tough things #1 (Deuteronomy 6)

it's tough
NOT
to be God...

any two-year-old
can tell you
this...along with
the rest of
us
when we are overwhelmed
with anger
or a greed
of any other kind.

who
can be trusted
to be God?

who, Lord?

anyone other than You,
Lord?

YaHWeH's Job #5 (Psalm 50:21)

what is it,
Lord,
that You do in Your
day job?

do You laugh at us?
or
with us?

play games with us?
weep for us?
grieve over us?
enjoy us?
much at all?

are You concerned
for us?

do You even notice us
except in
anger?

the evidence is in...

Jesus,
You are ALL the evidence there
is.

You came to us with
YaHWeH's full-force-love
inside You...
spilling out of
You
all over us...and
it didn't matter to You
who drank of it...

Jew...
Gentile...
believer...
pagan...
poor...
rich...
strong...
weak...
You loved all & each
of us
regardless of our
packaging.

YaHWeH's Job #3 (Psalm 50:21, the Message)

we think,
You, Lord, are just like
us...
only bigger maybe
or
a little bit smarter.

we say
You are good...
but
we act like You're a bully
so fearful are we of
Your plans for us.

are we fearful because we
have seen so much
mayhem?
grief?
tragedy?

or is it
deeper
&
simpler than that,
Lord?

how could we have forgotten
that the most repeated
command to people in scripture
is,
"Don't be afraid."

YaHWeH's Job #2 (Psalm 50:21)

our theology
gives the Almighty
a job description shaped by
our best minds
and
our lowest prejudices.

why else
would our prayers make us sound
like
spoiled children
demanding
their own way?

the stunning thing is
that You
do not disown us...
nor do You
ignore us...
instead
You wait for us
to come around,
Lord.

YaHWeH's Job #1 (Psalm 50:21)

Lord,
we
have always believed Your job
to be about
doing OUR will...
fixing
OUR lives.

so when You
did
show up here
among us,
You looked so much
like just another fast food
clerk...or
maybe a paramedic
that we missed WHO
You were...ARE...

only now do we begin
to see You...
to understand Your deep
grace.

we are blind &
short-sighted people...
forgive us,
Lord.

disciples made

Lord,
what is it about
making disciples?

why
was it so vital
to You?

why was this Your main
YaHWeH-driven-task
before Your cross-work?
before You killed death's
power?

is it indeed true
that whenever we make
disciples
they make us more-discipled as well?

did You learn that
by Your experience
down here among us?
amid our failures?

was that part of what You meant
when You prayed,
"for their sakes...
I sanctify Myself..."
was it?

finding ourselves 2 (Mark 10:17ff)

Lord,
can we ever find ourselves
outside relationship?

are we ever so lost
as when we seek
ourselves
in a plan? a program?

the rich young man
who came to You
was that lost.

You offered him
not a plan…but
Yourself as the Life-Way.

he was very sad…

finding ourselves 1 (Mark 10:17ff)

Lord,
is finding ourselves
ever as complicated
as we think?
or so simple?

like the rich young man
we look for a sure way…
something that cannot fail…

that is what fear
does to us.

yet
all the time
our identity lies
hidden in plain view…inside
You!