The Good Place (Why Christianity makes the most sense)

There is this amazing tv show called, "The Good Place" on NBC.

The basic plot of the show is a human named Eleanor was brought to the "Good Place" aka Heaven even though she lived a horrible life on earth. Throughout season one she discovers there is another person who "accidentally" got into the "Good Place"

There are plenty of twist and turns (which I will not spoil for you) but this show at least begins with the Hollywood or popular view of Heaven.

If I'm a good person on earth I will go to Heaven. Sure, I screw up but only the really bad people go to hell, like Hitler and ummmmmm Stalin, and ummmm terrorist?

And this is a great view until you start actually reading the Bible. Because when I read the Bible or I'm honest about my own life and the choices I've made I know there is no forking way I get into the "Good Place."

I actually had a conversation with a guy a few years ago who told me that he didn't need to repent because he didn't really sin. I told him he was probably a better behaved person than I was but only Jesus is perfect.  (That comment was not well-received.)


I can throw countless Bible verses but two that I really like are Romans 5:8 and Ephesians 2:8-9

Romans 5:6-8 says, "

o   “When we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”

And Ephesians 2:8-9 says,

o   “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”

Sometimes I open my Bible just looking for the "But God"''s.... Do you know what I mean? Where it transitions from my inabilities to God's ability to work in my life.


I can't tell you what to believe. I hate when preachers stand up and try to guilt their captive audiences. And if you know me, that's NOT Me.

All I can tell you is what God has done for me. In the times of my life when I felt the weakest (The death of my mother and miscarriage of my child) God has showed me strength. Not by fixing everything but being there for me.

If we preach Jesus with the focus on just getting people into "The Good Place" we are missing the whole point of the Gospel. Jesus proclaims in Luke 4 that he came to "Set the prisoners free."

What does that even means?

It means that He wants to set us free from any sin that holds us down. Maybe that sin is our own us thinking we have ability to be a good person in our own strength? Maybe that sin is us thinking we have done too many wrong things to ever be loved by God or another person?


 I want to propose to you in the middle of your "Bad Place" you can start experiencing God's "Good Place" for your life. Will bad things happen? Of course they will. Bad things happened to Jesus and he never punched anyone in the face, that we know of.

How did He do it? He trusted in the Holy Spirit that lived inside of Him. If you believe in Jesus, you have the same Spirit living in you. 

You see, Christianity (at least how I view Christianity) makes the most sense to me because It declares that in my own power I am weak but Christ in strong. When I trust in Him, His Spirit will grow me and enable me to show people Jesus' love. Can I merit this type of love? No.


 That is what makes it wonderful. No matter your race, your social economical background, your past experiences, etc you can belong.

Do we in the church do a good job of helping those not like us belong? No, but that discussion is for another time.

Today, my hope is for you to know how unconditionally loved and accepted you are by God. His love is greater than any sin you could commit. You can live in the "Good Place" here on earth by trusting in his love and plan for your life. Thanks be to God.

The Bad News of Jesus

In church circles, we like to talk about the "Good News" of Jesus.

And we should! The Word Gospel actually means "Good News"

And we actually learned last night at our youth group that "The Bible is the story of God and what He has done for us!"


The Gospel (the Good News that things don't always have to be this way) bought hope to many people in the First Century and continues to penetrate the hearts of sinners 2000 years later.

But...... The Gospel is offensive.... because it demands change. It demands us to forgive and to love (even when we don't want to).


In fact, I want to make the claim that the Gospel of Jesus meant to bring Good News is Bad News to the powerful. I mean that's at least what I see in the Bible. It's hard not to see this "political" side of the Gospel when I read certain accounts (like The Gospel according to Luke).


After Jesus' Baptism and temptation in the desert He goes to the temple. He declares a powerful word, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor."

Whats Good News to the poor? Money! Right?

Not really. Good News to the poor is they are no longer poor. Good News is they don't need to worry about their next meal. They don't need to be in debt to someone else.

There's A LOT more to this in Luke 4 (go read it!) but I want to continue on to Luke 5.

It's in Luke 5 that Jesus starts calling his disciples to follow him. He starts with fishermen.

Matthew and Mark rush through this story but Luke tells it in such detail.

Peter is fishing and has not caught a single fish. So, a Jewish Rabbi (name Jesus) tells him if he wants to catch fish to put his net on the other side of the boat!

Now, I'm not an expert in the skill of fishing however I know that makes no sense. But Peter does it.

He lets his net down on the other side of the net and catches so much fish that he needs his fishing partners to come out and help him carry the fish back to the shore!

What a powerful story!

And then Jesus brings the hook, line, and sinker (sorry for the bad pun). "From now on you'll be fishing for people."

You will be releasing hope into their lives and I will teach you how!


Wait, us? The untrained fishermen (who haven't showered in a month). I'm sure there is someone more qualified.


There are so many miracles in Luke's Gospel (Luke the Doctor btw) that He tells them in great detail. But notice who is getting healed... The lepers, the paralyzed, the blind.....the sick...the unclean.....

Even the Parables in Luke's Gospel tell the story of the poor and brokenhearted being saved. (The Lost Coin, the Lost Sheep, and the Lost Son).


So what's the bad news? Why would anyone oppose this Jesus?

Believe it or not Jesus was not the most liked man of his day. He was powerful yet humble. He hang out with sinners yet never sinned. And didn't waste time with the systems men created.

For example, the Sabbath. You know don't work on Sunday (except for them it was Saturday). Work to the Jews was as simple as walking too far.

Jesus didn't care. He saw people that were hurting and didn't check his pocketbook before performing a miracle. It's almost as if he was trying to prove a point.


Jesus and the Religious leaders of the day were at odds. The Religious leaders were in control. And they abused the system.

Jesus came and he rocked the boat. And to them it was BAD NEWS.

If you are in control you don't want any rebels. You don't want anyone to point out you are doing an injustice. 2000 years later and we have the same problems. (Yes, EVEN IN AMERICA). We say those fighting the system are not being American when being American is actually being a rebel. Do you remember the Boston Tea Party?

Jesus' call for us to come to him was bad news for those in control because it meant they had to give up control. You know, "Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me."

Or "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you."


And in that moment we must choose. 

When there is an injustice taking place, when we are trying to serve ourselves over our neighbor, or when we are trying to force our agenda over following God's plan. 

What will we do?

What did they do? They killed him. 

Jesus wasn't listening. He refused to fit into their man-made religious box. And they hang him to a tree. 

The Religious Leaders could no longer take the threat. They knew uproar would come from the followers of Jesus. And if that happened Rome would step in and squash Israel like the little cockroach they were. 

Maybe the Gospel of Jesus is both Good News and Bad News to us today. 

It's bad because we must give up control (this is really hard for us Americans who like to fight for freedom, independence, and autonomy).   We must look at all the ways we are privliaged and chose to fight for those who have been abused. 

Who is being overlooked in your town? Is it the eldery? The youth? The young adult? The poor? The widows? Reach out to them and bring them hope. 


Yet the Gospel remains Good News. As we lay down our lives to follow Jesus, we know that new life begins. He brings hope to the hopeless situation. He brings joy when all we can muster up is tears. 

And His promise to us is in the future we will live in a world with no more injustice and no more pain and no more grief. 

And the Good News for us who believe in Jesus? We get to be a part of bringing that culture to our society (You know like Jesus prayed, "May your kingdom come your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven).

Why would I worry?

Isn't it easy to worry.

Let's be honest, its our default setting. When our world seems out of control we worry because we think it is in that place we will have some type of control.

Worry is connected with fear.
And fear is connected to a lack of faith in God.

I believe Worry is like a cancer that wants to consume our mind, body, and soul. Yet through it all we have a choice to worry or trust in God as our protector and Good Father.

I wrote a poem below. Poetry is kinda awkward for me but sometimes its one way I can get my feelings up and out.

Worry- by Jeff Slattery

Some days I awake to hear terrible  news.
I struggle and struggle until I have the blues.

Our nation in uproar, no hope in sight.
I want to be brave, I want to fight.

Immigrants are people just like you and me.
Hate is not the answer, can’t you see.

And there’s fights over civil issues we’ve already decided.
I thought we were a country together; that we were united.

Hurricanes sweeping across the nation.
Let’s not fear but have a prayer- invasion.

Prayer is the answer to worry and fear.
The true answer isn’t in you, don’t look in the mirror.

Don’t worry or fear said a guy named Saint Paul.
But to pray and trust God through it all.

He takes care of the flowers and the birds of the sky.
Yet we worry about food, clothing, and when we will die.
 

God is my captain He will lead the way.
Though troubles abound He wins the day.

Sometimes I still worry, I feel the weight of the world.
I want to hide in my shell like a sea turtle.

But my Father in Heaven declares with glee.
Give me your stress and just trust in me.

Do Whatever He Tells You (The faith of Mary)

I was reading the Bible this morning.... You should try it!

I ran into a  familiar story. This is the story where Jesus, his disciples, and his mom at a wedding in Cana.


Mary, the virgin, the Holy One at a Wedding.


Jesus, the perfect ONE, God, at a Wedding.


Drinking.

Having a good time.

Celebrating.


When they ran out of wine (this must have been a wild party) Mary turns to her Son and asks him to solve the problem..... "They have NO MORE WINE!"


Jesus doesn't respond in the way you would think. He basically tells her "No." He said, "My time has not yet come."

Im not ready. Im not sure if I can do it.


Yet Mary knows her son better than anyone else in the world.

Mary turns to the servants at the wedding and tells them, "Do whatever he tells you."


What a profound message to impart into your son. "I believe you so much that I am going to tell these servants to do whatever you tell them to do."


And they do! Jesus then turns water into wine.

Its a miracle of epic proportion. No one is healed, no one is raised from the dead, yet HE saved the party! Go Jesus!!!!



Two quick takeaways from this story

1) Do we have the faith of Mary?

Do we have the faith to say to Jesus, "I will do whatever you tell me."

2) Are we willing to "champion" other people.

People need help discovering that they are capable of doing amazing things. Yes, even Jesus. We forget that He was and is 100% God but also 100% human.

Perhaps, he had insecurities if He could do the miracle? I mean Jesus was a baby who had to be potty-trained right? And learn to crawl, and walk on land before he could walk on water.

And when Baby Jesus pooped in his diaper was it a "Holy crap"? Alright that was a dad joke, please forgive me.

But He, like you and me, need to hear positive words of affirmation. Like "You are my son, you are my daughter, in you I am well pleased."


Mary saw in her Son the promise she received decades ago. "You shall name him Jesus for he will save his people from their sins."

To answer the question posed during the Christmas song, "Mary, did you know?" YES. She knew! And never forgot the promise.

And Who was better to champion Jesus than his mom?





Bottom Line

We need to trust in Jesus and do whatever he tells us to do.
We need to encourage others that they are capable of following Jesus.


Let's Pray

God, I don't always understand what you are doing in my life, but I declare today that "You are Good" and I chose to trust in your plan over my understanding. Jesus, thank you for responding to your mother and performing this miracle. Holy Spirit, I pray that you will fill my life and give me the ability to trust in you.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.

But I'm not Catholic.....

One of my biggest heart cries is to see the church love.

I want to see the people that are called by God (We call them Christians) approach life humbly and seek unity in all things.

It upsets me that we have so many denominations. Why God? Why are we so stuck in our ways? In the words of WAR, "Why can't we be friends?" or in the words of Taylor Swift "why you gonna be so mean?"

One of the ways our community is trying to join forces is by hosting the 4th annual Community VBS. We have 5 churches involved. Its not about my church, or your church, but sharing the love of Jesus with our community.


Another place God has given me access to is teaching Gym at St Leos School. I will begin my second year teaching in August. I am excited, ready, and scared all at the same time.

This morning I had a talk with our new principal. We discussed many things. Including what I teach, how I structure my class and how I include Jesus in my class.

Oh JESUS, I knew I forgot SOMEONE!

My Class rules for the students last year were based on Biblical principles.

1) Being prepared for Class.
2) Effort
3) Improvement
4) Respect
5) Humility

I will be changing those to some degree this coming year but keeping the same basic idea to my gym class. Just like everything else in life the goal of the Christian is to become more like Jesus.

As we were finishing up our meeting, I was asked a simple yet divine question.

"Do you pray with your students?"

Er..umm...well (I didn't know I was suppose to).

My response to the question of prayer was petty. It undermined everything I worked toward the first year at SLS. I didn't know I could pray with the kids.,,,,.I said, "But I'm not Catholic."

I answered her answer this way for three reasons.

1) I'm not. I was raised Lutheran, went to a Presbyterian College, and am licensed by the Christian and Missionary Alliance.

2) I wanted to be about unity so I didn't want to introduce how I prayed as a hindrance to their Catholic faith.

3) I didn't want to say one the written prayer, "Our Father" or "Hail Mary" because it made me feel uneasy.


The phrase I said, "But Im not Catholic"

This made me think of the Bible. In the First Century, people were grouped into their nice and neat categories. One of those categories was being a Jew or being a Greek. There were huge fights in those days. The greatest issue was if Greek converts to Christianity had to be circumcised to join the community of faith.

But how did St Paul address this issue????

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."- Galatians 3:28


He basically said.... Get over yourself. Its not about you. Its about people coming to know the real, powerful, love of God. Drop the labels. Follow me.

2000 years I think we need an updated Bible (Not literally...don't call me a heretic).

What if we said..... "There is neither Protestant nor Catholic, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."



In response to "But I'm not Catholic.."

The principle said, "Im not asking you to pray like a Catholic.... I'm asking if you would pray like you."

I don't know why but when she declared those words I felt freedom. Have you ever felt like you didn't want to hurt someone in the name of unity so you didn't press forward?

Listen, God created you on purpose and for a purpose. He doesn't make mistakes. He created you (and me) with a distinct personality, a distinct gifting, and a distinct way to bring about God's kingdom to earth.

I don't know what this fully looks like as I plan for my 2017-2018 school year but I feel more free. Because in the end does it really matter if I don't pray to the Saints and they do? Does it really matter if they do the sign of the cross and I don't?

No. What matters?

What matters the most is our ability to strip away our differences. To pray without ceasing. To love like there is no tomorrow. And demonstrate and model what a lift looks like walking in obedience to God, our Creator.

Follow the Leader

Have you ever played a game called, "Follow the leader" as a kid? 

 

In Christianity, we talk a lot about this "following Jesus." Or walking with God.

In order to fully understand what that phrase means for us we must look at the original context. Who was Jesus talking to? What would people think when they heard that phrase?


One of the examples of this is found in Mark Chapter 1:

"Jesus saw two brothers fishing with their father for they fished for a living. He called out to them, 'Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of people.' At once they left their nets (and their father) and followed Jesus."


Jesus was doing something radical. He was calling fishermen to follow Him. But why couldn't fishermen follow Jesus.

Well, Jesus was Jewish. And He was/is a Rabbi. (Teacher).


In the First Century, Jewish boys desired more than anything in the world to be a Rabbi but in order to be a Rabbi they had to work under a Rabbi for many years. But this was no easy task.

You couldn't go to college or seminary. No, this process began in childhood. The child needed to memorize the Torah (first five books of the bible) by age 12. If he (yes only males were included) could not memorize the Torah he would stop his education and learn his father's trade. (Fishing, carpentry, shepherding, etc).

But if he memorized the books he would continued his education. Learning most of the Old Testament and oral tradition of the Jewish Religion. Around the age of 16, If they passed on their test they would would hope that a Rabbi would pick him to follow that Rabbi.

If no Rabbi picked them(which happened often) they would have wasted the their time (many years) and be shipped off to learn their families business. But If they were chosen. They would spend years following their Rabbi (their teacher). They would learn what it meant to be a follower of God, a holy man, by following him. And then, one day they themselves would become a Rabbi.


So why am I boring you with this history lesson? (Much simplified)

I told you all this to remind you what Jesus did was radical. He bypassed the whole system. He chose the rejects. He chose teenagers to follow Him. And more than that: He chose unschooled, rednecks.

We applaud the disciples because they made a great choice. But honestly did they even have a choice? A Rabbi wanted them! He told them to follow Him and they did because why wouldn't they?

So, when we look at the words of Jesus to us: "Come, follow me!"

He isn't asking, He is telling. He is commanding. He is instructing. He is more than inviting. He is declaring what will happen.

He is saying You can do it! I chose you! I want you! Follow me! I will be your Rabbi and you will be my grasshopper.

I know, this fights against everything we are taught in American Christianity. We are taught that we need to a choose to follow God and I'm not saying there is no choices.

We have the choice if we are going to daily surrender to God.
We have the choice if we are going to love others.
We have the choice how deeply we engage God and encounter His presence towards us.


Bottom Line

It's important that we believe in Jesus but it's more important that He believes in us.


A few reflection questions to consider:

1) How does it make you feel that God chose you? 

2) In response to his love, what actions does He call you to?

Lost and Found

Last week I wrote about "Finding God!"

Remember He hides in such a way that we can find Him. Its like a loving Father playing hide and go seek with his toddler son. Does He try to win? Of course not! He hides in plain site so as long as we are looking we will find Him!

This week I wanted to talk about How God finds us!

In America Christianity we talk about "Finding Jesus." As if He was the One that was lost. But the truth is we were the one lost the whole time. The Bible is full of stories and methapors depiting us as lost/dead/hopeless without the saving grace of God.


Yet He runs after us  and saves us!

Jesus told many stories (3 really good ones are in Luke 15). They are about Lost things being found.

First a Sheep.
Then a Coin.
And Finally a Son.


But why would a shepherd care if he lost 1 sheep, he has 99 more?
Why would a woman care if she lost 1 coin, she had 10 more?
Why would a father care if he lost his rebellious son, he had 1 more trustworthy son.

These people that lost things cared because they had value.

These were stories so we must consider.... what is Jesus trying to teach us?


His main point, I believe, is He came to seek and save that which was lost.

Who? Us. Humans. Me. You. John Cena. Joe Flacco. Even Mike Fisher.


He looks at us and says, "You are valuable. You are worth dying for" Yes. YOU!"

Yet we look at our lives and think, "We are dirty, we are sinful, we are imperfect and unholy."

And declare, "Im not worthy to die for, I'm not worthy of God's love."


And if you are struggling with this idea of feeling God's love and being unworthy you are not alone. And there are no words that can cognivitely make you believe God loves you.

You must have an encounter with the ONE TRUE GOD.

But I will say one thing that has helped me along in my journey with God.

We only search for things that have value.

Would you search for a quarter? Probably not!
But would you search for a 100 dollar bill that you knew you lost? ya.


No matter what you have done or has been done to you, You are worthy of love. Not because I said so but because God literally died to prove it to you!

Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, I pray for those reading this blog today that they will know that they are loved without a shadow of doubt. I pray that they will encounter Your true love in a tangible way and nothing on earth can steal their joy. Amen.