John Fischer The Catch

ancient olive tree

“This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to His own holy people. For it has pleased God to tell His people that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. For this is the secret: Christ lives in you, and this is your assurance that you will share in His glory.” (Colossians 1:26, 27)

Paul, a Jew, is speaking to me, a Gentile here. He is telling me that I got the deal of a lifetime. Thank goodness God is favorable to outsiders; otherwise I wouldn’t have had a chance.

You see, I’ve been talking about outsiders, all the while forgetting that I was talking about me. Not that those of us who are Gentile believers haven’t been brought in – Paul says that we were grafted in to the original tree – it’s that we shouldn’t forget our fortunate “luck” (probably not the right word but it has the right sense) at having this opportunity in the first place. We were not on the original “guest list” we were off the streets. We are those guys who were brought in from the highways and byways of life because the original guests had other plans.

Here’s why we should never forget (as I did) that we were outsiders:

1) We will always appreciate God’s grace.

2) We will not take anything for granted.

3) We will be humble.

4) We will not need to judge anyone since we ourselves are not deserving of our position.

4) We will not lose our sense of belonging to the human family. We will be quick to embrace “outsiders” because, in a real sense, they are us.

5) Keeping this perspective will keep us from becoming like the Pharisees who prided themselves over being on the inside.

“But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:13)

“If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.” (Romans 11:17, 18)

“Your name will be a curse word among my people, for the Sovereign Lord will destroy you and call his true servants by another name.” (Isaiah 65:15)

It looks as if God had the same problem here as we have today; He had to come up with a new name for His true followers because most of the people who were supposed to be His followers gave the old name such a bad rap.

I understand this. I find it hard in some circles to call myself a Christian, not because I am ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, but because the name has come to mean things that have little or nothing to do with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Besides, it’s just a name. There isn’t magic attached to it. It doesn’t necessarily mean someone is going to heaven as soon as they become a Christian. In fact, “becoming a Christian” can mean different things to different people.

If you were to ask random people on the street to give their definition of a Christian today, I bet you would be a long time waiting to hear anything like “a follower of Christ,” or “a sinner saved by grace,” or “someone who loves God and loves others,” or “someone who cares about the poor and the homeless.”  My guess is that, more often than not, you would get a political or social definition – a person who stands for this and against that – a person with a particular agenda for the society and the country as a whole (not the kingdom of God, most likely, but the kingdom of America. For many people they are one and the same).

First, there is no special significance attached to the word “Christian.” It was just a label. It’s only used twice in the Bible “The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch” (Acts 11:26). That doesn’t mean they were not believers before that, or they weren’t saved until they became officially “Christians.” Today you could substitute “follower of Christ” for “Christian” and probably get a truer meaning.

So what do we do about this? Here’s what I’d like to suggest:

Instead of going into the world as a Christian, go into the world as (YOUR NAME HERE _______). You don’t need a label. It’s you. The gospel is you – who you are, who you believe, who you love and are following; and the gospel is you – your story, how you’ve come to know Christ as your savior. Instead of getting people to become Christians, let’s see what we can do to get them to become our friends. That usually starts with first being a friend to them.

What’s in a name? Nothing much. What’s in you is the big deal.

“People who never before inquired about me are now asking about me. I am being found by people who were not looking for me. To them I have said, ‘I am here.’  I opened my arms to my own people all day long, but they have rebelled.”  (Isaiah 65:1-2)

These words from the prophet Isaiah prophetically point to how the gospel would eventually go to the Gentiles, but I think it also captures something about the nature of God. I don’t know how else to say this, but I think God is biased toward outsiders, especially when insiders fail to embrace what is rightfully theirs. I believe it might be His way of including everyone.

John’s gospel puts it this way “He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:11-12).

There it is again, proof that God is for outsiders; God brings the outsiders in. And I think it’s bigger than the historical span of God revealing Himself through the law and the prophets, and later through Christ and the gospel. I believe it’s something endemic to the way God works.

If any group of people gets smug and presumptuous about being on the inside with God, God will silently slip out and be found by those outside – people who are not even looking for Him.

Or another way to put it… whenever God’s people turn Pharisaical, He will go out and bring the sinners in.

I believe its happening today. God won’t put up with a church that has become exclusive. The gospel is always inclusive. He will always be found by those who aren’t looking for Him. He will say “I am here” to those on the outside while those on the inside think they have Him all to themselves.

When Christians start behaving like they are members of a country club, God goes public.

So if you want to go where God is: Look outside. Think outside. Be outside.

The forgiveness of God teaches you to fear God.

Seems like an odd connection — forgiveness and fear — but after you hear King David (from the Old Testament) talk about both of these things in one of his psalm lyrics, you begin to see why they are related.

“Lord, if you kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive? But you offer forgiveness, that we might learn to fear you.” (Psalm 130:3-4)
Why would the Lord’s forgiveness teach me to fear Him? Because I know, at all times, that without it I am toast! My life is hanging on God’s forgiveness and God’s forgiveness alone, and because my sins are so great, my very life rests solely on God’s decision to forgive me. Should He ever change His mind about this, I have nothing else to fall back on. I am left with the magnitude of my sin, a righteous and demanding God who can extract an ounce of selfishness from a ton of good deeds, leaving nowhere to hide.

When I realize the greatness of my sin, I have a healthy desperation for the forgiveness of God. I will not be prone to take advantage of that which is my only hope — a hope that rests on nothing but the sheer will of God to offer it.

Sometimes I think we get too comfy with the forgiveness of God. Like “feel-good Christians,” we take the forgiveness of God too lightly and fail to come to grips with the devastation of our sin.

“Lord, if you kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive?” (that’s the fear part). “But you offer forgiveness, that we might learn to fear you” (that’s the forgiveness part), but it’s a forgiveness that is always aware of who God is and what we deserve.

My multitude of sins + God’s mercy = a forgiveness that just doesn’t add up. And so I walk with a sense of undeserved pardon, partaking in this new math, and not wanting to add to what has already made this a severely lopsided equation. I want to please God now. I don’t want to be one to take this forgiveness lightly.

Reconciliation. It is and has been the sweeping expanse of God’s movement through history. Satan and sin separates; God brings back together.

God is in the reconciling business. First, He’s reconciling the world to Himself in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:19). Secondly, He’s reconciling us to each other.

“So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, [neither Republican nor Democrat, (and anything else you may want to put in here that can divide us, like Catholic and Protestant, home-schooler and public schooler, Caucasian and African-American, Hispanic and Asian, mega-church and cyber church)] for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:26-28)

Christ Jesus creates family. He wants us all together. He wants us to resolve conflict, find common ground, downplay our differences, put ourselves in each other’s shoes, and learn how to be all things to all people.

And that is not Christian people he’s talking about being all things to. Paul says he wants to be all things to all people that he might by all means save some, so he’s talking about being all things to people who are not saved. He’s talking about so identifying with unbelievers that his identification with them will help them eventually come to a place of belief. That would mean understanding why people don’t believe instead of calling them out for not believing. This erases the “us/them” kind of mentality common in so many Christian circles.

It’s “us and them” that makes us judgmental. It’s “us and them” that sets us apart in our own minds. It’s “us and them” that makes us haughty. It’s “us and them” that always leaves someone out.

I have an idea. How about we just do away with “them” altogether as a designation at least in our thinking. Try it for a while. There is no “them;” there is only “us.” God loves us. Christ died for us. He has a plan for us. His grace and mercy extends to us, and as far as we are concerned, “us” is everybody. And if there is a “them,” somewhere outside of God’s grace, I don’t know who “they” are, anyway, and I won’t, because that is not for me to know. Only my heavenly Father knows. Therefore as far as I am concerned, there is just us.

Meet a stranger; meet “us.” Meet the homeless; meet “us.” Visit the prisoners; visit “us.” Care for the dying; care for “us.” Befriend a foreigner; befriend “us.” There is no “us and them;” there is only us and… “us.”

There’s a world out there… look at us, love us, forgive us, have mercy on us, because God has.

When Marti and I were first getting to know each other we used to call God our social coordinator. That was because being that we were about 500 miles apart, our time together was usually limited and we wanted to make the most of it. We were also both very busy in our own ministries and didn’t have time to plan our get-togethers, and yet it was uncanny how there always seemed to be just the right restaurant or cafe handy with a quiet table so we could talk. This extended to being in the right place at the right time for a free concert or special event we couldn’t have possibly known about in advance. So we kept saying, “God set that up!”

Well it seems the Lord was up to His tricks again last night when a crowded restaurant I originally planned for a family celebration of Marti’s birthday gave way to another restaurant nearby with a table for six in an outside patio area that consisted of only two tables in a quaint breezeway between two blocks of shops and restaurants in downtown Laguna Beach. (Has anyone else noticed that restaurants seem to have gotten more noisy and crowded lately as if they were physically designed to raise the conversation level to a shout? I guess the idea is if you are crowded and loud you must be the place everyone wants to be. In most places, a table for six will mean you can count on hearing only the person on your right or on your left if they shout in your ear.)

It was a perfect place to celebrate and also to capture Annie’s surprise appearance having driven in from her residency in San Bernardino to make our family complete – a fact only I knew about and a delightful surprise for everyone (especially Marti), even if she did show up in her scrubs (no time to change).

Now am I stretching things or making light of God’s holiness by suggesting Him as event coordinator for Marti’s dinner party? I think not. I think I am pointing out that God, through His Holy Spirit, is interested in every level of what happens in our lives, and being that Christ’s first miracle was to make sure the wine didn’t run out at a wedding reception, this is no stretch at all. In fact, I would go so far as to say He delights in these little things in our lives. After all, he made us for fellowship with Him, why wouldn’t He be founder of the feast?

[Thanks goes out especially to all you who emailed your comments and best wishes to Marti yesterday. It made her day!]

With all of my heart, thank you for your kind words in birthday greetings. Because we are growing closer together day after day, let me bring you further into our family by helping you understand what is behind John’s desire for you to wish me well.

It is called his conscience.

I’m recalling a significant not-too-distant birthday (and no I am not going to tell you which one), when, inspired by my Advent-like calendar countdown to my birthday, John and my children had been primed for the approaching special day at least 90 days out. Yet as the day came and progressed like any other, no one even wished me Happy Birthday. I guessed my family was preparing to conduct a surprise party. Not even Chandler, who is always forthcoming and incapable of keeping a secret, gave me a clue. I suspected that the remaining family members decided not to tell Chandler about the secret until, at the very last minute, he would be free to shout, “Surprise!”

My imagination went into high gear. What were they up to? I found myself looking for where they might be hiding gifts – from underneath the couch to the top shelve in the closet. In the mirror I practiced a wide-eyed, jaw-dropping expression with both hands to my face. What grand plans could possibly befit this kind of secrecy? But as the day wore on, my feigned surprise slowly turned into surmise. The unforgivable had indeed happened: They had forgotten my birthday.

This is when silence is so telling – that raw moment that leaves everyone with nothing to say and you add to the wordless moment a wide-eyed expression of, “How could you?”

I broke the silence with a smile. I do love surprises but not as much as I love surprising those that least expect good cheer. It is what began my odyssey with women in crisis, and it is what will continue for as long as there are forgotten women with no one to help celebrate their birthdays.

It started with a quiet announcement between one woman without a home to another that today was her birthday, and the other woman responded sarcastically, “What do you want me to do… bake you a cake?” Without stepping into their conversation, I couldn’t hear all that she said except a lingering line, fading, “I’ve never had a birthday party.”

“Maybe not,” the Lord put in my mind, “but today, right now – you will be celebrated.”

It is not a difficult thing to step into a nearby grocery store, and while the baker is inscribing “Happy Birthday” on a previously prepared cake, dash to the paper isle and choose either the Mickey Mouse theme plates or Cinderella, and don’t forget the plastic forks to match the paper plates, of course, and candles (and matches) – lots of candles to brighten sadness.

Then bolt back to the twosome and stand back to experience the Surprise Birthday Party of your lifetime. She will be flabbergasted. Her mouth will fall open because this interaction is truly without expectation. Ask her to sit down as would be done for a real princess and invite everyone nearby to sing, “Happy Birthday;” and don’t forget to tell her as she blows out the candles not to tell anyone about her wish, because it is a request between the Lord and her and no one else.

One of two things will happen: She will either happily share the cake with her “neighbors” or she will look to you as if to ask, “Can I the take the cake and celebrate alone?” If she stays – offer thanks to the Lord before cutting the cake, keep your eyes open and trust Him. If she leans toward taking her leave, usher her away from the gathered group. Because poverty is never really understood until we touch it, put your hand on her shoulder and wish her a very Happy Birthday. She will recognize the Lord through your eyes. Further words are not necessary.

This is an example of the church of the Catch – a family that likes to extend itself in celebration of life – a church that throws birthday parties for the homeless and others in need worldwide, one person at a time.

The Catch is the church of Jesus. He loved to throw parties for prostitutes and all kinds of left-out people.  He touched the lepers of society, ate with them, and he loved them.  And while the solemnly pious people could never relate to his surprise parties, those lonely people who usually didn’t get invited to parties took to him with excitement.

Thank you, warmhearted people, for responding to John’s wish that you remember my birthday. It really is very important to me. And thank you for giving the gift of life by allowing the invisible Jesus to become visible to the vulnerable and poor. God is among the poor and so are we. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them.

“What do you mean, you are not the dark horse?” she said, trotting up next to me. “Do you not know yourself?”
 
At that I looked down at my white leg, expecting to see it reflect up at me as it always did at night. But all I saw was the faint outline of a leg, hardly visible in the approaching darkness. I stamped it, thinking it was caked with mud. I tried scratching it with my nose. Suddenly, with a combined sense of amazement, joy, and humility, I realized what had happened. I had been singed by the fire! I was as black as this burned-out valley! I, too, was a dark horse.

I have learned that when writing fiction (in this case: allegory) that some of the deepest insights reveal themselves only in the writing, not before. Suddenly you get what may be the whole reason for the story, and you didn’t even know it was there when you started. The astonishment I write about here is truly mine at discovering this, not just something fabricated for the story.

For years I had relied upon my natural gifts and abilities for confidence. Call it anointing or call it pedigree, it was what set me apart and ultimately isolated me from others in my mind.

We all have natural and spiritual gifts and talents. They will actually work against us if we use them for confidence, identity or anything we rely upon for strength. God wants us trusting in Him alone. In God’s economy, everything is backwards: our weaknesses are our strengths; our strengths are our weaknesses.

Paul says the same thing in Philippians 3:5-9, “Circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.

“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ — the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.”

This is Paul, stamping and scratching his once-white leg. What is it that you have that you have been counting on? Are you willing to throw it on the rubbish heap and trust in Christ alone?

Our next-door neighbors are Jewish and since Sunday night, they have been celebrating Rosh Hashanah or the Jewish New Year. Watching them celebrate with family and friends has brought the story of Nehemiah into modern day reality. These traditional celebrations around biblical injunctions and traditional practices simply underscore how important community is to the kingdom of God. We were never meant to be alone. We know God not just in our closet prayers, or our private devotions, but also in the context of a community of believers.

Our neighbor has prepared so much food for these last few days that there has been a surplus, and she has shared some of that with us. In that way, we have received benefit from their celebration. That is the way God wants our abundance to overflow to others around us. There is a natural provision that comes from community. Those who have, share with those who don’t have as much, because everyone brings out of what they have. There is no sense of embarrassment or belittlement just as there is no lording it over anyone. Because everyone brings something, everyone shares equally in the gifts. Giving unifies so that everyone is blessed.

We have received gifts from other faith-based organizations, only to turn around and give something back. Well that’s silly. Since we’re giving to each other, don’t we end up in the same place as if we didn’t give at all? No, because in the giving we take part in each other’s mission. We give to a street mission and become a part of what someone else is doing that we can’t do because we don’t have the same gifts, experiences and influences. We grow; our arms get wider; we feel a part of more than just what we are doing.

Because of your generosity and involvement with us, we have a huge sense that this house is not ours alone. When we talk to the bank, there is a big family standing behind us, or like one of you said in your comments yesterday, “We’ve got your back.” And just because our community exists in cyberspace doesn’t mean it isn’t the same community as the brick and mortar down the street represents. It is the same. We have a growing sense of your love and concern for us with every gift that come in because each one represents a tangible expression of love. Your gift makes you real. Suddenly there is a real deposit in our account. That’s no mysterious action in cyberspace; that’s a present tense tangible expression of love from you. I know how hard it is for me to part with my money, so I marvel when anyone else does, and I am deeply humbled in the process.

As I was writing these last two sentences two gifts came in, one after the other. One was for $500.00 and the other for $5.00. In my heart, these are both the same, and we are overwhelmed. As our need continues, so does your generosity. I can’t wait to see what God has in store for us all.

One of the biggest lessons from the story of Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem was the enormity of the task made possible by the hard work and the giving of every single one of the people who risked all to return to Jerusalem. It was a great moment in the history of God’s people. There was a sense of destiny among the whole assembly. God had led them back for a reason, and when Nehemiah arrived with his plan and his leadership, they all recognized him as their leader and responded in unison. There was no dissent. No complaining. When there was something wrong that needed to be corrected, they recognized it right away and fell in line with the truth.

An example of this was early on in the rebuilding process, when it came to light that the nobles and governors of the small group of roughly 42,000 people were burdening the people with taxes most of the them were unable to pay. Many were forced to mortgage their homes, their fields and their vineyards. “We have had to borrow money to pay the king’s tax,” the people said, and how familiar is that? When Nehemiah heard of it he brought the leaders together and asked them why they were burdening the people when they had a task to accomplish and enemies from outside to defend themselves against. “You are exacting usury from your own countrymen!” Nehemiah told them (Nehemiah 5:7).

“What you are doing is not right,” he went on to say to them. “Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our Gentile enemies? I and my brothers and my men are also lending the people money and grain. But let the exacting of usury [interest] stop! Give back to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves and houses, and also the usury you are charging them — the hundredth part of the money, grain, new wine and oil.”

“We will give it back,” they said. “And we will not demand anything more from them. We will do as you say.” (Nehemiah 5:9-12)

I love them for their attitude. When confronted with doing something wrong, they immediately want to set it right and do whatever is required. This is the attitude of a teachable heart. This is how we grow spiritually and every other way when we have this kind of attitude towards the Lord.

I couldn’t help but wish we could take Nehemiah with us when we talk with the bank this week about our mortgage! But if you folks keep giving as you have been, that won’t matter. We can settle our issues and move on. We are praying for this, but we need you to continue giving. As in Nehemiah’s day, the key is found in a unified effort. It’s how big tasks become smaller. Everyone pulling together makes it possible for each one to do the impossible, which is what it feels like to us right now, but with God, all things are possible.