OnFire Encouragement Letter

Hi Folks:

Not a lot to report. Everyone is back in school. Jan has even subbed three days so far. The boys are settling into their routine.

We started Sunday School again this week. The theme this fall is the Ten Commandments. The teachers set up Mt. Sinai in the sanctuary. To make smoke I used a carbon dioxide fire extinguisher - that really got their attention (and I had fun, too!!).

The car is working. After taking the wheels apart twice, the mechanics could find nothing wrong to cause the overheating, nor was there evidence it had acted up. Weird, but cool at the same time - Yayyyyyyy God. The computer is fixed. And, we've had two heavy downpours with no leaks.

Hope things are well with you. Blessings for your week.

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Last week I learned a new word. My friend Joseph emailed to tell me he was praying in light of the amount of entropy in our lives. You will remember that our van and computer broke down and we were having the roof fixed. Entropy. That was a new word for me, so I looked it up.

Entropy is a term from physics. It is the amount of heat energy in a closed system which is not available to do work. In other words, no matter how much energy there is in a system, not all of it will be available to produce work. I could identify. It felt like our energy was being used up without explanation.

That was helpful, but I think he probably meant the more metaphorical uses of the word. Entropy is also the amount of disorder and randomness in a system. It may even refer to the tendency of things to devolve or deteriorate without explanation. Bingo!! Certainly we were having our share of randomness, disorder and deterioration. Entropy.

I found one other meaning of the word, which seems to fit our topic today. Entropy is also the tendency for matter and energy to evolve toward a state of "inert uniformity." In other words, to stand still. Be ineffective. Have no power.

Jesus began to experience this among his disciples. Things were fine as long as he was healing, feeding, and revealing the hypocrisy of certain religious leaders. He began to lose followers when he began to teach that he would die and that his followers needed to follow him to the cross.

After the feeding of the five thousand, walking on water, and many healings, the disciples realized he was the Messiah. Peter was the first to proclaim it (Yayyy, Peter! - See Matthew 16:16; Mark 8:29; Luke 9:20).

This realization was an important turning point in Jesus' ministry. It signalled the transition toward the cross. Immediately following Peter's confession Jesus predicted his death and resurrection.

This upset Peter incredibly, for Matthew and Mark tell us that he "rebuked" Jesus. In short, he took him aside and began to lecture Jesus like a school boy getting the wrong answer to 2+2. This did not fit with the prevailing belief that the Christ, or "Messiah," would lead the Jews to rise up against the Romans to control their homeland once again. A dead Messiah was an impossible thought.

Then it was Jesus' turn to rebuke Peter. "Get behind me Satan!" Jesus knew the mission. For those who might say Jesus died "accidentally" - that he inadvertently fell up against Rome's power - we have these verses showing Jesus' awareness of the mission and goals.

In any case, the next verses are important for what I want to say. I quote Mark 8:34: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."* Not only did Jesus expect to go to the cross, but he expected (and still expects), his followers to follow him to the cross also.

John doesn't record the episode, but it would seem to fit with events in chapter 6. When Jesus began teaching the cross, people began to complain about the hard teaching (v.60), and in v. 66 many disciples left him.

Entropy. Deterioration. It was easy to follow a healer and listen to a teacher who lifted up the poor or put down the hypocrites. It was great to walk with the miracle-maker-Messiah. But take up a cross to follow him? Be publically humiliated? Give up my life? That sounds too hard. It would be much easier to go back to a level requiring less commitment. "Inert uniformity" sounds good compared to "crucifixion."

As followers of Jesus, we constantly face the question of whether we will follow Jesus in the good times and also in the hard times. Will we be content only to follow when good things come our way? Or will we dare to follow him when the real work of the cross begins?

Ironically, the easy way is not really easy. It is the way of entropy - deterioration and disarray.

While the way of Jesus is difficult, it is actually the way toward life. Listen to Peter. When Jesus asked if the twelve were going to leave also, he said, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." (John 6:68-69)

Hope this helps. Be On Fire,

Troy

ON FIRE is a weekly letter of encouragement by Troy Dennis. To be added to or removed from the ON FIRE list contact him at onfire@eastlink.ca . Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com This letter published Sept 12, 2007. *All scripture references from the New International Version, copyright 1973, 1978 by the International Bible Society.