Got a Minute? “What’s Wrong with Your Feet?”

Hi, friends in exile, got a minute?

Shane Claiborne spent a summer in the slums of Calcutta with Mother Teresa. He described one experience in his book The Irresistible Revolution:

“‘People often ask me what Mother Teresa was like. Sometimes it’s like they wonder if she glowed in the dark or had a halo. She was short, wrinkled, and precious, maybe even a little ornery—like a beautiful, wise old granny. But there is one thing I will never forget—her feet. Her feet were deformed. Each morning in Mass, I would stare at them. I wondered if she had contracted leprosy. But I wasn’t going to ask, of course. ‘Hey Mother, what’s wrong with your feet?’” He reports, it turns out she always scrounged the worst pair of donated shoes for herself so that others would get better ones.

Now, as a Baptist-Christian, I don’t track with Catholic theology in many ways. However, Mother Teresa’s act of self-giving love for her sisters is surely Christlike. “Love one another as I have loved you,” Jesus said (John 13:34). Jesus went to the cross for us. How might He want us to give ourselves for the sake of others?

Smiley Mudd

Got a Minute? He Poked Here and There: “Does It Hurt When I Do This?”

Hi, friends in exile, got a minute?

I went in for my annual physical examination recently. The doctor asked all kinds of questions about my eating habits, drinking habits, and physical exercise. He asked about my emotional health, stresses, my family, how the church is doing. He took samples of my blood. He sent me to a private restroom to pee in a little cup. He poked here and there: “Does it hurt when I do this?” He listened to my heartbeat. He took my blood pressure. After all of this, he gave me a report of my overall health. It appears I am in pretty good shape (“for the shape I’m in”). Short of some new, weird symptom, I am good for another year.

Going to church is something like this. As we study the Bible and share together, God often reveals the state of our spiritual health. After the Apostle Paul heard about the church in the ancient city of Colossae, he wrote, “I … delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is” (Colossians 2:5b, NIV). Now that is a pretty good checkup, I think. See you in church!

Smiley Mudd

Got a Minute? Green Beer and Leprechauns?

Hi, friends in exile, got a minute?

It is St. Patrick’s Day once again, and I hope that you wore green. If you are around children, they will most definitely pinch you if you did not. And it is worthwhile to remember and honor such a famous Christian of the past.

Though this day is connected to all things Irish, it is important to remember that Ireland was not the land of Patrick’s birth. He was born into a nominally Christian family in Britain in about A.D. 415. He was abducted from his home on the seashore by Irish pirates in about A.D. 430. He was sold to a self-styled king who put him to work tending sheep. He spent months alone. During that time, he began to seek the Lord, praying often and sensing God’s presence in his life. At age 22, he followed a vision to escape and returned to England for many years, becoming a pastor of pastors. Following another vision, he returned to Ireland as a missionary—and the rest is history … and legend. So, here’s to a great man of prayer and love even for those who mistreated him.

Smiley Mudd

Got a Minute? Christ Is Still Suffering?

Hi, friends in exile, got a minute?

Paul says that he was suffering in order to “fill up what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions” (Colossians 1:24). What could this mean? Some who have suggested that Christ’s suffering on the cross was only partially able to save His people and that His people themselves needed to add something to it of their own. In contrast, the book of Hebrews makes the case that Jesus’ suffering on the cross was the final and complete sacrifice for the sins of the world. His people could add nothing to that.

Rather, we should understand it this way: since we are taken up into Christ’s very life when we become His followers, what happens to us as His followers happens to Him. We never really suffer affliction on our own. Christ is always present in us by His Spirit. In this sense, Paul is saying, our present suffering is the ongoing suffering of our Lord Jesus. This suffering is not necessary for our salvation, but it is a direct result of being “in Christ.” In essence, Christ not only suffered for His people; He is still suffering in His people.

Smiley Mudd

Got a Minute? “He also made me fast.”

Hi friends in exile, got a minute?

Eric Liddell was one of the Scottish runners featured in the 1981 film Chariots of Fire. The film focused on the story of Liddell, devout Christian, and Harold Abrahams, practicing Jew. Though pitted the two against each other, they were good friends and mutual supporters. Eric believed that God had called him to teach in a Christian school in China. But he also believed that God had made him fast. He ran for the honor of Scotland and for the glory of God.

Shortly after those celebrated 1924 Olympics, he left the fame behind and went to China. As World War II raged, all foreigners in China were interred in concentration camps. Liddell organized sports activities for the children, held Bible studies, and generally encouraged everyone. His pregnant wife and two daughters were safe in Canada. While in the camp, Liddell began to suffer debilitating headaches. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 43. Why did he leave the glory of international celebrity to die in a concentration camp? He believed John 3:16.

Smiley Mudd

Got a Minute? Dress-up and Growing Up

Hi, friends in exile, got a minute?

A shocking statement from Colossians 1:22: once we are reconciled to God through faith in Jesus Christ, we are presented before God “holy, unblemished, and blameless.” Well, honest followers of Jesus realize that we struggle in our souls with much that is unholy, and we are less than perfect and blameless. So how can this be true? Like this: once we put our faith in Jesus, God’s Holy Spirit moves into our hearts to motivate us and empower us to live as He desires (See Romans 8, Galatians 5, and Philippians 2). We stand before God “in Christ,” as the old song goes, “dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne.”

And yet, the clothing of Christ fits a bit loosely on us. We are like children who dress up as adults, looking a bit awkward with those draping coats and floppy shoes. But God is at work in us. He is helping us “grow into” the clothing of Christ’s righteousness. His goal for us is that we grow to full maturity, until those new clothes are a perfect fit.

Smiley Mudd

Got a Minute? Before and After

Hi, friends in exile, got a minute?

The Apostle Paul wrote this amazing sentence to the ancient church in Colossae: “And you^p [1] — then being alienated and enemies in your^p mind in the evil works, ²² but now, He reconciled you^p in the body of His flesh through His death …” (Colossians 1:21a, FJV). He gives a before and after picture of spiritual experience. Before Christ, they were “alienated” and “enemies”—they were neither fellow-citizens in the kingdom of God, nor friends of God. This was both “in your mind” (the intellectual realm) and “in the evil works” (the behavioral realm). But God had done something amazing for them (and us): “But now, He reconciled you in the body of His flesh through death ….” According to Christian revelation, Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, making it possible to be reconciled to our Creator.

So, have we entered that reconciliation through transforming faith in Jesus? If not, as Paul wrote (2 Corinthians 5:20), “We urge you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God!”

Smiley Mudd

[1] The superscript “p” indicates that the pronoun is plural.

Got a Minute? What Forgiveness Doesn’t Remove

Hi, friends in exile, got a minute?

Yesterday, I talked about the sexual-abuse scandal rocked the Catholic Church at the turn of the millennium. From the side of the man I spoke of who forgave the priest who abused him as a child, his act of forgiveness unloaded from his heart the burden of the priest’s evil actions. Our own sins carry enough weight for our own hearts. Why should we carry around the weight of other people’s sins, too?

But those who abuse should be required to give account for their actions. Forgiveness brings freedom for the victim, but it does not eliminate the need for justice for the perpetrator. That is needed to maintain social order. After King David’s adultery (and then what was tantamount to murder), God sent His prophet to confront David. David had to face his guilt and face the consequences. He was forgiven, but there were two lingering consequences: (1) The child born of adultery died, and (2) David’s family had lingering and serious conflict. Forgiveness frees the victim from the burden of hatred; justice for the perpetrator helps society maintain order and affirm the good.

Smiley Mudd

Got a Minute? Forgiveness Is Shocking.

Hi, friends in exile, got a minute?

Our Fathers is a movie about the sexual abuse scandal that shook the Catholic Church. In one scene, a group of the victims are gathered at a local bar talking about being sexually abused as children at the hands of parish priests. Tommy tells how he found the priest that abused him, in the hospital dying. The scene cuts to the hospital. After expressing his shame and pain, Tommy says:

“The real reason I’ve come—I want you to forgive me. (There is pain on the face of [the priest].) I want you to forgive me for the hatred that I felt for you all this time. I believe, Father, the promise that Jesus Christ made to us is true. Would it be all right, Father, if we prayed together?

Taking the priest’s hand, he prays in the name of Jesus Christ for the priest’s healing. “Father, forgive him his sins—so that he too might have eternal life.” The scene fades back to the bar, where Tommy’s friends stare at him in shock and disbelief over what he has just told them.[1] Jesus said that we should love our enemies and pray for them (See Matthew 5:43). Forgiveness frees the one forgiving from the burden of the sins of the other.

Smiley Mudd

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[1] Our Fathers (Showtime Networks, 2005), directed by Dan Curtis, from PreachingToday.com.

Got a Minute? An Encounter with Grace

Hi, friends in exile, got a minute?

While still an atheist, Lee Strobel wrote about a family that he met on assignment for The Chicago Tribune. Perfecta Delgado lived with her two granddaughters in “a tiny two-room apartment on the West Side.” They owned a small kitchen table. “11-year-old Lydia and 13-year-old Jenny owned only one short-sleeved dress each, plus one thin, gray sweater between them.” Though plagued by arthritis, Perfecta “still talked confidently about her faith in Jesus” with “a gentle feeling of hope and peace.”

After Strobel wrote his article about them, he dropped by to see them. Readers had showered them with furniture, food, and even cash. What struck Strobel was this: Perfecta and the girls were sorting out items to give away to neighbors, who were also in need. He couldn’t believe it. Perfecta said, “This is wonderful; this is very good,” … gesturing toward the largess. “We did nothing to deserve this—it’s a gift from God. But,” she added, “It is not his greatest gift. No, we celebrate that tomorrow. That is Jesus.”[1] Right you are, Perfecta, right you are.

Smiley Mudd

[1] Lee Strobel, The Case for Christmas (Zondervan, 2005); submitted by Eugene Maddox, Palatka, Florida, to PreachingToday.com.