Baraka…

I remember some of the conversations I used to have with colleagues when I lived overseas. Sometimes they would speak long & passionately about their desire for seeing the Gospel spread like wildfire among Muslim peoples. These were people with Big vision who were focused on engaging in activities that would release church planting movements. Often the image that would be evoked in my mind was of the good news being some kind of unstoppable tsunami. I am uncomfortable with that image.

Rick Love says he doesn’t like the term ‘mission’ because too often it misrepresents the peaceable way of Jesus. He suggests that rather than conquering the world for Jesus, the presence of the gospel among a community of people is one of blessing and transformation. He says the pattern of God’s intention for people is imprinted in God’s first conversation with Abraham, “Leave your country, your people & your father’s household & go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation & I will bless you; I will make your name great and you will be a blessing. I will bless those you bless you and whoever curses you I will curse; and all people’s on earth will be blessed through you “ (Gen 12:1-3). In the New Testament the Apostle Paul makes the direct connection between Abraham, blessing & the gospel, “The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you” (Gal 3:8).

The presence of the gospel among people is like a little yeast in the dough. It is subversive & revolutionary bringing fundamental change but its arrival is often subtle & below the radar… mostly birthed in weakness. It is also like a radiating tiger balm bringing healing and reconciliation, justice and generosity …deeply satisfying and purposeful living.

The presence of the gospel is creative and industrious movement among communities of people responding to the blessing of the Kingdom of God.

 Rick Love says, “So no more talk of conquering… those who follow Jesus are commissioned to bless”.

Imagine…

God’s reality is… that disciples live between… they are catalysts… bridge people… heralds of the new kingdom… God’s alternative community whose actions are like Jesus’ teachings… shattering, opening, inviting ! Outwards and downwards ! 

Anybodies…

The thing that amazes me about Jesus is that he took the 1st century model of rabbi & disciple and he turned it on its head. Instead of taking the best of the best, Jesus begins his ministry by calling anybodies – men like Simon the fisherman, and Matthew the tax collector.

Jesus starts with a small band of anybodies – men who seem to be constantly struggling to understand and apply his teachings – men who at times are so barely faithful. And using discipleship as the means of connecting people – as the engine house, if you like – Jesus begins a movement from this small band of anybodies and they end up changing the world.

No wonder Jesus says, ‘I can guarantee you this truth: Those who believe in me will do the things that I am doing… indeed they will do even greater things…’(Jn 14:12). Jesus believed that his circle of disciples could become like him. Jesus still believes that those that follow after him can be like him, that they can still do even greater things…

Out on West St…

Moving against the flow…

I have a confession to make… I was out driving on West St the other morning, when all of a sudden I was breaking 3 fairly major driving rules… Firstly, thou shalt not drive on the other side road… Secondly, thou shalt not turn without using thy indicator and thirdly, thou shalt not stop in path of oncoming traffic…

You see, the reason for my erratic driving behaviour was a toddler – no more than 3 years old – running toward me on the opposite side of the road with no parent in sight.

Instinctively, without hesitation – I was in the middle of committing some fairly major traffic offences in my attempt to shield the child from the oncoming traffic. And then the mother appeared, she was racing from her SUV parked in a nearby driveway, she was literally running out of her high heel shoes, shouting out in her attempt to stop her young son…

Ok let’s freeze the action for a moment… I would like you to think this was a simple ‘hero helps fair damsel in distress’ story but unfortunately life is never quite so neat.

No, eventually the parent who comes running towards me is not a woman running out of her high heels but instead he is an Islander man – with no shoes, his hair in dreads.

As I go to get out of my vehicle – that’s stopped like a patrol car on the wrong side of the road – I call after him, “Can I help you ?” and he answers “No, it’s Ok !” and within seconds he has scooped up his son into his arms and they are off the road.

I am not the hero of this story and as I began driving on the right side of the road again I heard a short sharp smack and a little boy crying…

Sometimes we have no choice but to go against the flow… 

Actual Attachment…

I don’t think the quality of our attachment to Jesus today is merely metaphorical. Discipleship still translates into actual attachment.

It is our intentional connectedness to an actual circle or community of other disciples who are focused on Jesus. As we open ourselves up & share the very fabric of our lives together, these people become the concrete face of Jesus – they are Jesus within, between and among us.

Our actual concrete connection to Jesus also translates into the intimate connectedness we have with Scripture and the solidarity & help we offer to the stranger, the alien and even our enemies. 

Adhesion…

It was generally customary for a disciple in Jesus’ day to study under the same Rabbi for years. They would develop a deep bond – a relationship of great love and respect. Adin Steinsaltz says that the relationship between a rabbi and his disciple was generally held in ancient times to be more important than that between a father and his son.

The Mishnah even says,“When one is searching for the lost property both of his father and of his rabbi, his rabbi’s loss comes before his father. His father brought him into the life of this world, however his rabbi, who taught him the way of wisdom – of the Torah, has brought him into the life of the world to come”.

So against this background Jesus’ rather startling words in Luke’s gospel begin to make sense… “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, even life itself, cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26)

Jesus is making it crystal clear that the attachment between a rabbi and his disciples comes first.

Sore in the Saddle…

During the week, there has been this image that keeps inhabiting the outer edges of my imagination…

It is evening and Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus is agitated and overwhelmed with the reality of what’s coming. His disciples, with their stomachs filled with food & wine, are blissfully dozing nearby. Scripture describes Jesus being so anxious, that his sweat is becoming like great drops of blood falling down onto the ground. Three times Jesus tries to alert his disciples to what’s coming. He tries to rouse them to the sense of urgency and each time they descend back into slumber.

What has disturbed me about this image is that it is all too uncomfortably familiar. How easy it is for me to get distracted and not see – to not perceive the main thing. So often, when change comes near, I know I am not paying attention.

Also during the week, I have been out riding bikes with my kids. Usually they are only allowed to ride in the cul-de-sac next to our house. However, the last few days I have been taking them for rides out beyond our street and the world has suddenly opened up to them. They have been filled with all the wonder that sparkles in children of that age. We’ll be riding by some house and I’ll hear behind me, “Hey Dad, can you smell that nice dinner ?”… “Hey Dad, there’s that monster 4WD we saw the other day”… “Hey Dad, did you see me do that wheelie ?”

Yet despite their wonder and inquisitiveness, my kids don’t seem to have the same sensitivity to all the traffic that keeps rushing by us. In so many ways, an awareness of what the other cars are doing, is so much more important. However, it is nothing for the little cherubim to get so caught up in a cycling moment that they begin drifting off into the middle of the road. And there I am the ever vigilant father – calling them back to the curbside.

You know, being found distracted, self-absorbed or dozing is not good enough for me anymore. I want to be awake and alert and attending to the main thing. I don’t to wake up and find that Jesus has moved on somewhere else and left me behind.