The moment we start to get nervous we’re too free is the moment we’ve begun to understand the beginnings of the freedom God wants for us.

It’s the kind of freedom that releases us from the opinions of people who judge us.

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

The moment we start to get nervous we’re too free is the moment we’ve begun to understand the beginnings of the freedom God wants for us.

It’s the kind of freedom that releases us from the opinions of people who judge us.

We’re allowed to pursue the dreams God has placed in our hearts.

We can live exempt from worry.

We can walk away at any time.

We can forgive ourselves for our past.

The question is, how will we choose to live? Conforming to the standards we’ve been handed  (look like this, think like this, ‘some things you just have to deal with’)? Or will we live another way entirely? Constantly being transformed into the person God created us to be — free and fulfilled in who we were created to be.

Undoubtably, this is the message of Christ. Through him, we are free. And his Spirit — the Spirit of freedom — lives with us.

____________
For more see: 2 Corinthians 3:17 and Romans 12:2 

It’s one of the final words in the Hebrew Bible, leaving the reader in anticipation for the Messiah. A figure, Malachi also says, will come after Elijah has been sent. And the Old Testament [...]]]> The sun of righteousness will rise with healing on its wings.
- God’s word through the prophet Malachi

It’s one of the final words in the Hebrew Bible, leaving the reader in anticipation for the Messiah. A figure, Malachi also says, will come after Elijah has been sent. And the Old Testament closes with this image — so when the New Testament begins we look in anticipation for the Messiah.

The book of Matthew paints a picture of a man called John the Baptist who dresses like Elijah, lives how Elijah lived and eats what Elijah ate. In fact, when talking to people about John, Jesus quotes Malachi 3:1, likening John to this Elijah figure the prophet spoke of.

The message is clear: One like Elijah has prepared the way, and now Messiah has come.

Then, on his way to heal a ruler’s daughter, a woman reaches out and touches the “fringe of Jesus’ garment”. This word for fringe is talking about the prayer tassel that hung from the clothes Jesus wore in obedience with the Torah. The ancient Jews referred to their tassels as wings. 

She had faith that Jesus was the Messiah — and if that were true, he would have healing on his wings. She had suffered for so long she couldn’t even remember when it started. All she had to do is reach out and touch the wings of the Messiah. Jesus instantly changed the course of this woman’s life.

Sometimes we feel like all we can get of the Christ is the fringe. Like it’s a stretch to reach out and touch him, and when we do, it’s just the edge of his wing. But Scripture teaches us that’s enough. Because there is healing in the wings of the Messiah. And in him we find everything we need.

So we look to this Christ with faith. Faith that he can heal. That he can change the course of our lives. Faith that he can make today a new day, and that from the moment we meet him, our lives will never be the same.

Most intriguing, for as amazing as all the miracles are, Jesus seems to respond to the people in front of him.

There is a powerful movement of miracles that follow the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew. It’s an overflow of the grace that Jesus talked about in his longest recorded sermon.

The leper said, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” Jesus responded, “I will,” and healed him.

The centurion believed Jesus could heal his daughter without even traveling to see her. Jesus did.

A group brought their friend, a paralytic, to Jesus to be healed. He was healed and had his sins forgiven by the Christ.

A ruler asked Jesus to come into his home and heal his daughter. On the way a woman believed she could be healed of her life-long disease by touching one of the prayer tassels that hung from Christ’s clothes. She touched it and was healed. Then Jesus entered the rulers home and healed his daughter.

There are other stories of headings, miracles and amazing movements of God’s power woven in about these – but the stories above have a repeating theme. Each of these people believed that Jesus could do something amazing in their life, and each of them was met by the Christ and received fully what they believed.

What if the ruler would have believed what the Centurion believed? Would Jesus simply have healed his daughter without the journey to his home? What if the paralytic’s friends believed they just needed to get their friend close enough to touch Jesus’ prayer tassel?

Sometimes I waste my prayers. Not because I don’t appreciate the time I get with God, but because I simply don’t ask for enough, believing in the power of the Christ.

But the day after Christmas we have to ask… where do we go from here?

Yesterday I posted four verses I felt captured the grace, peace and joy of Christmas. The first two looked forward to the coming of Christ and the second two used [...]]]> Christmas is meant to be a crescendo in the year.

But the day after Christmas we have to ask… where do we go from here?

Yesterday I posted four verses I felt captured the grace, peace and joy of Christmas. The first two looked forward to the coming of Christ and the second two used the words of Jesus to share why his presence was so powerful in our lives.

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel.”
(which means, God with us).
— Isaiah 7:14

“For to us a child is born…
and his name shall be called,
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
— Isaiah 9:6

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, he has anointed me to proclaim good news…
and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
— Jesus (Luke 4:18)

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
— Jesus (John 3:17)

This idea that God loved the world so much — so much he would send his own Son to die for it — is revolutionary. He didn’t send his son to condemn, but to save.

The season of Advent celebrates the idea that Christ is returning. And the writers of the New Testament are adamant: Christ’s return is not yet fulfilled, but already started. And it’s right here, all around us. And we are caught up in it.

Whether it’s bringing peace to your family, restoring a relationship or walking in grace and peace when it’s far from easy — we join Christ in his his work of making all things new.

It’s a new way of living — a way that doesn’t jettison the spirit of Christmas, but applies it ways that change relationships, jobs and lives.

In some ways we look back in awe and wonder – what it must have been like for Joseph, Mary, the wiremen and the shepherds who knew a [...]]]> The season of Advent has been used by the people of the Church for hundreds of years as we collectively prepare for the coming of Christ.

In some ways we look back in awe and wonder – what it must have been like for Joseph, Mary, the wiremen and the shepherds who knew a very special baby was going to be born. What it must have been like for the heavens to know Messiah was coming to earth.

In other ways the Church looks forward – because Christ is going to come again. He has promised to return: to make all things new. To finish the work he started, taking away the brokenness, pain, separation, struggling, sickness and death of this world.

And as we look forward to his return we have to acknowledge that Jesus spoke of his return not only as a future event, but as something happening now – all around us.

We see Christ at work through his Church as we join him in restoring all things. We see him at work when dignity comes to someone living on the street. When an orphan is adopted. When those struggling with pain find hope. When those sick are healed.

We see him when we give up defining ourselves by what we produce and embrace the value he has placed in us. We see him when we share our lives in loving other. We see him when we show grace and mercy instead of judgement and anger.

We see this Jesus returning all around us, everywhere. And in Advent we acknowledge we want more.

So in the season of Advent we look forward to Christ entering into our lives here and now. And we ask for more of his presence. What would it be like if we were more in sync with the movement of God’s Spirit next year? What would it be like if the Kingdom were more present in our lives than ever before?

Advent helps us prepare the way for Christ to be more present in our lives.

____________

The photo above is from the first week of an Advent study we host in our apartment on Sunday evenings.

When the police forced Occupy Wall Street protestors out of Zuccotti Park earlier this week, it was two churches in Manhattan that opened their doors.

Middle Collegiate and Church of St. Paul and Andrew not only opened their doors to protestors, but provided them with food and water. Although the overwhelming [...]]]>

When the police forced Occupy Wall Street protestors out of Zuccotti Park earlier this week, it was two churches in Manhattan that opened their doors.

Middle Collegiate and Church of St. Paul and Andrew not only opened their doors to protestors, but provided them with food and water. Although the overwhelming majority of protestors are college graduates and many have stable incomes and homes, many have have also traveled from around the country to join the movement and were unprepared as the police moved in at 1am.

Some Christians disagree with either the method or message of the #OWS movement, but disparaging what’s happening through these churches of New York would entirely miss the point of “love your neighbor.” (And if you find yourself in categorical disagreement, it misses the point of “love your enemy.”) Of course, celebrating it because you agree with the message(s) of #OWS would miss the larger point of what’s happening in the Church of New York City.

“The Gospels have such a clear mandate for how we’re supposed to treat one another.” ~ Jacqui Lewis, Senior Minister at Middle Collegiate Church, East Village, Manhattan (pictured above).

Both of these churches do things differently than the kind of church I am part of – but they embody something every church should be known for. Minister Lewis’ words, and the actions behind them, speak so much life – they demonstrate the life and teachings of Christ in palpable clarity. It is how we are to live as Christ’s body – pouring ourselves out as a good gift for others (eucharist). Giving ourselves in an act of faith, trust and submission to the work of Christ who did the same for us.

____________

You can read more on what is happening in New York here. For more on some of the demographics mentioned above, look over this infographic.

Whoever claims to abide in him ought to walk in the same way Jesus walked.

That’s 1 John 2:6, and I used to read it like a moralist. 

And reading that verse as a moralist is discouraging.  Because the Scriptures are clear: Jesus lived a perfect life. No action was wrong. [...]]]>

Whoever claims to abide in him ought to walk in the same way Jesus walked.

That’s 1 John 2:6, and I used to read it like a moralist. 

And reading that verse as a moralist is discouraging.  Because the Scriptures are clear: Jesus lived a perfect life. No action was wrong. No thought ill-intent. No reaction out of line. And I just can’t seem to get it together and live like that. So that means I can’t claim to be a follower of Jesus.

But the author of 1 John is working on a greater theme in his text than simple actions or moralism. Throughout the entirety of the text he explores the idea of abiding in Christ. And what he seems to hint at in section the verse above comes from is that Christ abided in his Father. Jesus said it like this: I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge and my judgment is just, because I seek no my own will but the will of him who sent me. (John 5:30)

So maybe this verse affirms what God revealed to the prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 13:14) and repeated in the book of Acts (Acts 13:22), that David was a man after God’s heart. David fails if the goal is perfect moralism. But he never stops chasing after God. He wants to remain in relationship with God – and he gives his life to pursuing connection and identity in God.

Yet again we see that following this Jesus is about a beautiful third way. The foundation of Christianity is neither rebellion against the law, nor perfect success in following the law – it is abiding in the one who did what we could not, the one who obeyed every law and yet still sacrificed himself as sinful so that we might have life.