The Only One Worthy

I was reading Hebrews 11 last night and there was a small parenthesis that really caught my eye. It was this one: (men of whom the world was not worthy).

A friend once sort of poked fun at me for my fascination of parenthesis (or rather my excessive use of them haha), but in my opinion this parenthesis is worth extra mention: (men of whom the world was not worthy).

In Hebrews 11 verses 35 to 38 we read, “Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy) wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.”

Just think about that for a second: (Men of whom the world was not worthy)… If this world was not worthy of the types of men and women described in Hebrews 11 who suffered so much for their faith in a future Christ, how much more unworthy then do you think the world is to have received the object of these people’s faith, the person Jesus Christ, who came to dwell among us approximately 2010 years ago?

Extremely unworthy.

And yet it was this Christ that we did not consider worthy enough even to be given a decent place in which to be born.

We considerd Him unworthy even though it is us who aren't worthy of Him... just like this world considered the heroes of the faith unworthy when it was really the world that wasn't worthy of them.

It says about these men and women in Hebrews 11 that they wandered in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground… well, so did Christ.

In fact, Jesus started out his ministry by wandering in a desert, and even more, Jesus once said that “foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Luke 9:58).

Hebrews 11 says that these people were, “stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword, they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill treated…” and well, so was Christ.

The gospels do not record Jesus as being stoned or sawn in two, but Luke mentions that there were some from a synagogue who wanted to throw him off a cliff (4:29).

And as for being tempted: Jesus was too. The writer of Hebrews refers to Jesus when he says that our high priest was tempted in all things as we are, yet was without sin (4:15).

And what about being put to death by the sword? Jesus wasn’t put to death by a sword (he was rather put to death on a cross - a method far worse); but regardless, the weapon here stated reminds me of John 19 where it says that a soldier pierced Jesus’ side with a spear which caused both blood and water to come gushing out as proof of Jesus’ death (v.34).

And how about the garments that Jesus wore? I do not know that Jesus ever went about in sheepskins or goatskins, but as he hung there dying on the cross, John 19:24 says that the very clothes that Jesus did have – even those were taken away from him by those standing by.

And as for being destitute, afflicted, and ill treated: that was practically Jesus’ trademark. Isaiah 53:3 describes him as being “despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief”… and a few verses later in Isaiah 53:7 it also says, “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth.”

Concerning Jesus’ mockings and scourgings: Mark 15:16-19 says, “The soldiers took Him away into the palace, and they called together the whole Roman cohort. They dressed Him up in purple, and after twisting a crown of thorns, they put it on Him; and they began to acclaim Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They kept beating His head with a reed, and spitting on Him, and kneeling, and bowing before Him.

And as for being tortured and not accepting His release: Mark 15:29-32 says, “Those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads, and saying, “Ha! You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!” In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking Him among themselves and saying, He saved others, He cannot save Himself. ‘Let this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!’ Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.” … all the while, these people did not realize that this Jesus whom they were insulting very well could have accomplished all these things that they were demanding of Him (and a whole lot more as well), but instead He chose not to.

And finally, as for His resurrection: in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 Paul says, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.”

But it is Paul’s recognition of himself as being the one who is unworthy as being the correct assertion.

We are so unworthy to have had the Son of God come into our world, but we are even less worthy to have had His Spirit come into the hearts of we who believe. And yet this is precisely the reason why the Son of God came into the world – to give us the opportunity to be forgiven and to have His Spirit come into our hearts.

Isaiah 53:3 says, “He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

We did not esteem Him, yet the following verses show that Jesus did not view us in this same light. Verses 4 and 5 continue saying, “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried… He was pierced through for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the chastising for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.”

Amazing.

It is actually us, the truly unworthy ones, who have been given the opportunity to be forgiven by the only truly worthy One – the Son of God.

Verses 39 and 40 of Hebrews 11 go on to say that "All these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect."

All the things that these men and women did in gaining their approval from God, they were really done because of the faith that they had in the one who would eventually suffer like them - in Jesus Christ. It was Him that they were looking forward to; and as a result, they considered their persecutions worthwhile because of the faith that they had in the coming Messiaha. They considered their trials unworthy of their care in comparison to the care for the faith that they had in the only one that is worthy.

In an opositely similar way, Jesus also considered His sufferring worthwhile, but it was for the sake of our souls and because of that (and also a whole lot more), that we are not worthy of Him, but somehow it is because of this that God considers us worthy to enter in His presence.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 says this: "Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

So be it.

Slimy Skinned Brethren

A little while back I was explaining to a friend what it meant for me to come from a “Brethren background” (yeah, I know, veeeeery complicated topic), and so part of my explanation included something about how among our circles we often think of the word “denomination” as kind of like a cuss word haha.

So I’m pretty sure that my friend thought that I was pretty crazy for saying something like that because she was like, “I don't see why you would say denomination is like a cuss word. They are so apperent.  An evangelical church is nothing like a brethren church* and a presbyterian church nothing like a baptist church. Not only are they different but they are identified differently. It's like distinguishing a frog from a toad- the words have to be there or part of the meaning is lost.”

Randea

And so that definitely got me thinking because I actually think that presbyterian, baptist, evangelical, and brethren congregations are in fact pretty close to being something like each other [and so naturally, I had to Google up the words “frog” and “toad”, and guess what? Toads are frogs! haha (and you can ask Google here if you don’t believe me)].

Toad

But anyways, apparently the word “frog” is the broader name for the various types of amphibianatic type animals such as toads and ranidea (and you can look at the pictures to see some of those differences), but even among these two sub-groups, apparently there can at times be some ranidea that seem very much toadish and similarly, at times there can be some toads that seem very much ranideaish. In other words, while most toads are dry and warty skinned, "It is not uncommon, for example, to find a warty skinned frog that isn't a toad, or even a slimy toad!"

And so what I told my friend [and what I’m telling you right now (whether you would like to be my friend or not is your call)] is that in my mind it’s like the word “frog” would kind of be like the equivalent for the word “Christian” and so it’s like - why ever even bother with the word toad?… they’re still frogs haha … and so along the same thread of thinking - why ever even bother with the words brethren or evangelical or presbyterian or baptist? ...we’re all still Christians, right? (yeah, that was a rhetorical question, and the correct answer is yes, we are - if we believe in the Lord Jesus).

And so that is the point.

Sometimes I feel like the whole concept of denominations can detract from the point that if we believe in Jesus, then we are all part of the same body and that we all have the same Spirit and that we all share the same hope, and Lord, and faith, and baptism, and God and Father of all who is over all and through all, and in all (Ephesians 4:4-6).

And so I think that those things are really important.

And I also think that hey - those things are even more important than our differences.

So let me explain. Because sure, we each have our own distictives [and I would even try to defend my own distictives with a lot of zeal and a lot of Scripture (and if on some point I couldn’t defend them over someone else’s zeal and use of Scripture, I hope that I would change)]… but the point is that even within the Scriptures, there are noticeably some doctrines that carry a whole lot more weight than others.

And so that is not to say that all true doctrines are not important, because all true doctrines are important, but it is to say that some true doctrines are more important than other true doctrines… like for instance the main one that all of us Christians agree on - that by believing in Jesus as the Son of God we are saved from our sins.

Martin Luther

And so see, I really believe that all Christians have the ability (and I think we should also all have the desire) to study the Scriptures for ourselves (and by the way, that was one of Martin Luther’s main points that he fought for as he challenged the Catholic church) but undoubtedly, as we are engaging in this process of studying the Scriptures for ourselves, there will inevitably be some instances in which we will come to a point where we will disagree with one another… perhaps with a brother, perhaps with a sister... and it will be as though we are taking two different sides and neither one of us will want to budge.

And so, I can almost guarantee it that as this starts to happen it will start to be very tempting to forget to love one another… But let me ask this: what is the second greatest commandment? [That’s another rhetorical question by the way… and the answer is to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:38)] And you know something? The last time I checked, that commandment went before the one that says “Thou shall defend thy beliefs with all thy heart and soul and mind” {where that one is located I’m not exactly sure, [but it sounds a lot like the one that says we are to “love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and mind (Matthew 22:37)”… (and so I think that that’s why a lot of us get them mixed up you know? - because the second one I mentioned is actually the first, but they both sound pretty similar)]}. [And in case you didn’t get the joke, “Thou shall defend thy beliefs with all thy heart and soul and mind” isn’t really a commandment in the Bible (or at least it’s not an explicit one)].

Ok, At least it’s not an explicit one… hm. But wait a second! What if it is - implicit? (uh-oh, here we go again)… Some may argue that defending Scripture actually maybe could be a part of loving God… and well - I have to admit that that is a pretty great argument.

The thing is that the first commandment of loving God and the second commandment of loving our neighbor – they are both very much intertwined - in fact, 1 John 4 verses 20 and 21 say, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.”   

  

So let me say this: there is a very fine line between passionately defending Scripture and loving our neighbor while we do it, and passionately defending Scripture and not loving our neighbor while doing it. Obviously, I would argue for the first.

Because see, I’m all for debating and arguing what we believe in (because doing so will ultimately make us sharper), but we have to understand that when we do it we have to do it in love because otherwise we will have lost the battle even before having started it.

It is ironic because the Brethren background which I am a part of originally found its strength in challenging certain doctrines or practices that clearly were wrong within the Anglican movement of the initial part of the 19^th century; but this same movement which I am a part of has since found many of its own weaknesses in challenging certain doctrines or practices that are clearly not so wrong even within our own movement in both part of the 19^th and all of the 20^th Century (will it also be characteristic of the 21^st?).

So I hope that we can know how to choose our battles well, because it is true that there is strength in numbers. It's just that at times it seems like us Brethren have some kind of numeric phobia haha, and we divide ourselves before we ever get too big (and I’m talking like my dad right now… but wouldn’t it be better if we multiplied?), of course it would.

But another funny fact is that right now I’m living in the 21^st century and I find nothing wrong with reading books by John Stott and C.S. Lewis (who actually are both from Anglican backgrounds), while at the same time reading Jim Eliot’s journals or books by Alexander Strauch (who contrarilly are both from Brethren backgrounds). In fact, I find myself being edified by reading books from all four authors. [Or with reference to C.S. Lewis and Jim Eliot – maybe it should be “were,” because I know that they have both gone on to glory (… or maybe that would actually still put them in the “are” section, right? - like since they are currently living with God in heaven?)].

And so that’s another funny thing, isn’t it? That C.S. Lewis and Jim Eliot are probably both in heaven right now having a great time uniting with each other in their worship of the Father, while at the same time we’re here on earth still dividing ourselves over a few controversial issues... hm. Perhaps some of the division is valid (I’m not saying that it isn’t), but I still just think it's funny.

               

C.S. Lewis

Jim Elliot

Lastly, I just finished reading Lake Wobegon Days by Garrison Keillor [who incidentally also comes from a Brethren background (although he probably isn’t as proud of that heritage as some of us)], and in a very interesting way, he talks about his childhood and a special kind of merchandise that many people would buy which had verses strategically located on them so that those who read the merchandise would be edified as their eyes happened to fall upon the verses. Some of this merchandise included a telephone-book cover that said, “Let no corrupt communication pass out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying. Eph. 4:29”, a wastebasket (“Touch not the unclean thing. 2Cor.6:17”), and even an umbrella (“Giving thanks always for all things. Eph.5:20”).

Garrison Keillor

And then Garrison Keillor comments this: “I felt that so much Scripture floating around might tend to harden some hearts, that Scripture should be treated with reverence and not pasted to any flat surface you could find – at least, that was what I said when Brethren asked why I didn’t carry a “The Peace of God Passeth all Understanding” book bag to school. In fact, I was afraid I would be laughed off the face of the earth.

Then he adds a paragraph explaining his concern towards his relationship with a certain girl. He says, “My dad’s car sported a compass on the dashboard with, “I am the Way” inscribed in luminescent letters across its face, clearly visible in the dark to a girl who might be sitting beside me. “Why do you have that?” she might say. “It’s not mine, it’s my dad’s,” I’d say. “I don’t know why, I guess he likes it there.” I wanted her and me to be friends and our conversation to head in the direction of personal feelings, The Importance of Being Free and Sharing Love, and not toward the thorny subject of obedience, which tended to put a damper on things. The compass wasn’t easily removed; you’d have to get behind the instrument panel to remove the nuts. I thought of covering it with masking tape, but that might only draw attention to it. So I hung my cap on it.” (p. 142).

“I wanted her and me to be friends and our conversation to head in the direction of personal feelings, The Importance of Being Free and Sharing Love, and not toward the thorny subject of obedience, which tended to put a damper on things.” I like that.

Yeah, being obedient to the Word of God is definitely a really important thing, but I think that Garrison Keillor’s emphasis on “The Importance of Being Free and Sharing Love,” can at times be even more important. Perhaps always more importnt (provided we’re talking about agape love and the freedom that we have in Christ).

So therefore, whether I’m just a slimy skinned Brethren (which really means that I'm just a part of a sub-group of what it is for me to actually be a Christian)… or whether I’m just a purebred Christian who has a few Brethren tendencies; I don’t really know (and neither do I really care); but whatever I am, I know that all things are mine, and I am of Christ, and Christ is of God (1 Corinthians 3:21-23). 

 

And that's the main point.       

*Another disclaimer is that for us, the word “church”, when it’s used in this context is also considered kind of like a cuss word because we don’t really think we have the right to consider ourselves the church (we are part of the church, yes, but the church as a whole is everyone who believes in Christ) and so that being the case, we would generally rather use the word “assembly” or “chapel” or something like that haha… I know it’s kind of funny – but we tend to be pretty particular… what can I say?

--------------------------------
Pictures Used:

http://allaboutfrogs.org/weird/general/frogtoad.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther
http://www.inspirationalchristians.org/biography/jim-elliot/
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/joeljmiller/2012/11/giving-thanks-for-c-s-lewis/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrison_Keillor

I Fish Therefore I Lie

The day before last I went camping with five of my friends out to a lagoon... although it actually might have been a lake (I’m not really sure what the difference is)… but the point is that we went camping out near a larger body of water than a pond but not a large enough body of

water to be considered a sea or an ocean.

It was pretty eventful, and we caught a few fish.

Fishing is a new deal for me because I was a city slicker growing up so there wasn’t much opportunity for that kind of thing, and besides, my dad and I are the only ones in my family that eat fish so we never had too much incentive to go fishing even when we had the chance.

Fishing was cool though because it made me think a lot about Peter, Andrew, James, and John. They were all fishers of fish, but Jesus called them to be fishers of men (Mark 1:17). It’s interesting how Jesus associated fishing with evangelizing... as if maybe he intended that we approach the act of winning people over to Himself in the same way that we would approach winning fish over to our stomachs… or to other people’s stomachs haha.

But this was different because San Jose is rural and because scavenging for meat is a popular activity among my friends. Because of them, I can now say that I have experienced both aquatic and terrestrial meat scavenging! ... hmm, so I guess the only one remaining would be aerial, but don’t worry, I’ll try to get after that as well and when I do I’ll be sure to write you about it (I still don’t think scientists have discovered any astronomical possibilities, but if that ever happens, you can expect another entry along those lines as well).

In our approach to catching fish we used three methods: spreading out a long net across a substantial width of a part of the lagoon and leaving it there to see what would happen, throwing out and pulling in a smaller net into various parts around the lagoon to see what else would happen, and last and definitely least, throwing a nylon string with a hook at the end of it into a very small part of the lagoon to see if anything at all would happen.

So for starters, Eliecer, Sergio, and I went out to set up the larger net. It was so cool because just as we were doing it, we caught this really huge fish (they always say that fisher’s are liars and if you saw it you would probably be like, come on Sam, that is not a huge fish, but to me it was, and besides, it was the biggest one we caught all night)… but we caught it and it was like all three of us were really pumped and I started gutting it out but it felt more like I was dissecting it because it was just so awesome, and then Eliecer said that if you catch a good first fish, that’s a good sign of good luck.

And that made me think and so I said, “I don’t believe in luck” and Sergio asked, “why not?” and I was like, “because I believe in God” and so then Eliecer said “well, who’s the one that gives the luck?” and I was like, “God.” So I guess that settled it haha.

To turn this into an analogy though, an interesting thing is that since the time I came to San Jose, the first guy I
shared the gospel with is a guy called Elkin and to the right is a picture of him and me about a year ago. As of two weeks last Sunday he was the first one from our group to get baptized and underneath is another picture of him along with another girl who got baptized that same day and another man who helped me do the baptizing… I tend to consider Elkin a pretty big fish because I think he has a lot of potential for leadership. And Nelly (the other one in the picture who got baptized as well), she also has a lot to contribute and has contributed, but she's switching ponds because she's going to be moving to Bogota next week.

But back to the story… the next thing that Eliecer, Sergio, and I did was to go out and start fishing with the smaller net. Sergio would paddle in the back, Eliecer would throw the net in the front, and I would sit in the middle telling Sergio where to paddle and Eliecer where to throw haha. Pretty sweet set up huh? It was funny because Eliecer and Sergio started telling me that the next time they got close to the shore they would leave me there and pick up Fernando because all I would do was give them orders and at least Fernando would take pictures haha.  

The fish we caught in the smaller net were smaller ones and I wanted to gut all of them out but Sergio told
me I shouldn’t until we get back on shore. That being the case I would line them all up and count them every time we had some more come in. After a while Eliecer told me I shouldn’t do that because it was bad luck to count the fish.

  

That also kind of made me think because obviously I don’t believe in luck, but I always thought it was interesting how in the Bible one of King David’s big mistakes was to count his soldiers (2 Samuel 24:10). At first it’s like, come on, what’s so bad about having a little census every now and then? But I guess the reason why God didn’t want David to have a little census every now and then was because when you’re doing a little census you never want it to be little, you always want it to be big, and when it is, you want to use that fact to help you feel good about yourself. Either that, or David would then base all of his military decisions exclusively on the amount of soldiers he had, and he would cease to give glory to God and he would forget that the battle belongs to the Lord (Psalm 20:7).

I’m not saying that numbers aren’t important, because they are (Acts 11:21, 24-25), but the truth is that God is the one that causes the increase (1 Corinthians 3:6). Sometimes I get annoyed at the fact that there’s this one gentleman from Bogotá who calls me up pretty frequently, and I mean I know that all he wants to do is help and I know that his heart is right for sure, but it’s just like the first question he always asks is, “and how many people showed up to the Sunday morning gathering last week?” And it’s just like man, well maybe if we were growing like crazy I wouldn't mind telling you about it, but some weeks we’ll just have like 15 and once we even had as low as 9… BUT (and this is an old Indian trick I recently discovered)… if you really believe in prayer, then maybe it’s better you just mention the low numbers because that way people will pray harder haha.

I don’t know, I think that maybe it’s good to not be so caught up with numbers sometimes because when you’re doing your best you know it, and when you’re not you know that too, but it’s not your best or your worst that controls those things, it’s God. And although we DO have to do our best and although we DO have to be strategic, the biggest thing is that we have to put our faith in the Lord of the Harvest and follow Him wherever it is that He leads us. I mean, for me here in San Jose, a gathering of 9 people is pretty small, but then again if I was a missionary say in the 10-40 window man, 9 people coming to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and meeting together to pray, break bread, study the Word, and fellowship in one year would be ridiculously awesome!               

So hats off to those of you serving in the 10-40 window.

 

In this picture we actually all have our hats on.

But another lesson I learned on our fishing trip is that sometimes following the Lord’s will can be uncomfortable (See Luke 9:57-62).

Since I was the one sitting in the middle of the boat doing nothing but giving orders and asking questions (but I mean honestly, it’s not like I was giving thaaaat many orders), I asked Eliecer “Why do you always throw the net to your left and never to your right?” And this time his response had nothing to do with luck. In fact, what I’m about to tell you is so interesting because it proves that Peter or whoever it was that was the one throwing the net in the story where Peter and the six other disciples went fishing after the death of Jesus – whoever it was that was doing it, was a righty as opposed to a lefty (awesome discovery right? haha, way to go Sam, you should be a detective)! See, Eleicer is a righty and so when I asked him why he never threw the net to the right, he told me it was because it’s uncomfortable.

If you’re right handed, it’s more natural to throw the net with your right hand in front of your left and swing

your arms out towards your left as you release the net. In the story of Jesus and the disciples in John chapter 21 it says that Jesus, while standing on the shore of the lake told the 7 disciples to throw the net to their right. I’m sure that must have been like the most ridiculous thing for them to hear in the whole world because it’s like what difference would it make, right? Left. (That was supposed to be a pun, get it, like instead of saying wrong? haha). I’m kidding. I think it was ridiculous enough, but I mean they hadn’t even caught anything all night, so why not give it a shot? I’m sure it was the most clumsy, ungraceful net throw in the history of net throwing, but it was also the most miraculous. The passage says the disciples weren’t even able to haul the net IN because it was so full of fish (v. 6)!

Now I already told you that fishermen like to lie, but this is God’s word we’re talking about and I know that  It’s interesting that the disciple who threw the net had to do it in the most uncomfortable and ungraceful way possible. I wonder if I’m willing to do what Jesus is calling me to do even though I know it’s going to be really uncomfortable and really awkward. I know that there are a lot of times that I’m not willing. So Lord, please help me be willing.
God doesn’t lie, so it must be true (Numbers 23:19). They caught tons of fish because they threw the net into the water on the right hand side just like Jesus told them to. And it didn’t have anything to do with luck. None whatsoever. It had to do with the fact that God ordained it that way and they obeyed. And so we also have to obey whatever it is that God ordains.

But I want to ask you if you’ve been neglecting to do the Lord’s will simply for the sake of your personal comfort? You never know, there could be a huge catch just waiting to be caught on the other side. Lord, please save us from comfort. Whether there is or whether there isn’t a huge catch, is irrelevant (Habakkuk 3:17-19), our responsibility is to obey. So Lord, please help us obey.

Stuff like Salvation and Soccer Shorts

A couple Saturdays ago something pretty interesting happened at youth group – actually it was more than interesting, I hope that in some ways it was life changing. It was trivial but at the same time important, it was secular but at the same time spiritual, it was easy but at the same time difficult… the story has to do with 7 pairs of soccer shorts that were nothing more than a gift.

So as for context… about 8 months ago two friends from college came down here to San Jose and they were like the talk of town. They came to visit just as the group I’ve been trying to form was starting to take shape and in fact, the group back then was even bigger than what it is now… I guess that anything new can draw more crowds… anything new and somewhat American may draw even more.

And so my two friends: they came down and they’re even more new and more American than I (except for one who’s like Guatemalan, so actually… I guess that that would only make one of them American, but I mean they were both new and the other is pretty straight up American too it’s just he doesn’t look like it), but anyway, they came down and they were like the talk of town, right?

So we do the meeting – it was amazing actually. The youth group that night stands out in my recollection as being one of the coolest youth group’s we’ve ever had. Afterwards (at about 10 at night) all 25 of us go to the soccer court to play a pick up game… I mean this group breathes soccer.

Now jump seven months ahead.

I go to the States for a wedding and meet up with the same Guatemalan friend and he asks me how the group is doing. I tell him about it you know, that it’s a bit smaller; some have left, some have matured; we all definitely know each other more and I fully believe that many even know God a lot more… and that well, that soccer is still a pretty big deal as well.

We go to Sports Authority and my friend decides he wants to buy the group some soccer shorts. I tell him that’s awesome and that the group would be thrilled to get a present like that and so I help him pick out 7 really awesome royal blue Adidas soccer shorts.

My friend’s name is Pepe by the way [I’m telling you that just because this is getting really annoying trying to describe him without using his name, and so that’s his name – Pepe – and at three o’clock (that’s a military way of saying to your right) you can look at a picture of him].

…So I get back from the States to San Jose and rumor has it that I had met up with Pepe and that he bought the group some soccer shorts. I had told him from the start that he should write a card specifying who they were for because I totally knew that it was going to be somewhat of a big deal for me to try to determine who should get the shorts; but you know – the wedding and all, hanging out with all our old friends – it sort of slipped our minds; and so just as we’re giving each other a big hug and saying good bye he tells me to figure it out on my own and just tell them all hi for him. Telling them all hi for him, that was easy.

At first I start thinking we should just have like a soccer camp or something where anyone who is interested enough and who loves soccer enough could work really hard and then at the end of the day we would give out the shorts to the 7 that try their hardest, have the best attitude, and play the best.

One of the best players however, (this guy is named Franklin and he’s probably my best friend and, like Pepe, on the left a picture of him for you as well), he tells me he doesn’t work that way. That if we have a camp like that, that he won’t go because he knows that everyone is going to try hard and everyone who goes should be able to get a pair and he doesn’t want anyone to feel left out.

Fair enough. That’s a pretty valid argument but I still have the shorts and I still have to give them away and so my next idea is that if our team thinks we’re so bad and everything (when I say ‘bad’ like that I actually mean that we’re pretty good and it’s kind of goofy and it really doesn’t make any sense but sometimes it’s just cool to talk like that, that’s all)… but if we think we’re so bad, then maybe we should just play a game against another group of guys that I’ve kind of been getting to know, and then whoever wins, that team gets the shorts. There are 7 from our team (5 starters and 2 subs) and so that works well, and the other team, well, if they win, then I guess they can just figure out the whole shorts thing for themselves.   

But then our team captain (Eliecer is his name and he’s Franklin’s brother and he’s definitely also one of the other best players on the team), now HE tells me that HE doesn’t work that way and that if Pepe sent the shorts for the people in the group, then they should stay in the group.

Ok, so that’s another really valid argument and so by this time I’m running out of options and so it starts to dawn on me that what Franklin and Eliecer are saying is totally right. That a gift is a gift and that you can’t play around with it and neither can you make it conditional.   

All right, so my next great idea is to just hand the shorts out, just like that. But the thing is that there’s like 20 people in our group and yes, 7 of us make up the soccer team, but of the 13 that remain, probably another 7 of them not only play but likewise enjoy soccer and there’s simply not enough to go around. The 7 that aren’t part the team, they’re not part of the team but they’re still eligible for the gift. And Pepe never said that the shorts were just for the team, he said they were for the group, and so I have to be fair and offer the shorts to everyone, and so I guess the way it should work is that whoever really wants a pair can just go ahead and take one.

So that’s my plan. That’s my plan, and that’s what I’m going to do and so I take the shorts with me to the youth group and that night I speak from Romans 3:21-31.

The bulk of the message is that if we are justified (in other words, declared good) by grace (which means, by a free gift) through faith (or else, by believing), than it is no longer by works (or by trying to be good or by trying to not be bad) so that no one can boast (be arrogant or proud)… and another important verse by the way is verse 31 which says, “Do we then nullify (erase) the law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish (more vividly draw) the Law.”

So we get into that passage and interpret it and talked about how in heaven there will likely be a lot of bad people and that in hell there will likewise and likely be a lot of good people, but that being good or being bad is irrelevant. That it is only the ones who receive the free gift of God that will be saved… that the criminal that died on the cross next to Jesus was declared righteous and so consequently, that day that the criminal died… well he was still going to die, but he was going to die and then meet up again with Jesus in paradise… that even though salvation is by faith, that doesn’t mean that we then nullify the law and live recklessly in sin once we have attained our salvation. Right?

Right. So after explaining all of that I picked up my bag and placed it in the middle of the circle and said that if Pepe sent these shorts for the people of our group who play soccer and that if he sent them as a gift; then anyone who wants a pair, all they have to do is get up and get one.

At first nothing happened. They all just sat there silently and looked to the middle at the bag of shorts. Then the first to get up was one of our second string players that hadn’t come to the group in like 3 months but happened to be there with us that day and so he got up and grabbed his pair and then sat down. Next went the other second string player and so there were 5 left. The thing was that our team captain Eliecer wasn’t there and so he couldn’t go to the middle to get one, and then I wasn’t about to get up and get one, and so to keep tabs, that left 5 shorts and 3 starters. At that moment there were 2 guys that aren’t on the team but that play soccer and who definitely wanted a pair and so they both got up and were kind of laughing and were like, well, if all I have to do is stand up and grab a pair then sweet, let’s do it – free shorts!

At this point you could fully tell that Franklin and Harrinson (the other two starters excluding the goalie), fully understood what was going on but there was no way that they were going to get up and grab their corresponding pairs of shorts because I guess that they just don’t work that way (haha, just kidding) no, they weren’t going to get up and grab their pairs of shorts because they aren’t proud players and neither did they want Eliecer nor I to be excluded. So then what happened was that the goalie got up, grabbed the remaining three pairs, took one for himself, and gave the other 2 to Franklin and Harrinson.

I started talking again because I wanted to make another point, but Franklin just couldn’t handle it anymore and got up and like moved the chair in front of him and left the room.

I asked everyone else how they felt, if they felt kind of left out because they didn’t get anything, and a few people said that even though they didn’t get anything they still thought it was really cool that Pepe had thought about them in that way and so in that sense they felt honored, but yeah, a lot of them just remained quiet.

So I was like see, just like what you’re feeling right now because you didn’t get a gift, so there will be a lot of people that will die without having received the gift of salvation that will feel a million times worse. So we need to go and share the gift with them as well.

I told the two guys that weren’t on the team that maybe they could share the shorts if we ever had a game where we all had to be in uniform but I mean the point is that there was a giver – Pepe – but that then there needed to be someone to take the gift to the receivers – and in this case it was me, but on a spiritual plane, that needs to be all of us.

And so then I shared a little from John 3:16 and yeah, I didn’t even get into it because I still don’t fully understand it, but the illustration could even be taken further if you were trying to talk about predestination and pre-condemnation, but yeah, I mean that’s really heavy stuff, and like I said, I guess I fully don’t understand all of that quite yet either.

But what I do understand is that God is not one to show partiality (having favorites)… but that in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him (Acts 10:34-35). And that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed (spoken) and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things that he could not be freed from through the law of Moses (Acts 13:38-39). And that God is now declaring (speaking) to men that all people everywhere should repent (change directions) (Acts 17:30). And that to be saved we must believe in the Lord Jesus (Acts 16:30-31).

And so that is what is really awesome, and that is what I’m working towards here in San Jose. I know that there are some in the group that have already taken hold of these promises and they’ve repented of their sins and they now live in the freedom that’s offered through Christ and so that’s really exciting. But I also know that there are some who perhaps still don’t know Jesus and so the message goes out to them.

But what I think was really interesting was to see the different people’s responses to the gift of shorts and it was so awesome how the guy who hadn’t come to the group in like three months was the first to get his pair. He told me numerous times beforehand that he had wanted to go but he felt embarrassed in going because it had been so long since he had. Apparently his embarrassment for standing up to be the first one to receive a free gift wasn’t that great and so maybe he’s likewise already received the gift of salvation despite the fact that he doesn’t come to our group.

And the two who don’t play on the team but still play soccer – perhaps there are many in this world who don’t necessarily fit in with the status quo of contemporary Christianity, but yet deep inside they have a real relationship with Christ and they joyfully, perhaps even hysterically, believe in him.

An interesting fact is this: the second string felt no shame in standing up to receive their shorts and this speaks strongly to me because perhaps in Christianity I’ve never been the second string. Perhaps I’ve always been part of what would be considered the first string, part of the privileged elite, and in the times of Jesus it was those guys that were actually the ones that had the hardest time believing…

Am I too proud to get up there in total recognition of my desire for the free gift of salvation because I know too much? Are you? Cowardly sitting in a chair to watch others go ahead to receive something you desperately want and need is far different from politely and sacrificially sitting in a chair to let others go ahead and receive something of which there isn’t enough to go around. The first is a fatal mistake that will result in eternal damnation; the second is a true sign of leadership. And I’m talking about salvation in the first, and I’m talking about shorts in the second. 

This story is dedicated to my sister Betsy who’s birthday was on the same day I wrote this.

Impacting Experience

The night before last a few of my friends invited me to accompany them to the local slaughter house… I'm always opened to new experiences like that so without thinking twice, I eagerly accepted their invitation.

It was about eleven thirty at night and we all got on our bikes to head twenty minutes out of town to take part in what was perhaps the most impacting experience for me ever since I started living here in San Jose...

Carrying some kitchen knives in our hands, I commented that this was probably like the most dangerous way possible to be riding our bikes but that it was kind of cool because I felt like we were part of some sort of dangerous gang or something. As usual, we all joked around as we rode along, and the boys all told me about how delicious their moms could cook up some of this meat that we were about to scavenge at the slaughter house...

Us three older guys were carrying the knives while the three younger guys were riding around in circles popping all their favorite wheelies and bike stunts, and we finally arrived to where we were headed.

My five friends threw down their bikes and ran past the opened gate to about four or five barrels of cow horns, legs, ears, intestines, livers etc... the worst was a little off to the side were a few cow fetus' that were also lying there in the blood free for the taking. It was a crude site and I started to feel nauseous at the revolting smell of it.

But we weren't alone. Along with us were about fifteen to twenty other people quickly digging through these barrels as well...One of the butchers told us to hurry along because I guess the supervisor didn't like it that the workers would give out the left overs like this for free, but this was food for these people, and none of it was to be wasted.

As one of my closest friends grabbed the largest of the fetus', I looked along as he kneeled down and awkwardly cut off the fetus' head and the blood spilled out and mixed with a puddle of water there on the platform.

At that moment it all started to come to me. The blood mixing with the water, the crude smell of death, the people scavenging the meat, the open gate...

A slaughter house is perhaps the closest illustration we have today to remind us of Golgotha.

Hebrews 13 tells us, "And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. (v.12)" Slaughter houses are located outside of cities because people don't want to have to be reminded of the death that occurs there. And Jesus was also crucified outside of the city gate, but the encouragement is to go to Him there. Outside the camp, and bear the disgrace He bore (v.13).

I asked my friends how often they would come to the slaughter house and they said they might do it once every month, but they said there were people that would go every day. They would live off the clippings and they would rush to be the first ones there.

Have we tamed our Savior's sacrifice? Do we truly see Him as The Lamb that was led to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:7)? Or have we become so accustomed to nicely packaged meat that we forget the gruesome death He bore? Some of these people from San Jose pass through the slaughter house gate every day to get their sustenance. Do we pass through the gate of Golgotha every day to sustain our weary hearts?

Jesus' dying request was that we would remember Him in such a way. We have the bread and the cup to bring to memory this sacrifice, let's not so seldom or so lightly take part in it.