What Planet Did You Come From?

Pulling into the parking spot at our favorite Chinese restaurant, we were taken aback by our son's sudden incredulous exclamation. We had been there many times. It was all so familiar to us. But our young son who was becoming an excellent reader had noticed the signs for the first time. There in front of our parked car was a sign that read, "Parking for Human Customers Only."

Well, at least that's what he thought it said. Neighboring businesses were conscious of the limited parking available and had taken steps to ensure that their own customers were not inconvenienced by someone else's. Hunan looked an awful lot like human to a speed-reading 1st grader.

Personally I've wondered at times if there are any normal people out there. Wouldn't it be nice if our church parking lot was filled with cars delivering perfect families to our front doors every Sunday. Maybe we should reserve our parking spaces for regular, ordinary, normal people only. Wouldn't life be so much easier for Pastor's and church leaders. Finding qualified staff members and volunteers who can get along with people and don't carry loads of excess baggage, would be so much easier. There would be waiting lists for jobs like mowing the lawn, cleaning the church and teaching a Sunday School class. The little conversations with God that we sometimes have before we answer the phone would end. You know, the ones where we say, "Oh Lord, what now?".

Herein lies the problem. We're all human customers! That's why we need God. Job once complained that the people in his own house "look upon me as an alien" (19:15). Perhaps we are the strangest of all God's creatures, yet we are the only ones he died for.

Was the Eunuch's Experience that Unique?

Think about the life this man had lived. Although a measure of success had come his way, it was not without costs. Something had caused him to become disillusioned with the religion(s) of his homeland.

It is unlikely that he had chosen the life of a eunuch. He may have been picked from among slaves to serve in the palace and forced to undergo the cruel procedure. Eunuchs, however, were not always the victims of some cruel monarchs desire to protect his harem from harm. In many cultures parents mutilated their own children in hopes that they would someday be chosen to serve in the temple of their favorite god. If the young man didn’t end up with a job at the temple, a position in the palace wouldn’t be all that bad either, they may have reasoned. However it happened, there is a strong possibility that he was denied a voice in the decision.

Think of the anger that must have boiled beneath the surface of his prim and proper palace etiquette. If in fact his parents had done this to him the term dysfunctional family wouldn’t even begin to describe the warped relationships and bitter memories that haunted him now. Treated like an animal he had somehow summoned the strength to make the best of his circumstances. Perhaps it was his own way of getting back at those who had deprived him of so much.

Eventually his drive to prove his own worth began to meet with some success. His attention to detail didn’t go unnoticed. When he became the queen’s treasurer most thought he had finally made it to the top. There was no higher position for a eunuch in the entire kingdom. Great authority commensurate with the level of trust he had now earned was given him. Yet all the promotions that had come his way were not enough to destroy the demons of his past. Now, for the first time, there was really nothing else left to do.

Palace life gave him a behind the scenes knowledge of the evil that went unchecked at the pinnacles of pagan power. The ever increasing pantheon of gods had brought confusion and led to moral morass. This clutter of gods, goddesses and mindless rituals had degenerated into religion that almost nobody took seriously anymore. The Jews actually believed in their God. Their religion with its worship of a singular God somehow appealed to him. Their strong message of adherence to a set of moral laws that didn't change with every wind that blew through the ancient world was a fresh breath of air to him. A belief system that didn't tolerate injustice and that offered compassion for victims. It all sounded too good to be true. He had noticed their faithfulness to spouses, strong families and respect for elders.

Years ago he had been impressed by the increasing success of Jews that lived in his homeland. In spite of their new found wealth, they often remained more scrupulous in business than their neighbors. Reading everything he could get his hands on, and listening to the stories of travelers he encountered, the eunuch developed a great admiration for these strange people of the east.

He had to know more. He would go worship their God for himself. What he didn't anticipate was the deep prejudice and pride that had crept into the once pure religion. What he found must have come as a great shock to someone of his position. Not only was he shut out from temple worship, but no one could answer the questions that he had brought. The greatest Hebrew scholars of the day resided in Jerusalem. Surely, he had thought, these men would be able to explain the difficult writings of their own prophets. They were quick to point out the prohibition against allowing a eunuch into the congregation of God.

No one who has been emasculated by crushing or cutting may enter the assembly of the LORD. (Deu 23:1 NIV)

To them a man like him was just not worth the time of day. He was a stranger and unlike them in so many ways. Even his skin color was different. If that wasn't enough, he was from a heathen queen's court and everyone knew the kind of things that went on in places like that. A man who would never be married and could not have children was obviously cursed by God. They wondered what sin he had committed. On top of all those layers that kept them from seeing a sincere heart, there were the expensive garments and the confident air of authority that he wore like a cloak. What they didn't know is that buried beneath all that so repulsed them was a hurting soul that was crying out.

Disappointed and feeling rejected he climbed into his carriage and began the long trip home. Still pondering the stark differences in what he had read and in what he had found he picked up the scroll of Isaiah. His eyes quickly found the passage that had so captivated him before.

“He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected of men…"

This sounded so familiar. It almost matched his own experience. He could identify.

"…a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him. He was despised, and we did not esteem Him."

"…we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted."

If his interest had not already been arrested what he read next must have really got him. The words practically leapt of the scroll at him.

"He was wounded…"

"He was bruised…"

Reading further he found this:

"He was oppressed and He was afflicted,

Yet He opened not His mouth;"

The eunuch thinks to himself, “Isaiah must have known someone like me.” “Could it be that the prophet himself was a eunuch?” he thought.

Meanwhile a young evangelist by the name of Philip is approaching the intersection up ahead. Philips day had started with a jolt as he was awakened by the angel of the lord. “At noon today I want you to walk over to that desolate road that goes from Jerusalem down to Gaze”, the angel had said.

The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture:

"He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,

and as a lamb before the shearer is silent,

so he did not open his mouth.

In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.

Who can speak of his descendants?

For his life was taken from the earth."

(Act 8:32-33 NIV)

At that very moment he was startled by the voice of a man running alongside his chariot. “Do you understand what your reading?”, Philip asked. “How can I unless some man guides me?” the eunuch responded as he invited Philip to join him in the carriage.

The eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?" (Act 8:34 NIV)

The experts at Jerusalem believed this was speaking of the nation of Israel as a whole. Somehow the Ethiopian just couldn’t accept that. It all seemed to personal and specific. What would this stranger say?

Philip began right there in Isaiah chapter 53 and preached Jesus. I can almost see the tears making trails down the eunuch’s dusty face. His thoughts may have went something like this:

He was wounded – I have been wounded

He was crushed – I have been crushed

He was humiliated – I have been humiliated

Who can speak of his descendants? – I will never have children

But He was guilty of nothing. No violence was in Him. He never retaliated. Never once did He spew out words of bitterness over his treatment. He took all of this willingly. And He did it for me.

I have harbored hatred. I have nursed my wounds in self pity. Yet He accepted the weight of my sin and bore its penalty without speaking a word. I suffered for no one. He suffered for me. It is my fault.

Philip didn’t pressure the man to accept his own beliefs. He simply preached Jesus to a heart that had been carefully prepared by the Holy Spirit. The Eunuch was ready and receptive. Jesus was the savior he had been looking for all of his life. Why wait any longer? “Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized?” he said. Then ordering his driver to stop the carriage he was baptized.

Was the Eunuchs experience really that unique? What about you? Can you identify with the Lamb of Calvary? He is no less interested in being your savior as well.

Going on his way rejoicing he no doubt devoured the rest of the book of Isaiah. Only a few verses later he surely must have read the following:

Let no foreigner who has bound himself to the LORD say,
"The LORD will surely exclude me from his people."
And let not any eunuch complain,
"I am only a dry tree."
For this is what the LORD says:
"To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
who choose what pleases me
and hold fast to my covenant-
to them I will give within my temple and its walls
a memorial and a name
better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
that will not be cut off.
And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD
to serve him,
to love the name of the LORD,
and to worship him,
all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it
and who hold fast to my covenant-
these I will bring to my holy mountain
and give them joy in my house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house will be called
a house of prayer for all nations."

(Isa 56:3-7 NIV)

Action!

Reading the story of Jesus can be almost breathtaking. It is shocking. Like the disciples watching Jesus ascend upon a cloud, we are left staring upward with slack jaws. God among us! It's almost to much to believe.

In his introduction to the book of Acts for The Message Bible, Eugene Peterson points out an inherent danger. The possibility that we will be "...impressed - but only impressed." We run the risk of just becoming fans of Jesus. Peterson suggests, "we could easily becom enthusiastic spectators, and then let it go at that -- become admirers of Jesus, genourous with our oohs and ahs..."

Mathew, Mark and John left of telling the story after the ascension of Jesus. But, Luke doesn't stop. Luke set out to make sure we didn't just become Jesus fans.

Jesus continued to function and fulfil his mission through disciples in the next generation. And he continued in thier children and in thier children's children. In every generation since there have been those who allowed Him to live in them.

The New Testament believers understood that Christ lived in them. They preached the gospel of Jesus Christ everywhere they went. Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me." (Gal 2:20)

To quote Peterson again, "It is Lukes task to prevent...us from becoming mere spectators of Jesus." He doesn't end the story of Jesus at the ascencion because the story isn't over.

Do you know what it is to let Him live in you? Let me go a step further and speak to someone else that may be reading. Are you content with being a mere container? Satisfied with knowing that He dwells in you but not getting in on the action. Let God act in you!

Kite Tales

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon with beautiful weather. On the drive home from our lunch in Paragould, Blake reminded me that I had promised to fly a kite with him. We stopped at Dollar General and bought a $3 kite.

The wind was very cooperative and launching the kite was so easy. We simply held it up, released it, and started giving it slack with the string. There was no need to run. We didn't even have to wait for a gust of wind.

The next hour was spent having some of the best fun a father and son can have. Blake immediately took over and before long was maneuvering the kite like a pro. Our fun came to an end when Blake noticed the dark gathering clouds of a thunderstorm. As he hurried to get the kite down Blake let me know that he had no desire to repeat Benjamin Franklin's experiment.

The storm blew through and our Sunday evening service started at 6 pm. From the first chorus we were met with an incredible move of God. Worship gushed from the hearts our people. It seemed that the wind of God swept into our building and caught the sails of our lives. Lifting and encouraging us to new heights, we were blown away by the presence our Lord. He was the wind beneath our wings.

Now let me be clear. It doesn't always happen like that here at New Life. It was as if we had lifted the kite and immediately felt the tug of the Spirit. Instantly caught by the wind our worship led us upward. Like John, who was caught up into higher levels of heavenly glory, we felt as if we were witnesses of something very special. Forty-five minutes later, after the service had turned to a powerful time of prayer, we went home. I simply dismissed our people telling them that we shouldn't do anything to diminish the memory of what we had been privileged to enjoy. It just didn't seem appropriate to do anything that might clutter the experience.

We spent a few minutes visiting with one another and walked toward the parking lot where another surprise awaited me. Blake had relaunched his kite and was sailing it over the church and all of our parked cars.

My thoughts once again turned to the kite. How did it achieve such balance and stability. It just had the feel. Perhaps the long tail had something to do with its success. The tail creates drag. It provides resistance. Without the tail a delta, triangle shaped, kite would sway and veer from side to side going into dives from which even the most skilled person could never recover. It needs the tug of the tail to right it when it gets locked into a dive.

Sometimes the things that seem to hold us back and create drag on our lives, are the very things that God has designed to keep us pointed in the right direction. When the kite starts to go into a dive, we realize that no amount of tension on the string can right the course. Everything within us screams, "PULL!" Yet it is beyond our ability to maintain the loft. That's when we loosen our grip just a little bit and allow some slack in the string so the wind can do its job. And the very thing that we thought was holding us back from climbing, that drag on our kite keeps our orientation upward.

I wonder if Paul's "thorn in the flesh" was not God's way of providing balance to that giant of a man. He was always "pressing toward the mark". The drag, that he wished to get relief from, kept him pointed in the right direction. When his flesh was weak, he found that letting go of what he could not do was like giving slack to the wind of the Spirit. Surrendering to the will of God, he soared higher than anyone could have dreamed.

Do the tension in life sometimes leave you feeling exhausted and weary? Aesop said, “If you keep a bow always bent, it will break eventually; but if you let it go slack, it will be more fit for use when you want it.” If you are frustrating yourself, never content with your performance, maybe you need to learn how to release and give God enough slack to right your attitude.

My soul, wait silently for God alone,
For my expectation is from Him.
- Psalm 62:5 NKJV

Sail on, my friends, sail on.

After Easter

Easter was not an end but a beginning. The tomb was not a trap but a tunnel.

The disciples were not immediately filled with knowledge of all the implications of His resurrection. They were in shock and awe. It was (for the time being) enough to know that He was alive.

In those days a mere appearance was cause for extreme excitement. The questions would be asked and answered as the disciples confronted the meaning of these events. Eventually the Lord’s instructions would place them on a trajectory to become world-changers.

In Luke 24 we find Christ bringing them up to speed and setting their course.

1. He explained the Old Testament prophecies concerning Himself. (v.44)
2. He opened their understanding of the scriptures. (v45)
3. He revealed the proper response to His passion. (v47)
4. He showed the responsibility that this knowledge placed on them. (v48)
5. He gave them the order (tarry… until ye be endued with power) (v49)
6. He promised them the power needed to fulfill the task. (v49)
7. His words gave them cause to “worship Him” with “great joy, and to be “continually in the temple, praising and blessing God.” (v52-53)

Alexander the Great, none of the Caesars, no one would impact the world like these men whose only claim to fame would be that they had been with Jesus.

Now that Easter is over, which of Jesus’ words speak to you. Can you find where you are in the outline above?