Rejoice In This

And the seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us through Your Name. And He said to them, "I saw Satan falling out of Heaven as lightning! Behold, I have given you the authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and on all the power of the Enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. But stop rejoicing in this, that the evil spirits submit to you; rather rejoice in this, that your names are written in Heaven."
(Luke 10:17-20)

See, because of Jesus we have our names written in heaven. He must be our only source of joy. Stop rejoicing in the results of your work, like the demons being subject to us through His Name, etc. Rejoice in the Sender instead of rejoicing in those to whom you were sent. Rejoice in the Sender rather than being disappointed in those to whom you were sent when they don't appreciate your effort and care. A Christian is not looking at what is before his eyes, but is looking back to the One who sent him. In this way, he will always be cheerful, not dependent on those to whom he was sent, but dependent exclusively on the One who has sent him.

[LH, (c)2005]

Distinguishing Marks

To the extent that you have a part in Christ's sufferings, be glad, so that at the revelation of His glory you may also delight in happiness. Happy are you if they revile you for the name of Christ because the glory of the Spirit of God rests on you, and what they are blaming, you are praising.
(1 Peter 4:13, 14)

The disciples recognized Jesus even after His resurrection because of His wounds. If that is so, we cannot show the world the One preached by the disciples in any other way but by our wounds. We are wounded by His wounds. And that makes true the Gospel we preach. Jesus is not willing to accept, for the good of His people and of His church, any other distinguishing mark but His wounds which His people must bear. Neither their Master nor the world needs Christians without wounds.

[FV, HFTR, (c)2003]

Equally Far, Equally Close

You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarrelling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere men? (1 Corinthians 3:3-4)

God addresses each of us personally, calling us to be in a personal relationship with Him. But such a personal relationship with God is not possible in any other way, but in the community of those whom He has called. In the community there are no higher ranked and lower ranked people, those who are closer to God and those who are farther from him. No, everybody is at an equal distance from God. Just as the points that make up the circle are at an equal distance from the center of the circle.

The most important question is this: is God in the center of our community? If not, other, less important things will take His place. The spiritual gifts, the gift of speaking wisely, the gift of healing, the gift of prophecy etc., will take the place of the Giver.

I follow Paul, I follow Apollos. Such sentences indicate that the centrally important person is I. But there is only one I AM.

There were presumably several people in the community of Corinth who said, we follow Christ. But even a statement like this can be harmful. If I follow Christ in such a manner that I am distant to my fellows, thinking that I am the only one who has true faith, the only one who has a close relationship with God, thus shunning and judging them, I separate myself from the community. I am still worldly.

[GEN, (c)2004]

You Are coming to Me?

Then Jesus came from Galilee at the Jordan to John, in order to be baptized by him. But John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I have need to be baptized by You, and You are coming to me?" And Jesus, answering, said to him, "Permit it now, for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he permitted Him. (Mathew 3:13-15)

What? Why is it not the other way around? Why does not John come to Jesus? Once before, Jesus had come to John and John had rejoiced, leaping for joy in the womb of his mother. Now, he stands face to face with the Messiah. He resolutely tries to keep Jesus back. He almost wrestles with Him as Jacob did with the Holy One. Baptism itself is the cause of his astonishment, this moment when I realize that Jesus has come to me and is asking me to baptize Him. The Holy One asks the sinner. It is this that frightens him who is the greatest among those who were born of women; how much more frightened is the one who is the smallest among those who were born of women! "I need to be baptized by You; I need to be washed." But Jesus answers, "Allow it now. You don`t understand now what I`m doing." Understanding does not necessarily precede obedience. There are so many things we do not understand. "Allow it -- now." It is not comprehension that is important in this very moment, but obedience.

Jesus speaks to John in the plural. "It is fitting for us." He gives up His first person singular. He does not say, "Look John, I want to fulfill the truth all by Myself." In saying "us", Jesus makes us all part of His obedience. He lets us enter His perfect and unconditional truth. He makes us part of His service. He does not want to act without us. And John breaks and submits himself to Jesus. Not through his understanding, but through his love. He breaks under the holy and heavy weight of being received into Jesus' friendship.

[FV, HFTR, (c)2003]

The Dead Church

Communion in the church is never for its own sake. Why do we have churches? In order to create other churches. In order to work on another church, to have a new one. Then to go beyond this and have another church. This means the church is a little bit different than a home. We have a home and this home represents for us the presence of God among us. The Greek term for home means the space where God is present. This is the home. The space where God is not present, it is not a home. ...But the church is a place where God is present in order to create other spaces where He is present, in order to go beyond. When a church is very safe, very secure, it is one of the signs of death. When a church is very peaceful on the issue of mission, for instance, it could be a sign of death.

I would not encourage you to create quarrels in your church but understanding the presence of the Lord in our church means to transform the walls of the church into something transparent. To see what is outside of the church. Without acknowledging on a daily basis what is outside of the church, we are living in a dead church. The church does not exist for our sake, so that we can live a comfortable spiritual life. The church is something else. The church is the place where we have to be challenged not to live a comfortable spiritual life. Because this is how the word of the Lord would act. The acting word of God is never a comfortable experience, never. If He is acting through His words in my life, it is never comfortable, never comfortable. It's the way of keeping me moving, in transformation.

[AV, (c)2004]