Tag: Jesus

The Other Symbol

Re: Verse reading- Mark 10:35-45; John 13:12-17; James 2:14-17 (day five) 43 But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

The disciples were so selfish and seemingly disconnected from what was really going on.  Jesus was communicating really BIG things.  Perhaps they picked up on the symbol of the cross.  It is the ultimate sign of submission and sacrifice.  I’m guessing though, they missed the other symbol.  The towel.  It is the symbol of service.  Most of us know deep in our hearts we are not the greatest.  No need to be convinced.  But, our pride and selfishness create this desire to not be “the least” (last).  “At least I’m better than some/most”.  Yet, Jesus challenges this idea with His teaching and actions.  So, they not only heard it (Mark 10), they saw it (John 13).

Footwashing followers

RE Verse reading–Mark 10:35-45; John 13:12-17; James 2:14-17 (day six)  “If I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.”  (John 13:14)  Washing feet was stinky business.  Unpleasant and thankless.  The work of slaves.  A symbol for all ego-insulting and necessary tasks.  When the King of Glory knelt to do this work, He created a crisis in the heart of every follower.  Do I deny MYSELF ( my protests and desires for recognition and pleasure) or do I deny MY MASTER?  Both in example and instruction Jesus commanded the path of humility and service–make the apology, accept the assignment, deny yourself,  meet the need even at the cost of great discomfort.  Jesus warned us not to attempt a life of higher privilege and ego-safety than He allowed Himself.  He even promised a blessing to those who follow Him example.  What prevents our obedience?  What hard thing will you do today because you are a follower of Jesus?

Christlikeness

Re: Verse reading- Mark 10:35-45; John 13:12-17; James 2:14-17 (day four)  How do we know how to act as a Christian?  In any given situation, how do we know how to respond?  We have an example…Jesus has come to earth to show us how to respond to God.  As a child of God, our character, our behavior, our actions should follow the example of Christ.  In our reading today, Jesus gives us an example of servant hood.  There was an expectation on Jesus’ part that the disciples follow His example.  Albert Schweitzer once said, “I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve.”  Schweitzer recognized what Jesus taught…if our lives do not look like Christ…if we do not follow His example…our relationship is not genuine.  There must be a visible obedience in our lives to confirm our true relationship.  Christ-likeness is our goal.  How are you measuring up?

Actual

Re: Verse reading–Mark 10:35-45; John 13:12-17; James 2:14-17 (day three)
“You also should wash one another’s feet.”  Question: Why did Jesus wash his disciples’ feet?  Answer: Because their feet needed washing.  Jesus did not take this action in order to teach his disciples a lesson, though it did teach them.  He did not do what he did as a demonstration of servanthood, although it demonstrated plenty.  His action was rooted in actual service, not servanthood theater.  The example Jesus set for them was not one of sentiment (“How sweet that the Son of God is doing a menial task”), but love (“I will do good to you”).  When we move from a motivation that says “I am supposed to serve” to one that says “I will do good to people in need”, we begin to serve like Jesus taught us.

Wally

Re: Verse reading–Mark 10:35-45; John 13:12-17; James 2:14-17 (day two)
If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.

My first HS job in Texas was at O’Connor High School here in San Antonio. The head band director and Fine Arts Chairman was Wally Dierolf. Most of you know that 5A band directors rank almost equal to 5A football coaches; it is a lofty position at the school. Even though he had 400+ students and the largest program in the district, every day at lunch he would take brown paper bag and sit on the floor at the front of the “M” building to make sure no one entered the building during those lunch periods that wasn’t supposed to be there. He could have easily requested another duty, and frankly could have requested to not have one at all. He did this lunch duty so that the rest of the fine arts teachers could have a break. He worked so we could rest. He sacrificed so that we could do our jobs better.

He was a tremendous band director, but I will never forget the lessons of servant leadership that he learned from Jesus and taught to me.

A glorious death

RE Verse reading–Luke 11:1-13; Luke 18:1-8 (day seven)
“Will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones who CRY to him day and night?” (18:7)  “And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down on the ground.” (Luke 22:44)  Prayer, for Jesus, was a kind of death.  Painful.  Physically exhausting.  It will be the same for us, I believe.  A death to impatience as we wait on God, a death to pride as we depend on His power, a death to dishonesty as we openly confess our sins.  I labor, sometimes, under the false expectation that the spiritual life should be convenient and easy, accessible even to the most casually interested applicant.  It was not so for Jesus and unlikely to be so for those of us who love Him and want to share His Spirit. Easy?  No.  Powerful?  Yes.  “It is in dying that we are born to eternal life”–St. Francis

Acceptance and assertion

RE Verse reading–Luke 11:1-13; Luke 18:1-8 (day six) 
“Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they always pray and not give up.”  (18:1)  It is not an easy balance to find.  When do I ACCEPT God’s will, resign myself to things I cannot control, and when do I ASSERT my needs, persevere and not give up?  The answer lies in the ability of the Father to communicate with my spirit.  As Jesus prayed in the garden He gradually “knew” that the cross was the Father’s will.  With the story of the widow, however, Jesus made clear that sometimes persistence is required and that the believer will hear the Spirit whispering, “do not give up, keep going.”  Neither posture is correct in every situation.  Sometimes  I accept an answer I do not want, and other times I continue to press with the confidence that an answer will eventually come.  Only God can help me know which path is right.

Asking the Right Question

Re: Verse reading – Luke 11:1-13; 18:1-8 (Day Five)  Luke 11:1 It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.”

Of all the questions the disciples could have asked, they chose prayer as the topic of this request.  Why not miracles?  Why not wisdom?  Why not prophesy or the future?  The disciples made the connection between the life of Jesus (power, peace, wisdom, hope, and joy) and the discipline of prayer that He faithfully demonstrated.  They saw in the Savior, a life they wanted to imitate.  They believed that this kind of approach to prayer was both possible and beneficial.  Do we?

Richard Foster says, “Prayer catapults us onto the frontier of spiritual life.  Of all the Spiritual Disciplines, prayer is the most central because it ushers us into perpetual communion with the Father.”

Squeaky wheels

Re: Verse reading – Luke 11:1-13; 18:1-8 (day one) 
“Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart.”  (18:1)
[Sorry for the late post. Yesterday was a full, happy day at FBCSA.]  Jesus believed it.  Squeaky wheels get grease.  People who pray get answers.  Significant effort is required.  Maybe, that is why the Lord knew he needed to encourage us not to give up.  Sometimes when I don’t talk to Holly, don’t tell her what I feel or want, it is because I don’t know, myself.  It is an attempt to avoid the emotionally taxing exercise of listening to my own soul, being honest with myself and with her.  Talk is easy.  Truth is hard.  Same with God. Is it possible to live without prayer?  Yes.  It is possible to do so and experience what He promised?  NO.  “Come let us reason” says the Lord.  Talk!  Be honest!  The squeaky wheel . . .

What matters most?

Re: Verse reading–2 Chronicles 20:1-4, 13-15; Matthew 6:16-18; Acts 13:1-3 (day one)
“Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah.”  (2 Chronicles 20:3)  It is a law of life.  Everything is not equally important.  All of us worth-ship some things and, therefore, not others.  What matters most to you?  The answer may not be apparent until a choice comes.  Question–when you really need to concentrate on spiritual matters, can you clear your schedule and find the time to “be still and know that I am God.”  Or, is your pattern of anxious seeking so unbreakable that you cannot clear your schedule (from meals or creature comforts) to seek God?  We focus this week on fasting.  Unfamiliar to some in a modern world, it still reflects the value structure of Jesus.  “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4)  Hearing from God matters more than another meal!