Jesus on Money...

How important is your money and your stuff to you?

How do you know when you have money/stuff or your money/stuff has you?

What follows are the primary verses in the Bible where Jesus talked about the issue of money, with a couple freebies thrown in about priorities.  It will take you approximately fifteen minutes to read through this.  So, grab an interesting beverage, get comfy, and open your mind to the words of Jesus as you scroll below.  Or, if you’re just not feeling energetic enough to click that mouse, you can watch the passages roll on this video: Jesus On Money.

Matthew 13:44-46 (New Living Translation)

 ⁴⁴ “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.

 ⁴⁵ “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. ⁴⁶ When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!

The Take Away: Building life on Jesus is worth everything you've got.

Matthew 4:8-10 (New Living Translation)

 ⁸ Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. ⁹ “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.”

 ¹⁰ “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say,

   ‘You must worship the Lord your God
      and serve only him.’”

The Take Away: Jesus refused untold wealth for something more valuable.

Matthew 6:1-4 (New Living Translation)

 “Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. ² When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. ³ But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. ⁴ Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

The Take Away: Give with humility.

Matthew 6:19-21, 24-34 (New Living Translation)

 ¹⁹ “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be…

 ²⁴ “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

 ²⁵ “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? ²⁷ Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

 ²⁸ “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, ²⁹ yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. ³⁰ And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

 ³¹ “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ ³² These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. ³³ Seek the Kingdom of God^[a] above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

 ³⁴ “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

The Take Away: Real life is with God - not determined by money and "stuff".

Matthew 19:16-22 (New Living Translation)

 ¹⁶ Someone came to Jesus with this question: “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”

 ¹⁷ “Why ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. But to answer your question—if you want to receive eternal life, keep the commandments.”

 ¹⁸ “Which ones?” the man asked.

   And Jesus replied: “‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. ¹⁹ Honor your father and mother. Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

 ²⁰ “I’ve obeyed all these commandments,” the young man replied. “What else must I do?”

 ²¹ Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

 ²² But when the young man heard this, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

The Take Away: Play with your toys or experience incredible life - our choice.

Matthew 22:15-22 (New Living Translation)

 ¹⁵ Then the Pharisees met together to plot how to trap Jesus into saying something for which he could be arrested. ¹⁶ They sent some of their disciples, along with the supporters of Herod, to meet with him. “Teacher,” they said, “we know how honest you are. You teach the way of God truthfully. You are impartial and don’t play favorites. ¹⁷ Now tell us what you think about this: Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

 ¹⁸ But Jesus knew their evil motives. “You hypocrites!” he said. “Why are you trying to trap me? ¹⁹ Here, show me the coin used for the tax.” When they handed him a Roman coin, ²⁰ he asked, “Whose picture and title are stamped on it?”

 ²¹ “Caesar’s,” they replied.

   “Well, then,” he said, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.”

 ²² His reply amazed them, and they went away.

The Take Away: Pay your taxes!

Matthew 23:23 (New Living Translation)

 ²³ “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.

The Take Away: Tithe, but don't neglect compassion.

Luke 10:25-37 (New Living Translation)

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

 ²⁵ One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”

 ²⁶ Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?”

 ²⁷ The man answered, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

 ²⁸ “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!”

 ²⁹ The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

 ³⁰ Jesus replied with a story: “A Jewish man was traveling on a trip from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.

 ³¹ “By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. ³² A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.

 ³³ “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. ³⁴ Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. ³⁵ The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’

 ³⁶ “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked.

 ³⁷ The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.”

   Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”

The Take Away: Helping out those who need it requires our money and time.

Luke 12:13-21 (New Living Translation)

The Parable of the Rich Fool

 ¹³ Then someone called from the crowd, “Teacher, please tell my brother to divide our father’s estate with me.”

 ¹⁴ Jesus replied, “Friend, who made me a judge over you to decide such things as that?” ¹⁵ Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.”

 ¹⁶ Then he told them a story: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. ¹⁷ He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’ ¹⁸ Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. ¹⁹ And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”’

 ²⁰ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’

 ²¹ “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”

The Take Away: Hoarding is really, really selfish and foolish.

Luke 16:1-15 (New Living Translation)

Parable of the Shrewd Manager

   Jesus told this story to his disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a manager handling his affairs. One day a report came that the manager was wasting his employer’s money. ² So the employer called him in and said, ‘What’s this I hear about you? Get your report in order, because you are going to be fired.’

 ³ “The manager thought to himself, ‘Now what? My boss has fired me. I don’t have the strength to dig ditches, and I’m too proud to beg. ⁴ Ah, I know how to ensure that I’ll have plenty of friends who will give me a home when I am fired.’

 ⁵ “So he invited each person who owed money to his employer to come and discuss the situation. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe him?’ ⁶ The man replied, ‘I owe him 800 gallons of olive oil.’ So the manager told him, ‘Take the bill and quickly change it to 400 gallons.’

 ⁷ “‘And how much do you owe my employer?’ he asked the next man. ‘I owe him 1,000 bushels of wheat,’ was the reply. ‘Here,’ the manager said, ‘take the bill and change it to 800 bushels.’

 ⁸ “The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light. ⁹ Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your earthly possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.”

 ¹⁰ “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. ¹¹ And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? ¹² And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own?

 ¹³ “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

 ¹⁴ The Pharisees, who dearly loved their money, heard all this and scoffed at him. ¹⁵ Then he said to them, “You like to appear righteous in public, but God knows your hearts. What this world honors is detestable in the sight of God.

The Take Away: Be wise with your money and stuff.

Luke 16:19-31 (New Living Translation)

Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus

 ¹⁹ Jesus said, “There was a certain rich man who was splendidly clothed in purple and fine linen and who lived each day in luxury. ²⁰ At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus who was covered with sores. ²¹ As Lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man’s table, the dogs would come and lick his open sores.

 ²² “Finally, the poor man died and was carried by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, ²³ and his soul went to the place of the dead. There, in torment, he saw Abraham in the far distance with Lazarus at his side.

 ²⁴ “The rich man shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames.’

 ²⁵ “But Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish. ²⁶ And besides, there is a great chasm separating us. No one can cross over to you from here, and no one can cross over to us from there.’

 ²⁷ “Then the rich man said, ‘Please, Father Abraham, at least send him to my father’s home. ²⁸ For I have five brothers, and I want him to warn them so they don’t end up in this place of torment.’

 ²⁹ “But Abraham said, ‘Moses and the prophets have warned them. Your brothers can read what they wrote.’

 ³⁰ “The rich man replied, ‘No, Father Abraham! But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will repent of their sins and turn to God.’

 ³¹ “But Abraham said, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t listen even if someone rises from the dead.’”

The Take Away: It's not okay to hoard when need is at your doorstep.

Matthew 25:14-30 (New Living Translation)

Parable of the Three Servants

 ¹⁴ “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. ¹⁵ He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip.

 ¹⁶ “The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. ¹⁷ The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. ¹⁸ But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.

 ¹⁹ “After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. ²⁰ The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’

 ²¹ “The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

 ²² “The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’

 ²³ “The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

 ²⁴ “Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. ²⁵ I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’

 ²⁶ “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, ²⁷ why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’

 ²⁸ “Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. ²⁹ To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. ³⁰ Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

The Take Away: Your money and stuff really isn't yours.  You are simply a manager.  What you do with it matters to God and impacts your life.  Do well with what you've been entrusted, and you'll have a much better experience of life, and God will celebrate.  Be a self-centered, immature coward and you'll be throwing your life away, and limiting life for the untold numbers of folks you could have blessed.

Questions to Process…

How important is your money and your stuff to you?

Where did you notice a difference between your perspective on money and stuff and Jesus’?

How do you sense God prompting you to respond?

Living With Freaks

Don Astronaut.  In Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller shares a story his friend Stacy concocted about an astronaut named Don.  In the story, the astronaut wears a suit that keeps him alive without the need for food or water.  One day, the space station on which he is working experiences a disastrous accident and Don is thrust into space, eventually orbiting the earth in his life-sustaining space suit.  Round and round he goes, year after year, seeing his world in front of his eyes until the day he dies, utterly alone.

Epidemic Aloneness.  I think we live in a particularly strange period of history.  We are more connected to each other and the rest of the world more than ever, yet many feel terribly alone.  Ironically, people in densely populated urban setting are more prone to feeling alone more than those who live in other settings.  Surrounded by others yet feeling isolated.  The trend for the future points to more and more people leaving rural areas and flocking to cities where they can enjoy all of the benefits of modern civilization.  What might we predict, then, regarding mass loneliness?  How have you experienced this trend?

Longing for Togetherness in a Hypercritical World.  To make matters worse, along with our connectedness provided by technology, I think we face a difficult challenge.  We know that our dirty laundry can be aired all too easily, which can be viewed by literally the whole world with a few mouse clicks.  “What bleeds leads” has been the mantra of news media for decades, and we all know that bad news travels fast.  In a time when we are quick to pounce on Tiger Woods, Charlie Sheen, Miley Cyrus, and any politician for being a politician, the challenge to community mounts – who can trust anybody who has a smart phone and knows how to use it?  Do we dare open up to anyone except our highly secured digital journal?  Have you found yourself more guarded in our world where privacy is becoming more and more difficult to secure?

Tension: Authenticity v. Safety.  So we meet new people, we find a new community, and we slowly and very carefully take steps which make us increasingly vulnerable.  But can we trust these people?  Are they safe?  What if they share our junk with someone else, or misinterpret what we say in ways that paint us in a really bad light?  The temptation is to pull back and play it safe.  Unfortunately, playing it safe means we never get too close, which also means our experience of caring and being cared for, loving and being loved is sabotaged.  This happens in churches all the time.  One of the primary complaints I’ve heard from people who have sworn off church is that they don’t trust the people inside the sanctuary.  Confidences have been broken.  People are discovered to be two-faced.  Who can you trust?  Have you ever found yourself struggling with such a situation?

Hated Hypocrisy.  You may find comfort in the fact that Jesus hated hypocrisy as much as anyone.  He constantly called the religious leaders of his day on the carpet for being duplicitous.  They were in his cross-hairs when he uttered his famous words about seeing the speck in others’ eyes while not seeing the log in their own.  In another setting, he accused these teachers and leaders of creating disciples who were twice the sons of hell as themselves.  Jesus hated people we love to hate.  Well, he actually loved them, but you know what I mean…  Where have you encountered hypocrisy?  What form ticks you off the most?

The Look of Real Disciples.  Perhaps we need a refreshing refresher course on what a real disciple looks like.  While we often focus on the twelve “inner core” guys who were up close and personal with Jesus, there were many others.  Sometimes hundreds upon hundreds.  But when Jesus raised the bar of commitment, they simply walked away.  Nice to know you can count on folks when the going gets rough, huh?  Among the twelve there was competitive bickering about who was the biggest deal among them.  Go ahead and take a moment now to quote Ron Burgundy…  One of his disciples was either the most courageous and faithful disciple of the worst among them, as he told the religious authorities were they could find and arrest Jesus – according to some scholars, all for the “low” price of a Napa Valley cheeseburger.  Peter famously and vehemently stated that he would always stay by Jesus side, championing his cause, only to infamously deny even knowing him three times in the same night, when it counted most.  Maybe instead of looking for perfection in “real” disciples, we need to recognize shared humanity?  Maybe hypocrisy is only possible when we say we’re something that we’re not?  So, perhaps instead of saying we’re Christians, with the implication that we’ve arrived, we should instead say we’re doing our best trying to follow in Jesus’ footsteps – we’re in process, and will not “arrive” on this side of the plane of life.  My hunch is that people will be a lot more “real” if they know they don’t have to be perfect.  I know I would be more relaxed.  And I bet we’d give each other a lot more grace when inevitable missteps occur, even whoppers that cause a lot of pain.  I think our society has proven to be rather graceful on occasion, and the church the opposite.  Is the church or the society at large more graceful toward Bill Clinton and/or David Letterman after their respective struggles with infidelity?  Who wants to be a part of a community dedicated to routinely criticizing those who dare to mess up?  I think what’s learned is to not share what’s really going on in our lives in that context – we are terribly alone while professing to be in Christian community.  Hmmm.  But if we admit up front that we’re all misfits trying get fit, or all ailing seeking holistic health, maybe that would work…

Don Miller’s True Community.  After living alone for a long time, Donald Miller shared a house with a bunch of other guys.  In time, he admitted to hurting each and every one of his housemates.  He was a jerk.  He had to learn a different way of living – life in community.  The payoff is support, feeling loved while being given the privilege to love in return, learning to be whole while helping others do the same, and much, much more.   The writer of Hebrews knew the power of community when she wrote the following directive: And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near (Hebrews 10:25 NLT).  This advice is given to those who were following Jesus at the risk of their own necks.  Another servant of Christ told Donald Miller, “If we are not willing to wake up in the morning and die to ourselves, perhaps we should ask ourselves whether or not we are really following Jesus” (135).  May you be “real” and help others do the same as you pursue the life found in following Christ.

Loving God's Wife

Jesus was celebrating the Passover dinner with his disciples.  Somebody forgot to hire a slave woman or gentile to wash everyone’s feet.  So Jesus got up, wrapped a towel around his waist (a symbol of slavery, by the way), and washed his disciples’ feet (John 13).  This was unprecedented in history.  According to one biblical scholar, no literature of any culture prior to Jesus depicts someone of stature embracing the lowly form of a servant in such dramatic fashion.  It was unheard of.  After he was finished, he told the disciples that this was how they were to serve each other.  He went on later to say that in loving each other this way, the world would know they were Jesus’ disciples.

The indicator to the world of being a Jesus follower was loving others in humble service.

At a recent training event I attended I was challenged and humbled with a particular idea: I will strive to create the church I would want to attend.  Automatically.

So, I started thinking about CrossWalk Community Church.  Guess what?  CrossWalk is a church I would want to attend!  We are culturally relevant, and thoughtful in our approach to biblical interpretation and application.  We are becoming more and more a community service center where people can find help for their lives.  We are diverse in terms of education and economics, and are certainly open to as much ethnic diversity as is reflective of Napa.  We are committed to making an impact locally and globally through the missions we support.

Our toughest area we need to address is also the most important: foot-washing/toilet-scrubbing community.  Loving each other fully.

This is counter-intuitive in our church culture which lifts up outreach as the highest value. Jesus’ new command to love each other seems prone to self-and-church-centeredness which has been a root cause for many churches to decline, implode, or just fade away.

The kind of love about which Jesus was referring wasn’t about simply being polite with one another.  Foot washing required Jesus to deal with the crud of life.  Gortex had not yet been invented.  Most people wore open-toed sandals.  Sewer systems weren’t very advanced – all manner of filth could find its way between your little piggies as you trekked through your day.

I don’t think Jesus wanted us to get stuck on literal foot-washing.  But I am certain he wants us to love each other enough to point where we really help each other with our crud.  The reason this is the thing that identifies the disciples is twofold.  First, servanthood is always surprising in a world driven by egocentric forces.  Second, in being help and in helping others with their junk, we become more whole, more redeemed, more saved, and more like Jesus.

The only way we can get and give help with our crud is by being vulnerable with each other.  The only way we can be vulnerable with each other is if we learn to trust each other more.  The only way we can learn to trust each other is by spending more time with each other.  And the only way we can spend more time together is if we say no to other things that demand our time that are simply not as important.  The issue isn’t that we’re too busy – we all have 24 hours each day just like the disciples did.  The problem is that our lives get filled too easily with stuff that really doesn’t do much for us, which means it may actually be getting in our way of that which can make us more whole, and may give us an opportunity to help someone else become more whole – a tremendous honor.

Who are you helping with their crud?  Who is helping you with yours?  What’s the hardest part of both sides of the crud equation?  How is God calling you to respond to Jesus’ command to love one another?

Coming Out Of The Closet

Freedom of Speech Upheld.  This week, the Supreme Court upheld the right of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas to exercise their freedom of speech.  Unfortunately, this small Baptist church – founded within a tradition which has championed freedom of biblical interpretation – is infamous for their hate speech, which appears to be in sharp contrast with the Jesus we seek to follow.  How do you feel about this ruling?  What’s your take on Westboro Baptist Church?  How is the larger church like or unlike the one in Topeka?  How does CrossWalk compare?

Jesus and the Adulterous Woman.  The controversial passage found in John 8 challenges us on many levels.  The story is incredibly emotional.  A woman is caught in the act of adultery – a marriage or two are severely hurting.  A sermon is rudely interrupted – most pastors agree this is the worst part of the story…  Judgmental people use the woman they caught as a pawn – no redemption in their sights here – they care much more about trapping Jesus than they do the brokenness of the woman they are now using for their pleasure.  And a humiliated woman dressed in a bed sheet endures the scorn of a crowd.  Which character grabs your emotions most so far?  Why?

First Stones.  Jesus was undoubtedly ticked off at the entire scene, which may be why he took a breather and drew in the dirt.  If Jesus was human, there had to be a part of him that wanted to lay into the judgmental, cold-hearted religious leaders for their behavior.  I know I would need to take a minute to breath and focus before responding in such a pressure cooker situation.  After much pestering, Jesus turned the table in brilliant, graceful fashion, using the very law against its abusers.  As a measure to limit false accusations, the law required (among other things) that the accuser throw the first stone, and the community would follow.  The religious zealots may have been perfectly willing to have Jesus throw a stone, but they realized the limitations of their inhumanity.  They walked away, leaving the woman standing before Jesus all alone.  If you were one of the religious zealots there that day, how would you react?  If you were a bystander, what would it have been like for you?

Confession Booth.  In Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller recounts an experience he and his Christian friends had while attending Reed College in Oregon.  During the college’s Ren Fayr, when many students indulged in all sorts of debauchery (in the name of role playing, of course), Miller and company built a confession booth.  When the idea first flew, nobody wanted a piece of it.  Tony the Beat Poet explained, however, that the Ren Fayr-ing students weren’t going to be doing the confessing.  The Christians were.  And so, when students entered the booth, rather than confessing their sins, they heard Christians confessing the sins of the historical and present Church, concluding with pleading for forgiveness.  Students were stunned and delighted and refreshed to consider faith anew.  If you were a “well-oiled” student that day, how do you suppose you would react upon hearing such confessions from the Christians?

Forgiveness.  The woman was no doubt equally shocked at the outcome of her encounter that day.  She had expected words of condemnation, but was surprised by grace.  The conventional wisdom would have suggested that a severe tongue-lashing would really set her straight.  Instead, Jesus offered words of love and direction: I don’t condemn you.  Go forward in a new direction with your life – you were made for more.  How would you feel if you were the woman that day?

Humility.  Miller and his friends learned the power inherent in humility that day at Reed College.  Humbling themselves before those who probably looked down on them as antiquated fools, they earned respect.  What do you suppose would have been their experience if they had gone all “Westboro” on the students that weekend instead of confessing the sins of the Church and its members?

Coming Out Of the Closet.  I like to think of myself as a graceful person.  I teach grace, and I try to live it.  But I am very human.  I find myself at times strikingly similar to those Pharisees of long ago.  I may learn to be progressively graceful , but I find the game keeps changing along with life.  New challenges to my capacity for gracefulness find me wanting, pushing me to think again of this story in John, seeing myself in the crowd again, discovering that I am at once the Pharisee and the caught woman.  And I think this is a very good thing, because this in itself keeps my knees bent, my eyes soft, my heart malleable, and my sense of self in check.   What does all of this do to and for you?