2nd and Mission (San Francisco, CA). Olympus E-P1, Nikkor 105mm f/2.5, 160s, ISO 200.

“Jesus through his parables teaches that God’s dynamic reign has broken into human history through his person and ministry in a new and decisive way and that God intends to create a new community of his people who model, at least in part in the present, what God intends for all humanity and what he will one day perfectly create in a new age.”

Craig Blomberg, Neither Poverty Nor Riches, 113.

This sentence really struck me as I read it today, because I’ve always seen the parables as so counter-cultural, so upside-down, but the reality is that Jesus was talking about life as it’s supposed to be. God’s intended design.

I think there’s a lot of virtue in the “reuse” prong of the three R’s trio – reduce, reuse, recycle. It’s a value of mine that I think feeds directly into an ethos of sustainability and long-term viability. When there’s a chance to buy something used instead of new, I typically go for it. Here’s a couple shots from my test run yesterday. By the way, that shirt with the stripes on little m? Marcia made it, crafted from scraps harvested from a shirt purchased at our local Salvation Army Store. Used stuff is cool.

little m on a bench (San Francisco, CA). Nikon D200, 105mm f/2.5, 1/350s, f/2.5, ISO 200.

The 2 Clement (San Francisco, CA). Nikon D200, 105mm f/2.5, 1/2500s, f/2.5, ISO 100.

Light Trio (Globe, AZ). Olympus E-P1, 14-42mm, 1/160s, f/7.1, ISO 200.

One of the key phrases that I dwelled on in my sermon was the section from Numbers 32:16-27. The tribes of Reuben and Gad saw some good land that fell short of the Promised Land, and decided it was sufficient for their people, and asked Moses if they could just chill east of the Jordan and be exempted from entering and conquering the land. Moses rebuked them, and they have a change of heart. In verse 17, they say, “we will take up arms, ready to go before the people of Israel, until we have brought them to their place.” In that short sentence, there is a huge element of “taking a hit for the team.” First, when they say “ready to go before the people,” they are literally saying they are (1) eager and almost hurrying (“ready to go”), and (2) they are going to the front of the line (“before the people”), thus bearing the brunt of the casualties in battle. Second, they agree to go with every tribe “until we have brought them to their place,” meaning that they’ve changed their tune and instead of being the first to settle in, they’ll be the last of the twelve tribes to finally sit down. Another key component in Numbers 32 is the prevalence of the phrase before the Lord, meaning a holistic approach to life that submits everything to God. The question that I posed was this – What does it look like to go before the people and before the Lord?

I told one story of Maximilian Kolbe (that I heard about from a Michael Frost talk recently) as an example of someone who quite literally took a hit for the team, and in his case someone he didn’t even know. Paul in Philippians 2:3-4 says, “in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others,” and then gives the example of Jesus Christ as the pinnacle of he who truly and completely took a hit for the team of humanity on the cross. We were talking about a similar idea this last Sunday at our church in SF as we read through 1 Corinthians 4. There, Paul’s life as a servant of Christ and a steward of the mysteries of God formed the basis for a lifestyle that continually gave of himself for the benefit of those around him.

In the midst of such powerful, self-sacrificial examples, I think it’s also important for us also to think of examples that permeate our everyday life. In addition to “superman”-like examples, but ones that make an impact even in the seemingly mundane. As we walk into this posture of counting others more significant than ourselves in activities (usually involving a sacrifice of time or money) from big to small, I think there will be a cumulative, transformative effect on our lives. So here’s my first go at a list.

Simple ways to take a hit for the team in 2010

1. Providing a meal.
2. Giving someone a ride.
3. Recommending someone else for a paying gig.
4. Babysitting.
5. Fixing someone’s car.
6. Hosting.
7. Loaning stuff.

Feel free to add to the list.

Lettuce in the garden (San Francisco, CA). Olympus E-P1, 14-42mm, f/9, 1/320s, ISO 200

• One: Baylight Church Community started a “Read the Bible in Two Years” thing over at the blog, and you can track the conversation in the comments or on the Facebook page. I think it’ll be a great season for the church.
• Two: Marcia wrote a great post about our journey to simplify. I’ll write more in the future too, but it’s been a great process for us.
• Three: Want some more free Kindle books? You can pick up some Devotions for Lent or a biography of John Newton for, that’s right, zero bucks. And remember, there’s a Kindle reader for Windows, the iPhone/iPod Touch, or the Blackberry, so you don’t even have to have a Kindle!
• Four: We now watch a fair bit of Sesame Street. Plus, Muppets are cool. So check out this awesome interactive page on the various Muppets over the years. I never knew Elmo was three and a half. So articulate!

Peace.

Another, perhaps more powerful, set of examples is this – Marcia and I were recently talking about examples of people who left behind their respected positions in their home countries to come to the United States in the hope of creating a better opportunity for the next generation. A doctor in her home country becoming a part-time language teacher here. A policeman in his home country becoming a custodian here. An engineer in his home country becoming a store operator here. In any of these cases, a certain amount of sacrifice happened with their arrival in the States. Years of training set aside. More years of experience (from a career perspective) placed down for the sake of the next generation. That takes courage and love.

Reminds me of the ancient Israelites. Abraham lifted up his family to travel hundreds of miles to place he never knew on God’s Word that he would multiply his descendants like the stars. Moses, Aaron, and his generation did some heavy lifting getting the people out of slavery in Egypt, following that promise, only to get to the edge of the land God gave to them, never to enter it. It was Joshua’s generation that made it into the promised land, and even they didn’t see the full realization of what God had in store. Interestingly, the initial set of commands given to Joshua speak of legacy code, in a sense. Joshua 1:8 says, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” Throughout the Old Testament, one of the repeated themes is that of remembering. These Israelites were never supposed to forget where they came from, what God did for them, and what God said to them. I can’t help but also think of them telling stories of past mistakes too. Legacy Code, B.C. style.

Just last month I finished an intensive study on 2 Timothy 2:1-13, looking in depth at the sense of legacy that Paul sought to pass on to the next generation of Christians in the first century. I’ll write more on it later, but one of the particularly interesting things about 2 Timothy is that it’s Paul’s last letter, and you catch a glimpse of what’s near and dear to his heart by examining it. He had many ambitions, some realized, many not. Yet his legacy lives on in his writings and teachings, carried along by the Spirit. I think I’m starting to get why history is so important. It’s not only the study of it and gleaning principles and lessons from the past, but the very fact that those that have gone before us have paved the way and opened up new opportunities for us that God is waiting for us to walk into. What will we leave for the next generation? We may never know, but I’d sure like to do whatever my part is to help create something better.

• One: Daniel Curran writes about end-vision, “Any church-planting or missions movement that does not begin and end with Jesus’ beautiful vision of truly ‘discipling all peoples’ (Matthew 28: 16-20) is not worthy of Jesus.” He’s got some really good thoughts in there, check it out.
• Two: Got a new year’s resolution to volunteer more?  My friends over at the Page Street Center could always use a hand.  They run a food pantry on Monday afternoons that I’ve gotten to be a part of, and some other programs throughout the week.
• Three: Digital trends for the future – Christmas Day marked the first time ever that digital books outsold printed books at amazon.com. While there’s some logic to that (i.e., someone getting a Kindle as a present), it is interesting to see how digital media shifts how people live. That said, sometimes it’s just nice to have a physical, printed book in your hands as you read.
• Four: Speaking of digital, I’ve been taking notes on a computer for quite some time now, and I’m giving Evernote a go again in an attempt to collect all these ideas in my head in one place.  Plus, it syncs with multiple computers and devices (and it’s accessible on the web).  It’s free, so give it a try if you’re in the same boat.
• Five: Finally, in the midst of uncertainty and a constantly changing environment, there’s a solid rock that never fails. God reminded me of that this week as I read through Luke 12. Jesus starts in Luke 12:22-23, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.” The bookend in Luke 12:33-34 is this: “Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

Blessings to you as you kick off the new year.