Obama

I REALLY like this guy...

He seems to be really legit in his faith, not just in his prayers, but in the majority of what he talks about and proposes. We could use a President with the sort of humility, honesty and integrity that he seems to have. 

I'll bet this just drives the right wing nuts. 

(Obama's prayer that he stuck in The Wailing Wall)

(Lord, protect my family and me. Forgive me my sins, and help me guard against pride and despair. Give me the wisdom to do what is right and just. And make me an instrument of your will.)

shalom, matt 

Why Jesus Came, part 3

The Caller

I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. __Luke 5:32__

Okay, I’m a little biased towards this reason. I think this seems to encompass all other reasons that Jesus gives for his Advent. I’m biased because this needs to be the Church’s mission: to be a “doctor” for the “sick.” Too often our message of repentance, i.e., God’s ways and rhythms for a fully human life, is nothing for than hate-filled posturing and politicized messages that further widen the gap between the healing salve of the Church and the gaping wounds of the world. Jesus understood (duh!) that his mission was for those who needed it because they had no other recourse. Too may churches (and I can speak from personal experience here) spend an inordinate amount of time reaching out to the affluent who have little felt need for Jesus. They have all that they need in life; there is no room for Jesus. Or, perhaps even worse, Jesus is simply an accessory, a fad, a part of their life portfolio, something to be cast aside when He becomes offensive or troublesome (as He inevitably does). The Gospel finds its greatest acceptance among the marginalized, cast-out and cast-down of society. They have a felt need; they have no other recourse. Jesus knew where his message and his life would have the greatest reception. He is very much the Savior of the World, but in a very real way he is the Messiah of the outcast, the spiritually sick. 

Jesus came to call the worst of us to a better way. 

shalom, matt

Mi Familia

I don't blog much about my family, nor post pics of them. This is not intentionally, simply an oversight on the part of my editorial staff (me). So I thought I would take a moment and post a few pics and random thoughts about them. 

This is my son, Elijah. He is five. He took this pictures on our Mac using Photo Booth. By himself. Without any help. Did I mention he is five? He is what we call technilogically savvy. As you can see he is a hundred different kinds of awesome. He has mastered the art of entertaining himself. He is like me in so many ways. This is good. This is also bad. He is also a little like his mother. This is very good. We're hoping her good genes will beat the crap out of my bad genes and he will turn out okay down the road. And by "okay" I mean more like her than like me. He looks like me too, which is unfortunate for his future dating career. I love him. 

This is my wife, Beth. We've been married almost 10 years (August 8th, baby!). She is what we call "hot." She is also way out of my league. Always has been, always will be. She is a gift from God, tangible evidence of God's grace upon the ignorant and not-very-attractive (me). There is no one like her. I don't deserve her. There is no one more like Jesus that I know on this earth. She is gracious, loving, giving, serving and sacrificial--and insanely patient with me. I love her more than life itself. 

And, finally, there is me. I'm almost 32. I have a unibrow. My goatee is kind of awesome. I love my family. I lean heavily on grace. I try to be like Jesus and sometimes succeed, but most of the time I have to fall back on that grace-thing. I wish I knew what God was doing with me, but, then again, don't we all. 

Why Jesus Came, part 2

The Light

I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. __John 12:46__

The rabbis and sages taught that the Bible could be boiled down to the idea that light overcomes darkness. From the moment of creation, when God himself separates light from darkness and calls the light good (but not the darkness), light has fought an ongoing war with darkness. Jesus not only came as a light but as the Light. There is no such thing in existence as true darkness; darkness, no matter how deep and black, is simply the absence of light. Jesus’ way of living, his way of being fully human, is the light that chases away the darkness found in all other ways of living. All other ways of living are darkness, though they may be varying shades of murkiness, and even, at times, contain reflections of the Light, they are all of them darkness nonetheless. 

Jesus came as life-light into our life-darkness. 

shalom, matt

Why Jesus Came, part 1

The Fulfiller

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. __Matthew 5:17__

In Jewish thinking to abolish a law was not about getting rid of a particular law, negating its validity, as we tend to read the word “abolish.” Abolish, in the sense that Jesus is using it, as a first century rabbi, means to interpret or live something wrongly. So, in the context that Jesus uses it here he is saying, “I didn’t come to interpret or live the Torah wrongly.” On the flip side, “fulfill” meant to live or interpret a law correctly. Again, in our present context, Jesus says, “I came to live fully and completely the Torah, the words of God, the will of God for humanity.” Essentially, Jesus’ fulfillment of the Torah is showing us that God’s way of living has existed forever and that watching him, following him, shows us the way to live in God’s rhythm. 

Jesus came to show us how to live fully the Way of God.

Why Jesus Came--In His Own Words (with additional commentary from an ever-dulling mind)

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us...

How many times have you heard a message on why Jesus came to earth? How many of those messages said that Jesus came to die for our sins? I think I’m approaching around 10 million times hearing that message in some form. Not that I’m not okay with that message, mind you, it does seem to be the crux of the whole thing. But here’s the thing: that doesn’t seem to be the only reason that Jesus came. And I’m not sure, heretic that I am, that it was the main reason that He came (though I could be wrong, and probably am). I kind of randomly and not very scientifically dug around on Biblegateway (the lazy man’s Bible) in search of how many different occasions Jesus tells someone why he came to earth. What I would like to do with this is spend some time just sharing my thoughts on Jesus’ own words about his coming into the world. 

My initial impressions stem from what can only be described as a kaleidoscopic collection of reasons for the Incarnation from the mouth of the Incarnated One himself. In our human tendency to pigeon hole Jesus and narrow him down to a few trite statements and quirky platitudes we seem to have underestimated (or maybe I’ve just underestimated) the vast scope and breadth of his mission. It seems like he didn’t just come to die. No, it was much bigger than dying. It was about living. Of course, in the paradox that is the Kingdom, there is no life without a death, no resurrection without a crucifixion. It is his death that makes life possible.

What I’m hoping to discover here is a wider understanding of Jesus’ mission. And, in discovering Jesus’ mission we find our own. Consequently (here comes a smack-your-head-and-say-”Duh!” moment), if we have a wider understanding of Jesus’ mission then our mission should grow wider as well. 

So, look for forthcoming posts on why Jesus "moved into the neighborhood."

shalom, matt

For Anyone Who Cares...

I apologize for the sheer laziness of this blog recently. I've been feeling wholly uncreative. I've started a million articles but they seem to fade toward the end and I can't make myself post something that is crap. I haven't forgotten about you, my faithful reader (that's in the singular by the way). I'll be posting some stuff here shortly. Check back once a week or so and you might get the shock of me actually posting something. 

shalom, matt