Tag Archive for 'charity'

You’ve Been to Sinai, Welcome to Pentecost

Published on 5/22/2010 in Bible Study. Closed Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

I’ve been reading David Stern’s Jewish New Testament Commentary and listening to Dwight A. Pryor on the subject of Acts 2 and Pentecost. WOW.

text: Acts 2, John 14, Exodus 20-32

The parallels between what the Jews celebrated and taught from the traditions about Pentecost and what happened on Pentecost 50 days after the Last Passover are too crazy to be made up.

Pentecost was celebrated as the time when God gave the Torah to His people through Moses at Sinai. At that time, the people begged to not have God talk to them, but for just Moses to do all of the talking. At the New Pentecost, many many people wanted God to talk to them–and He did.

Rabbinical tradition taught that God’s voice was immediately split into the 70 languages of the nations whenever He spoke from Heaven. They said that happened at the top of Zion, so that the Hebrews and all of the aliens with them would understand what God said. VERY appropriate that on the New Pentecost, God would split His voice up for the nations through men. The Holy Spirit is no longer external, it’s within mankind, so the various languages will not come out of the sky but out of God’s people–His body.

There was fire at the top of Mount Sinai, and with His own finger God wrote out and signed the Covenant.  50 days earlier, at the Last Passover, God signed the Covenant in His Son’s blood, and sent the fire into His people on Pentecost.

Some of these events are sort of a parallel reversal. At Mt. Sinai, the people became tired of waiting and committed idolatry while Moses was on the Mountain that they wanted to flee from. The Levites executed 3,000 of them and so became God’s priestly tribe. From then on it would be Levites only serving before God in the Tabernacle and the Temple.

At the New Pentecost, there were thousands of people around that wanted to draw near to God during the feast of the Pentecost, or the Feast of Weeks. Every adult male in ISRAEL had to come to this feast! Just like today, in the midst of any religion, there are hidden people that are genuinely seeking God with all of their might–whether they know of God sending Jesus to seek them out or not. That hidden remnant of genuine God-seekers were cut to the quick on that day, and 3,000 people were added to the Church. Those 3,000 were from all over the world, and they carried The Good News back to all of the nations in the world. They became the priests to the nations as God enlarged His tent (Take a look at Isaiah 54 to see why I’m crying at the Donut Bank as I write this).

Finally, at Mt. Sinai, God gave His people a way to live. The Torah was a way of life, not just rules, that when lived out, would make God’s people stand out in the world. The Torah would show off to the other nations of the world that God was the one true God, and people like the Queen of Sheba and others would come and see that the God of Israel was really the one true God of the Universe.

The Torah, however wonderful a guideline or framework for life that it was, could not change people from the inside out. God new that from before the beginning. Jesus said in His final talk with His disciples:

John 14:16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever
John 14:17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
John 14:26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

On Pentecost that came to be, and The Great Internal Reminder/Teacher took up residence in His people. He is now living inside His Church to teach, guide, help, correct, cheer, rebuke, heal, and LIVE LIFE in the people.

In light of all of this, we can see how absolutely absurd it is to teach people to live by any method or steps, to teach people a “Christian Ethic” or a “Christian Worldview” or to force a political or philosophical agenda on people. Let us RUN to the Spirit. Let us CRY OUT to God to send His Holy Spirit into us with thunder and fire and move out into the nations to change them from the inside out. Let us THROW DOWN and THROW UP any teaching that depends on man’s desire, effort, self-discipline or ‘conviction’ and be filled with the Holy Spirit that changes people irrevocably. The 3,000 that were added that day didn’t added to have strong marriages or have financial success. They came because they knew what Peter said was true:

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

Acts 2:38-39

Jesus and the Ubiquitous Poor

Published on 9/23/2008 in Bible Study. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , .
When Jesus said, “You will always have the poor with you.” He was not giving an excuse or being overwhelmed. Many people read this like it’s Jesus’ commentary on how we should care for the poor.
“Aware of this, Jesus said to them, ‘Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.’”
(Matt 26:10-13 NIV)
It’s not a commentary on caring for the poor, it’s about the timing of His death. His death is coming soon, and He won’t always be around. Look at how Mark tells it.
‘The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.’
(Mark 14:7-8 NIV)
A little different, isn’t it. You can help the poor any time, but you can only annoint me for burial within the next few days.
The section Jesus is quoting here is pretty interesting. It’s from Deuteronomy 15.
‘Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.’
(Deut 15:10-11 NIV)
It’s like Jesus is saying, ‘you should always give to the poor, and you always have the opportunity to, but right now I’m preparing for burial, and she knows it because she believes the things I’ve said about how I’m going to die, and she’s mourning and celebrating all at once’
That’s why Judas immediately left. Partially because the expensive ointment was wasted, but here’s Jesus talking about dying again! Where is that ever going to get us!?
A really wild thing is that 10 verses back, God says that there shouldn’t even be any poor people, because there will be enough money to go around. In ancient Hebrew culture, the most degrading thing you could do for a person was to give them money. That’s why it’s so disgraceful to beg throughout the bible, and beggars are ashamed of what they do. The next tier up from that is to give someone money for doing some pitiful thing. To make up a silly job as an excuse to give them a handout. The best way, Hebrew culture wise, was to employ someone with some real task. Give them a real job to do and then pay them a fair wage for it.
I’ve developed a love for Goodwill lately, because they do this. They hire all kinds of people, and they accommodate them however they can to help them work in their shop. Some people may say there are restaurants EVERYWHERE that are hiring all the time. The truth is that if you’re homeless and don’t have an address for the application, they won’t hire you. There is no shower at McDonald’s, so if you don’t have water at your house, you can’t clean up for work. As the obstacles pile up, the motivation to work atrophies. After 3-4 days, discouragement wins out and hope is lost. I’ve talked to several people that have fallen into this spiral, and I’ve tiptoed around it’s edge a lot.
The poor you will always have with you, so be generous to them.

Beggars and Charity in my Front Yard

Published on 8/19/2008 in Bible Study and Urbia. 1 Comment Tags: , , , .

Two different sort of things happened this weekend that are interesting…

Ive been out in the front yard a lot the past two days. Ive been trimming bushes, cleaning up mulch, you know, good old fashioned yard work…the whole time burning a ton of sticks over which I later cooked some chicken for the weekly lunch supply. While I was cleaning out the van (cleaning vomit off the floor from my daughters concussion on Friday night, but thats a story for another day!) I had a stroller out that is headed for Goodwill. I saw a young couple walking down the street, and the man was carrying a tiny tiny little baby.
Hey, do you guys want a stroller? You need a stroller! I shouted as I walked towards my TWO strollers. One double deluxe Cadillac stroller, and a single umbrella pinto stroller, that I was going to give them. I think the girl saw the Caddy and got excited, and the guy just kind of watched. They declined and said they were just walking a couple blocks. I said ok and they walked on. Then about 30 feet later the guy turned and shouted back We need more people like you! Thats a happy thing to yell.

Fast forward, or maybe first backward, about 2 months. Me and Andy G. were in the front yard and a guy with bloodshot eyes came up and said he needed gas money because his car was out of gas. He did the whole introduction thing for the first few minutes, about how his family has always lived in this neighborhood, yada yada yada. Then he said his car was out of gas. I told him that if he would take me to the car, Id fill it up. He was a little offended and said he didnt need that much, just a little gas to get to the gas station. I told him that there were a lot of liars in our neighborhood that would try to steal from people by telling them a story but then spending the money on drugs or liquor, and I didnt want to pay for that, but if he could show me the car that needed gas, Id fill it up. He got really mad at me and stormed off.

Ok, now fast forward to the day after my stroller offer. My family was unloading out of the van and into the house and a guy came running across the park. Sir! Sir!

It was the gas man.

We had a pleasant intro, and he said, Didnt I talk to you before? I reminded him that he needed gas from me. for my weedwacker? he interrupted. No, for your car, and I said if you showed me the car Id fill it up, and you got real mad at me. I said.

Oh yeah, because I couldnt do that.

What do you want today? I asked.

I need a four prong starter relay for my car. You can call Auto Zone and ask them.

Typically I call the beggars bluff. One time in Asia a guy was begging me for money to bury his daughter that died. I said, Wow. Take me to her. I thought I was going to go raise her from the dead. The guy couldnt come up with an answer.

After this whole event was over (it ended by me smelling pot on his breath and saying I smell something on you that I dont want to help you buy, so Im not going to give you any money and he walked off cussing me and making mad faces) I was talking to my wife and we came up with something to do next time.

As soon as the beggar starts w/ the story about their car out of gas (standard story in America) or their sick/dead daughter (standard story in Central Asia) I interrupt and tell them I have a story for them…that is true.

One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayerat three in the afternoon. Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, Look at us! So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.
Then Peter said, Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk. Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the mans feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
(Acts 3:1-10 NIV)

And then from there just follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and wait for something to happen.

I remember a turning point for me when I realized that the person coming up to me begging for money doesnt really care about freaking me out by being weird, so I dont have to worry about freaking them out by being weird. I had a Mullah come up and start praying incantations over me in the street. THATS NUTS! So what did I do? The time for politeness was over. He was speaking Persian that I couldnt understand and didnt care and didnt understand English, so I just whipped out Isaiah 61 and started proclaiming it loudly in English.

Is. 61:1 ? The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,
Is. 61:2 to proclaim the year of the LORDs favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,

That was as far as I made it, (which is probably good, because the next verse talks about Zion, and you dont want an American talking to a Central Asian Muslim about Zion) and the guy walked off. I was expecting demons to come out or flashes of light, but that guy walking off was consolation prize enough.

All that said, I love the Gas Guy and I hope for him to be free of his addictions and to find life in Christ, Im just still learning how to work with him…

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