New Wine Uncorked - Love Beyond Limits: The Impossible Possibility?

#love #trinity #jesus #newwine #nwnws Knowing God’s heart means consistently, radically, and very concretely announcing, through our words and deeds, that God is love. And in this proclamation, we announce that every time fear, isolation, or despair begin to invade our soul we not only know this is not something that comes from God but that in such times our hearts have to cling ferociously to God. In this episode of New Wine Uncorked, Phil, Kayla, Jim, and Matt traverse the wonderful terrain of love… Love of God, Love of self, Love of neighbor. Recorded live on Fridays at 10am (pst) New Wine UnCorked seeks to step into culture with a heart bent towards engagement, reconciliation, and relationship.

Seeing Empty as Full

Georges Rouault (French, 1871-1958)
Christ among the poor

One of the most beautiful yet challenging chapters of the Bible is Philippians 2—why? because it illumines the aspects of humility and servanthood. The idea of emptying ourselves so that we might be filled up is an interesting concept, but such a reality sits in opposition to today's culture.
Think about it, to empty yourself in today's world is to surrender. That is, to let go of your rights or deserved rights is equivalent to surrendering because instead of "demanding what is yours" you are placing the sake of the other first. And let's be honest, surrender is not a popular issue or philosophy; in a society that says win at all costs, surrender (or to empty yourself) in order to gain or be elevated, is an extreme paradox.

Here is the deal: the church will always have a foundational belief and being that is counter-culture but this must never be to the eradication of culture. That is, the church will often times be in opposition to the ways of society but the church must not discount or discard the voice of society. Dialogue is essential for the sake of the world hearing the "Good News" of Jesus Christ.

The reality is this:

• society does not understand how surrender can bring about glory, victory and elevation
• society does not understand how Jesus could have the audacity to call His followers to die so that they might live
• society does not understand how Jesus can say that in order to be first we must be last

Jesus goes against everything we have been taught about who a King is supposed to be, or a ruler, or a person of power and prestige. Jesus comes and takes all our concepts, turns them inside out so as to turn them right side up. In his letter to the Philippians Paul urges his readers to be humble and to follow the example of Christ, who, although He was “in the very nature of God,” became human and underwent death on the cross. God therefore exalted Him to the highest place (2.1-11). This leads to a further exhortation to his readers to serve God faithfully (2.12-18). In this beautiful hymn (Phil 2.1-11) Paul explains the truth of Christ, that He "emptied Himself, taking the form of a Bond-servant and being made in the likeness of men (v7). Here Paul draws directly from the book of Isaiah, specifically Isa 52.13-53-6. Isaiah writes, "Behold My servant will prosper, He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted" (52.13). And then Isaiah goes on to illumine the reason for this exaltation. This is what it says of the Bible's crucified King:

He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him (53.2)
He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him (53.3)
Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted (53.4)
But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed (53.5)
All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him (53.6)

We express the heart of humility in the same way Christ Jesus did, when we promote peace and unity among the church as well as the world. We are the church when we look out and stand up for the good of others, not our own selfish interests; when we live out this reality, we demonstrate and actualize the heart and mind of Christ, which is the truth and realization of humility (Philippians 2.1-4).

Jesus’ teaching on servanthood and suffering was not intended to merely inspire good behavior. Jesus wanted to impart (to give a part or share; to communicate the knowledge of; to make known) the spirit of servanthood, the sense of personal commitment and identity that He expressed when He said, “I am among you as He who serves” (Luke 22.27). Christ is calling us to “empty” ourselves of our selfish ambitions and self-centered acts. What a paradox that stretches our mind’s eye, to think that as we become “empty” of self and dependent on God, the Holy Spirit will use us mightily, but this is the life we are called to live faithfully and obediently.

Empty in order to be filled...how are you doing today with this? How can the Church transform society - by becoming greater servants and lovers of the other. How can you, how can I, how can we become more of a servant today and tomorrow? As Jesus reminds us, "When you did it to the least of these you did it to Me" (Matt 25.40). Come Lord Jesus Come!

Holy Thursday Batman!

Today, the Thursday before Good Friday and Easter Sunday, is referred to as "Maundy" or "Holy" Thursday. On this day throughout the annals of Church history, you would find that many set apart this day as one of remembrance  Such remembrance would be accounted for through the sacred meal known as communion. On this day Christians recall Jesus' last meal, the Last Supper. 

I wonder today in the midst of all our "worldly" business, how many will stop and even give a thought of one of the most significant evenings in the course of history? This was no ordinary meal as it represented Jesus' life - it represents the Christian life. The Eucharist is not simply a meal, it is an act - an act of sacrifice so as to give life to the other. That is, we are called to give of ourselves (to be willing to break our body and pour out our self)  so that the world might come to know the insane love of Jesus - the life-giving love of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

What's more, on this night, not only did Jesus break bread with his friends, but He gave us the ultimate example of what it means to be a leader...He washed the feet of his disciples. That is right, in the fourth Gospel we read how Jesus elevates His performance through the washing His disciples feet ( John 13.1-17). 

Theologian Karl Barth writes:

How emphatically the latter Gospel emphasizes the fact that the service of Christ is His true power and majesty and therefore the grace by which man receives His life! - the revealed grace of God which was already the secret of the Old Testament, though operative then only in a vertical movement from above. In the New, however, it has really come down into the depths and manifested itself there, becoming itself service in accordance with this end of its way. The action of God which absolutely precedes all human action and therefor all human service is that He has placed Himself wholly and unreservedly in the service of humanity as revealed and effectual in the service of Jesus. 

When reading through the NT continuously we are reminded how God Himself acts and how He is revealed as a Servant and in this way as the Lord, in the person of Him who made Himself of no reputation and took upon Him the form of a servant (Phil 2.7). The form of a servant is not a popular concept in today's society. The reality of giving of our selves – Self-sacrifice - is not a popular issue or philosophy in a society that says win at all costs. The Christian reality of sacrifice for the sake of the “other” is the ultimate paradox. How so?

*By placing the "other" before the "self" we actually gain life thereby bringing about glory and victory
*We become first when we are last
*We live when we die - life through death

The question we must ask ourselves as we prepare to celebrate the culmination of the life of Jesus - are we, through the Holy Spirit, participating in His life, His way & His truth or do we expect Him to participate in our way, and truth and life? Are we building a worldly border around our bodies so as not to be broken, or are we willingly being broken and pour out for the sake of the world? Do we expect not only to be seated at the "supper," but to be served? Or are we "stepping" into the life of Christ, joyfully kneeling down on the floor so that we might scrub the foot of the "other?" Amen Jesus!

Locked Inside Your Heart Shaped Box

When you make a decision do you tell everyone by letting off some smoke from the chimney? Sounds silly but as many of us know, this is exactly what happened at the Vatican on the 13th of March 2013. And while most of us do not "literally" puff smoke out of a chimney to indicate the result(s) of our decision(s), we can (and often do), however, give off smoke screens with our actions that indicate our heart's intent. That is, when our actions do not coincide with our words - when our hearts are nothing more than an empty heart shaped box, the actions we blow off for the world are covered in the smoke of artificiality.

What then, is locked inside your heart shaped box? Better yet, who? Who you are determines what you do...Being goes before purpose or action. But this is not how much of the world lives. So often, we allow earthly things, items, people, to determine who we are, and thus, what we do. During this week (called Holy Week for the Church) might we contemplate what it is that we fill our hearts with?

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled" (Mat 5.6). To hunger and thirst for righteousness means to reorient the typical human perspective. To hunger and thirst for righteousness means that we must think beyond ourselves - it means that we are to think of the other. And this my friend is simply not what we are accustomed of doing...

Think of today's news, commercials, t.v. shows, marketing schemes...We are constantly told that life is about me. It is perfectly acceptable and even expected to hunger and thirst for self-promotion which ultimately is self-preservation. A message that calls for people to look out for the other is a counter-culture message - the antithesis of today's me-for-me mentality.

Only through and from the Father Son and Holy Spirit is meaning determined, and as theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar writes, through the Absolute, "we find not only the ultimate meaning of reality as such, but also, beyond that, the ideality that provides the meaning, or determines 'what ought to be,' which is the ultimate measure of the truth of reality." In opposition or rather in contradistinction to the autonomous story, the cosmic drama of the Godhead illumines the interaction of the protagonist—Christ—with the creature through the direction of the Holy Spirit. Such interaction plays out through the multiple scenes—intersecting narratives—of the characters upon the stage of creation thereby allowing the realization not only of what our performances are, but what they are to become.

Our current frame of reference of individualism that transforms relationalism into a consumerist transition must give way to an interpersonal view of life and its freedom as revealed through the salvific performance of Christ so as to engage the structures of evil head-on. In place of the evidence that demands the verdict that Jesus is Lord, what is required today is the verdict Jesus is Lord demanding evidence in our lives that He is Lord—as exemplified in the witness of St Francis of Assisi or Dr. John M. Perkins. The values of the Christian faith must be those that reflect the values of God’s heart or else they are nothing but an empty heart shaped box:

    She eyes me like a Pisces when I am weak
    I've been locked inside your Heart Shaped box, for weeks
    I've been drawn into your magnet tar pit trap
    I wish I could eat your cancer when you turn black


 
    Hey!
    Wait!
    I've got a new complaint
    Forever in debt to your priceless advice
    hey
    wait
    I've got a new complaint
    Forever in debt to your priceless advice

So what is locked inside your heart shaped box?

Fake Plastic Bobble Head Jesus

Cops killing cops, Blizzards of unprecedented strength, 26 shot dead in an elementary school, elementary children taken hostage...from Syria to the climate to the "post-Gangnam" era, the looming question beckons: What do we really have to hope in?

The news of today makes me wonder, has the darkness of the world made us lose sight of  "Carpe Diem." How can one be blamed if they do not see the hope of humanity. Rather than living for, let alone thinking of the "other," people today live as though seizing the moment or the day means acquiring more stuff for themselves. "Love your neighbor" is nothing more than a statement given by pastors before the "sacred" offering of our money. We are living out purgatory...


Tell me something I don't know Dr Farlow. Okay, let's get rid of our fake plastic bobble head Jesus religion. The Christian life does not suggest there might be tough roads ahead - it explicitly shouts at us - the roads ahead will most assuredly be bumpy! The problem arises when those that call themselves "Christian" tell us that faith does not require sacrifice. This type of thinking leads to what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called "cheap grace." 

Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

Jesus does not tell us that life is all about comfortability. In fact, the writer of Hebrews makes the audacious claim that Jesus, "the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God," (Heb 12.2). Following Jesus means living sacrificially and in so doing you will receive generously the joy of life! 

Generosity and self-giving  are so often thought of materially. But theologically they should be thought of relationally. C.S. Lewis in the Weight of Glory, wrote: 

Next to the blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest thing presented to your senses.

Selfless living and self-centered living are not opposites, they are enemies that are in competition for your heart. 

A relational church is a self-giving church, it is, a Eucharistic church. The church is what William Cavanaugh calls the Eucharistic community. It is the community who “participates in the life of the triune God, who is the only good that can be common to all. Its reality is global and eternal, anticipating the heavenly polity on earth.” A Eucharistic church is a missional church.

The difference between being missional and being static in expressing the good news of the Kingdom is this: A church that evangelizes from a static paradigm creates space for those who seek it out, and politely leaves the side door open for those who don’t fit its categories (or target market). A church acting missionally forever redefines itself,  “extending its hand”, sacrificially, to draw boundaries of loving inclusion around all who enter its province.

 The Gospel of the kingdom is the person of Jesus Christ himself and the church is his body on earth (Col 1.28, 1Cor 12.27). Emanating from his hands is the sweet smelling balm of social injustice made whole, brokenness mended, the lost being found; resounding from his mouth is the message of reconciliation (2Cor 2.14 & 5.19), and we, the church, are called to live out this performance.

The reality of today: the world is in need of selfless, generous churches. Newsflash - it is not about butts in the seats or making the church or the gospel relevant! Its about our heart - about the souls of those lost. Is the purpose of the church today the pursuit of the consumer crown or the pursuit of the crucified crown? Does that which breaks Jesus' heart break ours?

Living out heaven here and now on earth cannot occur through isolated lives, nor can it occur through lives bent towards the trajectory of loving only that which is like. Life is meant to be lived out in authentic community as it is in and through such community that authentic living occurs. A missional church emulates her Savior and His sacrificial life. Anything other than this is the worship of a fake plastic bobble head Jesus.We worship a King who dramatically entered into the mess of life (remember He was born amid the stench of donkey doo!) so as to re-orient humanity thereby generously offering us the abundant life! The question remains, are we, His church, willing to participate in this act? Tomorrow is no guarantee - but right now is! Live the crazy insane life of love right now!