Fit to a "T"

Thursday, October 7, 2010

I just wanna be a sheep baa baa baa...

So this bible study is completely derailing me. as Jen Hatmaker put it I am.. well.. "wrecked" I am trying my best to figure where to go, what to do, where to help but my mind is all a mess! This weeks topic of the "least" really hit me in the gut, and this is why:

I remember as a kid singing the song with my "Wee Sing Bible Songs" tape and book, the song. "I just wanna be a sheep." it goes something like this

I just wanna be a sheep, Baa, baa, baa, baa

I pray the Lord my soul to keep

I just wanna be a sheep, Baa, baa, baa, baa

Don't wanna be a goat…nope

Haven't got any hope…nope

Don't wanna be a goat…nope

Don't wanna be a hypocrite

'Cause they're not hip to it

Don't wanna be a hypocrite

Don't wanna be a Pharisee

'Cause they're not fair you see

Don't wanna be a Pharisee

Don't wanna be a Sadducee

'Cause they're so sad you see

Don't wanna be a Sadducee

Just wanna be a child of God

Walkin' the same path He trod

Just wanna be a child of God

So I must have sang this song hundreds of times growing up and always thought; " Man this is a funny song about farm animals, but why is it talking about Pharisee's and Sadducee's.?" Well I am pretty sure that the song stems from the the Parable in Matthew 25:31-46. I have always avoided this scripture. Dealing with judgement was never something that I really liked to do. but this week I really studied and read and thought about it and I don't think, like in the bible study that it has anything to do with "sinners and saints" or the "righteous and non-righteous" this has to do with the righteous and the well "righteous"

I also always thought that the Pharisee's and the Sadducee's were all just a bunch of heathens, or another word for the sinners in the Bible. Again, I was mislead. The were the top religious people of their time. They were the sanctified, the church goers, the ones that people flocked to for help, counseling, they knew the scripture, they knew all the religious traditions. So when Jesus came on the scene and challenged their way of thinking that is why they were always so upset. So now that I am older, I am thinking I don't want to be someone who is so wrapped up in religious tradition that I can't see Jesus for who he really is or I can't see what his true mission was.

Back to the sheep and the goats. SO I always thought this was FINAL judgement separating the saints from the sinners. The right from the wrong, but then after really reading studying and some help from this bible study I realized he wasn't referring to just the saints and the sinners, I am pretty confident he was separating the saints from the "saints." Parable of the Sheep and Goats

So I am not thinking how do I become a sheep and stay a sheep? what can I do for the least of these? How do I see Jesus' face in the least?

"when you have done these things to the least of these, you have done them unto me."

What have I done unto you God? I worked at a homeless shelter once when I was a teenager, serving a meal. even at that age I recognized them as less than people, hopeless cases. I had always been taught I was better then they were. They got themselves into the mess that they are in. I donated some clothes. I worked at a women's shelter doing scrapbooking. Why? To free my guilty conscience? Probably.

So how do I move forward? How in the world do I become a sheep?

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Come and Dine the Master's Calling... Who?

When I was a teenager I frequented a certain church (probably because I was smitten by a boy) anyways the song leader frequently (and I mean every service) sang "Come and Dine" and of course being fifteen every song book song is funny but it wasn't until this week I thoroughly understood how bad the song really was... I searched for the lyrics and well have a whole new outlook after bible study...

"Jesus has a table spread
Where the saints of God are fed,
He invites His chosen people, “Come and dine”"

That was as far as I needed to go. Really? He invited is chosen people come and dine? Jesus dined with everyone. The low, the hated, the sinner, not just his followers. I am sure that whomever wrote this song had good intentions, we can blame the era I guess, it was written in 1907. Anyways The more I thought about it the more intrigued I became. Am I only feasting with "his chosen people?" "who would God want me to be feasting with?" " what does he mean by feast?" "Why is Jesus always eating?" "Why am I all of a sudden hungry?"

I don't know how to answer all these questions but this weeks study helped me see some of the things Jesus was talking about.

When Jesus spoke, everyone listened, and I am sure most left confused. I know that I do sometimes. In John 6 the scripture reads

John 6:48-60 (New King James Version)
⁴⁸ I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. ⁵⁰ This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”
⁵² The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?”
⁵³ Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴ Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁵⁵ For My flesh is food indeed,^[a] and My blood is drink indeed. ⁵⁶ He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. ⁵⁷ As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”
⁵⁹ These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.

Many Disciples Turn Away
⁶⁰ Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?”

The disciples I think were right. I don't understand it and I don't think that anyone did and I doubt anyone really does now. After the study lead me to read about the 'Last Supper' I became even more confused, or convicted... I think I will go with confused to save face:) In 1 Corinthians 11 the scripture says

3 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; ²⁴ and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat;^[b] this is My body which is broken^[c] for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

Well I thought, I have this down we do this a few times a year. This is my Communion ritual:

Take the nasty tasting bread, Remember the crucifixion, eat the nasty tasting bread.

but as Ms. Hatmaker so eloquently pointed out "Do" is present tense. So what does that mean? Continuous action. Not literally eating the nasty tasting bread all the time but doing like Jesus did. Here is an excerpt from the book that will lead into tomorrow.

"Not only does Jesus' statement require a constant response, but "remembrance" is from the Greek anamnesis meaning "to make real". Communion is more than a memory, more than a reverent moment when we recall Jesus' heroic sacrifice. Remembrance means honoring Jesus' mercy mission with tangible, physical sacrifice. In other words " Constantly make this real." -Jen Hatmaker, Author, "Interrupted"

So what does this all mean? What stuck out the most was "Remembrance means honoring Jesus' mercy mission with tangible, physical sacrifice." Am I doing that? No. Jesus was broken so that myself and everyone else could have life. What can I do to honor Jesus mercy mission?

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Sometimes I just buy shoes

Last Wednesday night we started our new small groups at church. We are doing "Interrupted" by Jen Hatmaker. I have decided to let you in my mind, and heart for the next few weeks..

To Interrupt : to stop or hinder by breaking in; to break the uniformity or continuity of

Here is a quick video overview of the study then you can read some more about how my week one went.

Interrupted from Threads on Vimeo.

After seeing the video, you may understand why my week one went as follows :

Thursday: Book still in the car

Friday: Remembered the book was in the car, left it.

Saturday: and Sunday: Too busy to think about the book

Monday: Took the book out of the car, put it on the table. I was a little scared of the book.

Tuesday: The book was taunting me, we did a dance. I walked away. The book was a much better dancer.

Wednesday: I opened it. closed it. Started watching TV, then opened it. Started trying to multi-task by watching TV and reading. Suddenly my third time watching this episode of "Gilmore Girls" didn't seem that important.

Week 1 in a very large nutshell...

This is how I felt after the first week, well Wednesday. The focus was on the poor. There are so many places in the Bible where God is screaming at us to help the poor, I always thought that it was metaphorically, not literally. I always thought, sure I can help some poor soul spiritually. I never would have thought that God literally meant to go feed the poor.

In John 12:15-17 he asks Peter if he loves him three times. I just figured that God asked him three times because Peter denied him three times. you are able to see in the scripture that Peter is clearly frustrated.

"15When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?"
"Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."
16Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?"
He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."
17 The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you."Jesus said, "Feed my sheep.

I never would have thought that Jesus was really saying" Yes! feed my sheep! feed the poor! Are you crazy what are you doing????"

They list in the book some scary statistics, here they are so you can get a feel:

*Of the six billion people on planet E arth, about 1.2 billion live
on 23 cents a day.
* Half the world lives on less than $2 a day.
* T he wealthiest one billion people average $70 a day. (This
places you and me in the upper, upper, upper percentages of
the global population.)
• I f you make $35,000 annually, you are in the top four percent.
• I f you make $50,000 annually, top one percent.
* S omeone dies of hunger every 16 seconds.
* T wenty-two million people died of preventable diseases last
year; 10 million were children.5
* T wenty-seven million children and adults are trapped in slavery
because of economic crisis (sex slaves, labor slaves, child
soldiers, and child slaves). More slaves exist today than ever
before in human history.6
* More than 143 million children in the world have been
orphaned or abandoned (equivalent to more than half the
population of the U .S.).
* In the last hour:
• More than 1,600 children were forced to the streets by the
death or abuse of an adult.
• At least 115 children became prostitutes.
• More than 66 children younger than 15 years of age were
infected with HIV.7
* Roughly one billion people in the world do not have suitable
housing, and 100 million are entirely homeless.

If you think those are scary, here are some more... * Forty percent of the world lacks basic water sanitation, resulting
in disease, death, wastewater for drinking, and loss of immunity;
Americans spent $16 billion on bottled water in 2008.
* We spend more annually on trash bags than nearly half the
world spends on all goods combined.
* Four out of five children worldwide work every day instead
of going to school; four out of five Americans are high school
graduates.
* Eight percent of the rest of the world owns a car; one-third of all
American families own three cars.
* Roughly 40 million people (about seven Jewish Holocausts) die
annually from starvation, disease, and malnutrition; 65 percent
of U .S. adults and 15 percent of children and adolescents are
overweight or obese.
* The U .S. makes up five percent of the global population, but we
consume 25 percent of the world’s oil, 20 million barrels of oil a
day; next is China at just 6.9 million a day.
* When a group of leaders from developing nations begged U .S.
government leaders to explore intervention options for their
countries in crisis, a U .S. official was quoted as saying: “The
American lifestyle is not up for negotiation.”

How does that make you feel? Did you get defensive? I did a little. I will also tell you that I felt like I had just been hit in the face by a solid wood Louisville Slugger. Why did I feel that way. Its hard to explain but basically came down to this, If everyone thought the way that I did, there would be no one to help those in need. I don't usually think about others as much as myself. I even reviewed my prayers and they are usually me praying for more blessings, and truthfully I am SO blessed sometimes I don't know what to do with all my blessings, sometimes I just buy shoes, because I don't know what else to do.
So where do I go from here? How do I help the poor? How do I move on? How do I stop being so hungry even though I feel like I am doing all the right things. I want to get out of this perpetual thirst for more.

There is definitely more to come. Hopefully tomorrow.