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This News Strengthens Weak Hands Unsteady Legs and Racing Hearts
The Birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This News Strengthens Weak Hands
Unsteady Legs and Racing Hearts
† Jesus, Son, Savior †
As we experience the grace and mercy of God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, may our hearts be calmed, and may we find ourselves strengthening others we encounter!
The Kingdom of God is like.. Christmas Morning…
There was a rule in the house I grew up in, we were not allowed to have our feet touch the first floor of our house until 6:30 on Christmas morning.
Needless to say, by about 5:45, my sister Kelly, my brother Steve and I were crowded on the first step of the stairs, pointing out the presents under the tree, wondering which presents were for which of us. Some of it was easy – if there were two boxes the same shape and size – one was Stephen’s, one was mine – my folks like to buy us the same thing. I think to see who would break the item the fastest?
At 6:31, my mom could be heard descending the stairs, a few moments more, my dad. That was the morning of instant coffee, for they were up late the night before, for we often didn’t get home from grampy’s until after 11. Then they had to wrap presents, and get everything ready.
Exhausted when we woke them up, something always happened as they watched us rip open presents with the energy that only children can have. They began to laugh and smile and enjoy themselves, despite their tired, cold, achy bones. A transformation occurred, as the tiredness somehow evaporated. There is something about sharing joy that is transforming.
The coming of the Kingdom is like that!
The dramatic change of Isaiah’s desert and desert highlands is lost on most of us. We can’t picture a place like Arizona suddenly looking like Yosemite, or the coastal redwoods of Santa Cruz. We don’t see the area between here and Las Vegas all of a sudden looking like the Everglades. The transformation is that incredible, as God comes among us. Can we even begin to comprehend it?
We can understand the language found in verse three and four, about having the tired hands, and knees that just want to give out, and hearts that are so crushed, that they are racing because of stress and wear and tear they undergo.
We need this season of Advent to not just about to be about waiting – but to hear the news –that God is coming, that God is with us…. For then, as the King David says –
11 You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, 12 that I might sing praises to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever!Psalm 30:11-12 (NLT)
This week, the third of our advent journey, that is what we find joy in, the news of how the tired, weary and anxious are more incredibly transformed than parents were on Christmas morning!
What causes our weaknesses? What causes our hearts to race?
It was once said that a pastor’s sermon should afflict those comfortable in sin, by comfort those afflicted by it. Those who spiritually are tired, worn out to the point of stumbling, those whose heart races. In other words, a lot of us in this place – are not in need of me ranting about the condition of the world, or of the sins that cause consequences in our lives.
We’ve felt them often, enough so that I can joke about needing to invest in whatever corporation owns Kleenex. It’s why this place is called a sanctuary, a refuge – and why Sunday is our day of hiding in Christ and finding rest.
We know those Isaiah says need to be strengthened and encouraged and to lift our hearts. Sometimes, like John the Baptist in the Gospel, we are the ones who ask – are you really there Jesus, are you really listening to us God? Not because we don’t know – but we need to remember.
We need to know we have a real God whom cares for real people with real problems.
We need to hear God’s message, as we struggle in what seems to be a desert wilderness.
Be calm, be strengthened by this… Immanuel!
That is what advent is all about – this time where we recognize our need for God’s presence, where we try to imagine what going through this life would be like in ancient days.
Not talking about the days with black and white televisions, brownie cameras, pong video games and rotary phones. I am talking about the days before Christ’s being born of Mary, when they knew of God, but because of Jesus not coming yet, they couldn’t quite understand the promises of the Messiah spoke of a hope beyond belief. The hope of a desert suddenly growing plants and trees like a rainforest, the promise of ground cracked and dry, not just having enough water to become muddy, but to become a tropical paradise.
Lives that seemed dry and useless, become lives that are alive, as we bring people to Christ like freeways bringing people to LA.
Though we know Christ, and though we are learning more and more about His love, we still tire out like John the Baptist. We still lose focus on what God is doing here, Advent reminds us – that what is coming when Christ returns is incredible, a wondrous transformation even more radical than what happens when we realize that He has saved us.
That there will be a day when what we know is true in our lives, will be seen in all of creation! When everything is redeemed, when Heaven and earth is recreated, when there is no more sorrow or sadness or tears.
When God display His glory, His splendor, when life begins anew.
Not later, the change is now, if you look at it
It is with such a vision that we can revive hands and legs, and calms anxious hearts. This is the reason we have been entrusted with this news!
Because the truth of such a vision is that, we don’t have to wait for the transformation to begin. It already has, the glory of God revealed clearly in ways that go beyond speech.
The Son of God, choosing to enter into this world, to come and abide with us, to restore us to the image in which we are created. To reverse in us the effects caused by sin’s brokenness.
That same Man, hanging there on a tree, paying for the sin of the past year, the sin of all creation, Our being united there in His death, so that we could rise with Him.
This vision of Isaiah that strengthens us, our weary hands, our wobbling knees and calms our hearts, that even though He has died, all the forces of evil couldn’t keep Him dead… He rose and is at the Father’s side… working on our behalf, our of love for us.
Because He was transformed from death to life, so are we. Get that, it isn’t that we will be. We have been. We have been changed, and we are no longer lost in the desert – we have become that highway in the desert.
As we become the highway for others in the wilderness, the work Christ does in us brings the water of life to others, and brings them to comprehend this transformation, as the Holy Spirit brings life into their barrenness.
Just as He has into ours. We may not get it completely; we may not see the fruit and vegetation yet, but we knows His presence, and the promises that have been made sure as He has cleansed us in baptism – as He increases our faith in our times with Him. As we pray, as He nourishes us with His word, and the promises like these in it. As He invites us to lay our burdens down, and as He strengthens us with His Body and Blood.
That’s why we become the road for others, so that they can learn of the healing, the restoration, what it means to be saved and rescued.
For Christ has come, and it changes everything far more than a parent’s weariness fades as kids unwrap presents..
That is the peace that passes all comprehension, but which we know guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
AMEN!
A Real God Addressing Real Brokenness through and in us = Real Church
English: A homeless on the corner of Cologne Cathedral, Germany, 2010 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Devotional Thought of the Day:
35Then Jesus made a circuit of all the towns and villages. He taught in their meeting places, reported kingdom news, and healed their diseased bodies, healed their bruised and hurt lives. 36 When he looked out over the crowds, his heart broke. So confused and aimless they were, like sheep with no shepherd. 37 “What a huge harvest!” he said to his disciples. “How few workers! 38 On your knees and pray for harvest hands!” Matthew 9:35-38 (MSG)
744 You don’t have an ounce of supernatural vision and it is only their social standing that you notice. Souls mean nothing to you at all, nor do you serve them. That is why you are not generous… but live far from God with your false piety, even though you may pray a lot. The Master has said very clearly: “Depart from me … into that eternal fire … for I was hungry … I was thirsty … I was in prison … and you did not care for me.” (1)
It is the time of Advent, a time where our readings in Church traditionally deal with the brokenness of people.
It’s the days before Christmas, and for many people i know, it will be a hard one, as they grieve. I don’t even like writing this, for it causes me to face my own grief, and the burdon of knowing so many who will be grieving as well. Others wonder about their own future, as health or finances are limited, as anxiety builds. Students in college are facing finals – a particular pressure to perform, and papers that must get done. We deal with our own brokenness, our own loneliness. The darkened days result in a physical drain as well. For many, this season of Peace and Joy becomes one of questioning – why can’t I feel that joyous? Why can’t I know that peace everyone else seems to know so well?
With all of this going on, for the church, for all believers I raise a question.
Will you see those around you? The hostess at the restaurant whose smile is forced, the person at the office party who doesn’t quite engage everyone else, but leaves as soon as possible. The single-mom who is struggling with trying to figure out how to make all the ends meet and still have something for her children for Christmas? The people that you know who’ve lost someone in the last year or two… who will be alone this Christmas? The homeless person – who is sick because there was no room at the rescue mission?
Will they see you? Not just as another person who doesn’t care, but as someone who will at least acknowledge the brokeness and spend time with them – even if they can’t materially help. Will you be there for them. Will you allow God to work through you to bring them some peace, some knowledge that they are loved? Will you know the joy of imitating Christ, of represnting Jesus to those He has sent you to, even as the Father sent Him to us?
Will we care for the people who are without shepherds, who are lost in this crazy world? Will our heart break over the trauma, physical, emotional, spiritual, that is all around us?
As we talked last night in the class I am teaching, we talked about how evangelism is not just a 5 minute chat with someone who doesn’t know Christ. It’s about being alive in Christ, of realizing that love, of knowing that others desperately need to know it – and that they are all around us. Even those sitting in Bible Study with us, even those leading worship up front. THis morning as I visited with some friends, I was amazed to hear of their care for me and for others in our church, even as they faced their own challenges. They minister to others incredibly, even as they minister from their own weakness. Saturday, I was blessed by a friend, who wanted to check up on me, to know how/if I was handling my own grief, and dealing with the “burden” of caring for others. This is church. Real church, The people of God who are willing to let a real God be God, and minister to them, and through them. I can go on and on, but ministry, real ministry is seen in our relationship with God, that interacts with our relationship with each other.
We all need a real God, we all need to know He is with us as we face real challenges, and our own real brokenness, as we help others find His healing as well. That is when “Church” (those gathered/called together by God to be His people) is “real church” When we take the time to spend it with those who need it, even if it makes us late. Even if it costs us a little time and money. For then we see them… and they see us… and we, together, see Christ revealed in our presence.
So take time – invest it in those around you. Not just those that will left you up, but those that need to be lifted up.
You would be amazed at the depth of peace and joy that comes from seeing God with us…..
Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 3102-3107). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
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- Will you let them see you…. (justifiedandsinner.com)
- I’m Getting Tired of “Cool” Churches (donraypratt.wordpress.com)
- Have you been neglecting yourself? (justifiedandsinner.com)
- Will God hear even me today, in this mood I am in? (justifiedandsinner.com)
A Celtic Advent: The Trinity’s Look Towards Christ’s Birth
The Father’s Thoughts:
Looking forward to the Birth of Christ
† Jesus, Son, Savior †
18 …may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
Ephesians 3:18-19 (NLT)
Mary did you know? God did!
If it hasn’t happened yet, soon your mailboxes will be filled with cute Christmas cards, some of them actually daring to be “religious”, to have picture Mary and Joseph looking down, adoring the “6lb, 7oz. Baby Lord Jesus” asleep quietly, without dirty diapers in a manger so spotless, cleansed by the glorious light of the star, that you wouldn’t hesitate to make Christmas cookies there.
We’ll sing the carols, eventually, as they help us contemplate what it means to look into a manger and see there Jesus, our savior. We’ll even hear songs like Joseph’s song, as he tries to comprehend what it means to raise Christ, or “Mary, did you know”, as we celebrate Christmas. As we consider if Mary really understood the pain that Simeon prophesied she would bear – as she watch Jesus be crucified, or the joy she would know as He ministered, and healed and rose from the dead.
This advent, I want to prepare us for those joys by seeing what the Trinity expected, as Jesus was sent to be born. Tonight, we will look at what the Father thought, as the plan made before the foundation of the world became reality, as His only begotten was born into this world, amidst the sin and brokenness…
What did He see, what did He plan, what was He expecting, as He sent Jesus into our world?
A difference, a Mission, and a wedding banquet
He’s different… (so you will be!)
The first thing we need to consider is who is sent! It is not a soldier on an impossible mission, it’s someone who has been hand-picked.
Picture God the Father, looking down into the manger and saying the words He wrote through Isaiah,
““Take a good look at my servant. I’m backing him to the hilt. He’s the one I chose, and I couldn’t be more pleased with him. I’ve bathed him with my Spirit, my life. He’ll set everything right among the nations. 2 He won’t call attention to what he does with loud speeches or gaudy parades. 3 He won’t brush aside the bruised and the hurt and he won’t disregard the small and insignificant, but he’ll steadily and firmly set things right. 4 He won’t tire out and quit. He won’t be stopped until he’s finished his work—to set things right on earth. Far-flung ocean islands wait expectantly for his teaching.” 5
This babe, this man, this Savior, is our God, who will not disregard anyone us, He will set things right, not just in one place, one country, but in the world. He won’t tire or quit on us, He won’t give up, even when we do.
As the Father prepares for these moments of Jesus’ Incarnation, His life among us, He knows the relationship He has with His Son, that is the kind of relationship He wants with each of us, His people.
But Christ’s being sent, is what that will cost!
Here’s what will happen!
You see, even as Christ is the image of the Father, in sending us Jesus, the Father sends us the very image we are being transformed into, the very life we are being reformed to live. The image that we can see, as we look at our own children in love, or in those moments where we struggle with the injustice and unrighteousness of the world. The times where we operate “outside ourselves” in the way we love and sacrifice, just because we need it.
Hear again what the Father says to Jesus, and picture Him saying it over Jesus, laying in the manger.
6 “I am GOD. I have called you to live right and well. I have taken responsibility for you, kept you safe. I have set you among my people to bind them to me, and provided you as a lighthouse to the nations, 7 To make a start at bringing people into the open, into light: opening blind eyes, releasing prisoners from dungeons, emptying the dark prisons.
This manger – these lights, the blue paraments, that is what it is all about, this time of Christmas.
It’s about the Father sending Jesus with the deliberate intent of dealing with our brokenness, about freeing us from the darkness of sin and self-centeredness, about releasing us from that which constrains and binds us, Satan’s work deceiving us and getting us to buy into our rights.
Freeing us to live in a relationship with the Father, as His children, as those who He rejoices in, whom He takes responsibility for, the people that He keeps safe.
You’ve been invited!
As we look at advent, the Father’s intent becomes clear as we are invited to His son’s wedding feast in the gospel. For Christ has come, and as we look at His coming again, no message sends that more clearly than the feast we’ve been invited to, to celebrate His love, to celebrate the fulfilment of His mission.
To celebrate His taking our burdens and bringing us is, everyone the Spirit has laid eyes on, the good, and those of us who aren’t so good. To look forward to the feast, and to realize we continue in the very ministry of Christ, inviting all to be fed, to know His love.
For in Jesus, all has been set right, as we live in Him this work of His is being finished.
For we have been called to dwell in His peace.
Celtic Cross (Photo credit: freefotouk)
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- Celts to the Creche: St. Columba of Iona (saintsbridge.wordpress.com)
A Celtic Advent: Looking at God’s Expectations about Jesus Birth
Devotional Thought of the Day…
6 I chose you to bring justice, and I am here at your side. I selected and sent you to bring light and my promise of hope to the nations. 7 You will give sight to the blind; you will set prisoners free from dark dungeons. Isaiah 42:6-7 (CEV)
Tommorow night at Concordia Lutheran Church, we take up again our tradition of mid-week worship services and a meal of fellowship. All are invited as they are every Wednesday Night until Christmas!
We’ve taken a different approach this year, rather than our usual look at how Israel was looking forward to the Messiah. For that is what Advent is, taking lessings from Israel’s preparation (and lack of preparation) for the arrival of the promised Deliverer, the One chosen by God our Father to free us from the things of life which crush and smother us. The hope is, learning those lessons, our celebration of Christmas, our understanding of how God the Father kept His promises, will help us prepare for the joyous Day when Christ returns, to bring us into the Father’s presence.
Like I said, this year we are going to look at it a little differently, as we take a Celtic approach to it, and look at the Birth of Christ from God’s view, from what He expected, from what He planned.
To see His joy, as He patiently waited for the right time, as the Father sent messengers to give us inklings of what to expect, as the Son looked through the manger and the muck and crud He would be born to, to the Cross where everything would be cleansed. As the Holy Spirit would come and breathe life into a spiritually dead people, and bring them to life and make them aware that they walk with God, that they are His people.
In the process, we will see why the angels sang at the birth of this baby, why the lowest of the low went and were the first of the New Testament evangelists, sharing the incredible news that God is with us. We begin to understand why the wisest of the wise would journey, to lay gifts at His feet. We begin to understand why we sing Joy to the World, and Hark the Herald Angels Sing…
For God so loved the world….
Come join us!
6:30 at Concordia Lutheran Church, 13633 183rd Street, Cerritos, Ca
Will God hear even me today, in this mood I am in?
Devotional THought of the Day:
9 And so I say to you: Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. 10 For those who ask will receive, and those who seek will find, and the door will be opened to anyone who knocks. 11 Would any of you who are fathers give your son a snake when he asks for fish? 12 Or would you give him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? 13 As bad as you are, you know how to give good things to your children. How much more, then, will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Luke 11:9-13 (TEV)
469 Lord, I do not deserve to be heard, because I am wicked, a penitent soul prayed: But he added: Yet… listen to me quoniam bonus—because You are good. (1)
I am in a lousy mood today – so lousy that it is now 9:30 and I am just getting to my blog. I am not even sure if I wrote one yesterday, which was very busy and tiring. I am sitting in front of my computer, after wasting time in a doctor’s office, after dealing with traffic and long lines and in starting to do the bills, and tearing up a letter that I wrote no less than 8 times to a friend, who doesn’t quite see eye to eye with me regarding Christ’s church. What I wanted – on this a “day off”? To spend some time writing my book, or to re-read “Between Heaven and Hell”.
English: Gian Lorenzo Bernini – Dove of the Holy Spirit (ca. 1660, stained glass, Throne of St. Peter, St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
There is a old phrase, misery loves company…which I believe is totally false. When I am in such a miserable rotten mood, I don’t want company – i want God to leave me alone.
I wanted to write the blog about what my friend and I disagreed on, or about the 50th anniversary of Aldous Huxley’s death, (as well as some guys named CS Lewish and John F Kennedy ), but did so as my pattern is, and looked at a passage of scripture, thought about it, then looked at St. Josemaria’s book and remembered – oh yeah – dealing with that section on prayer.
I so resonate with his words, for I too do not deserve to be heard. Not at all. In one of those moods that makes the impulsive and hotheaded Peter look like a saint. ( Uhm… well – you know what I mean) My attitude isn’t great, and to be honest, I am not sure I want it to change – even as I know it must! Lord, I trust you can deliver me, help me trust enough to want to be!
This is one of those things I adore about God. That I don’t have to be perfect to be heard. Because of Jesus, because of His perfection, because of His love and sacrifice, the Father hears my prayers as if I was Christ. The Holy Spirit helps by interpreting those prayers into a manner consistent with both my heart – and more importantly the Father’s heart.
So trust I will- that God will, as He promised listen to my prayer, that He will forgive my sins, that He will not just give me what I ask- but that He will provide what calls me home, heals my horrible mood, and reminds me that He is my loving Abba Father…
Even in this mood, I can praise Him, knowing this!
Lord, Father in Heaven, have mercy!
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 2064-2065). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
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WE WERE ROBBED! yeah…so?
English: David’s Joy Over Forgiveness; as in Psalm 32; illustration from a Bible card published by the Providence Lithograph Company (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Devotional Thought of the Day:
8 Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. 9 That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that’s your job, to bless. You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing. 10 Whoever wants to embrace life and see the day fill up with good, Here’s what you do: Say nothing evil or hurtful; 11 Snub evil and cultivate good; run after peace for all you’re worth. 12 God looks on all this with approval, listening and responding well to what he’s asked; But he turns his back on those who do evil things.1 Peter 3:8-12 (MSG)
12 Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us. Matthew 6:12 (TEV)
454 Thank the Lord for the enormous gift he has granted you by making you understand that “only one thing is necessary.” And, along with that thanksgiving, may no day go past without your offering a prayer of petition for those who don’t know him yet or have not understood him.
Yesterday was a day full of injustice.
One of the “biggest” injustices of course (said partially toungue in cheek) was the Patriots being robbed of a victory, as a penalty was called because a player was mugged and couldn’t catch the touchdown pass. He was robbed and assaulted… and we lost.
Another was set the Christian tweet world a fire, as someone labelled Bible in a costo with the department code for fiction when they priced them. You would have thought by the reaction, that Christians were being fed to the lions and soacked in pitch and set aflame to light Nero’s garden again.
There are so many things that people are upset about these days, even ot the point of tempers boiling and relationships and reputations being completely devastated.
We expect others to be perfect – 60sigma perfect (a business term is 6 sigma – errors less that 0.000000 percent of the time – we expect 60 zeros, not 6)) and we get really, really frustrated we then expect us to be perfect 60% of the time.
Dare you bring in forgiveness to such conversations, forgiving their wrongs, or forgiving our own failues, well, let’s just say I expect stress bringing up forgiveness. The storm caused may settle, or may not settle for a while, as people find forgiveness a difficult task. Indeed, we often don’t want to , we don’t thinki it is needed.
If forgiveness is made law, if we say, “you have to forgive your brother, you have to forgive that clerk, your must forgive those refereess.. you can’t help that they are blind!” then forgiveness won’t happen. It just won’t. You will find a myriad of excuses, a thoughand arguements about why forgiveness, God style forgiveness is neither possible, nor prudent.
But forgiveness that comes out of our times of communion with God, times where we see Him take the sin that burdens us and cleanse us of its filth and infesction. Times like prayer, times like when we meditate on our baptism, when we receive the Lord’s Body and Blood, times when we read of His love and mercy, and the peace He gives us to live in, the peace in which He keeps our hearts and minds secure. It is from that place, sitting at the feet of Jesus, that mercy flows, that forgiveness is not a decision, it just happens, Where the person’s salvation, where their ability to live in the presence of God becomes more important than their error. Forgiveness flows from realizing you have been rought into the glory of God, and seeing them trying to live without it.
Yeah – so a refereee made the 2nd worst call in Patriots history..The referees don’t need to be ridiculed – they need Christ.
Yeah – so a sticker said the Bible was fiction? The people involved don’t need condemnation – they need Christ.
Ultimately, it is a matter of trusting Christ, that all things will work for good for those who love Him. If it is a matter of faith, then the place where our trust is strongest in Him, is when we realize we are in His presence, living at His feet. As to dealing with things that were unjust and unfair and being robbed,,, He let us rob Him of his dignity, of his righteousness, and of His lifee. So that we could share in His glory…. and His reason He allowed the injustice, was to be able to forgive!
Let us go into His presence.. and become people of mercy!
Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 2007-2009). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
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Have you been neglecting yourself?
Jesus in Pray (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Devotional thought of the day::
In God alone there is rest for my soul, from him comes my safety; 2 he alone is my rock, my safety, my stronghold so that I stand unshaken.Psalm 62:1-2 (NJB)
448 You haven’t been praying? Why, because you haven’t had time? But you do have time. Furthermore, what sort of works will you be able to do if you have not meditated on them in the presence of the Lord, so as to put them in order? Without that conversation with God, how can you finish your daily work with perfection? Look, it is as if you claimed you had no time to study because you were too busy giving lessons… Without study you cannot teach well. Prayer has to come before everything. If you do not understand this and put it into practice, don’t tell me that you have no time: it’s simply that you do not want to pray!
In our society today, many of us have become expert at neglecting ourselves. About not fulfilling who we are.
We surround ourselves with things, that help us believe that we are living the good life. A home, a nice car, for me – if not the latest tech-toy then at least some powerfully fun ones. We lose ourselves in television series ( Personally I like “Blacklist” and “reality shows” (anyone hear been recently abadoned on a desert island or locked in a home with 15 strangers, or asked to stand and perform on a stage in front of thousands – Reality?) We have our careers, our degrees, even those sacrifices we make for others, and willingly let people acknowledge them. We don’t mind others knowing that we are martyrs, sacrificing our fulfillment in order to help others gain their dreams.
Even then the accolades will soon sound hollow, for our treasure has been revealled to be empty, and we realize how much we neglect ourselves.
With all the things we do, with our physical and psychological coaches, with self help books and seminars to become the best in our field, with lives everyone else might consider succesful, we find ourselves neglected, wweary, worn…
Why?
Simple, because we do not take time, never mind enough time, to sit and talk to God. To sit and rest in His presence, allowing Him to talk to us, to meditate on His love, to hand over to him every burden we have. Do we talk over our work, our home life, our free time, our decisions with God, or does He not have any input into them?
How often do we pray? Is it both “scheduled” (helping us to realize He is importnat enough to have a time in our schedules) and random/extemporaneous? Is our realtionship with Him a part of our life, or is it our life?
Most of us know the right responses to the questions above, but are our answers reflective of our life?
I get the feeling I am not going to like this chapter of St. Josemaria’s “the Furrow”. I am not going to lie looking myself in the face and realizing how much I neglect myself, by not spending time with God.
I am also sure I need, maybe even desperately need to encounter Christ more each day than I presently do.
Would you pray I would? Would you pray you will as well?
Let’s stop neglecting ourselves by neglecting God… but I pray we encounter Him more and more fully, and may we know the depth of His love. AMEN.
Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 1986-1991). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
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Will you let them see you….
Devotional after a long Day:
15 Rejoice with others when they rejoice, and be sad with those in sorrow. 16 Give the same consideration to all others alike. Pay no regard to social standing, but meet humble people on their own terms. . Romans 12:15-16 (NJB)
442 Diamonds are polished with diamonds…, and souls with souls. (1)
On Sunday, the people of my church will promise to a little baby, to be there when she is full of joy, to cry with her when her heart aches. In all things, to pray for her, and to remind her that the Lord is with her, for He has claimed her and united her to Himself. And as a baptized belever, she will grow in this as well, and as we struggle, she will be there for us, and as we know Christ’s peace, she will as well.
That’s the way Paul says we are supposed to be, as Jesus church, the people called together as His own, whom He calls His friends (yeah He does – look it up) But since you are His sibling and son or daughter of God, as am I, we are siiblings, we are united together in Christ. As Paul says
25 This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. 26 If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad. 27 All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it. .1 Corinthians 12:25-27 (NLT)
But this is where we in the western world, seem to short circuit. We don’t like people to know our “business”. We don’t mind them knowing our successes, our joys, but dare we let them see us when we are crushed, bruised, hurting, anxious and scared? When our health is failing, when someone is breaking our heart, when we are lost in sin, when we can’t escape its trap on our own, the causes of our pain and brokenness,
But will we dare to reveal ourselves, so that others can cry with us? So that others can be there, and remind us Jesus is there.. Will we let them see us, let them minister to us, cr with us? Will we we let their presence remind us of His presence, their love remind us of His love.
For the sake of the body… will we let it do what bodies are supposed to do?
I know it’s uncomfortable, I know its awkward, and we fear the embarassment….
O well, we are a family, let’s get used to being one…
For as that family, we have Christ, we have the Faher, and we have the Holy Spirit, the one who’s title is, the Comforter.
Will we cry out together, Lord have Mercy! and Maranatha! and Hallelujah?
If you want to see a church that does this… come join us at Concordia…
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 1964-1965). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Pastor? Preacher? Spritual Director? Life Coach? which do I NEED to minister to me?
Devotional Thought of the Day:
11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Ephesians 4:11-13 (NLT)
1 Take me as your pattern, just as I take Christ for mine. 1 Corinthians 11:1 (NJB)
1 Your life in Christ makes you strong, and his love comforts you. You have fellowship with the Spirit, and you have kindness and compassion for one another. 2 I urge you, then, to make me completely happy by having the same thoughts, sharing the same love, and being one in soul and mind. 3 Don’t do anything from selfish ambition or from a cheap desire to boast, but be humble toward one another, always considering others better than yourselves. 4 And look out for one another’s interests, not just for your own. 5 The attitude you should have is the one that Christ Jesus had: 6 He always had the nature of God, but he did not think that by force he should try to remain equal with God. 7 Instead of this, of his own free will he gave up all he had, and took the nature of a servant. He became like a human being and appeared in human likeness. 8 He was humble and walked the path of obedience all the way to death— his death on the cross.Philippians 2:1-8 (TEV)
It seems more and more advertising dollars are spent trying to convince me that I either should become a life coach, or that I need one. A lot of master’s programs at Catholic and Protestant universities have M.A. and M. DIv programs in becoming a spiritual director. Heck, one group is willing to provide me coaching, via videos and taped phone calls where I have no imput at all, but I can listen to them anytime I want. I also have been inundated with books by preachers about ministry, and how to take my church from a failure to a success, and books about how to preach to my people so their lives turn completely around and they can live a good and proper life.
Lots of advice….
Now, don’t compelte read me out of context, there are those that are wise, and experienced coaches, some of whom I talk to and bounce ideas with on occaison. But I’ve also talked to a coach in revitalization who was trying to get me to hire him as a coach, whose experience in churches under 1000 members was non-existent. They developed their theories and their plan based on statistics and the works of others.
As I look at all these programs, and talk to some who director them, I am reminded of a ministry opportunity I once had, to teach and shepherd a group of young married couples. Only one problem, I was 23 years old and had just broken up with my fiance a few months before!. But hey, I could have purchased the latest book by Dobson, or Trent and Smalley and taught the material.
As I think about the ministry, and how we train our ministers (deacons) and pastors, I wonder what sort of message this sends them about how they should serve their people. Do we want ministers who stand back and observe people and give advice that they haven’t quite experienced themselves? Do we want them to turn to studies and books and “journeys” that are not unlike an old diagram with yes/no questions with tracks to take? Or do we want someone who will be there, who may not have the answers but will continually point us to Christ’s presence in our lives, to His promises revealed in scripture, who assumes that God’s presence in our lives, is the final answer… and how that applies is something we work through together.
I think we need to get away from the cookie cutter approach, whether it is more traditional, or more contemporary, more cutting edge or more based in cautious stewardship of yesterday’s concepts. We have to stop de-humanizing the relationship between pastor and people, and and humble ourselves and get down in the mud together, and see what God is doing. That’s not the way Chirst worked among those with whom He lived. He got involved, He knew their pain, He took their burdens.. and He calls us to love each other in the same way. Including being patient with those whom we serve.. He didn’t meet them in an office, he met them at tax tables, and by the waiting room at the ppol, on the road and where the boats gather… He met them in their life, and endured with them
Jesus Christ Crucifix (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Maybe that’s the point about all this, that it isn’t just a title, but finding someone to work with who is willing to do what Christ did – to come to us in our brokenness, and minister healing to us. Not just advice, not just a sermon series, not just rubrics and guidelines and 6 steps to that. But someone who comes and serves, and cares, and brings healing and trains us to do the same to others.
May we train ministers and pastors and bishops and our laity – all who minister in Christ’s name.. to do so as Christ did..
How to Build the Church
Devotional Thoughts of the Day:
11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. 15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. Ephesians 4:11-15 (NLT)
418 The Lord can raise children of Abraham from the very stones… But we must make sure that the stone is not crumbly, for though hard rock may be shapeless, it is easier to hew good stone for building from it. (1)
While the church, whether Lutheran, Protestant or Catholic finds a renewed focus on evangelization, I sometimes fear that we are so focused on conversion, that we forget the responsibility of the Church and the churches have to grow and disciple those who have come to Christ. Evangelization isn’t just about that first contact, it is about a continual growth in our trust, in dependance on Christ, on God.
You see, Christianity isn’t just a conversion experience, it is a relationship with God that God defines, that God sustains, that God deepens as He reveals Himself. And the church is the instrument He reveals Himself through, as He is sahred through the word of God in songs, in sermons, in Bible Study and prayer, and of course in special acts we called sacraments – where God promises and fulfills them to His people. This defined relationship is why some call Christianity a relationship.
But back to this devotion, and this concept of growing in the relationship as God reveals His love to us, and through us to each other and the world. It is why we have churches, and BIble Studies and all sorts of things – but they have to focus on that relationship, on clearly communicating and revealing Christ, and in the process teach us how to reveal Christ to each other, as we love them as Christ does. (see the book of 1 John for an explanation of the necessity of this) So we grow together, we encourage each other, we support and work with each other.
That is what St Josemaria is talking about, when he talks of hewing a stone, helping it fit into the others, as God build His church….
Basic? Perhaps… but on this day.. maybe that is needed, so we don’t do something else, but stay on task as the church, His church!
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 1875-1877). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
