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Beware of Falling Millstones

Spiritual vs Temporal and the Problem of Suffering

May 18, 2012 by brianmichaelsteck Leave a Comment


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Suffering is a HUGE topic and is not and cannot be covered fully in a single post. Please excuse the brevity as this is meant to be only a passing glance at the topic.

About this time Jesus was informed that Pilate had murdered some people from Galilee as they were offering sacrifices at the Temple. ‘Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than all the people from Galilee?‘ Jesus asked. ‘Is that why they suffered? Not at all! And you will perish, too unless you repent of your sins and turn to God. And what about the eighteen people who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners in Jeruselem? No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will perish too.” -Jesus, Luke 13:1-5

I read that passage this morning, and couldn’t remember anyone ever teaching on it. It really struck me for some reason and I couldn’t put my head around it.

Wesley’s Explanatory Notes on the passage help shed some light. The passage, while addressing suffering and justice, are actually a “type” or symbolism for what was about to come. Wesley draws out the conclusion that the Galileans killed while offering sacrifices at the Temple are a foretelling of Christ, and soon his disciples as well, being killed while celebrating the passover.

He goes on to share that the eighteen people killed when the tower fell on them, is likened to the 600,000 people who were murdered, shipped off to the gladiatorial games and Roman mines when the city of Jerusalem was besieged and the temple was destroyed in 70 A.D.

What does this mean?
Now, I hear that and, maybe because I’m slow at the uptake, am still unsure of how to apply this. What is the take-away?

Some say that every sickness, downturn in the economy, personal or national attack is a reflection of our due penalty for sin. Those people who say this will stub their toe and figure that it is because of their disobedience. I disagree.

While there are times when God clearly administers justice, even to the people he loves (Read just about anything in the old testament and you will see the interaction between the LORD and Israel demonstrates this over and over), there are also certain aspects, universal laws, that God established which we encounter; Some as a result of the fall, and some as part of being finite humans.

Beware of Falling Millstones
Beware of Falling Millstones

To further argue this case, I am reminded of a Jewish law that establishes certain cities of refuge for murderers to run to when they unintentionally killed someone – the example given of a worker who accidentally drops a millstone on someone’s head. To protect the clumsy worker from the angry family of the unfortunate millstone victim, Mr. Butterfingers would be sent to the town of refuge until an allotted amount of time had passed. God clearly understands that, although the consequence (death) is serious, it was clearly an accident and not a spiritual exercise in justice because the dead guy had it coming to him.

Basically, when it comes down to it, I don’t believe that every action and reaction is spiritual.

That said, I think Jesus is trying to get across a point here. There are physical repercussions. There are spiritual repercussions. You must discern which are which. But unlike the physical, which we tend to give more importance, the spiritual always supersedes the temporal and requires our critical attention.

Take a look at the healings Jesus administered. He always took care of the physical body, but so often it was only as evidence for the spiritual healing which had already occurred. Jesus was and is ultimately concerned about the spiritual.

In our eyes, the physical takes precedence over the spiritual because it’s what we touch, taste, hear and see.

But because we haven’t learned to see with spiritual eyes, we are limited in our understanding and unable to grasp the dire need of the internal and eternal. Instead we devote all our time and energy to the external, temporal and ultimately futile.

Not to steer anyone back to the days of self-flagellating monks who believed that anything physical was bad. But I do hope to draw out of this passage the reality that the spiritual is king to the physical.

A word on suffering
My last point that I want to make is in regards to suffering in particular. Without an proper understanding of the spiritual, we will see the pain and turmoil of this present age and say, “Where is God? What kind of loving father could let his children suffer?”

But I encourage you to seek the heart of the Father. Look at how Christ mourns over Lazereth, even before Christ raises him from the grave (John 11). Look at the LORD’s long-suffering and enduring grace shown to the Israelites throughout the old testament.

There are times of pain and very often there are no obvious reasons for them. Especially when we are in the midst of the situation, it is virtually impossible to see and understand “why”. Our prerogative is to mourn with those who mourn, to rejoice with those who rejoice and ultimately seek to give God the glory.

God knows your pain before you know it, does not leave you when you’re in it and does not forget about it or get tired of you, even when others have.

Filed Under: Lordship, Scripture Studies, Suffering, Surrender Tagged With: Healing, Lordship, Pain, Spirtual, Suffering, Surrender

Homeless John

First United Church of Oddballs and Outcasts

March 14, 2012 by brianmichaelsteck Leave a Comment


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Homeless JohnWhen you look at our churches and the people that attend, who do you see? What types of people?

How ’bout when you walk the downtown alleyways, sit at that lonesome school lunch table or order your fast food? What kind of people do you see then? Are they the same group of people?

When I read through the New Testament, I get the picture that a good number of the people Jesus was walking the streets to find were the lonesome, the outcast and the oddballs — those that had been rejected, dejected and ignored.

Where this hits me the hardest is when I look at my life. It’s easy to point fingers at everyone else who has built their lives around people that make them feel comfortable, safe and loved. But when I realize that I’ve done the same, the mood turns sour. I’ve protected myself from those whom Jesus pursued most.

My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others?
-James 2:1

If you were to do an inventory on those in my life, you would find that most are friends who are independent (so I don’t need to offer much of myself), like-minded (so I don’t need to change) and successful (so I can share in their success). The sad truth is that it’s natural for me to get my worth from those around me; what they think of me, what they offer me and how they make me feel. Am I not showing favoritism when every person in my life is easy to love?

Turning the corner
So what do I do with this reality? I know that my heart and mind do not consciously decide these things, but they become truths over the course of time, as my life slips into the ravine of convenience and comfort. My first step is to acknowledge this and repent. Repentance is an old concept that means sincere remorse.

The second step would intuitively be to try harder, to be better, to love more, but I’ve learned that this isn’t the way to achieving the end goal. Instead, the root of it all lies in my source of worth. Because I receive my worth and value from what people think of me, my behavior will inevitably stem from that. So I must come to God and allow myself to be healed and filled by His love. There are areas of my life that I deem “unloveable” or “unforgivable”, but His endless love is capable of saturating even those areas.

From that full place, having received true, unselfish love, I am able to move towards those who are unloved by society — not needing anything from them, or even needing to change them in order to feel successful. Simply to extend love from the overflow of God’s ceaseless spring.

The Church of job fairs, fantasy conventions and death metal
The cultural outcast is the tax collector of our day. Somehow it feels easier to love the poor in third-world countries than it is to befriend the cultural oddballs of our day.

This may look different depending on your context, but I’m trying to picture the people that are socially rejected in our current day. They may be the unemployed or foreclosed-upon; the sci-fi convention attenders or the office janitor; the headphone-wearing punk kid in town or the shy relative. I’m really not sure who it is in your life. For me, God is revealing who that “outcast” is in my life.

I believe the sign of a healthy church is one with diversity. When I walk into a church where every member is the same, it’s good and edifying, but it’s not the best. It’s not what God intended. There is a church near Denver called “Scum of the Earth” which started as a church for the punks and outcasts who were not well-received in existing churches in the area. I think that churches would be healthier if they had a few more mohawks and homeless congregating in their foyer after the service.

Now, I’m not saying that it is wrong to have friends who share affinity with you; common interests, ability to encourage or give back to you. I’m not saying that churches that don’t have punks or trekkers running around are wrong, but I am saying that God is challenging me to take inventory on my “personal social network” and ask some serious questions. I’m also saying that if the solution comes from simply trying harder, we’re missing the mark. Instead, the sustainable solution comes from drawing near to the heart of God and allowing our hearts to break for what breaks His.

Join me in dreaming about what it would look like to live this out; in pursuit of God’s heart and in extending that love towards the social outskirts.

Filed Under: Church Philosophy Tagged With: Authentic Christianity, Christianity, Healing, inclusivity, Injustice, Reclaiming Christianity

Blind Bartemeus

August 10, 2011 by brianmichaelsteck Leave a Comment


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This morning I was hit by a passage from Mark 10:46-52.

46 Then they reached Jericho, and as Jesus and his disciples left town, a large crowd followed him. A blind beggar named Bartimaeus (son of Timaeus) was sitting beside the road. 47 When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus of Nazareth was nearby, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
48 “Be quiet!” many of the people yelled at him.

But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

49 When Jesus heard him, he stopped and said, “Tell him to come here.”

So they called the blind man. “Cheer up,” they said. “Come on, he’s calling you!” 50 Bartimaeus threw aside his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus.

51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked.

“My rabbi,” the blind man said, “I want to see!”

52 And Jesus said to him, “Go, for your faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus down the road.

Stories like these are strung throughout the new testament (everything after Micah) and I’ve read them countless times with very little impact. Today, though, it really stuck out to me that there was such faith, honesty and eagerness in blind Bartemeus. I love that when reprimanded, he only shouted louder. I love that he threw aside his coat, which I can assume would be an important piece of clothing that you wouldn’t want to misplace or have stolen if you were a blind man. I love that when asked, he was simple and honest to Jesus — not muddying his request by trying to impress Him. I love that Bartemeus was immediately healed.

I don’t have much to share that is mind-blowing, but I encourage you to sit with this passage and be in that town that day, on that road, watching this story take place. Let Christ heal you, or maybe heal your faith. Ask Jesus simply and honestly, “give me faith like Bartemeus.”

Filed Under: Lordship Tagged With: Faith, Healing

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