Free as a Bird

…release the live bird in the open fields” Leviticus 14:7

One bird went free. The other one gave his life to cleanse a person from contagious skin diseases like leprosy. Deep within the Jewish ritual that marked a person free from eczema, psoriasis, or just teenage acne, there is this startling statement: …release the live bird in the open fields” Leviticus 14:7

Skin diseases were a serious thing in ancient Israel. They made you unclean, untouchable, isolated, ostracized. You had to warn other people to stay away from you because you were potentially contagious. Skin diseases made you an outsider. Those feelings of ostracism, isolation, and unworthy of love still hang around our lives. And, many of those feelings are tied to our appearance. We feel defective when our skin looks weird. Even though there is no spiritual stigma attached to eczema, psoriasis, or acne, we want to cover up. And, sadly, many without a skin disease still feel isolated, unworthy, unclean.

God had a solution for those feelings. One bird goes free. The person who had suffered from a skin condition but was now better had to bring two birds. The priest took one bird and killed it over a pot of clean water, and then washed the other bird in the bloody water along with cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop. This would mark the person free from any contagious condition.

And, the bloody bird went free.

I don’t know if this is the source of the saying, “As free as a bird.” However, I do know that the symbolism in the Scripture really points to the fact that I’m the free bird. I’m as free as a bird because Jesus, the other bird, died for me. It is Jesus who is God’s solution to free us from our feelings of uncleanness, isolation, and ostracism. EPH 2:14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility… Jesus died to take away our isolation and put us into a place where we will be loved, accepted, and forgiven. It is called the Body of Christ. He died to show we are accepted in the beloved (Ephesians 1:6 KJV). His death, His blood, marks us as belonging to Him.

I’m free as a bird.

Name in Lights

Mattathias, Amos, Nahum, (not the prophets), Esli, Naggai, Maath, Semein, Josech, Joda! I’m sure they were all very important people, but we know next to nothing about them. They lived, loved, and served, but their lasting impact is limited to only one thing. Their names appear in history in only one place…and it is not to record their exploits, accomplishments, or impact on life. They are remembered for only one thing…their descendent! These names appear in Luke 3 as some of the human ancestors of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Many scholars think that this is Mary’s geneology…but that is beside the point. They are only important because they kept it going.

As a young pastor, I secretly wanted to see “my name in lights”. I wanted to be the next great preacher, to preach great sermons that would impact people and make them want to listen and bring their friends. I said secretly, because, frankly, that desire felt a little egotistical. It seemed counter-intuitive to a servant leader to want to be recognized. And, while it could have been all those things, now I sense it was that I wanted to accomplish something significant. I wanted to make an impact on people, to change their lives, to see them learn new ways to live in harmony with God and how He designed life to work. I suppose that my desire to write is similar…I want to leave something behind that will encourage people to move closer to God. Gradually I realized that preaching was probably the least effective way to impact people for the long term. More lasting impact happens when I spend time with people. And, over the years, I’ve become more willing to stay in the shadows, behind the scenes, influencing individuals rather than the crowds.

I guess that’s why this long list of names stood out to me while I was jogging this morning. Some people are important enough to be mentioned, even if you know nothing about them. For some people, it isn’t you that will do something significant, but your descendent. All these people are only known because they are in the lineage of Jesus…all had lives, all did something, but their sole memorable accomplishment was a descendent. They kept it going. You see, our significance may not be in what we build or what we write, but more in who follows us, or, even, in who follows the one who follows us.

It may not be you, but it may be your disciple!

Keep it going!

The Joseph Principle

When we live in vital connection and dependence on God, we bless people around us...like Joseph did in the house of Potiphar. From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the LORD blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. Genesis 39:5

You are the everyday miracle for people around you in your family, your class, your work, your neighborhood. You make life better by being.

BE!

Cars I've Owned

I don’t know what it is about me…but cars have never been a desirable status symbol! Perhaps it was that I grew up riding in classics…like a ‘48 Nash Rambler (that broke down in New York on our 1956 road trip) or the 54 Studebaker that looked like an F8 fighter jet…but smoked like one being shot down. Maybe it was that I valued people more than things, or maybe it was that I took seriously Matthew 6:33… But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

So, I never made owning a “hot” car a status symbol. Cars have always been a tool to get me somewhere, not to make an impression on others. Because of this, I’m famous for buying ugly. I’ve owned some beauties in my day. There was the ’69 Plymouth Valiant that I bought…country green. It was so bad that a friend who worked at a dealership volunteered to have it painted. I asked for Robin’s Egg blue, but because it was a VW dealership, I got Rabbit Blue—you’d never miss me in town! And there is the vehicle I own at present…with a topcoat that looks like a peeling sunburn.

Yet, I’ve owned some fantastic cars in my day: a ‘57 Chevy; a ’79 Pontiac Trans Am Firebird (platinum gray with the red and black bird on the hood and a huge engine); a ’68 Mustang. The Matthew 6:33 thing about them is that I never bought a single one of them. They were all pretty much given to me.

When I became a pastor, I pretty much gave up having things because of Mathew 6:33. Yet, God has given us a very nice home with a view and this continual string of nice cars, just to keep His word in that verse.

Some of you would notice, however, that for most of those vehicles the ownership is past tense. This is because of my practical and conservative nature. The ’57 Chevy morphed into a ’64 Valiant because it was a big V8 with an automatic transmission. The ‘79 TransAm became too expensive to insure and was transformed into a Dodge Caravan, much more practical for hauling around a family of 5 (and much to the chagrin of our son). Now, the ’68 Mustang…it still lives in our garage and is waiting for a new engine!

I’m not completely brain dead!

The Joseph Principle

I call it the Joseph Principle or the Spill-over principle: God’s blessing on our lives spill over into the lives of those around us. God blesses the person who doesn’t follow Him because of His blessing on the lives of those who do. A corollary is: God blesses our families because He blesses us.

Actually, this was true before Joseph. Isaac had been a blessing to Abimelech in Gerar—God provided many wells for him through Isaac’s efforts (Genesis 26). Laban realized that God had blessed him because of Jacob’s work on his ranch (Genesis 30:27). And in Genesis 39:5 it says, 5 From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the LORD blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the LORD was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field

Of course, this spillover principle in Joseph’s life is seen also in Genesis 45.. 17 Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Tell your brothers, `Do this: Load your animals and return to the land of Canaan, 18 and bring your father and your families back to me. I will give you the best of the land of Egypt and you can enjoy the fat of the land.'

God blessed just about everywhere Joseph went and whatever he did, and this blessing spilled over into many other lives around him.

It’s all about spillover. God blesses people around us because He blesses us. They get blessed because we are in their lives, their businesses, their neighborhoods.

Christian employees bless the companies in which they work because they are working for Jesus, not the boss (Ephesians 6:5-8). Christian bosses bless their employees because they recognize that God is the real boss (Ephesians 6:9). And, even though we may not have an answer to whether God will answer the prayers of those who aren’t Christ-followers, we, as Christ-followers, can certainly spill over into their lives by bringing their needs to God…and God does hear the prayer of the Christ-Follower.

Several years ago a young wife began attending church with her husband. He was a Christ follower. She was not. Carol engaged her in conversation and discovered that she was concerned about her horse’s health (she did dressage). So, Carol said she would pray for her horse. A couple weeks later, Carol asked her how her horse was doing. The young wife was so moved that Jesus would lead a Christian to pray for her horse that she began to follow Jesus right then.

Apply the Joseph Principle. Find a need for your not-yet-following friend and begin praying for it. God just might pour enough of His love into your life that it spills over into someone else.

Posers and Competitors

"Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews
MT 2:3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed and when he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born.
Curious, isn’t it, that when the magi came looking for the one who was born king of the Jews, everyone knew the king wasn’t Herod, including Herod, the sitting king! It would have been just as easy for Herod to say, “Well, open your eyes. You’re looking at him!” (after all, he had been born, just not born a king. He was a made king). Herod knew he was a poser and not the real thing. It showed in his insecure, devious, destructive, jealous nature.

A “poser” driven insecurity feeds a desire to eliminate the competition. If the other person wins, they might take over, and you would lose your position, power, or possessions. If Herod were the genuine article, the true leader, he would have acted like it by opening the door to the next king, by pointing people toward God’s provision. True leadership develops and promotes others more than self. Herod wasn’t a true king. The true king was in the manger in Bethlehem, while the false king was in the palace, counting out his money. Herod’s posing was revealed by his jealous, competitive, insecure nature. Jealousy and posing go together with competition and insecurity.

The first step to making way for the true king in our lives is to recognize I’m not the king and to stop acting like I am, to stop pretending. True greatness is to recognize I am designed to develop others, and to lift them up to where they belong and grow smaller myself. A competitive, I-want-to-win spirit is indicative of insecurity, indicative of a self-centered focus. It betrays me as a poser, not a true leader. Developing and helping others to win, even take over, is the way to greatness, to true leadership.

When I was 14, my little brother J was making a valiant effort to capture my king in chess. This time it was more than a valiant effort, he had maneuvered into a winning position. But, before he could make the final move, the chess board got bumped and all the pieces fell over. I was off the hook. To this day I still don’t know whether that chess board got bumped by my brother’s excitement at an impending win, or by my Herod-like posing as the superior big brother (or was it big “bother”).

I’m still fiercely competitive in games. Maybe it’s time I grew up and became less competitive in games and more of a developer rather than just posing as a winner.

A Christmas Sign for 2009

12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Luke 2:12

We make much of the miracles of Jesus…signs that point us to His Deity, to His power, to His capacity to manage to forgive us and change our lives. But, this was the first sign of Jesus. Luke uses the same word John uses in 2:11 for his first miracle. Yes, the first sign of Jesus was not an obvious miracle of power…but it was a miracle.

The first sign of Jesus was a baby, wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. The Messiah, The Son of God…Weakness, poverty, and residing in a barn because no one had room for Him.

This didn’t seem like a miracle. This seemed like an everyday occurrence. Yet, it was a miracle that everyone missed except the shepherds. How can God be weak? How can the King of Kings be poor? And how can He be found in a barn? This is the first sign of Jesus, one which most people overlook as a sign: that God can appear in the most unlikely places in our lives; that God can show up in our weakest and smelliest problems; that God can show up when we aren’t wanted and no one moves over and makes a space for us. That’s a miracle.

And, once we recognize the miracle that God can show up in weakness, in poverty, and in the smelly, dirty places of our lives, we will never be the same. Luke 2:20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Yes, people return to their everyday tasks from Christmas, but a distinct note of praise and joy is mixed into the everyday after that experience with God. Like the shepherds, when we discover God in the weak, smelly, dirty places of our lives, we forever have a tinge of joy in our everyday lives.

My Prayer for you this Christmas Day: that you will mix joy and praise into your everyday because you’ve made room in your schedule for seeing Jesus.