Inside Out Living

I was reading in Mark 10 this morning and I came across the story of Jesus healing the blind man Bartimaeus. Jesus' words in verse 52 caused me to think about the interaction of faith and works. In his response to Bartimaeus request to have his vision restored, Jesus says to him, "Your faith has healed you." I have read the passage a few times and no where in the passage do I see that Bartimaeus gives a confession of faith and a rehearsed three part testimony about how his faith in God has changed his life.

All Bartimaeus does is identify who Jesus is with his words and his request. He refers to Jesus as the Son of David, a clear Messianic title from the Hebrew Scriptures. Furthermore his request to be healed by Jesus is based on his faith that Jesus as Messiah is able to heal him. He doesn't have to say the right words or pray a certain prayer to show his faith. His actions in boldly approaching the one who had the power to "save" him from his blindness full demonstrated his faith in who Jesus is. Not only did Bartimaeus boldly approach Jesus, he "threw aside his coat" (v. 50) as he was jumping up to come to Jesus. This was no insignificant act as we will see in a minute.

Earlier in the chapter, Jesus interacted with a rich young man who was seemingly coming to faith in Jesus. Jesus didn't question this man's faith, but merely asked him to give up everything else that he was trusting in to save himself, which for this man was his money and possessions. Unfortunately, for him, his faith in Jesus was not sufficient to trust in Jesus as the only means of salvation and he chose to hold onto his possessions as a "back up" plan of sorts.

Now back to Bartimaeus and the casting aside of the coat. When Bartimaeus was told that he could approach the Messiah, he cast aside his coat in preparation for the meeting. It is quite likely that Bartimaeus' only worldly possession was that coat. The coat is what would keep him protected from the cool nights. It was the only other thing he had in this life and yet he forsake it for the opportunity to come to Jesus. This is the faith that God recognizes and honors. It isn't faith that is mere words, but it is faith that demonstrates that one believes that Jesus is the only one who can save me.

So what are you trusting in to save you? Are you willing to give up anything to follow the one with the power to save you?

"I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was." - Muhammad Ali

"I figured that if I said it enough, I would convince the world that I really was the greatest." - Muhammad Ali

"It's hard to be humble, when you're as great as I am." - Muhammad Ali

Have you ever wondered why people are constantly concerned with who the greatest is? As I thought about the disciples discussion about which one of the them was the greatest, I couldn't help but think about the outlandish quotes from Muhammand Ali about his greatness.

It really does say something thing about human nature that we are constantly concerned with who the greatest is. In our conversations we are always debating who the greatest athlete, or politician, or actor is. We compare and evaluate peoples lives based on their accomplishments and accolades.

I think this is one of the greatest, pardon the pun, teachings that we have from Jesus about how God really views our lives. Life isn't about who the greatest human being is, because from God's perspective we are all but dust. We cannot impress God with how great and powerful and successful we are, because in reality all that we have comes from Him, and we only live because of the common grace that is extended to all of humanity.

I think that oftentimes our conversations and statements about success and significance deeply grieve our heavenly father.

What would your life look like if you actually believed Jesus words that "Anyone who wants to be the first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else." (Mark 9:35)?

How would you treat people differently? How would you speak to your spouse when you get home from work? How would you treat your secretary, your bus driver, your coffee barista?

If you cannot remember the last time that you served someone else without gaining anything from it (no publicity, no recognition) then I think you might want to reevaluate how you are living your life. I am now going to go home and eat my words and make my family some lunch.

I was reading in Mark 6 and I was struck by something very curious. I had noticed this before, but for some reason today it took me somewhat by surprise. Jesus when he was in Nazareth was unable to do "any might miracles" because "of their unbelief." (Mark 6:5) At first glance this may seem to fly in the face of the doctrine of the omnipotence of God. However I don't think that it is actually the case. And in case your wondering I am not going to argue from the standpoint that because Jesus is the GodMan that his attribute of omnipotence is somehow limited or changed. That would be an entirely different discussion which I am not going to get into today. Someday, but today is not the day.

What this curious passage does communicate to us is that there is a connection between our faith and the power of God. In order to understand how Jesus can fully possess the divine attribute of omnipotence and yet be limited by the faith of the people that he is ministering to, we have to return to a biblical understanding of what omnipotence means. Biblically, omnipotence means that God has the power to do all that He wills to do. This is an important distinction from a simple understanding of omnipotence as just all-powerful. Now, how can we apply this to the situation of Jesus in Nazareth. Well, if you read the New Testament carefully you will discover that God does not work in isolation of the faith of people. Basically what I saying here is that God will, in many circumstances, freely choose to limit what He is doing based on people's faith.

This means that sometimes whether God's work gets accomplished or not isn't dependent upon God's desires or ability, but rather it is dependent upon the faith of his people. Why would God do this? Because God, in his wisdom and grace, has freely chosen to partner with us His people, in working out His plan of salvation and restoration in this world.

This is a picture of the remains of the church that was built to commemorate Jesus' healing of the demoniac in Mark 5.

I was reading in Mark 5 today and observed some interesting things from this passage that I thought I might share with you.

I found it very interesting that Jesus even entertained a conversation with the "legion" of demons that were possessing this particular man. I am not quite certain what we are to make of this. It isn't as if Jesus has to grant their request to enter into the swine. We could make the argument that He was attempting to demonstrate the value of a human life over animals. While, that is indeed true and consistent with the overall teaching of Scripture, I don't think that it is necessarily the point of the passage. One thing that this interaction does demonstrate is Jesus authority over the demonic forces. They have to receive his permission to be able to enter into the swine. This doesn't mean that God is always directly granting permission to demonic forces, but it does mean that He possesses authority over these forces, and when He chooses to exercise that authority, they have no choice but to obey. The reality that we face is that for the time being, God doesn't exercise that authority on a constant basis, but the Bible gives us hope because according to Revelation, God will eventually exercise that authority in a final judgment of Satan and his demons.

The next thing that I noticed is Jesus compassion for this man. The community around him had only attempted to lock him up as a way to deal with him. As is evident from the text, this effort was met with failure and frustration. I would imagine that the community would live with his behavior until the acts were offensive enough to bother them to the point where they would try to arrest him. However, no one had attempted to deal with his spiritual condition that was causing the behavior (at least we don't know from the text that no one had attempted to do so). Jesus, knowing the condition of this mans tormented soul, goes about the process of setting him free and extending hope to him. This is the difference between compassion and justice. Certainly the community was within its right to try to exercise justice towards this man for things he had done wrong, but what he needed was compassion and for someone to deal with his spiritual condition.

This is how we need to interact with the world around us. All to often the church of Jesus Christ is so concerned with justice and protecting our own rights, that we neglect the need for compassion. We have to realize that people are not the real enemy, but rather that our "struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens." (Eph 6:12 NET)

Another interesting thing to note is that the text mentions that after the demons left the man and the people from the nearby town come out to see Jesus, they find the man "fully clothed and perfectly sane." (Mark 5:15 NLB) Why does the text mention that the man was fully clothed, probably because he was naked when he was demon possessed. So the question becomes, where did the clothes come from. I think the most logical answer would be from Jesus and his followers. Since they were constantly travelling around, they would have carried additional garments to change into when necessary. They more than likely gave the man some clothes as an act of compassion and generosity. This reminds us of the need to not only meet a man's spiritual needs, but also his physical needs.

While it is indeed true that it only takes one commonality to generate community, it is also true that community without relationship will die.

Like many couples who get married young, my wife and I lived in a number of apartment complexes during our first couple of years of marriage. Because of our proximity to the other residents, we were a community, but one that lacked relationship. Because of the lack of relationship, the community was of no benefit to us. We now own a home in a quiet neighborhood where we know all of our neighbors by first names. This neighborhood is a far more fulfilling community because of the relationships we enjoy.

In the early days of the church, the believers met together often (Acts 1:14; 2:44). This practice developed the relationships that led to mutual sharing and more satisfying and fulfilling relationships with the Lord. Developing community requires relationship and relationship requires communication.

May you experience genuine Christian community that flows out of authentic relationships.

The last two years I’ve had the privilege of leading students from our church on a mission trip to Mexico. Both times I have been able to participate in a baptismal service with our sister church. What a blessing it has been to baptize some of our Spanish- speaking brothers and sisters. This experience has impressed upon me the common unity we have with Christians who speak a different language. Last year, after a couple of times of hearing our translator, Paul, translate my declaration of their baptism, I began to, with some difficulty, baptize them in Spanish.

I realized that it did not matter what language I was speaking in performing the baptism. I was baptizing a child of God and recognizing their membership into the universal Church. For no matter where or when Christian baptism takes place, “we are all one body, we have the same Spirit, and we have all been called to the same glorious future. There is only one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and there is only one God and Father, who is over us all and in us all and living through us all” (Eph. 4:4-6).

The theme for this week is community. As we transition from reading about the life of Jesus and his ministry to the formation of the early church, we will explore some elements of the community that was so crucial to the spreading of the gospel. I hope that each of you is connected right now to a nurturing Christian community that encourages your faith and strengthens your relationship with Jesus. God designed us to work and function as a part of community and not as lone rangers.

Today's Devotional:

What do two rich politicians, two uneducated fishermen, and a woman who had been demon-possessed have in common? They were all followers of Jesus. The community of faith brings together a wide variety of people. The very word community can be thought of in two different concepts: common and unity. What creates community is having something in common in spite of differences. Community can be based on zip code, workplace, political affiliation or, in this case, religious affiliation.

The beautiful thing about community is that there is so much variety within community. Two people can be opposites in every aspect except for one thing, and that can be enough to create community. The community of believers in the first century came from different geographical, political and religious backgrounds. The Church today is really no different in this respect; from the Chinese pastor sitting in jail, to the African believer struggling in poverty, to the American Christian who takes God’s blessings for granted, we all have a faith in Christ that unites us.

“Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

In illustrating the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus told a story about three servants. This story teaches us about the appropriate response to God’s grace. To receive God’s grace and never change your life, actions, or behaviors is to be like the third servant, to not receive God’s grace at all. This is what the great German theologian Bonhoeffer called cheap grace.

The Apostle Paul was accused of promoting cheap grace by the Jewish believers who wanted the Gentile believers to follow the law. In Romans 6:1-2, Paul sets the story straight, “Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more kindness and forgiveness? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? The invitation to receive God’s grace includes an expectation to take up your cross and follow Jesus (Matt. 10:38)

“’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.” – Amazing Grace by John Newton

In Jesus’ description of the time of tribulation, He mentions that there will be attempts “to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones” (Matthew 24:24; Mark 13:22). This statement by Jesus gets me thinking about the role that God’s grace plays in bringing about our salvation. As the words to Amazing Grace declare, “grace will lead me home.” How true.

God’s grace is efficacious in our lives, meaning that it will produce its desired effect in our lives once it has been given by God himself. Simply put, when someone is saved by God’s grace through faith (Eph. 2:8-9), that grace will absolutely guarantee their salvation. “And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those He has given me, but that I should raise them to eternal life at the last day” (John 6:39).

May you stand confident in God’s grace, knowing that it will indeed lead you home.

“He who gives what he would as readily throw away, gives without generosity; for the essence of generosity is in self-sacrifice.”
– Sir Henry Taylor

As Jesus and His disciples sat and observed the giving practices of those who came to the temple to worship, Jesus seized a teachable moment when the widow dropped in two small coins (Mark 12:42). In that moment, we see the principle of proportionate giving at work.

As Jesus noted, even though the rich individuals gave more money, the gift of the widow was considered far greater in the eyes of God because of her sacrifice.
Aren’t you glad that, in God’s greatest gift to us, He did not limit Himself to a small portion of His grace, but rather made the ultimate sacrifice in sending Jesus to die on the cross. God is truly generous with His grace, giving it to all who might come to Him. There are no restrictions, no qualifications, no prerequisites. There is only free grace that is offered generously.

Matthew 22:1-14 is the parable of the Great Feast. The parable illustrates how, because of the rejection of the Messiah by the Jews, God’s grace is then made available to the Gentiles. As I read this story, I find it remarkable that one of the guests would show up for the feast without the customary apparel. I would think that the gratitude of even being invited to take part in the festivities would result in the appropriate response by this particular guest.

The parallels in this story to the human predicament we face are clearly seen. All around us are people who are rejecting God’s invitation to enter into relationship with him. Hearing the call of grace, they reject the notion of their need for salvation assuming that their own righteousness is sufficient. Like the out-of-place wedding guest, they refuse to clothe themselves with the righteousness of Christ that comes by faith. Instead, they reject God’s grace, trusting in their own righteousness which, in the eyes of God, is like filthy rags.

The construction of the Golden Gate Bridge had fallen behind schedule because of a number of workers who had fallen to their deaths. Engineers and administrators could find no solution to the costly delays. Eventually, in spite of the enormous cost, a giant net was installed to catch those who might accidentally fall. After it was installed, progress on the project was hardly interrupted. A worker or two fell into the net, but were saved. Ultimately, all the time lost to fear was regained by replacing fear with faith in the net.

Knowing that we need not be perfect in order to avoid judgment removes a great fear for the one who understands grace. Grace is what allowed the tax collectors and prostitutes (Matthew 21:31) of Jesus’ day to be saved. The Pharisees, on the other hand, lived in constant fear of the law.

Like the workers on the bridge who no longer feared death resulting from a misstep, the Christian no longer fears the eternal judgment of God for a misstep.

Jesus never hid the truth of His purpose here on earth. Time and time again He predicted His death to His disciples, and yet they continually struggled to understand. In comparing His death to a kernel of wheat (John 12:24), Jesus makes it clear that His death will bring about new life for many. This is what the Apostle Paul meant when he said, “For God made Christ who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus was able to serve as the perfect sacrifice making full atonement once and for all for the sins of mankind (Hebrews 10:12).

This sacrifice is what allows God the Father to extend saving grace to all who come to Him in faith for the forgiveness of their sins. As John said in 1 John 2:2, “He is the sacrifice for our sins. He takes away not only our sins, but the sins of all the world.”

It is an irony that should cause us all to be humbled, that the horrific death that Jesus endured on the cross was the very event that allows for the beauty of saving grace in our lives.

The theme this week is grace. And as you may be able to tell, I had the lyrics to the wonderful hymn, Amazing Grace, running through my head as I wrote these devotional thoughts for you this week. Grace is a multi-faceted concept in Scripture and I hope that you thoroughly enjoy considering how God’s grace impacts our lives, both as human beings in children and redeemed members of God’s family.

Today's Devotional:

“I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see” – Amazing Grace

The beggar Bartimaeus received the gift of sight in today’s reading. While Mark is the only gospel that names the beggar, all three of them consistently show that the original request was for mercy. Why the connection between mercy and the receiving of sight? I think it is because the healing not only involved a physical need, but a spiritual one as well.

Without God’s intervention in our lives, we are spiritually blind and lack an awareness of our sin and we do not see our need for God. Until the Holy Spirit opens ones’ eyes to his or her spiritual need, they will not come to God for forgiveness and grace.

In His ministry, Jesus restored physical sight, but more importantly, He also restored spiritual sight. The Spirit continues on in this ministry, and our role is to direct those in whom the Spirit is working to the light of Christ that they might follow him as did Bartimaeus.

“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” – James 4:10

In 1973, Senator John C. Stennis was mugged and shot outside his home. When Senator Mark Hatfield received word of the incident he drove straight to the hospital. Upon arriving, he observed that the hospital staff was overwhelmed with the high volume of incoming calls. Spying an empty switchboard, Hatfield sat down and helped field calls through the night and into the next morning.

It was genuine humility that led Senator Hatfield to assist the hospital staff that night. He was unwilling to view himself as too important to do the mundane task of answering the phone.

Authenticity leads to humility, because when we are willing to see ourselves as we truly are, we learn that we have no greater intrinsic value than the next person. Understanding this lesson allows us to fulfill the command to consider others as more important than ourselves (Phil. 2:3).

Jesus modeled transparency to us in how He lived His life. Jesus opened himself up to His disciples and allowed them to know certain things about Him and His purpose. I do think that it is important to note that He was more transparent with some of his disciples (Peter, James, and John) than He was with the rest.

Part of living an authentic Christian life is the practice of transparency with a trusted brother or sister in Christ. Like Jesus, we need not be as transparent with all as we are with some. Transparency involves giving someone else a window into our soul where our deepest thoughts and emotions lie. Transparency leads to authenticity because, when we allow others to know us fully, we can no longer fool them with our external behavior. They know when we’re faking it because they know the real us.

Like an overhead transparency that is revealed when the light is switched on, may your life become transparent when you encounter the light of Christ.

I have long struggled with the overabundance of denominations that we have within Christianity. Certainly there have been valid reasons involved that led to some of these divisions. Taking a stand on issues such as the deity of Christ or salvation by grace alone through faith alone is never wrong.

That being said, I am often bothered by the attitudes that I sometimes encounter as a result of denominationalism. Accusing someone of not being truly saved because of a disagreement on a secondary or tertiary theological issue is not our place and yet it happens. I hear some accuse people of other denominations of having an insufficient view of God because they are not five-point Calvinists.

Jesus didn’t give the Gentile woman a theological pop quiz to see if she had all the right answers. He recognized her faith, as simple as it may have been, and accepted her for it. Like the thief on the cross, this woman’s salvation was not dependent upon right theology, but an authentic faith in the right One.

“The purpose of my instruction is that all the Christians there would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and sincere faith.” – 1 Timothy 1:5

Jesus turned the religious system of first century Judaism on its ear. He was able to look through their traditions and recognize that they were attempting to gain acceptance before God by following extensive lists of rules and regulations governing their external behavior.

Living an authentic life for the Christian means that our heart and our actions must match. To practice the externals of religion without a heart that has been changed by God does not make us acceptable before God.

Our acceptance before God is dependent entirely upon the change of heart that occurs when we trust in Christ for forgiveness and salvation. It is this step of faith that allows the Holy Spirit to change us so that our actions will be born out of a heart that beats for God.

The court of public opinion is a powerful force, especially for those who live and work in the political arena. When you read about Herod’s dealings with John the Baptist, you quickly realize that this court of public opinion, or more commonly known as peer pressure, has been influential for 2,000 years.

Peer pressure can make authentic living very challenging. Authentic living can be understood as remaining true to one’s own character when faced with external pressures. When faced with the external pressures, Herod gave up John’s life in spite of his genuine respect for him. Jesus too was confronted with a variety of pressures from both his followers and adversaries. However, unlike Herod, Jesus’ actions were always consistent with His character. In John 6:15 we read that He turned down the opportunity to lead a political coup, choosing instead to remain true to His commitment to do the will of His Father who sent Him (John 8:28-29).

May you, like Jesus, be able to live authentically in the face of peer pressure.

The theme for this week is authenticity. As you read about the life that Jesus lived, I hope you are able to see how authentic He was in His dealings with the people around Him. Whether they were friend or foe, He did not deceive or mislead anyone and always acted authentic.

Today's Devotional:

If you love only those who love you, what good is that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. – Matthew 5:46

In the gospel of Matthew, right before Jesus sends out the 12 disciples, He told His disciples to ask the Lord to send more workers to gather the harvest. In that passage (Matthew 9:35-38), Jesus reveals to the disciples His heart for the lost. As He taught and healed among the people, His heart was genuinely burdened for those people whom He described as a sheep without a shepherd.

A heart for the lost is not easily feigned. This is because the lost are not going to be receptive to the message of Jesus, or the messenger for that matter, most of the time. It is so easy to love those with whom we are comfortable. What about those who have hurt you or persecute you? A heart for the lost means that we must respond with grace and mercy to those who don’t deserve it, but desperately need it.

May you, like Jesus, have an authentic heart for the lost.