Responsibility

Number 18:1 The LORD said to Aaron, “You, your sons and your family are to bear the responsibility for offenses connected with the sanctuary, and you and your sons alone are to bear the responsibility for offenses connected with the priesthood. 

     Responsibility has become a dirty word these days. Everyone seems to point outward when blame is assigned. Most of us get very uncomfortable when we are in the hot seat. 

     This blame shifting began at the beginning of human interactions. We read about it in the first three chapters of the Scriptures. "The woman you gave me." "The snake." Each character in the narrative seems to shift blame. The LORD will have none of it. He assigns responsibility right away and carries out protective justice on the spot. He saves humans from the worst consequences by banishing them from the Garden and allowing them to die.

     In Numbers 18 the LORD assigns responsibility to Aaron for what happens with his remaining two sons in connection to their official capacity duties. Aaron bears responsibility. He has already lost two sons because they did what they weren't supposed to do. The LORD protected the whole community from the results of their rebellion by taking their lives. If their rebellion had been allowed to continue, the consequences would have been even more catastrophic than their deaths were. Death was a protection. Death was a grace to the whole community.

     Consequences, punishments, judgements, discipline, or whatever other term we might place on these things is God's grace. We might not see it in the moment, but it is grace at work. 

     Some might argue that the LORD is unfair in judging in this way. But His kindness in protecting the community shines forth as an extension of His character. He gives us authority as image-bearers to act on His behalf in this world. When we take our responsibilities seriously, and act faithfully to reflect Him well in this world, blessing follows. And when we don't, the LORD is able to honor us with discipline. Discipline isn't pleasant in the moment, but it can bring gracious fruit in our lives and in the world.

Start Time

Mark 13:32-34

      Some people just can’t seem to show up on time. No matter the importance of the events, even weddings, some people have their person, internal clocks set in such a way that they are always late. For some it is an unconscious thing. They don’t even realize it. They aren’t in a hurry, and just get sidetracked. They live in a bubble where not time exists, or so it seems.

      But the funny thing about these types of people is that when they have to wait for someone else, they get impatient. When the lateness gets in the way of what they are wanting to do, then suddenly they notice that the other person is three minutes late. There are few people I have come across in my life that like to be held up by another person. We all think our time is valuable.

      The exact timing of the events described in our passage is undefined. We don’t know the day. This means the event isn’t driven by some celestial event, even blood moons. There is no calendar on earth that can help pinpoint the climax in advance. This held true to the destruction of Jerusalem and it holds true to the Second Coming of Jesus. The universe is not a clock ticking on a wound up spring that will someday run out of energy to continue ticking. We can’t locate the spring and determine how many days we have left.

      Many well-meaning people have tried to set the day of Jesus’ return. Every one of them has been disappointed when the day arrived. We can’t know the day or hour. It is a fact that only the Father knows at the time Jesus was answering the question. Remember, Jesus set aside some of the rights and privileges of being Deity when He added humanity to His being while He fulfilled His mission here on earth. When He walked here, He didn’t use all the knowledge that He had. He chose instead to rely on the Holy Spirit to give Him direction and guidance. The Holy Spirit spoke at various times, giving Him insight.

      So we can’t know the exact timing of these events. But that doesn’t mean the events will take us by surprise. No one is surprised by a surprise birthday party that they know is coming that evening. When you know it is coming, in the exact moment it happens you might be startled, but not surprised. Your reaction will be very different than for someone who had no idea it was coming. People have had heart attacks when the shock is too great.

      But Jesus return won’t take us by surprise. We know it is coming. That is why it is important to stay alert, always watching, always ready. We can watch for the signs He has outlined in the Scriptures. We can pay attention to His promptings. We can continue to demonstrate His care and concern for His people and those who don’t yet know the Good News that they can be set free from sin’s grip on their lives.

      We know everything we need to know about the end times. Watch! We don’t need more details. Be alert! We don’t need any charts, graphs, timelines, pre-mid-post, pre-post-amillennial. Don’t be deceived! Be ready.

Teaching Amazement

Mark 11:18

      Have you ever had anyone teach you something in such a way that it amazed you? Or maybe it wasn’t the way they taught you, but the content that amazed you. I’m talking jaw-dropping amazement.

      The spiritual leaders of Jesus’ day had a big problem. Jesus! His teaching had such a ring of authenticity that people were gathering around Him, rather than around them. They were losing their grip on the people. They were losing their carefully scripted place in their world. And if they lost that place, they would have a much more limited place of leadership, if any place was left.

      So they had to do something.

      Fear can be a powerful motivator, for both good and evil. Fear is one of our most basic emotions, driving right to the core of our being. When we are afraid we can do little else. Fear can take over our life.

      What is amazing is that Jesus’ teaching put fear in the hearts of these seemingly fearless leaders. And what do they do with the fear? They turn it into a murder plot. That probably wouldn’t be my first choice, although I have to admit, when I allow my sinful self to imagine, murder does sometimes pop to the surface. Now before you get a spiritual on me, murder has flashed across your mind too!

      But these leaders do more that flash murder. They begin to look for a way to do it. They begin to take steps to make it happen.

      Jesus has put His finger on their spiritual pulse and found them flat-lined. They were the den of robbers. They were the ones corrupting the LORD’s temple. They are the ones preventing prayer from happening in the temple courts. They had authority over that space, and they were giving authority to those who were doing the selling. Their permission was needed to be there, so they were part of the problem.

      Is murder part of godly living? I didn’t think so either! But if we followed these religious leaders, we might think it was, the ends justifying the means. Killing Jesus would help the greater cause. They certainly didn’t want any trouble with Rome. They were charged with keeping peace in their little corner of the Roman empire. And Jerusalem had a bad reputation for brewing dissidents. Or at least dissidents would show up in Jerusalem preaching their rebellion.

      These religious leaders had a vested interest in keeping the status quo. They didn’t want any change. Things were fine just the way they were. Change meant the unknown. The unknown brings uncertainty, unpredictability.

      Sometimes we need to shake up the status quo. Sometimes things need to change in order for things to get better. Are you ready for some change?

Unexpected Dinner Guests

Mark 6:37-38

      How do you handle unexpected guests for a meal? How would you handle ten extra people? How about 5000? I would probably panic! Handling the unexpected is a skill that many people haven’t mastered in their lives. Most of us love to feel like we are in control, or at least like we can handle the situations in which we find ourselves. Not too many people like to feel out of control. There are exceptions to this general rule. There are people who love the thrill, the adrenalin rush of being out of control. Skydivers, many Infantry soldiers, Marines, race car drivers, rollercoaster enthusiasts. The disciples are not in this latter category and neither are most of us. We like the sense of having things under control.

      Jesus and His disciples have traveled by boat to get away by themselves. The disciples have been out on their first witnessing campaign and Jesus wants to complete His after action review. He started on the other side of the lake, but the business of the people kept them from being able to focus. So they have traveled to get some alone time. Unfortunately, the crowds have arrived before they did.

      Jesus has spent the day teaching the crowds. Now the disciples have a logistics problem. There are more mouths to feed than there is food. What are they going to do? How are they going to solve this problem? They bring their problem to Jesus, and what does He do, He first asks for their assessment of the situation. He wants to help them realize that it is an impossible situation, far beyond their own ability to solve. If we think that we can solve the problems in our lives, we will never reach out and ask for God’s intervention.

      The disciples give Jesus a very grim assessment of their financial situation. They say it will break the bank if they have to purchase food for everyone. Can you imagine spending half a year’s income on one meal, other than a wedding? Did I just throw that into this blog, the cost of wedding receptions? I guess I did.

      The disciples have focused on a financial solution. Sounds like a political solution: throw more money at it! It must be a funding issue. World hunger: throw money at it, but don’t solve the human heart issues that cause people to oppress each other. Lagging educational performance: throw money at it, but don’t address the wasted time on politically motivated and politically correct subject content. People barely making enough to live on: throw money at it by increasing the minimum wage, but don’t expect people to be responsible for their SUV, Smartphone or 60” HDTVs purchases. We certainly can’t expect good stewardship!

      Jesus asks for an inventory of their assets. If they want to limit their solution to what they have in front of them, then let’s make sure we have an accurate accounting so that the impossibility of a human solution is highlighted. Five loaves of bread and two fish. Enough for a family, but certainly not enough for 5000 people.

Ear Guards

Mark 4:23-24a

      Have you ever found yourself singing a song that you don’t like? And then it gets stuck in your queue and you can’t seem to get it out of your mind. Over and over it rolls. This bothers me the most when the reason the song got stuck there in the first place was the fact that I disagreed with the message of the song.

      This is the reason I don’t like Country music. All the cheating and self-imposed heartbreak is too much for me. I don’t want to be thinking about my spouse cheating on me, or on the death of my dog. I want my mind to be focused on my goals and aspirations, on eternity.  I get enough heartache and tragedy in my life without importing it from the music I listen to.

      Jesus calls us to purposely listen to the good messages. He concludes the illustration of the lamp by using that familiar phrase, “If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.” I hear Him saying that we must be deliberate about taking in the positive. We need to focus on it. We need to take time to digest it and incorporate it into our lives. You can’t have passive spiritual growth. We must be active in order to grow.

      On the negative message side, we have a responsibility to be careful about what we listen to. The old saying, “Garbage in, garbage out” comes to mind. That is why Jesus tells us to watch what we hear. We need to be aware of what we are taking into our minds. We should not be passive consumers of music or anything else. We need to be focused on what is coming into our lives. When things contrary to the Word enter, we need to be critical of it, take it apart, examine it, and refute it. We can’t eliminate junk coming in, but we don’t have to purchase an extra shed in the backyard to house it.

      I have met too many people with Country Music theology. Everything they know about the Lord comes from what they have heard over the radio, none of which is true. The Gospel gets reduced to a collection of clichés. There is no depth and very little truth. And there is a whole bunch of lies. Just so you think I am picking on country music fans, Gangsta Rap, Rock, Hip Hop, and even much of popular Christian music lacks fidelity to the Truth and spiritual depth.

      We have a responsibility to examine the life of the people delivering the message as well. The message of Jesus is intimately connected to the life of Jesus and to our lives. We are the vessel for the message. If our vessel is dirty, the message gets corrupted. If we speak about fidelity, but aren’t faithful ourselves, our message gets dismissed. We can’t be politically correct and be a Jesus-follower. Jesus was very politically incorrect. If the person giving the message, in word, music, art, or any other medium, and their life doesn’t match their message, don’t listen to them.

      Our lives must match our message.

Responsibility

Mark 1:19-20

      Responsibilities! We all have them. How does the Gospel impact those responsibilities? Does the call of God supersede our responsibilities? How do we handle seemingly conflicting sets of responsibilities? We may not be facing these types of conflicts right now, but at some point in our life these conflicts will arise.

      Sometimes these conflicts show up when relationship conflicts arise. I have found that relationship conflicts often have to do with feelings of unimportance, a feeling of “I don’t matter” to them. Work seems more important. Video games, sports, friends, crafting, the children, couponing, hunting, recreation… the list could continue. Something else seems to take up time and energy needed for the relationship. This is a conflict of priorities and responsibilities. How do we decide what to do, what is most important?

      James and John had to make just such a decision. They were working with their father on their boat. When Jesus calls them, they leave their father. What was their responsibility to their father? If they left, would the father be OK? Would he be able to continue the business without them? Our text gives us a clue into the answer. There were hired men helping with the business.

      It seems that the business was successful enough that their father’s business had grown to the point where the three of them could not sustain it. They needed to hire extra help to meet the demand. When that happened, the father became more than a father. He became an employer. So now as the two sons leave, the father could continue to hire other help to meet the need. The father is not left in the lurch. He will survive.

      Would it be different if there were no hired help? Perhaps in the long run, no. The father could begin hiring help. But in the short run, over the next few days and weeks, the father would not only have to try to bring in the haul of fish to meet the demand, but also try to find help, reliable help to replace the labor the sons had provided. There might even be some resentment by the father toward Jesus for taking his boys away and leaving him in such a predicament.

      We don’t know if the sons talked to their father, asked his permission, made sure he would be OK, gave him veto power over their leaving. We don’t know if any of that happened. We don’t know if they hugged goodbye. We know nothing of their parting moments. We do know they left.

      Why would a father let his two sons leave with a perfect stranger? They were men at this point, but to allow them to leave could be seen as the father letting go of his responsibility over his sons. Maybe he should have asked some questions of Jesus. When does our responsibility for our children end?

      Mark writes about the father and the hired men. He has a reason. He wants us to ask about family and business ties. He wants us to consider other responsibilities and how we fit into the equation.

      I think the solution to these types of responsibility conflicts is to have conversations around the issues with all the people affected. Open, frank conversations about feelings and hurts can go a long way in helping avoid conflicting responsibilities. If we have them before taking on extra things, it is easier to make adjustments.