Figs are not gathered from thornbushes.

The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” Psalm 14:1

But as for me, this is my prayer to You, at the time you have set, O LORD: “In your great mercy, O God, answer me with your unfailing help. Save me from the mire; do not let me sink; let me be rescued from those who hate me and out of the deep waters. Answer me, O LORD, for your love is kind; in your great compassion, turn to me.” Psalm 69:14–18

Through the marvels of Facebook someone piled onto a friend’s page, along the lines of JESUS SCUMBAG CHRIST AND HIS BLOODSHED MONGERING FATHER ARE THE LOWEST WRETCHED SCUM PUKE FOUL PIECES OF FAIRYTALE TO BE CONJURED BY CRAZY LUNATIC SCUMBAG SCHIZO DELUSIONAL FREAKS, with all of the cuss words pulled out, but not all of the profanity, in the purest sense of the word.

And wow, this guy seems to fit the parts of the Sermon on the Mount we were reading together last night, about not giving dogs what is holy and casting pearls before swine. John Stott says sometimes we just have to draw the line. 

But actually my heart is filled with tenderness for this black metal music guy. And I figure God is big enough to have people shake a verbal fist at him. Even as they spat on and cursed Him, He lifted up His arms in love.

Where did He draw the line?

Pretty much He draws the line at the folks with planks in their eyes trying to extract splinters.

And really the question the Spirit is asking me, I who am without excuse, I who know The Word, do I live like there is a God? Breathe in, breathe out, do I live His presence in my life? Do I live His love is kind and His great compassion turned outward? Because, as Jesus went on to say, from the treasure of our heart, comes our fruit. What do I say what I believe by what I do?

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? 

Be the sons of the Most High, for He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.  Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

So be it.

And in case you did not hear Me the first time

Porque como están de altos los cielos sobre la tierra,
así es de grande su misericordia para los que le temen^.
Como está de lejos el oriente del occidente,
así alejó de nosotros nuestras transgresiones.
Como un padre se compadece de sus hijos,
así se compadece el Señor de los que le temen^.
Porque El sabe de qué estamos hechos^,
se acuerda de que somos sólo polvo. Salmo 103,11-14

For as the heavens are high above the earth, so is His mercy great upon those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our sins from us. As a father cares for His children, so does the LORD care for those who fear Him.  For He Himself knows whereof we are made; He remembers that we are but dust. Psalm 103:11-14

Yesterday in Large Group I read aloud a piece begun on El Camino to answer the essay prompt, Is man good or bad? And I do remember sitting in that little café in Istanbul, and God whispering, “This one, and this one, and yes that one too. Each one is my beloved, yet broken child. For we are but dust.”

And as my way continued its way through Italy, France, Spain and back again, that presence of Love was with me, pointing and centering. And Matteo’s parting prayer was a declaration of truth: "Oh Lord, our short life is just a lesson for us to finally learn how to Love."

The big thing in our writing workshop is pointing and centering. And it is really, really hard for us teacher-types to avoid evaluating words like good and bad. And the phrases, “I like…” and “…needs more development.” We even get dinged for things like “powerful” and “effective.” Pointing involves listing words or phrases that stand out. Noticing. And Centering is focusing on the unifying truth or heart of the piece. And we practiced a lot, yesterday.

And yesterday I was able to pause, like my Savior, and look at the eyes and listen to the stories and poems of aching dusty souls. Stories of condemned yet innocent brothers and stepping outside of the family faith and being fat in middle school.

Nicole told a story yesterday, about a very straight-laced Wheaton football player type whose work companions were smirking at him in the background as he stepped forward to serve a very obviously and towering tall transvestite. And all he had to do was look her in the eyes, and his heart flowed with God’s love without a hint of awkwardness.

And as I work my way through Stott’s The Sermon on the Mount: Christian Counterculture and weigh the words that prefaced the lament of Jesus, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord and do not do what I say?” I am faced with a high calling: Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.

And one thing about all of this traveling, I have a much better sense of how far the east is from the west.

So be it.

And He opened His mouth and taught them

Aborrezco a los hipócritas, empero amo tu ley. Salmo 119,113

I hate those who have a divided heart, but Your law do I love. Psalm 119:113

Jesus taught us, saying: ‘It is not anyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven. John 7:21

And Jesus describes a divided heart: one who practices his righteousness before other men, when giving alms, when praying and when fasting. A divided heart stores up treasures on earth. A divided heart is anxious.

And all of the Law and the Prophets are summarized by Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them. This is the will of the Father in heaven, who knows how to give good gifts.

And this is the narrow gate, a singular eye, and this is the good fruit that we bear.

And John Stott introduces his book on the Sermon on the Mount as being the best known of Jesus’ teaching, but arguably the least understood, and certainly the least obeyed. “It is the nearest thing to being a manifesto that he ever uttered, for it is his own description of what he wanted his followers to be and to do.”  And even though this is an old book, written to the previous generation, Stott’s call for a Christian Counter-Culture remains true today, for insofar as the Church is conformed to the world, it is contradicting its own identity.

And then Stott quotes from Leo Tolstoy’s Resurrection, when Prince Nekhlyudov first read the gospel, the Good News:

Nekhlyudov sat staring at the light of the lamp that burned low and his heart stopped beating. Recalling all the monstrous confusion of the life we lead, he pictured to himself what this life might be like if people were taught to obey these commandments, and his soul was swept by an ecstasy such as he had not felt in many a day. It was as though, after long pining and suffering, he had suddenly felt peace and liberation…And everything he read seemed familiar to him, confirming and making real what he had long known but had never fully understood nor really believed. But now he understood and believed: Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you…That night an entirely new life began for Nekhlyudov, not so much because he had entered new conditions of life, but because everything that happened to him from that time on was endowed with an entirely new meaning for him.

And it is only through God’s grace and new life can this fruit be borne. A new birth is essential.

And I can only remember Antonio bounding out of his car on that high mountain in Spain, celebrating his birthday and his gift from God, the Father of Lights who knows how to give good gifts, a new life. And the light that filled his face with joy.

Repent. A complete change of mind. For His kingdom is at hand.