Distractions Fantastic

The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me.

Matthew 26:11

A woman was worshipping Jesus with fragrant perfume and tears of weeping.  He had suddenly become the center of the moment.  It was one of the last precious moments before His sacrifice.  It was a moment of personal, physical and intimate engagement with the ones for whom He came - the broken and the lost.

The disciples objected to this; they were indignant, even.  "Why this waste?" they asked. "This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor." Similar to the Pharisees in verses 3-5, they were focused on an agenda, be it personal or corporate.  Such are the distractions so very common to every man.

But likely, this perfume was still lingering in the vicious cocktail of senses that flooded His body as He hung on the cross.  It was the only sense that brought any comfort to Him as He hung there alone.  And so the joy set before Him may have sprung to life within His soul.  One could imagine that He conceived of the promise of a Bride consisting of the likes of this one woman.  This woman who sacrificed so much more than all she had just to worship Him in such an intimate way.

God is looking for ones like her.  No wonder Jesus declared that her act would accompany the gospel wherever it would be told.  For she refused to be distracted by the judgments and concerns of onlookers.

Set you heart with deliberate determined adoration - adoration in word and deed.  Refuse to let the concerns of this world distract you from engaging this Beautiful King.  This Lover of your soul.  This Vein of Precious Gold in a sea of base rock.

Purpose and Timing

Matthew 24:36 - 25:46

John Reichardt

5-30-2020

Jesus' response to his disciple's question regarding "the sign of his coming and the end of the age" is in many respects surprising, sobering, encouraging, and disturbing all at the same time. Few segments of any Gospel account cause us to, as Paul puts it, "consider the kindness and sternness of God..." (Romans 11:22). There is likely a reason for this. The "church age" or the "age of the Spirit" was at the threshold of human history (his death, burial, resurrection were imminent) when he responded regarding "the end of the age". His disciples at that point were still clueless (not their fault without the Holy Spirit living inside them) about what was coming upon the earth. They didn't have a grid of transitioning from the Old Covenant Age to the New Covenant Age to the Eternal Age. They had something else in their thinking. The early church in the nascent Age of the Spirit (and the church throughout history) would be quickly tested as to who the ultimate authority would be in their life.

Will it be the Jewish religious system (still around after his death, burial, resurrection, and ascension) or will it be Jesus? Will it be the Roman imperial state (still around after his prophesied destruction of the Jewish state in 70 AD), or will it be Jesus? Who is the real authority in all of life? Who is the real king of our lives? Who is our shepherd? Whose voice do we follow? As far as the church is concerned, Jesus is our king. We follow and obey him alone. Following his voice we end up where he calls us to be - at his side. That destination typically involves sacrificially loving others. The four parables before his death put realities and priorities on the table for all to see and grapple with.

These sayings of Jesus are disturbing on purpose. In effect, Jesus' authoritative words deliberately place the listener in a Preliminary Judgement Day so that we might meet him face to face ahead of the Transition Day and live! Live now. In the text we encounter his preeminent spiritual presence so that he might convict us of "sin and righteousness and judgement" (John 16:8). By hearing his voice in the text we are enabled to cross over from death to life (John 5:24). The recorded parable is the perfect place to visit and revisit the original speaker who spoke the parable from the beginning and continues to speak to us through those same words today. These parables are an invitation to a conversation with the first source, Jesus. The beauty of the Gospels (especially) is the opportunity it affords us to dialogue with it's original speaker by the Spirit of God. The God of encounter speaks in words that we can mercifully encounter him within repeatedly. In this regard, Bible reading and study is an utter joy. This is what happened to me when I first read these parables under the auspices of the Spirit. Upon reading these parables 40 years ago as an impressionable teenager, I was given a sobering glimpse of an undesirable future and I didn't want to be "that guy", an unfaithful steward, "moronic" bridesmaid, goat. We want to be faithful, wise, and a sheep. So, these parables are conversation starters with Jesus.

These words of Jesus give the reader a glimpse of the present ultimate reality where God encounters us in the ordinary, in the context of the grand scheme of things, and he speaks to us in heart to heart fashion before it all (literally) comes down at the End. Jesus' parables are about the End, but also about his authority then (at the End) and now. His words force the reader to accept or reject his words upon first reading/listening and repeated echoes in the mind (the parables are ear-worms) and thereby his authority as well in all of life as the Messianic King. The parables are so vivid that they not only arrest our attention but if we let them, the Master's words will master us. The beautiful thing then is that these parables are a mercy offered to the world, and should be received accordingly. We get to meet and greet our Maker way before meeting our Maker at the End. These parables constitute a prophetic second chance before we arrive at a time when need a second chance but its too late.

These parables are about then, but more so about now. The preservation of these parables are truly a mercy. This is the heart of Bible translators around the world: to preserve and promulgate the written word of God in a nation's language so that in the reading and the study of it they might encounter the Author of the text first-hand with only Jesus as the mediator. The goal of Bible translation and teaching is that we might all enter in and encounter the living Word in the written Word.
Parables have an otherworldly quality whose net transportative effect on the listener is that of listening to someone sharing a dream or vision. Parables permit the listener or reader to transcendentally enter or fall into the story to discuss invisible realities. The parable is an art form that pulls us in to speak to us personally like the quality of Isabel's art. In the judgement parables, Jesus let's us "put ourselves in the picture" (thanks Beverly for that exercise last night) of the final judgement ahead of time and where the criteria is clear and not arbitrary. The criteria of acceptance into humanity's next phase (after the transitory phase that is this one) is mercifully spelled out well in advance. God's sheep in God's flock have an ingrained personal relationship with him in this life that is naturally reflected in how we positively treat others in this life. These qualities are required in the people on Transition Day who will transition to the final state and become the reconstituted humanity in the Eternal Age. As someone has said, this life is a test for the one to come.

Our relationships in this life (with God and others) determine our continuance and participation in the next phase of human existence. Whatever all that entails (resurrection and immortality), it is designed by God and awaiting us securely as an inheritance in a heavenly lock-box. Our supernatural relationship with God is self evident in the ordinariness of life relationships. Those who love and are loved by God, love others. This criteria is simple (humble) and only appealing to the simple (humble), his sheep.

The Entrusting of the Father

Again, [at that time the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 25:1)] will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them.

- Matthew 25:14

The master entrusted wealth to his servants, implying that he wanted that wealth back when he returned - nothing more, and nothing less.  Two of the servants put that wealth to work and made it grow.  One of them kept it safe out of fear for losing that wealth and incurring the master's wrath (a vain misconception, even indictment, of the master's character).

What if the economy had gone south while the master was away?  Who would have been the hero of the day?  Would the master have been angry or disappointed?

The master in this parable is Jawheh Himself.  And I know that the Father doesn't treat His children this way.  The heroes of the day are those who put the wealth He entrusts in them to work - not because they doubled his money, but because they took a risk.  If those investments fell flat on their face, I believe He would say to His children what any good father would say:  "Way to go, getting into getting into the game!  You gave it your best and that's what I'm wanting from you."

There's more to what we're here for than what we're here for.  And He has entrusted into us the mysterion of the Kingdom.  We should all rather be with Him in the Kingdom, away from this world of decay and entropy.  But while we're here, it takes faith to risk, and it takes risk to have faith.  And the returns on those investments are worth it all to Him - even His own Son.  We get to be witnesses of those returns, and He wants us to risk the wealth of the Kingdom to infect this world with life!

So fear of failure is beside the point.

Don't waste what He has given you.

Monarch

all that i was 

i see right now

like it is

like it was

like it is right now

and altogether new

like a diamond

in prism

throwing His colour

all around this room

as it was

i see right now

and altogether new

the Living Flame

the same and still

never again

changing as He always

is the same

like it was

as it is right now

and altogether new

and we journey through

always through

from shine to shine

His and mine

always through

to the other side

metamorphis in chrysalis

always through

to the other side

the same and still

never again

to the Living Wing

- revel8r -

The Symphony of Light

But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

Matthew 25:10

The parable of the ten virgins is an illustration of expectancy and preparedness, driven by desire.  For those who eagerly await the bridegroom (the wise virgins), they live their normal lives alongside those who are simply going through the motions (the foolish virgins).  Remember, both slept as they awaited the bridegroom.

But the wise virgins are prepared to live for the long haul; they've brought extra oil. For they know that it's their dependency on the oil (Presence of God) as the essential ingredient that keeps them burning with love for the Bridegroom until He comes to bring them into His home.

Until then, it's the lamp (the parameters of our faith) to hold the oil and the wick (our being) to draw the oil and bring fuel to the fire that light the room (this world).  Without the oil, doctrine becomes foolish religion.  Without our being, the oil has no conduit for the light.  But with all three working in a beautiful symphony, the darkness of the world is conquered.

Keep your lamps trimmed and burning!

The Hinge

From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land.

Mathew 26:45

The gospel of Mark tells us that Jesus was nailed to the cross at 9am (Mark 15:25).  Matthew marks the last moments of Jesus' life to be about 3pm.  In Matthew, the implementation of His execution took 27 verses.  Less than 5 minutes to read a very matter of fact narration of an excruciating, tragic event in the life of Jesus.

Six hours.  27 verses.  5 minutes.  The irony is not to be lost.

But vast amounts of sermons and books have been written since that day.  The event is memorialized yearly.

There's more to the cross than the crucifixion.  It is the culmination of the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation.  It is the beginning of a three-day event upon which all eternity, time, substance and space hinge.

And Jesus is at the center of it all.  His obedience, His blood and what it means to us.  His death and His resurrection are the linchpin on which everything holds together.  And if the soul will refuse to be nailed to this hinge, that person will separate into the eternal free fall of oblivion.

Jesus,
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  (Philippians 2:6-11)

all crowns tarnish in time
then rust then dust
and perish in the end
at pass forever to oblivion

yet there is one
fashioned first in thistle thorns
by mock and scorn of mortal hand
and mashed on precious brow

then ere third dawn
He stepped strong
from forsaken tomb
to claim His throne again
and that crown will never end

why seek the living among the dead?
do you not know our Dread Champion
has vanquished in conquest decisive
our fundamental foe
and did our hearts into
His glorious crown embed

- revel8r, 4-12-20

Difference in the Normal

For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

Matthew 24:38,39

When Noah got direction from the Lord, he and his family got to work. He was diligent about it until the job was done.  The project took years to be completed.  Probably decades.  During that time, it was very likely that he did not hear from God every day.  Very similar to a father asking his son to take care of a large project, he likely said "Git 'er dun, son."  And He left it at that.

But Noah could have said, "Eh! God's not keeping a close eye on me. Think I'll take a day off just because. How about cutting corners here and there?  What's a cubit or two anyway?" But he was diligent, and did everything God said to do.  (Genesis 6:22)

It was his job.  Just as his neighbors - the bricklayer, the blacksmith, the carpenter,,, the auto mechanic. The difference was that he was doing what God directed and how He directed.

So it is with us.  The Father has given us a destiny to complete.  Jobs to do.  People's lives to impact. He directs us along the way, but often leaves it to us to carry it out as He instructs. The difference is that we're doing it for Him as He directs.

Be the difference in a normal world.  In the end, He will return when we least expect it and will be blessed to see the difference.