Contemplative Bible Reading

John 11:45-48 (New Living Translation)

45 Many of the people who were with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw this happen. 46 But some went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 Then the leading priests and Pharisees called the high council together. “What are we going to do?” they asked each other. “This man certainly performs many miraculous signs. 48 If we allow him to go on like this, soon everyone will believe in him. Then the Roman army will come and destroy both our Temple and our nation.”

The Pharisees had good intentions. They were also correct in one conclusion:

If everyone believed Jesus to be a King, the Romans would squash them all and destroy the Temple

The Pharisees were wrong in many ways. The big one was that they didn’t understand the spiritual reign of Jesus. The Pharisees saw the miracles Jesus performed. They knew that this was no ordinary man doing tricks, but that his power came from God.

Still, they saw the short-term and the physical. They couldn’t see the greater matters. Us today? We’re the same. We rarely see the greater matters, but fall into the mud of the immediate.

Nehemiah 9:36-37 (New Living Translation)

36 “So now today we are slaves in the land of plenty that you gave our ancestors for their enjoyment! We are slaves here in this good land. 37 The lush produce of this land piles up in the hands of the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. They have power over us and our livestock. We serve them at their pleasure, and we are in great misery.”

Nehemiah is praying. His prayer is,

God, we are in a bad situation because what we did just didn’t work.

In hindsight, of course this is what he prayed. The situation of the Jews was the obvious result of centuries of stubborn disobedience. They didn’t fully receive what they really deserved, but they were justly punished.

Take away the hindsight and look in a mirror today. Am I in a less-than-desired position? How is my life working out for me? What is the reason? Who is to blame (if I want to assign blame)?

Oh, me.

Philippians 4:8 (New Living Translation)

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

This is not an admonition to “think nice thoughts and the world will be a brighter place.”

Not the title of this blog has the word “contemplative” in it. I am a contemplative person in that I think about things more than most people (often a curse not a blessing).

The past few weeks, however, I have changed how I think of things. I stumbled upon a practice called Examen. The practice is 500 years old. I don’t understand everything there is to it and I don’t agree with everything in it. Nevertheless, it has helped me to fix my thoughts on the things listed in the letter to the Philippians. For that, I am thankful to God for directing me to find it.

Philippians 3:3 (New Living Translation)

For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort,…

Notice the second and third sentences of this verse. Perhaps there is a mistake in translation. I mean, uh, look at the words. Those are absolute terms. Perhaps the words should be:

We rely mostly on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put just a little confidence in human effort

ooops. My paraphrase is wrong. I have to adjust my reality. God, help me with my unbelief. I mean, really folks, I’m a good, tax-paying, hard-working American. I am where I am because of my efforts.

Really? No, not really.

Ephesians 5:1 (New Living Translation)

Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.

The first two words summarize the Christian life. I also like the wording in the New English Translation:

Therefore, be imitators of God as dearly loved children

A few years ago there was a big campaign in America around the words, “What Would Jesus Do?” Like many such campaigns, people eventually tired of it and even mocked it.

Still, this verses answers the questions, “What should we do? What should we be?”

Funny how we can make it seem so much more complicated and sticky and icky and lots of other things.

Luke 11:52 (New Living Translation)

“What sorrow awaits you experts in religious law! For you remove the key to knowledge from the people. You don’t enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from entering.”

Jesus is speaking in this verse. He condemns the religious leaders—those who should be teaching the people about God. Those people have removed the key to knowledge. How will the people learn? How will they know the way to live?

A great burden sits on those who are expected to teach; those who know must share. Those who know and love freely share.

So what is my problem? God, help me with my unbelief. God, thank you for your grace to me a faulty believer.

Galatians 6:12 (New Living Translation)

Those who are trying to force you to be circumcised want to look good to others. They don’t want to be persecuted for teaching that the cross of Christ alone can save.

This is the theme of Paul’s Galatian letter:

The cross of Christ ALONE saves

There are no prerequisites, “You must be fill-in-the-blank before you can become a Christian.”

There are no post requirements, “You must be fill-in-the-blank now that you are a Christian.”

In Paul’s time, “Judaizers” were trying to force Gentiles to first become Jews before becoming Christians. Today, well, ur, uh, …

The classic case is that American missionaries want people in foreign lands to become American before becoming Christian. That is a bad stereotype, but it is borne of some bad practices.

Other cases of “you need to … before you become a Christian”

• dress better (i.e., dress like me)
• attend church more often (like me)
• get a job (like me)
• mow your lawn (like me)
• teach your kids to behave (like me)

Ooops, there seems to be a lot of “like me” in these statements.

Galatians 5:24 (New Living Translation)

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.

I like the wording of this verse in this translation.

I used to hate people who were fill-in-the-blank, but I killed that hatred by nailing it to the cross of Jesus Christ. He enabled me to put that terrible part of my sinful nature to death. It no longer exists in my life.

I believe this to be a goal of the Christian. I have yet to kill all the parts of my sinful nature, but as I walk with Christ and grow in His grace more and more of them die.

I have met people who say that their entire sinful nature died the moment they emerged from the grave of baptism. It hasn’t been that way with me. God, help me with my unbelief.

John 8:12 (New Living Translation)

Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”

Here and there in the Bible I find one-sentence summaries of the Gospel. This is one of them.

The Bible often speaks of life in terms of darkness and light. This goes back to the early Genesis verse of “let there be light.” There is no simpler and no more truthful example of the Gospel.

This is the good news: follow Jesus of Nazareth as He is the light that leads to life.

John 7:24 (New Living Translation)

Jesus replied,…”Look beneath the surface so you can judge correctly.”

Sometimes the words of Jesus are so simple they smash me into a wall. The Bible is full of examples of how people judge on the surface by human and worldly standards. How childish am I?

Go past the superficial, go past the expedient, look beneath the surface.