Missio Dei Event

Missio Dei Church is hosting a public informational meeting to articulate reasons for starting a new church in the Asheville metro area. The meeting will take place on Wednesday May 9, 7pm at Atlanta Bread Company (633 Merrimon Ave.). We discuss topics including, "Why start a new church in Asheville? Whom will the new church affect? Who is the leadership for the new church? How can you help?" Coffee and refreshments provided.

"Blessed are the Peacemakers..."

It makes my head hurt and my heart break to observe the senseless violence that occured on Monday at Virginia Tech. What's equally troubling is the clamoring noise that surrounds the horrible tragedy. I have heard and read countless stories looking for someone or something to blame.

Immediately both sides of the political spectrum argued about gun control and the right to bear arms as if either position had the power to prevent this or subsequent disasters. Others have angrily accused the University, the police, the Mental Health profession, and various others for not doing enough to prevent the violence.

As a follower of King Jesus, I am trying to come to grips with the fact that there are no easy answers or simple ingredients which could have prevented this calamity. Now is a time for mourning and for prayer and to lament our fallen condition. We live in a world that is completely broken and our only hope is the Gospel promise that things will not always remain as they are. Jesus, the Christ, struck a death blow to sin and death when He laid His life down as payment for the sins of mankind and in His resurrection, promised that He would make all things new.

We have the privelege of living out and proclaiming this message to all creation, so that they can repent of their desire to dissention and division and seek peace in the presence of the King. If only the church could preach this message to Cho Seung Hui, perhaps this could have been avoided. That and his repentance are the only thing that could have prevented the events that lead to 33 image bearers being destroyed. In this hour of sadness, I close reflecting on the lyrics to a song written by Robin Mark. "Rise up church with broken wings. Fill this place with songs again. Of our God who reigns on high. By His grace again we'll fly."

But what about the swords?

One of our "Uncommoners" had a question last week about an obscure and difficult passage in the Gospel according to Luke. The passage reads:

And he (Jesus) said to them, "When I sent you out with no moneybag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?" They said, "Nothing." He said to them, "But now let the one who has a monybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one. For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: 'And he was numbered with the transgressors.' For what is written about me has its fulfillment." And they said, "Look, Lord, here are two swords." And he said to them,"It is enough" (Luke 22:35-38).

This is troubling because it seems like Jesus is telling His disciples to now take up swords when previously His contrary teaching was "blessed are the peacemakers," and "love your enemy," and most pointedly, "all who take the sword will perish by the sword" (Matt. 5:9,44; 26:52). How could Jesus tell His disciples to now "sell his cloak and buy" a sword if "those who take the sword will perish by the sword?"

Several interpretations have been offered:

1. The first (and most ridiculous) is that Jesus is not telling His disciples to get a sword, but he really means knife, which would be a provision for cutting meat on their journeys. This is probably held because there is no New Testament reference to a knife. However, later in the passage, one of them draws a sword and cuts off the right ear of the high priest's servant with a sword. It was not a knife used for cutting meat to eat. I am weary of any interpretation of the Bible that claims when the Bible says, "x," it really means, "y." Where the Bible says, "wine" it means "wine," not "grape juice." Where the Bible says "donkey," it means "donkey," not "horse." Where the Bible says "sword," it means "sword," not "knife." Believing that "x" really means "y" opens the Bible up to dangerous speculation and complete uncertainty, because anything could mean anything else.

2. An interpretation that has a greater following takes Jesus' words literally, but strips them of context. Proponents of this view take Jesus to mean that when He sent them out, their provisions were cared for. But now, things are changing and its okay to defend themselves because things are going to get rough. One commentator took this so far as to say that Jesus was encouraging the disciples to defend themselves at any cost, because he encouraged them to sell their cloaks if need be. This interpretation takes the word sword to be a literal sword, which is good, but besides contradicting the context, it dangeroulsy contradicts Jesus' teaching about turning the other cheek, being blessed for being persecuted, and not repaying evil with evil.

3. A third way to look at it is to take Jesus' teaching on taking the sword in a spiritualized sense. The sword is to be taken figurativley as in, "Your future will be difficult, you need to muster up all the strength that you can, take upon yourselves the sword of the spirit..." This is a widely held view to make sense of a difficult passage and seems to reconcile this teaching with passages in Paul's letters without contradicting Jesus' teaching on being peacemakers. The problem with this view is that it leaves too many holes in the context and does not explain Jesus anger with talk of the sword.

4. The way to look at this passage is to keep it in context. The Passover supper has ended and the disciples begin a debate about who would be the greatest in the Kingdom. Something was learned from Jesus' example because Peter steps up to declare that he was "ready to go with (Jesus) both to prison and to death" (v. 33). Jesus begins to scold Peter and the other disciples because of their lack of trust in God to continue to provide for them. Their view was that they would advance God's kingdom on their own, in their own way. This is why when the disciples gather two swords, Jesus words are "It is enough," as if to say, "Stop this!" This is reinforced after the disciple cuts off the servants ear and Jesus says, "No more of this" (v. 51). His word is not an encouragement to take up swords because everything is changing. He is challenging their view in how the kingdom would be advanced. This keeps the context of the passage in place and doesn't contradict Jesus' teaching about being peacemakers who trust in God's provision.

Conclusion:
We must be careful that our interpretations of Scripture are not efforts to rescue Jesus from the things He said, or cramming HIs teaching into our own agendas. It is natural to want to defend ourselves, which is why Jesus' teaching on peacemaking is so poignant. We must remember that we are to be a people of another kingdom and of another King, under whose rule the first are last and the last are first. The Kingdom of God advances because the guiltless One took upon Himself the sin of the world. Jesus emphasizes this in saying that "what is written about me has its fulfillment." He would not allow the disicples to interfere in God's plan for the death of Jesus.

Easter Gathering

At Missio Dei Church, we believe that the death and resurrection has as much to do with how we live now as it does with the afterlife. The Kingdom of God that Jesus preached involves sacrifice, love and peacemaking and we are committed to being a community following these pursuits. Join us on April 8 at the Grey Eagle at 10:30 to celebrate Jesus victory over brokenness and corruption to create a new humanity. For more details or directions, click on the Grey Eagle link on this page or contact Pastor Kurt (kurt@livinguncommon.org).

The Lesson at the Falls

Yesterday, my friend Scott and I took our oldest kids out hiking to see the Daniel Ridge Falls. My oldest son, Ashe is three and Maren, Scott's oldest daughter is 2 1/2, so needless to say, hiking went slowly, very slowly.

When we finally arrived at the falls, I was surprised to find that we were the only ones there. The weather was an ideal 70 degrees, it was a relatively easy approach, and it was the beginning of spring break for many. I had thought that the falls would be swarmed by the people who filled up all the cars in the parking lot.

After ten or fifteen minutes, some folks hiked in. It was a father and his 10 or so year-old son. They were spring breaking from Charleston, SC (because all beach people know that the mountains are better) and taking in a little hiking. Scott, who is normally reserved and a definite introvert turned into the welcome committee. Although these two were strangers, Scott worked to welcome them and assure them some friendliness.

Welcoming the stranger is at the heart of the Gospel. God, while we were estranged and enemies, broke into our world and invited us into His work in the creation. Throughout the Scriptures, God is constantly breaking into the world and welcoming men to participate in building His Kingdom. Jesus, the Christ, came to destroy for all time that which separates man from their God and from each other. He did this by taking upon Himself the guilt, brokenness, and downright evil in mankind and though he was innocent, perfect, and righteous, He died. It seemed as though He was overcome by sin, but after three days, he overcame sin and death and raised again, and now welcomes people to live in the Kingdom that He is building.

As followers of the God-king, we are to live out and share the values of His kingdom in the name of the King. The basis of acceptance rests solely on this work of the Christ. We can welcome people by forgiving them for wronging mankind in general and wronging us specifically. We can forgive because the penalty for sin has been paid. My prayer is for the Church to look to the person and work of Jesus and take it seriously, to stop demanding that people look like us, talk like us, vote like us, sing like us, smell like us, before we welcome them as friends.

Thanks Scott for your example of the Gospel!