I'll close this series of simple prayers and end the year with the 'breath prayer' that I pray daily, sometimes many times during the day:
Psalm 119:94a
"I am yours; save me..."
God is with you as you enter into a new year with Him.
Saturday, December 31, 2016
Thursday, December 29, 2016
December Prayers: The Creator Knows Me
Psalm 139:1-18 (CEB):
Lord, you have examined me.
You know me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I stand up.
Even from far away, you comprehend my plans.
3 You study my traveling and resting.
You are thoroughly familiar with all my ways.
4 There isn’t a word on my tongue, Lord,
that you don’t already know completely.
5 You surround me—front and back.
You put your hand on me.
6 That kind of knowledge is too much for me;
it’s so high above me that I can’t fathom it.
Lord, you have examined me.
You know me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I stand up.
Even from far away, you comprehend my plans.
3 You study my traveling and resting.
You are thoroughly familiar with all my ways.
4 There isn’t a word on my tongue, Lord,
that you don’t already know completely.
5 You surround me—front and back.
You put your hand on me.
6 That kind of knowledge is too much for me;
it’s so high above me that I can’t fathom it.
7 Where could I go to get away from your spirit?
Where could I go to escape your presence?
8 If I went up to heaven, you would be there.
If I went down to the grave,[a] you would be there too!
9 If I could fly on the wings of dawn,
stopping to rest only on the far side of the ocean—
10 even there your hand would guide me;
even there your strong hand would hold me tight!
11 If I said, “The darkness will definitely hide me;
the light will become night around me,”
12 even then the darkness isn’t too dark for you!
Nighttime would shine bright as day,
because darkness is the same as light to you!
Where could I go to escape your presence?
8 If I went up to heaven, you would be there.
If I went down to the grave,[a] you would be there too!
9 If I could fly on the wings of dawn,
stopping to rest only on the far side of the ocean—
10 even there your hand would guide me;
even there your strong hand would hold me tight!
11 If I said, “The darkness will definitely hide me;
the light will become night around me,”
12 even then the darkness isn’t too dark for you!
Nighttime would shine bright as day,
because darkness is the same as light to you!
13 You are the one who created my innermost parts;
you knit me together while I was still in my mother’s womb.
14 I give thanks to you that I was marvelously set apart.
Your works are wonderful—I know that very well.
15 My bones weren’t hidden from you
when I was being put together in a secret place,
when I was being woven together in the deep parts of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my embryo,
and on your scroll every day was written that was being formed for me,[b]
before any one of them had yet happened.[c]
17 God, your plans are incomprehensible to me!
Their total number is countless!
18 If I tried to count them—they outnumber grains of sand!
If I came to the very end—I’d still be with you.[d]
you knit me together while I was still in my mother’s womb.
14 I give thanks to you that I was marvelously set apart.
Your works are wonderful—I know that very well.
15 My bones weren’t hidden from you
when I was being put together in a secret place,
when I was being woven together in the deep parts of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my embryo,
and on your scroll every day was written that was being formed for me,[b]
before any one of them had yet happened.[c]
17 God, your plans are incomprehensible to me!
Their total number is countless!
18 If I tried to count them—they outnumber grains of sand!
If I came to the very end—I’d still be with you.[d]
Tuesday, December 27, 2016
December Prayers: Teach Me to Forgive
A prayer from Andrew Murray's book, Teach Me to Pray:
"Blessed Father, you are Love, and only he who abides in love abides in you and in fellowship with you...O God, let your love, planted in my heart by the Holy Spirit, be in me a fountain of love to all those around me, that out of my life may spring the power of believing prayer. Especially help me to find in the joy with which I forgive day by day whoever might offend me, the proof that your forgiveness is power and life.
"Lord Jesus, my blessed teacher, teach me to forgive. Let the power of your blood make the pardon of my sins such a reality that forgiveness, as shown by you to me and by me to others, be the very joy of heaven..."
"Blessed Father, you are Love, and only he who abides in love abides in you and in fellowship with you...O God, let your love, planted in my heart by the Holy Spirit, be in me a fountain of love to all those around me, that out of my life may spring the power of believing prayer. Especially help me to find in the joy with which I forgive day by day whoever might offend me, the proof that your forgiveness is power and life.
"Lord Jesus, my blessed teacher, teach me to forgive. Let the power of your blood make the pardon of my sins such a reality that forgiveness, as shown by you to me and by me to others, be the very joy of heaven..."
Sunday, December 25, 2016
December Prayers: Your Loving-kindness is Greater...
Psalm 108:1-5
My heart is firmly fixed, O God, my heart is fixed.
I will sing and make melody.
Wake up, my spirit; awake, lute and harp;
I myself will waken the dawn.
I will confess you among the peoples, O Lord;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
For your loving-kindness is greater than the heavens,
and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
Exalt yourself above the heavens, O God,
and your glory over all the earth.
My heart is firmly fixed, O God, my heart is fixed.
I will sing and make melody.
Wake up, my spirit; awake, lute and harp;
I myself will waken the dawn.
I will confess you among the peoples, O Lord;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
For your loving-kindness is greater than the heavens,
and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
Exalt yourself above the heavens, O God,
and your glory over all the earth.
Friday, December 23, 2016
December Prayers: O Lord, Our Shepherd
Another prayer from the St. Francis Prayer Book:
O Lord, our shepherd:
You revive our soul, you guide our path,
and save us from death each day.
We always want to be in your company. Amen.
O Lord, our shepherd:
You revive our soul, you guide our path,
and save us from death each day.
We always want to be in your company. Amen.
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
December Prayers: Renew a Right Spirit within Me
Psalm 51:
"Have mercy on me, O God, according to your lovingkindness;
in your great compassion, blot out my offenses.
Wash me through and through from my wickedness
and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence
and take not your holy Spirit from me.
Give me the joy of your saving help again
and sustain me with your bountiful Spirit.
Deliver me from death, O God,
and my tongue shall sing of your righteousness,
O God of my salvation."
"Have mercy on me, O God, according to your lovingkindness;
in your great compassion, blot out my offenses.
Wash me through and through from my wickedness
and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence
and take not your holy Spirit from me.
Give me the joy of your saving help again
and sustain me with your bountiful Spirit.
Deliver me from death, O God,
and my tongue shall sing of your righteousness,
O God of my salvation."
Monday, December 19, 2016
December Prayers: All Fairest Beauty, Jesus, Is Found in Thee
Because there is some controversy as to the origins of this well-known Christian hymn, I'll give you this link to read up on it, if you are interested: Link to history of this poem/prayer
Fairest Lord Jesus,
Ruler of all nature,
O Thou of God and man the Son,
Thee will I cherish, Thee will I honor,
Thou, my soul's glory, joy and crown.
Fair are the meadows, fairer still the woodlands,
Robed in the blooming garb of spring;
Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,
Who makes the woeful heart to sing.
Fair is the sunshine,
Fairer still the moonlight,
And all the twinkling starry host;
Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer
Than all the angels heaven can boast.
All fairest beauty, heavenly and earthly,
Wondrously, Jesus, is found in Thee;
None can be nearer, fairer or dearer,
Than Thou, my Savior, art to me.
Beautiful Savior! Lord of all the nations!
Son of God and Son of Man!
Glory and honor, praise, adoration,
Now and forever more be Thine.
Ruler of all nature,
O Thou of God and man the Son,
Thee will I cherish, Thee will I honor,
Thou, my soul's glory, joy and crown.
Fair are the meadows, fairer still the woodlands,
Robed in the blooming garb of spring;
Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,
Who makes the woeful heart to sing.
Fair is the sunshine,
Fairer still the moonlight,
And all the twinkling starry host;
Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer
Than all the angels heaven can boast.
All fairest beauty, heavenly and earthly,
Wondrously, Jesus, is found in Thee;
None can be nearer, fairer or dearer,
Than Thou, my Savior, art to me.
Beautiful Savior! Lord of all the nations!
Son of God and Son of Man!
Glory and honor, praise, adoration,
Now and forever more be Thine.
Saturday, December 17, 2016
December Prayers: Jesus, God with Us
The following is a prayer of mine in the form of poetry, written many years ago:
Dear precious, tender holy Babe,
Who in Your mother's womb was made,
Find deep within this heart of mine
Seclusion sweet for birth divine.
Dear gentle, strong and perfect Man,
Who with Your Father one did stand,
Grant me a heart that runs to be
One in mind and will with Thee.
Dear humble, bleeding, spotless Lamb
Whose life true justice did demand,
Make me a heart that gladly yields
To death, that others may be healed.
Dear glorious, gracious triumphant King
Whose name alone makes heaven ring,
Plant deep inside this yielded heart
Sweet praise that never shall depart.
Dear precious, tender holy Babe,
Who in Your mother's womb was made,
Find deep within this heart of mine
Seclusion sweet for birth divine.
Dear gentle, strong and perfect Man,
Who with Your Father one did stand,
Grant me a heart that runs to be
One in mind and will with Thee.
Dear humble, bleeding, spotless Lamb
Whose life true justice did demand,
Make me a heart that gladly yields
To death, that others may be healed.
Dear glorious, gracious triumphant King
Whose name alone makes heaven ring,
Plant deep inside this yielded heart
Sweet praise that never shall depart.
Thursday, December 15, 2016
December Prayers: Enlargement of My Soul
A favorite prayer of mine from St. Augustine:
"The house of my soul is small...
Do Thou enter in and
enlarge it."
"The house of my soul is small...
Do Thou enter in and
enlarge it."
Wednesday, December 14, 2016
December Prayers: Jesus, The Spring of Radiant Love
The following is a prayer of Brother Thomas of Celano:
Holy and blessed One,
Help the spring of radiant love that fills our hearts
to gush forth.
Jesus in our hearts,
Jesus in our mouths,
Jesus in our ears,
Jesus in our eyes,
Jesus in our hands,
as we make our way in the world. Amen.
Holy and blessed One,
Help the spring of radiant love that fills our hearts
to gush forth.
Jesus in our hearts,
Jesus in our mouths,
Jesus in our ears,
Jesus in our eyes,
Jesus in our hands,
as we make our way in the world. Amen.
Monday, December 12, 2016
December Prayers: Make Us Your People
A brief but meaningful prayer from N.T. Wright:
"Lord, teach us to pray; teach us to forgive; make us your people. Yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory."
"Lord, teach us to pray; teach us to forgive; make us your people. Yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory."
Saturday, December 10, 2016
December Prayers: Loving My 'Neighbor'
The following comments and prayer is taken from Prayers and Meditations of Therese of Lisieux:
"...we more often treat those around us as inconsequential than as holy. People can be irritating and mean-tempered and our instinctive reaction is to give as good as we get. Therese felt the same impulse but, clinging to the gospel, she returned good for evil."
Her prayer related to this:
"Lord, nothing you ask me to do seems as difficult as loving my 'neighbor.' Give me the strength not only to love when my 'neighbor' is most unlovable, but to find joy in doing so. Prevent me from giving way to the impatience and anger that wounds others. Help me to act on the knowledge that we are all created in your image. Through Christ our Lord. Amen."
"...we more often treat those around us as inconsequential than as holy. People can be irritating and mean-tempered and our instinctive reaction is to give as good as we get. Therese felt the same impulse but, clinging to the gospel, she returned good for evil."
Her prayer related to this:
"Lord, nothing you ask me to do seems as difficult as loving my 'neighbor.' Give me the strength not only to love when my 'neighbor' is most unlovable, but to find joy in doing so. Prevent me from giving way to the impatience and anger that wounds others. Help me to act on the knowledge that we are all created in your image. Through Christ our Lord. Amen."
Thursday, December 08, 2016
December Prayers: Peace for My Soul
The following prayer is from St Francesca Xavier Cabrini (late 19th century):
Fortify me with the grace of Your Holy Spirit and give Your peace to my soul
that I may be free from all needless anxiety, solicitude and worry.
Help me to desire always that which is pleasing and acceptable to You
so that Your will may be my will.
Fortify me with the grace of Your Holy Spirit and give Your peace to my soul
that I may be free from all needless anxiety, solicitude and worry.
Help me to desire always that which is pleasing and acceptable to You
so that Your will may be my will.
Tuesday, December 06, 2016
December Prayers: Love More Powerful than Knowledge
Taken from the book, The St. Francis Prayer Book:
Abba, Father,
cleanse our hearts of sin this day,
reminding us that love is more powerful
than knowledge or judgment.
Fill our weak vessels with the
fruits of righteousness,
through Jesus Christ,
for your glory and honor. Amen.
Abba, Father,
cleanse our hearts of sin this day,
reminding us that love is more powerful
than knowledge or judgment.
Fill our weak vessels with the
fruits of righteousness,
through Jesus Christ,
for your glory and honor. Amen.
Sunday, December 04, 2016
December Prayers: Longing to Know God
As the year draws to a close, I plan to periodically share simple prayers from scripture and other sources with the hope that the reader's heart will be strengthened and encouraged to complete the year in peace and grace and to face the new year with hope.
I begin with the following prayer from Cuigo the Carthusian:
Lord, you are not seen except by the pure of heart. I seek by reading and meditating what is true purity of heart and how it may be had, so that with its help I may know you, if only a little.
Lord, for long I have meditated in my heart, seeking to see your face. It is the sight of you, Lord, that I have sought; and all the while in my meditation the fire of longing, the desire to know you more fully, has increased...So give me, Lord, some pledge of what I hope to inherit, at least one drop of heavenly rain with which to refresh my thirst, for I am on fire with love.
I begin with the following prayer from Cuigo the Carthusian:
Lord, you are not seen except by the pure of heart. I seek by reading and meditating what is true purity of heart and how it may be had, so that with its help I may know you, if only a little.
Lord, for long I have meditated in my heart, seeking to see your face. It is the sight of you, Lord, that I have sought; and all the while in my meditation the fire of longing, the desire to know you more fully, has increased...So give me, Lord, some pledge of what I hope to inherit, at least one drop of heavenly rain with which to refresh my thirst, for I am on fire with love.
Sunday, November 27, 2016
God Feels Our Pain With Us
A reader shared the following prayer taken from George MacDonald's book, The Lady's Confession; I was very moved and blessed by this prayer so want to share it with the rest of you:
"Father, through your Son you know pain and even now you feel the pain of this your child. Help her to endure until you should say it is enough. Let it not overmaster her patience; let it not be too much for her. What good it shall work in her, Lord, we do not need to instruct you."
This is my prayer for each of you today as you face whatever challenge and difficulty there may be in your life...
"Father, through your Son you know pain and even now you feel the pain of this your child. Help her to endure until you should say it is enough. Let it not overmaster her patience; let it not be too much for her. What good it shall work in her, Lord, we do not need to instruct you."
This is my prayer for each of you today as you face whatever challenge and difficulty there may be in your life...
Monday, November 14, 2016
The Life, Thought, Words and Deeds of Jesus Bring the Blurry Picture of God into Focus
My desire is to know and love God. This sounds appealing in theory, but prioritizing this in one's life is costly because it means letting go of having to be 'right.'
As fallen humans we are more prone to want to be 'right' than we are to want to know God, as seen in the creation story where humans prioritize the tree of knowledge over the tree of life. This doesn't mean there is no right nor wrong but that we don't have the capacity to independently know which is which and must depend on God (tree of life) to discern right from wrong in a life-giving way. From experience, I know that to grow in the intimate knowledge of God means being willing to let go of judgmentalism which gives us a sense that we know best and are 'right' and the other is 'wrong'.
So the first step in knowing God is to want to know and live in God's love more than to want to be right; we start by simply asking for that desire. Then as we set our hearts to wanting God above wanting our own understanding of 'right and wrong' (Prov 3:5), we need to know where to go to see what the Father is like. George MacDonald has beautifully expressed where to look in knowing the Father:
"...no man can, with thorough honesty, take the name of Christian whose ideas of the Father of men are gathered from any other field than the life, thought, words, and deeds of the only Son of that Father...it is not from the Bible as a book that we are to draw our ideas of God, but from the living Man into whose presence that book brings us, who is alive now, and gives his Spirit that they who read about him may understand what kind of being he is..."
Only in Jesus do we truly know what God is like; He brings the blurry picture of God into focus. God is Christlike. This is good news indeed, and while it seems it should be obvious, many of us who are Jesus followers miss what a radical message this is. May we have ears to hear and eyes to see what the Spirit has to say and show us about the Father in Jesus.
As fallen humans we are more prone to want to be 'right' than we are to want to know God, as seen in the creation story where humans prioritize the tree of knowledge over the tree of life. This doesn't mean there is no right nor wrong but that we don't have the capacity to independently know which is which and must depend on God (tree of life) to discern right from wrong in a life-giving way. From experience, I know that to grow in the intimate knowledge of God means being willing to let go of judgmentalism which gives us a sense that we know best and are 'right' and the other is 'wrong'.
So the first step in knowing God is to want to know and live in God's love more than to want to be right; we start by simply asking for that desire. Then as we set our hearts to wanting God above wanting our own understanding of 'right and wrong' (Prov 3:5), we need to know where to go to see what the Father is like. George MacDonald has beautifully expressed where to look in knowing the Father:
"...no man can, with thorough honesty, take the name of Christian whose ideas of the Father of men are gathered from any other field than the life, thought, words, and deeds of the only Son of that Father...it is not from the Bible as a book that we are to draw our ideas of God, but from the living Man into whose presence that book brings us, who is alive now, and gives his Spirit that they who read about him may understand what kind of being he is..."
Only in Jesus do we truly know what God is like; He brings the blurry picture of God into focus. God is Christlike. This is good news indeed, and while it seems it should be obvious, many of us who are Jesus followers miss what a radical message this is. May we have ears to hear and eyes to see what the Spirit has to say and show us about the Father in Jesus.
Monday, October 17, 2016
Jesus Didn't Leave Us With a Clear Belief System but with Breath and Body...
The following are excerpts from chapter 8 of Jesus Manifesto by Frank Viola and Leonard Sweet. If you don't have time to read it all, jump down to the highlighted portion at the end:
The Forgotten Tree
"...The glory of the gospel is that we who are fallen, tarnished and marred have been invited to live our lives in the exact same way that Jesus lived His life: by an indwelling Lord...
(In the garden of Eden) God wanted humans to eat from the tree of life...(which) meant receiving the uncreated life of God into oneself...Today the tree of life is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Living by God's life is very different from living by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil...
...The Pharisees' attempt to promote high moral values was based on the knowledge of good and evil. For this reason, the Lord Jesus - who had a reputation of being a 'friend of sinners' - constantly collided with the leaven-dispensing Pharisees.
Jesus pushed the boundaries of religion to their limits. He was also a fierce critic of the priestly temple system of His day...If you examine Jesus' exchanges with the Pharisees, you'll discover a common thread. The Pharisees would ask a question on one level, and Jesus would answer it on a completely different level...it would appear that Jesus was answering a different question.
Why is this? It's because the Pharisees' questions were coming from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And Jesus' response was coming from the tree of life - the life of God.
The Bible teaches the highest possible moral values. But the Bible is fundamentally not about morality. Following the Lord Jesus Christ involves living out the highest moral values. But following Jesus is fundamentally not about morality. Conversion to Christ involves a moral transformation of life. But conversion is not fundamentally about morality either...It is Christ, not religion, that saves us.
...it is all too possible to confuse an academic knowledge or theology about Jesus with a personal knowledge of the living Christ Himself. These two stand as far apart as do the hundred thousand million galaxies.
...the fullness of Christ can never be accessed through the frontal lobe alone. That's why Jesus did not leave His disciples with CliffNotes for a systematic theology. He left them with breath and body. He didn't leave them with a coherent and clear belief system by which to love God and others. He gave them wounds to touch and hands to heal. He didn't leave them with intellectual belief or a 'Christian worldview.' He left them with a relational faith and an indwelling presence.
...unless the cutting edge of your life and ministry is Jesus Christ, you're building castles in the sand and skating on invisible ice. That's why...the church must be awakened to the Christ who lives within her and begin to understand the limitless resources of His indwelling life."
The Forgotten Tree
"...The glory of the gospel is that we who are fallen, tarnished and marred have been invited to live our lives in the exact same way that Jesus lived His life: by an indwelling Lord...
(In the garden of Eden) God wanted humans to eat from the tree of life...(which) meant receiving the uncreated life of God into oneself...Today the tree of life is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Living by God's life is very different from living by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil...
...The Pharisees' attempt to promote high moral values was based on the knowledge of good and evil. For this reason, the Lord Jesus - who had a reputation of being a 'friend of sinners' - constantly collided with the leaven-dispensing Pharisees.
Jesus pushed the boundaries of religion to their limits. He was also a fierce critic of the priestly temple system of His day...If you examine Jesus' exchanges with the Pharisees, you'll discover a common thread. The Pharisees would ask a question on one level, and Jesus would answer it on a completely different level...it would appear that Jesus was answering a different question.
Why is this? It's because the Pharisees' questions were coming from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And Jesus' response was coming from the tree of life - the life of God.
The Bible teaches the highest possible moral values. But the Bible is fundamentally not about morality. Following the Lord Jesus Christ involves living out the highest moral values. But following Jesus is fundamentally not about morality. Conversion to Christ involves a moral transformation of life. But conversion is not fundamentally about morality either...It is Christ, not religion, that saves us.
...it is all too possible to confuse an academic knowledge or theology about Jesus with a personal knowledge of the living Christ Himself. These two stand as far apart as do the hundred thousand million galaxies.
...the fullness of Christ can never be accessed through the frontal lobe alone. That's why Jesus did not leave His disciples with CliffNotes for a systematic theology. He left them with breath and body. He didn't leave them with a coherent and clear belief system by which to love God and others. He gave them wounds to touch and hands to heal. He didn't leave them with intellectual belief or a 'Christian worldview.' He left them with a relational faith and an indwelling presence.
...unless the cutting edge of your life and ministry is Jesus Christ, you're building castles in the sand and skating on invisible ice. That's why...the church must be awakened to the Christ who lives within her and begin to understand the limitless resources of His indwelling life."
Saturday, October 08, 2016
True Power, True Manliness
Jesus' power and manliness finds its highest and clearest expression in the cross; may the contemplation of His beauty spoil us for the cheap substitutes presented to us in our day:
"Yes, my lovable Jesus, You are certainly beautiful and You have by Your beauty alone softened the most obstinate hearts from evil ways. Bernard Colnago found himself once in a cottage with five brigands and a wicked woman. What did he do to convert them? Did he open Hell before their eyes? No, ...he said to them in a serious and modest tone, "Jesus is beautiful, Jesus is beautiful." These words were the arrows which pierced those hearts of stone and all were converted.
...my beloved friends, I desire that your heart be captivated by the beauty of my Jesus, a beauty so sweet that it will make you happy in this life and happy through all eternity; a beauty so marvelous that it will be the delight even of Paradise and if there were not anything else to contemplate in Heaven but the beauty so pure, so holy, and so ravishing of Jesus, this would be even then an abode of ineffable delight." (St. Leonard Port-Maurice)
"Yes, my lovable Jesus, You are certainly beautiful and You have by Your beauty alone softened the most obstinate hearts from evil ways. Bernard Colnago found himself once in a cottage with five brigands and a wicked woman. What did he do to convert them? Did he open Hell before their eyes? No, ...he said to them in a serious and modest tone, "Jesus is beautiful, Jesus is beautiful." These words were the arrows which pierced those hearts of stone and all were converted.
...my beloved friends, I desire that your heart be captivated by the beauty of my Jesus, a beauty so sweet that it will make you happy in this life and happy through all eternity; a beauty so marvelous that it will be the delight even of Paradise and if there were not anything else to contemplate in Heaven but the beauty so pure, so holy, and so ravishing of Jesus, this would be even then an abode of ineffable delight." (St. Leonard Port-Maurice)
Monday, September 19, 2016
The Power of Being Present
As I continue in my personal journey of physical weakness and disability, I'm more convinced than ever that being present in solidarity with others is more powerful than brute strength. This is fresh on my mind after having just spent a day with two people (separate situations) who are in great emotional pain over loss of a child - not through death but through other very painful happenings in their lives that has brought deep loss to both families.
Because of my physical injuries of 3-4 years ago, I am unable to walk without assistance. This puts significant limitations on what I can do to help others with anything that requires physical strength and mobility.
However, it seems that my presence is desired anyway; I'm learning that nonjudgmental loving presence is powerful in its ability to put inner strength and hope in another person even without the issue being "fixed".
This underscores to me a reality that is growing in my understanding of God, which is that His power largely takes the form of presence, a loving presence without judgment. The prophet Isaiah said that God would come as Emmanuel, God with us! God's incarnation demonstrates that He in solidarity with human frailty; His crucifixion tells us that He is in full solidarity with human suffering; His resurrection and ascension and then outpouring of His very own Life/Spirit tells us that He continues to dwell among us in ongoing solidarity with everything we go through and that He will never leave or forsake us!
It is this loving peace-filled presence of God that brings strength and hope and motivation to continue trusting Him in the face of crippling fear and discouragement. Because God's love is free of any coercion and manipulation, He won't intervene and force things to go well when it violates pure love; but He can be and is present in all the beauty and power of pure self-giving love which empowers us.
A wonderful reality is that, as bearers of His life and love, we can bring His presence into situations in our little corners of the world with the understanding that our mere presence gives courage and hope to those who need it!
Because of my physical injuries of 3-4 years ago, I am unable to walk without assistance. This puts significant limitations on what I can do to help others with anything that requires physical strength and mobility.
However, it seems that my presence is desired anyway; I'm learning that nonjudgmental loving presence is powerful in its ability to put inner strength and hope in another person even without the issue being "fixed".
This underscores to me a reality that is growing in my understanding of God, which is that His power largely takes the form of presence, a loving presence without judgment. The prophet Isaiah said that God would come as Emmanuel, God with us! God's incarnation demonstrates that He in solidarity with human frailty; His crucifixion tells us that He is in full solidarity with human suffering; His resurrection and ascension and then outpouring of His very own Life/Spirit tells us that He continues to dwell among us in ongoing solidarity with everything we go through and that He will never leave or forsake us!
It is this loving peace-filled presence of God that brings strength and hope and motivation to continue trusting Him in the face of crippling fear and discouragement. Because God's love is free of any coercion and manipulation, He won't intervene and force things to go well when it violates pure love; but He can be and is present in all the beauty and power of pure self-giving love which empowers us.
A wonderful reality is that, as bearers of His life and love, we can bring His presence into situations in our little corners of the world with the understanding that our mere presence gives courage and hope to those who need it!
Sunday, August 21, 2016
The Unexpected Source of Energy on Which the Cosmos Thrives
The longer I walk with the Lord Jesus and look at His way of living and dying, the more I'm aware of how utterly upside down (to us) God's kingdom ways are. I read a short article by Kenneth Tanner, The Great Humility that Redeems the Cosmos, which expresses well how wonderfully different God's ways are from ours:
"The gospels upend every human (perhaps every rational) notion of strength.
The cosmos—superclusters of galaxies, delicate wildflowers on countless meadows, the waves of every ocean—thrives on one source of energy, a hidden force of charity that does not seek its own, a Person with an unremarkable face, who came not to be served by his creation but to serve.
When I talk about this personal force of love I often describe it as some of the first Christians did. They call his passion for everyone and everything an Extreme Humility.
The biggest challenge presented
to humanity by his gospel is our mistaken bedrock belief that what
drives the universe is an unbridled might that rules by fiat. This is
after all the only form of power we humans recognize: brute force,
cunning strategy, ruthless competition, and, above all else, "winning."
It goes against everything that man has built and everything that man
has ventured to accept the idea that the real power that sustains all
movement and all life, that binds all things together—from subatomic
particles to intergalactic distances—is a self-sacrificial love without
measure.
"If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it."
Jesus is not just talking about your life but is describing how *everything* works.
The losers in this scenario do not "win" but instead come to
participate forever in the life of him who lays down his life for the
life of the world and in so doing—by a great humility—redeems the cosmos
and makes all things new, makes all things well.
This belief is
not going to get you anywhere in the world that humanity has made but
you can serve that world—this world that Christ loved before it loved
him—by embracing this sacred path of humility and renouncing all the
other ways and means and kinds of power.
All of them. Political. Military. Intellectual. Physical. All.
It is telling that almost every news story that compels the urgent
attention of Christians these days can only do so because we have denied
that we serve a Lord that rules by a mysterious humility that conquers
all hearts by self-giving."
Sunday, July 10, 2016
Everywhere and Always...Always and Everywhere
Many times in Scripture we humans are admonished to not fear; and the reason given for not needing to fear is that
"the Lord is with you."
Fear is one of the most, if not the most, paralyzing emotion that humans experience. It paralyses us and keeps us from taking action needed for the sake of Jesus and His love of others.
The promise that the Lord is with us is key if we are to live and move in love towards God and others. "God is love", says the apostle John in his first letter. He also says that love casts out fear; this means that the presence of Love drives fear away. For example, if fear in the form of financial shortage visits my heart, the awareness that Love is present with me in the form of Jehovah-jireh (Provider) brings peace and the courage to keep giving and blessing others even when finances are short. If fear comes because of a difficult work situation that needs my speaking up on behalf of others, pausing to recognize that Love in the form of Jehovah-Nissi (Victorious One) is with me gives me the inner courage to say something when I would rather keep silent.
Love is with me everywhere and always!
Practicing the presence of Love is an important spiritual practice, because without a growing assurance and awareness that He is present with us always and everywhere, we are no match for fear, a reality we face daily to one degree or another.
There's a scene in the Prince Caspian movie in which the young girl Lucy is approaching strong and intimidating enemies; to her amazement they are backing away from her in fear, not because of her strength, but because Aslan is walking directly behind her. The presence of Love with Lucy drives back the intimidating forces coming against her.
Realizing God's presence with us doesn't mean the emotion of fear goes away, but as we become increasingly in touch with the reality of His real presence with us in our moment of fear, our heart is strengthened to push through the emotions of fear and to act in faith.
God came in Jesus as Emmanuel; that name alone tells us that the greatest news about God is that He is with us always and everywhere. God's power is His presence!
"...he has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' So we can confidently say, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?'" Hebrews 13:5,6
Fear is one of the most, if not the most, paralyzing emotion that humans experience. It paralyses us and keeps us from taking action needed for the sake of Jesus and His love of others.
The promise that the Lord is with us is key if we are to live and move in love towards God and others. "God is love", says the apostle John in his first letter. He also says that love casts out fear; this means that the presence of Love drives fear away. For example, if fear in the form of financial shortage visits my heart, the awareness that Love is present with me in the form of Jehovah-jireh (Provider) brings peace and the courage to keep giving and blessing others even when finances are short. If fear comes because of a difficult work situation that needs my speaking up on behalf of others, pausing to recognize that Love in the form of Jehovah-Nissi (Victorious One) is with me gives me the inner courage to say something when I would rather keep silent.
Love is with me everywhere and always!
Practicing the presence of Love is an important spiritual practice, because without a growing assurance and awareness that He is present with us always and everywhere, we are no match for fear, a reality we face daily to one degree or another.
There's a scene in the Prince Caspian movie in which the young girl Lucy is approaching strong and intimidating enemies; to her amazement they are backing away from her in fear, not because of her strength, but because Aslan is walking directly behind her. The presence of Love with Lucy drives back the intimidating forces coming against her.
Realizing God's presence with us doesn't mean the emotion of fear goes away, but as we become increasingly in touch with the reality of His real presence with us in our moment of fear, our heart is strengthened to push through the emotions of fear and to act in faith.
God came in Jesus as Emmanuel; that name alone tells us that the greatest news about God is that He is with us always and everywhere. God's power is His presence!
"...he has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' So we can confidently say, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?'" Hebrews 13:5,6
Sunday, June 26, 2016
God's Requirements Reflect His Priorities
The life and death of Jesus reflects God's preference for humans over his own well being. Last week I wrote about God's prioritizing of humans (here). This week I will write about how his requirements of us reflect this.
Micah 6:6 is a well known scripture that summarizes what's in the heart of God; here he tells us what really matters most to him about how we live. It's in response to the questions posed in the previous 2 verses which imply that God must want religious sacrifices (prayer, fasting, offerings, worship assembling, etc). The prophet responds strongly by saying no to the religious sacrifices, but rather:
"He has told you, human one, what is good and
what the Lord requires from you:
to do justice, embrace faithful love, and walk humbly with your God." (CEB)
Three things: "do justice"; "embrace faithful love (mercy)"; "walk humbly with your God."
There are many different directions I could go with this, but I simply want to point out that what God asks of us is all about our treatment of others and his desire that we do this humbly with him.
The New Testament backs this up with some overarching instructions: Jesus says in Mark 12 that the greatest commandment is to love God and to love others; all of the scriptures are fulfilled in this one commandment. Later Paul says in Romans 13:8-10:
Micah 6:6 is a well known scripture that summarizes what's in the heart of God; here he tells us what really matters most to him about how we live. It's in response to the questions posed in the previous 2 verses which imply that God must want religious sacrifices (prayer, fasting, offerings, worship assembling, etc). The prophet responds strongly by saying no to the religious sacrifices, but rather:
"He has told you, human one, what is good and
what the Lord requires from you:
to do justice, embrace faithful love, and walk humbly with your God." (CEB)
Three things: "do justice"; "embrace faithful love (mercy)"; "walk humbly with your God."
There are many different directions I could go with this, but I simply want to point out that what God asks of us is all about our treatment of others and his desire that we do this humbly with him.
The New Testament backs this up with some overarching instructions: Jesus says in Mark 12 that the greatest commandment is to love God and to love others; all of the scriptures are fulfilled in this one commandment. Later Paul says in Romans 13:8-10:
"Owe
nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If
you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.'" (NLT)
God prioritizes humans; his requirements of us reflect how important people are to him.
Sunday, June 19, 2016
People are God's Priority
Jesus said, 'When you see me, you see the Father'. Through his actions and words he was and is continually reinterpreting what we humans understand about God.
One way in which God has been badly misunderstood is in his relationship with the law. Often Jesus bumped up against the religious system and its leaders because their interpretations of the law misled the people. An example of this was Jesus' teaching about the sabbath: 'the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.' His actions backed up this teaching; he would often break the religious rules about keeping the Sabbath by healing and helping people on the Sabbath.
This simple teaching carries profound meaning for our understanding of God. His priority is the well being of humans while religious systems are preoccupied with keeping the rules at all costs. The commandment to honor the Sabbath as a day of rest was intended to serve humans, not to burden us. But the maintainers of religious systems turn the Creator's loving care for humanity into a heavy yoke by making obedience to the rule the issue rather than the well being of the humans.
In his book, Jesus Before Christianity, Albert Nolan says, "Jesus was not opposed to the law as such, he was opposed to the way people used the law, their attitude to the law. The scribes and Pharisees had made the law into a burden, whereas it was supposed to be a service...They were using the sabbath against people instead of using it for them...for Jesus it (the law) was supposed to be for the benefit of people, to serve their needs and genuine interests...Jesus' attitude led to permissiveness whenever the needs of people would not be met by observance of the law, and to strictness whenever this would best serve their needs. The law was made for us, we were not made to serve and bow down before the law."
Jesus' approach to the law reveals God's approach to the law and shows how important human beings are to God. This not only helps us understand what God is like but it empowers us to approach the law in the same manner, seeing humans' well being as more important than strict adherence to the law. This is a challenge to us who want an easy answer to people's problems because it requires genuine care for people and discernment of what God's care should look like in a particular instance.
One way in which God has been badly misunderstood is in his relationship with the law. Often Jesus bumped up against the religious system and its leaders because their interpretations of the law misled the people. An example of this was Jesus' teaching about the sabbath: 'the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.' His actions backed up this teaching; he would often break the religious rules about keeping the Sabbath by healing and helping people on the Sabbath.
This simple teaching carries profound meaning for our understanding of God. His priority is the well being of humans while religious systems are preoccupied with keeping the rules at all costs. The commandment to honor the Sabbath as a day of rest was intended to serve humans, not to burden us. But the maintainers of religious systems turn the Creator's loving care for humanity into a heavy yoke by making obedience to the rule the issue rather than the well being of the humans.
In his book, Jesus Before Christianity, Albert Nolan says, "Jesus was not opposed to the law as such, he was opposed to the way people used the law, their attitude to the law. The scribes and Pharisees had made the law into a burden, whereas it was supposed to be a service...They were using the sabbath against people instead of using it for them...for Jesus it (the law) was supposed to be for the benefit of people, to serve their needs and genuine interests...Jesus' attitude led to permissiveness whenever the needs of people would not be met by observance of the law, and to strictness whenever this would best serve their needs. The law was made for us, we were not made to serve and bow down before the law."
Jesus' approach to the law reveals God's approach to the law and shows how important human beings are to God. This not only helps us understand what God is like but it empowers us to approach the law in the same manner, seeing humans' well being as more important than strict adherence to the law. This is a challenge to us who want an easy answer to people's problems because it requires genuine care for people and discernment of what God's care should look like in a particular instance.
Sunday, June 12, 2016
God's Power: Not the Kind of Power We Wish He Had
I highly recommend Doug Frank's book, A Gentler God. He presents ways of understanding God that are wonderful and that cut across the grain of some of the church's ways of seeing God. His main point is that we need to move away from the idea of "the Almighty" to understanding that God is like the human man Jesus. The following are quotes from this book that, to me, are worth taking the time to consider and to ponder:
"Occasionally...I reach for...some kind of explanation for or defense of the ways of God...Sooner or later, they all force me to choose among five dubious alternatives: 'there is no God'; 'the Almighty is not good'; 'the Almighty could prevent evil, but it would cost us our freedom'; 'Satan causes evil'; or 'trust God, his ways are unfathomable.'
"An answer that makes more sense to me is: 'God is small - a child, like Jesus said. God simply does not have the kind of power we ourselves crave and project onto him - the power that could fix our lives by tinkering with the laws of the universe. In that sense, God is a child.
"Which does not mean that the God whom Jesus is revealing to us does nothing at all...Such a God would not only be powerless, but unresponsive and uncaring. No - God acts, but in the only way that pure love can act: God is continually present in the world, a living spirit that invades reality at every moment and at every place, that speaks as love does - in whispers, unceasingly - into each and every human heart. God's whispers may be heard in our dreams, in the voices of our friends and enemies, in the cries of our hearts, in deep silence...
"If God cannot straightforwardly micro-manage human events so as to rescue the abused child, the tortured prisoner, the cancer victim, neither can God rescue God's very own self, incarnated in Jesus...God can and will hang on the gibbet in utter solidarity with the son, helplessly receiving the cruel blows rained down on the naked, dying flesh of the beloved.
"There is a kind of power in God's whispers. But it is the power of powerlessness. It changes things, but invisibly, unpredictably, unaccountably and, from our point of view, unreliably. It is not the kind of power we imagine, or wish, God to have."
"Occasionally...I reach for...some kind of explanation for or defense of the ways of God...Sooner or later, they all force me to choose among five dubious alternatives: 'there is no God'; 'the Almighty is not good'; 'the Almighty could prevent evil, but it would cost us our freedom'; 'Satan causes evil'; or 'trust God, his ways are unfathomable.'
"An answer that makes more sense to me is: 'God is small - a child, like Jesus said. God simply does not have the kind of power we ourselves crave and project onto him - the power that could fix our lives by tinkering with the laws of the universe. In that sense, God is a child.
"Which does not mean that the God whom Jesus is revealing to us does nothing at all...Such a God would not only be powerless, but unresponsive and uncaring. No - God acts, but in the only way that pure love can act: God is continually present in the world, a living spirit that invades reality at every moment and at every place, that speaks as love does - in whispers, unceasingly - into each and every human heart. God's whispers may be heard in our dreams, in the voices of our friends and enemies, in the cries of our hearts, in deep silence...
"If God cannot straightforwardly micro-manage human events so as to rescue the abused child, the tortured prisoner, the cancer victim, neither can God rescue God's very own self, incarnated in Jesus...God can and will hang on the gibbet in utter solidarity with the son, helplessly receiving the cruel blows rained down on the naked, dying flesh of the beloved.
"There is a kind of power in God's whispers. But it is the power of powerlessness. It changes things, but invisibly, unpredictably, unaccountably and, from our point of view, unreliably. It is not the kind of power we imagine, or wish, God to have."
Sunday, June 05, 2016
God Does Not Oppress Us with His Will
In his book, The Politics of God and the Politics of Man,
Jacques Ellul looks at accounts from the book of II Kings and presents a
case for a God who values human dignity so much that He allows us to
freely be who we are. In chapter one Ellul writes about the healing of
Naaman, saying that God used many different agents in Naaman's life. He
points out that none of the people involved in the healing (Hebrew slave
girl, king of Syria, Elisha, Naaman's servants) acted under coercion
from God but they acted according to their own "bent", at their own
"level" and with their own "personal decision." Ellul goes on to remark,
"If the story wanted to show us God crushing the will of man and
forcing man to do what God wants, then things would have been very
simple."
God takes the dignity and freedom of human beings seriously and will not "crush the will of man" and force us to do what He wants. He allows us to be who we are and to act according to our bent, and He takes our small free actions, combines them with the small actions of others and somehow works to produce beauty and goodness.
George MacDonald puts it this way in his book, Knowing the Heart of God:
"God does not, by the instant gift of his Spirit, make us always feel right, desire good, love purity, aspire after him and his will...The truth is this: He wants to make us in his own image, choosing the good, refusing the evil. How could he effect this if he were always moving us from within? God gives us room to be. He does not oppress us with his will. He 'stands away from us,' that we may act from ourselves, that we may exercise the pure will for good."
The marvel and genius of God is not that He is able to get things done because we finally "get our act together" but that He is able to get things done through broken vessels who never really get our act together but who freely move and act according to our bent and personal decision.
God takes the dignity and freedom of human beings seriously and will not "crush the will of man" and force us to do what He wants. He allows us to be who we are and to act according to our bent, and He takes our small free actions, combines them with the small actions of others and somehow works to produce beauty and goodness.
George MacDonald puts it this way in his book, Knowing the Heart of God:
"God does not, by the instant gift of his Spirit, make us always feel right, desire good, love purity, aspire after him and his will...The truth is this: He wants to make us in his own image, choosing the good, refusing the evil. How could he effect this if he were always moving us from within? God gives us room to be. He does not oppress us with his will. He 'stands away from us,' that we may act from ourselves, that we may exercise the pure will for good."
The marvel and genius of God is not that He is able to get things done because we finally "get our act together" but that He is able to get things done through broken vessels who never really get our act together but who freely move and act according to our bent and personal decision.
Sunday, May 29, 2016
Nothing is More Amazing than...
 |
| Valjean being freely released from thievery by bishop in Les Miserables |
- Paul Billheimer (Love Covers) -
Sunday, May 22, 2016
Aiming at Love in the Pursuit of Knowledge
In recent years I've had a growth
spurt in knowledge and understanding of God, resulting in mindset
shifts which have in turn resulted in more freedom, joy and love -
unlike what I have ever experienced before in Him.
There is something seductive about gaining knowledge, even spiritual or theological knowledge. It has the power to delude the learner into thinking he/she is superior to others. This was what the tree of knowledge of good and evil was about - pride and superiority. Paul says in 1Corinthians 8:1 that knowledge "puffs up" while love "builds up."
Would to God we followers of Jesus would all be growing in knowledge of all sorts, but if love is not our goal in the pursuit of knowledge (even when it's the knowledge of God), we are unwittingly feeding pride and superiority. Aiming at love while growing in knowledge is what it means to live from the tree of life, Jesus.
As I continue to grow in knowledge now, I try to see myself in Christ Jesus, He being the One dispensing the knowledge, feeding me. There are times when I sense His quiet voice within me saying to pause reading or studying; and I'm learning that even though it may be wonderful and good material, if He is slowing me down, it's because He knows how much and how fast I should go in order not to be led down the road of spiritual arrogance where I would see others as inferior to myself.
Eating of the tree of life is about growing in love as we grow in knowledge - that is only possible with Jesus' leadership. The goal of all learning is to love - to receive the love of God and then to give that love away to others. If I'm not growing in love and tenderness towards others as I'm growing in knowledge, it may be a sign that I need to reevaluate why I want to grow in knowledge and turn again to the Spirit of God for help to aim at love.
"Let love be your greatest aim." I Cor. 14:1 (TLB)
There is something seductive about gaining knowledge, even spiritual or theological knowledge. It has the power to delude the learner into thinking he/she is superior to others. This was what the tree of knowledge of good and evil was about - pride and superiority. Paul says in 1Corinthians 8:1 that knowledge "puffs up" while love "builds up."
Would to God we followers of Jesus would all be growing in knowledge of all sorts, but if love is not our goal in the pursuit of knowledge (even when it's the knowledge of God), we are unwittingly feeding pride and superiority. Aiming at love while growing in knowledge is what it means to live from the tree of life, Jesus.
As I continue to grow in knowledge now, I try to see myself in Christ Jesus, He being the One dispensing the knowledge, feeding me. There are times when I sense His quiet voice within me saying to pause reading or studying; and I'm learning that even though it may be wonderful and good material, if He is slowing me down, it's because He knows how much and how fast I should go in order not to be led down the road of spiritual arrogance where I would see others as inferior to myself.
Eating of the tree of life is about growing in love as we grow in knowledge - that is only possible with Jesus' leadership. The goal of all learning is to love - to receive the love of God and then to give that love away to others. If I'm not growing in love and tenderness towards others as I'm growing in knowledge, it may be a sign that I need to reevaluate why I want to grow in knowledge and turn again to the Spirit of God for help to aim at love.
"Let love be your greatest aim." I Cor. 14:1 (TLB)
Friday, May 13, 2016
A Thorough Housecleaning
The big message of the book of Hebrews is the superiority of
Jesus over all else. In light of this, it's not surprising that the writer
would write words like these:
His voice that time shook the earth to its foundations; this time—he’s told us this quite plainly—he’ll also rock the heavens: “One last shaking, from top to bottom, stem to stern.” The phrase “one last shaking” means a thorough housecleaning, getting rid of all the historical and religious junk so that the unshakable essentials stand clear and uncluttered. Do you see what we’ve got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander. He’s actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won’t quit until it’s all cleansed. God himself is Fire!
(Hebrews 12:26-28 The Message)
The contrasting of the old systems with Jesus (who fulfills all that the old systems were struggling to portray) shows the need for a shaking that will undo the old order so that the unshakable Kingdom can be established. The beginnings of this shaking happened with the birth and life and death and resurrection and ascension of Jesus. But until He comes again to set up His Kingdom on earth, there will always be systems that get in the way of the beauty and superiority of Jesus.
Sometimes these systems are made up of religious practices that we have engaged in for so long that we confuse them with Jesus; sometimes they are our own internal mindsets/strongholds that have been constructed in us and adhered to for so long that we believe they are true.
But I believe the Spirit of God is fiercely jealous for Jesus and will do something in His people before the end of this age unlike what we have seen before. This will require a shaking of all that can be shaken; and because it will mess with that which we have been so certain of, there will be confusion and disorientation in the Body of Christ.
A few years ago I asked the Lord to shake all that could be shaken in my life and walk with Him, and He has been doing that. I see this happening all around me with many followers of Jesus.
In the midst of the disorientation, "let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire." Gratitude to the true and living God will help steady us, and when we feel the ground shaking beneath our feet, we'll find that rather than falling into a bottomless pit, we will fall into Him, the unshakable One who is superior to all else!
His voice that time shook the earth to its foundations; this time—he’s told us this quite plainly—he’ll also rock the heavens: “One last shaking, from top to bottom, stem to stern.” The phrase “one last shaking” means a thorough housecleaning, getting rid of all the historical and religious junk so that the unshakable essentials stand clear and uncluttered. Do you see what we’ve got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander. He’s actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won’t quit until it’s all cleansed. God himself is Fire!
(Hebrews 12:26-28 The Message)
The contrasting of the old systems with Jesus (who fulfills all that the old systems were struggling to portray) shows the need for a shaking that will undo the old order so that the unshakable Kingdom can be established. The beginnings of this shaking happened with the birth and life and death and resurrection and ascension of Jesus. But until He comes again to set up His Kingdom on earth, there will always be systems that get in the way of the beauty and superiority of Jesus.
Sometimes these systems are made up of religious practices that we have engaged in for so long that we confuse them with Jesus; sometimes they are our own internal mindsets/strongholds that have been constructed in us and adhered to for so long that we believe they are true.
But I believe the Spirit of God is fiercely jealous for Jesus and will do something in His people before the end of this age unlike what we have seen before. This will require a shaking of all that can be shaken; and because it will mess with that which we have been so certain of, there will be confusion and disorientation in the Body of Christ.
A few years ago I asked the Lord to shake all that could be shaken in my life and walk with Him, and He has been doing that. I see this happening all around me with many followers of Jesus.
In the midst of the disorientation, "let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire." Gratitude to the true and living God will help steady us, and when we feel the ground shaking beneath our feet, we'll find that rather than falling into a bottomless pit, we will fall into Him, the unshakable One who is superior to all else!
Sunday, May 01, 2016
Love, not Fear, Must Govern Behavior
I, like many Christians, have lived many years being uptight and fearful, almost obsessed with fear of making mistakes or "wrong" decisions or of being in doctrinal error or "missing God's will" or just not being spiritual
enough, etc, etc. Since discovering and moving into a wider place in God, I've found that some Christians are even offended
by the idea that we don't have to fear God's disapproval or fear that we are
going to "miss His best". Shane Hipps says the following in his book Selling Water by the River:
"Those of us raised in Christianity often live with a lot of fear. Fear that we are doing it wrong (whatever 'it' is). Fear that some unfamiliar idea might hurt us. Fear that God may not like who we are, or what we've done, or what we think. Fear that a particular interpretation of the Bible is hurting the Bible or even God. Fear that we, or others, might be offending God, who apparently has quite fragile feelings, and a hair-triggered temper. Some religious people are even afraid that other people are not frightened enough."
Hipps goes on to say that fear has a legitimate initial role in our early formation in God in that it teaches us what is needed in order to stay safe (comparable to teaching a child to 'fear' a hot stove):
"Fear is a developmental ingredient in the life of faith. It is useful in learning to prevent harm and nurture wisdom ...and helps us develop basic impulse control...But fear also has some serious limits...
"The first stage of development is a much safer place to be...But as we grow, we are more and more moved and opened by Love, or God...fear is about closure and contraction, whereas Love is about opening and expansion. Love by nature is free from fear. The process of becoming open by Love can be unnerving, and it is not for the faint of heart. Doubts emerge when what we thought were solid foundations begin to feel like shifting sands beneath our feet. Love opens us more and more to a freedom that moves us beyond self-justification, self-protection, and self-preservation...
"If we are to access the Living Water Jesus promised, ultimately Love must become the only thing that governs behavior, not fear...Love does not do away with all boundaries; instead, it makes use of them in ways that serve the purpose of Love.
"As we grow, the question we learn to ask moves from What is right or wrong? to What does Love require?"...fear is actually the absence of Love, not the opposite (of Love)...ridding ourselves of fear is as simple as letting Love in."
"Those of us raised in Christianity often live with a lot of fear. Fear that we are doing it wrong (whatever 'it' is). Fear that some unfamiliar idea might hurt us. Fear that God may not like who we are, or what we've done, or what we think. Fear that a particular interpretation of the Bible is hurting the Bible or even God. Fear that we, or others, might be offending God, who apparently has quite fragile feelings, and a hair-triggered temper. Some religious people are even afraid that other people are not frightened enough."
Hipps goes on to say that fear has a legitimate initial role in our early formation in God in that it teaches us what is needed in order to stay safe (comparable to teaching a child to 'fear' a hot stove):
"Fear is a developmental ingredient in the life of faith. It is useful in learning to prevent harm and nurture wisdom ...and helps us develop basic impulse control...But fear also has some serious limits...
"The first stage of development is a much safer place to be...But as we grow, we are more and more moved and opened by Love, or God...fear is about closure and contraction, whereas Love is about opening and expansion. Love by nature is free from fear. The process of becoming open by Love can be unnerving, and it is not for the faint of heart. Doubts emerge when what we thought were solid foundations begin to feel like shifting sands beneath our feet. Love opens us more and more to a freedom that moves us beyond self-justification, self-protection, and self-preservation...
"If we are to access the Living Water Jesus promised, ultimately Love must become the only thing that governs behavior, not fear...Love does not do away with all boundaries; instead, it makes use of them in ways that serve the purpose of Love.
"As we grow, the question we learn to ask moves from What is right or wrong? to What does Love require?"...fear is actually the absence of Love, not the opposite (of Love)...ridding ourselves of fear is as simple as letting Love in."
Sunday, April 24, 2016
Nothing in Our Conditioning Prepares Us for Grace
In the book, Addiction and Grace, the following words by
Gerald G. May resonate strongly with what I have discovered and continue
to discover about God's grace :
"Grace is only truly appreciated and expressed in the actual, immediate experience of real life situations...it can only be 'lived into.'
"Living into the mystery of grace requires encountering grace as a real gift. Grace is not earned. it is not accomplished or achieved. It is not extracted through manipulation or seduction. It is just given. Nothing in our conditioning prepares us for this radical reality. Some would say that early childhood experiences with our parents is important in determining how we come to accept grace in later life. If we had loving, trustworthy parents rather than rejecting or unreliable ones, we would grow up more willing to accept God's grace as a gift. I do not think this is so. We all have trouble accepting the radical giftedness of God's grace, no matter what our childhood experience. God's grace is simply not part of our conditioning. Nor can we make it so, though we are sure to try. All our attempts to control the flow of grace will be frustrated because, like God, grace will not become an object for attachment.
"Because grace is a pure gift, the most meaningful of our encounters with it will probably come at unintended times, when we are caught off-guard, when our manipulative systems are at rest or otherwise occupied. But still we can pray for grace, actively seek it, and try to relax our hands to receive it..."
Jesus, You are full of grace and truth; come to us and empower us to receive this radical gift of grace!
"Grace is only truly appreciated and expressed in the actual, immediate experience of real life situations...it can only be 'lived into.'
"Living into the mystery of grace requires encountering grace as a real gift. Grace is not earned. it is not accomplished or achieved. It is not extracted through manipulation or seduction. It is just given. Nothing in our conditioning prepares us for this radical reality. Some would say that early childhood experiences with our parents is important in determining how we come to accept grace in later life. If we had loving, trustworthy parents rather than rejecting or unreliable ones, we would grow up more willing to accept God's grace as a gift. I do not think this is so. We all have trouble accepting the radical giftedness of God's grace, no matter what our childhood experience. God's grace is simply not part of our conditioning. Nor can we make it so, though we are sure to try. All our attempts to control the flow of grace will be frustrated because, like God, grace will not become an object for attachment.
"Because grace is a pure gift, the most meaningful of our encounters with it will probably come at unintended times, when we are caught off-guard, when our manipulative systems are at rest or otherwise occupied. But still we can pray for grace, actively seek it, and try to relax our hands to receive it..."
Jesus, You are full of grace and truth; come to us and empower us to receive this radical gift of grace!
Saturday, April 16, 2016
The Story of the Enabler Father
We've grown accustomed to hearing the word "enabler" as a negative word describing someone who is enabling a loved one to get away with behavior that isn't healthy.
Jesus' famous story of the 'prodigal son' paints a picture of a father who today would be called an enabler. He doesn't hold his wayward son accountable; in fact, when the son asks prematurely for his inheritance, the father gives it to him in spite of the fact that the request implies that the son has little consideration for his father. Then later when the son returns, the father receives him with celebration with not a word of scolding but pure joy and welcoming.
If we judged this father's actions by our standards, we would call him a weak father. And perhaps he is; but if we call him a weak father, then we are calling the heavenly Father weak. And perhaps He is...
But what if God's weakness is stronger than our idea of power and strength? What if God's foolishness is wiser than our idea of wisdom and knowledge?
Could it be that God enables His children to come to Him through being an Enabler who lavishly and joyfully receives us without pointing out what we've done wrong and what we need to get straightened out?
If so, then those who have named this story "the story of the prodigal father" are correct, because the father in this story doesn't conform to our rules.
In the Luke 15 story Jesus doesn't tell us what life was like after the homecoming, because that's not Jesus' point in telling it. He is showing us what Father is like, and if we get that, then we will be enabled to know what should come after the homecoming celebration in our particular story.
Maybe another title for this story could be "The Story of the Enabler Father"...
Jesus' famous story of the 'prodigal son' paints a picture of a father who today would be called an enabler. He doesn't hold his wayward son accountable; in fact, when the son asks prematurely for his inheritance, the father gives it to him in spite of the fact that the request implies that the son has little consideration for his father. Then later when the son returns, the father receives him with celebration with not a word of scolding but pure joy and welcoming.
If we judged this father's actions by our standards, we would call him a weak father. And perhaps he is; but if we call him a weak father, then we are calling the heavenly Father weak. And perhaps He is...
But what if God's weakness is stronger than our idea of power and strength? What if God's foolishness is wiser than our idea of wisdom and knowledge?
Could it be that God enables His children to come to Him through being an Enabler who lavishly and joyfully receives us without pointing out what we've done wrong and what we need to get straightened out?
If so, then those who have named this story "the story of the prodigal father" are correct, because the father in this story doesn't conform to our rules.
In the Luke 15 story Jesus doesn't tell us what life was like after the homecoming, because that's not Jesus' point in telling it. He is showing us what Father is like, and if we get that, then we will be enabled to know what should come after the homecoming celebration in our particular story.
Maybe another title for this story could be "The Story of the Enabler Father"...
Sunday, April 03, 2016
The Happy Ones, According to Jesus
In the Beatitudes from Matthew 5, Jesus tells us who the happy ones are:
Matthew 5:3-10 (NRSV):
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
A good exercise to practice is to rewrite a portion of scripture in your own words. I have rewritten this portion in the following way:
3 Those who "own" nothing are the happy ones, because when nothing belongs to them, they own everything that God values.
4 Those who grieve and are sad over loss in their life are the happy ones because they have gained the capacity to receive comfort from the One who best understands loss.
5 Those who accept themselves, enjoying who they are and who others are without competition or rivalry or envy are the happy ones, because someday they will inherit all that belongs to them in God.
6 Those who want God's justice system to prevail more than they want any human ideas of justice (including their own) are the happy ones, because the day will come when they will understand well what God's justice is like and find it to be fully satisfying for all.
7 Those who gladly extend mercy to the undeserving are the happy ones, because they will receive mercy when they don't deserve it!
8 Those who are honest and sincere at the core of their being are the happy ones, because they are the ones who will see and understand God fully one day.
9 Those who work to heal fractured and hostile relationships in a rivalrous and violent world are the happy ones, because when they do this, people see and acknowledge God's family likeness in them.
10 Those who face difficulties and misunderstanding because they have made choices in line with God's kingdom values are the happy ones, because that very kingdom and its ways belong to them!
You may want to write your own version. A good exercise would be to meditate on this portion with imagination, asking the Spirit of God to etch these realities deeply on your heart and mind until Jesus' measurement of what counts overrides the loud voices around us that continually tell us what counts.
Matthew 5:3-10 (NRSV):
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
A good exercise to practice is to rewrite a portion of scripture in your own words. I have rewritten this portion in the following way:
3 Those who "own" nothing are the happy ones, because when nothing belongs to them, they own everything that God values.
4 Those who grieve and are sad over loss in their life are the happy ones because they have gained the capacity to receive comfort from the One who best understands loss.
5 Those who accept themselves, enjoying who they are and who others are without competition or rivalry or envy are the happy ones, because someday they will inherit all that belongs to them in God.
6 Those who want God's justice system to prevail more than they want any human ideas of justice (including their own) are the happy ones, because the day will come when they will understand well what God's justice is like and find it to be fully satisfying for all.
7 Those who gladly extend mercy to the undeserving are the happy ones, because they will receive mercy when they don't deserve it!
8 Those who are honest and sincere at the core of their being are the happy ones, because they are the ones who will see and understand God fully one day.
9 Those who work to heal fractured and hostile relationships in a rivalrous and violent world are the happy ones, because when they do this, people see and acknowledge God's family likeness in them.
10 Those who face difficulties and misunderstanding because they have made choices in line with God's kingdom values are the happy ones, because that very kingdom and its ways belong to them!
You may want to write your own version. A good exercise would be to meditate on this portion with imagination, asking the Spirit of God to etch these realities deeply on your heart and mind until Jesus' measurement of what counts overrides the loud voices around us that continually tell us what counts.
Sunday, March 27, 2016
Lent #8: Resurrection Day - Events which Blew the World Apart and Put It Back in a New Way
This final post in the series from NT Wright's book, Lent for Everyone - Matthew, is taken from 'Easter Day' and is based on the portion in Matthew 28:1-10. This is Matthew's account of Jesus' resurrection:
"Earthquakes, angels, women running to and fro, a strange command...Nobody thought in the first century, and nobody should think now, that the point of the Easter story is that it is quite a reasonable thing to happen...No. It was always a strange, crazy, wild story...If Jesus of Nazareth really was the Son of God...What else would you expect? A calm restatement of some philosophical truths for sage old greybeards to ponder - or events which blew the world apart and put it back in a new way?"
Wright goes on to talk about the role of the women in this story and how they were not considered reliable witnesses in a court of law. The fact that the Gospel writers acknowledge their role in witnessing to the resurrection is a strong case that they weren't making this story up! God always chooses the weak things of the world to confound the strong...
"But the main thing is that, once more, they are told not to be afraid (vs 5). What is there to be afraid of, if Easter has dealt with the greatest monster of all, death itself? Why should you be afraid of anything, if Jesus has been raised from the dead, if the old world has cracked open and a new world has been born?
"And Easter always looks outward. From the very start, the news that Jesus is risen contains a command: 'Go!' Go, first to Galilee; go back to where it began, back to your roots to meet the risen Jesus there and watch him transform everything, including your oldest memories. And, as you obey the command of the angel, Jesus himself may perhaps meet you in person (vs 9). Take hold of him. Worship him. This is his day, the Day of Days. Make it yours too."
"We praise you, Lord Jesus Christ, because you have overcome death, and opened God's new creation to all believers."
"Earthquakes, angels, women running to and fro, a strange command...Nobody thought in the first century, and nobody should think now, that the point of the Easter story is that it is quite a reasonable thing to happen...No. It was always a strange, crazy, wild story...If Jesus of Nazareth really was the Son of God...What else would you expect? A calm restatement of some philosophical truths for sage old greybeards to ponder - or events which blew the world apart and put it back in a new way?"
Wright goes on to talk about the role of the women in this story and how they were not considered reliable witnesses in a court of law. The fact that the Gospel writers acknowledge their role in witnessing to the resurrection is a strong case that they weren't making this story up! God always chooses the weak things of the world to confound the strong...
"But the main thing is that, once more, they are told not to be afraid (vs 5). What is there to be afraid of, if Easter has dealt with the greatest monster of all, death itself? Why should you be afraid of anything, if Jesus has been raised from the dead, if the old world has cracked open and a new world has been born?
"And Easter always looks outward. From the very start, the news that Jesus is risen contains a command: 'Go!' Go, first to Galilee; go back to where it began, back to your roots to meet the risen Jesus there and watch him transform everything, including your oldest memories. And, as you obey the command of the angel, Jesus himself may perhaps meet you in person (vs 9). Take hold of him. Worship him. This is his day, the Day of Days. Make it yours too."
"We praise you, Lord Jesus Christ, because you have overcome death, and opened God's new creation to all believers."
Saturday, March 26, 2016
Lent #7: A Holy Saturday Moment - Nothing To Do Except Wait
Today's post is from the 'Holy Week: Holy Saturday' reading of Lent for Everyone - Matthew by NT Wright. He shares from Matthew 27:57-66, the story of Joseph of Arimathea's request and action concerning the body of Jesus, the women sitting outside the tomb, and the request of the religious leaders to Pilate to secure the tomb.
Wright comments that they tried to keep Jesus safely dead and still do today..."Sometimes, though, we Christians need to observe a Holy Saturday moment. On Holy Saturday, there is nothing you can do except wait. The Christian faith suffers great defeats...
"But God will do what God will do, in God's own time. The world can plot and plan, but all of that will count for nothing when the victory already won on the cross turns into the new sort of victory on the third day...Who knows what will happen next, after the sneering and scheming of the skeptics of our day? Our part is to keep Holy Saturday in faith and hope...
"And there is usually something to be done in the present, even when times are sad and hard. It took considerable courage for Joseph of Arimathea to go to Pontius Pilate and ask for Jesus' body. Peter and the others had run away to hide because they were afraid...Joseph had no such qualms, even after Jesus' death.
"Some of Jesus' followers might well have thought that, if the Romans had crucified him, he can't have been the Messiah, so he must have been a charlatan...But Joseph didn't see it that way.
"...We aren't sure why we've got to this place, why things aren't going as we wanted or planned, and the life seems to have drained out of it all. That's a Holy Saturday moment. Do what has to be done, and wait for God to act in his own way and his own time."
"Help us, gracious Lord, to wait for your victory, and in the meantime to serve you in whatever way we can."
Wright comments that they tried to keep Jesus safely dead and still do today..."Sometimes, though, we Christians need to observe a Holy Saturday moment. On Holy Saturday, there is nothing you can do except wait. The Christian faith suffers great defeats...
"But God will do what God will do, in God's own time. The world can plot and plan, but all of that will count for nothing when the victory already won on the cross turns into the new sort of victory on the third day...Who knows what will happen next, after the sneering and scheming of the skeptics of our day? Our part is to keep Holy Saturday in faith and hope...
"And there is usually something to be done in the present, even when times are sad and hard. It took considerable courage for Joseph of Arimathea to go to Pontius Pilate and ask for Jesus' body. Peter and the others had run away to hide because they were afraid...Joseph had no such qualms, even after Jesus' death.
"Some of Jesus' followers might well have thought that, if the Romans had crucified him, he can't have been the Messiah, so he must have been a charlatan...But Joseph didn't see it that way.
"...We aren't sure why we've got to this place, why things aren't going as we wanted or planned, and the life seems to have drained out of it all. That's a Holy Saturday moment. Do what has to be done, and wait for God to act in his own way and his own time."
"Help us, gracious Lord, to wait for your victory, and in the meantime to serve you in whatever way we can."
Saturday, March 19, 2016
Lent #6: It Isn't Me, Is It?
This week I've chosen the 'Week 5: Saturday' reading in this series from NT Wright's Lent for Everyone - Matthew. His commentary is based on a lengthy portion from Matthew 26 & 27, focusing on the intimate gathering of Jesus and his disciples shortly before his crucifixion. In this gathering Jesus tells them that one of them will betray him. Wright comments on the disciples' reaction:
"It isn't me, is it?"
"...We often wonder what it was that made Judas do it. Perhaps we should also ask what it was that held the others back. They, like Judas, had misunderstood so much. They still didn't realize what it was Jesus had to do. There is a worried humility about their question which we would do well to imitate as we approach the narrative of Jesus' last moments...Read (this story) with the question in mind, 'Lord, it isn't me, is it?' and see what answer you get.
"Because it is me - and you, and all of us...We have all been loyal and yet disloyal. We have all wanted to do the right thing and then run away when the going got tough. We have all colluded with injustice, stayed silent when we should have spoken out, and then perhaps blurted out some give-away remark when we should have shut up. And we have all stood by scenes of sorrow and tragedy, not knowing what to say or do but feeling that somehow, of only, we could or should have prevented it...Many (of us) have hurled insults at Jesus...
"Find yourself in the story, wherever you are. Only then, perhaps, can we ask the question in a different way. Because from the earliest days of the church's life the followers of Jesus told this story for another reason. The story of Jesus became their story, in the sense that they believed they had died with Jesus; they had suffered with him, been crucified with him, been buried with him. Somehow - and this mystery lies at the very heart of authentic Christian experience - ...they were living in Jesus and he was living in them...
"'Lord - is it me? Is it me, facing misunderstanding and betrayal? Is it me, praying in agony, being arrested, tried and unjustly condemned, abandoned by my friends, mocked, beaten up, stripped and hung up to die in shame?' As you read this story in faith, we should hear the answer, life-transforming as it is: 'Yes, it is you. This is who you are now. You are not the person you once were. You are the person to whom all this has happened...You are in me and I am in you. You have died; your life is hidden, with me, in the life of God himself.'
"When St. Paul speaks of being 'in Christ', this is basically what he means...you died with him, were nailed to the cross with him, were buried with him. This is who you now are...Easter and all that follows gives a further dimension...(but) it is through Jesus' crucifixion that he becomes what he was born to be: the saviour...: by extending his arms on the cross, enfolding us in that God-with-us embrace, and bringing us with him through death into a whole new life."
"Thank you, loving Lord. Thank you."
"It isn't me, is it?"
"...We often wonder what it was that made Judas do it. Perhaps we should also ask what it was that held the others back. They, like Judas, had misunderstood so much. They still didn't realize what it was Jesus had to do. There is a worried humility about their question which we would do well to imitate as we approach the narrative of Jesus' last moments...Read (this story) with the question in mind, 'Lord, it isn't me, is it?' and see what answer you get.
"Because it is me - and you, and all of us...We have all been loyal and yet disloyal. We have all wanted to do the right thing and then run away when the going got tough. We have all colluded with injustice, stayed silent when we should have spoken out, and then perhaps blurted out some give-away remark when we should have shut up. And we have all stood by scenes of sorrow and tragedy, not knowing what to say or do but feeling that somehow, of only, we could or should have prevented it...Many (of us) have hurled insults at Jesus...
"Find yourself in the story, wherever you are. Only then, perhaps, can we ask the question in a different way. Because from the earliest days of the church's life the followers of Jesus told this story for another reason. The story of Jesus became their story, in the sense that they believed they had died with Jesus; they had suffered with him, been crucified with him, been buried with him. Somehow - and this mystery lies at the very heart of authentic Christian experience - ...they were living in Jesus and he was living in them...
"'Lord - is it me? Is it me, facing misunderstanding and betrayal? Is it me, praying in agony, being arrested, tried and unjustly condemned, abandoned by my friends, mocked, beaten up, stripped and hung up to die in shame?' As you read this story in faith, we should hear the answer, life-transforming as it is: 'Yes, it is you. This is who you are now. You are not the person you once were. You are the person to whom all this has happened...You are in me and I am in you. You have died; your life is hidden, with me, in the life of God himself.'
"When St. Paul speaks of being 'in Christ', this is basically what he means...you died with him, were nailed to the cross with him, were buried with him. This is who you now are...Easter and all that follows gives a further dimension...(but) it is through Jesus' crucifixion that he becomes what he was born to be: the saviour...: by extending his arms on the cross, enfolding us in that God-with-us embrace, and bringing us with him through death into a whole new life."
"Thank you, loving Lord. Thank you."
Saturday, March 12, 2016
Lent (#5): Gold Remains Hidden and Takes Some Finding
This week's post is from the Week 4 - Tuesday writing from N.T. Wright's Lent for Everyone - Matthew. In this reading the author comments on Matthew 20:1-16, the story Jesus tells about the workers who show up late in the day and gets paid the same amount as those who worked all day.
Wright applies this story on three levels: 1) Jesus reminds his followers that God is sovereign over his kingdom and no one can claim a special place because they've worked hard or given up a lot or have been with him from the start. 2) Jesus' story reminds the Jews that it has always been God's plan to humble the exalted and exalt the humbled; that although Israel is special in God's heart, the gospel and the kingdom are for all people, Jews and Gentiles. God is without partiality and won't favor one over the other.
The third level at which Wright applies this story has to do with our daily life of faith, and he says the following:
"Our western 'celebrity' culture favors those who manage to push themselves to the front, whether it's the people with the most obvious talents or the stars with the sharpest agents. Sadly, that can spill over into the life of the church: famous preachers and leaders get attention and the 'ordinary' Christian becomes a passive spectator. We need, again and again, to learn that there are no such people as 'ordinary' Christians. In the 'renewal of all things' which Jesus spoke about (19:28), all sorts of people will stand out as the real heroes and heroines of faith, though nobody has ever heard of them before. They will be the ones who, whether for five minutes or fifty years, served God with total and glad obedience, giving themselves completely to holiness, prayer and works of love and mercy. Such people are the pure gold of the church. But, as so often, gold remains hidden and takes some finding."
"Gracious Lord, help us to be humble enough to take whatever place we are given, and zealous enough to work wholeheartedly for your glory where and when you call us."
Wright applies this story on three levels: 1) Jesus reminds his followers that God is sovereign over his kingdom and no one can claim a special place because they've worked hard or given up a lot or have been with him from the start. 2) Jesus' story reminds the Jews that it has always been God's plan to humble the exalted and exalt the humbled; that although Israel is special in God's heart, the gospel and the kingdom are for all people, Jews and Gentiles. God is without partiality and won't favor one over the other.
The third level at which Wright applies this story has to do with our daily life of faith, and he says the following:
"Our western 'celebrity' culture favors those who manage to push themselves to the front, whether it's the people with the most obvious talents or the stars with the sharpest agents. Sadly, that can spill over into the life of the church: famous preachers and leaders get attention and the 'ordinary' Christian becomes a passive spectator. We need, again and again, to learn that there are no such people as 'ordinary' Christians. In the 'renewal of all things' which Jesus spoke about (19:28), all sorts of people will stand out as the real heroes and heroines of faith, though nobody has ever heard of them before. They will be the ones who, whether for five minutes or fifty years, served God with total and glad obedience, giving themselves completely to holiness, prayer and works of love and mercy. Such people are the pure gold of the church. But, as so often, gold remains hidden and takes some finding."
"Gracious Lord, help us to be humble enough to take whatever place we are given, and zealous enough to work wholeheartedly for your glory where and when you call us."
Saturday, March 05, 2016
Lent (#4): Cutting the Phone Line to Avoid Unwanted Callers then Wondering Why We Can't Call Our Best Friend
This week's Lent posting comes from the Week 3 Saturday reading of NT Wright's Lent for Everyone -Matthew. He writes from the teaching of Jesus about forgiveness in Matthew 18. He suggests that this teaching should be applied to at least three levels of our lives: the very personal everyday level in which we practice forgiving the little offenses and irritations that come our way; the second level is the deep psychological level of forgiving those who have sinned against us in our past, particularly those in our family; and the third level is prayer for forgiveness at the macro level in society recognizing that the day will come when God will deal once and for all with all debts of every kind in history (called the Jubilee year by the Israelites).
The following quote pertains to the second level of forgiveness; the author is telling a story about a young woman who found herself incapable of receiving the love of God even though she wanted to receive it. Eventually the truth came out that she hated her parents...
"She resented the sort of people they were, the way they had treated her. So she had closed up her heart. Where there should have been an open readiness for God's love, there was a steel wall. It was as though you cut off the telephone line to stop certain people ringing you up and then grumbled because you couldn't phone your best friend. Forgiveness and love are a two-way street. The same part of you spiritually both gives and receives. If you shut down the part labeled 'forgiveness', you shut down the part labeled 'forgiveness' in both directions...
"Jesus was the Great Jubilee in person...Forgiveness wasn't an incidental feature of his kingdom-movement. It was the name of the game. Those of us who find ourselves drawn into that movement must learn how to play that game all of the time. It's what we're about. It's what God is about."
"Loving Lord, teach us to forgive as we have been forgiven."
The following quote pertains to the second level of forgiveness; the author is telling a story about a young woman who found herself incapable of receiving the love of God even though she wanted to receive it. Eventually the truth came out that she hated her parents...
"She resented the sort of people they were, the way they had treated her. So she had closed up her heart. Where there should have been an open readiness for God's love, there was a steel wall. It was as though you cut off the telephone line to stop certain people ringing you up and then grumbled because you couldn't phone your best friend. Forgiveness and love are a two-way street. The same part of you spiritually both gives and receives. If you shut down the part labeled 'forgiveness', you shut down the part labeled 'forgiveness' in both directions...
"Jesus was the Great Jubilee in person...Forgiveness wasn't an incidental feature of his kingdom-movement. It was the name of the game. Those of us who find ourselves drawn into that movement must learn how to play that game all of the time. It's what we're about. It's what God is about."
"Loving Lord, teach us to forgive as we have been forgiven."
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This week we'll cover the first two chapters of N.T. Wright's book, Simply Jesus . These chapters are part of the first section abou...
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In chapter three, N.T.Wright describes the "perfect storm" that is swirling around Jesus today; in chapters four and five he uses ...
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Chapter 6 begins the second section of the book, Simply Jesus . In the first part N.T.Wright deals with who Jesus was; the second part is ab...
