Happy FREEASTER!

I COR 9:19-23
19Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law.22To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

FREEEDUUM!

I feel a soul beat pounding the rhythm of this paradox.  


I just read yet another fabulous novel by Davis Bunn called RARE EARTH.  

I don't give away plots but I'm still reveling in the main guy's consistent character trait... to honor the customs of the land he's sent to while maintaining his own identity.  He's free and he offers freedom...

Jesus sets us free and then says "choose" who you will serve.  I can hear Bob Dylan saying "you gotta serve somebody" here.  I can't deny the truth in that.  But the little key that opens the big door is "choice".  At the moment I chose Christ, I received freedom... to chose.

Before that moment, when I chose to accept Him, I was servant to the "whatevers" of my own making, or those of others.  All my mistakes.  All my abuses. All the shame stuff.  But that list gets, literally, crossed out.

And now, Easter is coming!  Easter isn't just about the empty tomb.

 It's about the empty cross. 

If Jesus didn't actually rise from the dead/cross, then the whole thing is a farce.  (And the atheists are nodding sagely right here...)

But why would that many people pretty much volunteer for martyrdom?  If Jesus didn't rise from the dead, then he'd be a lost cause, right?  Your instinct would scream, "Go hide!"

  BUT Jesus appeared to quite a bucket load of folks after his resurrection. 

Acts 1:3  After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 

Anyway, I'm no Bible scholar.  It just seems to me that 40 days is plenty of time to prove it was really Him.  Forty days and then he's taken up into the heavens - alive - and they all see it.  No magicians, no dry ice, no video projections.  

So I say, HAPPY FREEASTER!  

didn't feel like dying...just didn't feel much like living

I've been sick this week.  Ugh!  I realized this morning that depression feels a lot like a bad cold.  It's hard to get up in the morning.  You can't think very clearly.  You know what's true, but it seems far away and hazy.

For any of you who have friends who deal with depression, remember those flu days and be merciful to them.  It's not something you just snap out of, but it can get better.

I think Paul was just a tad depressed here.  At least when he starts writing.  But read this for yourself and see if you can see the turning point away from frustration and back to the freedom of resolve as he tells himself the truth.

I COR 9:3-18   3This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me. 4Don’t we have the right to food and drink?5Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas^a ? 6Or is it only I and Barnabas who lack the right to not work for a living?

7Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink the milk? 8Do I say this merely on human authority? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing? 9For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.”^b Is it about oxen that God is concerned? 10Surely he says this for us, doesn’t he? Yes, this was written for us, because whoever plows and threshes should be able to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. 11If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? 12If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more?

But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.

13Don’t you know that those who serve in the temple get their food from the temple, and that those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? 14In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.

15But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me, for I would rather die than allow anyone to deprive me of this boast. 16For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me.18What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make full use of my rights as a preacher of the gospel.

I think I see this subtle shift coming through the whole passage.   But then there's a "click" in the middle of verse 15.  A total shift in perspective.  That moment when he takes the principles and applies them to himself... and comes out free.

I would rather die than allow anyone to deprive me of this boast...   

Then in verse 18, he realizes the process itself IS the reward.  

So why bother writing all this?  Well, he's a lawyer.  It is in his nature to look at all sides of the matter.  To test it.  To be sure for himself that he's still taking the right stance.  

A really good lawyer... an upright lawyer... finds the truth and lets it stand up for itself.  He may have to knock away some of the side issues to let the critics see the bottom line, but in the end the truth his trump card.

And so it is with depression or discouragement.  There's no better anti-depressant than telling yourself the truth.  Christ died for you.  You are of GREAT worth.  All else is a tacked on lie that needs to be peeled off and tossed in the trash.

This is a good day to have a good day.

Southern Standards

I COR 9:1-6

 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not the result of my work in the Lord? ² Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you! For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

³ This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me. ⁴ Don’t we have the right to food and drink? ⁵ Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas^[a]? ⁶ Or is it only I and Barnabas who lack the right to not work for a living?

Double standards.  I grew up with those.

This is an odd passage.  It seems like it came out of nowhere.  But honestly, I'm seeing the connection.  Just before, in chapter 8, Paul was saying we cause "OUR BROTHERS" to sin when we use our freedom inappropriately.  This is about Christians relating to Christians, not evangelism.

So then Paul goes into his own freedom.  He's frustrated.  Why?  Because the ones attacking him were the ones he invested in; the ones he led to the Lord, nurtured, taught.  Suddenly, instead of investing in others, they are nitpicking.

Double standards...

Being a Christian in the Bible belt had its pros and cons for sure.  The moral standards were for everyone, Christian and non alike.  But the Christian had to be above even good morals.   Because, you see, if the Christian fell it was justification time... the non Christian could say, "See!  I was right!  You guys are just like me!  You're not so perfect!" 

The problem is, they (the non Christians) were right.  The Christians were so much like them–even in pride that refused to allow them to admit their failure–that they looked no different.  Because they weren't. 

We're all just hot messes who desperately need a savior.  When we deny that "sameness" with non believers, we deny the work of Christ on the cross.  We can not behave ourselves into sainthood.  It is completely the work of Christ.     (tired perfectionist sigh...)

I've been watching reality shows of all kinds lately.   I know, I know.  "Reality" is a far cry from the produced and edited version we get.  But the deal is this... that person really did lose that weight, get that wedding, move in to that house.  I was intrigued by the process of transformation.

What is required for transformation–life changing transformation?

What they all share is a moment of turning.  They cry out for help, the "savior" comes and then they face THE MOMENT.

They have to yield control held in one hand while picking up personal responsibility with the other.

Oddly, the personal responsibility looks like taking control.  But it's always in the framework of doing exactly what the coach/decorator/planner says.  Is that control?

For sure, they've received and taken control over the circumstances, but by control do I mean they are totally in charge?  Nope.

This is such a new thought, I'm going to have to sit on it for a bit.  There are some areas of responsibility I need to go tend to.

Do I use my freedom to rebel against being judged...to prove I'm free?  If I do that, I'm still being ruled by their opinions... not really free yet at all...

So much to think about.

God's grace is like a blanket...

When Davis was around 3 or 4, he was playing boy stuff.  Then he just stopped, mid stride and said very calmly, "God's grace is like a big warm blanket that floats down out of the sky and wraps all around you."

Then he went on playing.

I stood stunned.