Weekly Thoughts

7/7/07 – Humility of the Father and Jesus

Hi all,

I will be traveling next week so will be taking a break, then back on the 21st.

I've been thinking the past many weeks, and struck by, the humility of the Father and Jesus.

I know that Jesus was born in a manger, and I know he became Man so he could die for mankind, (as if that isn't an act of humility enough), but I mean now, as exalted Son of God seated in authority, the Father and Jesus remain the most humble beings in the universe.

Consider that the Father - the Source of all things - says "come boldly to the throne that (we) may receive mercy and grace to help in time of need."

You can't even get in to see the senior pastor without running through a gauntlet of underlings, yet we can go boldly to the throne of the Father God. Yes we are his children, yes Jesus' blood bought that 'right', yet still, how amazing that the Father allows himself to be approached by we humans!

By contrast I see many churches becoming more ornate, more luxurious, and more geared towards catering to the flesh. In the same way gothic cathedrals were the most luxurious and opulent edifices of their day so too are many of the traditional church's houses of worship.

In man's thinking, building a house of God means it should be the most wonderfully beautiful building the budget will allow, after all, God's kids and God are going to go to church there. Right?

I remember the Indiana Jones movie where Indy searched for the Holy Grail - upon reaching a secret chamber he (and the main villain) found many cups of varying degrees of beauty and ornamentation. Do you remember that the villain went for the most beautiful and ornate cup of all, only to discover he had not chosen wisely. Indiana Jones understood that Christ, being so humble and meek, would have used a very plain and common cup, which was the correct one (at least in the movie).

The point is, Hollywood got something right as it pertained to the basic humility of Jesus. Why then does religious man think that to make a building or other object fit for God's use, it has to be the highest and best of it's kind?

One of my favorite classes to teach is the pastoral epistles, especially part of II Timothy 2, where Paul advises Timothy to train like an athlete, work like a farmer, and have the mentality of a soldier. When the Roman Empire began falling apart, a Roman man did a study of what made the original Roman army the best of it's day. He found out that the best soldiers were those who had the roughest life - farmers, fighters, and men who had rough backgrounds and so forth made the best soldiers. Why? Because they were used to hardships, working out in the elements, and would push on until the job was done.

I have told my classes that the devil makes you think because of your background you can't be of any use to God. You think because of your past sins and rough background you are disqualified from a future with the Lord. Yet the exact opposite is true. That rough background makes you the best soldier! The Lord seeks the common person with sin in their background because that qualifies them to relate to others and lead others out of their own sins and hardships. The very thing you think disqualifies you, in fact qualifies you by God's standards, because he is looking for humble, been through the rough part of life people!

The reality is that Jesus hasn't changed - he is still meek and lowly of heart - he was Common Man. He was born in a manger, was trained and employed as a carpenter, camped around Israel for 3 1/2 years with former fisherman, a money changer, a terrorist (Zealot), and so forth. He had no home and lived off the contributions of those he had helped.

He turned water into wine while a guest at a wedding. He stayed in the home of Peter's mother-in-law. He ate meals with Simon a leper and Zaccheus a crooked businessman. His feet were washed/anointed in the home of a friend, and he allowed interruptions to whatever he was doing. In fact, most of Jesus' miracles were interruptions to whatever he was doing. 

The disciples followed in his footsteps; Pentecost was in a home, Peter stayed with Simon the Tanner, then Cornelius came for him and he stayed there. Paul stayed with Lydia in Philippi, Crispus and Justus in Corinth, Tyrannus in Ephesus, and so forth. Not a Hilton or Sheraton or even an "Inn" mentioned.

Jesus is the same today, yesterday, and forever. For years I've asked people who have seen or felt the presence of Jesus in a service if they ever known him to interrupt the service to draw attention to himself, or redirect the way the service is going - the answer is always no.

When Jesus said that he is meek and lowly of heart, and we should learn of him, he was opening his heart to reveal what he is really like - meek and lowly. He hasn't changed and we are still asked to learn of him, and partake of his lowliness and meekness.

One day over lunch a pastor confided a big disappointment he was struggling with. He had talked to a man about coming to minister in his church of 200 people, and the man said he would be happy to come. An official letter of invitation was sent and a date reserved. Along with the confirmation letter from the man scheduled to speak was a 5 page list of requirements for his stay. This list included chilled Evian water in his room (no Aquafina or Dasani please), a Jacuzzi in room, and on it went for 5 pages.

The pastor was heartbroken, the closest hotel of that quality was 200 miles away and way out of his budget. His favorite speaker had just fallen off his throne, no longer the man of God to be looked up to.

I believe there is a reason Jesus and Peter and Paul stayed in homes - it wasn't the culture, poverty, or the times they lived in. The fact is that Jesus is approachable, meek, lowly, humble, and eager to be around people, and so were they. Because Jesus is the image of the Father God, we can see the Father is similarly humble and approachable.

I just have a big disconnect between religious man's idea of what Jesus likes and what the reality is. Jesus was fine living his life among the average person, and he is that way today.

The evening the Lord appeared to me and told me to start our house church and house church network, I was about to minister in a church located in a bad part of town. It was November of 2001 in Edmonton, Alberta. The congregation consisted of former wino's, ex-cons, street people, addicts, prostitutes, and so forth. During the worship Jesus suddenly appeared about 6-7 steps from me. As he walked towards me he said; "I love these kinds of people".

Though the pastor next to me fell flat on his face, out under the power of God, and my strength left me as I fell to my knees, the Presence of Jesus was like that of a best friend. His power was almost like he couldn't help it, he was just God and God has power so you're going to feel his power when he is around. But his manner and body language and way in which he spoke communicated that of a relaxed, approachable friend.

That comment; I love these kinds of people, has stayed with me to this day. I understood he loves those  kinds of people because they have no facade, no haughtiness, no pretense. They are what they seem to be; open hearts like an open book with nothing yet written on the pages, just waiting for the Lord to write His story in their lives. 

When you look at the gospels you can see this all makes sense. Who did Jesus respond to? Little children was one group. In another place he asked which person was justified: A religious person who mouthed a positive confession about all they had done for God, or the sinner who stayed far off beating his chest in repentance? Throughout the gospels Jesus was accessible to those who came to him with a sincere and humble heart - he relates to humility because he is humble, meek, lowly of heart.

In another place Zaccheus repented and promised to repay with interest those he had stolen from, and to the woman washing his feet with her hair, he had mercy as well.

Jesus is the same humble, meek, and lowly Person he was in Matthew 11 when he made that observation of himself. Yes he is the exalted and victorious Lord, but the person of who he is has never changed.

He is comfortable in a modern day "cathedral" or at a backyard BBQ, but from what I can tell from the gospels and also knowing him 31+ years, I think he prefers the BBQ, because that's where people are - humble, open, sharing what is happening in life with each other - that's where Jesus wants to be, right in the middle of where life is happening.

 

Some thoughts,
John Fenn
www.ifaithhome.org