Overcoming the World

For many of us, just surviving is a big challenge. Our lives are full, our work days are long, and our free time is very limited.

So what do we do when, as followers of Jesus, we are commanded to “overcome the world”? Not only does the Bible tell us this, it gives us a radical strategy for making it happen: love. The Apostle John makes this case most powerfully.

Apostle St. John the Evangelist,
El Greco, c. 1612

John was a disciple of Jesus and one of his closest companions. Along with Peter and James, John developed a special friendship with Jesus that provided opportunities for him to know Jesus more intimately than the other disciples. John was the one who rested his head on Jesus during the “Last Supper” (John 13:23-25) as an expression of their close friendship and he was the only disciple who faithfully remained to witness Jesus on the cross first-hand (John 19:26).

The Apostle John wrote the Gospel of John, Revelation, and the three Letters of John. In the first of his three Letters, John insists that the true test of a disciple’s life is whether or not the love of God is evident in that person’s relationship with others. John emphasizes that loving God means keeping his commands and, in doing this, followers of Jesus “overcome the world” (I John 5:4).

Although John did not use the word “peace” to describe the gospel message as frequently as the Apostles Peter and Paul, for example, the substance of his teaching is the same. The Apostle John preaches the love of God like no other first century church leader. He has a clear memory of Jesus’ gift of peace given to the disciples after the resurrection (John 20:19-23). For him, peace with God, a “right relationship” with Jesus, means living a life of love for others.

There is power in the simplicity of John’s words: “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God has overcome the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God” (I John 5:3-5).

Stressed out? Too busy? Just trying to “make it”? This radical teaching by the Apostle John is good news if we are followers of Jesus and if we choose to live out the love of Jesus in our daily lives. John’s words are words of triumph because the love of God will “overcome the world.”

So What?

• This truth is so hard to hear and understand, right? In our rough-and-tumble world, how can love overcome anything? It’s force and power that seems to be dominant. Have you seen any examples of love “overcoming the world”?
• What can you do in a practical way to begin implementing these teachings? Are you willing to trust the Apostle John’s teachings that love is God’s radical strategy for “overcoming the world”?
• Think of a person who is difficult to love, or a situation that is difficult to handle in a loving way. Then think about how you could change your approach to this person or this situation in a loving way, beginning first with prayer. Ask God to help you to take this approach of love and see what happens in the course of a month or two.

Patient Peacemakers

Being patient does not come easy with me. I am not a patient guy. But I have learned, especially since coming to Russia twenty years ago, that patience is a Biblical virtue. Waiting five years to get a construction permit, instead of the normal eighteen-month wait because we would not pay bribes, taught me about patience. It is also an important reality for peacemakers.

"St James the Elder"
Peter Paul Rubens, c. 1612

The Apostle James, the brother of Jesus, developed into a major leader in the first century church. Although he did not believe in Jesus as the Messiah and even challenged his claims (John 7:2-5), James became a believer when he saw the resurrected Jesus. The Apostle Paul referred to James as a “pillar” of the church (Galatians 2:9) and Luke records James’ critical role as a mediator during the debate at the Jerusalem council over whether or not Gentile Christians must observe Jewish practices required by Mosaic law.

The Book of James was written to a Jewish audience and is one of the earliest of all New Testament writings. James’ letter shows his great familiarity with Jesus’ teaching and its central concern is the vital link between faith and works. James persuasively argues that “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (2:17).

James then goes on to compare two kinds of wisdom, “earthly wisdom” and “wisdom that comes from heaven.” In ways that would be very familiar to his Jewish readers, James describes the relationship between God’s wisdom and shalom – “the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all, pure, then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” And then James adds this note: “Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness” (3:17-18).

To Jesus’ brother, sowing in peace would result in creating conditions of justice. But James also warned the followers of Jesus to be patient: “See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the fall and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm” (5:7b-8a).

James’ message is clear – and we all need to hear it: Be an obedient peacemaker and trust that God will bring a “harvest of righteousness” in his own timing, as he promised.

So What?

• Do you find it as hard as I do to be patient, especially when you feel you’ve done something important and are waiting for the results? Can you think of any example in your life? How do you handle this timing of waiting when patience is needed?
• Being patient is not an act of passivity – it requires actively trusting in God’s promises that he will bless your efforts at peacemaking and reconciliation in his time. Has this been your experience?

The Big Story

Do you wake up in the morning sometimes, look around, and wonder what is going on in our crazy world?   I do.   When this happens, it reminds me of the observation made by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge in their book, The Sacred Romance, that “most of us live our lives like a movie we’ve arrived at twenty minutes late.  The action is well underway and we haven’t a clue what’s happening.  Who are these people?  Who are the good guys and who are the bad guys?  Why are they doing that?  What’s going on?  We sense that something really important, perhaps even glorious, is taking place, and yet it all seems so random.”  This insight appears in a chapter in their book entitled “A Story Big Enough to Live In.”

For many of us, when we read the Bible, it can be a confusing book and it is hard to understand what the principal themes are and how they hold together.  How do the Old and New Testaments relate to each other?  More importantly, where do we fit into this story, if at all?

Theologians talk about a meta-narrative– about the big story – of Scripture and it seems to me that getting a firm grasp on this big story is very important if we want to live as disciples of Jesus, if we want to be peacemakers in our broken world.

           

Recently I gained a fresh insight on the subject of “the big story” that I am excited to share with you.  Oxford Professor N.T. Wright suggests that we should view the Bible as a drama in multiple acts.  The creation story is Act I, where God’s plot for the world is initially revealed; Act II is the fall, where there is conflict in the story.  The remainder of the drama is the torturous resolution of this conflict and it can be divided into four further acts. 

Act III is the story of Israel, Act IV is the story of Jesus (who begins to unravel the plot conflict at is deepest roots), Act V is the story of the church, and the sixth and final act is the consummation when God’s intentions for creation are fully realized and when Jesus returns to earth in glory.

What is unusual about the Biblical drama is that the script breaks off in the middle of the fifth act, resulting in a sizable gap between Act V, Scene I (the story of the early church) and Act VI.   While there are hints in the Bible about how the story will end, there is no clear line leading from the break in Act V to the conclusion of the drama.

William Shakespeare

Professor Wright offers a creative insight on how we can think about “the big story” in the Bible and figure out where we fit in.  Suppose, he says, that there exists a Shakespeare play whose fifth act had been lost.  The first four acts provide a wealth of characters and a crescendo of excitement within the plot and those who found the lost play agree that the play ought to be staged.

The challenge is how to write a fifth act.   The best solution, Wright argues, would be to give key parts to highly trained, sensitive and experienced Shakespearian actors, who would immerse themselves in the first four acts, and in the language and culture of Shakespeare and his time, and who would then be told to work out the fifth act for themselves.

The first four acts, existing as they did, would be the undoubted authority for the task at hand.  The experienced Shakespearian actors would now have to improvise without developing behaviors that were inconsistent or unrelated to the existing text.  These actors would have to improvise and be innovative, while staying faithful to Shakespeare’s authority.

It is not necessary to draw this out much further.  When I read Dr. Wright’s insights on this, I was immediately drawn to the power of this analogy.  What a great way to think about our role as disciples in light of the authority of God’s Word.   As disciples, we need to be like highly trained, sensitive and experienced actors who know God so well that we can improvise and figure out how to live according to his teachings in our own particular context.  We need to immerse ourselves in God’s Word, so we can speak and live in light of the big story God has unfolded for us in Scripture.  Our job is to figure out, in light of God’s character and the teachings of Jesus, how we ought to live now.  This is an essential part of our calling as Jesus’ disciples.  It is indeed “A Story Big Enough to Live In”!

So What?

• Does this analogy help you?  In what ways?

• If one of your colleagues at work asked you to explain why you go to church and what your religious beliefs are, how would you answer their questions?  How would you explain “the big story” in the Bible?

Taking Shalom to the Streets

For many of us, there is a very long distance between our brains and our hearts. Those twelve inches can stretch into miles. I know I struggle with this. What I believe sometimes doesn’t make much difference in how I act.

Jesus knew this and that’s why he constantly reminded his disciples to listen to what he said and then to do it! The Apostle James repeated this message: “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says” (James 1:22).

My recent posts have discussed what Jesus taught about shalom, about being a peacemaker, and how his disciples interpreted this message and put it into practice in their own lives, after Jesus’ ascension to heaven.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

One remarkable example of how Jesus’ teachings were put into action comes from the civil rights movement under the leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr. If you wanted to be a volunteer and serve as part of his team, you had to sign a pledge agreeing to the following:

•  Meditate daily on the teachings and life of Jesus.
•  Pray daily to be used by God in order that men might be free.
•  Walk and talk in the manner of love, for God is love.
•  Sacrifice personal wishes in order that all men might be free.
•  Observe with both friend and foe the ordinary rules of courtesy.
•  Seek to perform regular service for others and for the world.
•  Refrain from the violence of fist, tongue and heart.
•  Strive to be in good spiritual and bodily health.
•  Follow the directions of the movement and of the captain of the demonstration.

Martin Luther King, Jr., whose statue and memorial are now located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., claimed that his civil rights efforts were grounded in the Sermon on the Mount, combined with Mahatma Gandhi’s method of nonviolent resistance. He said “It was Jesus of Nazareth that stirred the Negroes to protest with the creative weapon of love.”

Birmingham police with dogs
confront peaceful demonstrators

King took Jesus’ teachings to the streets where he lead peaceful demonstrations against the discrimination that Blacks faced in America. Like many other peacemakers, he sacrificed his life to do what he was called to do.

So What?

• Reading about King’s life and his role in the civil rights movement has been inspiring to me. While other black radicals called for violence and riots, he remained committed to the way of peace. Can you think of other people who lived out Jesus’ teachings on peacemaking and who took their beliefs to the streets?

• Do you agree that the pledge that King’s volunteers were asked to sign is not only applicable to the civil rights movement, but it is good practical advice for how we ought to live every day as followers of Jesus? What would you add to this list?

• I was really struck by the pledge to “refrain from the violence of fist, tongue and heart.” How do you understand “violence of the heart”?