Beware the Work Wineskins and Moldy Bread

It is nearly graduation time and the invitations via Facebook, postcards, and “save the date” notices are starting to trickle in already.  I have been thinking about all the graduation cards on which I have penned those wonderful words from Proverbs 3:5 and 6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways submit to Him and He will make your paths straight.” Sounds simple. Sounds weird. Sounds somewhat mystifying. Yet, none of those graduates has ever asked me (maybe they asked someone else) “what on earth does that mean to not lean on your own understanding? Am I supposed to check my brain at the door of life? Does that mean I pop the Bible open and do whatever the first verse my eye rests on?” Truth be told, and with apologies to all the graduates whose cards were inscribed with those words, I never really gave it much thought either. I think I assumed it meant, pray, read the Bible and seek counsel when it is needed. Today, I rethought it.

In the early days after Joshua led the Israelites across the Jordan River, and they began to slowly, methodically possess the land into which they had entered, they experienced the tremendous victory of Jericho and then the heartbreak of defeat at Ai. After they were trounced at Ai, Joshua and the Lord of Hosts had a little conversation about sin in the camp which was quickly and painfully exposed. The Israelites went up against Ai again, and this time, the Lord gave them a specific strategy and Ai was destroyed. These two battles alone pushed the strength and fame of the Israelites and their God far out into the hill country in the western foothills and along the entire coast of the Great Sea. Some of the people groups banded together and formed an alliance against Israel. But, not the Hivites who lived in Gibeon for they were a clever people.   In Joshua 9 we are told of a clever ruse which the Hivites perpetrated upon Joshua and the people of Israel. The Hivites lived close to the Israelite camp of Gilgal. They too had heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai and so they resorted to a deception to save themselves from a fate similar to that of the people of Jericho and Ai:

They went as a delegation whose donkeys were loaded with worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended. They put worn and patched sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. All the bread of their food supply was dry and moldy. Then they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the Israelites, “We have come from a distant country; make a treaty with us.”

The Israelites were a little suspicious of the Hivites and said “Perhaps you live near us. How then can we make as treaty with you?” (Josh 4:7) To prove their assertions that they lived far away, the Hivites again pointed  to the worn and patched sandals, the worn out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended and the supply of moldy bread. How obvious could it be? Who could argue with the facts, the reality before their eyes? Of course, the Hivites had come from far away. The physical evidence all pointed to their truthfulness; it was an inescapable conclusion. The Israelites leaned on the evidence before them; they leaned on sampling the provisions of the Hivites and trusting in the objective facts before them and leaned on their own understanding. “The men of Israel sampled their provisions, but did not inquire of the Lord. Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath.” (Josh 9:14-15)

            Neither Joshua nor the assembly inquired of the Lord. They leaned on their own understanding, on the obvious facts before them. They mistook reality for truth. In this case, the facts before Joshua and the assembly were far from reality and far from truth. Had Joshua and the assembly inquired of the Lord, truth would have been revealed for God is a God of truth and the Holy Spirit works in us to recognize truth in the midst of difficult and confusing realities, ij the midst of challenging facts and reports. God’s truth will either validate or invalidate what appears to be factual reality. God’s truth is greater than even the reality of our circumstances. If we take the time to inquire of Him, we will receive truth which guides us in our decisions in the reality of circumstances.

            Well, we know what happened to the Israelites and the Hivites. The Israelites got snookered and ended up with neighbors who were deceivers and untrustworthy. The Hivites ended up as water carriers and wood cutters for the rest of their days.

Lean not on your own understanding and, beware the worn wineskins and moldy bread.

Getting It

Often times, I read something in the Bible and I really don’t understand it at all. I am being totally serious. I can read something and it has no meaning or application to my life. And I am not just talking about the geneology verses in Matthew; sometimes I read “normal” verses and the meaning totally escapes me. But, later, sometimes, years later, I experience something and suddenly I remember that thing I read years before and its truth hits me. Voila! It totally makes sense. I used to worry about not “getting it.” Until I realized that the disciples didn’t always get it. And, in fact, John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, didn’t always get it.

Reading through Mark, I don't think the disciple John got it when he was on taken by Jesus up a mountain and there witnessed the transfiguration. Mark 9:2-12 tells us that Jesus took his friends Peter, James and John up the mount with him. There Jesus was transfigured (meaning he was in a glorified state before them) talking with Elijah and Moses. Talk about the greatest hits of the Old Testament. Moses gave us the law, spent forty days on Mt Sinai with the Lord. He met face to face with God in the tent of meeting. Elijah was fed by the ravens at the command of God. He saw the army of the Lord encamped around him. Elijah is the prophet, who on Mt. Carmel, challenged all the prophets of Baal to a fire come down duel and 400 prophets of Baal were extremely embarrassed that day before the fire of God consumed them.. Moses was buried by God Himself. Elijah was taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire. But Moses did not get the divine nod. Elijah did not get the divine nod. Jesus did. “Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”  Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.” (Mk 9: 7, 8)

            The lawgiver. The prophet. But Jesus got the accolade: “This is my son, whom I love. Listen to Him.” And, as was often the case, John, James and Peter didn’t really understand what they had just witnessed. That was probably just as well since Jesus told them not to tell anyone about what they had seen until after  the Son of Man had risen from the dead. (Mk 9:9)

            However, like so many things that the disciples did not understand at the time of the telling by Jesus or at the time of experiencing it, after Jesus was raised from the dead, the disciples understood. Consider John 2:19 where Jesus has an odd response to the Pharisees who ask him for a sign of his authority:  The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” ²⁰ They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” ²¹ But the temple he had spoken of was his body. ²² After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

The Pharisees did not understand what Jesus was saying but they had a vested interest in not understanding it. The disciples, on the other hand, had a vested interest in understanding every word that came out of His mouth, but they didn’t understand it at the time either. However, after Jesus was raised from the dead, the disciples remembered what He had said and they believed and trusted His authority.

Likewise, John, who had been on the Mount of Transfiguration, descended from the mountain and immediately engaged with Peter and James in a discussion on what does “rising from the dead” mean.(Mk 9:10) He had just seen Moses and Elijah chatting with Jesus who was in a glorified state. He had heard the voice of God come from a cloud affirming the Father’s love for the Son. Did he hear it? Did he understand that it wasn’t the lawgiver or the prophet, it was all about the Son, whom the Father loved. Not at the time. The discussion regarding the meaning of “rising from the dead” was much more important at the time.

Years later, after Jesus was raised from the dead, John penned his witness account about Jesus, and he wrote magnificently to the glory of the Son. He wrote of the preeminence of Jesus, over law and over prophesy. He must have thought back  remembering that moment on the Mount of Transfiguration: “we saw His glory, the glory of the one and only son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth…the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (Jn 1:14, 17)  He remembered how he could hear the voice from the cloud: “This is my Son, listen to Him.”  And this time, he got it.

Promises are important. The law mandates that people keep promises-in law school, we called it contracts. Even kids understand it and do the pinky swear thing. Middle-schoolers used to pinprick their fingers and mix blood signifying the importance of their promises. Everyone knows a promise is important. What is a promise?

1 a :  a declaration that one will do or refrain from doing something specified b :  a legally binding declaration that gives the person to whom it is made a right to expect or to claim the performance or forbearance of a specified act
2 :  reason to expect something ; especially :  ground for expectation of success, improvement, or excellence
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/promise

As Christ followers, we are told often about the many promises of God and further, instructed and encouraged to cling to those promises. Understood. I have said that many times to myself, and others, when going through trials and heartbreaking challenges. It is one of those tender admonitions that come to our heads and mouths frequently when the circumstances are inconsistent with what seems fair, right, just or loving.

Perhaps one of the greatest promises in history was the promise God made to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and then repeated to Moses in Exodus 3:17: “And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.”  First part of the promise: God would take them out of their daily lot of misery in Egypt. Second part of the promise: he would bring them into the land flowing with milk and honey. This promise is repeated throughout the book of Exodus, numerous times, to Moses, and, through Moses, to the people of Israel. Of course, God had many opportunities to repeat the promise in the course of the Israelites wandering for 40 years through the desert on the way to that promised land.

After 40 years, the time came when God was about to take them to the edge of the Jordan River to cross into the promised land. But first, He called Moses up to Mount Sinai and talked to Moses for 40 days.  As He talked, God, with His very own finger wrote the law on two tablets He made. (Ex 31:18) Meanwhile, back in the valley, the people of Israel got bored-very bored-and so they committed a great sin.

Out of their boredom came evil thoughts about their leader Moses who had, by their assessment, gone up the mountain to do God knows what (literally) and about God, who, at the moment, seemed very far away. The people therefore went to Aaron, Moses’ trusty brother and helper, and asked him to fashion them a god who would go before them, who they could see and whom they could worship. (Ex 32) And so, Aaron did as the people asked.

 The Lord, though He was on the mountain talking to Moses, saw what was happening and said to Moses: “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt.  They have been quick to turn  away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’ “I have seen these people,” the LORD said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.” (Ex 32:7-10)

Moses, however, was quick to remind God of His promise: “Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’” Then the LORD relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.” (Ex 32:13, 14)

God remembered His promise and relented of His anger, even though it was just and righteous. After all, the people of Israel had broken their promises to God, those promises which they repeated again and again to Moses, and through Moses to the Lord: “all that you have said, we will do.” Thus, even though the people had broken their promise to the Lord, God relented and forgave them their broken promise. However, though God forgave the people their broken promise, He said that there would be a punishment for the broken promise-there would be a price to pay for the broken promise. In Ex. 32:33 God instructed Moses “Now go, lead the people to the place I spoke of, and my angel will go before you. However, when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin.”

Moses expected God to keep His promise and therefore reminded Him of that promise. But certainly neither Moses nor the people of Israel could have imagined the price they would have to pay for God to keep His promise. Indeed, God was ready to give the people the land He had declared on oath to give to them, the promised land flowing with milk and honey. But keeping the promise would be at a price. What’s a price?

1 archaic :  value, worth
2 a :  the quantity of one thing that is exchanged or demanded in barter or sale for another b :  the amount of money given or set as consideration for the sale of a specified thing
3 :  the terms for the sake of which something is done or undertaken: as a :  an amount sufficient to bribe one b :  a reward for the apprehension or death of a person
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/price

“Then the LORD said to Moses, “Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.” (Ex 33:1-3)

The price to be paid for obtaining the promised land was that God’s presence would not go with the people of Israel into the promised land. They would have that which they had been promised, that for which they had waited a generation, that which they had wandered for 40 years in the desert to get to. They would get into the land flowing with milk and honey, but they would go without the very presence of God. What is the presence?

1 :  the fact or condition of being present
2 a :  the part of space within one's immediate vicinity b :  the neighborhood of one of superior especially royal rank …
4 :  one that is present: as a :  the actual person or thing that is present b :  something present of a visible or concrete nature
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/presence

They would get the place, the thing they had been promised, but without the presence of the Promisor. Was that a price they were willing to pay? Is that a price I am willing to pay? Do I want the great career, the success, the bells, the whistles of this life, the happiness, fame, the material stuff this world can offer me, and forego the presence of God Himself? Is that a price I am willing to pay for a promise fulfilled? Moses was not willing to pay that price.

Moses immediately withdrew into the Tent of Meeting and plainly said to the Lord: “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”  (Ex 33: 15, 16)

Having the things, not just the material things conjured up by the phrase a land flowing with milk and honey, but the intangibles like comfort, security, satisfaction, being free from pain, wane in comparison to the presence of God. Moses would rather have stayed in the desert with God’s presence than enter the promised land without it. The presence of God Himself is worth more than even the promises of God. 

Though I believe and remind God of His promises, I cling to His presence. All the milk and honey in the land of Canaan is not worth the promise without His presence.

Bankruptcy and the Bible

I am a lawyer and I often feel I should apologize for thinking like a lawyer. This is mainly because thinking like a lawyer leads me to speak like a lawyer and that can be a real problem. However, every once in a while there is a benefit to thinking and speaking like a lawyer. Today, it was a benefit. I was reading my Bible and thinking about bankruptcy. Doesn’t everyone? I wasn’t thinking about a personal bankruptcy but about bankruptcy in general. Mainly, I was contemplating that connection between the Bible and bankruptcy because I read Colossians 2: 13-14: “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.” That, for those of us who think about bankruptcy, our own or others, is amazing good news.

If you are not familiar with the process of a bankruptcy, the short explanation is that it is a statutory creation (meaning conceived by a legislature) by which an individual or an organization can repay or diminish all or some of the debt of that person or organization under the protection of the bankruptcy court. Essentially, the court looks at all the debt, all the assets, recognizes that the individual or the organization is overwhelmed by debt and then figures out an equitable (to the creditors) and manageable (to the debtor) way for the individual or the organization to be relieved of the debt; in some cases, the court will “forgive” the debt entirely. For simplicity sake, let’s just refer to individuals in bankruptcy only.

Statistics compiled by the Bankruptcy Institute show that in the first quarter of the year 2012, 355,000 people have filed bankruptcy, which was down about 12 percent from the same period of time in 2011.  For the year 2011, 1.37 million people filed bankruptcy, which was less than the 1.55 million people who filed bankruptcy in 2010. http://www.bcsalliance.com/bankruptcy_statestats.html. In 2015, the number was approximately 819,240 bankruptcies filed nationally. Thus, the trend is slowing down. Nonetheless, that is a lot of bankruptcies.

Many people have a friend or family member whose unbearable financial stress has been relieved through use of the bankruptcy code. And certainly, it is a legal, legitimate means of getting out of debt. What’s the catch? Why wouldn’t everyone under financial strain take that route? One reason is that the person who declares bankruptcy carries that bankruptcy on their credit report for the next seven years making it difficult to get new credit, get a loan, buy a house or a car. Thus, even though the law gives a pass, it is a pass with a price. The debtor still “pays” for seven years after filing for bankruptcy. No new credit-essentially, creditors don’t trust the debtor until the price (the seven years) has been paid.

And yet, as we see from the statistics above, a lot of people and organizations elect bankruptcy as a good option, or as the only option.

Interestingly, there are people who, while being legally relieved of the debt, feel a moral obligation to repay creditors even after being declared bankrupt. Thus, even though the law gives them the individual a pass on repayment, something in the heart of the individual drives them to want to pay the debt back since it was most often a debt rightly incurred. This is not a legal obligation. The drive, or sense that the obligation should be repaid, is actually borne out of moral compunction. i.e. “I bought it. I could not pay for it. I have what I bought and I should pay for it even if not on the terms that I originally agreed to, and even though the law says I no longer owe that money.”  In other words, the legal debt is relieved but the moral debt, the need to “do the right thing” is not relieved. That points to something deeper inside us than what a statute or a law can fix.

We do not all struggle with overwhelming financial debt. But, we all have a moral debt. We have all screwed up. The Bible calls that sin. And like financial debt or credit cards, the time to pay eventually comes. For those who have sin (all of us) the payment comes as death, temporally and eternally. So what can we do when we recognize our own desperate situation morally and/or spiritually? Is there a bankruptcy code that relieves us of our debt, of the sense of condemnation, of the guilt and the shame, let alone the seven years bad credit record? Who really wants to have the past brought up again and again, a constant reminder of our screw ups? Not many.

The good news is that there is a way out of our spiritual indebtedness. That way is not a way conceived by a legislature nor implemented by a court. In fact, the way to relief of personal moral indebtedness is counter intuitive; it is through someone else being publicly shamed and someone else paying for all our debts. The way out is through the blood sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. That payment completely takes away our indebtedness and removes the legal obligation. That is better than bankruptcy. The blood sacrifice of Jesus on the cross is far better than a spiritual bankruptcy code (which some would call the law). The difference between a spiritual bankruptcy code (the law) and having a debt paid off, is that the former may cover the debt superficially, but does not forgive the debt morally or take away the shame or guilt. Someone else paying the debt completely, as Christ did, leaves us not only legally free but morally free from attempts at or compunction to repay. What is incredible to me is that the indebtedness is completely paid. That means no calls, no seven year credit ding, no guilt, no shame, no looking over your shoulder wondering how you can pay back the debt. It isn’t just that someone found a way to pay the debt back in part, or over time, or at the creditor’s loss. The debt is paid in full now, completely.

When I read this verse, I thought about it immediately in terms of what I would say to a client: “You are not going to believe this: someone actually paid your immense debt at no cost to you but at tremendous cost to himself. You owe nothing to your creditors but everything to the one who paid the debt. The case against you is closed. The debt is paid in full.” What client would not jump at that opportunity? What client would not want to know who the beneficent person was? What client would not immediately feel relief, gratitude and perhaps delirious joy at such news?

Likewise, when confronted with my spiritual bankruptcy, why would I not jump with joy at the good news that my debt has been paid in full, immediately freeing me from the debt, the guilt, the shame and the seven years of it constantly being thrown into their face. Such is the good news we know and share, lawyers and non-lawyers alike.

How Was Your Day Today?

            At the end of any given day, when my husband walks through the door, I ask “How was your day today?” What follows is usually a conversation about meetings, conversations, phone calls and projects. He then normally returns the favor. Then, we have a discussion about bonbons, soap operas, luncheons with friends and other things I might have liked to do that day but instead, I relate how I worked, cleaned the house and did a load of laundry.

            Imagine, for a moment, if the legacy of your day was this: Your name here went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 

            What if it was the legacy of your life? That would be quite an epitaph.

            In Matthew 9:18-34 there is a short section in which is described four different, back to back miracles that Jesus did. It reads somewhat like a day in the life of Jesus. 

¹⁸ While he was saying this, a synagogue leader came and knelt before him and said, “My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.” ¹⁹ Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.

²⁰ Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. ²¹ She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.”

²² Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment.

²³ When Jesus entered the synagogue leader’s house and saw the noisy crowd and people playing pipes, ²⁴ he said, “Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him. ²⁵ After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. ²⁶ News of this spread through all that region.

²⁷ As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”

²⁸ When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”

“Yes, Lord,” they replied.

²⁹ Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”; ³⁰ and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.” ³¹ But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region.

³² While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus. ³³ And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”

            Picture the disciples trotting along behind Jesus as he walked through a village. It isn’t clear what village or town it as, but it was big enough to have plenty of sick and needy people. On that day, there were at least four people in need as recounted in Matthew’s Gospel.

Request number one. Jesus was called upon by a synagogue leader (named Jairus in other Gospels) to raise his dead daughter to life. Jairus is an important man with some clout, after all he is a synagogue leader. Nonetheless, he does not command Jesus to come to his house and raise his daughter from the dead; kneeling before Jesus, Jairus says “if you put your hand on her, she will live.” That is not an ordinary, run of the mill request. As a disciple, watching this, I think “whoa, that’s a big request.”  But, they all trot off to Jairus’ house to see what Jesus is going to do.

As they are walking to Jairus’ house, along comes request number two: the woman with the issue of blood. We aren’t talking about a cold or a virus for a couple of days. This woman had suffered for twelve years at the hands of many doctors. No one could figure it out, so most likely, she was just seen as a woman under a curse who should be shunned and not touched-she was unclean. Imagine, not being touched for twelve years, no hugs, no hand upon the shoulder, no embrace, no kiss. Just abject aloneness and loneliness. This woman crawled along the ground, moving with the crowd, trying hard not to stand out, with one objective, one simple, insignificant, but forbidden objective- to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment. As soon as she does, power goes out from Jesus, and she is healed. He says, pausing just long enough to turn around and look her in the  eye, “your faith has healed you.”  No rebuke, no castigation, no “ew, yuck” from Jesus- just commendation and healing.

Back to request number one. Jesus and Jairus finally get to Jairus house and the mourners are already gathering, doing what mourners do, mourning the dead daughter. Jesus tells them to go away and lifts her by her hand, giving her back to Jairus. The Bible, in classic understated phrases says “news of this spread through all that region.” No doubt.  For the disciples, the day was getting curiouser and curiouser. 

Request number 3:  As soon as Jesus leaves Jairus’ house, along come two blind men who do not ask to be given sight; instead they ask for mercy. Maybe the request is implied. Maybe they don’t know what to ask. Perhaps the two blind men are afraid to ask. Nonetheless, Jesus, the two blind men and presumably, the disciples, who are still obediently following along, go inside. Judging from the response Jesus got at Jairus’ house and what he said to the blind men after he gave them sight-“See that no one hears about this.”-he didn’t want everyone in the village watching. Jesus asks the blind men a simple question “do you believe that I can do this?” Only the Messiah could give sight to the blind and make the lame walk. Jesus was not asking whether they thought he had power to do it, he was asking whether the blind men believed he was the Messiah with authority to heal them. It was a much bigger question.  They say yes, and boom, Jesus tells them “your faith has healed you.”

Request number 4: while they were going out, a man who was demon possessed was brought to Jesus. Jesus drives out the demon that had caused the man to be mute and the formerly possessed man speaks. People said “whoa, nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.” 

One day, four miracles, five people healed, Pharisees ticked off-all in one day. That was one day in the life of Jesus. 

It might have been even more amazing except that it wasn’t just one day. It was every day. That is the way the life of Jesus was described, not just one day. 

As a disciple of Jesus, I read these things and think, this is amazing. If I were Peter, James, John or Judas, I might have watched and thought: "This is cool. Look at Jesus doing all those God things." Until the day that Jesus, seeing a crowd of people, all coming wanting something (and the disciples are still obediently and happily trotting along beside him or after him), coming for healing, deliverance, food. Jesus does not send them away. Instead, he feels compassion for the crowd. Jesus says to the disciples, “the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

To do what Jesus? To do these God things? To do what you are doing? Heal? Teach? Deliver? Raise the dead? Are you kidding? “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name. so that the Son might bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”  (John 14:12-14)

Amazing, impossible, unfathomable and outrageous as the invitation was, the disciples must have responded yes to the invitation-not only the invitation to pray for laborers, but to be laborers. Matthew 10:1 says “He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness… and sent them out with instructions.” In Matthew 20:7, Jesus says to a group of people, "You also go and work in my vineyard."

How was your day today?

May I Borrow Your House

          Jesus did not have a lot of possessions; probably because of the life he lived. He didn’t have a way to get around, so he walked everywhere. When it came time to enter Jerusalem, to celebrate His last Passover on this earth, he had to borrow a colt for His triumphant entry. If he wanted to cross the Sea of Galilee, he had to borrow Peter’s boat. In fact, he didn’t even have a permanent home. When he lived with Mary and Joseph, he lived in Nazareth. Once he started his ministry, he didn’t have a place to put his pillow. When he wanted to stay in Bethany, he stayed at the home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus. If he was visiting with Peter, he hung his robe there. Of course, as we know, he was laid to rest in a borrowed tomb. One time, when he was in Capernaum for a while, he stayed with me.

          I was delighted that he wanted to stay with me. When he taught, people came from all over. They flocked to hear him, including the teachers of the law. So many people came to my home that day, there was standing room only.  I was so proud that Jesus had come to my house. I was delighted that He had chosen my house to not only stay, but from which to teach. There, he even taught the teachers of the law.

          Then it happened. It started while he was teaching. First, it was just the sounds from the roof. That was bad enough. I didn’t want anything to distract people from Jesus’ teaching. But the sounds above were unmistakable. Scratching at first, and then clawing. Second, the dust and the dirt started to fall all around us as we sat and stood inside the room. I was really hoping Jesus would not notice. I would have to check it later. Frankly I was so embarrassed that there was something wrong with my roof. I didn’t want Jesus to think I had not taken care of everything for him to stay with me. Then the volume of the sound increased, the unmistakable sound of someone digging through my roof. People were starting to not only get distracted from what Jesus was teaching, they were looking up, dirt falling on their heads. I looked apologetically at Jesus, mortified that my home was no longer the perfect setting for his words of wisdom and truth. He kept right on teaching, as if not noticing that the roof was falling in on him. Paralyzed from the sheer embarrassment, and the inability of knowing quite what to do, I just kept pretending to listen, trying to focus, but every few moments I found myself inadvertently glancing upward.

          It did become a little difficult to ignore when through the roof came a mat, with a man lying on it. By this time, all eyes were on the man on the mat. People had cleared a space for the man on the mat to rest on the floor, followed by four more men who had apparently lowered him into my house. I am not sure which of us was more befuddled, the man on the mat or myself. He didn’t get up. Apparently, he couldn’t get up and walk. It was now too great a disturbance and too much of an intrusion to the teaching of Jesus to ignore. Jesus had stopped teaching. Now, everyone’s eyes were on Jesus. That was fortunate. I didn’t want them looking at me. Jesus was not looking at me either. That was also good because I didn’t want him to be upset with me that my house was now a full blown mess, totally unfit for Jesus, and totally unsuitable for a rabbi. It was as if everyone in the room stopped breathing for just a moment. I know it was only a moment because Jesus immediately assessed the entire situation: hole in my roof, mess on the floor, paralyzed man and four friends staring at Him. He “said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” I thought, Jesus was probably as annoyed with the man on the mat as I was, interrupting Jesus’ teaching, let alone destroying my house. Ah, I was so relieved. He wasn’t angry with me for my roof falling in. Jesus saw the obvious error of the man on the mat’s sin of barging into my home and interrupting his teaching. So I thought.

          Those teachers of the law who had also come to hear Jesus-they were not happy with what had just happened. They weren’t saying it out loud. But their annoyance with Jesus was as obvious as my relief that he wasn’t mad at me.

          “Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? ⁹ Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? ¹⁰ But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, ¹¹ “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” ¹² He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

          Jesus eventually stopped teaching and people went home.  Later that day, as Jesus and I cleaned up the mess from the hole in my roof, we talked about that hole and the mess in my house. We laughed about it and I had to admit to him, that had he told me about the mess to come when he asked to stay with me, I am not so sure I would have said yes. Sure, I loved having Jesus stay with me in my house. I really loved when he was teaching and people would come and hear him. But that mess.

          On that day, he did something more than teach and preach in my house. He stopped the clucking tongues and accusations of the teachers of the law. He healed a man.  He answered the prayers of four men whose friend lived his life on a mat. It required a hole in my roof. It required a temporary mess in my house.

          That night, as we sat down to eat a simple meal, I thanked him for coming to stay with me, and together, we blessed the mess.