Here’s a wonderful contrast between RELIGION and THE GOSPEL by Tim Keller:

RELIGION: I obey, therefore I’m accepted.

THE GOSPEL: I’m accepted, therefore I obey.

RELIGION: Motivation is based on fear and insecurity.

THE GOSPEL: Motivation is based on grateful joy.

RELIGION: I obey God in order to get things from God.

THE GOSPEL: I obey God to get to God, to delight and resemble him.

RELIGION: When circumstances in my life go wrong, I am angry at God or myself, since I believe, like Job’s friends that anyone who is good deserves a comfortable life.

THE GOSPEL: When circumstances in my life go wrong, I struggle but I know all my punishment fell on Jesus and that while he may allow this for my training, he will exercise his fatherly love within my trial.

RELIGION: When I am criticized, I am furious or devastated because it is critical that I think of myself as a “good person.” Threats to that self-image must be destroyed at all costs.

THE GOSPEL: When I am criticized, I can take it. I struggle, but it is not critical for me to think of myself as a “good person.” My identity is not built on my record or my performance, but on God’s love for me in Christ.

RELIGION: My prayer life consists largely of petition and only heats up when I am in a time of need. My main purpose in prayer is control of my environment.

THE GOSPEL: My prayer life consists of generous stretches of praise and adoration. My main purpose is fellowship with God.

RELIGION: My self-view swings between two poles: If and when I am living up to my standards, I feel confident, but then I am prone to be proud and unsympathetic to failing people. If and when I am not living up to standards, I feel insecure, inadequate, and not confident. I feel like a failure.

THE GOSPEL: My self-view is not based on a view of myself as a moral achiever. In Christ I am “simul iustus et peccator”—simultaneously sinful and yet accepted in Christ. I am so bad he had to die for me and I am so loved he was glad to die for me. This leads me to deeper and deeper humility and confidence at the same time, neither swaggering nor sniveling.

RELIGION: My identity and self-worth are based mainly on how hard I work or how moral I am, and so I must look down on those I perceive as lazy or immoral. I disdain and feel superior to “the other.”

THE GOSPEL: My identity and self-worth are centered on the one who died for his enemies and who was excluded from the city for me. I am saved by sheer grace, so I can’t look down on those who believe or practice something different from me. It is only by grace that I am what I am. I have no inner need to win arguments.

RELIGION: Since I look to my own pedigree or performance for my spiritual acceptability, my heart manufactures idols. It may be my talents, my moral record, my personal discipline, my social status, etc. I absolutely have to have them so they serve as my main hope, meaning, happiness, security, and significance, regardless of what I say I believe about God.

THE GOSPEL: I have many good things in my life: family, work, spiritual disciplines, etc. But none of these good things is an ultimate end for me. None of them is something I absolutely have to have, so there is a limit to how much anxiety, bitterness, and despondency such things can inflict on me when they are threatened and lost.

Our worship team was incredible.  Friendly greeters, ushers, and coffee crew made visitors feel at home. Our awesome Kids Ministry and Nursery volunteers sent kids home with smiles.  I shared a message about the rich spiritual history in Mound including the dynamic ministry at Skogsbergh’s Point in the late 1800s.  I shared the story of my “Macedonian Call” to be a servant in Mound that goes back 7 years, the Revolution ministry that planted the seeds that are now helping birth MainStreet. We had a Generations Prayer with Veronica, Keri and Ruby praying for past, present and future.  Hearts were stirred. A few tears were shed. The Spirit of God was present. Praise God!

Thanks to all who are a part of this journey — prayer partners, financial supporters, mission friends and volunteers.  Here’s a photo that captures our Sunday worship experience at the MainStreet. Keep your prayers coming, and come join us for worship sometime in Mound!

 That night Paul had a dream: A Macedonian stood on the far shore and called across the sea, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” The dream gave Paul his map. We went to work at once getting things ready to cross over to Macedonia. All the pieces had come together. We knew now for sure that God had called us to preach the good news to the Europeans. (Acts 16:6-10 Message)

Erik August Skogsbergh (1850-1939)

I want to share a reflection on two images weaved into three different ministries at three different times. I hope this reflection will inspire the people involved with starting MainStreet Covenant Church in Mound, Minnesota, as we embark on this next phase of the  journey. The images are (1) the Macedonian call to cross over the waters with the gospel, and (2) the vessel or boat necessary to cross the waters with the good news.

The Macedonia Call

The year was AD 51. The Apostle Paul, seeking the Holy Spirit’s guidance in where to go next, had a dream one night. In the dream he saw a man from Macedonia standing on the far shore inviting him to cross over the waters and bring the gospel message to them. He obeyed the Spirit’s call, boarded a ship of some kind with his companions, crossed over the waters, and fruitful ministry resulted.

The Swedish Moody

The year was 1884. A Spirit-filled Swedish immigrant preacher from Sweden, very short in stature and weighing in at an unimpressive 117 pounds, nevertheless had a very big presence and the anointing of God when he stood up to preach. Everywhere he went to preach, crowds would come by the thousands and revival would often break out.  His name was Eric August Skogsbergh, and he was widely known as “The Swedish Moody” as his ministry closely mirrored that of his famous friend and revivalist preacher Dwight L. Moody. Skogsbergh was one of the early pioneer leaders of the Covenant Church, who had

The Swedish Tabernacle (First Covenant, Minneapolis)

now come to Minneapolis to build the large Swedish Tabernacle Church now known as First Covenant Church. Stories abound of the electricity surrounding Skogsbergh’s ministry in Minneapolis.  Once while he was preaching, the crowds were packed so tightly into the tabernacle, that the balcony began to give way and sunk down a whole 2 inches, so that the doors underneath were jammed shut. Such was the weightiness of this bold preacher’s message that stirred so many souls to New Birth in Christ.

Ministry on Lake Minnetonka

In the 1890s, Skogsbergh heard his own Macedonian call of sorts coming from across another body of water. It was the glory days of Lake Minnetonka, when people from the city would take the train out and board steamboats and fairies to cross the waters to summer cottages, hotels and resorts in this vacation wonderland. Skogsbergh purchased a plot of land on a beautiful wooded point on West Arm Bay near Mound, where he built a summer home that still stands there today. 

Can you find Skogsbergh's Point? (Hint: West Arm Bay)

Perhaps he originally intended to come out to Lake Minnetonka to get away from the demands of a busy ministry in the city. But those who knew Skogsbergh would attest that this zealous, tireless evangelist was seemingly incapable of resting from ministry and was always on mission looking for another place to plant the flag of the gospel.

So, we shouldn’t be surprised that soon Skogsbergh was hosting Bible Conferences and Sunday worship gatherings in the Mullberry Arbor of his Lake Minnetonka abode widely known for years as “Skogsbergh Point.” On such occasions farmers and city folks brought picnic baskets and ate their dinners, singing hymns together and listening to Skogsbergh open the Scriptures. Eventually a small church grew out of this Mission Friend presence on West Arm Bay known today as Fairview Covenant Church.

Boats & Barges

One powerful image we are given of Skogsbergh’s ministry on Lake Minnetonka involves the barge he had custom made to shuttle crowds of people from the railroad station in Spring Park across the bay to his point. On occasion, crowds would come in such great numbers to Skogsbergh’s Point that the steamboat could not accommodate them all in one trip. Erik Dahlhielm tells the charming story of Skogsbergh’s boats in his biography A Burning Heart (1951):

Rowboats of the most common size were too small to accommodate his big family. Skogsbergh, instead of buying a larger boat, had one built according to his own design. But he was evidently more skillful as a church architect than as a designer of rowboats. The family boat, which one of his daughters describes as “a viking ship with an ugly head, a long neck and a queer-looking tail,” had a tendency of moving in circles no matter how skillfully the oars were handled. It became famous on the bay, and the butt of many jokes. 

Then there was the barge, also the product of Skogsbergh’s brain….The barge, too, became famous. It was a picturesque sight when it was filled with people dressed in summer clothes, scarfs blowing in the wind and parasols open to protect delicate skins against he ravages of the sun. On calm days the barge was more popular than the steamboat. It was different, however, when a strong wind whipped the water into angry waves. Then all preferred the steamboat, and those who had to make the trip across the bay in the barge reached the Point in anything but a presentable condition” (122).

Such was the famous Skogsbergh barge so active on the Bay in those glorious days.

So, brothers and sisters, the vessel carrying the masses across the water was not much to look at, and the ride was often uncomfortable. But the barge served it’s purpose bringing the crowds safely across, and on the other side, they heard about Jesus. They heard about the gift of New Birth that God offers to all willing to receive. Yes, friends, the Light of Christ shone brightly on the shores of Lake Minnetonka in those days. How I wish I could go back in time, take a trip on that clumsy barge and join crowds of folks sitting on blankets to hear E. A. Skogsbergh’s Spirit-filled preaching echoing across the Bay and bouncing off the shoreline of the city of Mound!

Can the legacy of Skogsbergh’s ministry be rekindled in Mound?  And so I continue.

A Legacy Rekindled?

Dreaming of a new church in Mound (Spring 2010)

The year was 2005. A young seminary student from Mound began to hear his own Macedonian call back to his hometown to start a new ministry to bring the light of Christ to Westonka area youth. Drawing inspiration from the Apostle Paul’s Macedonian call, he obeyed the Holy Spirit and spearheaded a youth movement called Revolution that drew crowds of teenagers to hear about Jesus.

For the past decade at least, a spiritual darkness seemed to have settled over the Mound community, and this young pastor was deeply grieved as he watched local churches struggle. The crowds that once flocked to Mound on Sunday in the days of Skogsbergh were now, a century later, leaving Mound in droves on Sundays to attend churches in other communities.

Can the legacy of E. A. Skogsbergh be rekindled in Mound?  Can the light of Christ be once again shine across the bay like a lighthouse drawing wayward seafarers to safe harbor on Salvation Point?

Building A Barge in Mound

In the summer of 2010, this young pastor and his wife began building a barge. They began raising the funds and drawing up plans to build a vessel that might, by God’s grace, once again bring eager crowds back to the shores of Mound to hear the good news of Jesus. Like Noah when he began building his ark, some called them crazy, some didn’t see the need for it, others doubted their craftsmanship and ability to complete such an undertaking. “How will they raise the funds to pay for it?  Where will they get all the materials?”

God's Barge-in-the-making

Like Skogsbergh’s boats, it’s design no doubt has its flaws, it may look a bit awkward from a distance, ride a bit low and take on water when the waves come. You see, like Skogsbergh, the builders are amateurs and learning as they go. The barge is constructed of a hodgepodge of gathered materials of all shape and size and age and strength, coming from various locations around the Lake Minnetonka area. Many of the builders and materials have come from across the lake in Excelsior. Some of the materials are strong, time-tested and sturdy. Others are more weak and fragile, requiring more time and care. But all the materials are perfectly capable of being put to good use on this barge.  The more materials available to reinforce the structure, the stronger the vessel will be.

This fall we pushed her out onto the waters a few times to test her out. And by God’s grace, she floats! In fact, she shuttled a combined total of 500 some people into the presence of God to worship and hear the Bible preached. Most would agree she’s perfectly capable of carrying much larger crowds in the days to come.

Now, the only thing left to do is to give this boat a good name.  What should we call her? Let’s call her MainStreet Covenant Church!

“You, too, are being built together in him, along with the others, into a place for God’s Spirit to dwell” (Ephesians 2:22).

There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee.  After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”  Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” (John 3:1-3)

One of the most shocking aspects of this exchange is that Nicodemus is a very religious, devout man. He is called “a Pharisee”, a member of the ruling counsel (Sanhedrin), and “a teacher of Israel.”  The Pharisees were the most remarkable, scrupulously religious adherents to the Jewish Scriptures. Pharisees were, in the words of Barclay, “those who had separated themselves from all ordinary life in order to keep every detail of the law of the scribes” (123).  His entire life’s purpose revolved around honoring God, understanding the Scriptures, and observing the appropriate religious customs and rituals. He was very religious.

But he will soon find out in his exchange with Jesus that religion isn’t enough. Nicodemus was still in the dark. This is the main significance behind the author’s telling us that Nicodemus came to Jesus at night. The darkness of night symbolizes the darkness in Nicodemus’s unregenerate mind and soul.

It’s often been said that “religion is man’s attempt to reach up to God” by good deeds and religious observances; and Christianity is the story of “God mercifully reaching down with the offer of salvation in Christ.”  Nicodemus is busy with many religious tasks and obligations. Had he lived today, he would have perfect church attendance, possibly be the chair of the church counsel, living a morally upright life as a responsible citizen with a good standing among his neighbors and friends.

But he is still spiritually dead.  As Barclay puts it: “Nicodemus was a puzzled man, a man with many honors and yet still lacking in his life. He came to Jesus for a talk so that somehow in the darkness of night he might find light” (124).  All of us, religious or not, must make this same passage from spiritual darkness into the light of a New Life in Christ.  Have you come into the light?  Have you been born again from above?

Oh, LORD, breath your Holy Spirit upon all the religious people in our churches who have yet to be born again from above.  Rescue us from our tendencies to try to be religious enough to please you, and help us to receive your gift of New Birth as we surrender our lives to you. Amen.

Let’s imagine, just for fun, that Nicodemus went to Jesus late on New Year’s eve.  He had spent the evening with friends doing the first century equivalent to eating nachos and watching Dick Clark at Times Square. Prior to the party, however, Nic had been doing some soul searching. He couldn’t get out of his mind the miracles and powerful message he had been witnessing of this popular preacher from Nazareth named Jesus. What did it all mean?

He was feeling a void in his soul – a subtle restlessness that all his religious knowledge and devotion just couldn’t seem to help.  New Year’s Eve often causes one to reflect on the past year and inspire new hopes and aspirations for the coming year. A new beginning. A fresh start. A chance to get over the hill, kick the bad habit, find what’s missing, right what’s wrong, turn a new leaf, and live with more purpose and joy. All of these things were stirring in his soul as he left the party just after the giant stone ball dropped in Jerusalem (just go with it!). A storm of emotions bordering on despair and an irresistible curiosity to get to the bottom of this Jesus figure, led him to do the unthinkable.

In the middle of the night, Nic walked to the place where Jesus was staying, and knocked on the door. Nic was risking reputation among his fellow religious leaders who considered Jesus a false prophet and blasphemer, as well as risking upsetting the famous rabbi by disturbing him at this late hour of night.

Knock. Knock. Knock. The sound echoed into the abandoned village streets. Knock. Knock. Knock. “Will he answer?” wondered Nic. “If he does, what kind of reception will I receive?”  All was dark for the moment. Stay tuned.

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,  

I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. -JESUS

From Trevin Wax’s post as reported at CP:

There’s a dangerous trend among Christians today, according to one Christian: Podcast sermons are increasingly replacing real pastorship.

“What is dangerous is not listening to podcasts, but thinking that pastoring and shepherding is taking place through this means. There is more to pastoring than the delivery of sermons,” said Trevin Wax, blogger and managing editor of the Gospel Project at LifewayChristian Resources, to The Christian Post….

Earlier this year, Dr. Russell D. Moore, dean of the School of Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said in a discussion on “Faith in America” that when he asks young evangelicals in ministry who has been really influential upon them, they mention “a disembodied voice that they have heard on a podcast.”

“Ten years ago, most people would have given me the name of a local pastor who had mentored them and worked with them,” Moore noted, calling the new trend “a very dangerous thing.”…

Shane Hipps, author of Flickering Pixels: How Technology Shapes Your Faith, elaborated on the idea of technology and the church in an interview with Christianity Today. He said Christians can’t escape or resist technology because it’s everywhere, but they should try to understand it before blindly trusting it.

“Christians are quick to critique it (technology) or adapt it or reject it without understanding it,” he said. “My interest is to have deep discernment, to understand the actual power of these things, and then decide whether or not a technology is useful.”

 

So, what? What’s the big deal? Does it matter one way or another? Isn’t it just a matter of personal preference? 

Well, I think there is a deep, significant reason underlying this shift from traditional burial to cremation.  This is a perfect case study in the significance of worldview, and our culture’s continuing slide away from the Bible as our value-shaping story, and our culture’s embrace of a different controlling story (worldview) now shaping our values and decisions.

Most people I run into have never considered this a topic of spiritual reflection or even religious devotion.  It’s more of a matter of practical necessity and economic frugality. What’s the cheapest and most convenient way of handling our loved one’s body? More on this below.

Our lack of deeper reflection on this is strange, since this decision involves discussion about such ultimate matters — eternity, life and death, the sacredness of the body, memorializing a loved one, etc. Of all the decisions we face in life, you would think that our funeral preparations and wishes would be somewhere on the list — well above this week’s laundry or bills we need to pay. Certainly, one factor is that our culture is notoriously in denial about the reality of death, and most of us would rather not spend anytime thinking about it.

This was not so with our ancient ancestors in the Hebrew and Christian tradition. Certainly, larger families and higher mortality rates would have made death a more common occurrence. Many people only made it to 45 years or so in Jesus’ day, and extended families all lived together in one village. Many mothers died in childbirth and many infants never made it either. Death, however tragic, was a quite normal part of life in the ancient world.

Moreover, as we see from the stories of Mary and the other friends of Jesus bringing spices to anoint his dead body, the job of mortician was often handled by one’s own family and friends. We are a long way from modern funeral homes and mortuaries who take care of all of this — out of sight, out of mind.

But all of this is a digression from my main point today. So, why the shift away from traditional burial to the very popular cremation? It’s really a tale of two worldviews, or two controlling stories that shape our values and decisions today.

THE HEBREW/CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW: TRADITIONAL BURIAL

The body is sacred in the Hebrew-Christian tradition. God made human beings and declared, “It is good.” The ancient Greeks believed the body was a shabby, corrupted prison house for the immaterial soul.  They believed the ultimate goal is for our soul/spirit to someday be freed from these bodies, and to float up into some spiritual world of bliss away from the limiting nature of a physical body.

This is a decidedly unbiblical view of the body and soul relationship.

To the contrary, the Bible teaches the unique hope of the resurrection of the body. The Bible upholds the ultimate hope that someday God will renew and restore this fallen creation, and our bodies will be raised (literally) from the grave, and somehow reconstituted and glorified. Currently, when we die our spirit/soul is separated from our body and united with Christ somehow. Paul says, “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8).  But this is only a temporary arrangement. Our ultimate hope is for the Day when Christ returns, and all the dead are raised — meaning that our soul will someday be reunited with our resurrected and glorified body.

Jesus is the “firstfruits” of this coming general resurrection of all believers. Jesus was bodily raised from the dead; his spirit didn’t just float up “to heaven.” The tomb was empty. Our faith rests on this verifiable, historical fact that the body was gone! And we’re told that in the exact same way, we too will someday be raised — bodily.

So, in light of the strong belief in the resurrection of the body, the practice of all ancient Jews and Christians was a kind of burial method that did it’s best to preserve the body. All kinds of care was taken to anoint the body with precious, sweet smelling perfumes, to wrap the body carefully, and place it in a tomb. Even more strange to us was what happened next. A year or so later, after the bones had dried and decomposed, family members would go back to the tomb and collect the bones and place them in a “bone box”, or ossuary.  The ossuary was then left in the tomb to await the coming resurrection.

Much more could be said, but the main point is this: Behind the practice of burial is an implied desire to preserve the body, and the desire to preserve the body points to our most deeply held belief that God will someday breath life into these dry bones, and raise us from the grave.  Burial is a visible symbol and practice that points others to our hope in the resurrection of the body.

It is noteworthy to mention that many pagan religions in Jesus’ day chose to burn their dead instead. They didn’t place the same value on the body or share the hope in the physical resurrection as Jews and Christians. The immaterial spirit/soul was what mattered most.

CONTEMPORARY PRAGMATIST & ENVIRONMENTALIST VIEW: CREMATION

Now, most people today are completely unaware of all that I’ve just said. When our loved one dies, we tend to make our decisions out of a much different controlling story. Our values are being shaped more powerfully by other ideas and impulses in our culture.

(Note: I’m speaking generally here, and this certainly isn’t true of everyone who chooses cremation. Moreover, I am not passing judgment on those who choose cremation. God can certainly resurrect a body that’s been cremated. My concern is that too many believers today are not having their values shaped by the story of the Bible, but letting the cultural trends shape our values and decisions.)

America is a pragmatic society. We value convenience and frugality.  We’re in denial of death and dead bodies are seen as creepy and gross. In light of this, I believe most people are choosing cremation over traditional burial for the following reasons:

1. It’s cheaper. No expensive casket, burial plot, etc.

2. It’s more environmentally friendly. Enough said.

3. We’re uncomfortable with a dead corpse. Open casket reviewals are becoming much more rare. Reason: We don’t want to think about death, much less stare it (literally) in the face.

4. Ignorance of tradition. The primary reason is that people are just not aware of the religious significance of traditional burial, and how deeply rooted it is in our faith and our ultimate hope! That’s why I’m writing this.

5. New Age Spirituality. Many of us are sprinkling new age or personally invented beliefs into our faith unknowingly. You see this in people who might want their ashes dumped into the Grand Canyon or sent down their favorite brook. Why?  I don’t know.  While it may seem sentimental in some way to the person desiring it, it certainly isn’t a sign post pointing others to our final hope of bodily resurrection.

Again, my point is not to shame people who chose/choose cremation. I don’t even think it’s a matter of right or wrong, and I would hesitate to call it a sin.  My intention is rather to use this as a worldview case study to demonstrate how easily it is for Christians to let the culture’s trends and values shape our decisions, and to lose sight of such a rich heritage and tradition rooted in the Scriptures and the practice of our forebears in the faith.

However we decide on this issue, may we all strive to let both our life and death be a signpost pointing others to our ultimate hope in the resurrection of the body!

“Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words” (1 Thes. 4).

1. 4000 BC: Adam and Eve receive the prophecy that the Messiah (Jesus) would be born of a woman.
1. Promise: Genesis 3:15 – “‘I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.’”
2. Fulfillment: Galatians 4:4 – “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law …”
2. 700 BC: Isaiah prophesies that Jesus’ mother would be a virgin who conceived by a miracle and that Jesus would be God who became a man.
1. Promise: Isaiah 7:14 – “‘Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.’”
2. Fulfillment: Matthew 1:18–23 – “Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means, God with us).”
3. 700 BC: Micah prophesies that Jesus would be born in the town of Bethlehem.
1. Promise: Micah 5:2 – “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days [eternity].”
2. Fulfillment: Luke 2:1–7 – “In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. … And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”
4. 400 BC: Malachi prophesies that Jesus would enter the temple, which was destroyed in 70 AD, meaning the Messiah had to come before then.
1. Promise: Malachi 3:1 – “‘Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.’”
2. Fulfillment: Luke 2:25–27 – “Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law …”

[Click on image to watch video]

This is a repost from a couple years ago. -JB

The Christmas story is all too familiar for most Christians today. We’ve seen two dozen pageants, have basically memorized Matthew and Luke’s accounts of wise men, shepherds, overbooked inns and barnyard manger scenes. The problem with familiarity, as Dallas Willard puts it, is that “Familiarity breeds unfamiliarity — unsuspected unfamiliarity, and then contempt” (The Divine Conspiracy, 11).

Thus, pastors often struggle preparing their annual Christmas message.  But as my recent post argued (See “And There Were Shepherds”), the Christmas story is filled with shock and mind-boggling surprises.  One has to work very hard to make this story ordinary and boring.  The story of Christmas is the most extraordinary story ever told.

This Christmas I shared a brief Christmas message at our high school Christmas dance — yes, my Baptist friends, our youth group had a dance to celebrate the birth of our savior.  This year my message centered around the image of “The Dance of the Trinity” and Christ’s relentless pursuit of more and more dancing partners to come back into a life of living in the harmonious rhythms of the Kingdom Dance.

My message outline went something like this:

Act 1: THE ETERNAL DANCE OF THE TRINITY. In the beginning, before the creation of the world, there existed the eternal dance of the Trinity. God was not all alone, bored and looking for something to do, and so created the world and human beings.  Quite the opposite. God has always existed as divine community of mutual love and self-giving.  The Father, Son and Holy Spirit have always enjoyed the perfect fullness of love, creativity, mutual giving and receiving.  The early church fathers called this “parachoresis.”

In the words of New Testament professor Scot McKnight, “Parachoresis is the theological term used to describe the mutual interpenetration and eternal indwelling of the persons of the Trinity — Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That is reality. If this is reality, then creation in Genesis 1 and 2 is the explosion of the parachoretic dance of God in this world to create beings to relate to God, and self and others in the world. The God of the Bible is a God of grace who has created these human “Eikons” (i.e., in the image of God) who are cracked, and He wants them to come home again.  He banished them from Eden so that they could come home again in Christ.”

Act 2: EXTENDING THE DANCE. Why then did God create human beings?  Not out of need of company or desire to have some lower beings to boss around.  Rather, since God is by essence an overflowing community of creativity and self-giving love, God couldn’t help but extend this “dance”, this fullness of relational joy and fellowship to others.  Thus, God created human and angelic beings to share in the parachoretic dance of the Trinity living in perfect relational harmony with God, self and others.

Act 3: TONE DEAF AND FOOT FLUMSY. Created to live in step with the divine rhythms of the Trinitarian God, human beings rebelled and began dancing to the beat of their own drummers.  The harmonious dance became a mosh pit and lives that were designed to make sweet music went out of tune and the rest has been just noise and dissonance — and a lot of stepping on each others’ toes.

Act 4: CHRISTMAS: JESUS WANTS TO DANCE. God gave us the prophets and poets, laws and civil codes, and yet throughout the period of the OT such attempts were unable to draw us back into the dance. How could God draw his wayward creatures back into the Dance of the Kingdom?  Christmas is the shocking fact that God decided to become one of us, taking on the form of a human being, the scandal of the incarnation, in order to bring us back into the Dance.  The divine equivalent to the saying, “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”

“But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons” (Gal 4:4-5).

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only,who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

“[Christ], being in very natureGod, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very natureof a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! (Phil 2:6-8)

“Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly” (Matt 11:28 Message).

Challenge: The world today is still filled with the dissonance of people all dancing to their own rhythms and singing their own tunes. We still live in a Genesis 3 world filled with all the effects of sin — relational conflict, warring nations, broken families, inequality, oppression and the rest.  The Bible simply calls it “the darkness.”

Christmas reminds us each year that there is a light that shines in the darkness that the darkness does not understand and cannot overcome (John 1:5). “The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world” (John 1:9).  That light lives among us 2,000 years later, still lighting our path, laying down the Kingdom beat and sounding forth the beautiful Kingdom rhythms. We are all faced with the same decision: Will we insist on dancing to our own beat?  Or will we accept Christ’s invitation our of our own sinful, destructive dance patterns and enter into the fullness of life in step with “parachoretic” rhythms of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit?

“He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent,nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God” (John 1:11-13).

So, echoing the words of the famous carol, “Joy to the world!  The Lord is come!  Let each of us receive our King!

Merry Parachoresis!

Aaron Niequist, a member of Mars Hill, offers his thoughts on Rob’s teaching and influence at Mars Hill these past years. I think he puts his finger on a lot of gems worth sharing.  Thanks, Aaron.  Well put.  Here it is:

I just read the letter that Rob Bell wrote and read to the Mars Hill community on his final Sunday.  It was stunning and quirky and beautiful and poetic and weighty and inspiring and Rob at his absolute best.
(You can read it here.)  It brought a flood of thoughts…

First, I’m just so thankful to have been a part of  the Mars Hill community.  When I met Rob in 2002, I was in a pretty dark place spiritually, and he was one of the primary voices that God used to invite me into something more beautiful.  I honestly don’t know if I’d still be a Christian without Rob (and Willard’s “Divine Conspiracy” and McLaren’s “A New Kind of Christian”).  And although there were some very painful moments, something came alive in me during those years that I hope never goes out.

Here are a few things I learned from Rob (in no particular order)…

-Deconstruction is easy.  It takes no courage to point out what’s wrong.  Spend all your energy on lifting up what is most right, most compelling, and most beautiful.

-Modern rock is only a small slice of the historical worship pie.  What about spirituals?  What about liturgical?  What about funk?  What about…God forbid…country?

-If the idea is compelling enough, you don’t need to dress it up.

-Repentance is not just feeling bad and trying to not be such a terrible person.  Repentance is “returning to who you were made to be.”

-The mark of a great message (or worship time) is how many great ideas you leave on the cutting room floor.  Relentlessly edit down to the core insight.

-The worship leader’s job is NOT to energize the room with loud music.  The worship leader’s job is to harness the energy of the community and unleash it upward.

-We must understand every scripture verse and concept in context of the whole story.  (He began nearly every message with Genesis 1)

-Truth is a person, not an abstract idea.

…and those are just off the top of my head.  If I sat for an hour I could probably list a hundred more.  Rob’s approach to the scriptures, perspective on art, articulation of the Kingdom, example of following your passion, vision for what the people of God could be together, and encouragement to me through the years have marked my life profoundly.  And I guess I just wanted to take a moment to say thanks.

It’s going to be fascinating to see what this next season looks like for Rob.  Knowing him, it’ll be surprising and inspiring and controversial and really compelling.  I sincerely wish him all the best.

Warning: If you don’t want your traditional understanding of the first Christmas challenged then do not read any further. If you are a historically minded person who loves getting the real story behind the many popular myths, then Dr. Ben Witherington, a very reputable New Testament scholar and ancient historian, corrects some of our misconceptions often found in our Christmas hymns and children’s pageants regarding the wise men, snobby inn-keepers, barns and animals and more. Enjoy.

You can read his full article entitled “Star-Studded Wise Men: Rethinking the Christmas Story” HERE. Here is an excerpt to give you a taste:

Getting to the bottom of the historical well when it comes to Christmas stories in Matthew and Luke proves difficult at times. It is rather like what happened to the Sistine Chapel ceiling when it was finally cleaned and all the lacquer and dirt of the centuries was removed. The end result was startling, much more colorful…. and more beautiful too.  Well, the real Christmas story is also more interesting and compelling than the usual stuff that passes for preaching at Christmas.  Lets take those famous wise men of Matthew 2.1-12   First a little ground clearing exercise.

1) We do not know how many persons were involved.  We are simply told that more than one showed up — Magoi is the plural of the Greek word Magos, from which we get the English word magic/magician.  A Magos was an oriental priest of sorts, learned in various sorts of esoteric arts, including astrology (studying the sky for clues about the present or future), the interpretation of dreams, the reading of animal’s entrails, necromancy, etc.

2) These men were definitely not kings — so enough with the “We Three Kings…” Christmas carol. These are the kinds of persons who were counselors and advisors to kings, which is precisely how Herod in the story treats them. They were consultants.  We could discuss why the Christmas mythology is more appealing than the Christmas history to some folks.

3) It is not clear whether they came to Bethlehem from the east, or from the northwest, namely Anatolia.  Their profession might well favor the former conclusion but the Greek here should probably be rendered ‘we saw his star at its rising’. which presumably means they saw it rise in the east. But that in turn would likely mean they were looking east, not necessarily they were from the Orient. In any case the story focuses on their astrological work.  They are star gazers.

4) The story very clearly tells us that they do not arrive in Bethlehem until after Jesus was born, indeed possibly well after because we are told that Herod was concerned with infants up to two years of age, and we also have the story of the parents taking Jesus to the Temple on the eight day, the proper day for circumcision.  In other words, they seem to have stayed in Bethlehem after the birth of the child for a while.

So enough with the barn scenes with both shepherds and wise men present simultaneously, and this word also just in — there is no mention of any animals being present or very near the Christ child when he was born or thereafter. This whole barn, manger, animals tableau we owe largely to St. Francis of Assisi who came up with the idea. You will remember he loved all creatures great and small.

And one more thing —  there is probably no ‘inn’ in Luke 2.7– the correct translation of the Greek word there is ‘guest room’ not inn.  Its the very word Luke uses elewhere to speak of the room where the last supper transpired. He uses a very different word for Inn, in the parable of the Good Samaritan. So enough with the sermons entitled “No Room in the Inn” all about the world making no room for Jesus.  Jesus was likely born in a relative’s home in the back of the house where they kept the prized beast of burden, hence the manger or corn crib.  And it is likely they continued to stay with their relatives there when the Magi showed up.

Having cleared away some of the kudzu which has grown up around this Matthean story, lets now consider several more aspects of it.

Firstly, Bethlehem (Hebrew name meaning house of bread), was not even a one stop sign town. It was tiny, and chiefly known for its sheep fields, because here is where the sheep, to be used for sacrifices in Jerusalem, were raised. It probably never had a wayfarers inn in antiquity, as it was not on a major road. So when we are envisioning the slaughter of the innocents, can we please not give the story the Cecil B. Demille treatment.  I would estimate we are talking about single digits when we are trying to count the number of infants through 2 year olds in that little burg in Jesus’ day.

Please keep reading HERE.