The Domination Story: Us Over Them

The Domination Story: Us Over Them

January 12, 2025
Luke 22:24-27
see also: Philippians 2:10-11, Genesis 1:26-2:23, Genesis 50:15-21

Series based on The Seventh Story, by Brian McLaren & Gareth Higgins

An argument broke out among the disciples over which one of them should be regarded as the greatest.

But Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles rule over their subjects, and those in authority over them are called ‘friends of the people.’  But that’s not the way it will be with you. Instead, the greatest among you must become like a person of lower status and the leader like a servant. So which one is greater, the one who is seated at the table or the one who serves at the table? Isn’t it the one who is seated at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.

Luke 22:24-27

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The Domination Story tells us that peace and order are maintained through power and control. It is often used to justify oppressive systems in exchange for promises of security and personal benefit.

In the first century, the Sadducees were the epitome of this narrative. As an elite group of priests and aristocrats, they collaborated with Rome to secure their privileged status. They maintained their wealth and by aligning with the oppressors, even at the expense of justice for their people.

Jesus’ interactions with the Sadducees were marked by challenge and confrontation. When they attempted to trap Him with questions about the resurrection — a doctrine they rejected — He exposed their shallow faith and misunderstanding of God’s power (Mt. 22:23-33). Jesus’ life directly opposed their love of earthly power, proclaiming that the least are the greatest.

This teaching is perhaps most poignantly illustrated in Luke 22:24-27. During the Last Supper, the disciples argued about which of them was the greatest. Jesus responded with a counter-cultural declaration: “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them… but you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you must become like a person of lower status and the leader like a servant.”

Jesus directly contrasts the Domination Story with the Servant Story. In the kingdoms of the world, greatness is tied to power, status, and control. But in the kingdom of God, greatness is found in humility, service, and self-giving love. Jesus didn’t just preach this — He lived it. The One who could rightly claim the highest place took on the lowest role, washing His disciples’ feet and ultimately laying down His life for the sake of others.

Today, we still encounter the Domination Story in corporate greed, political power plays, and even church hierarchies. These systems thrive on the pursuit of control, often masking their motives with claims of benevolence. Yet Jesus calls us to reject such narratives and embody the values of His upside-down kingdom. We are called to lead not with authority but with humility, to seek service rather than recognition and to prioritize justice and compassion over personal gain.

• How might you unknowingly participate in systems that prioritize control over justice and compassion?

• What does it mean to choose humility and servant leadership in your daily life?

• How can Jesus’ example of being “among you as one who serves” shape the way you interact with others?

Leveling Up on Love

Leveling Up On Love

November 10, 2024
Luke 6:27-38. Matthew 5:43-48

But I say to you who are willing to hear: Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on the cheek, offer the other one as well. If someone takes your coat, don’t withhold your shirt either. Give to everyone who asks and don’t demand your things back from those who take them. Treat people in the same way that you want them to treat you.

If you love those who love you, why should you be commended? Even sinners love those who love them.

 Luke 6:27-32 (CEB)

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In Matthew’s telling of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).  Luke’s rendition shows us exactly what such love looks like in action.  Turn the other cheek, give freely without expecting anything in return, lend without expecting repayment, show compassion, don’t judge, forgive.” 

Two things I find particularly interesting here:

1. The editors of the Common English Translation title this section of Luke, “Behaving as God’s Children” in contrast to Matthew’s section header, “The Law of Love.”    It’s easy to talk about love in abstract terms, but Luke seems to realize how easy it is to separate what we call “love” from actual actions or behavior.  There are a lot of people who claim to love everyone while behaving in extremely unloving ways. 

2. It seems that Luke’s version of this command is used far more rarely than Matthew’s these days.  A lot of people want to call themselves “Christian” without being bogged down with the nuances of actually “behaving as God’s children.”  Many Christian groups are far more vocal in deciding who they think God’s enemies are and then declaring God’s wrath and judgment upon them.  Some even go to the extreme of seeing themselves as instruments of God’s judgment to condemn or punish the wicked.

In our world, “an eye for an eye” is much more popular than “turn the other cheek.”  Forgiveness and compassion are seen as weak.  And let’s not even talk about  the money issue, “lending without expecting to be paid back in full.”  Our economy thrives on exploiting people’s debt so they pay back far more than they ever borrowed, often over the course of a lifetime. 

Funny how the rules of our culture run so contrary to Jesus’ most basic teaching, and yet we see no conflict between calling oneself a Christian while behaving in greedy, hateful and judgmental ways toward others.  I wonder how many of the rules and laws we want to pass to keep our enemies (or political opponents) in line would be acceptable terms if similar laws were passed against us. 

Many Christians today have a persecution complex.  Despite having a lot more freedom than we realize and holding significant political power at every level, we tend to feel like everybody is out to get us… everybody is our enemy.  Even if that was true, which I do not believe, I wonder how our relationships with those “so-called” enemies might change if we behaved toward them the way Jesus taught and modeled for us. 

Maybe, just maybe, we would make a lot more friends.

Grow Wide

Grow Wide
Grow: Rethinking Church Growth - Part 4
May 5, 2024
Luke 14:7-24, Matthew 25:34-46, Romans 12:13, Hebrews 13:2, Leviticus 19:34

Then Jesus said to the person who had invited him, “When you host a lunch or dinner, don’t invite your friends, your brothers and sisters, your relatives, or rich neighbors. If you do, they will invite you in return and that will be your reward.  Instead, when you give a banquet, invite the poor, crippled, lame, and blind.  And you will be blessed because they can’t repay you. Instead, you will be repaid when the just are resurrected.”

 Luke 14:12-14

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Have you ever noticed at church events how easy it is to sit only with our own families and friends?  Without even realizing it, we vet people to make sure they are people we would want to be around before we even think about inviting them to join us for a Community meal or even Sunday worship.  The tragic reality is that while churches tend to be generally friendly, they are not verry good at making new friends.  We are rather insulated and friendly only with those we already know well, sometimes excluding even those who have been in our  midst for a long time.  I knew a leader in one church who had been there for over 30 years and she said she still felt like a newbie and an outsider because she wasn’t part of one of the founding families.  How long does it take for us to make someone feel truly at home?

One congregation I served got very uncomfortable when I rearranged the chairs in the classroom to have Bible Study in a circle.  I was told that “we always sit in rows.”  They even sat in rows in the fellowship hall at the Christmas party, facing the tree and watching the kids as they greeted Santa, but talking to nobody outside of their own family.  Almost all of our time in church was spent literally staring at the back of other people’s heads. 

What was even worse was how many people I talked to who struggled with things they were afraid for even their family members to know about, family members who sat next to them on the same pew every week. 

Like most churches, this congregation regularly complained about the lack of growth and the fact that visitors rarely returned.  At one point I had to ask, what is the point of growing when we can’t even talk to the people we already have?  Why do we need more people in the pews just to stare at the back of their heads if we are unwilling to build real, honest and trusting relationships, even within our own families?

In Ephesians 3, Paul says that we are being rooted and grounded in love.  Our growth is an act of pure grace, but roots only grow when the environment supplies nutrients, oxygen, warmth, and water.  There are many lonely people even in the church, whose roots feel dry, thirsty, wounded, or stagnant.  Perhaps the problem is our ecosystem.  Are the other plants / people around you healthy or dying?  As a tree’s roots meet the roots of other trees, they begin to grow or “graft” together into one larger and healthier root system.  This allows the roots to reach out even further, working together to collect water and nutrients and offering mutual benefit to every tree in the network. 

The same principle is necessary for spiritual growth and for church growth.  We are not lone trees, but part of a spiritual ecosystem in which we all reach out through the Spirit and provide nourishment for one another.  We must extend real friendship beyond our comfort zone. 

If we want to grow, we must widen our reach. 

Think Small

Think Small
Grow: Rethinking Church Growth - Part 1
April 7, 2024
Luke 13:18-21

Jesus asked, “What is God’s kingdom like? To what can I compare it?  It’s like a mustard seed that someone took and planted in a garden. It grew and developed into a tree and the birds in the sky nested in its branches.”

Again he said, “To what can I compare God’s kingdom?  It’s like yeast, which a woman took and hid in a bushel of wheat flour until the yeast had worked its way through the whole.”

Luke 13:18-21

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Somewhere along the line, our culture became obsessed with the idea that “bigger is better.”  It is the philosophy that drives our capitalistic, consumer market.  We don’t even have to leave our home to find ourselves inundated with advertising that tries to tell us that we need more… bigger, better, faster… in sum, that we never have enough.  It is not a far stretch to move from the idea that we don’t have enough to the deeply rooted feeling that we are not enough.  The “Bigger is Better” philosophy has created a deep cultural crisis of identity and worth that we have barely begun to realize or admit. 

When applied to the church, we have bought into the lie that only large churches are successful and we have created an endless array of costly programs with the goal of helping to make small churches big.  We have come to believe that if we do not have enough people, money, and space to have personalized programming for every possible demographic like the mega church down the road, that we somehow have less value in God’s Kingdom.  We are easily discouraged by attendance and offering numbers, seemingly forgetting that we follow a savior who transformed the world with only 12 disciples and fed thousands with only 5 loaves of bread and a few fish. 

The Kingdom, Jesus said, is like a mustard seed or  a  pinch of yeast, tiny, unnoticed and seemingly insignificant, but with the power to transform into something amazing.  If such parables are to be taken seriously, we must consider the immense value that small congregations have in the Kingdom on earth.  Small churches offer unique opportunity for deeper intergenerational relationships.  They can more easily adapt and respond to the immediate needs of the community around them as there is less bureaucracy and administrative red tape.  We are able to know everyone and quickly recognize and welcome newcomers when we gather.  Personally, I have found that even kids can feel more included in a small congregation of loving adults than in a large organization where they get lost in a crowd of other children and never even speak to the pastor or other church members aside from a Sunday School teacher or children’s minister. 

Could it be, as Karl Vaters suggests, that 100 congregations of 50 people could be more effective, or at least as effective, at transforming their communities than a single church of 5,000? 

What would it take for small churches to recognize and live into their own significance, to celebrate their strengths and giftedness, and to focus on faithfulness over numerical growth? 

How might our own church and community look different if instead of struggling to grow bigger, we instead focused on growing healthy in Christian maturity, growing deep in our discipleship, growing wide in hospitality and welcome, and growing in love as we live into the Great Commandment and Great Commission of Jesus?

The Gift of Silence & Sacred Space

The Gift of Silence & Sacred Space

Simple Gifts - Part 5

Sunday, December 31, 2023
Habakkuk 2:20, Psalm 46:10, Luke 2:25-40

Simeon took Jesus in his arms and praised God. He said,  “Now, master, let your servant go in peace according to your word, because my eyes have seen your salvation.  You prepared this salvation in the presence of all peoples.  It’s a light for revelation to the Gentiles and a glory for your people Israel.”

 His father and mother were amazed by what was said about him...

 There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, who belonged to the tribe of Asher. She was very old. After she married, she lived with her husband for seven years.  She was now an 84-year-old widow. She never left the temple area but worshipped God with fasting and prayer night and day. She approached at that very moment and began to praise God and to speak about Jesus to everyone who was looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

 Luke 2:28-33, 36-38 (CEB)

Listen to this Week’s Sermon here:

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In my opinion, Simeon and Anna are two of the most overlooked and yet possibly the most relatable figures in the birth narratives of Jesus.  They don’t show up in the nativity scene, despite the fact that they encountered Jesus when he was only 8 days old, nearly a full two years before the Magi even arrive in town.

And yet, perhaps that is part of what makes them so relatable, for we did not go to the nativity either.  And if we’re honest, we very rarely go to the out of the way places where the living Christ is born in our world today, among the smelly animals and lowly shepherds on the margins of society.  No, perhaps we are more like Simeon and Anna because we stay in the temple, or in our case, in the protective walls of the church.

In general, we as Christians need to get out more.  Jesus calls us to be in the world and not of it, but more often we are of the world and not in it.  We are consumed by worldly concerns while working hard to separate ourselves from “worldly” people.  Some, like Simeon, Anna, and various monastic saints and mystics throughout the centuries, are called to this unique vocation of remaining cloistered in the house of the Lord, in order to point others to the kind of deep encounter with the Holy Spirit which they experience. 

This is the role of Simeon and Anna.  They have spent a lifetime waiting for God in the Holy Place.  They have devoted themselves fully to prayer, to fasting, and to waiting in silence for the promise of God to be fulfilled.  They study the scriptures deeply and pay close attention for signs of God’s presence among them… until one miraculous day, God actually walks through the door.  Well, actually he is carried through the door in the arms of his mother Mary, as an eight day old human baby brought before the priest to be dedicated to the Lord. 

As one who has spent my life in the church, and admittedly does not get out nearly enough, I find great hope and comfort in this passage.  It is a reminder that even when we fail to show up in the stables where Jesus comes to the least and the lost, no matter how good our intentions or reasons, Jesus still manages to come to us and meet us where we are, even in the church.  But when Jesus meets us here, and he will, we must follow Anna’s example.  We can no longer be silent.  We must  tell everyone who waits for redemption, especially when they don’t yet know what they are waiting for.

The Gift of Mystery

The Gift of Mystery

Simple Gifts - Part 4

Sunday, December 24, 2023
Psalm 8, Luke 2:8-20

When I look up at your skies,
    at what your fingers made—
    the moon and the stars
    that you set firmly in place—
         what are human beings
            that you think about them;
        what are human beings
            that you pay attention to them?

 Psalm 8:3-4 (CEB)

Nearby shepherds were living in the fields, guarding their sheep at night.  The Lord’s angel stood before them, the Lord’s glory shone around them, and they were terrified.

The angel said, “Don’t be afraid! Look! I bring good news to you—wonderful, joyous news for all people.  Your savior is born today in David’s city. He is Christ the Lord.  This is a sign for you: you will find a newborn baby wrapped snugly and lying in a manger.”

 Luke 2:8-12 (CEB)

Listen to this Week’s Sermon here:

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David, a lowly shepherd in the field watching his flocks by night, looks up at the skies and marvels and the wonder of creation, and even more at the great mystery that the God who placed moon and stars in the sky would care about and pay attention to someone like him.  One day this shepherd boy would be king of Israel and would unite the Kingdom in a way that no one has seen before or since.  But whether as a king or a shepherd boy, the mystery remains… Who is this God that would pay attention to a lowly human like me?

Nearly 1,000 years later, shepherds sat out upon those same fields, in the city of David, watching their flocks by night and looking up at the sky.  But instead of the moon and stars, they saw the radiance of an angel of the Lord who brought good news for all people, even seemingly insignificant people like them.

It’s easy to get caught up in the mysteries of obscure Bible passages we don’t understand or theology that doesn’t quite make sense.  Biblical scholars and theologians argue over whether Mary was actually a virgin, or just a young maiden as the original languages imply, and whether or not it really matters.  For centuries, Christians struggled to figure out the mysteries of the incarnation, wondering just how much of Jesus was actually God and how much was human?  Historically it was settled in the creeds, but Jesus himself never seemed particularly concerned with his disciples believing in his virgin birth or in explaining how his oneness with the Father actually worked.  The mysteries of Advent and Christmas were simply not mysteries Jesus and his followers ever considered.  The earliest gospel account in Mark doesn’t even have a birth narrative and the “Christmas Story” in Matthew is more about connecting Jesus with Moses than about recording historical and biographical events.

The nature of Jesus as the son of God is expanded in Luke and John, but still, the greater mystery remains.  It is the same mystery David wondered and the mystery the shepherds encountered first-hand when greeted by this heavenly messenger.  Who are we that God is mindful of us, that God pays attention to us, that God cares about us, and even more, that God has Good News for us, and for all people?  

Let us not be distracted by the historical details of Christmas, but let us marvel in the mystery that is God’s hope, love, joy and peace for us, and for all.

The Gift of Gratitude

The Gift of Simplicity

Simple Gifts - Part 3

Sunday, December 17, 2023
Psalm 100:1-5, Luke 17:11-19

On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee.  As he entered a village, ten men with skin diseases approached him. Keeping their distance from him,  they raised their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, show us mercy!”

When Jesus saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” As they left, they were cleansed.  One of them, when he saw that he had been healed, returned and praised God with a loud voice.  He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. He was a Samaritan.  Jesus replied, “Weren’t ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?  No one returned to praise God except this foreigner?”  Then Jesus said to him, “Get up and go. Your faith has healed you.”

 Luke 17:11-19 (CEB)

Listen to this Week’s Sermon here:

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We typically think of gratitude around Thanksgiving, but the truth is, gratitude is at the center of Advent and at the heart of every part of our spiritual lives. 

When we embrace the gift of slowing down, we notice how much of our lives are filled with clutter, both external and internal.  As we simplify our lives, we become more grateful for those things that matter most, the things that often get buried under the distractions of busyness and clutter. 

Slowing down and simplifying our lives helps bring healing to the chaos of our minds, our hearts, our spirits, and even our bodies, but if we are not careful, we will slip right back into our old habits.  Nine of the lepers were so excited when they found themselves healed that they didn’t even stop to think about the implications.  Presumably they went on and lived normal lives in a community from which they had previously been cut off, but they never pause to appreciate the significance of the gift they had received. 

Gratitude is not just about writing a thank you card for a gift under the tree or praying a blessing around the dinner table for our family and friends.  Gratitude moves us to a deeper awareness of the mysterious and surprising hope, peace, love & joy in our lives.

All ten lepers were likely thankful for their healing.  If they lived today, they would probably share it as a praise report in Sunday worship.  But only one experienced the deep, heartfelt gratitude that moved him to draw nearer to the source of his healing.  He went back to Jesus, overwhelmed by the grace and love he had received.

Notice the man who returned was a Samaritan, a foreigner, an outsider among outsiders.  Once, all ten were united by their disease which kept them in social exile, but now he alone remains an outsider, simply because he is a Samaritan.  I wonder if this is why he, more than the others, was so grateful, because he had no expectation that God should come to his aid. 

How often do we take for granted God’s presence in  because we are good Christians who deep down assume we deserve it?  The Samaritan had been conditioned to believe he was outside the bounds of God’s love.  That is why his gratitude was so much deeper.  He was not only physically healed, but because he was truly seen by Jesus, and his human dignity as a beloved child of God had been restored. 

What would it mean for you to feel truly seen by God in this season and how might a deeper sense of gratitude open your eyes to truly see others and to help others see themselves the same way?

The Gift of Slowing Down

The Gift of Slowing Down

Simple Gifts - Part 1

Sunday, December 3, 2023
Luke 10:38-42, Isaiah 40:28-31, Matthew 11:28-30, Psalm 37:3-7

The Lord answered, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things.  One thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the better part. It won’t be taken away from her.”

Luke 10:41-42 (CEB)

Listen to this Week’s Sermon here:

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Have you ever noticed that the only spiritual practice explicitly commanded in the law is Sabbath?  Yes, we are instructed in worship, prayer, and countless other means of receiving God’s grace, but Sabbath is right up there in the big 10.  John Mark Comer writes:

God eventually has to command the Sabbath. Does that strike you as odd? It’s like commanding ice cream or live music or beach days. You would think we’d all be chomping at the bit to practice the Sabbath. But apparently there’s something about the human condition that makes us want to hurry our way through life as fast as we possibly can, to rebel against the limitations of time itself.” (Comer, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, 159).

Sabbath is about rest, and it is about acknowledging our limitations.  It is a call to slow down and be still with God, just as Jesus encouraged Martha in the midst of her own well intentioned hurry.   Consider the following 10 symptoms of “Hurry Sickness.” 

1.  Irritability (especially at little things)

2.  Hypersensitivity

3.  Restlessness (difficulty relaxing)

4.  Workaholism / non-stoop activity

5.  Emotional numbness

6.  Out of order priorities

7.  Lack of care for your body

8.  Escapist behavior (overeating, social media, binging TV, etc.)

9.  Slippage of Spiritual Disciplines / Devotional Life

10.  Isolation

How many do you have? 

Resist the tendency to feel guilt or shame.  These symptoms are tragically built into our culture and have become normal.  The point is to become aware of just how busy and chaotic our lives have become.

Once we become aware of this reality, we can take Jesus up on his invitation, to “take his yoke upon us, for his yoke is easy, and his burden is light.”  Frederick Dale Bruner reminds us that a yoke is a work instrument.  You would think he might offer a mattress or a vacation for our weary souls, but no, Jesus, realized that the most restful gift he can give is a new way to carry life; not an escape, but equipment to be more fully present in each moment and to find peace and rest even in our work. 

Dallas Willard says that we must “ruthlessly eliminate hurry from our lives.”  In a season of preparation and of learning to pay attention to the coming of Christ in our world, this seems a highly appropriate invitation. 

This advent, let us learn to honor Sabbath together, to receive the gift of rest.  Let us, as Paul writes, “make it our ambition to lead a quiet life” (1 Thess. 4:11). 

We will fail multiple times a day, but each time we can slow down, breathe, and come back to the present moment.  Let us breathe deeply in the love and peace of the Spirit, and breathe out our anxious busyness and toil, that we may be present enough to encounter the gift of Emmanuel, God with us, in each moment of our lives.