Son of the Father

For a long time, I've been struck by the life of Barabbas. According to Matthew, Barabbas was a "notorious prisoner". Mark lists him among a group of "rebels in prions, who had committed murder in the insurrection". John simply tells us that Barabbas was a robber.
It strikes me that these were not only his legal descriptions, but also the adjectives that began to define who he was . He was no longer Barabbas, son of____________. He was no longer Barabbas, brother to_______________. He was no longer Barabbas, the man who worked with____________. He was legally and nominally Barabbas, the notorious prisoner. Barabbas, whose name means son of the father, was no longer defined as being the son of his father, but as the man who had committed murder during an insurrection. He was the notorious prisoner.

But, even Barabbas, the notorious criminal receives grace (getting what we don't deserve) and mercy (not getting what we do deserve) in the form of Jesus Christ. Barabbas was the man for whom Christ literally took the cross of death. Pilate, who wanted nothing to do with Christ's punishment or death asked the crowd if they wanted Jesus or Barabbas. This would be like President Obama asking the country who that want forgiven and released: Osama Bin Laden, or a man who had done nothing illeagal, but simply had offended a group of people. It seems like Pilate was trying to choose the most hated man possible so that the mob would have to choose to release Christ. But in their fury, the mob chose to release Barabbas. He received the opportunity for a new life. Mercy. He was pardoned from the death he deserved. Grace.

As I think about the life of Barabbas, it's not hard to put myself in his place. I was born into a life as a notorious criminal/sinner. This was my identity.
But as the mob cries for my release, it is Christ who takes the death I deserve. And in that, I receive new life. In that, my identity changes from notorious sinner, to son of the father.

May I step further into life-relationship with the Father through Christ. May the rhythms of the trinity be at work in and through my life. May the gospel be ever fresh in my heart and mind.

"It was my sin that held him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished"
-How Deep the Fathers Love For us

How Deep? How Long?

Just wondering about my life and my heart...
How deep do things go into my heart?
How long do those things linger in my heart?
Do they ever go away and stop affecting my life?
Here's me hoping and trusting that good things linger and have affect in my life.
Here's me hoping and trusting and needing to know that the hard things that happen in my life that go deep into my heart are being redeemed for good...

"Grace makes beauty out of ugly things" -U2

Capital Punishment

In ancient Rome, if you were found guilty of a capital offense, you were sentenced with any number of capital punishments. One of which involved being tied foot to foot, waist to waist, hand to hand, face to face with a dead body. You would be assigned a Roman guard who would follow you around to make sure that you didn't untie yourself from the corpse. Essentially, you were living life with the extra weight of this rotting corpse. As you slept, you slept with a rotting corpse. As you walked through town, you walked through town with a rotting corpse.

Great shame would have accompanied you as you lived with this body. Everyone that you saw would have known you were guilty of a capital offense. Because of this, they would want nothing to do with you-you were cut off from humanity.

I doubt that I could put into words how bad I imagine a rotting corpse would smell. I can't imagine how nauseous the sight of a rotting body would be. So even if you were still loved by friends and family, they wouldn't physically be able to be around you without become sick-you were separated from relationship.

Eventually, as the corpse rotted, decomposed, and melted, it would rot, decompose, and melt into your own flesh, eventually killing you. This would have been a slow, disgusting, painful process. This process slowly separated you from life as death literally invaded your life.

The only way that you were allowed to untie yourself was if someone offered to untie you and tie the corpse to themselves.

As I think about that picture, I hear Christ's beckoning:

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." -Matthew 11:28-30

I think of all the things Christ is calling and bringing me out of as he unties the rotting corpse of my sin/flesh and ties it upon himself.

-I lose my certain death

-I lose the stench of living a me-centered existence

-I lose the shame that accompanies that existence (not to be confused with Godly guilt-we still have that as the Spirit brings us back to Christ again and again)

-I gain life (full-life, life as it was intended)

-I gain the ability to meaningfully relate to others

-I gain the aroma of Christ as he sanctifies me

-I gain freedom

This isn't to say that we won't chose sin. This isn't to say that we won't foolishly chose to re-tie ourselves to the rotting corpse of our flesh and sin. But it is to say:

"Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" -Romans 7:24-25

May he increase and may I decrease.

Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy...

A few thoughts on worship

Right now in the Rejoice Worship Ministry, we're spending some time in our devotion times talking about worship. Here are a few of the simple thoughts that have been shared or will be shared:
-we long for and were created for transcendence, something bigger than us
hundreds of thousands of folks chose to spend time and money to stand in the freezing cold to watch a man put his hand on the Bible and repeat some vows. I'm not trying to diminish Obama or any other president's getting sworn in. It is an important, historical moment. I do think though that it is a picture of our longing for transcendence. We want to be part of something bigger than me, something we can tell my kids and grand kids we were part of...
-we worship in the context of story
The simplified version of this story goes like this:
We each have a personal hell, something we need salvation from.
We each look to someone or something as our personal savior from our personal hell.
We place value (worship) the thing or person that saves us from our hell.
Look at commercials:
1. You have acne which keeps you from______________(personal hell)
2. Use proactive solution to save you from that personal hell so that you can ________ (savior)
3. Spend money and time on proactive solution (worship)
(note-Marc Driscoll taught on this idea at the Continuous Worship conference 07)
-worship is about what we value
-what we value shapes the way we live
If you want a great picture of this, watch the movie/documentary "Trekkies".
If you come into my house, you get an idea of the things I value. If you look at my bank statements, you can get an idea of the things I value. If you watched how I spent my time, you'd get an idea about what I value.
-because we're made in God's image, we are continuously outpouring
read Harold Best's book "Unceasing Worship" for a great study of this
-Who/what we worship shapes who we are ("We Become What We Worship" -G.K. Beale)

"So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you."
-Romans 12:1-2 (the message)

These are just a few of the thoughts we've talked about or will be talking about. Feel free to share any thoughts or input you may have.

Dreams cont.

11. Live in a big city for a season
12. Beach home (hey, I can at least dream right?)
13. Wrap-around porch
14. House with a "quiet room"
15. Field of dreams (baseball field on my property)

Bats, balls, gloves...can't wait

Baseball...ahhh (that is a good, life-giving ahhh)

2 days until pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training.

2 months until opening day.

watching and waiting...

Spring...in February

I think I can handle 60 and 70 degrees in February.
I find it interesting and really nice that something as simple as weather can breathe new life into my winterized heart and life. I'm thankful for the ability to feel...
I feel warmth on my skin now when I walk outside-that brings joy...
I feel the anticipation of spring-that brings hope...
I feel the overflow of rolling windows down and listening to loud music-that feels alive...
I feel the excitement of a new season of Baseball-that makes me feel like a kid again...
What brings you joy, hope, life, and child-like today?

Not a new observation, but spring slowly emerging from it's winter slumber gives me hope that my heart is doing the same thing. It gives me hope that my heart lives in seasons. It makes me long for a season of new life. It makes me yearn for grace and mercy that is new every morning. It makes me want to better know the God who makes all things new.

Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy...