Division Problems with Jesus

Years ago when I still homeschooled my children, one of my sons had just mastered double digit addition. His sister, older by four years, was working her way through long division. My son, looking through his sister’s math problems, was at first puzzled and then frustrated in not being able to understand long division.  After all, he had mastered adding double digit numbers, no small feat at 6. Yet, though he recognized the numbers; he saw no familiar “+” symbol. He could not figure out the meaning of the funny symbols  “/” and “÷.”  The numbers looked the same, but in the context, those same numbers no longer made sense. My oldest just said reassuringly, “Mama will show you when you get to third grade.”  Long division can be quite challenging and frustrating, both in the teaching and the learning.

Last time I wrote about taking Jesus at his word and the blessing of doing so. I, of course, l, like many others, think taking Jesus at His word is alternately easy and difficult. If God is very clear, specific and unequivocal about what He has said to do, as He often is (i.e. Ezekiel 4:4-8: lie on your left side for 390 days, then lie on your right side for 40 days), it is easy in that it is specific. It is difficult in that I, personally, would find this an odd and embarrassing command to obey. But it is specific. And if Jesus is clear and specific in His command to me, I am, frankly, without excuse. 

This time, let’s think about a situation when Jesus is not so clear in his command to a certain disciple. Philip had been following Jesus for a time and had been witness to the miracles Jesus was performing. Unfortunately, so had a great crowd of people who were also following Jesus from place to place. “When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward Him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” (John 6:1-21)

Poor Philip. He had only been with Jesus for less than three years. He is the one Jesus had sought out in Galilee to call Philip to follow him. And, Philip in turn called Nathaniel, saying “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip. He knew something about this one he was following around Israel- enough to invite Nathaniel to come and follow Jesus too. 

            Flash forward to a hillside crowded with thousands of people who had been listening to Jesus teach for hours. Being the good host, Jesus wanted to feed them and invited Philip to problem solve with him. “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?”  Jesus asked “where.” The answer to a “where” question is “Walmart” or “Kroger.” He was asking for a location…maybe. Philip’s response was to “how.” Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” The obvious implied tag is “and we do not have enough in our collective purses to put together half a year’s wages.”

When Jesus asked Philip the where question, the writer John states “He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.” Jesus asked a “where” question but he already knew the “how.” He knew He was the answer to the “where” and the “how.” Philip just had to get to the same place of understanding how the problem could be solved and who could solve the problem. Philip was not alone in his thinking. Andrew, as well, privy to the conversation and the conundrum of feeding five thousand unexpected guests spoke up, ⁹ “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” 

Let’s see, problem solving: 5 small loaves divided by 5000 (give or take an extra 2000 women and children) and 2 divided by give or take 7000 = … not enough. A problem without a solution.

However, Jesus understood the human problem of hunger and set the problem before Philip.  It was more than Philip or Andrew could figure out. But Jesus already had in his mind what he was going to do. He himself would be and provide the answer.  “Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). ¹¹ Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.” No division, subdivision, no divide by 7000, borrow the one. None of that. He gave thanks, distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. The hungry were fed and there were leftovers...12 baskets full. Philip and Andrew saw that Jesus himself was the answer to the “where” and the “how.” Moreover, they saw that when He invited them into solving the problem, He had a pretty good idea of how to solve it.

Sometimes, Jesus invites me to problem solve with Him. I am at times faced with a small problem and the answer is as simple and profound as praying with someone. Sometimes I see an overwhelming need, in my life or the life of someone I love, sometimes it is in the life of someone I do not know at all. Even recently, with the earthquake in Nepal, the sheer numbers of deaths, homeless and sick staggered and overwhelmed my small mind, my helpless ability, my thousands of miles distance from the situational problem…which is a human problem. I pray and I bring my ten dollar contribution to feed the hungry or a hundred dollar contribution for 2000+ people groups without the Gospel in their own language. I pray for those who struggle without shelter. I bring 72 bagged lunches to the homeless shelter. And, yes, I also ask as Andrew did: “how far will they go among so many?” Apparently, far enough. I just need to entrust what I have to give to the Lord of 12 baskets leftover. 

Maybe you are like me and still don’t get the division, but a heavenly Father will show us how He does it and somehow, miraculously enough, we get promoted to the fourth grade.

Taking Jesus At His Word

     "My word is my bond." I have been trying to find the origin of that well-known statement for use in this blog spot. The origin is pretty much unknown other than that someone in cyber world traced it back to a book of proverbs from the 1600's in which is found  'An honest man's word is as good as his bond' from J Ray's English Proverbs published in 1670. This information is from Everyman Dictionary of Quotations and Proverbs, Chancellor Press, first published 1951." [And in the interest of full disclosure, that was found on the internet at http://www.emule.com/2poetry/phorum/read.php?7,151872.]

     As an attorney I find the sentence fascinating if only because everything I do is in triplicate, with  original signatures, certified, notarized and pulverized with proof of veracity, and identity in three forms. I do not know of many people who seal a deal or enter into a contract with a handshake or at someone's word anymore. "I give you my word" used to have some meaning, but nowadays, not so much. After all, the very definitions of words seem to be changing daily by common use, legislative intervention and judicial fiat.  When someone says my word is my bond, what do they mean by word? By bond? By is? It was not that many years ago that the meaning of the simple word "is" was questioned by a Yale law school graduate in a position of incredible power.

     Thus, it was interesting to me that a royal official, in desperate straits took Jesus at His word, and witnessed a miracle.

     John 4:46-54 relates the narrative of a royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. The son was close to death. The official either marched or took his chariot 16 miles from Capernaum to Cana, where he heard Jesus was, to beg Jesus to go with him to Capernaum and heal his son. A royal official begged an itinerant preacher of a subjected, conquered people to go with him. That's curious. Why beg? The official could have easily forced Jesus to accompany him. He was a man in authority and could have sent a someone to bring Jesus to Capernaum. Instead, he himself went and begged.

     Jesus was seemingly not too interested in healing the son. His response seems almost unkind: "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders, you will never believe." Jesus was after the royal official's heart and soul. And, He was prepared to work a miracle for that to happen. Unmoved by Jesus' response, and not too concerned about the his own spirit when his son's flesh was dying, the official persisted: "Sir, come down before my child dies." This time, Jesus answered the request directly with a simple instruction: "You may go. Your son will live."

     "The man took Jesus at His word and departed." The official was an unbeliever but he took Jesus at his word. Thereafter, on his way back to Capernaum, the official was met by his servants with wonderful news: his son was alive. "Then the father realized that this was the exact time Jesus had said "Your son will live."  So he and all his household believed."

      The royal official had an audacious request, especially considering he did not believe in Jesus as the Son of God, able to do mighty and miraculous things. Jesus gave him a simple instruction: go, coupled with a promise: your son will live." The royal official had a choice: he had just walked or charioteered 16 miles one way to get Jesus to come. Jesus said go. If the royal official left and returned to Capernaum, as Jesus told him to, his son would either be dead and the man would have lost the opportunity to force Jesus to do whatever Jesus did to heal people. Or, he could obey and take Jesus at his word, and find his son healed. If the royal official chose to stay, he could bribe, force, whine, beg some more, until Jesus went with him, but even then, his son could still be dead when he got there. He chose to take Jesus at his word. In taking Jesus at his word, the royal official not only found his son alive, he found the Messiah, he found life and salvation for him, his son, and his whole household.

     I make ridiculous, audacious requests of Jesus often (but probably not often enough). When He gives me an answer, I have the exact same choice the Roman official had. I can take Him at his word or I can argue, whine and resist (which admittedly seems so much more productive in the moment). Or, I can believe that there is still One whose word is His bond, sealed with His blood, take Jesus at his word and watch for the miracle.

MY SIMPLE LIFE

          If I make a confession to you, will you promise not to judge me or peg me forever as arrogant? Here is the confession: when I was still in law school and thinking about the future, my friend Scott and I sat on the bridge spanning the two wings of our law school, where we sat nearly every lunch break. Scott was a year ahead of me and was contemplating his imminent graduation. The conversation led to the usual tortuous questions for graduates. What are you going to do? What do you want to do? What will you settle to do? Not wanting to be the only one in the hot seat, he asked me the same questions. My response was a faltering and embarrassed: “I don’t know. Sometimes, I think I am destined...” and I hesitated. Then, not waiting for me to finish my sentence, he looked straight at me, in that “I feel the same way” way, and said “yes, greatness. I think the same thing.” I was shocked that someone else could feel this sense of destiny. Suddenly, I was not so embarrassed to think I might be destined for greatness. (But it is embarrassing to think how arrogant it sounds...ah well. I think you promised not to judge me.)

  

              I don’t know what I was thinking of, or what Scott was thinking of, when we both blurted out “greatness.” Maybe it was a political life. Maybe it was some sort of high profile job. Maybe it was doing something outrageously brave and risky. Maye it was sitting on the Supreme Court. I really don’t know because once it was revealed to me that we both felt that calling to undefined greatness, and the earth did not swallow us up whole, and a lightning bolt from heaven did not strike us down, there was a sense of relief as well as excitement…maybe I wasn’t so crazy.

            That was more than 30 years ago, and as I read Psalm 37:1-19 today, I realize my goals and my life are much simpler now.  Or maybe my definition of greatness has changed.

            As I read those first 19 verses of Psalm 37 this morning, I realized there were very simple instructions to me:            

• ·         Trust in the Lord
• ·         Do good
• ·         Dwell in the land
• ·         Enjoy safe pasture
• ·         Delight yourself in the Lord
• ·         Commit your way to the Lord
• ·         Be still before the Lord
• ·         Do not fret
• ·         Refrain from anger

        Not one of those instructions has to do with wealth, success in terms of achievement, notoriety, material accumulation or power. In fact, these instructions all point to a fairly simple, relationship oriented life. My relationship with the Lord: trust Him, be still before Him, delight in Him, do good, commit my way to Him. My relationship with people around me: do good, refrain from anger. My relationship with myself: do good, dwell in the land, enjoy safe pasture, do not fret. All of those things are things I can control. I can choose not to fret, to commit my way to the Lord, to be still, to trust in the Lord, to refrain from anger. And frankly, if I have done these things, have I not succeeded in life already? That sounds like a great life to me.

And, if I can live this deceptively simple, but not simplistic, life, here is what I can look to the Lord to do:

• ·         He will give me the desires of my heart
• ·         He will make my righteousness shine like the dawn
• ·         He will make the justice of my cause like the noonday sun;
• ·         I will inherit the land
• ·         I will enjoy great peace.

I can leave the results up to God. I can cease striving.

When I was sitting on the bridge, it was in a period of my life which was marked by striving: striving for grades, for class rank, for jobs, for position. It really was a paradigm of what came next: striving for the next job, the right house, the next promotion, for children and their schools, the right college for them, the right opportunities for them.  And to be blunt, all those things, are not wrong; they just became the objectives, the goals. Those things are not my destiny. 

My destiny is knowing God. My truest greatness is to know God, to be known by Him, and to make Him known. It sounds like a simple life but, honestly, if that life is simple, so be it. It looks like success to me.

Building A Place for God

            What if you were assigned the task of building a place for God? How would you go about that rather large job?  I would probably go about it as Moses did. 

            First, he gathered resources and workers. Exodus 35:4-29 describes an incredible ingathering of resources. The best was brought: gold, silver, goat hair, hides of sea cows, acacia wood, olive oil, onyx stones and gems. Like any good contractor, Moses kept good records and retained a tally of all the materials used. (Ex 38:21-30)

            Moses even did a little inventory of the bigger picture items: the tabernacle, the ark, the table, the lampstand, the curtain, the bronze basin, right down to the things inside the closet…sacred garments for those ministering to the Lord. Once that list was given, the people started to come with their offerings, “all…who were willing brought to the Lord freewill offerings for all the work the Lord through Moses had commanded them to do.” In fact, the people of Israel got so excited about being part of the building of the sanctuary, being part of something bigger than themselves, they continued to bring free will offerings until they actually had to be restrained from bringing more. It would be a pastor’s dream: imagine a pastor saying to his congregation, “stop already. No more offerings. We have more than enough to complete the work God has given us to do.” Yet, that is exactly what Moses had to do. (Ex 36:6,7)

            Of course, a building is more than a pile of resources and materials. Moses had to find the right skilled craftsmen, designers and embroiderers to actually do the work God had commanded. The Lord provided Bezalel who was filled “with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts.” Bezalel picked his crew, trained them  and they oversaw “every skilled person to whom the Lord had given ability and who was willing to do the work.”  (Ex 35:30-36:1)

            The actual building, crafting, embroidering, goldsmithing, and silversmithing is described in the next 3 chapters. It is a wonderful testimony of God’s people doing what they were created to do, fulfilling their purposes. So all the work on the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, was completed. The Israelites did everything just as the Lord commanded.

            And thus, like a good general contractor, who was given a blueprint, a master plan, “Moses inspected the work and saw that they had done it just as the Lord had commanded. So Moses blessed them. “ (Ex 39:42, 43) 

The phrase “as the Lord commanded him” is repeated countless times in Exodus, whether it is with regard to Moses traveling up Mount Sinai early in the morning to receive the new stone tablets, or relaying the commands of the Lord to Pharaoh, or building the sanctuary.

 In the last chapter of Exodus, the phrase is repeated eight times as Moses is instructed by the very voice of God to set up the tabernacle, put the altar in its place, dress Aaron in the sacred garments, place the Testimony in the Ark, the lampstands, basin and gold alter in their proper places. Moses did everything down to the last detail as the Lord commanded him. “And so Moses finished the work.” Then what? Did he walk backwards, put his thumb up to see if everything was plumb? Did he sit back and enjoy the view? Did he gather his people around so they all could admire the work? Was that the end of the story? Tabernacle finished; mission accomplished? Actually, no.

            “Then (what a glorious “then”) “the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.”  (Ex 40:34) The account tells us that Moses could not even enter the sanctuary he had built, as the Lord commanded, because the glory of the Lord filled the sanctuary.

            The planning, as the Lord commanded, the ingathering of resources, as the Lord commanded, the building by those who were willing and skilled, as the Lord commanded, and the setting up of the sanctuary, as the Lord commanded is not just simply for the purpose of finishing the work for the work’s sake. It is to build a place for the glory of the Lord to fill. When that happens, when the glory of God comes and fills the place we create as He commands, somehow, it doesn’t matter that there is no room for us. In fact, I think that is the point…as the Lord commands.