Jesus, the Outlaw!

Monday afternoon, September 8, 2008 [sunny and hot; 89 degrees!],

I can still remember anticipating the response of the listeners. I knew I would have their attention as soon as I announced the title of my sermon: Jesus the Outlaw. I must admit that, although I sincerely believed the message I was about to preach was true, and I sincerely wanted the listeners to hear it and to believe it, I also enjoyed even the thought of irritating the religious people, who were within the sound of my voice—still do, for that matter. As you can imagine, the looks on the faces of the listeners revealed their concern. What man in his right mind, especially a preacher, would accuse Jesus of being an outlaw? I do not know, but I do know this: I had their attention and the religious were irritated!
The truth is I was thoroughly convinced (still am!) that Jesus was an outlaw. The evidence is, simply, overwhelming! There is no getting around the fact that He intentionally violated many of the laws the Jews held sacred. For example, He refused, at least in the minds of the Jews, to keep the Sabbath Day holy; He had the audacity to heal the sick on the Sabbath; He touched the unclean, even lepers; He forgave sinners, even adulterers, and, as if that were not enough, He encouraged others to do the same. There is no wonder the Sanhedrin was out to get this outlaw. He simply did not conform to the cultural norms of the Jewish community. It was obvious that He was a renegade outlaw. He was marching to the beat of a different drummer—a very different drummer. To use these familiar words of Brennan Manning, He lived in wild abandon to His Father, His Abba.
Although the Pharisees made it clear that Messiahs do not break laws concerning the Sabbath, touch lepers, or forgive adulterers, Jesus made it just as clear that this Messiah does WHATEVER He pleases, WHENEVER He pleases, AS LONG AS it pleases His Abba. After all, He is Lord of the Sabbath, Lord of healing, and Lord of forgiveness. In fact, He is Lord—PERIOD! Whatever He does is precisely that in which His Father delights. He always knows which rules are for following and which rules are for breaking. He knew then, and He knows now!
The truth is, Jesus was (and still is) too bizarre for most people. His behavior is too radical. Following Him is too dangerous. Following Him can lead only to what appears to be a premature death. There is no wonder that most of those who were following Him left Him. Who would want to follow a renegade outlaw? Who would want to follow a man who always marched to the beat of a different drummer?
I plead guilty! Won't you join me? It really is more fun than you might believe.

Zucchini Pineapple Cake

Below is the recipe for the delicious cake that Joanne White brought to our Thursday Night Fellowship. Enjoy!





Cake Ingredients

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 tsps soda
2 tsps vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup vegatable oil
3 beaten eggs
1 small can crushed pineapple-drained
1/2 cup coconut
2 cups ground or shredded zucchini
1 cup chopped walnuts



Frosting

1- 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup oleo, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 box powdered sugar



Mix flour, sugar, soda, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla. Add remaining ingredients. Place in 9x13
pan and bake for 45 min. to 1 hr. test with toothpick. Bake at 350 degrees. Cool a little and frost.

For frosting, mix together butter and cheese with mixer, and add vanilla and sugar.

Thursday Night's Fellowship

From what I could see, everyone had a great time last night, and we had a good crowd! I am glad that Travis' cardiologist was not present, as she would probably have fired him as her patient! He only ate three hamburgers, one hot dog, and a HUGE piece of JoAnne White's delicious cake! That is what I saw, anyway. Chris and Paige rode their motorcycle and the rest of us prayed for them! I think everyone was eager to get home in time to hear McCain's speech, so I hurried along with the study of the Revelation. I did notice that Luke Wicker ate his share and then some. Even so, we had burgers leftover! You need to ask JoAnne to give you the recipe for that cake, as it was good; I know because Travis told me. All of you know that I don't eat much! I have included a few pictures for your viewing pleasure (I have some more but I am afraid of including them for fear of being defrocked!).

Finally, Home!

Thursday morning, September 4, 2008 [sunny, beautiful, and 75 degrees],
Although none of us can do much more than imagine what it will be like, I do have an imagination that runs wild when I consider our first day in Heaven. The Bride of Christ will finally be gathered together in perfect unity! All our differences will be settled and we will be in one accord. Only one thing will matter—that Jesus is glorified. There will be people there from all walks of life and from every tribe and nation. It will have finally dawned on us that none of us deserve to be there! What was seen through a glass darkly will be seen through the perfect lens of the eyes of Jesus. What we had not been able to understand will finally make perfect sense. What we once feared, we will then embrace. The One we had all longed to see will reveal Himself to us in such a way that we will all become exactly like Him! There will be no more sorrow, no more tears of remorse, NO PAIN, and no more death. There will be no need for the sun or the moon because the glory of God will illumine the whole city. There will be no darkness there because the Light of the Lamb will always shine. We won’t have to carry keys because the gates to the City will never be closed. There will be no foreigners there, only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of life—the Family of God! It will be home and we will be—home!
If you stop to listen, I really do believe you can hear the instruments beginning to play a new song, a song that the angels cannot sing—Redeemed, How I Love to Proclaim it! There will be cymbals, loud-sounding cymbals, even resounding cymbals! There will be harps and trumpets and guitars and clarinets and saxophones and timbrels and lyres. There will be dancing and dancing and dancing! We will be dancing all over Heaven! The fetters of shame and guilt and poor self-image will all be broken. We will be laughing and singing and dancing and clapping and drinking the strong drink of the Spirit of the Living God! All the stuff that used to control us will no longer be in control! All the baggage that used to inhibit us will no longer do so! We will be free—absolutely FREE! The Lord will take great pleasure in His people and His people will honor Him. We will be rejoicing and praising God. We will be living in wild and total abandon to Jesus!
To tell you the truth, I think it will be a lot like it was supposed to have been before Adam sinned, except better. It will be a love feast to beat all love feasts! We will finally realize what Jesus meant when He said, “Unless you become like little children . . .” Talk about wild abandon! I am sorry that Adam messed things up for himself and for us, but I am certainly thankful that Jesus fixed whatever Adam messed up! The Tree of Life will be along both sides of the River of Life and the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil will not even be there! No temptation! No having to listen to the serpent trying to beguile us. Such joy! Such unspeakable joy! Such peace! An everlasting peace!
LET EVERYTHING THAT HAS BREATH PRAISE THE LORD! LET THE TREES OF THE FIELDS CLAP THEIR HANDS! LET THE CHOSEN FROZEN THAW! LET THE WAVES ROAR AND THE MOUNTAINS BOW DOWN! LET THE REDEEMED OF THE LORD—SAY SO! LET EVERYTHING THAT HAS BREATH (AND EVERYTHING ELSE, FOR THAT MATTER) PRASE THE LORD!

A Holy Silence

Wednesday afternoon, September 3, 2008 [sunny and 83 degrees],

What you are about to read is an excerpt from a "perspective" I wrote on Monday afternoon, May 8, 2000—8 years ago: As you know, God’s timing is perfect. He is always exactly on time—never late, never early—and today proved to be no exception. This morning, just before I celebrated the Eucharist, He directed me to this passage in the book of Habakkuk: "What profit is the idol when its maker has carved it, or an image, a teacher of falsehood? For its maker trusts in his own handiwork when he fashions speechless idols. Woe to him who says to a piece of wood, 'Awake!' To a dumb stone, 'Arise'! And that is your teacher? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all inside it. But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him (Habakkuk 2:18-20). There is no breath (life) in the idol, but the Lord is in His holy temple. Wow! The Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him! I have come to love that silence. There is something about it that really does attract me. I love being alone with Him and listening to Him. I really love hearing what He says to me! Brennan Manning calls it living in reckless abandon to Him. Anyway, I left my office with that passage burning at white heat in my heart; I had no idea what was about to take place. I was simply going to attend the funeral service of the daughter of woman who attends my church. Then it happened—celebration time! Talk about reckless abandon! Inspiring honesty, unbelievable transparency, and contagious enthusiasm were raising the rafters. I found myself clapping and weeping and rejoicing and thinking and praising and regretting, and yes, receiving! What an incredible experience! This was the miracle for me: In the midst of all that was happening, I found myself in that place of utter silence before Him, the place I have come to love. People were all around me, but I found myself abandoned to Him and He reminded me that I am His holy temple. There is life in me—His life! Hallelujah!
Thankfully, that Holy Silence is still attractive to me. I continue to love that Holy Silence, the kind of silence that allows for the hearing of the breath of God, the kind of silence that serves to remind me of the importance and benefit of living in wild abandon to Him. I am, especially, thankful that this Holy Silence can be experienced, even in the midst of the clamor and clutter of life, even unexpectedly. I must admit, however, that nothing compares to those times when I turn the rest of the world off and simply sit before Him—watching, waiting, and listening.
In my opinion, there are two very important pieces of the Christian life that many never appreciate: (1) solitude; and (2) the Eucharist. Let me encourage you to incorporate these into your life; you will be glad you did!

The Holy Eucharist

Tuesday morning, September 21, 2008 [clear skies and 73 degrees!],

The Holy Eucharist, eating the bread and drinking the wine, really has become a true passion that runs deep within my spirit, and this passion has caused me to wonder if our own Protestant tradition hasn’t robbed us of something that is very dear to God’s heart.
In the Old Covenant, the bread of the Passover was a reminder of Israel’s trying to make provision for their physical nourishment as they rushed to leave the slavery of Egypt and find the freedom of Canaan. From that time forth, the bread that was eaten during a Passover meal served to remind the worshipers of their hurried exodus from Egypt. Unfortunately, the generation of Jews who actually left Egypt never saw Canaan. They simply wandered in the wilderness because they never accepted the true significance of the True Bread.
In the New Covenant, the bread of the Eucharist serves, not as a reminder of our physical nourishment, but as a reminder of our ultimate and perfect spiritual nourishment. Jesus made this very clear: And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, he broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19; emphasis mine). The bread of the Eucharist is our reminder of the life that He gave in order to give us life—eternal life. There is no better nourishment; there is no better food than the Bread of life! The words are very clear: Remember Me.
In the Old Covenant, the wine of Passover was a reminder of the blood of the sacrificial lamb that was sprinkled on the door posts of the houses of each Jewish family just prior to their exodus from Egypt. It was the blood that would protect their firstborn from the hand of the death angel, whose divine mission was to strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt. Although the blood of those sacrificial lambs did serve to protect Israel’s firstborn from that death angel, it did not protect them from death. It could not because the blood of bulls and goats cannot take sins away.
In the New Covenant, the wine of the Eucharist has NOTHING to do with the blood of bulls and goats—animal sacrifices. The wine of the Eucharist is our reminder that Jesus, the sacrificial Lamb of God, shed His blood in order to take our sins away, in order to make us perfect in conscience, in order that we might enjoy intimacy with the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The wine we drink at this supper is our reminder that God DID strike Jesus’ life, that God DID kill His firstborn Son, in order that we might truly be free!
Could it be that this supper is much more powerful than we have ever believed? Could it be that this supper brings us into a level of intimacy with God that we would otherwise never experience? Could it be that this supper nourishes us far more than all the songs we sing and all the sermons we hear? Could it be that this supper is a genuine expression of the Word of God who became flesh and dwelt among us? Could it be that the fellowship that is shared with Him during this supper is the most precious fellowship we will experience this side of Heaven? Could it be that, in our search to find intimacy with God, we have overlooked the key?
MY PERSPECTIVE: Unless we eat His flesh and drink His blood we will not have His life in us. Actually, that is His perspective!

Yesterday's Sermon

Several of you asked for a copy of yesterday's sermon. You can watch a video of it by clicking on the link under "Mac's Sermons" entitled, "A Fine China Cup and A Coffee Mug."
Blessings,
Mac