July 4, 2009

(Please forgive the bland look, this blog is still under construction)

This fourth of July weekend we will celebrate our national freedom – which privdes us with a perfect launch to celebrate our personal freedom as the followers of Jesus Christ.  In working through my sermon this week on John 8 (7 Explosive Claims of Christ), I reflected on spiritual freedom and I wanted to explore it further.

Remember, freedom is the absense of retraints on our ability to act or think.  So reflect with me a bit here.  

• What do you want to be FREE FROM in your life? What is holding your life back?  What is restraining your ability to think and act as you want to think and act?  What burdens you?  Journal 3-5 things you really want to be FREE FROM in your life.  And if you want, post it here and we can share our longings for freedom together.
• But, most of us don’t want to just be FREE FROM things.  Don’t we also want to be FREE FOR other things?  FREE FROM is the negative side.  So what do you really want to be free FOR? Journal 3-5 things you want to be free FOR in life.  What do you really want to become or do?  Taking the time to reflect on this could change your life.  What are your greatest longings and hopes?  And again, if you want to share, respond here and we will continue the dialogue. You may want to rank order what you want to be free from and free for, so you know where to put your energy first.

To guide our thinnking about freedom here are some Scriptures I gathered this week on freedom in Christ.  And after that are my beginning ideas on a Christian Declaration of Freedom.

Some Scriptures on Freedom

• “In my anguish I cried to the Lord, and he answered by setting me free.  The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.  What can man do to me?  The Lord is with me; he is my helper.  I will look in triumph on my enemies.” Psalm 118:5-7
• “I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free.”  Ps 119:32
• But the Lord is righteous; he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked.” Ps 129:4
• He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free.” Ps 146:7
• “I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.” Ps 119:45
• “The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Jesus. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”  Luke 4:17-21
• “Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  Jn 8:31-32
• “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” Jn 8:36
• “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”  Gal 5:1
• “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.” Ga 5:13  (See also 1Pe 2:16)
• “Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.” 1Cor 9:19
• “You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.” Ro 6:18
• “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.” Ro 6:22
• “For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.” Ro 8:20-21
• “But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.” Col 1:22-23
• “Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.” Rev 22:17
• “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”  2Cor 3”17-18
• “In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.”  Eph 3:12
• “But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.” James 1:25

Are there any Scriptures you would add?

A Christian Declaration of Freedom

Send back to me what you would add so we can have an ongoing dialogue.

FREE FROM…

• I am free from failure for “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13).
• I am free from always needing more and more for “my God shall supply all my needs according to his riches in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:19).
• I am free from fear for “God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind” (2Tim 1:7).
• I am free from the power of Satan “for greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world” (1Jn 4:4)
• I am free from defeat “for God always causes me to triumph in Christ Jesus” (2Cor 2:14)
• I am free from ignorance for “we have the mind of Christ” 1Cor 3:15)
• I am free from inferiority for I am “complete in Christ” (Col 2:9-10)
• I am free from inadequacy for “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” (2Pe 1:3)
• I am free from shame for “the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses me from all sin” (1Jn 1:7)
• I am free from worry for “I cast all my cares on him because he cares for me” (1Pe 5:7)
• I am free from bondage for “where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom” (2Cor 3:17)
• I am free from condemnation “for there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Ro 8:1)
• I am free from fear for we know that “God works together all things for the good of those who are called in Christ Jesus” (Ro 8:28)
• I am free from worry of what people think of me for “I am hidden with Christ in God” (Col 3:1-4)

What would you add here?

FREE FOR…

• I am free to be loved for “we know and rely on the love God has for us” (1Jn 4:16) and “I have been chosen by God and adopted as his as his child (Eph 1:3-8)
• I am free from defeat for “in all things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Ro 8:37
• I am free from the fear of death for “death has been swallowed up in victory… But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1Cor 15:54-57
• I am free from frantic busyness for Jesus says “I will give you rest.” Matt 11:28
• I am free to dream “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.” (Acts 2:17)
• I am free to rejoice “in the Lord always (Phil 4:1)
• I am free to be a friend of Jesus (Jn 15:15)
• I am free to be nurtured by my Father in heaven for I am a child of God (Jn 1:12, 1Jn 3:1)
• I am free to speak with God face to face and to expect his mercy and grace (Heb 4:16)

I had less time to work on this one, what would you add here?

4While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: 5″A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. 6Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. 8Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.”
When he said this, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

9His disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that,
” ‘though seeing, they may not see;
though hearing, they may not understand.’[a]

11″This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. 12Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. 14The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. 15But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

This past week I began reading a new book (no surprise there!) and a conversation broke out between myself and the Lord regarding the Parable of the Sower (see above).  This same parable is found in Mark 4:1-20, Matthew 13:1-23, and Luke 8:1-15.  Upon review of this passage, a list of questions flooded my mind:

1. Who is the farmer?
2. What is the seed?
3. Why is the farmer so reckless in scattering the seed?  He throws it on rocks, on the path, etc.
4. Why is the farmer scattering seed over thorny patches of the garden infested by weeds?  Shouldn’t he/she weed first?
5. What is the meaning of the crop that is yielded “a hundred times more than was sown”?  That means the entire garden was filled to capacity!
6. Why does Jesus “call out” after this parable, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”?  Isn’t this passage simply about spreading the word of God?
7. What is the “knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God”?
8. What is the word of God?

I have read and re-read this passage for years.  Everytime the point seems to be painfully clear, be like the good soil and receive the word of God.  I’ve also heard this passage evangelistically, as we spread the good news, some people will be receptive to it and others will not.

It is not that these explanations are false.  We should all seek to live lives that are prepared for the goodness and richness of Christ Jesus.  Likewise, out of our lives should flow the good news of Christ to those around is.  And, some people will receive that news and others will not.

The power of this passage lies in what the language we take for granted would have actually meant to Jesus.  This parable is so important that in Mark’s version of it Jesus asks His disciples, “Don’t you understand this parable?  How then will you understand any parable” (v. 13)?  So powerful is the message of this parable that Jesus stakes His entire teaching/training ministry in its contents.  Why?

As I encountered this passage in reading I am immediately drawn to this farmer.  It is not strange for Jesus to use an agrarian parable.  Agriculture was of great importance to those He was speaking.  This farmer, however, seems to be a little sloppy.  If you live a life totally dependant upon the harvest you receive back and you have a limited amount of money with which to buy seed, why would you scatter it so haphazardly as to cover the pathways, rocks, and weeds?  Furthermore, why wouldn’t you first weed the garden?

Verse 8b shows us an amazing feat, “[The seed] came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.”  It seems that the farmer knows the quality of the seed he is spreading.  He knows there is no need to uproot the weeds or chase away the birds.  True to his foreknowledge, the seed produces a crop a hundred times more than was sown.  The garden is filled to capacity (and overflowing)!

This brings us back to a question, if this parable is all about being faithful, why does Jesus  to his followersm “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, ‘though seeing they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand’” (v. 10).  This language finds its roots in the commissioning of Isaiah.  God is calling for a prophet to go forth and do two things: 1) Warn the people of God’s anger and judgment for them to repent AND 2) to proclaim a day that is coming; a most blessed day of Yahweh.

In this little parable found in three of the four gospels, Jesus utilizes that same language.  Kind of odd if this message is incredibly simple for Jesus to 1) hinge the meaning of all other parables in this one, 2) to declare that the meaning of this parable is enveloped in the “secrets of the kingdom”, and 3) to have the people recall the commissioning of the great prophet Isaiah.

As I said early, the traditional understandings of this passage are not incorrect.  But, I want to argue that they are not complete either.  There is a grand story at play in this parable.  In verses 11-17 of the passage above, Jesus offers the pieces of the puzzle.  Scripture is forcing us to put the pieces together.  It’s asking us, you’ve read this passage many times BUT do you know the larger story of my narrative?  Do we know the fuller story of Scripture and why this parable is so radical?

The radical piece of this story lies in the discovery of the identity of the seed and the farmer.  The seed is the word of God.  What, then, is the word of God?  It is not the Bible.  The Bible finds its ultimate purpose in meaning flowing out of the true word of God.  John’s Gospel declares, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He [the Word] was with God in the beginning.  The Word became flesh and made his [the Word's] dwelling among us” (1:1,14, NIV).  The seed is Jesus.

The farmer is us, the Church.  We are called to proclaim the identity (the Savior, Lord and King) of Jesus Christ.  The fascinating thing of this story is that the weeds, the rocks, the birds are not eliminated.  Think for a moment the implications of this for our journeys of faith.

Too many Christians spend inordinate amounts of time petitioning Congress, their city councils, etc to remove things they find offensive and sinful.  Here lately, the rhetoric of America as a Christian nation has been written everywhere.  Many Christians think the way to change America is to get rid of all the sin.

I want to argue counter to this.  I find that many people who live according to the above philosophy have golden hearts.  They truly want to see Jesus manifested and people coming into a beautiful relationship with Him.  But look at this parable, the weeds, rocks and birds are not removed.  Instead, the seed is scattered and the crop, in spite of the weeds, grows a hundred times more.

What would it look like if instead of trying to remove the problem of evil, the Body of Christ began to exemplify the overhelming goodness of the Gospel?  What if instead of trying to shut down a strip-joint the people of God sought ways to truly love those entrapped to a life of lust and shame and bring freedom to the captives?  What if instead of saying how much you hate abortion you began to fight for better adoption education and stood in the gap for women who feel they have no other choice?

All throughout Jesus’ earthly ministry, he would declare that the kingdom of Heaven (or God) is at hand.  This parable does not show the destruction of the garden but an all out restoration of it.  The barren spots, weedy spots, rocky spots…they’re all overtaken by the unstoppable growth of a hundred fold crop.

There comes a time where the people of God need to stop picking weeds and need to start planting seeds.  You can pick all the weeds out of the garden and be left with a garden even more barren than it was before.  If you plant seeds, you not only grow a crop.  The crop that is grown has the capacity to produce seed for future crops.  This grassroots, organic, everyday-person adventure allowed the Church to spread like wildfire in the early Church and begs of us to experience it afresh today.

For Jesus, Heaven is not something we wait for.  It’s not something we purify the world for.  Instead, it is something we look forward to, walk lovingly towards, journey with others in the mindset of, and seek to be ambassadors of right here and right now.

May we recognize that the farmer is not God.  The farmer is us!  May we recognize that the seed is the relational good news of Jesus Christ and spread it everywhere we go to produce a harvest for which we will be told, “Well done, my good and faithful servant!”