What Appears to Be Insane

Acts 26:24-25

While he was making this defense, Festus exclaimed, “You are out of your mind, Paul! Too much learning is driving you insane!” But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking the sober truth.

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Welcome to my breakdown.
I hope I didn't scare you.
That's just the way we are when we come down.

"Welcome to My Nightmare" by Alice Cooper

One of the most difficult things about being a Christian is that to the world we're all kind of crazy. We believe in love. We believe in redemption. We believe no one is beyond the reach of God's redemptive work. Where this gets crazy is that if we believe no one is beyond redemption we had better believe that no one is beyond redemption. The moment we put limits on God's redeeming work, we put limits on God.

Sharing this truth has put Christians in a pickle since the beginning of Christ's ministry. Men left the family business. Men left their homes and families. Followers suffered scorn, ridicule, pain and even death. What's crazy is that they continued their mission!

We can always depend on the Holy Spirit to give us the words we need to share the Good News, but we can't guarantee people will be ready to hear it, or at least to accept it. Festus heard the word, but he was not ready to hear it. He declared Paul out of his mind. "Too much learning is driving you insane!" Festus was scared, frightened by the words Paul spoke and he could not fathom them. Instead he declared the Apostle coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs.

Friends, share the good news with your neighbors and you will risk the same rejection. Jesus tells us that we will be rejected by some, but he will never reject us. When people call us crazy we need to welcome them to our breakdown. It's just the way people often hear the word of God when it first comes down to them.

That's fine too, we aren't alone. Many have been called that sort of crazy before the Apostle. Many have been called that sort of crazy for speaking the sober truth. In Christ there is no nightmare, there is no breakdown--it'll just look that way to some people.

The Weight and The Burden

Matthew 11:28-30

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

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I pulled into Nazareth, I was feelin' about half past dead;
I just need some place where I can lay my head.
"Hey, mister, can you tell me where a man might find a bed?"
He just grinned and shook my hand, and "No!", was all he said.

Take a load off Fanny, take a load for free;
Take a load off Fanny, and you put the load right on me.

"The Weight" written by Robbie Robertson and performed by The Band with Mavis Staples and the Staples Singers from "The Last Waltz"

Just to get this out of the way, this song wasn't written as a biblical allegory. It was written about a guy pulling into Nazareth, Pennsylvania. Each verse has the singer encountering people from town. It's as easy as that.

Then again, if you can't draw a parallel to the birth narrative of Jesus you aren't trying very hard. While this devotional takes the easy biblical reference, it's the rest of the song, the encounters with other townsfolk, that makes it interesting.

Through the rest of the song, after the Inn Keeper the singer meets Carmen and the Devil, Miss Moses and Luke and Anna Lee, Chester and Jack the Dog. It's just a slice of life in Bethlehem. Maybe it does seem a little more like scripture every moment through the day.

The Gospels are filled with random people whose lives intersect Jesus and his disciples. Sometimes the fellow travelers are annoyed, but Jesus is always gracious. He runs into people carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders everyday, and everyday Jesus makes the way lighter.

In Christ there is rest for the burdened, weary soul. Jesus never promised a Club Med for the soul. We aren't promised everyday will be a picnic, what we are promised is that Jesus is there and his way is better than anyway we can discern on our own.

By the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are saved. Our loads add nothing to the journey and more often than not they detract from the path. It's up to us to pull off the road, and while we're walking the streets of Nazareth, be sure to say hello to Jesus and take his load. Gentle and humble are better than busy and laden any day of the week.

Fighting Against

Acts 14:1-3

The same thing occurred in Iconium, where Paul and Barnabas went into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks became believers. But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.

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No kiddin',
I'm ready to fight

"Boom Boom, Out Go the Lights" written by Little Walter recorded by the Pat Travers Band

Here's the bad news. It's much easier to stand against something than it is to stand for something. All anyone needs to stand against something is to have something to stand against and a forum to let it out.

This is actually why some people prefer the Gospel of John. John's gospel stands against the Jewish leaders of the temple, but since it just says "the Jews" it's easy and lazy to lump everyone together and cry out "when I get her in my sights, boom boom, out go the lights."

The difference is that Paul and Barnabas spoke for something, they spoke for someone, the Lord Jesus Christ. They spoke of his sovereignty. They spoke of his works. They spoke of his grace and peace. They spoke of the wonders and the glory of God.

The temple leaders just said "We've never done it that way before!" and stirred others against the men who bring the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ.

It's easy to be against something, it's tougher to be for something. Jesus gives us something to be for, glory be to God.

Seeking and Being Sought

Psalm 37:7

Be still before the LORD, and wait patiently for him;
do not fret over those who prosper in their way,
over those who carry out evil devices.

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I have spoke with the tongue of angels
I have held the hand of a devil
It was warm in the night
I was cold as a stone

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for

"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" by U2

Wanting in and of itself isn't a bad thing. It's how advancements are made. Necessity is the mother of invention. If you're happy with everything then there's nothing else you want. But this life is not all that there is, and as people of Christ we want more. Of course as creatures infected with sin, there's more stuff we want that's not good for us than what is good for us.

The evil in our society always seem to have more and better stuff. But we are still called not to fret over their success. So that leaves the rest of us wanting and wondering. We seek the better things yet we strive to live a better life than a robber-baron. We might shake hands with the devil, but we are also called to tell him that we don't want any. The tongues of the angels are more of what we are to seek, these keep us warm at night. U2 has this part right.

U2 also has this part right which comes from the end of the song:

I believe in the Kingdom Come
Then all the colors will bleed into one
Bleed into one
But yes I'm still running

We know what we believe in. We know the source of our salvation. We know salvation comes by grace through faith. But still we run. What do we run from? More U2 shows us:

You broke the bonds
And you loosed the chains
Carried the cross
Of my shame
Oh my shame
You know I believe it

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for

Our only answer is to be still and know that as we are seeking what we are looking for, God seeks us at the same time. God seeks us from the cross cast in our sin and shame that breaks our bonds and looses our chains. So we do need to seek, we need to seek the face of God. The Good News is that God seeks us too.

Foolishly Bewitched

Galatians 3:1-5

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly exhibited as crucified! The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? Having started with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh? Did you experience so much for nothing?--if it really was for nothing. Well then, does God supply you with the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?

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She's a witch of trouble in electric blue,
In her own mad mind she's in love with you.
With you.
Now what you gonna do?
Strange brew -- killin' what's inside of you.

"Strange Brew" by Eric Clapton, Gail Collins and Felix Pappalardi recorded by Cream

We're people! We like shiny things! We like things that just grab our attention and refuse to release us! How else can we explain disco, pet rocks, and fast food? We get bewitched and that's all there is to it. Steven Covey calls this "non-important/non-urgent" noting all along that they are still interesting, more interesting than real work. It's just fluff and filler.

Of course I say this to you from a keyboard attached to the internet and if you're reading this either attached by computer, phone, or tablet. It's horrible to become your own best example, but I have just done that.

Paul warns the church that they have become bewitched by the law and those who practice it. The law gives us wonderful guidelines that help us in our lives. But taken to extremes, they take us far past freedom and right into control. Law controls, law can't love.

It is Christ who saves by love that frees us from the controlling ties of the law. Christ didn't die for the law. Christ fulfilled the law before his death and resurrection. Christ's death showed what he knew all along, the law doesn't bind the way people want it to bind. In the law's mad mind there is love in the law, love that controls like an abusive lover. This is not the love of freedom in Christ.

So our choices are to believe Christ or to believe prophets who tell us that by law and restriction we can be free. Bewitched? Pray not.

Darkness and Light

John 12:35-36

Jesus said to them, “The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.”

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I woke last night to the sound of thunder
How far off I sat and wondered
Started humming a song from 1962
Ain't it funny how the night moves
When you just don't seem to have as much to lose
Strange how the night moves
With autumn closing in

"Night Moves" by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band

The darkness overtaking us... an image that is never reassuring. But the image is more than losing light, it's an image of losing your way. Beware of darkness.

Seger and the Night Moves, by this final piece of the song before the chorus and instrumental play-out, the singer is reminiscing about the days of his youth. The days of the earlier verses of this song and the dark-haired beauty. The days when he just didn't seem to have as much to lose. These days, I guess there was more to lose.

Since autumn is a poet's way of saying the end of days, a time before winter settles in, the singer remembers days long gone. It was less then twenty years between the mythical 1962 and when this song was recorded, but it was a life-time ago to the singer.

Jesus says "the light is with you for a little longer." he knows, by this time in the story He is in the Upper Room with the Apostles. He knows the hour has come and time is short. He warns them not to let the darkness overtake them. Don't let winter fall, don't let the nights get longer.

He tells them that they don't have to either. As long as they have the light and believe in the light they will be the children of the light of Christ. Christ shines then and he shines now in our lives as the true light. The light is always with us, we always have the light. We don't have to live in the darkness.

The darkness is a choice once you live in the light, but it's not a choice worth making. The darkness is the sign of those times when all we have we can lose. In the light, what we lose is not worth having in the first place. The light remains today. The best news is that as long as we walk in the light, we reflect the love of the one who shines the light for all to see. There is no better or easier way to share God's love than to shine God's light.

Submission and Instruction

1Samuel 3:10

Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

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Here I am, baby,
Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours
(You got my future in your hands)

"Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours" recorded by Stevie Wonder from the album by the same name, written by Lee Garrett, Lula Mae Hardaway, Stevie wonder, and Syreeta Wright.

The call of Samuel was sticky. Eli knew it. Eli knew his sons, the next in line to take over the temple priesthood were the last in likelihood take over the temple priesthood. He wondered who would follow. He also knew Samuel was strong in the Lord. Eli was little surprised when the Lord called, but Samuel had never heard the voice of the Lord before. He asked Eli what was happening. After a couple of false starts, Eli told him how to answer.

The Lord called, "Samuel! Samuel!" Samuel answered, "Here I am, baby, Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours. You got my future in your hands."

How's that for a statement, you got my future in your hands. Is it a pledge? A vow? Or is it a simple statement of humble submission?

It's simple. The Lord has been speaking with Samuel. Samuel is finally listening to the speaker affirming who the speaker is. He is giving the Lord his full and undivided attention now that he knows who is speaking to him. "Speak, for your servant is listening." Samuel knows his Master and now he knows his Master's voice. He awaits instruction. He awaits guidance. He awaits direction.

Here I am Lord, signed, sealed, delivered, I'm yours. You got my future in your hands, just like Samuel.