Coming up for air.

Hello friends. My apologies for the long absence from the web. I have been swamped with full time language school, and have not had the time (or brain power) to engage the blogging world. But no longer does it feel like I am drinking from a firehose when I am in class, and I feel like now I have a foundation with the language on which I can begin building. With that said, I am glad to get back online and finish up some things I had begun before my absence, and discuss a few things I have been chewing on since. Stay tuned.

A little something special for all the muthas in the world¡

Happy Mutha's Day to Katie (my baby momma), Stephanie (my momma), and Donna (my lady momma).

Blueprint for an incarnational life (2)

Before we can dive into the particulars of Micah 6:8, we must first understand the context in which these words are spoken. Micah’s prophetic work took place during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah in Judah. The first and third were Godly kings, the second evil. It was during this time that Israel (i.e. the northern kingdom) was overthrown by the Assyrians and the Jews there were carried away and forced to settle throughout the Assyrian empire.

Micah gives a series of warning oracles, prophesying of coming destruction. But it is not all doom and gloom. In Micah 5, we see that a ruler and deliverer with come out of Bethlehem. But in the meantime, Israel has been handed over to her enemies.

Micah 6 begins with God accusing his people of falling short, despite all that he had done for them. There are then a series of questions about what would be required to restore fellowship with God, to which Micah 6:8 is the conclusion: “to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God”

Unfortunately, Israel has failed to do this, and as a result will be (and has been) severely punished. But there is hope! In 7:9 we learn that God will bring Israel “out into the light.” And ultimately, there will be rejoicing as Micah states, “Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever, but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea."

On this Easter Sunday, how encouraging it is to read these words of hope, knowing that in the death and resurrection of Jesus God "had compassion on us" and now "tread[s] our sins underfoot and hurl[s] all our iniquities into the depths of the sea." What a mighty God we serve!

Blueprint for an incarnational life (1)

I have been reflecting a lot lately on Micah 6:8. I heard someone mention it as a verse that gets to the heart of what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus. It reads:
He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.

As I think about what it means to be an incarnational witness, I realize that this verse really sums the idea up. It is a Q&A with God, and he lets us know what he expects of his disciples.

This begins a series of posts in which I will try to think my way through what this verse means (hopefully with a little help from some of you), and what following the requirements in the second half of the verse looks like in practice today.

Don't be the dandelion.

Recently I took part in some security training on how to handle high stress and possibly violent confrontations. One of the things that was stressed was "Don't be the dandelion," referencing the weed that sometimes springs up in a freshly mowed yard and stands out because it is the only thing that tall in the whole lawn. Instead, we are to be inconspicuous, be gray, and blend in.

Today I was the dandelion all day long. Not that I was concerned about security, but my family was so far from inconspicuous that it was comical. We wheeled through the Atlanta airport with two pink strollers, three pink carseats, and all the hoopla that is the Brou family in transit. Later on we were in the Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris. Thankfully we had shed to all the pink accessories, but we still had the obvious look of dumb tourists who had no clue where they were going. We finished up by picking up our baggage in the Bilbao airport. There I was with three carts carrying nine 50 lb. bags, one oversized bike bag, three pink carseats, two pink strollers, and three children who were completely stoked to be out of the confinement of an airplane seat. I am sure that it was a sight to see. If someone was looking for the dandelion, he would have found me.

Who are you and why are you naked? (2)

In an earlier post, I asked about a mysterious figure who emerges in Mark's account of Jesus' betrayal at Gethsemane. I had a few people give me some insights from things they had read about this character, but that still did not satisfy my curiosity. I found several (if somewhat dated) resources in the library here at the International Learning Center that dealt with this passage.

Lamar Williamson, in his commentary on Mark, asks a series of questions about the identity of this young man, identifying particular scholars who have held to each interpretation in parenthesis. He writes:
"Is this young man the apostle John (Ambrose, Chrysostom, Bede)? Or James, the brother of Jesus (Epiphanius)? Or a resident of the house where Jesus and the disciples had eaten the Passover dinner (Thophylact)? Is this the evangelist himself (i.e. Mark), who secretly signs his work in this way (many 19th century commentators)? Is this incident a narrative developed out of Joseph's flight from Potiphar's wife (Gen. 39:12), or from the prediction of Amos 2:16 of warriors fleeing naked 'in that day' (C.G. Montefiore)? Is the young man a typological figure standing for desertion, as Peter stands for denial and Judas for betrayal (Farrer). Is the the account of an eyewitness known to, but other than, Mark, introduced here to convey the sense of reality (Taylor)? Or the remnant of a secret Gospel of Mark in which a young man comes to Jesus by night for instruction and baptism into the mystery of the Kingdom of God (Morton Smith)? Is this the young man who will reappear in 16:5-7, sitting in the tomb announcing Jesus' resurrection, introduced here to intimate rescue from death and ultimate reintegration (Kelber)? Or is this 'boy in the shirt,' like James Joyce's 'man in the macintosh/ in Ulysses, an irreducible secret introduced by the author to tease the reader (Kermode)?"

This paragraph points to many of the ways in which commentators have tried to deal with this character, and, to be sure, there are countless other interpretations of this man's identity. Suffice it to say that nothing written here will settle the two thousand year debate. But a few observations can be made.

First, the interpretation that the young man was Mark is funny to me. It seems a bit like college. Here is how I envision this playing out.
Mark: Hey guys. Read this story and guess which character is me?
College Buddy 1: I read it, and I knew right away which one was you.
College Buddy 2: I don't even have to read it. I bet you're naked.

Many commentators (most of whom know way more than me) still seem to think this is the best answer. Interesting.

Second, I find the Amos 2:16 allusion fascinating. Throughout the New Testament we see the various writers make allusions to Old Testament prophecies. Often the NT writers interpretation of those prophecies is nothing like what the people familiar with them were expecting. I think this fits right in with that pattern. A cryptic fulfillment of prophecy. Maybe there is something there.

Third, a few commentators take it to be an example of a particular kind of abandonment of Jesus. I really like this line of thinking. In the broader context of this passage we see three types of abandonment. The first is abandonment through apathy. The disciples slept through critical moments while Jesus prayed at Gethsemane, unaware that their discipleship was being tested. Another type is the conscious betrayal of the Lord under the mask of friendship (Judas). A third type is flight in a time of pressure (this young man). These same types of abandonment are reenacted every day. This does not mean that the character was not really there, but rather that his significance was not in who he was, but in what he did.

All of this is of course in contrast to the example of Jesus, who, though he knew what he was facing, remained faithful to his calling and the guidance and direction of the Father. While I am not really any clearer on the identity of this naked guy, I am challenged to strive for the faithfulness of Jesus, and not to take the route of the faithlessness of the disciples. We are called to discipleship. Let us resolve not to betray our Lord, deny our Lord, or run away naked from our Lord when things get tough. Jesus told us things would be tough. And yet he still called us to discipleship.

The light is green... go!

This evening I went with the family to the store to pick the girls up some new jeans. Katie and I were in the front, Eliana and Giada were in the middle row, and Bianca was all the way in the back. I eased our vehicle into the left turn lane, and waited there for the light to turn green. In the meantime, the lights for the three lanes to our right turned green. The cars in those lanes began to go, but since our light remained red, I stayed where I was.

After a few seconds, Bianca called to me from the back, "The light is green, daddy... go." I assured her that the light was not green, but she called again, this time with a bit more intensity, "The light is green... go!" I tried to explain to her that the lanes next to us had green lights, but that our was still red. She would have none of it, and in exasperation she yelled, "THE LIGHT IS GREEN... GO!"

Could it really the case that this little kid who was sitting not just in the back, but in the way back, the back back, the backety-back, the penalty box, was giving me driving instructions? A backseat driver is certainly an annoyance, but a three year old?

I had to stop and wonder how often I do that with God. How many times have I told him how to drive, rather than just let him do the driving? How many times have I been sure that he must not understand that the light is green, and that it is time to go, when he is quite aware of what color the light is, and is going to wisely navigate me to my destination? I really couldn't believe I was getting backseat driving instructions from a three year old, but I am sure I have been guilty of doing the same with my Father. Maybe we should all just trust him to get us where we need to go. Just sit back and enjoy the ride.