students of jesus

A Cyber-pal asked me for a list of top ten books, and since I'm into people-pleasing in a really unhealthy way, I complied instantly. That, plus I believe everyone's entitled to my opinion. Not to over-sell this list, but you need to know: you'll be a spiritual cripple the rest of your life without these ten. Why not read one a month and send me a detailed report. Extra points for neatness.

God in the Dock, C.S. Lewis—I had been a high-school evangelical for three years when someone handed me this collection of essays. They changed my life, and Lewis became my first teacher. If you have never read C.S. Lewis, you have missed one of God’s great gifts to the church in the last hundred years. God in the Dock is the most formative work in my life because it was the first to capture my heart and my mind. Thirty-plus years later, Lewis is my constant companion.

The Divine Conspiracy, Dallas Willard—This book put into words the things I knew, but didn’t know that I knew. Willard is a Southern Baptist with a PhD in Philosophy who teaches at USC: that’s enough to stretch anyone’s idea of what it means to be a Christian. He cracks open our narrow ideas of “the gospel” and re-introduces Evangelicals to “the gospel of the Kingdom of God.” The Kingdom of God was the message of John the Baptist, Jesus, and the Apostle Paul. It should be the message of every student of Jesus but I daresay not one out of ten would define the gospel that way.

The Return of the Prodigal Son, Henri Nouwen—This book taught me what it meant to reflect upon the scripture. Nouwen is an exegete of the soul. Return of the Prodigal was not the first of his books I read, but it moved me more than any other. It taught me by example how to meditate on the scriptures, and how to place myself into the Biblical narrative. When anyone asks me what it means to go deep in the scripture, I give them this book. Let me know if you want a copy.

The Practice of the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence—This little collection of letters and thoughts from a centuries-gone Carmelite brother is disarmingly--and dangerously--simple. Far from retreating from the world, Brother Lawrence opens the possibility of being with God every moment. His message is sacramental in the most universal sense. I discovered the secret of not just a daily life with Him, but life that is available moment-by-moment. The Creator of the universe is not far from any one of us: all we need to do is “turn.”

The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro—No amount of explaining will convey the impact this book had on me, but I would be dishonest if I left it off. Perhaps it would mean nothing to you, but it taught me that a life of selfless service is not enough. We are responsible for who and what we serve. This book gloriously wrecked my life. I wept for weeks after reading it, and everything I’ve done since 1994 is a result of it’s impact. You may read it and think, “that’s it?” But if I ever meet Mr. Ishiguro, I will thank him profusely!

Something Wicked This Way Comes, Ray Bradbury passed away recently, so call this an homage to him. His work, especially the stuff set in small town mid-America and mixed with the Fantastic, transports me. Bradbury is in touch with the everyday--and the mystery behind the everyday.

The Unshakable Kingdom and the Unchanging Person: You need to meet E. Stanley Jones. Bombastic, non-linear, at times nearly impossible to follow, Jones holds forth on the King and his Kingdom. I’m sure it’s out of print because he wrote it in 1972, and passed away a year later. His passion is infectious, and I hope you catch it, and never recover.

Gerard Manley Hopkins: His Poetry broke every mold there was. Hopkins is William Blake without the drugs. Hopkins invented his own meter, made up words on the spot, and lavished love on Jesus like perfume at his feet. I’ve returned to Hopkins again and again over three decades, and learned that the river is always fresh, always new, always life-giving. Take the plunge.

Whatever N.T. Wright writes next it will be in my top ten. And then the one after that. If you need a place to start, I recommend Following Jesus, a collection of essays about discipleship: six essays on New Testament books and six on topics such as resurrection or the renewed mind. It’s an inexpensive paperback that will serve as a great introduction, or your money back (send receipts directly to Tom Wright).

Holy the Firm, Annie Dillard. Transcendent. She defends the indefensible. I trembled when I finished it. You should read this describable masterwork. Trembling not optional.

OK, then. That’s it. Oprah no longer runs a book club, so what’s stopping you? Check out these ten, or I’ll supply ten more, on request. What books make your list?
 

C.S. Lewis: A Dead Guy“Tradition is the living faith of the dead, traditionalism is the dead faith of the living.” ~ Jaroslav Pelikan (1923-2006)

Who knew we could find living faith among the dead? You might as well have told me to go to a church filled with zombies.

When I became born again in 1970, at the age of 14, It never occurred to me I was born into a family nearly two thousand years old. I figured it started with me. I was soon introduced to the works of C.S. Lewis--a dead guy! Lewis died in 1963, so at least we were briefly alive at the same time. This made him acceptably “modern.” Years later I discovered Lewis took most of his ideas from St. Augustine--who was even more dead.

I suspect many followers of Jesus, if they read at all, limit their exposure to names like Max Lucado, Francis Chan, or Beth Moore. Christian publishers understand that “new” sells, while “old” is simply, well, old.

I sing in praise of our grandparents. They have left us a legacy that rests among the weeds, awaiting rediscovery. They are not worthy because they are old, they are worthy because their instruction and encouragement is timeless. Nor were they born as saints: Augustine was a young man consumed with pride and lust; Assisi was a hipster in his day, in danger of wasting his life on passing fancies. They, and a cloud of witnesses more, have so much to say to us. Try the sampler platter:

‎St. Augustine: Even More dead"Educated Christians like myself expect God's grace to prefer people of greater natural ability, higher standards of behaviour, and superior education in the liberal arts. In fact God mocks my expectations." ~ Augustine of Hippo, born 354.

“A beautiful woman looking at her image in the mirror may very well believe the image is herself. An ugly woman knows it is not.” ~ Simone Weil, Born 1909

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” ~ C.S. Lewis, born 1898

“Above all the grace and the gifts that Christ gives to his beloved is that of overcoming ourselves.” ~ St. Francis of Assisi, born 1182.

In my opinion, Students of Jesus should join in worship along with the glorious dead.

In years past I’ve taught the Sermon on the Mount as part of an applied Christianity course at a small Baptist college. My class of twenty students prayed, read, and talked about what these words mean for us today. Was Jesus serious? Did he really mean everything he said? During the course I asked my young friends, “How many of you think it’s possible to fulfill Jesus’s teaching in your everyday lives?” Only one person out of twenty raised a hand. One.

Does this strike you as a problem?

Why would 19 out of 20 students invest a semester studying a sermon they had no hope of fulfilling? One student suggested, "He taught the Sermon on the Mount so that we would know we were sinners--we can't live up to it?" Really? The greatest Teacher in the history of the world shared his greatest sermon--just to show us that we're pathetic losers?

The Sermon on the Mount has been regarded as the essence of the Lord’s teaching. It’s been called the constitution of the Kingdom of God. But like many famous Bible passages, or much like our worship, we honor the ideal and then return to the “real world.” We leave His words behind. Granted, these are challenging words from Jesus. Here's just a small sampling, all from Matthew 5, 6, and 7--the Sermon on the Mount:

• Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (5:19)
• I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. (5:22)
• Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (5:48)
• Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. (6:25)
• For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks find; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. (7:8)
• Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. (7:21)

Why would Jesus teach the impossible?

The Sermon on the Mount brings this question into sharp focus, but it applies to everything he said and did--why would Jesus ask the impossible of us? If he is the Master of Living, would he demand of us what we cannot give? It’s hard to imagine Jesus is the kind of person who would say “be warm and filled” to a beggar without helping the poor man. Would he do the same thing to those who love and follow him? Why would we think of Jesus as commanding the impossible of his disciples? As students of Jesus, our answer makes all the difference.

I invite you to share your answer in the comments section--I'm eager to read your opinion.

Important people lead busy, important lives. They sky in to NYC from LAX and put together banking mega-deals in a few days. They get it done and then take a charter to MIA to celebrate. The deal is their signature. They leave their mark. They do more in a weekend than I do all year. That’s the way of the world.

Jesus was one of the important people, too. He skied into Jerusalem: got himself killed and resurrected all in the next seven days. It’s his signature deal. He left his mark and headed off to Paradise to celebrate. But wait: there’s a problem with looking at Jesus the same way we look at other important people. If his atoning death was his signature deal, why should we bother with the other 33 years of his life? Or the other 2,000 years of his resurrected life?

I think we’ve been tempted to reduce the ministry and message of our Lord to that one busy weekend in Jerusalem. And I get it: it’s understandable. The death and resurrection of Jesus changed history forever. His death was the biggest bailout in history. His blood paid the debt of all humanity and there’s still money in the bank. No one else could do what he did, and the cross is the sign of his love.

But didn’t the birth of Jesus change history as well? Wasn’t the game changed forever when an unknown man from Nazareth began with the announcement: “The time is right. God’s Kingdom is within your reach. Think new thoughts and re-imagine your life.”

Jesus did more than sky into Jerusalem and put together the mega-deal of eternity. We cannot fully lay hold of his work if we minimize the importance of the 33 years that led to the cross. The cross was unique in all of human history. But so was in Incarnation. And the good news of the Kingdom of God. And the example of his human life lived in complete concert with the Father’s heart. To ignore any of these other vital factors is to fall short of the glory of God revealed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

Has our gratitude for one of his gracious gifts caused us to miss the other gifts he gave--and still offers? It’s a meditation worthy of this new week.

You make your way down the dusty street. It’s late afternoon and the heat of the day is at its height--it will feel so good to finally sit and rest. Your soul is tired and worn out. You are thirsty as well. The home you enter smells of fresh bread, perspiration and dye--this last smell because Chloe, the woman who lives there, deals in cloth and fabric--she makes robes of purple and sells them in the market. She greets you at the door and leads you in. Some of your family has already arrived, so you take your place quickly. You don’t have to wait long. The leader of the small group carefully unrolls a papyrus sheet and begins to read out loud.

“Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes. To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ . . .”

The sound of the pastor’s voice gently works it’s way through the room and the words find deep passage into your ears. The sound of the words engage your mind, vibrate your spirit. You are hearing the very words of God.

Since the very beginnings of the church most believers have received the scriptures by listening. Letters were difficult and expensive to reproduce and distribute. In the centuries we call the “Dark Ages” God’s word was read out loud every Sunday: Old Testament, New Testament, and Gospels.

The way we sit down down and read a Bible, alone, holding in our hands or staring at a screen is something new. For centuries church services included reading from both the Old and New testaments because books were expensive and consequently rare. Believers trained themselves to attend to the word of God as it was spoken. They captured the words with their minds and digested them with their heart. They did so together, in community. What was true then is still true today: God designed us so that we benefit by hearing the words of life.

Does that seem strange to you? Imagine husbands and wives reading out loud together; friends gathered in a room with but one copy of the Bible--all of them receiving the spoken word. Imagine an assembly of people hungry to hear the voice of God.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with reading the Bible: I recommend it! In our society we are surrounded with audio opportunities: ear buds, audio files, and car radios. Yet how many of us listen to the word of God today? Let me share a recent story of how God spoke to me through the Bible. I heard his voice in my ears.

I recently drove 80 miles to visit a family member. Knowing I had an hour-and-a-half drive ahead of me, I downloaded the audio file for 1 Corinthians--the whole letter--into my iPhone. Me and my ear-buds were ready to go. As I drove, I listened to a steady human voice reading the words I thought I knew so well. Suddenly, I was over whelmed with two sentences I had never heard before! They were so startling I pulled my car to the side of the road, grabbed my iPhone and looked up the passage I had just heard. There--before my eyes--the words I had read dozens (hundreds?) of times before, but there on the roadside to Lexington KY, I heard them for the very first time. They were a revelation!

I know: you are wondering, “which two verses?” It doesn’t matter. They were for me--for my ears. But what about you? What verses are waiting to crash into your head--not through the eye-gate, but through hearing God’s word for the very first time?