Hello Old Friend, part 4.

  next in a series of [somewhat edited] letters sent to a friend, giving him an update on how life with the Hazys has changed 

Hey brother!  I trust that life is going well for you, and that our Father’s peace and presence is making up for any challenges you’re facing these days.  It’s been a challenging month for our family (as you know), dealing with the sudden loss of “our” dad, and the hole in our life that loss created.  To say life has changed is a bit of an understatement.

Speaking of that, I want to share a story with you about a major life change that I experienced at a church camp, probably…25 years ago, and how my life (and other lives, too) is (are) still being impacted that that change today.  Now you might be thinking something like, “Yeah, yeah, I get it: teenagers make all kinds of silly camp commitments; that’s nothing new.”  But I wasn’t a teenager, and technically I wasn’t a camper, either; I was the bus driver.

This happened during my first run at [the church we just left], well before you knew me.  It was before I had kids, before I had even met Shannon, and before I had been overseas.  Before the current pastor held that position, and maybe before the church had relocated to the location that you’re familiar with (can’t remember that part for sure)… At that point in my life, I was recently broken and humbled, looking for some direction from the Lord.  I wanted to learn, serve, and put in some work on character development that would represent our Father well - instead of embarrassing myself and leaving a bad taste in peoples’ mouthes over another believer who wasn’t very good at living what they believed.

…and the church needed a bus driver to help in taking the teenagers to camp - a Student Life thing in…Arkansas, if I remember correctly.  I had been friends with the youth minister for years, and I wasn’t sure if I was helping him out or he was helping me - probably a bit of both.  Either way, there I was, wanting to help, wanting to hear from God, willing to change however I needed to in order to become His man.

During one of the worship services, the speaker painted a rather vivid picture that has really stuck with me over the years.  Using the elevated stage/platform he was speaking from as a boundary, he established something else - maybe the podium? - as a focal point, and then said something like, “Let’s imagine this place right here is where we’re supposed to be.  It’s like home base.  If you’re here, you’re 100% with God.  The trouble starts…” (he steps away from *home base*) “…when we begin to focus on other things and move toward them…” (stares across the room at *something else* and takes another step or two) “…and move away from where we’re supposed to be.  We even ask God things like Am I still ok?  Are we still good, Lord?“ (as he steps to the very edge of the stage, leaning *away* as he reaches out for something while looking back and asking) “…is this still ok?  Can I go this far?”  His point was to show that folks who call themselves believers or born-again or Christians, etc… may or may not actually be God’s people, but either way they have the wrong focus or are asking the wrong kind of questions, which is something like “…what can I still do?” or “…how far can I go?” or “…what can I get away with?” and still not get into trouble with you, Lord?

That’s the wrong perspective, the wrong focus.  Doing my thing, living my life, building my brand, chasing my dream, while checking in with God along the way and saying Are we all good?  Have I gone too far yet?  A life lived that way reveals a heart that is oriented on moving away from home base, and is sad or hurt or disappointed or frustrated or bitter or…whatever when its wandering away is limited or challenged.

This concept has really come into focus as we’ve parented our kids - especially in the toddler/early childhood phase.  They want what they want, and a problem is whatever keeps them from getting that.  Any limits or reminders or redirections are resisted, and they don’t usually see that our house rules, our way of doing things are for their benefit, to keep ‘em safe and to keep them on the right track toward becoming the kind of grownups they’re supposed to be.

Back to that broken-bus-driver-at-camp memory...  I don’t recall if I made some significant commitment or even verbalized a prayer.  But since that day, I can’t even put a number on the times the Lord has brought me back to that moment and reminded me that I should orient my focus, my energy, my heart on making him the center of my life instead of chasing other pursuits, other dreams, other loves…and then asking something life “…am I in trouble yet?…have I gone too far yet?”  I think this concept is a possible application of Proverbs 17:24 - what do you think?

One last thought, and then I’ll connect this to my journey from “there to here” and offer a few thoughts on set apart times…

I remember a memorable scene from a firefighter movie I watched years ago.  The deputy fire chief, struggling to explain the character of the men he worked with, said

People are always asking me How is it that firefighters run into a burning building when everyone else is running out? …courage is the answer.

There is something qualitatively different about firefighters, about police, about EMTs, about soldiers (and others, too) that sets them apart from the crowd.  It’s in their bones, really.  Training and experience hones their ability, but it’s their heart that separates them from the rest.

I think it’s supposed to work much the same way with all of us who belong to the Most High.  A qualitative change of heart happens to all who are truly born again, who didn’t just get an invitation to the Master’s wedding, but showed they belonged there by the change in their heart(s) which resulted a change in their behavior (“many are called, few are chosen”)  Scripture tells us that the Spirit of God that raises us from death to life enables us to live according to his instructions, for the greatness & glory of His reputation in the earth.  Because of a different, reborn, God-powered heart that’s in us, we are predisposed to move toward him even as the rest of the world moves in the wrong direction, away from him - and this sometimes includes those who might talk a good game and even look like they belong to the Lord.

It’s this concept of moving toward our Father that has given me something like a litmus test over the years in the outworking of my faith: If I need to make some kind of decision, which option/choice would move me closer to my Father?  Which one would line up more closely with the instructions he’s given?  Which is the best way to pursue the things he chases after and best represents his character?

Let me try to explain my thoughts on God’s appointed times and connect them to this concept of moving toward him, even if others around me might be oriented in other directions...

In the last letter I brought up the concept of God’s immutability, and offered Hebrews 13:8 and Malachi 3:6 as places in Scripture where this is mentioned.  In my journey towards becoming more Biblical in my “living”, this does include being Torah observant, because the Torah is in the Bible.  And since I believe there is One God (the same God) telling one story (the same story) - and since I believe what Scripture tells us when it says He does not change…well, I had to re-evaluate what I thought about a number of things.

A few years ago, I realized (or, more likely, the Holy Spirit showed me) that my tendency when reading God’s instructions on how to live a “set apart” life was to think/say something like…oh, that was for them, not for me; that’s all been done away with now.  Which is, in effect, the same as moving as far to the edge of that stage as possible, moving away from the center instead of orienting my faith toward my Father and the instructions he gives.

It’s also insulting to God to think that his instructions don’t apply to me.  The one who said “keep the instructions forever” surely understands what forever means.  The one who said “I don’t change” wouldn’t change, right?  Or, his Son, the living embodiment of God himself who showed us how to follow these instructions - when he taught us how to work out those instructions and he said I’m not throwing them away - the world itself will end before these change in even the smallest way - surely the Son of God, the Savior of the World, the King of all Creation was (is!) smart enough to announce changes he was making, right?  And if those changes were coming - say, after Yeshua’s resurrection and ascension - why wouldn’t they mention it?  Even more, why would they go the opposite way in their instruction?

The most reasonable answer, which maintains the immutability, wisdom, and kindness (as in “not misleading” or “not fickle/capricious”) of our Father and His Son is…nothing changed.  To read a tension between the Old and New testaments that doesn’t really exist, and to imply something about God’s instructions, communication, and perhaps even his character and/or intelligence….is, I would think, a bad idea.  I believe Peter cautions against this sort of thing at the end of his second letter.

OK, that’s a lot of setup for why I and my crew observe the appointed times.  To summarize: because he told us to, and because I want to live in a way that moves toward Him, not away from who he is and how he wants things done.  The way I see it, there are at least three options for how to deal with the appointed times:

• We (non-Jewish) believers don’t have to observe them to be “right” in our faith practice.  (You are probably already aware of reasons why people hold this position, and I gave at least two examples of how I used to believe)…so it we aren’t required to observe the appointed times, and we Hazys do it anyway because we love our father and want to join him in celebrating things that make him happy…

I mean, what’s wrong with that?  A person wouldn’t condemn their neighbor for attending & celebrating their relatives’ anniversary or family reunion, would they?

• Second option: observing the appointed times is a thing all of God’s people - not just Jews - are supposed to do. (Full disclosure: this is my position)  If this is the case…well, a lot of people are getting it wrong.  But just like everything else about growing our faith, we don’t have to be 100% correct on 100% of all the things 100% of the time. (There’s more to say about this, but that’s getting off topic)

The point is we should be moving toward the center of the faith we profess, rather than seeing how far we can go and still be “OK”.  Yochanan the Immerser (John the Baptist) captured this concept nicely, saying “He must become more important, while I become less important.” (John 3:30)

• It’s certainly possible that the Bible teaches us about the appointed times differently than either option I mentioned.  Let’s call this one “something else”.  I don’t know what that would be, but I’m happy to admit I haven’t figured everything out and don’t have all the answers.

With that said, I’ll restate that disclaimer just a bit as I tell you how we approach observing the moedim/appointed times…

First, these things are not all feasts.  One is actually a fast, which is in my understanding the opposite of a feast.  Next, one of these moedim is the sabbath, which I think we’ve covered pretty well, so no need to elaborate on that further.  Last thought on this disclaimer portion: I don’t think the Hazys have the definite, complete, or final answer on this (or any) topic.  We know more about this stuff than we used to, and if you check in with me two, three, or ten years from now, I’ll probably have more to tay on this topic, and may have adjusted the living out of my faith even further.  I’m doing my best to follow my father’s instructions, and to live according to the “house rules”…

Now the moedim are discussed or referenced in quite a few placed in Scripture, but you can see them all listed in Leviticus 23.  There are three categories:

Weekly

Sabbath.  On the seventh day/Saturday.  Our weekly purposeful rest.  Like I said, we’ve already covered this one.

Spring Feasts Moedim

- Passover (these three overlap) 

- Unleavened Bread (these three overlap)

- First fruits (these three overlap)

Weeks

Fall Feasts Moedim

Trumpets

Day of Atonement not a feast

Tabernacles

OK, I just rolled my eyes and couldn’t help but smile and shake my head - I got all the way to writing “Trumpets” before I realized that I used the word “Feasts” twice.  lol, still learning; haven’t got it all squared away just yet.

So…how do we observe these set-apart, appointed times?  We do our best to follow the guidelines laid out in Scripture, but sometimes we have to adjust/make substitutions.  We don’t have flocks, herds, or (very significant) crops, so we may go grocery shopping instead.  There is not an active priesthood or a temple/tabernacle, so no sacrifices.  We don’t know anyone from the Tribe of Levi around here, so instead we try to set aside & share special portions with whomever the Lord leads us to bless and fellowship with.  We like family camping, so that one’s easy.

Basically, we do the best we can to follow our Father’s instructions for these moedim in our context, and we carry the perspective that he’s our father: He’s not looking to punish or condemn us for being as obedient as we can.  Good dads don’t come down on their kids for trying and still making mistakes; they give the kid a break and help ‘em out.  That’s what grace is about.

I don’t know if I’ve talked to you about the Biblical concept of grace, but even if I have it bears repeating.  The Hebrew word חֵסֵד/chesed is usually translated as mercy or loving-kindness or steadfast love or sometimes loyalty.  I read somewhere that the nearest Greek (New Testament)  equivalent to this word is χάρις/charis, which is usually translated “grace”.

…have you ever heard of Hasidic Jews?  That comes from the same work: it means loyal or devoted.  This Biblical concept of chesed/mercy/grace doesn’t really have a precise English equivalent, but it means to be committed, to act in someone’s interest in a personal, loving, hands-on kind of way.  Like a dad who loves his kids and takes it easy on them as they’re doing their best to please him - even if they mess up along the way.

That, my friend, is the God of the Bible, and he’s the same from cover to cover (and beyond), and he didn’t change between Malachi and Matthew.  It kind of goes without saying, but I’ll tie this conclusion back to my story: our Father takes it easy on his kids who are doing their best to please him, and he knows the difference when they’re trying to get over on him or get away with doing what they want while saying “I love you Daddy.”

So we do the best we can to observe the moedim as instructed, and we figure that God will be happy that we’re trying to do it his way, and that he’ll help us to make any adjustments that are needed along the way.

One last thing: I think it’s pretty amazing that the Spring Moedim call back to and celebrate the first coming and saving work of Yeshua Messiah, and the Fall Moedim anticipate and celebrate his return and reign on earth as it is in heaven.  What a day that will be.

Well, as always, there’s more to say…but 10 pages on a couple of stories and the set-apart times is probably enough for this go-round. 

I love you, brother - catch up to you soon…

Loving your friend, Losing our Dad

 

the man, the myth, the legend.

It’s been a week.

I’m sitting here in our Uncle’s kitchen in North Louisiana, trying to put my thoughts together and get my head around the unexpected turn that our family’s journey took last week.  Today we’ll get ready and return back home to SE Texas, another 5-hour road trip after a week full of highway miles, camping out in relatives’ living rooms, funeral preparations, memorial services, and laying to rest one of the greatest men that any of us have ever known.

Last Friday night, just as we were sitting down to supper, I got a call from Shannon’s parents’ driveway.  The paramedics were there, working to revive her dad.  As he had done so many times before, he put the evening plans on hold for a little while so that he could help a friend fix their car.  He told his wife it was a simple fix, wouldn’t take long, and afterward they’d still have time to go to the grandson’s taekwondo class… and the friend would have a reliable ride to work the next day.  Another neighbor came over, and the three men were talking as Dad fixed the problem.

What a gift that was.  Thanks be to God for providing the extra man.

As he was working, Dad told his friends he needed to sit down and rest.  As he did so, he fell over, and began a much longer rest than anyone who knew him had ever anticipated.  That man worked his whole life as an automotive technician, and he was not the kind to slow down or rest or take breaks.  He had a knack for fixing things – it was truly a gift from the Most High, and one that he used to the best of his ability.  Even after he retired a year and a half ago, he did not stop working to help his family, neighbors, and friends.  So many friends.

One of those friends called 911 to get help, then ran inside to get his wife.  The other friend stayed with him, offering comfort and support to a man who no longer needed it, as we later found out.  We prayed from our dining room, hours away, while his other daughter and her husband raced to be with their parents.  Bubba was brought to a local hospital, where it was confirmed that he was gone, and the shock of it all began to settle in for our family, their community, and his friends.  So many friends.

Back at our home, we worked with my brother, making plans to get there by lunchtime Saturday.  Brother - that’s how we think of each other in this family.  Though he and I married into the Stroziers, we’ve never been “in laws”; we’ve always been sons and brothers.  That’s how it is with this family, always so open and loving and willing to share.  And that’s just what everyone did for my crew this week, starting with our amazing (local SETX) friends who loaned us their van for a week after we found out our a/c was not running – that’s kind of important when you’re hauling 10 people and a kitten around for 30+ hours in the, um, warm summer environment that the Gulf Coast offers in July.  Another family has taken care of our house (and other animals) that we left behind in a hurry as we hit the road for a week away.  I’ve also been on the receiving end of a lot of grace and compassion from my team and co-workers at my job, who have given me the time and space I needed to be with the family and offered prayer and support along the way.  So grateful for all these friends.

Our (Louisiana) family has been amazing in the way they’re opened their homes to us, giving us places to stay, providing meals, sharing their homes so our crew could run out their wiggles or retreat and process the events of the week, get cleaned up, get some rest, do some laundry, and share this impossible, unwanted, amazing week with our family and friends.  So many friends.

As we gathered – especially at the memorial services – we heard so many stories about Bubba Strozier.  The amazing man he was, the generous, selfless way he lived.  He had so.many.friends.  One story I heard along the way was how he recently needed a haircut, and for some reason or another had to go to a different place than he normally did.  After his first visit to that shop, he walked out with phone numbers of two new friends that he made while getting that haircut.  I’m sure that if time would have allowed, he would have made good on his intentions to get them in his hunting lease, probably fixed their vehicles, and become lifelong friends with them, too.

A man once came to Jesus and asked him what the “big commandment” was.  Leaving aside the fact that this may or may not have been a sincere question from a person/group who may or may not have wanted to use his answer against him, our Lord told him, basically,

All of it is important. It starts with listen with the intention to obey, and the first thing to hear is love the Lord your God heart, soul, mind, and strength.  Give him everything you have.  And be loving toward your friends.  If you do this, the rest will fall into place.

That word in the second command is usually translated “neighbor”, but might be better translated friend.  If you’re even somewhat familiar with the Bible or Christianity, you probably know the story Jesus told to answer the follow-up question …and who is my neighbor/friend?  The parable of the Good Samaritan shows that we are to act in loving, compassionate, care-giving ways to anyone that we happen to cross paths with, not just the ones who live next door to us.

This acting out our faith, this care-providing, friendly way of interacting with the world around us comes very easy to people who are already walking according to the first commandment, who realize that the same God who saved them and continues to provide for their needs will also give (or replace) the resources they need to be loving to their friends, whether it’s lifelong relationships, new contacts you just made while getting a haircut…

…or the guys with you in the driveway while you’re working on a car.

Praise God for our friends, and for our dad, who showed us all how to apply the second commandment and be loving towards our friends.

Hello Old Friend, part 3.

 next in a series of [somewhat edited] letters sent to a friend, giving him an update on how life with the Hazys has changed 

I trust that you’re doing well, brother.  I know that you mentioned you’ve always got one thing or another going on…it’s the same on my end.  With a crew this size, we’re always planning something, doing one thing or another, or recovering (and maybe cleaning up, lol) from something we’ve done.

It’s the same at work: there’s always more to do than there is time to get it done, and the list keeps growing - sometimes every day.  My boss likes to call it “job security”.  lol, again.

When I consider all that I’m responsible for, and all the people depending on me, and all the expectations, it can get…a little overwhelming.  maybe a lot.  We’ve talked about this, and I know you can relate to where I’m coming from.

When I feel the pressure rising, there are several truths that help me to manage the stress, take a breath, and tap into that hard-to-explain shalom that Paul wrote to the family at Philippi about.  Here are two examples:

• I’m adopted.  That means quite a few things, but I’ll just highlight one: learning the house rules.  There’s no instinct or genetic default in me that just [understands] God’s way automatically.  I’m not missing something that should’ve come naturally, something I should have known right from the start.  Thankfully, I have a loving father who teaches me, and an (adopted) big brother who is the perfect example - and, by the way, a professional teacher/trainer himself.  (Don’t forget, his followers knew him as “rabbi”).  ***Disclaimer: just because I, you, and everyone else all the way back to Abraham were adopted and have to learn it all doesn’t mean we get a pass on what we’ve already been taught and trained on.  end disclaimer***
• Next, I’ve got the company card.  As part of my 9-5 (so to speak) job working for this oil/gas company, I have a company-issued credit card.  As long as I get permission, and it’s for company business, I can use that card to get what I need.  And I don’t have to pay it back.  And my company’s pockets are a lot deeper than mine.  Why am I telling you this? You already know why.

When I’m on “God’s time”, doing things his way, taking care of his business…he’ll pay my way.  He’ll provide what I need.  But, just like my employer, God does it according to his business plan, in keeping with his policies, according to his “employee handbook”.  Just because I get into a certain situation or rack up a certain kind of debt behind my own “bright ideas” doesn’t mean the Most High will pick up the check or bail me out.  He can do that, and if he does, that’s a grace/mercy kind of thing.  But he doesn’t have to fix my mess.  (I suppose that last part was another disclaimer)

Coming back to my point: When the pressure of life comes on, it’s a peace-building comfort to know that our God has the resources and ability to fix situations that are hopeless without him.

You know what?  That’s not even what I planned to write you about; I guess it falls more under “here’s what God is reminding me about lately.”

Family matters.

…and speaking of not what I planned to write, I also wanted to share something else related to your growing friendship with this people you know from “another” faith.  This same thought is also related to the Hazys' former church

• Not all families are the same family  First John comes to mind a lot as I think about the “other faith” situation.  He paints a pretty clear picture of who has eternal life (and, by implication, who doesn’t).  Chapter 5:11-12 are pretty explicit, and the rest of the letter also describes correct theology regarding who Yeshua is, how he came, what he did, what that accomplished, and how all that that affects his people and how we live.

    It’s the same with these “other” folks as it is with you, me, and everyone else.  What do we do with Yeshua?  Do we believe he is who he says he is, that he did what he says he did?  Either we believe in the God of the Bible or we don’t.  A person can believe in a completely different - or even similar god and call him “Jesus”, but that doesn’t get them eternal life.  Only a right relationship with the God of the Bible on his terms will get us there as members of his family.

• Sometimes, families have…issues.  Even though my crew no longer attends that church we were a part of for over a decade, we’re still family,  At least the Hazys still consider us all family.  During and since the parting, there have been several conversations, a few social media interactions, and occasional text messages.  I even emailed one friend back and forth a bit.  Most of those interactions have been polite (a few, less so), but all have highlighted the disagreement over how to believe and live according to Scripture.  For reasons I mentioned above when writing about 1st John, we still consider them family.  We get the impression they might not all feel the same way.

    Not long after “the parting”, I had breakfast with an old friend from there.  I think we both saw it as a way to say “I love you, man; I’ll see ya around…” I told him there’s a reason Presbyterians don’t attend Baptist Church, and why Catholics don’t go to Methodist, etc., etc.. What folks believe and how they live out that faith, well, it matters to them, and…sometimes it’s just easier to catch up with family at events like weddings, birthdays, reunions, etc., instead of sharing day-to-day life.

    I’ll just leave the metaphor there, with an appreciation for concepts given in Romans 12 and Matthew 7.  We’re family, I love them, and we mostly get along with just about all of them, though we do it from a certain distance now.

The other thing I wanted to circle back around to is this concept: I have discovered over the past few years that the God of the Bible - the Most High, the One True God as revealed in Scripture - he’s not quite the same as I once thought he was.

My family has discovered a different, more peaceful, more consistent living out of our faith, (some people might call this orthopraxy) and it came about like I have mentioned before: as we read the Bible, we do it with an intention to obey what we’re hearing God say through Scripture.

שָׁמַע

That intention to obey is the beginning of the “first commandment” Yeshua quoted in the Gospels.  Every practicing Jew who heard him would automatically think of the passage he was quoting from (which is Deuteronomy 6:4-6), and didn’t need the complete wording - kind of like if I was talking about that verse describing how “…God created the heavens and the earth.” - most folks familiar with their Bible know the first phrase of Genesis 1:1 without me saying it, and their mind automatically “fills in” that wording and the meaning connected to it.

Anyway, somewhere along the way, folks stopped following the latter part of that command from Deuteronomy 6 (“…teach your children…all the time, in every context, all that I’ve instructed you..”)  I can’t say for sure why this happened, but I can tell you this much: it’s a rare person who comes to the Bible these days with the attitude of “Okay, Lord, I have decided to make any adjustments necessary to live right with you: I will stop doing what I need to stop, and start doing what I ought to do.  Just tell me what you want, and I’ll do it.”  That’s the concept, the meaning of Sh’ma (שָׁמַע), the Hebrew word translated “Hear” at the beginning of verse four.  In the following verses, we’re given the prescribed way to make disciples and pass along the faith, and to give ourselves reminders of that faith.

People don’t do that anymore - not all of it.  Most folks skip the agreement before the beginning - the yes, I’ll do whatever you want, tell me what that is attitude.  Many people who read Jesus talking about the great command may not even know he’s quoting from Deuteronomy - let alone know the “hear-to-obey” prerequisite - because they don’t read that part of the Bible.  Maybe because they’ve been taught (incorrectly) that that’s not for us, or maybe they’ve made that choice on their own.

“Me-” vs. “God-” Centered Faith.

In my first “from there to here” letter, I wrote to you about how Shannon and I bend our religious thought, beliefs, and activity to Scripture, and not the other way around.  In the last letter, I wrote about how our faith should be focused on God and others, not our own development and self-realization.  Both of those represent a shifting in us from a Greek (or western) mindset back to a Hebrew mindset.  I’ve included a graphic describing these different approaches in some detail. [click here if you'd like to see it] I got this thing from the same ministry (website) where we got our Bible reading plan.  (That plan, as I told you before, is basically read it from Genesis to maps.)  Hoo boy, if you want to get the leadership at my old church fired up, just mention that ministry.

Anyway, this comparison highlights the difference between a “me focused” starting point where everything (including the Gospel) is added to the individual if they accept it…and a “God focused” starting point where I sh’ma - I agree to do things his way, then find out what that is and how to do it.

Immutability.

One last related thought that I’ll introduce to you now and elaborate more on next time:  The God of the front of the book is the same God in the back of the book.  He’s One God, and the Bible is telling us One Story.  Same God, same story.

A website that [my old pastor] does endorse is gotquestions.org.  It defines this concept (theologians would call it the immutability of God) as His quality of not changing.  In Malachi 3, the Most High declares…”I do not change.”  And the writer of Hebrews says the same thing about Yeshua the Messiah, telling us he’s “…the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

In the next letter I’ll highlight some disconnects between what I used to say I believed (as a modern, western, evangelical, theologically reformed Christian) and how I disobeyed and explained away parts of the Bible…and how things began to change when I applied “One God, one story; same God, same story” to the Bible, and then approached it with a “hear-to-obey” mindset.

…and I’ll also write to you about the “set apart” times, and how we observe them...

Hello Old Friend, part 2.

next in a series of [somewhat edited] letters sent to a friend, giving him an update on how life with the Hazys has changed 

Hey brother!  I hope this letter finds you doing well.  We just got back from a long family walk - something that (thanks to our 6yr old) we might make a regular part of our Sabbath thing.

,,,Which brings a “follow up” thought to mind regarding Sabbath - a thought that will bridge a gap between “the beginning of our new journey” and a foundational principle for how we do this thing.

One of my main concerns as I considered how life would change with Sabbath-keeping was, “How am I going to get it all done?”  I would mow the lawn and do home repairs and make Wal-Mart runs and meet friends for coffee and go on dates with Shannon and pay bills and gas up the vehicles and…and… there’s no end to the things that I would/could not do if I just…what? sat around and prayed and read my Bible?  

Come to think of it, what am I supposed to do on Sabbath, and when do I do all that other stuff? The answers for these questions:

• don’t work.  That is, don’t produce.  Don’t draw a check, don’t work on my car, don’t mow the grass or till the garden or bathe the dog, etc. [well, I think there can be some discussion over that last one for sure]  Don’t do things that increase my bottom line or build up my brand. “Cease from your labor.”

• don’t cause others to work.  Don’t hire a lawn service or get a babysitter for date night or shop at Wal-Mart or go out to eat, etc.

• rest.  Yep, rest.  Rest my body - sleep in!  Take naps!  Slow my pace.  De-stress.  Rest my mind - don’t create lists or make plans to finally be productive when Sabbath ends.  Do mental tasks that renew or refresh or encourage me.  Rest my heart - do fun things, comforting things, inspiring things.

• rest in Him.  I’ve been listening to some really good teaching on Matthew 22 recently that sheds some light on this.  We all know that the “first command” Jesus summarizes Torah with is, essentially, “love God first & most.”  He then said the second command is like it, which is almost always translated “love your neighbor as yourself.”  Only the term neighbor probably isn’t the best translation of the Hebrew concept being taught.  It would seem the better word to use is friend.  This brings more clarity to Luke’s telling of the story, where we read the follow-up question: “and who is my…”

There’s a specific Hebrew word used for “person who dwells beside me.”  Certainly that guy didn’t need help understanding who that was.  But if Yeshua told him, “the second command is meant to echo the first, and it informs us on how to love our friend” then it makes a certain kind of sense for him to ask, “Which kind of friends do you have in mind?” …and Jesus’ response is the story of the Good Samaritan, which he concludes with the implied summary: “Everyone is your friend.”

…coming back to Yeshua giving that second command: It’s better represented by love “to” your friend, indicating a directed action, not just an emotional connection. Yeshua is instructing us to act out love to our friends, and this is to be an echo of being single-minded in our devotion and commitment and service to the Most High.  Yeshua then tells us those two commands sum up the whole Torah, the whole Scriptures, which in turn is an expansion and outworking of these two concepts.

OK, but how does this related to resting in Him on the Sabbath?

My Sabbath resting is not supposed to be “me” focused.  Sleeping in, taking the day off from work - these are technical parts of the thing, but the heart of Sabbath is to “cease from my labor” and thus follow the Most High’s example from Genesis 2, but to also direct my rest Godward (Sabbath rest hangs on the 1^st command) and also direct my rest friendward. (Sabbath rest hangs on the 2^nd command) I’m oriented to Elohim and to others as I’m resting: I’m building them up, blessing them, supporting and strengthening those relationships in a restful setting.

This concept is familiar to Americans, because this is the thing we aim for on our vacations and holidays. Fun fact: did you realize that holidays are “holy” days - that is, special, set-apart days? Wanna guess where that concept came from?  The appointed/designated times (moedim) were around a long time before Easter, Thanksgiving, and the rest, and the Sabbath was the first one established - that one came about on day seven in the history of the world. It has been “in effect” ever since, even though most of the world - including billions who profess to follow the God of the Bible - choose not to follow His instructions on this one.

The other big concern is how do I get it all done?  The simple, not-really-what-I-wanted-to-hear answer (at least on the front end) was: “you don’t.”  Time for a few qualifiers:

    First, let’s not move too quickly away from the concept that Yeshua was teaching when he answered that sheilah/tricky question about what’s most important.  The rabbi was giving instruction on how to hear & obey the instructions that God provided for everyone who wants to follow him and live life His way.  The first thing is to re-orient what’s a priority in my life, and then to use my resources (like my time, my money, my mental and emotional and relational and physical investments) accordingly.

    Next, I can accept and live out the thought that when God wanted to call out folks from “the world” and create a special people for himself, He didn’t give a select group of men a blueprint for a republic with democratic features, complete with a bill of rights for individual freedoms so that all of his people could chase after life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  No, when the Most High created a people for himself, they were to live a different kind of life a different kind of way…and where the rubber met the road for me on Saturdays meant putting down the TV remote or power tools and picking up a board game or going for a walk with the people that God put in my life for me to love and invest in.

    Finally, I embrace (and level up to) the fact that Elohim did not give his kingdom to individuals, but to a group.  The whole nation was there at Mount Horeb to receive the Torah, not just their founding fathers.  And when the Messiah came to show us the way, to “fill up” the instructions (Matt.5), what role did he take on?  A Jewish rabbi - a teacher of the Torah.  THE teacher of Torah.  And how do rabbis (especially this one) instruct their students?  “Follow me.” (Mark 8)  And what does he want us to do with this training? “As you go, make talmidim (students/disciples)… teaching them to obey what I have commanded you…” (Matt.28)

…which sounds an awful lot like the Sh’ma: “Hear Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one…love him…love others…put my words in your heart…teach your children…all the time.” (Deut.6)

So I’m supposed to invest my Sabbaths in my God and my friends, and focus on taking care of people/relationships instead of yard work or side jobs or even things like getting lost in a book or caught up in watching episodes/movies/videos.

In my “Sabbath transition” I gave up things that were important - like catching up on “household business” after working during the week.  This creates a bit of a dilemma: who is going to do that work that used to get done on Saturday?  Do I keep longer hours during the week to make up for it - cutting grass after work, shopping during the week, staying up late to pay the bills?  Those are all adjustments that we’ve made along the way, and you know what?  It’s more work during the week. and more weird on the Sabbath than pretty much anyone we live around.  But it’s not worse than before, or harder on me.  I actually easier, and here’s why:

• because I love the One Who told me to rest.  I’ve told you this before, but to recap: I don’t follow his instructions out of some sullen or bitter sense of duty to get a good grade at the end of all things.  Neither do I do it to avoid getting punished: I don’t see any proof that the Most High is sitting on a cloud with some supernatural sniper rifle, ready to rain down justice on disobedience.  No, I follow him because I love him, and I want to show him that I love him by living in ways that please and honor him.

• because I love the rabbi who told me to rest.  I mentioned this earlier, but I don’t think “it just happened that way” that when God walked among us he did it as a Jewish rabbi.  When a person comes “to Christ,” they come to a man who expects his people to follow him, to do what he does, say what he says, think what he thinks, be like he is.  Some might say that’s impossible, that we can’t be superhuman like Jesus was.  Well, in point of fact, his followers can, because the set-apart spirit of God (the ruach hakodesh) lives in us and supercharges us to do supernatural stuff, things that are above and beyond what we could accomplish without him.  Things like being witnesses for him among the nations (Acts 1:8) and making disciples, teaching them to do life the way he told us to - observing his commands. (Matthew 28:20)

So “Sabbath life” is easier in much the same way that all of being born-again is easier: being purposeful and successful in this world (and the next one) is defined in simpler terms.  It’s usually harder, usually more lonely - “narrow gate”, “hard road”, “few find it” (Matt.7:14) - but it’s simpler.

I have found, along the way, that I don’t miss how I used to spend my Saturdays.  Some things are still important, and I’ve learned to fit them in at other times.  Other things were given up, or delayed until the Most High provides a way to make ‘em happen.

…and I get vacation time/a holiday every week, and I do it with and for my God who is happy that I’m choosing to do things his way.

That doesn’t sound so bad, does it?

Hello Old Friend, part 1.

first in a series of [somewhat edited] letters sent to a friend, giving them an update on how life with the Hazys has changed 

Hey Buddy,

I told you I’d begin to write a series of letters to give an idea of who I am and how I got “here”, specifically focused on the big transition that happened during the last five years.  I don’t think my journey is complete, but I do know this: I’m a much different guy than I was then, and I feel more purposeful, more at peace, more connected to my God, my family, my friends, my community - more complete as a man.

These letters may also help the ongoing conversations we have about knowing God and walking that out in real life, with real people. Feel free to ask me anything, and I’ll do what I can to give you honest answers and good advice.

You already know a lot of my info: married for near 20 years to an awesome little lady, father of ten (8 at home, two adopted, two didn’t make it), warehouse/logistics guy at a very successful oil & gas company, a closet carpenter, and wannabe farmer.  I used to really like sports and movies, but that interest fades more and more each year, probably replaced by my growing affection for chocolate, coffee, funny stories, etc. 

  I guess I have settled on a simpler life, focusing on what’s important, not trying to remake the world into what I think it ought to be, but rather enjoying the good, living with the other as best I can, and trusting God with all of it.

OK, as Nacho Libre says, “Let’s get down to the nitty gritty…”

Shannon and I have always been of the opinion that we should live by what the Bible says, and serve the One True God who has revealed himself and his ways to us through Scripture.  In recent years, we have begun to feel a certain disconnect from some of the widely held Christian beliefs  we once embraced. We realized that our default way to answer some (not all) questions was to start with “well, we know that such and such is what we Christians believe, and let’s take a Bible verse here and another one there and we can connect our way of doing things to the Bible, so…. we’re all good.”  

Trouble is, that approach starts with what I’ve been taught in my religious tradition and then bends the Bible to support it.  We decided - not long after we met you - to just read the Bible, do what it says, and bend our religious thinking and living to Scripture, not the other way around.

I would describe myself as a believer in and follower of Jesus the Messiah, doing the best I can to think, talk, believe, and act according to his word(s) and his ways.  I try to follow him in a Jewish way - because he was/is a Jew.  I try to follow him because he was a Jewish rabbi, and students followed their rabbis around, learning their teachings and imitating their lives.  (still do, actually)

This lines up a little more closely with Messianic Judaism than modern Christianity…. You see, when God decided to create “his” people, he called them to be set apart from the other nations, and taught them the “house rules” for actually *being* the set apart children of God.  That offer has always been not just for Abraham’s descendants, but for anyone who hears God calling them to be his people.

Going back a few years (Spring 2020), we began to consistently observe the Sabbath in a pretty low-key, Messianic, Biblical kind of way.  Basically, [on Saturdays] we don’t work (or cause others to work) or spend money unless there’s an emergency.  Now from time to time there may be exceptions, but we try not to tell others how to live by our convictions, while we do our best to honor the Lord by living according to his (Sabbath) instructions. Sometimes our Sabbath looks different than this… and when that happens, we do the best we can, and we know that’s what grace is for.

OK, Spring 2020.  I knew that, as one of elders/pastors of our church, my family’s observing Sabbath was out-of-step with what the church believed. I wanted to engage the other church leaders appropriately and with integrity, so I re-read the church’s Constitution & By-Laws and proceeded according to our governing documents and leadership practices.

In those documents, that church communicates their beliefs and practice are according to the Bible, which is the first and final authority on these matters.  That church also leans heavily on historic confessions of their denominational faith, which they say do not supersede the BIble’s authority, but rather give clarity to its application.  

I knew that observing a Biblical Sabbath put me at odds with what has long been taught as a “Christian Sabbath” (Sunday), so I studied these historical denominational statements of faith.  I looked up every scripture they referenced, studied those passages, and wrote a paper expressing my dissenting opinion, which I submitted to the other elders for consideration.  The teaching pastor gave us a book to read representing the denomination’s position, and set a meeting to discuss.

I disagree with that book, and the way the author interprets and applies Scripture to present his conclusions.  I also disagree with the way he builds a case for a practice that the Bible never establishes (Sunday sabbath), while throwing out a practice that the the Bible specifically instructs over and over (seventh day Sabbath).

During that elders meeting, I was told that, because I have no formal training in Biblical languages & theology, my paper was invalid.  I was given a chance to give up my dissent and come back into line with the denominational statements and the church practice and theology regarding the Sabbath.  When I declined, I was removed as an elder.  I was told my family could still be a part of the church, provided we didn’t try to talk other folks into these divergent practices we maintained.

…but other issues had already come up, and as time went on, change was…inevitable.