daily java

Daily Java:

On the way, Jesus told them, “Tonight all of you will desert me. For the Scriptures say,
   ‘God will strike the Shepherd,
        and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
But after I have been raised from the dead, I will go ahead of you to Galilee and meet you there.” Peter declared, “Even if everyone else deserts you, I will never desert you.” Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, Peter—this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me.” “No!” Peter insisted. “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you!” And all the other disciples vowed the same. (Matthew 26:32-35)

Peter was telling the truth. He was ready to die for Jesus. And would do so at that very moment or later or whenever Jesus asked him to.

The problem was, Jesus didn’t ask him to die for him. He asked him to live for him. There is a pile of difference between the two. Dying for Jesus requires a moment’s massive sacrifice, a one-time thing. Living requires a long-term commitment. And that is hard.

It also hurt Peter that Jesus would question his manhood, his commitment, his courage, his very loyalty by saying that he would run away. And Jesus knew this. It surely didn’t take divine knowledge to know it. Peter loved Jesus and would do anything he asked. He viewed himself as strong and courageous, firm to the end, he and Jesus standing side by side fighting for the Kingdom of God.

But these moments, or the ones coming soon, were why Jesus had come in the first place. He had come to sacrifice himself, to die, to be nailed to that cross. And he knew why Peter was so upset.

He didn’t even try to convince Peter any further. He knew that it would do no good and would just precipitate an argument. He just turned and led his disciples to the Mount of Olives for the final earthly act of his life. Peter would find out soon enough, and it would shake him to his very core. It would destroy all the bravado, all the self-image the strong man had built up through the years. He would find out that when it came down to it, he would run. And it was not because he was so stupid, or goofy, or yellow. He ran because he didn’t know what else to do. He was baffled.

The fight came just like he thought. He drew his sword and lopped off the ear of one of the attackers. Jesus looked at him and said, “Stop it. Those who live by the sword shall die by the sword.” Then he picked up the ear and put it back on the man.

It took all the wind out of Peter’s sails. He stood, stupefied, and looked around. Then he dropped his sword and ran, just like everyone else. Chances are they all were ready to fight. But Jesus didn’t want them to die. He wanted them to live to bring his gospel to the world.

Peter was the one who gave the first recorded gospel sermon in Acts 2. Peter was the one who opened the door for non-Jews to come into the Kingdom when he went and saw Cornelius in Acts 10. Peter was the one who had such a prominent position in the early church. He did not need to die, and Jesus knew it. He needed to live.

When it came time to die, he did it boldly and without visible fear. We don’t know how he died, but church tradition says that he was crucified upside down in Rome. Maybe, maybe not. The Bible does not speak to it.

But I would imagine he always felt he was living on borrowed time all the rest of his life. He should have died on that hill with Jesus. Instead, it was several decades later before he finally did.

We do not know what we will do until it happens. We may be brave, we may not. The only way we know is when we wake up on the other side of eternity and then it will be a little hard to brag about.

We try our best to do what God wants and we live our lives in as much courage as we can. And we let God take care of the rest. That is all we can do and that is what we trust him to do.

Peter was a great man, no one better, and Jesus knew it. All he needed was a taste of his own mortality. When he got that, he was much the better as an apostle and as an emissary to God.

The same goes for us. Trust and do what you can and let God take care of the end.

daily java

Daily Java:

Jesus’ parents were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, the baby’s mother, “This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, but he will be a joy to many others. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose him. As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul.” (Luke 2:33-35)

Sometimes you find out more than you want to know.

Mary was excited over the birth of her child. He had been prophesied by the angel and by the shepherds and wise men as the salvation of Israel. His very name – Joshua in Hebrew, Jesus in Greek – meant God Saves. Things were going to be great.

Or at least she thought so at the time. She found out differently later.

Here was a man of God, named Simeon. About him the word says, He was righteous and devout and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him and had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. That day the Spirit led him to the Temple. So when Mary and Joseph came to present the baby Jesus to the Lord as the law required, Simeon was there. (Luke 2:25-28).

He told Mary and Joseph great and wonderful things. And then he said, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed and a sword will pierce your very soul.

You can imagine a shudder going up Mary’s back. Wait. This is the Messiah, the One sent from God. What do you mean about a sword. What do you mean about deep thoughts being revealed.

Of course, Mary found out. Even though his life growing up was good and undoubtedly even, when Jesus began to preach, some did not like him. Some, in fact, didn’t like him so much that they killed him.

Wait! She cried. This is the Son of God, sent to bring humanity back to the Father. This was supposed to be a blessing. Remember the angels singing Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace and goodwill to men? Remember that? What do you mean a sword?

But she found out. She found out that people did not always appreciate that which they needed so desperately. They needed Jesus more than they needed anything else. But deep down, they thought they were fine without him. And they tried to get rid of him so they wouldn’t have to deal with him.

People, on the surface, are glad to know Jesus and his message. But deep down, they resist. Why? Because the devil tries everything he can to keep us where we are: lost and dying.

That is why Jeremiah 17:9 said, The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? That is why Hebrews 4:12 says For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.

God sees us and when he does, many times it hurts. Mary found this out, much to her sorrow. But then, she found out that it turned out good. Her little child died, yes, and horribly. But he also lived and magnificently.

And the scar the sword left in Mary’s soul, although still felt strongly, healed a little when she saw the risen Lord, her child, rise up to heaven to be at the right hand of God.

And she was amazed.

living and active - more thoughts on the book of hebrews

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

It is always interesting when you are preaching and someone in the audience gets mad at something you said. After the sermon, they come to you and say, “I am mad at you! I didn’t appreciate your talking about things in my life publicly.”

You, of course, are taken aback. You may not even know who they are, or if you do, you weren’t talking about them. However, they took what you said to heart.

The scripture you read and the application judged the thoughts and applications of their hearts and they didn’t like it.

That is a problem with preaching. If you are preaching the Word, everything you say fits someone.

People who are aware of God working within their lives know that and they know that occasionally things will be said that will fit them.

I have been to churches where I knew no one knew me, yet the preacher says something that goes right to my soul. You feel like running away, but you don’t. The preacher doesn’t know you or that you are there, but God does; and if one is in God and desires the heart of God, God will move into his or her heart and judge.

Real preaching can be life-changing if people will respond. The problem is that they do not. They figure it is for someone else, or ignore the still small voice of God in their own hearts, or just refuse to change.

When they do time after time, it becomes like the boot I had with a nail in the bottom sticking up into my foot. After a while I didn't notice it. One day I took off my boot and there was a very small, round, perfectly formed callous on the bottom of my foot where that nail had been poking me. I no longer felt it because I had worked to not feel it by forming a callous. The nail was still sharp, but my foot had become dull.

The two sided blade is handy also. You can hack and hack and hack in your fighting of evil, and if the blade gets dull, you turn it over and there is a new blade ready to hack again. Kind of like those old razor blades.

The weapon of our warfare is never dull and is never useless, as long as we keep it sharp within our lives.

Of course, even dull preaching can hit home. I did cut myself one time on a butter knife, but you do kind of have to work at that. It is a shame that so many preachers use such dull equipment, never sharpening or learning their weapons.

I suppose that you can hurt a person in combat by throwing a rifle at them, throwing it just right, hitting them in the head. But what a stupid way to use a rifle.

In the same way, a bad preacher can show someone something good by bad and ill-informed preaching and study, but what better stuff could he do if he had good equipment and good preparation.