on the edge

We would like to be on an even keel, completely calm, with no troubles, temptations, trials, or sins. This is not life in the here and now for us in Jesus.

Yes, the kingdom of God is a matter or righteousness, peace and joy by the Holy Spirit. And this should be a part of our experience. But we live in an existence contrary to the way of life in Jesus because of the world, the flesh and the devil.

So living in Jesus in this world involves living on the edge, so to speak. What I mean is not that we can feel free to deviate a bit from the straight and narrow. Not at all! But we must get comfortable with the reality that our lives here are not about being comfortable. That the way is narrow and difficult to life, and that we go through many hardships.

So we need to accustom and harden ourselves to the fact that life won't be easy here. Grace is free but not cheap, and full commitment alone is costly in terms of what is valued by humans especially in terms of this world. We are indeed people in process, and we are in a war zone no less, in spiritual terms, so we'd best accustom ourselves to this, and just accept it as a part of our lot in this world, together, in Jesus.

What would you like to add to this?

Tomorrow chapter 3, "Stringing Pearls" in Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith, by Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg.

Jesus as Rabbi

From chapter 2: "Why a Jewish Rabbi?" from Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith, by Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg.

Jesus' calling and vocation was to be the one who was to come, the Messiah, through whom all of God's promises would be fulfilled. And we know that at the heart of this fulfillment is Jesus as Redeemer of God's people, and of the world.

But a crucial part of Jesus' calling and vocation was to be a Rabbi. As the authors point out, although the rabbinic era did not begin until after the fall of Jerusalem at 70 AD, still rabbis were important prior to this. Rabbi means "my master." Rabbis gathered disciples who lived and traveled with them as they taught. And rabbis first had to live out what they taught. What they taught was a way of life.

This is radically true in Jesus. He came as the one who would be what God had called Israel to be, as well as to fulfill all of God's promises to Israel, and through Israel to the world. Of course we in Jesus are called to continue in that mission because of what Jesus has uniquely done as Savior.

While Jesus was more than a Rabbi, his work as Rabbi is significant in the gospels in scope both in quantity and quality (content). Going through all four gospels one soon discovers that teaching is one central part of what Jesus did. And as already noted these Teachers, or Rabbis were not just imparting knowledge, but an entire way of life. Jesus' teaching was about living in the kingdom of God as God's new covenant people in him.

When you think of Jesus as Rabbi, what place do you believe this has for us today? It was important to Jesus' disciples and the people of that time, but how important was it for the early church? How important do you think it is for us today? And regardless of what you think on the last question, how is Jesus as Rabbi to impact us today? What are some of the ways we can begin to try to live this out today?

Next week we continue in the chapter, picking out another truth within this theme and question, "Why a Jewish Rabbi?" Plenty of time to get this book, and well worth both the reading and rereading of it, as well as studying and pondering its content.

accepting one's lot

When we look at the years following Jesus' birth, before his relatively short public ministry (around three years) we can speak of decades- three. Between Jesus' birth and public ministry there is not much Scripture tells us. About their flight from Bethlehem to Egypt and return with the move to Nazareth. And the incident in the Temple when Jesus was a boy of twelve. But other than that, we only can guess as to what Jesus' life was like.

It is evident that he learned Joseph's trade as a carpenter or stone mason (not sure as to what the word translated "carpenter" in our Bibles conveys on this). It is evident that he was also in submission to Joseph and Mary, even as Mary had to learn eventually to be submissive to him as her Lord (see Scot McKnight's book, The Real Mary, an excellent read Deb just recently finished).

In the way of Jesus we see the importance of accepting our lot. For some of us this involves being in places (need I say, climates, this time of the year?) that would not be high on our list to live in, for many of us this involves debt carried for perhaps some mistakes along with necessities, and college bills for children. And perhaps some of us are in difficult or troubled marriages, or less than ideal situations.

It's interesting that Jesus spent as much time as he did before launching out into public ministry. His mother had to wonder after receiving the promises from God through the angel, knowing firsthand the miraculous nature of Jesus' birth and the aftermath surrounding that, she had to wonder at the length of time Jesus seemed unengaged in messianic work. (Where is Joseph? We don't know. It does seem evident from the silence in Scripture that he was deceased by the time Jesus began his public ministry.) We know that Jesus' brothers (half brothers, of course) did not believe in him as Messiah until after Jesus' resurrection. We also know that in that society, Jesus was definitely "middle aged" when he began his ministry since life expectancy was only around the mid-forties or a little beyond that.

The way of Jesus we find in Scripture is the way of accepting and embracing one's lot from God. Jesus sought to live well with the Father where he was. Did that involve struggle and prayers? Not recorded for us, though surely it did, and surely what he was experiencing was preparatory for the ministry of three years. But the point made here for us is that part of the walk God has for us is to accept life as it is, not as we wish it would be. For some this will be much more difficult than for others. For a number of obvious and not so obvious reasons.

What we need to endeavor to do in Jesus is to live well in our circumstances and plight, in the lot we have. Lot has the idea of what is apportioned or given to us from God. Do we really believe that what we're living in is our lot from God? With the good and bad of it? Do we see it as the place in which God wants us to learn to follow him well, and live well? Or do we deny that for whatever reason, for a multitude of possible reasons?

I find it easy to want to bail out or somehow change my lot when I'm faced with new difficulties or suppose the grass would be greener elsewhere.

By faith we need to see God as the One who has given us life and calls us to be responsible to him and to others in the circumstances we now face. Some of our making, to be sure. But with the belief that God is able to turn everything for good, and that he is at work in our lives and circumstances. We need in Jesus to learn to accept and even embrace our lot. This is part of what God calls us to in Jesus. This is part of the way in Jesus along with the truth and life in him.

What would you like to share on this which might be helpful for us?