Lent (#2): Prayer is About Heaven and Earth Overlapping in Time and Space

In this second of a series of blog posts from NT Wright's book, Lent for Everyone - Matthew, I've chosen to quote a portion from "Week 1: Tuesday" about the Lord's Prayer. (See here for part 1 of this series.)

In his book, Wright is presenting thoughts for Lent from the book of Matthew, giving focus on the kingdom of heaven. In that context he says the following about prayer from Jesus' words in Matt. 6:

"At the very heart of Jesus' vision of the kingdom - of heaven's kingdom coming on earth - we have a picture of one person, secretly in their own room, praying.

"Prayer is a mystery. I've often heard people saying...'It doesn't go beyond the ceiling, you know.' But the point of prayer...is that it doesn't have to. Your father, he says, is there in the secret place with you. He sees and knows your deepest thoughts and hopes and fears. He hears the words you say. He hears too the things you can't put into words but want to lay before him anyway...Prayer is a symptom, a sign, of the mystery: the fact that heaven and earth actually mingle together. There are times when they interlock; there are places where they overlap. To pray, in this sense, is to claim a time and place - it can be anywhere, any time - as one of those times, one of those places.

"If prayer is about heaven and earth overlapping in time and space, it's also about them coming together in matter, in the stuff of this world, the clay from which we are made. To pray, in this sense, is to claim - think about it and realize just how daring this is! - that the living God, enthroned in heaven, can make his home with you, within you...

"But, when you do (pray), realize one more thing. If prayer is about heaven and earth coming together at one time, in one place, within the lump of clay we call 'me', then it's going to change this person called 'me'. In particular, it's going to make me a forgiver...All of us have been hurt, wounded, slighted, annoyed by other people. How much more have we ourselves done that to God! Yet we want him to be with us, to hear us, and - yes! - to forgive us. How can we not be forgivers too?..."

Lord, teach us to pray; teach us to forgive; make us your people. Yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory."

Lent: Jesus' Path to Lordship is Unlike the Path of Earthly Lords

In the next weeks of the season we have come to call "Lent", I plan to share some key quotes from N.T. Wright's book, Lent for Everyone - Matthew - Year A. This is part of a series of books he's written that goes through the gospels during the Lenten season. In the first book, Matthew is the featured gospel and each day during Lent the author includes commentary and a short prayer. NT Wright gives focus to the kingdom of heaven and the King as he goes through Matthew. The following are his observations concerning the King's temptation in the wilderness and why it mattered for Him and for us as it relates to how God is establishing His rule on earth:

(Matthew 4:1-11) "...his temptations are not just an example, showing us how to resist, though of course they are that too...They are part of a larger story of how 'heaven's rule' came to earth.

"Part of the point of the 'kingdom of heaven', you see, and of Jesus' own mission to make it happen, is that there was another power ruling the earth. If Jesus was to bring God's rescuing rule to the world, the present power had to be defeated. Jesus' 'temptations' are therefore the personal side of the larger battle he had to fight if God's rule was to take hold...

"...it's clear throughout Matthew's gospel, and particularly at the very end, that Jesus 'as king of the Jews' is to become the true lord of the whole world. But the path by which he moves to that lordship is not the satanic one which would make him grab it for his own ends. The whole of the book is about the alternative path, the true way by which Jesus comes to embody heaven's rule on earth.

"...We too are tempted to do the right things in the wrong way, or for the wrong reason. Part of the discipline of Lent is about learning to recognize the flickering impulses, the whispering voices, for what they are, and to have the scripture-fueled courage to resist. We too are part of the on-going battle for heaven's rule to be established on earth."

"Lord Jesus, as you saw through the temptations and refused them, give us wisdom to recognize the tempter's voice, and strength to resist."

Fear, Insecurity, Rivalry and the Love of God

In the lifelong process of being transformed into the likeness of Jesus, our way of seeing changes dramatically. Because we are born mortal, we are born afraid of death; and because we are afraid of death, we have a natural affinity with the world system that thrives on competition and rivalry. We believe that our survival depends on how well we can prove our value over and above the next guy.

This mindset, which is so deeply embedded in us that we can't see it unless God's Spirit helps us, causes us to see life through the eyes of insecurity. We must somehow put others down in order to feel good about ourselves and in order for us to be compared favorably over the competition. We're caught in a rivalrous system that reinforces our fallen predisposition towards fear. This system pits individuals against individuals, churches against churches, political parties against political parties, races against races, nations against nations.

But as the Spirit of God does His loving and ongoing work of driving out fear through love and therein making us increasingly like Jesus in the way we see others, we begin to be able to look beyond the outward obvious defects that are part of being human to see the hidden and unobtrusive good qualities that are also part of being human. Paul Billheimer says the following in his book Love Covers:

"We see the evil in our fellows much sooner than the good. On a very short acquaintance with persons, we discover their defects and the things in them which are disagreeable to us, and soon find the weak point in them...but their better nature is more slowly unfolding itself. The invisible character of goodness is not so obtrusive as defects, because there is an instinctive bashfulness in real goodness, even without a man's intending it. When we know people a long while, especially if we love them, there is apt to be the continual breaking forth of virtues in them we never dreamed they possessed; and oftentimes in little things, in the ordinary wear and tear of life, there will come forth in unostentatious ways traits of humility and self-depreciation, or a patience and sweetness and unselfishness beyond what we expect of them..."

In order for us to more readily see beyond the obvious flaws in others as Jesus does, we must be secure in God's love; we become more secure in His love by freely receiving His love. The apostle John sums it up by saying that we love because He loved us first (I John 4:19).

                                                                                   

Is the Brain Hard-wired to be Narrow Minded? (Part 3 - Seeing as God Sees)

In this third and final part of my 3-part series on the human propensity towards being narrow-minded (part 1) and (part 2), I want to suggest a couple of practical things we can do to cooperate with the Holy Spirit's work of renewing our mind. I believe His ultimate goal in the renewing/rewiring of the brain is that we become increasingly like God in our responses to people who are different than us and to situations that run contrary to our notions of what is right and wrong.

There is no magic bullet that will do this for us, so what I suggest won't be the only way nor is it comprehensive but perhaps it may serve as a starting point from which you will develop your own way of cooperating with God as He re-forms and rewires our brain to be more aligned with His open and all-embracing heart and mind.

One primary means of becoming more like Him is to spend time looking at Him. Sometimes we call this "contemplation" or "meditation". A primary source of material for meditation and contemplation of God is the Scriptures. We first need to understand what He is like before we can hope to be transformed into His likeness. The New Testament Gospels are some of the best material for seeing what God thinks of us humans, because in Jesus we see God in action. Jesus is the perfect and most trustworthy revelation of what God is like. Taking time regularly to ponder the stories about Jesus, putting yourself in the story and imagining Jesus as he moved among all kinds of people will begin to help you see the beauty of God in the face of Jesus. The more you invest in contemplating His beauty (His nature and character), the larger and more inclusive your heart and mind will grow; in other words, the more you will become like Him (II Cor. 3:18).

If you're interested in more direction about being transformed by looking at Jesus, here is a helpful article about this.

Another practice that can help rewire the brain is a focusing exercise, much-needed in our high tech world with its countless distractions which has resulted in the loss of the ability to focus and listen well. This practice is very simple and involves repetition: pick a one-liner from Scripture (the Psalms is full of short declarations/prayers), and develop the habit of repeating that one short phrase every day several times a day. An example phrase is "I am yours; save me." (Psa.119:94)

If needed, devise a means of reminding yourself to repeat it over and over. Don't be concerned with whether or not you are concentrating on the phrase, simply repeat it whenever you think to do so. The idea is to help the brain learn to focus through repetition; this ability to focus will aid in the practice of looking (contemplating) at God in Christ which in turn will cause us to become more like God and see our world as He sees it.

Anything we do to cooperate with God's Spirit requires humility because we will only do this if we acknowledge that we are narrow-minded. I believe that the humble posture of getting under His yoke with Him and learning from His meek heart can lead to having renewed and disciplined minds in which the neo-cortex (reasoning part) of the brain is strengthened and enabled to govern our responses to that which we fear. We can become more objective and look through the loving Creator's eyes rather than through our fear-filled emotions.

Is the Brain Hard-wired to be Narrow Minded? (Part 2 - God Isn't Like Us...)

Following up on last week's post (Is the Brain Hard-wired to be Narrow Minded?), I want to share briefly about how awareness of our bent towards narrow-mindedness and of God's open-mindedness can help us who are followers of Jesus.

If it's true that we are born mortal and therefore fearful of death, it shouldn't surprise us that our brain's default reaction to perceived or real threats is the 'fight or flight' mode. If we realize that fear causes us to respond aggressively (or passive aggressively) towards anything we perceive to be a threat to our way of life or way of thinking, then it's easier to step back and give space for the neo-cortex (reasoning) part of the brain to activate. This allows us to see the situation with greater objectivity rather than with purely subjective reactions. In other words, we give ourselves the chance to look at the situation through God's perspective rather than through our own narrow-minded perspective.

I want to suggest two underlying truths that we need to be aware of in our journey towards Christ-likeness:

First, we must be aware that we are prone towards fear, therefore we cannot trust our automatic fear and discomfort responses when we encounter opinions/thoughts/ideas that differ from ours (Proverbs 3:5). Romans 12:2 admonishes us to be transformed by the process of the reforming of our minds, and part of that is a continual rewiring of our brain responses from fear based reaction to love motivated response.

Second, we must be aware of the fact that God loves ALL people without partiality and fear. His perfect and impartial love for all humans drives out fear and supersedes all else, meaning that whatever good arguments I may have for self-preservation and self-protection are subservient to the love of God for all, including those that I feel threatened by.

In other words, because of our bent towards fearful responses to threats of any sort, we live with closed and restricted hearts. God isn't like us; God is like Jesus and lives and operates with a wide open heart and mind towards all.

These two basic truths, if remembered and contemplated regularly, will help us as followers of the Lamb to pause long enough to begin to reshape our responses to our fears.

Next week I will conclude thoughts on this topic by talking about a few practical ways to help rewire (renew) the brain so that we cooperate with the Spirit of God in our walk with Him and others.

Is the Brain Hard Wired to be Narrow Minded?

There are wonderful discoveries being made about the human brain in recent decades; I believe this can be a helpful tool in our growth in understanding our life in God.

Recently I read about a study that was done on a select group of people; each person had strong convictions politically (from both the right and the left). When they were presented with information that was contrary to their political beliefs, the part of the brain that was activated was the amygdala, the "fight or flight" part of the brain. When presented with information they agreed with, the pleasure center in the brain was triggered. In both instances the neo-cortex, the reasoning part of the brain, was virtually inactive. (I suspect that similar findings would be made if this kind of study were done with Christians with dogmatic doctrinal convictions, whether conservative or progressive.)

Studies have also showed that since the 1970's, Americans have become increasingly polarized politically, making it virtually impossible for our political leaders to make needed compromises in order to benefit all citizens. Alongside this is the growing divide between American Christians who are viewing issues differently.

This all confirms what is obvious as we hear the news, which is that growing numbers of people are holding extreme positions, unwilling to listen to and learn from others who hold different views.

Could it be that the human brain is hard wired to be narrow minded when it comes to issues that affect us? If so, this may be another way of understanding that we, as fallen creatures, are born fearful; the natural response to anything that threatens our life and well being is the "fight or flight" response which is a fear-based and self-preserving response.

(In a past blog post I touched on the topic of fear as the fundamental human predicament: The Picture Frame Makes a Difference.)

In the next post I will touch on how being aware of this reality can help those of us who are followers of Jesus as we seek to live in His life and grace each day and influence the world we live in.

The Biggest Loser...Wins

Those familiar with the popular TV show, The Biggest Loser, know that the one who wins the prize is the one who loses the most (weight).

The biggest loser of all time is Jesus, the One who lost everything but has come out the winner. Hear His words in John 12:24,25 (The Message) where He refers to His approaching death:

“Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal."

He has gained everything by losing everything. The systems of the world are all designed so that winning is for those who are the most cunning, powerful, coercive, rivalrous, dominant, intelligent, manipulative, self-assertive, hard-working...The way God lived and died in Christ tells us that His system is of an entirely different nature; it's built on losing one's self life through self-giving love in order to gain one's real life in God.

As we enter the new year, we hear Jesus' challenge (Mark 8:35-37 The Message) to any who would be His followers:

Calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for?" 

Just like our Leader Shepherd, we win by losing; we find our true selves by giving up our autonomy and following His lead. May the new year be one in which we His followers, individually and collectively, measure winning as God does and find ways to align ourselves with the Biggest Loser...only to find one day that we are winners of that which really matters!