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Being Blunt and Honest With God….. A Necessity..even when I am ticked off
Devotional Thought of the Day:
7 LORD, you have deceived me, and I was deceived. You are stronger than I am, and you have overpowered me. Everyone makes fun of me; they laugh at me all day long. 8 Whenever I speak, I have to cry out and shout, “Violence! Destruction!” LORD, I am ridiculed and scorned all the time because I proclaim your message. 9 But when I say, “I will forget the LORD and no longer speak in his name,” then your message is like a fire burning deep within me. I try my best to hold it in, but can no longer keep it back. Jeremiah 20:7-9 (TEV)
333 Think about this carefully: being transparent lies more in not hiding things rather than in wanting things to be seen. It is a matter of allowing the objects lying at the bottom of a glass to be perceived, and not trying to make the air visible. (1)
it has been one of those weeks. The kind I have had far too often recently, but this one is up there.
Six years ago, even though I read the verses above from Jeremiah many times before, I actually preached on it. I was at the time deciding to accept a call to the church I presently serve. Leaving behind friends and a church that was described by my predecessor as the nicest church he had ever encountered in 50 years of ministry. So why would I leave? And what did it mean that I would preach on this dark passage from Jeremiah?
Weeks like this one. Where I started the week praying for friend that was likewise moving from one parish to another, at the choice of his supervisors. Trying to grieve the change, while ministering to those he was coming to serve. Difficult. Very difficult. Another old friend this week revealed that he was also moving from one church to another – re-assigned by his supervisors. A challenging move for him as well, and then another friend last night, was told it was time to move in his ministry.
I am praying for one of the men I had a part in training for ministry, he has brain cancer and is fading fast. Another friend I found out this morning, who I also trained as a deacon, had a heart attack. Last night, out of the blue, I found myself discussing the death of one of the best friends in my life, who ministered at my side for far too long. There as well was another of my best friends, who lost his dad a month after I lost mine, and a few months later, his mom went to be with God as well.
Tomorrow, as our children wish us Happy Father’s Day, for the first time we can’t go to lunch with our dads, or talk to them on the phone. Some 15 of our friends lost dad’s or a granddad after ours passed.
This is not counting the trauma of those around us, which dwarfs our own. Dear friends with health problems. Families torn apart and going through death, others through divorce, family facing issues with those they love who are in bondage to drugs or alcohol. People dealing with financial crisis, people dealing with disabilities, including those of the mental health variety. Missionaries who are trying to deal with poverty that makes our headspin, or with violence and threats and potential martyrdom. Other people making decisions that will wreck their lives, decisions they know are wrong, but justify with justifications that…
It is enough to make you want to scream “stop”, or yell out in anger and frustration.
And if we admit it, if we are honest and transparent, the One we want to yell at …. is God.
Couldn’t He do something? “In only you had been here Lord,”the sisters of Lazarus has said. Whose fault is all of this suffering, all this pain? Why can’t life be simple and pleasant and without all this…. painful crap… (I wrote something else there.(shit).. but edited it)
It took preaching on Jeremiah’s hitting the breaking point, to be able to realize that it was ok to yell at God. That you can say that God tricked you, deceived you, to cry out like a 5 year old, “That’s not fair” or “This sucks…. That transparency with God, about our feelings, our frustrations our pain is a good thing, and I will dare say, it is necessary.
Because being that transparent with God is a matter of faith, it is necessary if we are to trust Him to bring us through the situation, if we are going to allow Him to walk us through the fire, through the storm, even through the valley of the shadow of death. It is necessary to grieve, because then acknowledging the pain, we can let Him, ask Him, count on Him, to bring healing, to bring peace, to flood our lives with His love, and comfort.
You can’t do that if you are hiding it, if you are bottling it up, letting it turn to resentment. Pouring it out on those who become you victims, because you won’t let the frustration and anger be turned on the One who has shoulders to bear it, shoulders that bore the stripes of whips, the very stripes that Isaiah prophesied would heal us, cleanse us… save us.
Have to admit, I don’t like writing this blog. Have to admit – I would love to just spend tomorrow walking along Lake Ossipee, with my son, and yeah – with my dad.
It needs to be written, for my own sake, but perhaps for yours as well. To give us the confidence to say,
Lord have mercy…. which can only be said… when we know we need it… even desperately need it.
Amen.
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 1555-1557). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Change: A Lenten Journey
Devtional THought of the Day:
2 Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God—what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect. Romans 12:2 (TEV)
2 May your behavior and your conversation be such that everyone who sees or hears you can say: This man reads the life of Jesus Christ.
This morning, I found out a good friend of mine is going to be experiencing a massive change this summer, as he returns to the U.S.A from the mission field. His children were born on the field, all they know is living in Asia. It will be a massive challenge to readjust to life here.. Another friend, a Catholic priest, will be also changing parishes, leaving behind people he loves, and taking on some challening responsibilities. Many I know are going through changes of life, as they get older, as they are married, as they leave school and enter the workforce. The change that happens as health crisis threaten.
Change – it is challenging, it is frieghtening, it is ocverwhelming, and based on a lot of experience, it often simply, sucks.
Maybe that is why Lent is such a challenge for us. Because of the changes that we will undergo as we consider our lives. I am not talking about giving up chocolate, or not eating meat on Friday, or of committing to do a good thing every day. These actions, taken with great sincerity, are simply symbolic of what we hope and fear to see coming out of a Lenten season, our of a life that is, to use a fancy church word penitnent. (More than just being sorry, but grieving over sin and the brokenness it causes.
Lent is a season of change. A season of transformation, a season of realizing our desperate, yes desperate need for the presence of God in our lives. For Him to come into our life, into our brokenness, into the deepest parts of our lives. The parts we would rather not face, the pasts we are scared to revisit, He comes there, and takes on the sin, the pain, the brokennes. He consumes it, there on the cross where it is with Him. This is a change as fierce, as daunting, as radical as anything we can undergo in life. For it is death for that part of us, the part we cannot cope with, the burdens we need to be freed from, for they crush the life out of us.
It could be said that this process of facing our brokennes is hard, is extreme, is a process of change that goes beyond our ability to bear. For we have to die to self, and trust that we will coem alive in Christ. It is a re-living of our baptism, for it happened there as well. Unting with the death of Christ………the strkness, the cruelty of the cross.
Yet, on the otherside, there is light and peace… and joy.
For there is God, there is Christ, there is the gift fo the Holy Spirit who walks us through this valley of the shadow of death, to celebrate Christ’s feast.
That is our journey of lent, our journey that changes us, as we walk with Jesus to the cross, and to the resurrection.
May you embrace the change this year, knowing God’s mercy, and allowing Him to clean out the places in your life where you fear to go.
Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). The Way (Kindle Locations 174-175). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Morality and Adoration
Devotional thought of the day:
As I wander through the updates of Facebook, I see two basic reactions to immorality.
The first encourages and defends it, asserting that no one has the right to interfere with another’s choices. It doesn’t matter what is immoral, whether it be greed, or lust, or envy. Dare you challenge someone on an immoral act, and you will find great opposition, even to the extent that you will be demonized for opposing that which they have every right (incurring free speech) to do. Result, immorality proposers.
The second is an attempt, rather than dealing with immorality on an individual basis, to legislate it, to prohibit and publicly protest it. We see this all the time, as Christians attempt to sincerely make a difference, or at least try to appear like they are making a difference. In trying to legislate the morality of a culture that is patently immoral, we easily become crusaders or compromisors, willing to give up on this issue, to make a stand on that issue, Eventually, we simply make token stands, like the one church leaders made last year – protesting the requirement for mandated coverage for abortion for those whose work is affiliated with religious ministry. ( Don’t we trust our own people enough that they won’t take advantage of such, but they will come to us for assistance in crisis? For that matter, do we doubt the moral fiber of those we shepherd to not get “into trouble” in the first place?)
So what do we do about morality and immorality? What will radically change the behavior of our country? What will help people not only be able to distinguish what it moral and beneficial to themselves and society, but see a desire to live morally, and to seek remedy and assistance when one fails, (as we all do)
There is an easy answer.
Adoration.
Simply put, when we find ourselves in the midst of a Holy, Righteous, Perfect God, who welcomes us, cleanses us, loves us, we find ourselves in awe, and that awe transforms to joy and that joy into adoration and love. And the more we fall in love with the God who loves us, and blesses us, and makes our life a masterpiece, that awe grows. And as that awe grows, the more the moral fabric of our lives changes.
Look at the stories of the “big-time” saints. St. Paul, St Augustine, St Francis, or the great revivals like the Great Awakening, or the Welsh Revival. In each life, in each revivial, the moral fabric changes, even without being addressed. Like Zacchaeus, an encounter with God leaves us wanting to change, and more than that – seeing the changes created inside us, impelling us, transforming us, renewing and re-creating us in all of His glory.
Some theologians will disagree with me, they will point to the natural law, and the “civil use” of the law. I’ll deal with that some other time – the answer is simple – found in Romans 2-8. But you cannot deny, someone madly in love with God, who is responding to God’s love for them being revealed – they will be transformed, and the more they dwell, the more they live in the presence of His love, the more they will be unable to tolerate sin, and immorality. Within themselves, they will rush to forgiveness, to the places it is promised. They will meditate on their Baptism (see Titus 3:2-8), they will feast on the Body brokem and the Blood shed for the forgiveness of sins, they will confess their sins and hear that they are cleansed of them and all unrighteousness. ANd they will see their brother, their neighbor, those those still fighting for freedom to sin, and they will fight to free them from sin, not simply restrict the ability to.
Adoration result in morality, not as a primary result, but simply as a side affect.
But if it is a moral society you really desire… desire instead the presence of the One who accounts us moral, and righteous, and beloved.
Good Change is often slow…
Devitional/Discussion thought of the Day:
“The end of a matter is better than its beginning; Patience of spirit is better than haughtiness of spirit. “Ecclesiastes 7:8 (NASB77)
“Say slowly and in all earnestness: Nunc coepi—now I begin! Don’t get discouraged if, unfortunately, you don’t see any great change in yourself brought about by the Lord’s right hand… From your lowliness you can cry out: Help me, my Jesus, because I want to fulfil Your Will… Your most lovable Will!” (1)
It is amazing how God can use the simplest of things to create lessons for us. For the last week, I have been putting eye drops – more like a gel in my eyes to counteract the effects of a eye infection. I push the kell through a tube and into my eye, and then wait.. I never knew how long three minutes could be. Then 10 minutes later – another eye drop and more time waiting, eyes closed. Five times a day.. I repeat this – and now, 8 days later, my eye is a little less affected by light.
Change can take forever, especially when it is for the good.
Thirty years ago, we became a culture that sped up. Things like microwaves and cordless phones and the first remotes for our 13 channel televisions came out. And patience as a virtue became ever more rare, and ever more valuable. Back then – being connected to the internet (remember Prodigy) meant you could communicate online and the speed of 2 letters a second…with a good connection! Now with Smart Phones and testing with wireless routers and all the other changes, our attention spans and our patience is even more…. rare. ( sit at Jack and the Box drive-thru for 4 minutes with a five year old if you want to see what I mean!)
Change is needed in our lives, but not often the kind of transformation we think. The kind that is spoken of in Romans 12 – the transformation of our minds This is known another way as well – the churchy word “repentance”. Scripture talks often of that change – as we are transformed into the image of Christ – the work that God does in our lives and the lives of those around us.
But sometimes, this transformation is very slow in appearing. In fact – it will not be fully revealed until Christ’s return. (see last Sunday’s sermon blog) The challenge is not to look at ourselves – not to grow in despari – but to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, cry out to Him, meditate on His love and sacrifice. You may not see the difference, but others will! And take this thought in closing…. it is not you that completes the work – look to Him and keep looking…
“I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”
Philippians 1:6 (NLT)
Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 1550-1553). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
The Greatest Change…
A Radical Change…We Needed
Isaiah 35:4-7a
† In Jesus Name †
As God’s hand guides us through this valley of sin and death, may we so know His presence, may we so experience His love and mercy and peace, that we do not fear…but find ourselves alive in His strength
Change
It is a word that can cause great anxiety, even fear, or terror. We make jokes about our inability to change – for example, How many Lutherans does it take to change a light bulb? Change?
Perhaps for men it is because we associate change with a need to get dirty. I mean one of the ways the word is used – that will cause any man to cringe and hide in fear are the words, “Honey can you change the baby’s diaper!”
Politicians promise it – yet their changes are often something to fear, because of what is called the “law of unintended consequences.”
I mention that change can create anxiety, I should have said it does, as we try to find ways to cope with it. We can try to bargain, we can just simply deny it is happening, we can get angry about it, we can get depressed, we can accept it, but even then, is that acceptance done with a sense of defeat, or a sense of expectation, and are those expectations real?
To those experiencing such anxiety, the prophecy of Isaiah speaks to you, indeed it speaks to all of us who experience change:
35:4 Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not!”
Isaiah was even to give them the reason for their strength, the reason they didn’t need to fear.“Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.”
Now that is a radical change, that is the most radical change we will face in our lives, and my friends it is a radical change we needed.
I will even make the promise that the coming of Christ into our lives is the most radical change our lives will ever endure. And most of us, whether we have realized it, have already seen that change made in our lives.
Isaiah’s then and now
In three verses today, Isaiah has a “top ten list” – ten ways he describes the change that comes, when God bursts on the scene, and brings salvation to His people. When He delivers them from the bondage of sin, from the oppression of satan and his demons, and when he frees us from anxiety about death.
So let’s look at this “top ten” list. Isaiah’s top 10 ways of describing the change that takes place in a life which encounters God.
Number 10, Our Anxious hearts find Strength in knowing God is here, saving us.
The word in Hebrew for anxious and anxiety is also the word for frantic. To use an old saying, being anxious looks like someone running around like chicken with its head cut off. Anxiety drives us to want to do something, anything, to find a way to cope, or to find a distraction from all that worries us.
Yet when God comes into our life, when we know we can have faith in Him, trust Him, we learn something amazing, we can be still, and know that He is God. He’s in charge and the promises that go with that are wondrous! What a change!
Number 9 We are changed from being blinded, to being able to see.
As God enters our lives, it is very much like having a cataract removed. That’s what the Hebrews pictures – something growing on our eye, that stops us from being able to see anything – it is removed – and we can see so clearly, that we can comprehend what is going on around us, what is truly important – our senses come alive! And we can being to perceive God’s plan in this world around us, and again, rest knowing His love!
The 8th way Isaiah’s prophecy describes the change of God coming into our lives! The deaf are able to hear!
Imagine never being able to hear, then the first words you can hear are, “I love you!”
To hear God’s word read and when He says, over and over, “You will be my people, and I will be your God, “ what sticks with us, is that He is talking to us, we are His people, He is our God! He will care and provide for us, comfort and protect us. What an incredible change!
Number 7 change that comes when we are transformed in Christ – the lame are able to leap like a deer! How tremendous is this change pictured, as everything which hobbles us, everything that binds and weakens us is removed! Sin cannot grasp us, shame and guilt cannot immobilize us, such an incredible picture this prophecy, this promise of Isaiah brings to our lives!
The sixth way in which in which we are changed brings to mind the move Braveheart –when Mel Gibson cries out– Freedom! For the sixth way this change that takes place in our lives is described is that the mute able to should cry! But the word for cry is a specific word, not just any cry, but the jubilation cry – the shout every 50 years when every debt is cancelled, everything is made right and restored. This shout accompanies the trumpet is sounded as the man of God cries out that we are– healed and FREE!
The fifth change pictures the change of flood waters breaking forth in the desert, as if some dam can no longer hold that which is keeps behind its wall – and the love of God, the mercy and grace pours out over us, overwhelming us as it transforms us into His image!
As it the fourth way in which we are changed – as streams appear on the Arabah – not just in valleys, but wadi’s, oasis appearing at the top of desert mountains. So incredible the change, so incredible the life of God that is manifest in our lives! This isn’t to say that we won’t need to rest, that there won’t be times were the world overwhelms us, but indeed God will give us the rest and provide that which we need!
Number Three also is a picture as hard cracked ground becomes pools, for the ground becomes so completely saturated, that the water above is still and deep. Ground that was formerly so dry, so lifeless that the sun could baked it to the point where it cracked is now so changed. Over and over these ways keep noting the change – more and more radical – but the difference only testifies to the need we had, when we were dominated and anxious because of the power that sin had over us! And we can never forget the change that many others still need!
The number 2 ways in which we are changed – this dry thirsty ground of our souls are so changed they become springs and fountains! Picture we become like Old Faithful! Lives that we sucked dry, that were in so much need of attention and care, become like lives that cannot stop pouring out the very thing that they have received – the water of life, the grace and mercy and peace of God
And the last way the transformation that happens when God comes to us, and rescues us sounds perhaps the oddest. The place where Jackals live, the dry dead ruins becoming like a wetlands. Life teams all over the place, and the area that once was so barren that rabid scavengers would fight to the death over the smallest tidbit – now is a place rich with food, rich with life. So to our lives change when we realize that God has it all under control – life becomes so different, we are no longer anxious over what there is for us, and we gladly begin to share of what we’ve been blessed with!
It is a greater change even than the one we fear the most…death
In three verses, Isaiah’s prophecy has described a dramatic change that will happen in the future for those who were his contemporaries. For those of us that get anxious about change – this most incredible change has already happened to you – the promise has occurred – when God came to you, and claimed you as His.
When you were brought to life in Christ.
No other change you will ever experience – even physical death, is as great as the one which has been made in your life. You have gone from spiritual death, and quickened into life by the very power of God!
you can see Him, so you can hear of His love, so you can leap and shout for joy, for He is with you. So a life that was dry and hard and sucked everything in, and was self-centered and focused on getting what you could, could become an incredible oasis of peace.
When we experience any change, there is a time where we have to get used to it. That’s is where we are at now – that is why this feast, and these times were we are gathered are so crucial, for they remind us, we are being changed, recreated, transformed, for God has come, and took vengeance on all sin when Jesus bore it all on the cross.
And we are saved..just as was prophesied, we just need to get used to it!
So rest, strong in Christ, and let the anxiety of life slip away. For the peace of God, which passes all understanding, guards your heart and minds in Christ Jesus. AMEN?
