Category Archives: Ancient Future
The Vision of the Chalices: Thoughts on our Existence
Thoughts which carry me to Jesus, and to the cross!
“In all hard work there is profit, but merely talking about it only brings poverty.” (Proverbs 14:23, NET)
He found it easier to do what is perfect than to talk about it; so he was constantly active in showing his zeal and dedication in deeds, not in words, because words do not do what is good, they only point to it.
That is why we use we use matter in liturgy, explains Paul Evdokimov. “The final destiny of water is to participate in the mystery of the Epiphany; of wood, to become a cross; of the earth, to receive the body of the Lord during his rest on the Sabbath.… Olive oil and water attain their fullness as conductor elements for grace on regenerated man. Wheat and wine achieve their ultimate raison d’etre in the eucharistic chalice.
I am pretty sure it was a dream, (at least I hope it was!) but there were some chalices gathered together, having a discussion, which occasionally devolved into arguments about their reason for their existence. The odd thing, is that they all sat on a shelf, awaiting to be purchased, and none of them had actively served–they were all awaiting to be purchased and put to use. That didn’t stop them as seeing themselves as experts, of forming and aggressively sharing their theories and positions. They even formed a coaches and consultants guild for chalices’
One day, a chalice that should have been retired, for it was dented, and its gold faded, its ornate artwork rubbed down by decades in the hands of priests and pastors, came into the shop. The pastor asked if his old friend could be repaired, his gold polished if he could be restored.
There were more chalices there that day, as they were having a conference to vote on new rules for the creation, maintenance and use of chalices. Only the best were allowed to come, those that dedicated their lives to the study and teaching of chalice-ness. The old chalice listened in and smiled, and longed to be back in his parish, for it was there he was a chalice. It was there the joy of being the vessel containing Christ’s Blood was found, as broken people drank from Him, and found the healing God meant for them. It was there he was profitable, or in the old language, salutary.
He attempted to share this, but was shut out – too eccentric, to odd, and too dedicated to those ugly broken humans, who would wear him down, steal his luster and shine.
Hopefully you see the connection of this dream to the proverb, and the poverty of being “on the shelf” rather than in the hands. And St. Francis and the old chalice have much in common, as does the point of the destiny of water to be used in baptism, and wheat and wine in the sacrament. Of the wood of the manger and cross, and even the temporary use of the grave.
But do you see yourself in the dream? Are you the sort of Christian who just sit on a shelf, reading books on theology, evangelism, and how to be the church? Or are you like the old beaten up chalice which has lost its glorious shine, but filled with the completeness that is found in being who God called you to be, one of His people who was sent to continue Christ’s ministry to those who are broken,,,,
Don’t spend time thinking about it.
You know you are His, forgive, healing, children.
So live that way, and fulfill your ministry.
Pasquale, G., ed. (2011). Day by Day with Saint Francis: 365 Meditations (p. 104). New City Press.
Fagerberg, D. W. (2019). Liturgical Mysticism (pp. 134–135). Emmaus Academic.
Is the church still asleep in the light? (Oddly Enough, Pope Benedict XVI and Keith Green have the same solution!)
Thoughts that carry this broken pastor to Jesus, and to the cross.
“How long, you sluggard, will you lie there? When will you rise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to relax, and your poverty will come like a robber, and your need like an armed man.” (Proverbs 6:9–11, NET)
“The world is sleeping in the dark, that the church just can’t fight, because its asleep in the light….”
. Every font is now charged with spiritual fire, and from every chalice we now drink sacramental blood. Adam mutinously ate from a tree and its fruit killed him; we meekly eat from the tree of the cross, and its fruitful flesh restores our life.
Thus, missionary zeal has nothing at all to do with the conquest of a person or people, but rather with enabling all to give their lives the deepest and most joyful meaning possible. The Church but reflects Christ’s light and permits people to experience in the Eucharist God’s presence in Christ’s sacrifice, and thereby the divine invitation to adore and glorify Him, the triune God.
My generation of church leaders heard the words of Keith Green’s song as a prophetic message, judging the church of its day, and their lack of helping people see the incredible intimate relationship we have in Christ. We swore we would never be like that, that our generation would be the one that would see the world change again, that as servant leaders of the church, we would see revival far greater than Azusa Street or Caine Ridge, a reformation and restoration of the church that had only been a dream for Luther and those who followed.
40 years later, our churches are even more empty, and “asleep in the light” is not just a spiritual statement, but often a physical one, as our leaders are no longer in their 50s and 60s, but many of them over 80!
We are asleep here in the USA, and in Europe, and the hope of the church has begun to be found in East Africa, and in the wilds of South and Central America and Southeast Asia and Korea. In those areas, the gospel in thriving, in ours it looks more like the living room during a bowl game, those that remain are snoring.
Our answers aren’t even really answers! They are hypothesis that are being un-retired, programs that mimic those which were once considered effective, or “modified” from those which seem effective now, without any study or long range success. Books written, seminars sponsored (usually led by formerly burned out pastors who weren’t successful) coaches contracted, all to achieve what should naturally be achieved, if we are being restored by the Body and Blood, nailed to the cross, which enters us each and every week!
The answer to spiritual apathy, to spiritual low-blood sugar isn’t monitoring and reading, it is having something to eat!
Pope Benedict XVI understood this in a similar way to Keith Green, as he describes the driving force of missionary zeal to be found in the intimacy of the Eucharist, in the presence of God as Christ has given Himself, (once and for all ) for us. That invitation into adoration that occurs during the Feast is life giving, life restoring, freeing it again from the life draining bondage of sin and a unrighteous world.
That’s why Keith ended his call to missionary action with these words,
Come away, come awayCome away with me, my loveCome away from this messCome away with me, my lovCome away from this messCome away with me, my loveCome away, come away, ohCome away with me, my love
In the sacraments, we find that we do “come away” with Jesus, only to find out that we awaken from our broken slumber, and see that others can be share in this life and glory of Christ as well… and we find ourselves given to this task… and content to see God provide the revival.
Keith Green, No Compromise – 1978
Fagerberg, D. W. (2019). Liturgical Mysticism (p. 38). Emmaus Academic.
De Gaál, E. (2018). O Lord, I Seek Your Countenance: Explorations and Discoveries in Pope Benedict XVI’s Theology (M. Levering, Ed.; p. 53). Emmaus Academic.
Can a Lutheran (Or Catholic or Presbyterian or) Pray for Revival?
Concordia Lutheran Church – Cerritos, Ca , at dawn on Easter Sunday
Thoughts which carry me to Jesus, and to the Cross
““So I will set apart as holy the tent of meeting and the altar, and I will set apart as holy Aaron and his sons, that they may minister as priests to me. I will reside among the Israelites, and I will be their God, and they will know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out from the land of Egypt, so that I may reside among them. I am the LORD their God.” (Exodus 29:44–46, NET)
544 The Communion of the Saints. How shall I explain it to you? You know what blood transfusions can do for the body? Well, that’s what the Communion of the Saints does for the soul.
I don’t know why I felt the need to write on revival this morning, and to be honest, I didn’t see the connection at first in my devotional readings. The seem as far from the concept of revival as the horizon seems to the sailor in the Pacific Ocean.
What great thoughts ar expressed in them though! The idea that God’s reason, His “so that” for the Exodus, was not just so they could recognize Him, but that He could reside, that He could dwell with us! And as He does this community that is formed with Him in Him and through Him becomes the place of the transfusion, as the trust in God that sustains this saint becomes common to that one. Where the hope of that little group becomes the hope for all, as we are reminded of the Lord’s presence,
And as I long for those thoughts to become reality at Concordia – I realized what I was longing for was the result of revival–it is the end game result, the people of God knowing the love of God for man that enables us, no that compels us to share the life we’ve been given.
All the rest that goes with revival, from the repentance of people who have learned to grieve over their and their communities’ sins, to the flood of new music, to the care for those who are widowed and orphaned and who have immigrated to the community, are complimentary and caused by the people of God dwelling in His presence, communing together, as they are made God’s.
But it is the communion, the community of God and man (all of us) that is the goal. Not the change in morality, though that will happen, nor is it about filling every church and planting thousands of others-thought this will happen as well. It’s not about political agendas, or denominational superiority. It is even about the signs and wonders that happen…..
Revival is simple- it is about people rejoicing in the presence of a loving God as He cares for us.
And this we can all pray…even as the psalmist did:
6 Won’t you revive us again, so your people can rejoice in you? 7 Show us your unfailing love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation.
Psalm 85:6-7 (NLT2)
Escrivá, Josemaría. The Way (p. 117). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
How to Not Become a Legalist…
Thoughts which carry this broken pastor to Jesus, and to The Cross
“‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me, and they worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”” (Matthew 15:8–9, NET)
“My child, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for they will provide a long and full life, and they will add well-being to you.” (Proverbs 3:1–2, NET)
Indeed, in this great and awesome mystery of the cross, the charisms of graces, the merits of virtue, and the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge are concealed in such profound depths as to be hidden from the wise and the prudent of this world. But it is revealed in such fullness to the little one of Christ, that in his whole life he followed nothing except the footsteps of the cross, he tasted nothing except the sweetness of the cross, and he preached nothing except the glory of the cross. In the beginning of his conversion he could truly say with the Apostle: Far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ [Gal 6:14].
“Belief is always consequent upon the encounter with the Source of the grace of faith. Therefore Christians do not worship because they believe. They believe because the One in whose gift faith lies is regularly met in the act of communal worship—not because the assembly conjures up God, but because the initiative lies with the God who has promised to be there always.
As I read the quote from Matthew, my heart and mind wanted to weaponise it, it pointed out those I encounter who have created “laws of men” regarding the Liturgy, or regarding the “viability” of small churches, or any of a thousand other pet peeves I would outlaw.
And then it hit me, I was creating my own set of laws. I was as guilty as those I judge! (I might justify myself – but even so…) I know I have this ability, it is part of my make-up, part of my humanity, part of my personal warping of justice and righteousness. As I realize that, it sucks out of me some of the harsh judgment and wrath I want to spill out.
I want to focus, as Proverbs advises, on the commandments of God, to not forget what God teaches us, to treasure (the root word of keep) the commandments, and the relationship defined by the Covenant God has made with us.
But I don’t alway do that – and I have to try… but how?
Francis provides the simplistic attitude, to focus on the cross, to walk towards it, to savor it as we would a good meal, to be so enraptured by the cross, that nothing else, I realize, is worth my time – save connecting others to it.
It is at that cross that I encounter my Jesus, that I start to experience His love in all its vast dimension-less measure. It is there in the cross I find hope, I find a reason to have faith and depend on God, it is there I find the healing from the brokenness that dominates my life.
It is there I find the grace to deal with other broken Pharisees, Saducees, God-deniers, and unbelievers.
It is there that I encounter the God whom I will worship – and then learn to more about the God who loves me enough to invade my brokenness, and carry me to the cross, to rise with Him…
God is with us, here at the Cross, this is where we learn to live and worship, and know the Lord who loves us!
Pasquale, G., ed. (2011). Day by Day with Saint Francis: 365 Meditations (p. 332). New City Press.
Fagerberg, D. W. (2019). Liturgical Mysticism (p. 7). Emmaus Academic.
The Greatest lesson I know – from the Ezekiel and Daniel (and John)
Photo by Wouter de Jong on Pexels.com
Thoughts which carry this broken pastor to Jesus, and to the Cross:
“The wise men answered the king, saying, “No one on earth can do what the king asks! No great and powerful king has ever asked the fortune-tellers, magicians, or wise men to do this; the king is asking something that is too hard. Only the gods could tell the king this, but the gods do not live among people.”” (Daniel 2:10–11, NCV)
“The man asked me, “Human, do you see this?” Then the man led me back to the bank of the river. As I went back, I saw many trees on both sides of the river. The man said to me, “This water will flow toward the eastern areas and go down into the Jordan Valley. When it enters the Dead Sea, it will become fresh. Everywhere the river goes, there will be many fish. Wherever this water goes the Dead Sea will become fresh, and so where the river goes there will be many living things. Fishermen will stand by the Dead Sea. From En Gedi all the way to En Eglaim there will be places to spread fishing nets. There will be many kinds of fish in the Dead Sea, as many as in the Mediterranean Sea. But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. All kinds of fruit trees will grow on both banks of the river, and their leaves will not dry and die. The trees will have fruit every month, because the water for them comes from the Temple. The fruit from the trees will be used for food, and their leaves for medicine.”” (Ezekiel 47:6–12, NCV)
“Then King Nebuchadnezzar was so surprised that he jumped to his feet. He asked the men who advised him, “Didn’t we tie up only three men and throw them into the fire?” They answered, “Yes, O king.” The king said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire. They are not tied up, and they are not burned. The fourth man looks like a son of the gods.”” (Daniel 3:24–25, NCV)
“He who gives life was shown to us. We saw him and can give proof about it. And now we announce to you that he has life that continues forever. He was with God the Father and was shown to us. We announce to you what we have seen and heard, because we want you also to have fellowship with us. Our fellowship is with God the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to you so we may be full of joy.” (1 John 1:2–4, NCV)
As I caught up on my devotional reading this morning, I noticed an incredible summary of the gospel, spread across three books of scripture, and two of them—Old Testament prophetic books. It continually amazes me to see God’s plan revealed, not just in the 4 gospels, but it described with such passion in the Old Testament.
I could have described it with just the two readings from Daniel, but the Ezekiel parable adds so much to it! I could have just done it from John’s epistle, but there is something to say about Daniel setting up this incredible picture of the powerful, intimate relationship we have with Jesus and the Father, which the spirit nurtures!
So let’s start with the first Daniel reading…
The back story is that the King has threatened his wise men with their death, if they cannot do the impossible—a task that requires in it a supernatural quality that they say they do not have. Their entire defense is that God (or in their case gods) would never live with people. They say this knowing their lives are on the line. What despair they must have felt, what emptiness, what a traumatic sinking feeling to know you are about to die—and there is nothing you can do
Which leads us to Ezekiel, and this wonderful parable of the water of life, flowing from the sacrifice in the Temple, turns the deadest water in the world into living, refreshing water! That Sea is so polluted from salt and other mineral that no amoeba, never mind plants or fish, can survive in it. It is literally dead, and it is deadly to any who end up in it, or hope to find life around it. Yet this water of life changes it, purifies it, makes it capable of life, of sustaining the life and it will thrive. When Jesus talks of being the living water to the women at the well, who knew the scriptures, this may have been a thought in the back of her mind—for what kind of water brings this life….only that which flows from the Holy of Holies – the place of forgiveness and mercy!
But if this water is a picture of Jesus, it also describes the relationship He has with us, as the water that flows into our death, into our broken-nonfunctioning life—into that place where the wise men were in despair, where we are riddled with guilt and shame and anxiety. But as He comes into our life, as He purifies and heals it, he shares in it as close as a molecule of water is to the other molecules of water. The intimacy is that you cannot tell the difference where one starts and the other begins—which is how the purity is created as it is shared, as all impure is removed.
The intimacy that the wise men said couldn’t exist, proves to be the standard of life! The attempts of man to extinguish that life in others, simply results in the king’s testimony that no other God can, or does, save His people like this—by become not just like them, but by making them one with Him. No other God in any other religion wants this close a relationship with the broken people He loves, that He created to love.
Which brings us to John’s epistle – and this incredible, intimate picture gets reinforced as we find out that we are joined, made one, for that is what koinonia/communion/fellowship means with Jesus and the Father! This is that very same picture of the water cleansing and bring life to where there was no life. A life that nourishes and strengthens all the life on the shoreline. For it transforms it.
This is who we are in Christ Jesus, this is what repentance means – this changing of our soul, heart and mind, from broken and dead, without God and alone, to healed, and restored, and united to God through the blood of Christ.
SO maybe there was a reason to miss devotions on Monday, and put all these readings, each re-enforcing the idea, together. This is what the Old Testament Prophecies are supposed to do, to point to this relationship between God and His people, a relationship we can point to with hope.
This is what we need – this water of life, this Son of God, who dances with us, even amidst the hottest, fieriest trauma.
Gor we have been made one with Him, as His blood covers our sin, and brings life to us.
AMEN!
“Pious Practices Are Pragmatic” or “Spend the Time with Him”
Thoughts which Carry Me to Jesus, and to the Cross
““I am the vine, and you are the branches. If any remain in me and I remain in them, they produce much fruit. But without me they can do nothing.” (John 15:5, NCV)
The sociologists who prepared a recent report about women religious in Quebec, the French-speaking province of Canada, describe how, in the course of twenty years [1961–1981], all the communities there initiated every conceivable kind of reform: abandonment of the religious habit, individual budgets, degrees from secular universities, membership in secular professions, massive assistance from “specialists” of every kind. Yet sisters continued to leave and new ones failed to come. Perhaps, without being fully aware of the reasons, women religious felt a deep unrest at living in a Church in which Christianity is reduced to an ideology of doing, a Church in which there is no longer any place for mystical experience, for that zenith of religious life that has been—and not by chance—the most precious treasure of the Church through centuries of uninterrupted constancy and fullness in the lives of religious, usually women rather than men; in the lives of those extraordinary women whom the Church has honored with the title “saint”, and sometimes even “doctor”, not hesitating to offer them as models for all Christians.
To be “led by the Spirit of God” means to be given a heart which gladly hears God’s Word and believes that in Christ it has grace and the forgiveness of sins; a heart which confesses and proves its faith before the world; a heart which seeks, above all things, the glory of God, and endeavors to live without giving offense, to serve others and to be obedient, patient, pure and chaste, mild and gentle; a heart which, though at times overtaken in a fault, and may stumble, soon rises again by repentance and ceases to sin. All these things the Holy Spirit teaches one if he hears and receives the Word, and does not willfully resist the Spirit.
“According to several surveys, prayer remains the least satisfactory aspect of pastors’ spiritual lives.”
Back in the 1990s, before i became a pastor, I read an article by a pastor I knew and respected, that grieved over the amount of time pastors spent in prayer, and in listening to God as they read scripture and other books devotionally. The 2017 quote above indicates that hasn’t changed much, and a google search indicates that pastors and lay people spend less than 15 minutes in prayer a day on average. WHen I read Jack’s words, I wondered, somewhat self-righteously, how pastors could let this happen, how could they (now we) cut ourselves off from the source of our life, the very power that enables us to do what we do.
I don’t wonder anymore. Our very ministry and life robs us from these things, as we try to balance the needs of our people, our community, our families–all who we are called to minister to, with spending “me time”, the time I need to find the peace and sanctuary I need to survive this mad world. If I don’t take this time, it is clearly visible – and it seems more and more so.
THere is also a bit of hypocrisy here. How can I instruct people to spend time in prayer, talking and listening to God, if I don’t show an effect of that prayer in my own life? For certainly we all need this time of rest, this time of recovery, this time of devotion, adoration, doing those things once labelled pious.
Today I think the pious label needs to be replaced with a different one.
There are not pious practices, they are not what creates pietism.
They are simply pragmatic.
Like when I plus my car in to get charged.
Jesus speaks of this as He teaches us that we can do nothing separated from Him, NOTHING.
My two favorite pastor/theologians, Martin Luther and Pope Benedict XVI comment on it, noting the effect of removing those practices on a community of nuns, that literally dies off as the pragmatic practices that caused them to realize the presence of Jesus in their lives is removed, and their hearts, like those of the pharisees and people of Jesus day are far off from Him. Luther testifies to the effect of walking in the grace and forgiveness found in the Spirits presence, a mindblowing witness of the transformation of a sinner into a reflection of Jesus.
We need this time, as we need to breathe, as electric cars need current and gas cars need gasoline. We live in Him, and He in us, and it takes time to work that out in our heart, souls and minds.
I know this for a fact, as I sit in my office – 12 major things (woops – another came to mind 13) and a million minor things to do…
But I can’t do any of them without Him.
Neither can you… spend he time in prayer, even if it is slowly savoring the words of the Lord’s prayer, or a psalm or 2…
and know the Lord is with you!
Ratzinger, Joseph. 1992. Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Edited by Irene Grassl. Translated by Mary Frances McCarthy and Lothar Krauth. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
Luther, Martin, and John Sander. 1915. Devotional Readings from Luther’s Works for Every Day of the Year. Rock Island, IL: Augustana Book Concern.
https://www.christianitytoday.com/karl-vaters/2017/september/for-every-minister-who-struggles-with-your-prayer-life.html
Despair, Depression and Burn out… Is there hope?
Photo by Wouter de Jong on Pexels.com
Thoughts which draw me closer to Jesus and to the Cross…
1 These are the words of the Teacher, a son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2 The Teacher says, “Useless! Useless! Completely useless! Everything is useless.”3 What do people really gain from all the hard work they do here on earth? Ecc. 1:1 NCV
58 So my dear brothers and sisters, stand strong. Do not let anything move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your work in the Lord is never wasted. 1 Cor. 15:58 NCV
Faith is not just a matter of feeling, something that we pursue as a private matter in addition to the ordinary pursuits of every day because, after all, man has a longing for religion. Faith is above all the orderliness of reason, without which it loses its standard and the ability to judge its own goals
For such times, when our heart feels too sorely pressed, this comfort of the Lord’s Supper is given to bring us new strength and refreshment.
I have yet to meet anyone over the age of twelve, who hasn’t encountered the feeling that Solomon so perfectly explains this morning. It is a sense of fatalism, a lack of meaning, which attempts to extinguish our meaning. It hits us all, some of us because of things in the world we can’t change, others because of things in our lives, relationships, health, work, And when all those things gang up….what I call righteous depression sets deeply into our lives. And if we are dealing with some form of clinical depression at the same time… life becomes even more miserable.
Even for Solomon, the wisest man in history, one of the wealthiest and famous men in ancient history, who clearly was at a low as he wrote this book. Which is exactly why its in scripture, for if he could survive such, we who have the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, can do the same.
St. Paul shows the counter, that our depression isn’t an accurate feeling, what we are experiencing in the dark shadows of life isn’t what is real. It may seem this way, oh the darkness seems so real, so traumatic, and we seem so alone. But God promises something radically different a we walk with Him, a promise sthat we need to cling to, a hope that goes beyond our sensibilities, that defies our logic.
A promise that points out that God’s love and peace is beyond our understanding, untouchable by our logic. A peace that is found when we depend on God, (for that is what “to have faith” means) and we let God’s reason overwhelm our reason. We trust His reality more than what we perceive.
ANd this is the reasons for the sacraments. Something physical, something tangible, something which comforts as we realize we are being ministered to by God… as much as Elijah was, when he ran away from his victory. When we hear the words-they should shock you enough to move past your old logic that is failing, for something that is healing, for something miraculous.
This is our hope when we think all is vain, to cling to the hope of Christ, in who nothing is vain.
May you find someone to day to encourage you to look to Jesus, and may you do the same for several others.
“Ratzinger, Joseph. Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Edited by Irene Grassl, Translated by Mary Frances McCarthy and Lothar Krauth, Ignatius Press, 1992, p. 226.
Martin Luther, “The Large Catechism,” Tappert, Theodore G., editor. The Book of Concord the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Mühlenberg Press, 1959, p. 449.
Experiences beyond words……Where Theological and Exegetical Knowledge Fail
Thoughts which drive me to Jesus, and to His cross…
3 But those who prophesy are speaking to people to give them strength, encouragement, and comfort…..5 Those who prophesy are greater than those who can only speak in different languages—unless someone is there who can explain what is said so that the whole church can be helped. 1 Co 14:3-5. NCV
19 I am teaching them to you now so that you will put your trust in the LORD. NCV Pr 22:19.
The Imitation of Christ admonishes us: “Even if you knew by heart the whole Bible and the sayings of all the philosophers, what would it profit you without the love of God and his grace?” “Everyone has a natural craving for knowledge, but of what avail is knowledge without the fear of God?” “An unlearned person who serves God is surely better than a learned one who proudly searches the heavens while neglecting himself.” “Give up your excessive desire for learning. Therein are to be found only illusion and inner emptiness.”
How a man is born again may easily be told in words. When, however, it is a matter of experience, as it was with Nicodemus, it is a hard matter to understand and it requires effort to attain the experience. To persevere in this, when it becomes a matter of experience and when we are really tested, requires pains and labor.
Nicodemus was a brilliant scholar among the Jewish leaders. Yet he had to approach Jesus by night, and then the simplest thing, the idea of being born again, befuddled him. (I like that word befuddled – I dont’ know why!) He was confused, as many were with Jesus’ simplest teachings.
There are some things in life that you do not learn with your mind, you can only experience them, and let them transform you. Paul the apostle talks about two things – God’s love and His peace in a manner that clearly states that they are beyond our ability to understand, but are easily experienced. The Holy Spirit causes us to do causes, in ways beyond words. And if we focus on trying to explain it, we lose track of the experience.
There is more to it than that, as Paul discusses above when the saints in Corinth. There is a purpose to our words that can easily get lost as we pursue any gift–the ability to use that as a tool to help people experience the love and peace of God. We are called to bring each other strength, encouragement and comfort we are called to help all those called together–all those God desires to save. And the pursuit of knowledge can distract from that.
This is why Solomon, the wisest man in history would write that the purpose of his scriptures was to help us put our trust in the Lord, not in Solomon! And Pope Benedict XVI ( aka Joseph Ratzinger) the brilliant theologian Scholar, would quote another saying the natural craving for knowledge is worthless, compared to an unlearned person in a relationship with God. Brilliant men, gifted with knowledge and wisdom, dialing it back–to know God.
Another brilliant pastor I know, had an advanced school of preaching – 5 courses…. an introduction then 4 deeper classes. the first deep class was 45 hours learning who we were in Christ – not pastors, but children of God, who God was forming. THe last class had “nothing” to do with scripture–at least directly. Instead, we were study our people, to know what they were going through. We were given ways to learn their hurts and pains, to get behind the walls they set up. to laugh and cry with them (as St. Paul advised) because then we could see the Holy Spirit using our words to reveal that comfort that only comes from experiencing God’s love, that comes as we dwell secure in His peace. I look at those two classes as being the most formative of my preaching, even though they taught me nothing about studying scripture, or Greek or Hebrew. Instead of that Schuler, made us live in the love and peace scripture revealed, and then encouraged us to understand how we would help reveal it to others.
One of my other mentors, a brilliant Hebrew scholar, is also such a man. His gift goes beyond languages. While a good preacher (except for his ubiquitous mentions of USC football), his primary ministry I will always see as how he helped his congregation experience God’s love and peace in the Lord’s Supper. It was visible to me, as I assisted him, that his people savored this moment of communion, as they experienced Christ’s Body and Blood, given and shed for them. Body’s relaxed– smiles broke out, tension faded in weary, anxious bodies, as peace settled over them–as they knew they were loved. This is what I hope I can do… far more than anything else…this is what is needed – and important!
Don’t get me wrong, study is still a discipline I need, – but what is needed more, what we need to pray for, and focus our ministry on, is that God loves us, and calls us to Himself. Everything else must serve that purpose… for then the church is a place where broken people find healing, while helping others heal.
Ratzinger, Joseph. Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Edited by Irene Grassl, Translated by Mary Frances McCarthy and Lothar Krauth, Ignatius Press, 1992, p. 223.
Luther, Martin, and John Sander. Devotional Readings from Luther’s Works for Every Day of the Year. Augustana Book Concern, 1915, p. 247.
Should I Want to Please People? The Answer is surprising…
Thoughts which drive me to the crucified Christ….
31 The answer is, if you eat or drink, or if you do anything, do it all for the glory of God. 32 Never do anything that might hurt others—Jews, Greeks, or God’s church—33 just as I, also, try to please everybody in every way. I am not trying to do what is good for me but what is good for most people so they can be saved.
11 Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. 1 Co 10:31–11:1. NCV
Sovereign Love is found only in charity; the love of hope is imperfect, and consists more of feeling than fact, without charity; yet as a motive power nothing can exceed hope, and therefore we say that through hope we love God supremely.
321 Apostolic soul, that intimacy between Jesus and you—so close to him for so many years! Doesn’t it mean anything to you?
I read a different Bible translation every year for a reason, I want to do more than just read it, I want things to strike me differently, to challenge me, to gnaw at my brain until it burrows into my heart.
Today is one of those days, and it was caused by Paul’s advice that we are to imitate him by pleasing everybody in every way. I had to admit, this struck me odd, so I went back to my old familiar translations, NLT, NJB, NKJV even the old KJV, and all of them had the same concept… we are to please every body.
That sounds so contrary to how I’ve been taught to minister to people! We are supposed to do what is right, not what makes everyone happy! When we preach, when we plan worship, when we are counseling them regarding sin and trauma, I’ve heard that from pastors and professors for years, especially in regards to worship practices.
I think the anxiety rises because we equate people pleasing with compromise, and that leads us to think we would compromise something important, like the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus which was accomplished to join us to Himself by erasing our sin. I have heard such conversations about those who want to appease those in their church by honoring traditions, and by those who want to offend them in order to “please” others.
I think please them is less about compromise than we think – it is about making people comfortable in the presence of God, removing the stumbling blocks that distract them from resting in the presence of God. Think abut a hot day, where you are working hard outside, and someone offers you a cold soda just as you finish your work. That can be a moment where you are pleased, where nothing stops you from taking a deep breath and being satisfied with the day.
It is that kind of moment of intimacy with God, the assurance that He is with them, that being pleased is all about. That allows the anxiety and tension, the stress and overwhelming emotional overload to be vented, and to leace us in a moment of bliss, in a moment where salvation is recognized and rejoiced in, even if just a quietly said, AMEN! (meaning “this is real and true)
The desire for people to come to those moments is what Josemaria is talking about, as he addresses those who want to save the world. For it is those moments of intimacy with God, those moments that should mean everything to us…that should fuel our apostolate (Roman Catholic term – some contemporary protestants would say our missional attitude.) It is that which fuels the hope that brings us to God who gives us that hope, and helps us to realize how meaningless life is without it.
That is the core of evangelism – and what would lift people up and give them more pleasure than they’ve ever experienced, to know by experiencing it– the height, depth, breadth and width of God’s love for them, revealed in Christ. And the more we realize that pleasure, that joy, the more dominant giving it to others becomes….
Of the Love of God. Translated by H. L. Sidney Lear, Rivingtons, 1888, p. 79.
Escrivá, Josemaría. The Way (p. 54). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
