We will not be getting together at Mountain View Academy to worship God this Sunday. Instead, we’ll be getting together in our LTGs (small groups) to hang out, watch the Super Bowl, and eat food together. Invite friends and have a good time. If you’re not part of an LTG, use this as an opportunity to check one out. Check out the LTG page for details and more information about each of the LTGs that are currently running.
Our passage for this morning is a really familiar one: Luke 2:1-7, the birth of Jesus Christ. There are a few things about it that I think are easy to skip over because we’re so familiar with it.
The first is that this Jesus is Joseph and Mary’s first born child. For those of you who have kids, think about the time when you were having your first born. Recall the feelings. All that anticipation. All that excitement. And yet, at the same time, all that fear. All that anxiety. Joseph and Mary were likely an emotional mess.
The second is that the trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem, that trip that they took late in Mary’s third trimester was an 85 mile trip through some steep inclines. And if you’ve ever ridden an animal, you know that that’s still a physical exhausting mode of transportation. Think of the time when you were late in your third trimester. How far were you able to walk? Jospeh and Mary were physically exhausted. They were running on fumes.
And lastly, Bethlehem was Joseph’s “own city”, verse 3. Though it’s unclear whether Joseph’s parents were still alive, it’s almost certain that Joseph still had close relatives in Bethlehem. And considering Middle Eastern hospitality, it would’ve been inconceivable for Joseph and his new family to stay the night in some random barn as it’s portrayed in many of our Christmas pageants and plays.
Joseph and Mary likely stayed in one of his relatives’ home as did many of his other relatives, hence, why there wasn’t enough room for their entire family to sleep. With everybody coming back to their hometown to be registered for the census, there was likely a family reunion in the house where Joseph and Mary stayed. There’s music, dancing, massive amounts of food, laughter, and hugging. Jesus is getting passed around the room from family member to family member. And at the end of the day, after the party’s subsided well into the night, Joseph and Mary lay him down in a manger, a step below the living area but under the same roof.
There is very little that’s silent about this night. Very little is calm. And there’s little sleeping in heavenly peace.
If anything it’s a chaotic night. They’re emotionally and physically exhausted before they even get to Bethlehem. And when they do get there, they’re greeted by Joseph’s extended family who are excited to see the new addition to their family.
But Jesus is there with them. And for that reason, one of the lines from Silent Night rings true. It was a “holy night”. Being holy isn’t about being composed and calm, about having it all together with your sins properly managed. Being holy is about being with Jesus, abiding in Him.
I know that many of you are in a place right now where you feel like life is too chaotic to be connected to Jesus. Well, our relationship with Jesus is a two-way street. Jesus reaches out to us as well. Jesus loves you.
But will you notice? Will you notice Jesus loving you in the midst of the chaos of your life?
To notice, consider group life, being part of an LTG. When we live life alone, in seclusion it’s all too easy not to notice Jesus. Our spiritual vision gets near-sighted as we just live through the routines of our lives. But as we share about our lives, chaos and all, others in our LTGs can speak into them revealing Jesus at work in it. And as we pray together through the chaos of our lives, we can tangibly feel Jesus ministering to us through His body, the Church.
Discussion Questions:
31 Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath he taught the people. 32 They were amazed at his teaching, because his words had authority.
33 In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an impure spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, 34 “Go away! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
35 “Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly. “Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him.
To put us on the same page. Here is the list info from the last two weeks with some minor editing.
1.) Apostles
a. Examples in Scripture
— Acts, Galatians 1:19, Romans 16:7
b. Counterfeit Examples in Scripture
— 2 Corinthians 11:4-5, 13
c. Jesus as the Archetype
— Hebrews 3:1-2
d. Examples in History
– faith versions – St. Patrick, Count Zinzendorf, John Wesley (contra George Whitfield), Bill Wilson of A.A., John Mott of the Student Volunteer Movement, all the unknown, uneducated people (mostly women) whom God is using to start/contniue church planting movements across the 2/3 world.
– non-faith versions – Nicholas Zennstrom (of Kazaa and Skype) contra Shawn Fanning (of Napster)
2.) Prophets
a. Examples in Scripture
— O.T. (from Moses to Malachi), Acts 11:27-30, Acts 13:1-2, Acts 15:30-35, Acts 21:8-9
b. Counterfeit Examples in Scripture
— All over the O.T.! Acts 13′s Bar-Jesus
c. Jesus as the Archetype
— Acts 3:19-23
d. Examples in History
— John Wimber (founder of the Vineyard Church Association), Mike Bickle of I.H.O.P., Erich Reber, many of the desert fathers and eastern mystics.
3.) Evangelists
a. Examples in Scripture
— Acts 8, Acts 21:8-9, Acts 18:24-28, I Timothy 2:7, 2 Timothy 1:11
b. Counterfeit Examples in Scripture
– The Judaizers in Galatians and Philippians who herald a false gospel
c. Jesus as the Archetype
— Luke 4:16-19
d. Examples in History
— Bill Bright of Campus Crusade, Billy Graham, George Whitfield, Bill Hybels, [unintentionally] Mother Teresa, D.L. Moody, Charles Finney
4.) Shepherds
a. Examples in Scripture
— Acts 16:4-5, Acts 20:27-31, 1 Peter 5:1-4
b. Counterfeit Examples in Scripture
— John 10′s hired hands (cf. 1 Peter 5:2-3)
c. Jesus as the Archetype
— 1 Peter 2:25, John 10:11-16, 1 Peter 5:4
d. Examples in History
– Mother Teresa who cared for the “poorest of the poor,” People in your life who have loved and walked with you; shepherds don’t tend to rise to the limelight because they’re too busy loving people!
5.) Teachers
a. Examples in Scripture
— Acts 13:1-2
b. Counterfeit Examples in Scripture
— Read 1 and 2 Timothy for references to lots of false teachers in Ephesus where Timothy is stationed
c. Jesus as the Archetype
— John 13:12-14
d. Examples in History
– B.S.F., professors in Seminaries and Bible colleges, any preachers who have followings on Christian radio, Jonathan Edwards and the Puritans
So it seems that, after talking with many of you, the Lord’s timing is right on for our re-visitation of this topic. I have LOVED what I have heard many of you articulating. Things are beginning to make sense in your Holy-Spirit hard-wiring: why you think, feel, act a particular way.
Just to help us navigate through this lifting fog, I’d like to keep two torches out in front of us for this week:
1.) remember that these giftings are for the CHURCH universal — not for us. When we as individuals are all doing in community what God created us to do, then the Church is equipped, grows stronger and the Kingdom expands into the nooks and crannies of the globe. If we make these giftings primarily about us, we will take a near-sighted, self-oriented approach that will rob us of our true value to bless nations. So let the journey of self-discovery lead you outward to the Church and the world — asking why and how the Lord placed us in all our places and spaces. How do people I see and have relationships with need for me to walk into the fullness of who God made me to be?
This may be obvious, but as organic interdependent communities (from the metaphor of a “body”), we NEED each other to grow. And so to hold back is to hold back not just ourselves but from the whole body. This is not shame-based thinking so much as it is recovering the interwovenness of being part of a family in an individualistic culture — switching from a community-exists-for-me mentality to an I-exist-for-community mentality. Anybody who has ever played part on a TEAM knows this mentality: where every person on the field or the court knows that if he/she doesn’t do his/her part, then the whole team fails to move ahead. Such it is if we take seriously Ephesians 4:11-16.
2.) remember to keep the lines dotted – not filled in. By that I mean that this stuff is so out-of-the-box from our traditional, Western evangelical understanding of spiritual giftings that we need to be creative and open-minded about how our unique expression of one thing will be different from another’s and different from what we may have historically conceived. Most of us would be BLOWN AWAY if God were to give us a video reel or snapshot of what we could be if we obediently followed the Spirit into our natural, God-given design. So let’s keep our imagination WIDE open.
To spell out further: two people may have the same “gift” of hospitality, but if one is an evangelist she will use it differently than a shepherd or a teacher would. Your living room couch or dining table could be the place where people get healed and loved back into the Kingdom (shepherd) or where people remember falling back in love with the Scriptures again (teacher) or the spiritual birthplace of people who come to Jesus (evangelist). It becomes a strategic place where powerful, natural-life ministry happens. You are doing more than providing a meal: you are discipling people (and the people groups they’re in contact with) who will in turn disciple people and their people networks– all in your unique God-given way.
Or two people who are both apostolic in gifting may express it differently — one may do so by penetrating new sectors with Kingdom presence/entry through social entrepreneurial ventures or non-profit groups that multiply and bring Jesus into those various global arenas, where another may be starting churches on facebook or at a local cafe. Even Peter and James had a more local expression of their apostolic calling than Paul did.
So while I listed examples of each five-fold gifting for clarity’s sake, don’t feel limited by them as if you need to be like them. Few can reproduce Bill Hybels or Mother Teresa. And you and I are not supposed to. We’re supposed to be US — better, JESUS IN US. And that will be WAY more powerful than trying to be John Wesley or John Wimber or John Piper. In fact, that is God’s way of disciple-making a planet: by being YOU in God’s natural design.
We’ll cover this stuff some more this weekend, but feel free to discuss during the week with friends and family. Oh, and I believe Minho made a recording of it too if you’re interested.
So here is the story of Aaron and Michelle Shafer, who moved on from baylight to Memphis, TN back in the summer of 2006 and found themselves seeking the peace and prosperity of Memphis in the process. More info can be found at:
http://www.skateparkformemphis.org
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/jun/22/skaters-ready-to-roll/
http://www.memphismagazine.com/gyrobase/Magazine/Content?oid=oid%3A27343
Below is their inspiring story:
Leaving our bubble: but not willingly!
Our family moved to Memphis in the summer of 2006. This was a profoundly difficult move that came at the heels of a disappointing failed attempt to secure a full time professorship at Westmont University in Santa Barbara California. As Mike Kim can assure you, we had our hearts set on this position and my research at Stanford was intended to provide the necessary experience for becoming the most qualified candidate for the job. God had other plans. Off we headed to Memphis, 2400 miles away from our comfort zone and our native homeland. Off to the land of the South, the birth and death of slavery and the 1960s epicenter for the racial tensions between blacks and whites.
Culture shock?
One of the most common questions that we encountered in conversations with people here in Memphis was, were we experiencing culture shock. Culture shock was too specific. Let’s just call it shock. This included weather shock, culture shock and hobby shock. It’s hot and humid back here and we moved into Memphis during the 2nd hottest summer on record followed by 2007 which was the hottest summer on record. As to the culture shock, it’s suffice to say that races back here are courteous to each other but their social circles rarely overlap. The biggest shock for me has been moving into an area that is devoid of physical activities. All of you back in California can chose your outdoor activity and you are likely not far away from a place to do it. In Memphis these activities simply don’t exist-some for obvious reasons. As a lifetime surfer and skateboarder, as well as a person who has ridden his bike to work for the past ten years, this recreational void elicited a visceral shock. It was if I had lost a vital organ and needed to be hooked to life-support. Case in point: Memphis was ranked a few years ago as the least fit city in the nation and was ranked this year as the 2nd most miserable city to live in second only to Stockton, CA. As Michelle my wife can testify, for the first six months I teetered closely into going into a prolonged depression and wrestled with a real anger towards God. What is a quintessential Californian doing in the south? Usually it seems that God removes our idols and comforts in a gradual fashion, but moving to Memphis felt like a psychological or spiritual yard sale where my whole identity, my California identity and activities were chucked on the lawn at a deep discount.
Memphis needs a skate park!
One would think that I would have some sort of profound response. But the Lord keeps things simple for his simple sheep. In fact I wouldn’t even call it a response but rather a reaction from realizing that there would be no place to skate in this new city. As we made our trek across the country, Michelle and I were constantly discussing how we would adjust to our new home. One of the last discussions we had occurred perhaps 40 miles from entering the city. The conversation ended with a firm resolve to establish a skate park in Memphis. “Just do it.” – said Michelle. We had two weeks before my new research position started at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and during that time we moved in, unpacked and I created a website to explain all the reasons Memphis needed a skate park. I launched the site two weeks later in September 2006.
Letting God connect the dots
From there, I just starting telling as many people that I ran into what I was trying to do and the Lord just seemed to direct me to the right contacts as I bounced around from one person to the next. Friends of friends from the Bay Area became our first contacts here. They were Memphians and had attended Stanford. They soon became our first friends here as well. The husband just happened to know a lead developer in the Memphis area who was also good friends with the director of Parks and Recreation. Memphis is a fairly large city, but it is a tightly connected community. In the fall I met with the director and gave a presentation. A year later in December 2007, the director requested $440K for skate park.
Skate park “doctor”
Meeting the right people was part of the equation, another part of the success of the project was God using my unique gifts and training as research scientist. St. Jude has a very positive reputation in the Memphis community. Mentioning you work at St. Jude back here is the equivalent of mentioning you work for Google or Genentech back in the bay area. St. Jude provided a ticket or gateway into societal circles that would have been off-limits to a skateboarder. This was part of the problem the Memphis skate community had been facing for years – they badly needed an advocate that was well-respected within the community. Memphis strives hard to retain working professionals – I used this priority as a major leverage for connecting skate parks with retaining the highly-sought after “professional creative-class.” Who would have ever guessed I would have been using my professional training in biological research to give presentations on the benefits of a skate park? Only God.
The big day
In the spring of 2008, the Parks and Rec department decided to have a ramp building company host a skate demo. I was stoked and bummed at the same time. Memphis Parks and Rec had only given me 8 days notice to promote the event. The demo was originally scheduled for July but they moved it to late April. I knew this demo was critical because parks was going to use this demo to see if there were as many skaters as I had claimed there were. I would feel pretty embarrassed if 10 skaters showed up after claiming that we had 5000 skaters in our city! We promoted the event every day for 8 days straight on Myspace. On the day of the demo I got off work and headed over to the event. The parking lot was packed and I thought perhaps another event was being held next to ours -there were A LOT of cars. I walked inside the warehouse, which was an old hog barn-arena, and the place was packed with skaters. 400 skaters were skateboarding, roller-rink style around the arena while skaters in the center packed the demo ramps. The ramp company was completely overwhelmed. The entire Parks staff was there including the director. They appeared to be in a mixed state of shock, complete disbelief and perhaps as some skaters suggested, a bit embarrassed. This demo was on a school day, had no press to promote it and it still was packed. The local news had showed up, it went onto radio stations and was written up in the paper the following day. We had just witnessed and experienced serious pent-up demand! Memphis really needed this. It was heartening to know that I was not the only one experiencing recreational starvation. And the best part was 30% of the skaters were black! This doesn’t happen naturally here in Memphis. I don’t think this was lost on the parks staff. That July, the skate park money was unanimously approved by the city council and we are now looking forward to breaking ground in the summer of 2009. Since the approval by the council, the skate park project has been written up several times in the paper and we were interviewed on TV as well! Crazy stuff!
Why the skatepark project belongs to God – By Michelle
This project is still in the works. I always say, “I won’t believe it until a back-hoe starts breaking ground.” – where’s the faith?!! But after 2 ½ years we have alternated between having high hopes for it working out with weeks of thinking that not a soul was interested in the project. It’s always a stretch for us to put our hope and true joy in Christ and not in our work, hobbies, speaking abilities or children but with the direction life has taken over the last few years, we do it better now out of pure necessity, not righteousness. The weeks before the April demo were some very hard times for Memphis. We had one of the most gruesome mass murders in the history of the city and the great Memphis Tigers lost the b-ball championship! We were all heartbroken. It was one of those rare times when white and black people were all cheering for the same cause. We needed that win for moral and it did not happen. Until a week before the demo we really thought all was dead in the water for the skate park. One more time, Aaron and I were really looking for a way out of here. But the demo request came out of nowhere from Parks and Rec and we had a few days to work all the contacts the Lord had previously provided. As Aaron mentioned above, the demo was a huge success. You know how the wind blows sometimes and you know that for a few hours you have been on the mountaintop and seen a glimpse of how life should be on earth. We drove out of the parking lot that evening with hearts full of excitement and awe. Really, since we did nothing to get parks and rec to get a demo on that day, it could only be God. If He wants it done then He can pull it out of nowhere – it belongs to him. Our dreams, hopes, visions for justice all belong to Him. Nothing can stop the work of God.
Share or sulk: A daily choice
Living the “California dream” as a kid who grew up surfing and skating was an incredible privilege- basically unreal! I now realize, that I have a daily choice, in regards to my California heritage, mourn the loss of “the dream” or share it with others. Some days I still chose to sulk, but seeing what God has done through the skate park project reminds me to get off my “sulky cross” because the wood could be put to better use. I need to look no further for inspiration or perspective then see the kids in the inner city and to remember my own important role as a husband to Michelle and father to my boys. The kids around here have no idea what is like to have access to a place like a skate park. They have little concept of how to blow some steam off after a hard day at school or in their home life. They have access to fast food, sex, gangs, guns and absentee parents. That’s the identity and lifestyle – the reality for a lot of black youth around here. People here need a healthy “pressure release valve”.
Worship
The skate park effort has allowed me to experience what “worship” means in my walk with the Lord. Worship it seems is a personal expression of returning the grace that was first bestowed upon me through the Gospel. I have had a strong life-long desire to have my worship transcend the walls of the Sunday service. To have worship expressed in meaningful actions that come in the most unexpected unintended forms. I thank God for this project and WOW it was a thrill! For our family, it seems that through undesired sacrifice and personal loss, God is reshaping our identity and purpose. As we stubbornly let go of our old identities, God opens up the opportunities to truly worship him with all that we are. I leave you Mathew 16:25 “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” I am still a very broken person- at times still angry, ungrateful, and impatient. Part of me would still rather have not lost my former life, but God has rewarded our family with a new vitality and purpose through all this. May God continue to give us the courage and strength to graciously let go of our identities and pursuits that prevent us from experiencing true lasting joy, peace, purpose and transformation into the likeness of Christ.
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