indeed, trustworthy. They act out of trust, and let God prove that he his who he says and will do what he says. That tends to not be how I roll. I want to know all that stuff first before I put anything on the line. I want to start with the passion of #5 without having to start with #1-4 to get there. That's not how things work, it's not anywhere in scripture. The way we find that passion and conviction and trust in his word is BY putting things on the line, and watching him come through.

I've spent so much time waiting for God to prove himself before I'm willing to trust him. I demand again and again that he prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that he's faithful, abounding in provision, able to redeem, and full of love before I'll risk anything tangible at his Word. There are many days where whether I'd say it with my mouth or not, my life declares that his matchless display of all of these qualities on the cross are not convincing enough for me. There aren't really words for how not ok that is.

All that to say, I'm relearning that to:

Psalm 34:8a
"Taste and see that the LORD is good;"

means that if you actually want to see that He's good, you actually have to taste.

My brokenness (I must confess)
Darkens all my thoughts, and hides your hands.
But questions fade before your face,
And I’m content that I may never understand.

[All that I have are questions;
So much is veiled in mystery.
But you are yourself the answer—
The only answer that I need.]

Of what I spoke I did not know—
Of things too wonderful and high for me.
In ignorance I gave offense;
I had heard of you but now my eyes have seen.

7.13.10

"J, why can't I shake this?"
"Hey...remember? I've already bought you're freedom. It's there. But you have to want."
"Oh yeah. Yeah, that's right...I think I want it...Ok, yeah, I want it."
"It's yours. It always has been. I love you."

Disclaimer for previous post.

I think we're very much responsible for calling people to repentance. But I think how that happens should look different with people that follow Jesus than it does with people that don't.

I think most of the implications for the post are for the context of a community following Jesus together. That's the context where it makes sense to speak directly about sin directly as an issue of disobedience, rebellion, or tangible trust and love for Jesus. Jesus is always the most direct, blunt, and harsh with the religious people; his approach is very different for people that don't know him or God.

With that crowd, he shows them a side of God they haven't seen before; a God that loves them, cares about who they are, looks on their plights with compassion. It's in light of this new notion of God that there comes a call to give up the sin. If we're even going to think about addressing the sin of someone that doesn't follow Jesus, it better be accompanied (and preceded) by interactions that are characterized by the preceding.

It's in the relationships where we have already claimed to understand, know, trust, and experience some of God's love for us but are still choosing to turn to our sin instead of Jesus we need to be willing to identify and call each other out of that sin. The majority of that post is meant primarily for the context of a community following Jesus.

References this show called "Gone Too Far". The basic premise is that the host of the show is a recovering drug addict that used to do basically everything that has made significant steps toward being completely clean. He helps families of people who are currently addicted to drugs plan interventions and offers to provide rehab treatment should they be willing to take steps toward letting go of their addiction. Basically what this is, is an attempt to take what's going on in this episode with this girl, her addiction to meth, and how the different people in her life respond to it and compare it to us, our sin, and how we respond to each others sin as a community. In the comparison, meth will generally be paralleled with sin, Megan with someone struggling with some particular sin, and all other characters as various ways a community can respond that person. It'll make a hundred times more sense if you actually watch the episode first.

Here's the link, probably needa copy/paste it:

http://www.mtv.com/videos/gone-too-far-ep-7-megan/1627088/playlist.jhtml

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Part One: The Intro
======================

Implications:
1)Just because we have struggled or are struggling with something, doesn't disqualify us from speaking truth to each other about those same issues.
2)It's not on us to make someone start or stop doing something. It is on us to give them the opportunity.
3)Our experiences aren't just for us. Our freedom is for our community.
4)Just because a community is highly religious, doesn't mean it's free from things that are completely capable of warring against our bodies, souls, and relationships.

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Part Two: DJ Am Talks to Megan's Sister and Cousin
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Implications:
5)Our community probably has probably noticed much more than we realize.
6)Different patterns of sin can and do coexist, and probably aren't unrelated.
7)We need to believe that freedom is possible for each other. And verbalize it.
8)We need to realize that our sin is actually really a dire thing. Like...it's really bad. Like...it's not just an inconvenience.

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Part 3: DJ Am Talks to Megan's Parents
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Implications:
9)Choosing to sit in our sin might cost us something that could have been a huge blessing in our lives.
10)Even if that is the case, there's still hope.
11)Everyone else wanting it for us isn't enough. (Us wanting it for someone isn't enough)

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Part Four: DJ Am talks to Megan's Boyfriend
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Implications:
12)Don't help people do stupid stuff.
13)We need to be willing to call people out when they're helping people do stupid stuff.
14)Sometimes we can't sugarcoat reality away.
15)Sometimes its appropriate to have negative reactions to the way people we care about are choosing to live. Watching each other choose sin instead of Jesus shouldn't be something we're ok with.

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Part Five: DJ Am Gets A Doctors Opinion On Megan Doing Meth While Pregnant
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Implications:
16)Our sin doesn't only affect us.
17)It's still not too late.
18)We going to have to decide if we love Jesus more than we love our sin.

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Part Six: DJ Am Talks to Megan
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Implications:
19)Know that the most noticeable things usually aren't the deepest issues.
20)Sin is our choice. So is leaving it behind.
21)Our own failures can be incredibly relevant to people that are struggling.
22)Sin will make us settle.
23)We do stupid stuff to spite God but it just jacks us up.
24)We're quick to blame other things for our sin. It's our responsibility to confront that in each other directly.
25)Saying we're willing to leave our sin behind doesn't mean we're willing to leave it behind. Leaving it behind means we're willing to leave it behind. It's our responsibility to urge each other to actually commit to that.
26)We can't let each other be pansies. (what do you mean you can have it and not use it. no you can't)
27)We need to encourage each other to be honest about our sin and stop hiding in the shame.
28)We need to have compassion with each other in understanding that letting go of sin is scary. Trusting God is hard when it actually requires that you trust him.
29)Let us encourage each other as we let go of sin and cling to Jesus so that we can be a community of testimonies of a God that brings a freedom that we never thought possible.

================================================
Part Six: DJ Am Tells the Family She's Pregnant
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Implications:
30)It's ok for us to be angry and hurt by people doing us wrong. But the next thing they do is set up the intervention and treatment, not figure out how to return the favor.

===============================================================
Part Seven: DJ Am Coaches the Family on Doing an Intervention
===============================================================

Implications:
31)Because we love each other, we have to be willing to confront each other.
32)In case you missed it...there's hope.

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Part Eight: The Family Intervenes
==================================

Implications:
33)Our sin can make us deaf to kindness of the people that love us.
34)We need to be direct about the ugliness of each others sin.
35)Our sin can change us.
36)Confronting each other with the ways it hurts us to watch them embrace sin doesn't promise to be an easy or pleasant thing to do.
37)We have to know when to release people. They need to know its happening and why its happening.
38)We need to understand that when everything is said and done, the decision is still theirs to make.

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Part Nine: Treatment
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Implications:
39)When we choose to give up our sin, we need to be ready to battle the thought of it and refute the lies associated with it just as much if not moreso than the actual thing.
40)Know that the failures of our past don't have to repeat themselves. They don't have to determine our future.
41)Just because someone was absolutely essential to our own fight against something doesn't make them invincible. Let's have the gratefulness to be thankful and the graciousness to recognize that we aren't the only ones who struggle.
42)Our history of sin can make us question God's ability to fully redeem our circumstances.

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Part Ten: Megan's Baby Is Born
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Implications:
43)One last time, it's not too late. there's hope.
44)Let's recognize and be thankful that God sends people when we need it. Let's be willing to be the people that are sent.

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Part 11: Recap
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What if we behaved as though we thought that sin was as serious, as real, of an issue as a meth addiction? What if we experienced the depth of hurt, grief, and concern for our friends entrenched in sin as this family felt for their daughter/sister/cousin? What if we were less like her boyfriend that did whatever he could to convince himself that there was nothing he could do about it? What if we decided we loved enough to risk conflict? What if we valued each others relationships with God more than we valued keeping the peace?

Would we reject passivity in our relationships, accept responsibility for ourselves and each other, lead each closer to Jesus courageously, and expect to see God move amongst his people.

Amen.

Perspective.

The Setup (Context).

The Hebrews are enslaved in Egypt. They start growing. The King of Egypt gets scared and treats them worse to break spirits, demoralize, and prevent an uprising. Executes all the male children to prevent their further growth as a people. Baby Moses is cleverly hidden, saved, and then adopted into the King's family (ironic). He grows up with the privileges of royalty, but watching his people be oppressed. He sees an overseer beating a Hebrew and kills the overseer. He gets found out. He flees to another country. he adopts a new culture and a new lifestyle as a shepherd. The King of Egypt dies. The people groan in their slavery. God takes notice. God does the fireproof bush trick. Moses sees it and approaches. Then:


God Speaks (The Paradox).

Exodus 3:7-10
The LORD said, "I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their slave drivers, for I am aware of their sufferings. So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. Now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; furthermore, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them. Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt."


Observations (Abridged)

1. God is aware of the affliction of the people.
2. He gives heed to their cries.
3. He says He has come to deliver them.
4. His only action in addressing the situation is sending Moses to lead the people out of Egypt.


Question (Pointed).

How is God sending Moses to bring the people out of Egypt the same thing as God coming down to deliver them?


Interpretation (Epic)

God calling Moses to lead people was His answer to the Hebrews prayer. Sure, Moses had a role in the decision, and of course it affected him. But the heart of his call into leadership wasn't about him. It was about God understanding and giving ear to the prayers on the hearts of people, and sending an answer, in the form of Moses. What happens if Moses refused that call and hadn't gone back to the people? An entire, growing but oppressed nation may well have remained in that very real, physical bondage.


The Point (Humbling)

There's things and places I'm being sent to. What does it look like to treat those things like I believe that God sending me there is his response to someones prayer for freedom? If I don't take up the call, who am I leaving in their bondage?