04 John - Faith

By Richard

Back in Cana a man comes to Jesus for help and Jesus says to him, “Unless you people are dazzled by a miracle you refuse to believe.” (John 4:48, The Message). We read that the man would not stop asking Jesus for help. So Jesus tells him, “Go home. Your son lives!” We are told, “The man believed the bare bone word that Jesus spoke and headed home.”

The man believed before he saw the miracle. Maybe this is the correct order for faith. Perhaps faith is God asking us to trust him before we see “the miracle”.

Later when the man finds his son well and his healing corresponds to the exact moment when the words of Jesus were spoken we read that his faith is bolstered and he and his family believe.

04 John - Keep going

By Richard

Jesus was kept going by a strong sense of purpose. He was on earth to obey the will of God and complete the task that God had set before him. So strong was this purpose that Jesus describes it like, “Food that keeps him going.” (John 4:34)

It is going to be hard to follow Christ and mature in our faith unless we discover his, purpose, destiny and calling for our lives - something more compelling than food.

04 John - Simple Honesty

By Richard

How should we approach God? Jesus says it very clearly. God does not want pomp and ceremony. “The kind of people that the Father is looking for [are] those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship” (John 4:23, The Message). Will you be yourself before God today?

Note: I find it so encouraging to hear on a rather frequent basis around Mountainview that one of the things that people like about our church is that they can be themselves. Offering people a chance to be real and down-to-earth means that we are onto a winner when it comes to matters of faith and relating to God.

04 John - Stand Down

By Richard

There’s a beautiful picture of Jesus presented in John 4. The people were starting to keep a tally of the baptisms that Jesus (actually his disciples) and John the Baptist were performing. It was becoming something of local gossip with scores printed in the Hello magazine at the hairdressers. Bets were being placed as to who would win the popularity contest. We know from John’s words that Jesus is by far the greatest one – he’s come from God’s presence and is God himself. Yet, Jesus quickly stands down and leaves the area.

It hit me so very strongly as I read the story; God is willing to stand down and let others succeed. Our God is a humble God. What an example for Christian leadership that is still so much of a dog-eat-dog type. What a challenge to my leadership. Am I truly able to let others succeed – even when my leadership may be greater?

03 John - Competition

By Richard

I love John 3: 22-36. Jesus and John the Baptist are both baptising people along the Jordan. John’s disciples point out to John that they are beginning to seriously lose out to the competition. “He’s [speaking about Jesus] competing with us. He’s baptising too and everyone is going to him instead of us.” (John 3: 26, The Message)

John’s response is fantastic. He points out that there is no such thing as spiritual competition. All true spiritual success comes from God. God is not competing with God, but simultaneously working in different people. It’s all happening by Jesus and for Jesus. Jesus needs to become our central vision. Spiritual success, wherever it is happening and whoever it’s happening through, should give us great joy. So often our jealousies get in the way and hinder the work of God. Rather, we should be like John who’s happy for the sake of Christ to slip out of the way, off to the side-lines, and let Jesus work.

03 John - Relaxed

By Richard

Jesus has less than 3 years to complete his ministry. Yet we find that Jesus went to the Judean countryside, “And relaxed with his disciples there!” (John 3: 22).

Since the industrial revolution the general theme of life is that we live to work.
We are manic about it! But then, there is Jesus, the most important mission in the entire history of the universe and little time to accomplish his task! There he is relaxing in the Judean countryside with his disciples: picking daisies, enjoying long siestas, playing football and sharing jokes around campfires. Unhurried in his mission and able to be very present with his friends!

03 John - Spiritual Crisis

By Richard

Have you ever wondered why Jesus causes such a strong reaction? Jesus came into the world calling us to love even our enemies, to show humility, to help the poor and needy, to live generous lives, etc. It all seems good and applaudable to me, so why does he cause such a strong reaction?

Jesus is clearly under no illusions that he will case a reaction. He says to Nicodemus, “This is the crisis we are in: God-light streamed into the world [in Jesus], but men and women everywhere ran for darkness. They went for the darkness because they are not really interested in pleasing God.” (John 3: 19-21, the Message)

The picture reminds me of someone turning on a light in a pantry full of mice. The mice are initially blinded by the light but within seconds they are making a quick dash for the safely of darkness. Jesus causes a reaction not because he is misunderstood, but because it’s he’s a light from God that does reveal a lot about what is in our hearts.

03 John - Spiritual Birth:

By Richard

In a well-known story Nicodemus, a prominent leader of the Jews, asks Jesus secretly about his ministry. Jesus says that it all comes down to spiritual rebirth. The message version has a great paragraph on spiritual rebirth. “Unless a person submits to this original creation, the wind-hovering-over-the-water creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism of New Life, it’s not possible to enter God’s kingdom.” (John 3: 5, the Message).

The picture comes from Genesis. The Holy Spirit is hovering over the formless waters of creation. The Spirit breathes life and direction into the creation. In the same way our rebirth is a wilful submission to the invisible Spirit of God. It’s an acknowledgement of our need for the greater power of the invisible God to create us. It’s an invitation to God to save us into his Kingdom, to shape us, to form us as people of his Kingdom, and to send us out to proclaim to others the news of the kingdom. Ultimately rebirth is a submission to the invisible Christ and an invitation through the power of his Holy Spirit to re-create us into his likeness (even though the process may involve pain).

Will you submit today and allow Christ to do a new work of creation in your life?

02 John - Trustworthiness

By Richard

At the end of John 2 we find that many people “trusted” Jesus. But we are told that Jesus did not trust people because he could see right through them. Perhaps this is a reason that when you mention the word God no one seems to bother, but mention the word Jesus and feathers get ruffled all over the place. Maybe Jesus makes us uncomfortable because he can see right through is. However, we will not find grace and freedom in denial, but in the acceptance that we cannot fully trust ourselves. The only person can really trust and desperately need is Jesus.

02 John - Making a Truth Map

By Richard

When Jesus cleaned out the temple courtyard of people who were making a mockery of faith by turn sacred courtyards into market places for personal gain he tells them that his authority is this. If you pull down this temple I can rebuild it in 3 days. They laugh! The disciples may have even laughed too. But we read that, “Later, after he was raised from the dead, the disciples remembered all that he had said this. They put two and two together and believed both the Scripture and what Jesus had said.” (John 2: 22, The Message)

Reading this reminded me of a time when I was a boy scout. We used to use the distance between 2 points and angles to estimate the distance to a third point and thus make simple but fairly accurate maps. Faith is like that. We use a convergence of evidence to build up a picture – a map of truth. Some of the convergent disciplines that we have include the following: history, archaeology, prophecy, reason, experience etc. Together these points help us build up a map of Jesus.

02 John - The Wedding of Cana

By Richard

In John 2, Jesus’ first miracle was to make somewhere in the region of 150 gallons of top quality wine. Wedding’s back then went on for a few days, and the tell tale comments about the wine running out and saving the best until last suggest that they were already on the happy side of things when Jesus came a long. The story asks some questions of our theology of celebration. Jesus was glorified as he helped an already well toasted wedding party keep on toasting the bride and the groom.

There’s also something else going on here! Jesus is clearly no showman. There’s a hesitancy to perform his first miracle. The miracle seems to be performed somewhat secretly. It seems that only his disciples and a few servants know what’s going on. When the best man tastes the wine and cries out, “You’ve saved the best until now!” Jesus does not step in and stop the bridegroom getting the credit.

Maybe our picture of Jesus is some flashy miracle worker. Yes, Jesus performed miracles but he does so quietly. God does not manipulate the crowds into following him, but quietly and gently reveals his glory. He calls us to respond with love and does not twist our arms with dazzling power or flirt with us by flashing around his glory.

01 John - Under the Fig Tree

By Richard

In John 1:35-51 we have this interesting knock on effect. People find Jesus and then the first thing that they do is to go off and find someone else and introduce them to Jesus too. One of them is Philip, who goes to find his brother Nathanael. Philip tells Nathanael, “I’ve found the Messiah. The one spoken of from of old and it’s Jesus. Joseph’s son from Nazareth.” Nathanael’s reaction is predictable. “Nazareth….You’ve got to be kidding, right?”

When Nathanael eventually meets Jesus, Jesus tells him, “One day long before Philip called you here I saw you under the fig tree” (John 1: 48, The Message).

The Message version is interesting because it gives a longer time frame to Jesus having seen Nathanael under the fig tree. In the NIV it’s simply a, “I saw you under the fig tree when Philip called you”. The longer time frame got me imagining what might have gone on.

Perhaps, one day, under the fig tree Nathanael had prayed (as many do), “God if you are there show yourself to me”. Then I thought how many people are out there in Madrid praying the same prayer. I started praying for more “Philips” to go find these people and lead them to Jesus.

01 John - The Greatness of Jesus

By Richard

People came to John the Baptist to ask is he was the Messiah. Instead he pointed out that Jesus was so much greater. “I’m not even worthy to hold his coat,” he replied.

Question: Do our lives point to the greatness of Jesus?

01 John - Our Task

By Richard

John the Baptist told the crowds that his task was, “To get Israel ready to recognise [Jesus]” (John 1:30, the Message). In a way this is the task of Christ’s followers on earth. We are supposed to be busy getting people ready to recognise Jesus.

Question: What are we doing to help people recognise Jesus in our actions and words?

01 John - Just the Basics

By Richard

John reminds us that, “We got the basics from Moses, and then this exuberant giving and receiving. This endless knowing and understanding – all this came through Jesus the Messiah.”

We cannot help but miss the centrality of Jesus in John words. To a Jew it would have been quite a thing to say that Moses was “just the basics”. I’m not sure how we can describe it in a way that makes sense to us. Here are some ideas...

- The Old Testament is just the recipe – Jesus is the cake.
- The Old Testament is the prologue – Jesus is the story
- The Old Testament is the opening credits – Jesus is the film

We must capture the centrality of Jesus.

Related to this is the idea of God being invisible and unseen but that Jesus has made God, “plain as day”. If we want to know what God is like look at Jesus. Jesus is God clothed in humanity.

May we see Jesus more and more in 2007

01 John - Always Ahead

By Richard

John the Baptist tells us the crowd that Jesus is much greater. He has “always been ahead!” I hope this coming year we will catch a glimpse of the greatness of Christ. I think that if we are honest we do find ourselves from time to time charging ahead. We need to pull back and allow Jesus to move ahead of us. We have to allow Jesus to take the lead in our lives and in Mountainview?

01 John - Lack of Recognition

By Richard

We are told in John 1 that the world did not recognise Jesus even though it was made by him. If we are honest nothing much has changed. Very few of my friends in Europe “recognise” Jesus. But then I think that God wants his followers to live as lights for him as we recognise Jesus and incorporate him into our lives (or maybe incorporate our life into His). God wants to mix our humanity with his holiness so that Jesus maybe glorified and recognised through us. Will we, in 2007, set a goal to glorify Jesus through our lives?

01 John - Readiness

By Richard

In John 1: 2 we read that Jesus had a readiness to fulfil God’s purposes from the beginning. I asked myself a simple question. Do I have a readiness for God? Ready at all times to do his will?

23 Luke - Alert

By Richard

We read in Luke 23 that Joseph of Arimathea lived in an, “Alert expectation of the Kingdom of God.” (Luke 23: 52, the Message). These are perhaps more profound words than we imagine. These words describe a true believer whose life is characterised by an ongoing expectation of God; a person where the invisible becomes more important than the visible and where the realities of God outweigh the realities of this life. Someone in whom everything finds its direction and meaning in God.

May we lead lives of alert expectation of the Kingdom of God!

22 Luke - Our need of Jesus

By Richard

The death of Christ provides an interesting reflection on the human condition. We find the religious leaders deliberately lying about Jesus. The ones that we’re meant to be the most pure were found to be impure. They were not simply good enough to stop the crucifixion. Then there’s Pilate, the most powerful man in Judea, even though convinced that Jesus is innocent he’s still unable to stop the crucifixion. He’s simply not powerful enough to stop the death of Jesus. Then there are the disciples. Three years of friendship with Jesus and yet they’ve run off and abandoned the master that they claimed to love so much. Then there’s Jesus, in great pain, weak and in shock from the loss of blood. Greatly humiliated yet continuing to pour love and forgiveness on his enemies.

We’ll never understand the full impact of the cross until we are able to see that we lack goodness and power and love. Quite simply we haven’t got what it takes on our own accord. We need the goodness of Christ. We need his power to fill us. We need his love to flow through us. The cross reminds me that it’s Jesus all the way.

22 Luke - Guilty!

By Richard

In Luke 22: 66-71, Jesus is brought before the religious leaders. They seek to trap Jesus but he carefully avoids answering their questions. At the end of the day they condemn him to death without a fair trial. They did not provide an adequate testimony from witnesses and even proved the inadequacy of their trial when they closed with the words, “We’ve heard him as good as say it himself”. They tell us that they are condemning him with proving beyond reasonable doubt that he is guilty.

In many ways the guilt of the Pharisees increases. They are the ones charged by God to ensure that people get a fair trial. Even in silence Jesus declares them guilty. Even in silence he declares us guilty. Now, we can either return like Peter and pray for forgiveness or like the Pharisees we can unreasonably demand his death.

22 Luke - Strengthened:

By Richard

Jesus tells the disciples that they will be, “Strengthened as [they] take up the responsibilities among the congregations of God’s people.” (Luke 22:30, the Message)

Looking into 2007 and the challenges and emotional energy required for church planting it was great to be reminded that Jesus has a special work of strengthening those who lead his church. As a leader of Mountainview above all I pray to be strengthened as a light for Christ, among his people and in this dark world.

22 Luke - The Right Order

By Richard

In Luke 22 Jesus tells Peter and John to go and prepare the Passover meal. They were to enter Jerusalem, look for a man carrying a jar of water, follow the man to a house, knock on the door and ask the owner of the house about the guest room where they could prepare the Passover and he would show them a spacious second-storey room, swept and ready. They were to prepare the meal there! We read that, “They left and found everything just as he [Jesus] told them, and [then they] prepared the Passover meal.” (Luke 22:13, the Message)

Notice the order. They went, they found and then they responded. So often we need “proof” before we’ll put our first foot forward. But often it’s the other way around with faith. We’ll never find faith it until we start walking in it. Then having found everything to be “just as he told us” the question is how will we respond? Will we do what Peter and John did? They prepared to receive Jesus?

21 Luke - Stay Sharp

By Richard

In Luke 21 we have these profound words of Jesus. “Don’t let the sharp edge of your expectation get dulled by parties and drinking and shopping.” (Luke 21: 34, the Message).

Jesus gives us a summary of the future in Luke 21 so that our expectations of his return will remain sharp. How sad it is that much of Western Christianity has been blunted by “parties and drinking and shopping”. I am not immune either. I am only too aware of how the trappings of consumerism muddy my feet and stop me from running wild in my love for Jesus. We need to work hard on ensuring that we stay sharp and alert for the return of Jesus.

21 Luke - Stay with it

By Richard

In Luke 21 Jesus warns his disciples about persecution. They should remind steadfast until the end because, “Every detail of your body and soul—even the hairs of your head!—is in my care; nothing of you will be lost. Staying with it—that's what is required. Stay with it to the end. You won't be sorry; you'll be saved.” (Luke 21 17-19, the Message).

I find it amazing how we’ve lost this future sense to the mission of Jesus. Most believers that I meet live solely for this life and have little sense for the next life. Perhaps the issue is that we feel that heaven is such a new start that we might as well worry about it when we get there. But Jesus’ words, meant to comfort us in persecution confront us in consumerism. Jesus is telling us that our ongoing response to him in this life determines our rewards in the future. It’s on earth that we win or loose. If we live for Jesus we will gain much. If we live for self we will loose everything. We need to start living for Jesus today.

20 Luke - Leadership is Service

By Richard

In Luke 20:45 Jesus warns the disciples to be on high alert for leaders that are self-serving. Leaders that are self-serving destroy the witness of the church, hurt the weak and live under a judgement, not a blessing.

How badly do we need this kind of leadership? All I could say as I read this and looked at my own attitudes that are so often self serving was this. “Help me Jesus to serve You and others, not counting the cost or keeping a score, but considering all the sacrifices to be made a pure joy.”

20 Luke - Brokeness

by Richard

In John 20: 18, Jesus describes himself as a stone; a stone that if we fall on it, “Will break every bone in our body” but that, “If the stone falls on anyone, it will be a total smash-up.”

Maybe one of the reasons that Jesus is so hated…despite his wonderful teaching and loving life…is that he does leave us in a neutral position. He offers us two choices; to break us down or to smash us up. Brokenness is a process of grace by which our pride is replaced by the glory of Christ. Smash-up is a terrible judgement. I know what I’m choosing!

19 Luke - God’s Personal Visit

By Richard

In Luke 19: 28-44, Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey. His disciples celebrate but the Pharisees are furious. “Tell them to be quiet!” they say to Jesus. But Jesus replies that if they were to shut up the very stones would cry out in praise. He goes onto say that judgement is coming to Israel because they missed the arrival of God. God was riding into Jerusalem on a donkey and all they could do was complain. “Not one stone will be left intact” said Jesus, “Because you did not recognise and welcome God’s personal visit.”

Maybe we don’t like the idea of God’s judgement. But looking at it from another angle perhaps we should have expected the universe to end when they crucified God. But in grace God lets the world go on after the ultimate rejection of himself. But the words contain a warning for us, and not just the Jews. God has visited our world and walked our dusty roads. If we do not recognise him and welcome him into our lives we will be judged when the universe is ended and not one atom is left intact.

19 Luke - Investment

By Richard

In Luke 19 we have another version of Jesus’ parable regarding making wise investments in our lives.

A prince needs to make a long trip to certify in another country that he is indeed of royal status. So he leaves 10 servants with a large sum of money and asks them to look after things while he is away. We find out that while he is gone the citizens of the country (not the servants) decide that they don’t want the prince back. But come back the prince does.

The first thing that he does is to call his servants in and get a report. The servants who report that they've managed to bring about a growth in their masters investments are greatly rewarded and given much honour. The servants who through fear have done nothing while the master was away are stripped bare. The citizens of the country who did not want the prince are told to clear off.

The parable has power because it is a story of where we are at right now. Jesus has returned to heaven and will one day return to declare himself the only king of the universe. Amazingly, he’s left his followers in charge of his affairs. The locals are generally hostile to the idea of Christ’s rule. (Many so hostile they that they commit the ultimate sin of claiming that he doesn’t even exist). But whatever people think, and say, one day Jesus is going to come back and establish his rule.

The first to be judged will be his followers. Those followers who have invested their lives for Jesus’ sake will be greatly rewarded and honoured in heaven. Those who have failed through fear or selfish motives will still be saved, but they will be stripped bare. They will enter heaven un-rewarded and un-honoured. Then those who never wanted the prince will come before Jesus and be told, “Your wish is my command, now clear off !”

Jesus calls us to be wise because he is (FACT) going to come back and one of three things will happen us. We’ll either be...loaded, losers or lost. AND Jesus wants us to be loaded.

19 Luke - The Treasure Hunters

By Richard Wallace

Zacchaeus, perhaps the most hated man in the town of Jericho gets a big surprise. In Luke 19 he climbs a tree so that he can get a good look at Jesus (we’re told that he’s physically short and his social status does not leave the crowds itching to part like the Red Sea and give him the front seat). However, of all things, it’s by his tree that Jesus stops, looks up and says, “Zacchaeus hurry down [because] today is my day to be a guest in your home.” (Luke 19:5, the Message).

We find out an amazing reversal takes place. Zacchaeus, once greedy to the core, announces that from now on, “I give away half my income to the poor”. Once a local cheat announces that to those who I have cheated, “I’ll pay four times the damages” (19:8 TM). Jesus cries out, “Today is salvation in this home…the Son of Man came to find and restore the lost” (18: 9, 10 TM)

The words find and restore remind me of treasure hunters who go to great lengths and spare little expense to find priceless works of antiguity. Then over many months they slowly and gently restore these works to their former beauty.

The Great Commission sends us into the world to find the lost and make disciples. Christ is calling us to be like treasure hunters who go to great lengths to find the priceless lost (and we might be surprised by who they are in our community). And then to ever so gently help restore them through a transforming relationship with Christ into priceless works that reflect the glory of Jesus.

Will you be a treasure hunter today?

18 Luke - What Are You Holding Onto?

By Richard

I once saw a movie about a Kalahari Bushman catching a baboon. The trap was simple. In plain sight of a baboon he dug a small baboon-hand-sized hole in an ant hill. He dropped some seeds into the hole and withdrew. The inquisitive baboon could not help but put his hand into the hole and grab those seeds. However having grabbed those seeds his rounded fist was too big to pull out through the hole. The baboon simply would not let go and so the Busman was able to casually wander up and tie him up.

In Luke 18: 18-30, The rich official asks Jesus what he needed to do in order to enter eternal life. Jesus said “Keep the Commands”. “I’ve kept them all,” he replies. “Well,” said Jesus, “Let go of the one thing you are holding onto, your wealth!” We find out that the man was very wealthy and unable to let go he sadly left.

The question we must ask is this. What are we holding onto so tightly that it keeps us trapped and unable to follow Jesus? Many of us, like the rich man, are holding onto material things so tightly that like the baboon we’re trapped.

Jesus reminds the crowds that although all are trapped God is able to work a miracle. The miracle is not that he can pull our seed filled hands through a small hole but that he is able to help let go of our tight grasp on life and by so doing experience a full and free life, enjoying the expansive blessings of God.

What are you holding onto today? Will you let go and trusting God experience freedom?