GUYS, GUTS & GOD'S GLORY-- Jesus' 'poured out life

"Guys, Guts & God's Glory"

       Jesus--- a 'poured out' life 




To All the KING's Men...

Did you hear?  A significant number of young adults (mostly men) have a 'zombie attack' plan.  Up 37% of adults under the age of 30 know what they are going to do when the zombies come. The plans include phrases like 'board up the house', 'call all my friends,' 'steal a car', 'get a gun' and 'stock up on Twinkies' (well, we can again, now!).  Amazing, huh?  Well, there is some biblical evidence worth noting... 

"...people will become like walking corpses, their flesh rotting away.Their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.  On that day they will be terrified, stricken by the LORD with great panic. They will fight their neighbors hand to hand."          - Zechariah 14:12-13

It also seems, according to the prophet, that God would do this.  So, while some adults are formulating plans for zombie attacks, there are others who plan for daily life and the days to come.  I'm one of those guys.  I hope you are, too!

Do you have any preferred Bible words or phrases?  One of my favorite words in the Bible is "splagchna"  (σπλάγχνα).  It's fun to say... "SPLAG-CH-NA" or "SPLAG-CH-NOICE" and while it appears less than a dozen times, it is a powerful word.  A 'guy' word.  It means "bowels" or 'guts'.  It's never singular. Always plural.  Remember that.  Always plural, never singular.  When we talk about 'guts' the word is more than just a reference to our 'innards.'  It pushes our emotions also and is related to phrases like 'tender mercies', having a 'compassionate heart' or 'inner affections'.  And the term also shows up in a graphic reference in Acts 1:18 when Judas went out and hanged himself and his "bowels" poured out all over the ground.  GUTS... a guy word.  Vivid images can be good for us.  Our emotions can lead us to do good work.

When Jesus had accomplished his 'cross and crown' mission of taking on the sins of the world and when the Roman officials were finished with him, a soldier took a spear to his side to determine if he was dead or alive.  When the spear plunged in and out, Gospel writer John recalled that water and blood 'poured out'  from Jesus' side.  Water and blood being poured out of Jesus.  God's compassion and mercy all over the place.  God's power.  The same power when water washed over Jesus at the Jordan River and God's voice said... "this is my son, my beloved; listen to him."  The same power when water was turned into wine at a Cana village wedding.  The same power when, during Passover, Jesus took a chalice of wine reserved for the prophet Elijah and ordered his disciples to keep drinking 'this cup'... a new covenant via his blood... and remember always, never forgetting his love for them.  Plural. For us.  Plural.  Not singular.  For them... for all of us. Water. Wine.  Blood.  Grace.  Forgiveness of sins.  Guys, guts and God's glory ... Jesus being with us... really present now and forever.

In Paul's Letter to Titus (chapter 3)  he writes... 

"God’s people should be big-hearted and courteous.  It wasn't so long ago that we ourselves were stupid and stubborn, dupes of sin, ordered every which way by our glands, going around with a chip on our shoulder, hated and hating back. But when God, our kind and loving Savior God, stepped in, he saved us from all that. It was all his doing; we had nothing to do with it. He gave us a good bath, and we came out of it new people, washed inside and out by the Holy Spirit. Our Savior Jesus poured out new life so generously. God’s gift has restored our relationship with him and given us back our lives. And there’s more life to come—an eternity of life! You can count on this."  (The Message)

One of the things I've come to consider recently... without any intention to harm or diminish clarity ... the language we use in our conversations of faith, theological descriptors and even in our worship a certain kind of confusion exists for those who walk the streets of "Struggles in Life Blvd," "Wrestling With God Row" and "Seeking A New and Better Way to Live" Circle. 

Here are three examples...

1. We ask others, "where do you go to church"?  In asking, the presumption is about the person.  Singular.  Not plural.  Would it be better if we began to ask the same concern by the query... "Tell me about your faith community?  Church is plural.  Never singular.  Jesus didn't die on the cross to save ME or YOU... that's the personal witness... Jesus died to redeem "the cosmos"... all of life... all of creation!  This shift in questioning moves the focus from one person to a group of people.  Remember, Jesus sent his followers in groups and no less than 2's.
2. For centuries our worship services have ended with the blessing and benediction (Numbers 6:22-27) from Aaron to God's people... "the Lord bless YOU and keep YOU; the Lord make his face shine on YOU and be gracious to YOU... " and most of you reading this blog can finish the blessing... but here's the rub... when Aaron said those words, the people of God heard with their Hebrew ears the 'plural' form of YOU... not the singular.  So did our German and Scandinavian ancestors as their native tongue had distinctions of singular and plural.  Spanish makes that distinction as well.  Our English language has inferences to both, but we use the same word... YOU... so I'm thinking that many people come to worship get their 'personal' blessing and can't hear the plural form when the words are spoken.  This may explain or describe how attitudes of 'individualism' in our culture are wearing down our sense of corporate.  Is there a connection between 1 and 2?  Knowing the distinction can minimize the confusion and fallout.
3. In some places we like to say, "Amen" when we agree with another's comment... and especially following a spirited sermon!  But, many of us were taught 'amen' means... 'truly, truly' or 'let it be so' ... and let it go at that... but the term, 'amen' has a more powerful image for us than most think about... 'amen' has it's roots in the Aramaic term, "emunah" (pronounced EM- OOO- Nah') and literally means... "stand fast, hold your ground" or 'keep your place; don't let 'em push you around.'  It's exactly what Jesus did in every circumstance.  He had guts for God.  He held his ground, stood fast and did not let anyone push him around.  His desire to be compassionate, hold inner affections for people in all circumstances of life was clear.  Blood.  Water.  Poured out. For the sake of the world.  Amen?  Amen.  Someone told me that Jesus was the ONLY man who ever accomplished everything he set out to do...

Again, it's what Paul wrote to Titus...

"I want you to put your foot down. Take a firm stand on these matters so that those who have put their trust in God will concentrate on the essentials that are good for everyone."   (The Message)

We're a year away yet, but I'm looking forward to the Triennial Lutheran Men in Mission National Gathering in Nashville, TN  July 18-19-20, 2014... please share with others...

http://www.lutheranmeninmission.org/events/triennial_gathering.html

Guys, guts and God's glory will be the focus and worth the trip and celebration... Why?Simple.  I can't be church by myself. Nor can you!  Plural.  Never singular.   I need other men in my life.... and it's good from time to time (every 3 years can be one of those times..) to step back and take stock of who I am... ask what I'm made of and to ask the one who gives and pours out life to feed me with what I need to be a man in mission... I hope you will do that, too!

One man at at time; no man left behind,

    Brian

"Resolution"

To all the KING'S Men...

K now Christ!

I nvite others to join God's team!

N urture your faith through prayer, worship & daily Bible reading!

G ive your time & money to support God's work in your congregation!''

' ( ' = a sign of "possession" and it's about "belonging"---who we are and whose we are!)

S peak well of your pastor and the men in your life! KING'S men...that's who we are!

Or think of it this way..."one man at a time...no man left behind..."

And if that doesn't strike you...try the ELCA's Lutheran Men in Mission "vision" statement...

"That every man grow in his relationship with Jesus Christ

through an effective men‘s ministry in every congregation."

KING'S Men...I pray that we all sense God's Holy Spirit leading us to be just that...

As people enter a new year, many find themselves barking out one resolution after another. I'm not even going to make a list of all the resolutions made on 12/31 or late in the afternoon on 1/1 because most of them are already undone...we've all been there...done that!

I did a quick look in five or six of my Bible translations, though...The Message, the NIV, the New Revised Standard Version and even in the People's Bible along with New King James Version...and as I tried to locate references to the word, "resolution," I found none.

The word, "resolution" does not appear in the scriptures! (If you find a translation where it does, please let me know!)

But, I'm not alarmed nor discouraged. After all, who needs a new year's resolution to begin to live a certain way or change a certain behavior, when Christian men like us are already given license to be reformed, transformed, conformed and informed by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God who is Jesus? But, if you are in compelled to look in the mirror of your own life and heart and if you desire to make positive adjustments in your doing and being...then consider some of these things before you leap...

When Paul wrote his letter to his friends at Ephesus, he reminded them that the world was dangerous. In fact, he called "his generation"---evil. He also reminded them that standing with one another, supporting and nurturing each other was a critical component to daily life in the Body of Christ. About 2000 years later, we see the world is not that much different...

• Of the men who married between 1970 and 1974, just 46% were still in that marriage after 30 years;
• Of the 72 million children in America under the age of eighteen, 33% of will go to bed tonight without a biological father in the house;
• Children in female-headed families are five times more likely to live in poverty, repeat a grade, and have signs of emotional problems compared to families where a father is present;
• More men in our culture will know that JFK and Marilyn Monroe hooked up once or twice than those who know Lydia was a seller of purple and provided a Jesus-style hospitality as reported in the Acts of the Apostles;
• By the time a child reaches the age of 6, he or she will have spent more face to face time with the TV or computer than they will with their father for the rest of their lives.

This may not sound like an overt list of evil, but this is a tell-tale sign that much in our life and culture is broken. Today in the news, a man with a good German Lutheran name (Schrenker) from Indiana was reported to have stolen investments monies from clients, his wife was filing for divorce, the local agents confiscated his 6 computers, his files and he was found at a road side rest in Florida after flying one of his two planes south, parachuted over Alabama (the plane was on auto-pilot and crashed in Florida) and then took a motorcycle out of the storage facility he rented and drove to Florida and is now in a Gainesville hospital after slitting his wrists. Was this guy a member of one of our Lutheran churches? I don't know and even if he wasn't, there had to be one nearby and so I ask, "how did the Christian men in his corner of the kingdom fail him?" "How did he fall through the cracks?" Is this just the first of more desperate actions to come by the men we know? What do we resolve to do about this?

Perhaps now more than ever, it is time for our pastors and our lay men to bond together to see that every congregation in our synod show signs of an active and engaging men's ministry. I'm not going to list all the ways that you can or should do this. Each congregation must prayerfully discern what is the best way to move forward in the context they find themselves. This blog-site is filled with stories and ideas and this blog-writer is willing to come and visit with your men (and pastor!) to find ways in your setting to train and support the ongoing work of men's ministry.

What are we RESOLVED to do? Who are we RESOLVED to become? When will we be RESOLVED to act? Why would we be content to be RESOLVED to do something else? And as the old Jewish proverb reminds us..."If not me, who; if not now, when?"

It is true that the word, "resolution" does not appear in the scriptures...

But the resolve of God in Christ is clear...we have been...

• created in the image of God to bear fruit in the world;
• wiped clean in our baptism from the stain of original sin;
• claimed by God and made members of the Body of Christ;
• gifted with the Holy Spirit with a power that the gates of hell cannot keep out;
• sent into the world to be light, leaven bringing hope and love to all around us.

Perhaps our new ELCA vision statement makes it more clear...

"God's Work. Our hands."

One of my favorite quotes is from St. Benedict... "ora et labora." It simply means, "pray and work" and that in the end is my daily resolution...it is the rythym of life...it is the path of God that gives meaning and purpose to life and reflects the resolve of Jesus whose prayers and work led him to the cross so that sin, death and the will of the evil one would no longer bind our hearts, minds and hands...

May your resolution be a revolution for you, God and the world...

One man at a time; no man left behind,

Brian