Paul the Apostle on Religion and Jesus

You used to be dead to God due to your non-religious lifestyle and because you didn’t belong to the right church.  Jesus made you alive, putting you in His resurrection, forgiven us of all our religious inadequacies.  Religion has a list of our inadequacies before God, and they said that we owed God because of these inadequacies and they fought against us due to them.  But Jesus took that list and nailed it to the cross to show that it was their list that was inadequate.  Jesus’ death ridicules the religious authorities and laws and policies and his resurrection shows them all to be a mockery.

So don’t let anyone judge you by their standards: by the church you go to, the holidays you celebrate, the day you worship God, what you eat or drink—all of those things are insubstantial compared to the Reality of the King.   Don’t let anyone convince you that you are spiritually inadequate because you haven’t had the “right” spiritual experience, or  you haven’t sat under the “right” teacher, the importance of which they inflate in their own human mind.  Instead, cling to the true Lord, the Head which supplies and provides all the other parts of the body,  which grows by God’s power.  If you have died in Christ, don’t submit to any other spiritual “law”, which are of the world, as if you were still living apart from God.   The religious laws of “do not drink” “stay away from the opposite sex” “don’t partake in pleasure” “don’t eat this kind of food” are all rules that show their inadequacy as we use them.  Don’t live according to these human commandments.  Yes, they seem wise and powerful, but they are religious inventions for the sake of self-abasement and harsh treatment of our bodies, but they have no real value fighting real sin.

So if you have been resurrected in Jesus, seek true heavenly authority, in our King, seated at the right hand of God.  Focus on Jesus, not on earthly authorities. 

A paraphrase of Colossians 2:13-3:1

What Do I Do If I Sin?

The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.  Mark 1:15

Do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

 Luke 13:4-5

Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes! If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell.

 Matthew 18:6-9

A ruler questioned Him, saying, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"  And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments, 'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and mother.'" And he said, "All these things I have kept from my youth." When Jesus heard this, He said to him, "One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."

Luke 18:18-22

That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.

Mark 7:20-23

I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.

Matthew 12:31-37

Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: 'God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 'I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.' But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, the sinner!' I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.

Luke 18:10-14

Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:20

But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.

Matthew 23:13-14

If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, 'We see,' your sin remains.

John 9:41

Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.

Matthew 7:21

Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

John 8:34-36

Jesus and the Deep Law

Jesus is all about law.  And he's pretty strict about it, too.

Heck, he sat down on the mount like Moses (just like Moses) and laid down the law.  Being faithful to one's spouse, not condemning, turning the other cheek, giving to the poor, keeping promises, not being a hypocrite.  Serious, difficult stuff.  And he was really serious.  He compared one who listened to his law but didn't obey it to a man who built a really nice house but it got destroyed in a terrible storm.  In case you didn't get it, Jesus was talking about the judgment day.  Yeah, he was saying "you don't obey, there are eternal consequences." Serious stuff indeed.

The question comes into our mind whether there is really any difference between Jesus and the Pharisees.  Jesus himself said, "Unless your righteousness is greater than the scribes and Pharisees you will not enter into God's kingdom."  The scribes were like the Bible professors of their day.  The Pharisees... well, we all know about the Pharisees.  Even the ancient Jews made fun of the Pharisees and their overly strict interpretation of the law.

But Jesus is saying that the Pharisees weren't strict enough.  Is this the guy who forgave the adulteress?  Is this the guy who welcomed sinners into the Kingdom?  Is this the one who said, "I came to seek and save the lost"?  Is Jesus really welcoming the lost when he places such a heavy burden on them?  Come to think of it, isn't he the one who said, "My burden is light"?

Yeah, he is. And there is no contradiction here.  Because as supportive as Jesus is about the law, he is dismissive of it, as well.

Jesus is the one who welcomed his disciples to ignore the Sabbath laws.  In fact, he spoke favorably of a story where David lied and ate the bread that was legally only for the priests.  He ignored the application of the Sabbath law of not doing one's professional labor on a Sabbath.  He openly condemned a law allowing people to give their inheritance to the temple.  He condemned the washing laws.  He dismissed the law of a "certificate of divorce" saying that it was only to court the Israelites "hardness of heart".  And he completely condemned the makers of all of these laws, the Pharisees, the scribes, the priests and the Sanhedrin.  And, we must remember, he broke the priests' law in the temple when he overturned the tables in the Temple.

Why?  Is there any rational sense in this? Absolutely.

You see, Jesus plays favorites with the law.  Some laws are bigger and better than others.

• Jesus said that the two "greatest" laws are these: "Love the Lord your God" and "Love your neighbor as yourself." 
• He proclaimed, "Mercy is greater than sacrifice"
• He denied the Mosaic law to attack one's enemies and proclaimed "Love your enemies."
• He rejected the command to kill the severe killer and instead said, "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone."
• And he gave a "new" command: "Love one another."

Jesus' view of the law is that care for others' takes precedent over all other law.

It isn't that he completely dismissed all other laws.  He agreed to pay taxes.  He agreed to have lepers go to the temple to be accepted into the community by the priests.  He agreed that murder, adultery, breaking one's vows and stealing were always wrong.  But if any particular law caused more harm than it relieved, then Jesus dismissed that application of the law.

Laws about the sanctity of bread or a day aren't as important as feeding hungry people.
Laws about purity aren't as important as going to a Gentile's house for healing.
Laws about health aren't as important as touching someone who has been disconnected from touch for years.
Laws about female impurity aren't as important as welcoming a lost person back to God.

Jesus is tough on lawbreakers-- if they break the law of love, mercy and care.
Jesus is willing to break any law-- if the law breaks the law of love.

This is why James calls "Love your neighbor as yourself" the Royal Law, because it is the one unbreakable law granted by the King.

This still holds to anyone who is a member of the Kingdom of God.  We have a lot of laws we must obey.  More than any society has ever had to obey.  And we do pretty well.  We usually follow the California Speed Law-- however the traffic is flowing, that's what we'll do.

 But if the law-- ANY law-- is opposed to helping others, opposed to rescuing the helpless or innocent, opposed to caring for others, opposed to restoring the lost, then we are to go against the flow.  We need to drive on the wrong side of the road, so to speak.  We need to break the human laws, if necessary, and obey the laws of God.

This is what Jesus did.  This is what we must do.  For the sake of everyone, even those who enforce the law.

Jesus Condemned by Scribes

In Jerusalem lived the priests and the council of Jews called the Sanhedrin who determined what w/as legal and Godly for all the people of Israel who lived all over the world.  They would make decisions and then sometimes they would send messengers to major synagogues all over the world to let people know what they decided.  For many Jews, the authorities in Jerusalem could determine what God wanted.  At times, if some teacher or prophet of Israel became very popular, they would send groups to investigate and evaluate them.  At least two groups of authorities from Jerusalem came to investigate Jesus, for he had become a popular teacher and healer.

One group that was important in Jerusalem was called the Scribes.  They could read and write—most people couldn’t in those days—and they focused on studying Moses’ law.  Another group was called the Pharisees.  They were popular teachers, and they were considered to be very holy because they interpreted Moses’ law very strictly—especially about purity—not touching impure things— and about keeping the Sabbath. The Sabbath (from Friday evening to Saturday evening) was a day all worshippers of God agreed was to be set aside to the Lord.  No one worked on that day.  The leaders in Jerusalem made laws to determine what kinds of work could not be done on the Sabbath. 

As Jesus was passing through a grain field to another town, his disciples and the crowds were following him, and a group from Jerusalem as well.  The disciples were hungry, so they plucked some grains from the field as they were passing through, and were rubbing them in their hands and eating them.  Some Pharisees who were there complained to Jesus, “Why are your disciples breaking the Sabbath?  They are harvesting grain—that is not legal to do on the Sabbath!”  They were saying this to indicate that Jesus’ teaching was inadequate.

Jesus replied to them, “Meeting people’s needs is more important than following a particular law all the time.  Haven’t you read in Scripture that David once took bread for his hungry men, even though that bread was only supposed to be eaten by priests?  And don’t you know that the priests violate the Sabbath every week, because they do their work of sacrificing on the Sabbath?  God did not create humanity to be ruled by the Sabbath.  Rather, the Sabbath was made for the benefit of people. Therefore, the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Another Sabbath, Jesus was in a synagogue, teaching.  A woman came before him who was bent double.  Jesus called her over and said she was healed and she straightened up.  The leader of the synagogue was upset and called out, “There are six days in which to be healed, but the Sabbath is to be a day of rest.”  Jesus responded, “This woman was oppressed by Satan for eighteen years.  Isn’t it appropriate for her to be healed on a Sabbath day?  And if one of your sheep fell into a hole on the Sabbath, wouldn’t you pull him out again?  So who is more important—a sheep or a human being?”

The next Sabbath Jesus was in a synagogue again.  In the front of the crowd was a man with a withered hand.  The Pharisees were looking carefully to see if Jesus would heal the man on the Sabbath, so they can accuse him of breaking the Jewish law.  Jesus called the man up to the front of the crowd.  He saw the Pharisees staring at him and he became angry.  He said, “Is it legal to do good on the Sabbath, or evil?  It is legal to save a life, or to kill a life?”  No one answered him.  He healed the man in front of them all.  The Pharisees at this point hated Jesus and wanted to destroy him in some way.

At another point, Jesus had cast out a demon.  Some of the Pharisees from Jerusalem were there, and they decided to make an announcement: “It is our official opinion that this man is healing and casting out demons by the power and authority of Satan.”  Jesus said, “You had better watch what you say.  Whatever you say shows the evil that is in you, and everyone will be judged according to every careless word they speak.  If you speak against God, that will be forgiven you.  If you speak against me, that can be forgiven you.  But if you speak evil of the Holy Spirit—that will never be forgiven.

“You know for a fact that I cannot be casting out demons by Satan’s power.  If I am casting out demons, I am in a war against Satan.  Would Satan give me authority to battle against himself, to tear down his own work?  Of course not.  You cannot go into a soldiers house to steal what is his unless you first attack the soldier.  I am only taking these people out of Satan’s control because I am attacking Satan, not helping him.  Since you are speaking lies and evil, we know that you are evil through and through—for what a man has in his heart, that is what he does and says.  By your words you will be right before God, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Jesus’ family was outside when this happened, and they were trying to take him home, because they thought he had lost his mind.  Someone said to him, “Your mother and brothers are outside.”  Jesus replied to him, “The family of God isn’t made up of people who reject God’s work.  My family is right here,“ and Jesus pointed to his disciples, “those who hear the will of God and do it.”

The Real Jesus vs. the American Jesus

From Tim Kreider, www.thepaincomics.com

The Ins and Outs of Outcasts

All religions draw distinct lines between those who are in and those who are out.  Actually, all communities have that determination-- passports, memberships, rights for those who are in and prisons, immigration laws and bouncers for those who are out.  It is a distinctive of society.  And there's a good reason for clear guidelines for those who are in and those who are out.  If we have a community with a lot of children, we don't want people around who will attack or molest those children.  We don't want to have in our midst those who are dangerous or who destroy our communities.

In religions we have other lines of who is in and who is out.  Again, this isn't a bad thing.  Not everyone is a Buddhist, a Muslim or a Christian, and if we didn't have definitions or determinations of who is actually a part of a religion or religious group, then the label is meaningless.  Thus we have doctrinal statements, memberships, baptisms, rituals, requirements for leadership, disciplinary measures and catechisms.  These are intended to let us know who belongs to our group and who doesn't.

More often than not, however, we take a potentially good thing and we go way too far.  Some groups make entrance into their groups very difficult, or pile on rules on their members, making discipline very easy.  One has to believe a very narrow definition of faith, or one must enact a particular list of actions and rituals or one has a long list of moral requirements to obey.  Worse, a member of a religious group might have to belong to a certain social class or ethnic group or have a certain education level.  It seems that the older the religious group, the more narrow the membership requirements, because as time goes on, traditions increase, excluding more and more people. 

Jesus had a different way of dealing with the lines of membership.  He did have lines, mind you.  Remember, he clearly rejected most Pharisees.  And he had high standards for disciples.  But one thing he did that was unique, different than any other religious leader, is that he sought members for his community from those who had already been rejected by society.  In fact, those who were accepted by society he gave indications that they wouldn't make good members of the community he was forming.  He had difficult words for the wealthy and financially secure.  At times he completely rejected the religious establishment.  But those who were on the outskirts of society, he sought.

Sometimes Jesus looked for those who were outcast by no fault of their own, like lepers or others who were chronically ill.  Sometimes Jesus looked for people who were often misunderstood to be traitors or evil-doers but weren't, like tax collectors (or more accurately called toll-collectors).  But Jesus also sought out as members those who had done terrible sins in their (even recent) past, such as prostitutes and other sinners who had done such horrible things to keep them from the mainstream of society.  Jesus recognized that these who had made horrible mistakes recognized their need for change much better than the religious who had never done a big "screw up" their whole lives.

When Jesus accepted these outcast, he didn't bring them into the mainstream religious establishment, but brought them into his alternative community-- a nomadic commune.  This meant that they didn't have to face the judgment of the religious that didn't have anything to do with the judgment of God.  It meant that they could have an opportunity to work out their weaknesses in a training ground of encouragement and hope.  It also means that they became a different kind of outcast: instead of being rejected for being a prostitute or a tax collector, they are rejected for being a part of a heretical group.

But when we look at Christianity, we find a very different kind of establishment.  It IS the establishment.  Those who go to most churches belong to the mainstream of society, the accepted, the financially secure (if not wealthy), the well-connected.  The "salt of the earth" mean the core of society, the good people who keep communities running instead of Jesus' original intent, which was the poor, the mourning, the persecuted, the hated, those who don't have justice in their lives (Matthew 5:3-15).  Our churches are not filled with the homeless, the mentally ill, the drunks, the drug addicts, the felons, the socially awkward, the powerless, as Jesus community would be.  Instead, we have rejected the outcast, just like all the other religious establishment.

Perhaps we say, "Anyone is free to come to our church!  We don't select those who come in."  Well, we all do.  We don't even mean to.  And, again, this isn't necessarily a bad thing.  If we speak English in our congregation, we weed out those who don't speak English.  That is a cultural decision, perhaps one we didn't even know we were making.  But a congregation to an immigrant population has to make a conscious decision as to what language or languages they use to reach out to their group. Every decision we make as a church is a cultural decision, and we are weeding out those who don't fit in our culture by making those decisions.  If we have a large auditorium with pews, we are welcoming some group and we are rejecting another.  If we use hymnals or choruses or pop songs, we are making cultural decisions that draw some in and reject others.

We need to make these decisions.  We can't be a church for everyone, because that is a narrowing cultural decision as well.  Jesus also made those cultural decisions.  And the culture he developed was for the outcast and rejected.  He chose not to meet at the temple, but in the fields.  He chose to hold meetings at meals, some for the religious, some for the distinctly non-religious.  He met in homes where the sick and the needy would be welcome.

Perhaps we need to re-think church growth strategy.

Jesus and the Outcast

When Jesus looked at the people who followed him, he saw sheep with no leader—people who were considered outside of God’s blessing, God’s provision.  They followed him because they were desperate for God’s touch and help.  There were many who could not gain anything from the leaders in Jerusalem, because they were rejected and hated by God’s people.  They were outcast and they gained nothing from God’s people.  No one who was acceptable would go to their house.  And Jesus knew that they needed him most of all.

As Jesus was travelling around Galilee, from one synagogue to another, a man inflicted with leprosy came to Jesus.  Leprosy was a skin disease that showed that one was judged by the evil one.  Because of the infectious nature of the disease and because whoever had it was considered to no longer be a part of God’s people, lepers were forced to live out of Jewish settlements and to declare “Leper! Unclean!” whenever they came near others. 

Rather than tell the leper to go away, Jesus listened to the leper as he said, “If you wish, Jesus, you could make me clean.”  Jesus then touched the leper and said, “I do wish.  Be clean.”  Immediately, the man was cleansed.  Jesus then told him, “You must follow the teaching of Moses.  Go to the priest at the temple and have him declare you clean.  And tell no one who cleaned you.”  But the former leper told everyone about Jesus who would listen.

            One of Jesus’ apostles was Levi, a toll collector.  The Jewish people hated toll collectors and those who ruled over them, fir they were traitors to their own people.  Jesus, though, called Levi, and asked him to go to his house to eat.  For dinner that night, Levi called everyone he knew—tax collectors and sinners whom “proper Jews” would have nothing to do with.  Some religious folk were there that night and asked why Jesus was welcoming and eating with these rejected people.  Jesus replied, “If you are a healer, you hang around sick people.  Even so, if I am called to tell people to repent, I can’t hang around with people who think of themselves as good—I need to be with those who know they are sinners.”

            Jesus told the crowds a story.  “There was a man who had a hundred sheep.  One evening he counted his sheep and found there was one missing.  So he left the ninety-nine that were there to find the one.  He looked everywhere for him.  When he found the one, he held it on his shoulders and told all his neighbors, ‘Rejoice with me—the sheep I had lost is found!’  In the same way, God rejoices when a single sinner comes back to him more than ninety-nine who never left.”

Jesus told another story.  “There was a man who had two sons.  The youngest son demanded his inheritance early and left home and spent all his money doing evil things.  Over time, he ran out of money, and then there was a famine in the land.  He got a job feeding unclean animals, and the only food he was able to get was sharing the animals food.  Finally, he came to his senses and said, ‘I will go home—even the lowest slave there lives better than I.  I will apologize to my father and offer to be his slave.’  When he was close to home, his father saw him and ran up to meet him and hugged him.  The son apologized, and offered to be his slave,  but the father would have none of that.  Instead he held a party.

            “That afternoon, as the party was starting, the other son who was in the field working heard the commotion, and asked a servant what was going on.  The servant told him that his brother had returned and his father was having a party.  The older son was incensed and refused to go in.  The father heard of this, and asked the older son why he was angry.  The older son said, ‘I’ve been here all these years working for you, and you never held a party for me—why should you for this ungrateful son who sinned with your money?’  The father replied, ‘Son, all I have is yours.  But your brother was dead and now he is alive—shouldn’t we celebrate that?’”