You hear the word Pharisee---what do you think of?

Chances are you know those guys as the people Jesus threw down with time and time again. You’re probably glad you’re not one of them. I can’t say that I blame you. They come across as being so sure of themselves and very my-way-or-the-high-wayish. And, let’s face the facts; it’s hard to market any good pharisaical material. No one wants to wear a t-shirt that reads: My brood strains gnats and swallows camels. Yo!

“It could be,” one demotivational poster reads, “that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others.”

You won’t say it, but that’s probably what you think of the Pharisees. Nico and friends, in all likelihood, suffer from the second worst bad rap ever—the first, of course, belongs to Vanilla Ice (Sorry for the ‘90s rap reference).

In John 10, Jesus is presented as the Good Shepherd. Jesus begins that chapter by dropping some sheep knowledge. It sounds like pretty simple stuff: there’s a gate for sheep to come in and out; some people try to steal the sheep; the sheep know who to trust. But John tells us that not everyone was keeping up. Verse 6 says, “Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.” The “them” John refers to is a group of Pharisees.

The question begs to be asked: Why didn’t they understand?

• Maybe it wasn't so simple. 
• Maybe they only knew about gnats and camels and understood nothing about sheep. 
• Maybe they thought Jesus was talking about someone else. 

Ignore the chapter numbers in your Bible and you realize that John has already told us why they don’t understand. The sheep speech is part of a conversation between Jesus and “some” Pharisees that began in the last section of chapter 9. Take out your at-home pew Bible and I bet you’ll have a heading over that section that reads “Spiritual Blindness.” On the heels of a healing, Jesus has just insinuated the Pharisees’ blindness. So, as far as John is concerned, the reason why the Pharisees couldn’t understand the sheep talk is because they were spiritually blind.

Lesson learned, right? No wonder we don’t want to be like the Pharisees. We sing hymns and praise songs that include verses like, “Open my eyes that I may see,” and “Open the eyes of my heart; I want to see you.” We don’t want to be spiritually blind. So, don’t be like the Pharisees, right? Not exactly. Jesus explained what he meant further. This time there was no confusion at all. They understood him exactly. So much so that John says, “The Jews were divided because of these words.” When John speaks of “The Jews” he is typically referring to the people like the Pharisees; they were religious leaders. You see, not all the Pharisees were Jesus haters. There were some that recognized Jesus for who he was.

Some just needed a few more answers. Others were pretty set in their ways and were unable to phariSEE something new. I imagine there were others who had no trouble believing, but their relationship to other Pharisees made it difficult to follow Jesus fully. Maybe more of us should get fitted for that new t-shirt. Yo!

Quite often we are quick to use our spiritual label makers to define others. Once defined, we know exactly what to do with them. We know how we’ll talk to them (or about them). We know what they believe and why. Well, we’re pretty sure we know, but that doesn’t matter because we’re at least sure of what we really think of them—and that’s all that matters.

Jesus knew his ministry wouldn’t last very long. You don’t go around speaking to power and getting away with it forever. So, Jesus knew there would be plenty of Pharisee barbecues he would not be invited to attend. Still, he spoke and gave them all a chance to hear. Sometimes, apparently, he even repeated himself.

Perhaps we should be so willing, too. Many of the Pharisees you think you know probably share a lot of faith with you. But who’s been willing to listen to them? When someone says, “I know your kind,” what they should do is stick their fingers in their ears, close their eyes real tight and repeat, “I’m not listening; I’m not listening” because that’s what they’re already doing on the inside. You might be right; many of “those people” are going to be just like you’ve imagined or been told. But there might just be those that don’t follow suit like you think.

• Are you willing to listen to them? 
• Could you imagine yourself having a decent conversation with them? 
• Would you let them sit next to you at the church potluck? 
• Can you imagine them as friends? 
• When was the last time you prayed with them or for them? 
• Could you stop calling them "them?"

If anything one of those previous suggestions make you cringe just a bit, you might be more the Pharisee that you thought they were? So, you hear the word Pharisee and you think.............


Stay blessed...john

"Good morning.  Welcome.  It's good to see you this morning."  That's about as far as many of us preachers go with our welcome at Sunday morning worship.  Maybe some innovated one will say something like, "Oh, come on.  You'll have to do better than that.  I said, 'Good Morning!'"

Jon Acuff recently shared a welcome a friend of his found at a church he attended.  I'm thinking about making it ours!  It reads:

We extend a special welcome to those who are single, married, divorced, gay, filthy rich, dirt poor, yo no habla Ingles. We extend a special welcome to those who are crying new-borns, skinny as a rail or could afford to lose a few pounds. We welcome you if you can sing like Andrea Bocelli or like our pastor who can’t carry a note in a bucket. You’re welcome here if you’re “just browsing,” just woke up or just got out of jail. We don’t care if you’re more Catholic than the Pope, or haven’t been in church since little Joey’s Baptism. We extend a special welcome to those who are over 60 but not grown up yet, and to teenagers who are growing up too fast. We welcome soccer moms, NASCAR dads, starving artists, tree-huggers, latte-sippers, vegetarians, junk-food eaters. We welcome those who are in recovery or still addicted. We welcome you if you’re having problems or you’re down in the dumps or if you don’t like “organized religion,” we’ve been there too. If you blew all your offering money at the dog track, you’re welcome here. We offer a special welcome to those who think the earth is flat, work too hard, don’t work, can’t spell, or because grandma is in town and wanted to go to church. We welcome those who are inked, pierced or both. We offer a special welcome to those who could use a prayer right now, had religion shoved down your throat as a kid or got lost in traffic and wound up here by mistake. We welcome tourists, seekers and doubters, bleeding hearts … and you!

Now, think about the kind of welcome your church gives.  Does it have meaning?  How does it reflect your understanding of church and God.

Stay blessed...john

+StuffChristiansLike

I suspect that our recorded sermons will return next week.  The recording equipment should be in the mail and ready to go for this Sunday.  That'll be good because I think since I haven't seen how long the sermons have been I've given myself permission to go a tad bit longer than usual.  Or maybe it's just me.

Yesterday's sermon was about rest.  God gave us rest and we all need it.  We live in a busy world, constantly going, going, going.  Many people take pride in their ability to always be busy.  But I don't think we were designed to live that way.  With everyone so busy, is it any wonder so many people feel tired all the time, feel like they can't concentrate, are grumpy and are dealing with an array of medical conditions?  We need rest.

And God gives us rest.  I did mention how the church notoriously follows suit with the busyness.  I've heard of many people, lay people and clergy, who have been "burned out on church."  What!  So, we, as the church, need to evaluate and consider what it means that, "We can get burned out working for the One who gives us rest."  There's something wrong with that picture.

People need the Lord, and God needs us well rested so we can be God's avenues of prayer, healing and peace for them.


So, find rest that connects you to God so that you can be prepared to do the work of God.  Stay blessed...john

It's been three weeks since our family's move to Shiner. The most difficult part of our move has been that we still don't have cable. Well, okay, there are the emotional aspects of moving that are always difficult. But, overall, our family is home and we are getting adjusted to a new community and meeting a lot of wonderful people.

When you see these crosses, you're at Shiner FUMC.

The new office is just about arranged, and I am trying to figure out exactly what my schedule will be. Blog beware--I have been working on upcoming posts that I am excited to share. For the first time in a long time, I am serving a church without the pressures and work of being in school. I almost don't know how to act. 

Our new church is Shiner First United Methodist Church. You can find our church online at www.shinerfumc.org. It has not been updated in a while, and you know I will take care of that soon enough. If you're on Facebook you can also connect with our church. Our address is www.facebook.com/ShinerFUMC. Go to our page and "Like" us.

God is always doing new things in and around us.  I pray God's peace would be unavoidable for you today.  Stay blessed...john