Speaking Of Life 2020 | Papa and Paco

Jeff Broadnax

In Ernest Hemingway’s short story, “Capital of the World” we are told of a Father in Spain looking for his son named Paco. Perhaps you’ve heard it!

The son had created a rift between him and his Papa. He chose to leave home to make a name for himself as a matador in Madrid. After some time, the Father goes looking for his estranged son, but he is unable to find him among the crowded streets of Madrid. So, he places an ad in the local newspaper that reads:

“Paco, meet me at the Hotel Montana, Noon Tuesday. All is forgiven. Papa.”

The results were astounding. On Tuesday at noon, eight hundred young men, all named Paco, show up at the hotel longing to be reconciled to their father.

Hemingway may have been an atheist, but his story tugs our hearts toward the Gospel.

Can you identify with one of the Pacos gathered at the hotel? Roaming crowded streets far from home trying to create a name for yourself. It’s a lonely journey down a dead-end road.

But Jesus has met us at the end of that road with a word from his Father. In Jesus’ life, death and most importantly, his resurrection, our Papa makes it crystal clear that all is forgiven. He is calling us home.

In this way our heavenly Father didn’t just put an ad in the paper. He showed up in Jesus. The first disciples struggled to believe that Jesus had risen even though they saw an empty tomb. But after Jesus encountered them personally, their lives were lifted to a whole new level.

This same Jesus is still encountering us today by the Holy Spirit. And his word from the Father hasn’t changed. Putting your trust in Jesus is to be lifted in his relationship with the Father.

THIS is the good news of the Easter story. The Father has removed all that keeps us from knowing and enjoying him. Now we can respond to him with our head held high, knowing our identity as sons and daughters is secured in Jesus, our elder brother.

Listen to how the Apostle Paul reflects on the resurrection and our response in this restored relationship.

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3:1-4, NIV)

This Easter, may we each hear the voice of our Father, raised in Jesus, calling us home.

I’m Jeff Broadnax, Speaking of Life

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Speaking Of Life 2019 | Put Down Your Sword

Greg Williams

“And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” Matthew 26:51-54 (ESV)

This is a strange aside in the story of Jesus’ arrest. As the gospel writers describe it, there are literally hundreds of soldiers who’ve descended on four guys in a garden in the dark. Then one of them, Peter of course, decides to try to defend himself. What a preposterous picture, a fisherman with a sword against a detachment of professional Roman soldiers.

It’s a painfully vivid picture of our reactionary eye-for-an-eye squabbles as human beings. You have a grudge against me, so I answer in kind; you cut me off, so I tailgate you! On and on we go in the cycle of offense-and-revenge, tit-for-tat. And yet Jesus says, “Stop.” Peter—put down your sword. STOP the cycle, stop the insane merry-go-round.

This small conversation is a microcosm of the big picture. Jesus is in the midst of giving himself, to take the punishment for sin—and all the grudges, squabbles, and eye-for-eye that goes along with it—onto Himself. Total forgiveness to all. We can only imagine.

Have you ever forgiven until it hurts? Our natural reaction when shoved is to shove back. It’s deeply ingrained in our psyche, even in our physical reflexes. It can be uncomfortable, even painful to stop ourselves from retaliating. We have to give up our “rights” in that moment, the revenge we “deserve” in our own minds. We have to put down the sword.

By every right, God could have wiped humanity out and started over. We chose sin and polluted his perfect world. But God’s plan was never to take his revenge on us. He took that hurt into himself in Jesus. Instead of cutting off an ear, he let himself be cut and beaten and finally killed. He forgave us until it hurt him. He took the pain and violence of that sin into himself in Christ, so much so that it killed him.

As John the Baptist proclaimed, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” May we join Jesus in stopping the cycle of revenge by putting down our swords; choosing to forgive as Christ has forgiven us.

I’m Greg Williams, Speaking of Life.

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Speaking Of Life 2018 | That One Wee Drop

Anthony Mullins

Most churches have scripture reading each Sunday. These readings can be quite lengthy depending on the text. But I know of one church that had a surprise. As customary, the reader walked to the front of the sanctuary to read the selected text. He positioned a large Bible on the podium and slowly turned the pages till he found the passage. He pulled out his reading glasses and grasped the podium as if settling in for a long reading. He began, “Our scripture reading for today comes to us from the book of John. He lowered his eyes, took a deep breath, and read: “Jesus wept.” He then closed his Bible and walked back to his seat.

It was a humorous moment intended to set up an important point. The shortest verse in the Bible is by no means insignificant.

This short verse reminds me of a powerful scene in Herman Melville’s classic, Moby Dick. If you know the story you will remember Captain Ahab as the callous character who lost his leg to the great whale named Moby Dick. From that point on Ahab’s whole life was set on revenge. He was a rough character predictably unforgiving. But Melville created an unexpected scene where Ahab was observed shedding a tear. Melville writes, “From beneath his slouched hat Ahab dropped a tear into the sea; nor did all the Pacific contain such wealth as that one wee drop.”

If a tear from a fictional character bent on revenge could convey such wealth, what treasures does a real tear from the living Son of God hold for us today?

When Jesus wept, it wasn’t a lone tear escaping from a crack in a soul hardened by hate. His tears flowed from the fullness of his Father’s love for his children. His wasn’t a wee drop absorbed by the sea, rather, his tears were mingled with ours, sharing our sorrow of loss from sin and death. Jesus, the Son of God, does not distance himself from our tears; he gathers them up in his own, wiping them away in the flood of his redeeming forgiveness.

With the short verse, “Jesus wept,” we are assured that our tears are not left unattended. In this assurance we can cry out to the Lord to deliver us from our sins and sorrows. Here is a good Psalm to help us do just that.

Out of the depths I cry to you, LORD; Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. If you, LORD, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you. I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. (Psalm 130:1-5 NIV)

“Jesus wept.” This is indeed a tiny verse within the sea of words throughout scripture. But we can spend the rest of our lives fathoming the wealth of love in those tears.

I’m Anthony Mullins, Speaking of Life.

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Speaking Of Life 2017 | Do You Believe in the Son of Man?

Greg Williams

After Jesus heals a man born blind in John 9, he poses a question to him, using a phrase we see a lot in the gospels: “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

Son of man is a phrase Jesus uses 81 times in the gospels to describe himself—more than any other term. And yet it still confuses most of us. The term first appeared in Daniel 7, written centuries before, in which the prophet describes a dream, or vision.

In his frightening dream, apocalyptic beasts are coming out of the sea and wreaking havoc. Now, all through the Old Testament, the image of a “beast” is used to describe people and empires who’ve given themselves over to sin and become enemies of God. So Daniel is dreaming about the “beastly” empire of Babylon laying waste to the earth. But this monstrosity is defeated by a mysterious character who appears:

I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. Daniel 7:13-14 ESV

So, the title Jesus chose to use most often for himself was the title given to this figure that defeats the beasts of sin and  is enthroned above the universe at the right hand of God.

Knowing this can help us unlock some of Jesus’ other statements, such as his interrogation before the high council in Mark. The High Priest demands to know if he is the Christ, Jesus says in Mark 14, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.

That’s what we saw described in Daniel’s vision—the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven. Ironically, this term which seems very human—“Son of Man”—signifies that Jesus is so much more than human. He connects himself with the much larger story of redemption, defeating that first Beast who slithered into the Garden of Eden.

Knowing Jesus is not only knowing the comforting, close presence of someone who spent his earthly life on the rough side of town working with his hands, but it is also knowing the Son of Man who is the prince of the universe—eternal, mysterious, apocalyptic. He is there, encouraging you to listen to your spouse and love the difficult people in your life, while at the same time he is there, spinning the rings of Saturn and keeping the sun burning.

And so we come to a part of our Christian life where we can’t fully understand, we can only behold, and worship, the Son of Man.

I’m Greg Williams, Speaking of Life.

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Speaking Of Life 2016 | Granny’s Lake

Jeff Broadnax

Years ago, a young woman married into a family who owned some farmland. The land was on a small mountain full of fruit trees and open fields. A perfect place to raise a family. But this land also had a secret. A previous generation had sold the mineral rights to the property. When bauxite, a valuable rock used to make aluminum was discovered, the miners came calling.

After they emptied the land of its hidden treasure, a deep dusty crater was left in the middle of the farm. It was an eyesore that couldn’t be hidden.

But this land had a deeper treasure hidden beneath its surface. An underground stream. The stream ran from one end of the farm to the other and began to slowly fill the empty crater with fresh water. The young woman raised her family on that farm while watching the crater transform into a beautiful lake. The family stocked the lake with fish and grew flowering trees on its banks.

Sometime later a local church needed a place to hold baptisms. So, the family dug out and attached a small section to the lake that would serve as a baptismal pool. To this day, countless people have been baptized in those waters.

This unlikely reservoir of redemption, called “Granny’s Lake,” was named after the young woman who told the story to her grandchildren.

As a metaphor, Granny’s Lake reflects a deeper truth for all of us. Jesus is the stream of living water that fills the deep pits dug out in our souls. It doesn’t matter how many buried secrets you may have or if those secrets have been exploited. Jesus gets to the bottom of our deepest craters to fill us and transform us from the inside out.

Listen to what Jesus says to another young woman whose personal life had emptied her of public value.

Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” (John 4:13-14 ESV)

If you have grown weary and thirsty from trying to fill the empty craters in your own life, allow Jesus to give you that same living water that leaves you transformed and satisfied. Then dive in and let him work in your life as an overflow of refreshment for others.

I’m Jeff Broadnax, Speaking of Life.

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Speaking Of Life 2015 | The Whole World

Greg Williams

When reading scripture, it is often helpful to take a step backward and forward—to look at a scripture from a bird’s eye view. Jesus’ most quoted saying is John chapter 3 verse 16 – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16 ESV)

Jesus made this powerful, inclusive statement in the middle of a personal conversation. Who was he talking with? Nicodemus, an elite Jewish teacher who was part of the ruling class. It is amazing how Jesus was willing to meet with Nicodemus on his terms – teacher to teacher. The concept that an actual second birth was required to enter the eternal kingdom totally stupefied Nicodemus, and I am certain that he dwelt on this for quite some time.

The encounter with Nicodemus makes sense that Jesus being Jewish would engage other Jews, and especially a leader who would have influence. But let’s notice the progression.

The next story is the longest one-on-one conversation with Jesus we have recorded. The woman at the well. This woman was a topic of much gossip—married five times and shacking up with a man she’s not married to.

Add to this that she was a Samaritan. This was the heretical off-center group that had constant tension with their Jewish cousins. So, what in the world is Jesus the Rabbi doing talking to a Samaritan, and to amplify concern, this is a woman? Upstanding Rabbis don’t do this.

Even though the Samaritan people embraced Jesus and wanted him to stay for as long as he would like, after a couple of days he and the disciples made their way north to Cana. Jesus heals an official’s son with a short phrase: “Go, your son will live.”

This officer was serving in Herod’s court and could’ve been either Jew or Gentile, and no doubt a wealthy aristocrat. And yet he could do nothing with his means to save his dying child. Jesus was his last hope and yet his best hope. 

As Jesus walked this earth, he wasn’t satisfied with simply making the sweeping statement that his Father so loved the world – from a distance.” The Father’s love was demonstrated through the flesh and blood expression of his one and only son.  Jesus demonstrated that he came for the “whole world” in three fascinating encounters that we see in just two chapters of scripture.

So, what became of Nicodemus

³⁸ …With Pilate’s permission, he (Joseph of Arimathea) came and took the body away. ³⁹ He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. (John 19:38-39 NIV)

The Jewish teacher who first approached the Son of God under the cover of darkness, now boldly appears with other believers to claim the body of Jesus for burial. Just as the love of the Father through the Son emboldened and transformed Nicodemus, may we too be transformed!  

I’m Greg Williams, Speaking of Life

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Speaking Of Life 2014 | Value of Connection

Michelle Fleming

When I was growing up, one of my cousins had a horse named Sassy, and this horse lived up to her name. Sassy was stubborn and wouldn’t listen to most people. My cousin was an exception; because of their relationship and bond, Sassy would pay attention to my cousin’s subtle cues. Though I don’t personally have a lot of experience with horses, I’ve heard about people, like my cousin, who have owned a horse for years and developed a special bond. Once a rider has a special connection with a horse, she doesn’t have to rely on the bit and bridle to show the horse which way to go. A gentle pressure with the knee or a shift of weight to the one side tells the horse to turn or move a certain way. When the horse trusts the rider, it pays attention to these cues. There is a strong trusting bond between them.

Thinking about this connection between a horse and a rider reminds me of how God sometimes compared us to wayward horses or mules when we fail to pay attention:

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you. Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him” (Psalm 32:8-10, NIV).

God gives us the wisdom and support we need to move through life and its inherent suffering with peace and joy. When the scripture says, “Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him,” it could mean that when we aren’t paying attention to God’s active presence in us, we can feel weighed down by life’s difficulties. We can feel like the horse that is out of sync with its rider’s cues or a horse that doesn’t trust its rider.

On the other hand, when we are in relationship with God, we recognize there isn’t any difficulty we face where God isn’t right by our side. This enables us to approach life with love and peace. When we’re paying attention to God at work in us and through us, we feel the connection, and we are better prepared to move through the world. Just like the horse and rider, we know that we are being led by Someone bigger than us.

Because of the built relationship, we know we can trust our Abba Father to show us where to go. We can know we are loved. When we further cultivate that connection by paying attention to God’s presence, maybe through personal devotions or quiet time, we can feel the gentle nudges giving us the guidance we’re looking for.

Today may you know the nearness and gentleness of God, and may you pay attention to his gentle nudges.

I’m Michelle Fleming, Speaking of Life.

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Speaking Of Life 2013 | Unified Opposites of Wholeness

Heber Ticas

As a kid, you probably played with magnets. You might have marveled at how the two positive sides or the two negative sides would repel each other as if there were an invisible hand keeping them apart. But when you flipped one magnet over to the negative side, it easily attached itself to the positive side.

As the saying goes “Opposites attract”. People have used this phrase for song lyrics, and they apply it to some relationships. The idea that opposites are good and necessary is not a new one. In fact, if you stop to think about the world we live in, we need the dark of night as much as we need the light of day, and for many of us, the cold of winter helps us appreciate the warmth of summer.

The idea of wholeness and unity means encompassing opposites—like brokenness and healing. The story of the Transfiguration shows us how Jesus unifies our brokenness and our strengths.

In this story, Jesus took the disciples—Peter, James, and John—up on a high mountain, and while they were there, Jesus’s appearance changed:

And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with     him. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” (Matt. 17:2-5, NRSV)

Moses and Elijah represent the Law and the Prophets from the Old Covenant made with Abraham long before Jesus was born. In this vision, God showed Peter, James, and John that in Jesus, the Law and Prophets had been united and fulfilled, and then God confirmed this by saying, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” (v. 5).

The Law with all its rules, and the Prophets with all their laments about how God’s people fall short, may seem like opposites, just like the two sides of a magnet. The Law, symbolized by Moses, set up expectations, and the Prophets, symbolized by Elijah, reported how people just couldn’t keep those expectations. But in Jesus, these two opposites were brought together and unified. He fulfilled all the expectations.

This example can give us hope because we, too, are full of opposites. We want to do good and love our neighbor, but we often fall short. We aspire to be generous but we know we are often selfish.

The good news is that Jesus takes us into himself and unifies these opposites. He takes our brokenness and our strengths, and he makes us whole and complete. God tells us to listen to Jesus and pay attention to the way he has extended grace and reconciliation to all. The Beloved Son holds humanity in his grasp, and God is well-pleased.

May you know that you are held in the strong, unifying embrace of God’s Beloved Son Jesus today and every day.

I’m Heber Ticas, Speaking of Life.

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Speaking Of Life 2012 | Refreshing Voices

Greg Williams

“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.”

These are the words of Paul to the Corinthian community. The problem Paul addresses there was division. Corinth was a cosmopolitan community in which everyone was after the latest thing.

They were looking for the latest teacher fad that would have them ahead of the crowd and up with the newest thing. Notice Paul’s words:

“For when one says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” are you not merely human?” 1 Corinthians 3:4 NRSV)

Everyone was trying to one-up each other on who they were following. “I’m listening to the new podcast from Paul!” “That’s nothing! I have an autographed first edition Thessalonians!” Everybody is in-fighting over who’s the best and brightest and newest.

David Ogilvy, father of modern-day advertising, talked about what he felt was negligible difference between top-shelf and mid-shelf whiskey. He said it came down to presentation: “It isn’t the whiskey they choose, it’s the image. The brand image is 90 percent of what the distiller has to sell…They are tasting images.”

Drinkers didn’t particularly like one whiskey over another, they couldn’t discern between the different blends, they just liked the image of it. Whether it is the southern genteel image of Jack Daniels, the wild western image of Buffalo Trace, or images of any other popular brands.

The Corinthian community was after an image, trying to be in the in-crowd. Division was the result, with each trying get the best brand and taste the best image of the gospel.

Paul demolishes this kind of dime-store idolatry. He shows them that all these leaders are part of the same process and that the cause is more important than the individuals involved.

“What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” (1 Corinthians 3:5-7 NRSV)

He shows them that the teachers, however memorable or eloquent they may be, are only one small part of the big picture; the big picture is God rescuing his people from sin, and the individual pixels are nothing without each other.

In a world not just drinking, but drunk on images, how can we be a refreshing voice? Rather than being remembered for our presentation or our style, can we instead be remembered for being conduits of Christ’s light and love? For being image-bearers and servants of the magnificent Triune God? For remembering and reminding others that it is God who gives the growth and deserves the glory?

Can we be remembered for being refreshing voices?

I’m Greg Williams, speaking of life.

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Speaking Of Life 2011 | Not So Random Acts of Kindness

Michelle Fleming

The car I drove during my college years was not very reliable, and I had many fearful moments of feeling stranded and scared. One time my vehicle broke down two hours away from school and two hours from home. Almost immediately, two strangers pulled over to help me get my car off the highway and to a gas station. I was overwhelmed by the sacrifice of time and energy these individuals gave to me, someone they had never met and would probably never see again.

“Random Acts of Kindness Day” is celebrated in the US on February 17th every year. It’s a day where people take the opportunity to show kindness to others – whether they know them or not. While having a special day to focus on showing kindness is great, I’d like to challenge us to think of random kindness as a way of life. Being attentive and kind to others is a way of participating in the expression of God’s love for all humanity.

This isn’t a new challenge. The prophet Isaiah talks about how the ancient people of Judah tried to please God by fasting, but then they would fight with each other. The prophet wanted them to see the type of fast God really wanted to see:

“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?” (Is. 58:6-7, ESV)

God wanted the people to practice some not-so-random acts of kindness. They were so focused on being righteous that they missed the point. Being righteous should make the world a better place, and if it doesn’t, it’s not really the righteousness that flows from God.

And if participating in making the world a better place isn’t enough reward in itself, the prophet continues:

“You shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.” (Isaiah 58:12 NRSV)

Our acts of kindness have the potential to repair and restore God’s people from hurts that are often a part of life. What might seem like a small and insignificant act can set off a ripple effect, and as the ripples expand, the world can change.

If we challenge ourselves to not-so-random acts of kindness, we are participating in an expression of God’s love. We are being Jesus’ hands and feet in the world. Then we trust God to take our small efforts and bring forth the restoration this world so sorely needs.

May we all look for ways to be kind to others today and every day.

I’m Michelle Fleming, Speaking of Life.

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