Jacob’s Ladder’ is a weekly Sunday Blog post that shares
the work of a text in preparation; blog history is at dreliatjacobsladder.blogpost.com
This is a Fellowship of the
Spirit. It is not a church construct; it involves neither mission, fund
raising, nor religious participation. God desires our participation in all of
life, and not via misleading ‘gospel’ notions proposed by corporate and cultural
sources. Jacob’s Ladder pursues Christian growth as human growth. It works to
complete social holiness by fulfilling personal holiness in our lives. As God
wills community for all, Jacob’s Ladder forges ahead!
Dearly beloved,
The framework I shared last week is simple, clear and very
directed. The methodology for scripture sharing on the life of
Jesus per the church ‘calendar’ has been Christmas in December, Easter a few
months later….and what happens to all of the teachings of Jesus – the
really critical stuff he shared? Some of it gets squeezed into this short
period; the rest of it gets scattered throughout the ‘Christian calendar’ year
– over Eastertide, Pentecost, Kingdomtide, Advent, Lent; each with a number of
Sundays. Does this help to build strong Bible based Christian growth? Yes, in a
kind of trial and error, hit or miss shot at it. Very selective. Very scattered. Never mind
the technical terms. I grew increasingly uncomfortable with this many years
ago. Too tangential. But Jacob’s Ladder, beginning with John 14 and the key statement Jesus
makes in saying “ I am the vine, you are the branches….stay connected…be
fruitful..” is going for something much more
hard hitting, effective and to the point of what the Christian walk is all
about, beyond Christianity even.This is
what my Christian walk has led me into and what I am led to share.
Remember the progression mentioned last week. Seek the
Kingdom – the kingdom is within you – it is the pearl of great price – do not
cast pearls before swine – but treat others as you would be treated.
Look at each and recognize the dimension of holiness it refers to – personal holiness in
the first 3, social holiness in the next 2. Historical Christian form, with its
strings and things and academic concepts and religiosity, and its rules,
regulations, and rituals, has not paid enough attention to the dynamics of the
spirituality Jesus teaches. It got sidetracked into a religious sociology of sorts.
Result? Lots of talk, very little powerful living. And a slow and gradual loss
of the high and powerful truth and moral ability that Jesus calls us into. Current
context? We are surrounded by
manipulative and exploitive behaviors, mostly political, and seem easily
accepting of them. We may grumble a lot
but we seem to lack both individual and group strength and capability to face perpetrators
and say no, this is wrong. And we cannot fix it by throwing stones. So? We must
go back to the basics of what it means to be Christian and get that right. From
years of involvement and observation, I don’t see that we have done so
effectively. The interpretation of what the Bible says has been academic for
far too long. Only when we get beyond it will we have the power to go forth and
call out evil, sort it out, and even fix it. God calls us to this. But it has
always been talked about.
Let’s get to it. The ‘seek ye first’ passage in Matt 7 is preceded
by 3 statements that we will soon come to. Two are clearly related and speak
about ‘gathering up treasure in heaven’ and not on earth; and that we must
choose between serving God or wealth. The 3rd is spliced in-between
– remember these are random collections over time, but it is that beauty that
speaks of the eye as the lamp of the body; and if the eye is full of light,
then you end up with a body full of light. A light body? Jesus’ words are
almost always cryptic, and have been so oversimplified for so long, so that
action has become talk. And we have been satisfied with this talk, so we end up
being talkers, and no more than that. We can get very enthusiastic and call the
talk ‘uplifting’ even. But beyond the emotional wherewithal, what do we have to
show for it?
Much of preaching and teaching has been so selective for so
long. And this isn’t? Oh yes it is, but quite differently so; and quite rightly
so! Jacob’s Ladder sets a very clear ‘the Kingdom is here, the Kingdom is now,
experience the power of the Kingdom in your life now’; hence it insists that
‘salvation’ is ‘deliverance’ now, as versus some pie in the sky when you
die. Those who walk the journey I walk
will see this for yourself as we proceed. The others, well, many are called,
but few are chosen, and the few are the ones who choose well.
In this section in Matt 7 Jesus says 3 times ‘do not be
anxious.’ Let us start there. Jesus is not talking about being irresponsible.
We must each take care of our health – mental, physical, emotional; it is sad
that our education systems are academic and fail to teach key essentials like good nutrition! Result? Stupidity and
obesity seem common in many places and folk are not born fat, and if given
proper guidance, can always learn and keep learning. If our children don’t know any better, it’s
because they have not been taught any better! They must know how to choose
well.
But in Jesus saying look at the birds, and look at the
flowers, he is saying that God has set good order in nature, and it is well
taken care of and is beautiful. Human society lacks good order, for its free-willed
leaders continue to choose poorly, and its people often choose their leaders
poorly; and so it ends up being exploitive, manipulative etc. Doesn’t have to
be that way. But we are born into this world, with its good, its bad and its
ugliness. We must survive and go beyond that.
God takes care of nature, God will take care of you. Seek
first the kingdom and its righteousness. What is this righteousness? It is the
righteousness of Trust. Or the righteousness of faith, if you will. That’s it.
Simple. Why? Because trust = confidence. Dependability, proven, time after
time. And takes away anxiety. Never mind the psych spiel about flight or fight
and how anxiety works. It is God’s offer of a relationship in grace. Medical Doctors
have specialized knowledge, indeed. Up to a point, Beyond that it's guesswork.
And Jesus is being much more radical. He is saying do not theorize about
anxiety and take this or that for it. For some its alcohol. For others its Rx
stuff. Those in the church might settle for the old ‘when I fall on my knees
with my face to the rising sun, Oh Lord, have mercy on me’. But Jesus says it
is of the spirit – your spirit that links to God’s spirit! Nothing else matters
because it works itself out. So you must apply yourself to your faith, be it as
small as a mustard seed, for it will be enough. How come? That is only part of
the challenge before us!
Remember that neat verse in Isaiah that says ‘thou wilt keep
him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee.’ And what does ‘mind’ mean there?
The prophets have always been cryptic. But this = mind, spirit, emotion,
perspective – all of it! It is to be focused on the Spirit in your life. So
Jesus says ‘my peace I give to you – not as the world gives’ Let not your
hearts be troubled.’ This is God’s lovingkindness in our lives. Steadfast grace,
always there.
The offer is God’s. The choice is ours. Not made in an
arbitrary vacuum, nor in a high stress no-choice situation! But simply in the
business of everyday stuff. To learn how to trust, to depend, to rely on God’s
supportive presence in everyday need. It requires that we always give of our very best, and when it is insufficient, God will balance it out. And
there is a key in our consciousness. I said something last week about going
through the prayers you make into the realm of the spirit and the spiritual. The
same applies to going beyond the comfort of ritual, regulation and repetition.
Much of what we call spiritual is really social.
But ask the Lord to lead you, even as you sleep. And make
your prayer of what concerns you before you sleep. Then ask your spirit to seek
and work with the Holy Spirit. That will come back into your mind. Or as I said, you will wander the mind of Christ and discover what to do and how to do it to
fix the stuff before you. It will work, and you go on to the next challenge.
The Christian life is not meant to be one that seeks material comfort, but one of personal
challenge. The challenge begins with you, the individual self and persona, and
then grows into the relational space around you. This is the beginning of what
we are seeking to do. Maturity in Christ is not a catchphrase. It is powerful. May
the Lord bless you richly as you seek to follow in all that He wishes to lay
before us! In Jesus’ name, G.
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