Friday, 2/20/2015

IF

If you can keep your head when all about you   

    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,   

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, 

    But make allowance for their doubting too;   

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, 

    Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, 

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating, 

    And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise: 

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;   

    If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;   

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster 

    And treat those two impostors just the same;   

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken 

    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, 

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, 

    And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools: 

If you can make one heap of all your winnings 

    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, 

And lose, and start again at your beginnings 

    And never breathe a word about your loss; 

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew 

    To serve your turn long after they are gone,   

And so hold on when there is nothing in you 

    Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’ 

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,   

    Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch, 

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, 

    If all men count with you, but none too much; 

If you can fill the unforgiving minute 

    With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,   

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,   

    And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

 ~ Rudyard Kipling

NUMBERS 3, 4

Chapter 3 finds Aaron giving account of the numbers in each of the clans of the levites. Chapter 4 gives specific instructions regarding the tent of meeting. Different clans are given different, very specific responsibilities.

MARK 3:22-34

Jesus family hears all that is occurring with the crowds and his rising fame.  They assume he has lost his mind so they go to "take charge of him".  At the same time the pharisees are saying that he is possessed by Satan.

23So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? 24If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. 27In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house. 28Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, 29but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”

Once his family arrives they let Jesus know that they are waiting outside for him...however he calmly replies..

34Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

JOURNAL

Here again is Jesus, the son of God, performing miracles and challenging the oppressive religious authority and his family can't handle it.  So they do as any concerned family does...go to try and bring him under control.  Yet Jesus refuses to appease them. He first squashes the argument that he is possessed and then dismisses his own family in a way that lets everyone know that he will not be controlled or bound by typical Jewish tradition.  

It is important for me to remember that Jesus never tried to please anyone.  He loved in extravagant ways and was firm in speaking truth, but he never attempted to fit in.  He was completely unconcerned about his reputation.  He continually was being friends with the "wrong" people, offending all the "right" people all while loving and healing those that needed to be loved and healed. 

So if I am to take a snapshot in time...Jesus is a social outcast that is the hero of all the dregs of society.  He is an embarrassment to his family and an enemy of those who are the authority on Moses and the law.  He definitely is not someone to be associated with if your goal is social credibility.  Yet he is the most perfect man to walk the earth and is the "King of Kings" and "Lord of Lords".  What then does that say about the world's priorities and values?  

18“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. ( John 15:18-19)