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Why Love Isn’t What Is Needed to Combat Hatred
Devotional THought of the Day:
19 But Joseph replied, “Don’t be afraid of me. Am I God, that I can punish you? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people. 21 No, don’t be afraid. I will continue to take care of you and your children.” So he reassured them by speaking kindly to them. Genesis 50:19-21 (NLT)
2 This I declare about the LORD: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. 3 For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. Psalm 91:2-3 (NLT)
For the past week, I have been getting more and more weary. As I see people respond to the unrest in places like Ferguson, or the despair in places like Detroit, as I see the hatred that the President’s actions took regarding immigration, I find myself getting more and more depressed.
If you go – well, of course, look what THEY are doing, please keep reading. For I see the anger and hatred in the reactions of both sides of the issues. It’s just not electronic social media, you can’t even eat lunch in public place without hearing the hatred, the condescension, the call for others to change, but rarely, very rarely, the call to reconciliation, to coming together, to true fellowship. We even create ways to mock the injustice we perceive, not seeing the mocking as less than just…
Some have hated the hating. Demanding that others love, asking why can’t “THEY” just get along. Or quoting platitudes about love and hate as if people were easily capable of the former, and able to just stop the latter. As if we could stop sinning with the snap of a finger, as if we could love without self-sacrifice, as if life was as simple as platitudes and the memes which present them.
I entitled this blog “Why Love isn’t what is needed to combat hatred”, because I keep seeing such memes, such advice. It’s as if this is a war between good and evil, a war between love and hate. It’s not. good doesn’t conquer evil, and love cannot hate hatred enough to go to war against it. What turns love into something that can hatred is fear, fear created because of a lack of what we do need.
Faith.
For without faith in God, faith in Christ’s work on the cross, trust in the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives, what we call love, is not love. It is not the cHesed type of love which sacrifices and bears every burden, so as to bless and reconcile the relationship. Without faith/trust in God we can’t cope with the pain of others, we can’t stop the fear of being hurt again, we can’t cope with the anxiety that living in a sin-plagued world brings.
When you have a moment, look at home many times the psalms call God a refuge? It takes faith/trust to see this. Or how God is described as our hiding place, (and include Colossians 3:2) in that. Look at what God can do to evil, when we trust in Him as our focus, rather than fighting back. Joseph did this, Paul learned to do this from Stephen. David did this when Saul was after him.
In order to love, we have to have the faith, the confidence that God will make all things work for good, even though waiting for that good will be…challenging. For we must trust God through the pain, through what we perceive as evil, knowing that He is Lord, that He is our refuge, that we are protected, our hearts and minds, by Jesus. For as we dwell in Him, the Father surrounds us with peace, the peace that comes from finding refuge.
Lord, help us to trust you more than being repulsed by hatred… and help us love and sacrifice, that all would come to know You1
Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 1565-1570). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
When God Doesn’t Answer….then what? The Dark Days of Being a Pastor/Elder/Parent
Devotional Thought of the Day:
16 You spoke to me, and I listened to every word. I belong to you, LORD God Almighty, and so your words filled my heart with joy and happiness. 17 I did not spend my time with other people, laughing and having a good time. In obedience to your orders I stayed by myself and was filled with anger. 18 Why do I keep on suffering? Why are my wounds incurable? Why won’t they heal? Do you intend to disappoint me like a stream that goes dry in the summer?” 19 To this the LORD replied, “If you return, I will take you back, and you will be my servant again. If instead of talking nonsense you proclaim a worthwhile message, you will be my prophet again. The people will come back to you, and you will not need to go to them. Jeremiah 15:16-19 (TEV)
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)
224 Interior dryness is not lukewarmness. When a person is lukewarm the waters of grace slide over him without being soaked in. In contrast, there are dry lands which seem arid but which, with a few drops of rain at the right time, yield abundant flowers and delicious fruit. That is why I ask: When are we going to be convinced? How important it is to be docile to the divine calls which come at each moment of the day, because it is precisely there that God is awaiting us! (1)
There are days where events and situations occur in such a way, I have to wonder if God is on vacation.
It might be that the burdens i deal with just tire me our, that as prayer requests seem to add up, as more and more people I know have to deal with severe trauma and grief.
It could be the burdens that come as I try to balance being a pastor and a father, as days go longer than I thought, or I don’t get the break I need somewhere in the middle. Or that somehow my own physical and personal issues challenge me as well.
It could be that working with some people is such a challenge, even as Jeremiah notes, as they continue to rebel against God, thinking their own way is better. Today they don’t kill those who would warn them, they just laugh it off, or simply ignore it and do what they want to do, not thinking about the consequences, and that God does have a reason for the guidance He gives us. You can tell them, and sometimes they will listen, and sometimes they will come back, with tears in their eyes…. we pray that God would reveal Himself to them in a way they can’t deny… to quote the gospels, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets (and the gospels and epistles), they won’t listen even if someone rises from the dead.’” Luke 16:31 (NLT)
Whether the people we deal with are victims or the guilty, or even both simultaneously, why does it take so long for them to be restored? Why do we have to see them struggle? Why can’t everything be fixed, why can’t prayer work like a magic wand….? Why doesn’t God just fix their problems – both the problems of the good and the bad? After all, isn’t that what ministry is about?
Why do Jeremiah’s whines resonate deeply within the souls of so many pastors, priests, lay leaders in every form of ministry, including those who are parents?
is there a cure for how we feel when we wonder why God hasn’t provided the answer to our prayers?
One of the steps is to deal with the issue of self-righteousness.
That’s God’s answer in the first quote from Jeremiah. He doesn’t tell Jeremiah to force the people to return. God tells Jeremiah to return!
Jeremiah, you come back, you get back to doing what I’ve called you to do. You serve, you stop whining, stop making it sound like you are the martyr, the suffering servant. Proclaim Christ (though it was in the nature of prophecy for Jeremiah – we can point more clearly to the cross) Time to end the self-pitying, the grass is greener ( or in my case, the leaves ae more colorful) over there.
When we stop making ourselves out to be the crucified one, the martyr of God’s cause,
But how?
I love Josemaria’s answer, for it changes the game. When there is no answer to prayers, we usually either blame God (as Jeremiah does) or we think there is something wrong with our prayer – either our heart, or our form, that God’s not listening because something we have done is prohibiting the God of the universe from either hearing our prayer, or taking action upon it.
There is a difference between being in rebellion from God, and being in a dry spell, of not praying because we don’t trust or know God is there, and wondering why the prayers aren’t answered yet. Sometimes, that dryness is needed, because we have to learn that God is there….even when we can’t see Him. We have to learn to be stiil, to wait on the Lord, to know that He is God.
It from such dryness that a revival can spring, that incredible growth may com. Some places are like gardens, slow and steady, others are like the desert – where a light rain on Tuesday is followed by plants literally bursting forth. It is that message, the very gospel that causes such, that snapped Jeremiah out of his silence, it is that gospel message that causes the life that seems to be buried to explode out of our parched souls. It is that word of God that brings to us the perspective of God’s love, of His desire, of His work that quickens people, that quickens us.
The gospel message of God’s love, that draws us to Him, that reveals how deep and high, how broad, how wide, that love is… for us.
For them.
A love that answers those prayers, in ways we can’t quite understand, yet ways fulfilling His promise to never leave or forsake us. The promises that nothing can separate us from Him, even the valley of the shadow of death. The gospel that says even though we think His words we proclaim may return void, they won’t. He has promised.
And knowing Him, remembering His promises, we return from our whining to get back to our calling, to proclaiming that love we need to know ourselves to others.
And then, they come… they find that love, they find the healing for the brokenness they chose…. and our prayers… well they are answered.
For He is our God, our refuge, and we are His people, the children He cares for by providing them peace.
AMEN
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 964-968). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
How Do I Survive the Dark Times
Devotional Thought of the Day:
4 The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. 6 God sent a man, John the Baptist, 7 to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. 8 John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. 9 The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. John 1:4-9 (NLT)
862 When darkness surrounds us and our soul is blind and restless, we have to go to the Light, like Bartimaeus. Repeat, shout, cry out ever more strongly, Domine, ut videam!—Lord, that I may see… And daylight will dawn upon you, and you will be able to enjoy the brightness He grants you. (1)
When darkness hides His shining face, I’ll rest on his unending grace….. (2)
I’ll admit, even as a Christian there are times when darkness settles in, where my soul is restless, anxious, stressed. Where the struggles of life get to me, and I can’t abide the stillness I need, the quiet I need to be able to listen, and hear the still small voice of God. To be able to see through the blinding darkness, to be even able to see enough to fire off an emergency flare.
This world’s evil can do that to us, as can grief, as can unresolved brokeness, and unreconciled sin. We live as aliens in this world, and it is a world that is plunged into darkness.
Because we have been in the light, these momentary (compared to eternity) moments scare us, frighten us, disorient us. We don’t know how to deal with it, because we know life, the life we have been given in Christ. This isn’t it.
Yet out of such times come hymns like “A Mighty Fortress”, “It is Well”, “Amazing Grace”, “On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand”, the great Psalms 8, 51, 139, modern praise lament music by people like Michael Card, Tori Hunter, and Casting Crowns. (Can anyone hear her?) All are written from insid e the darkness, even as the faint ligtht is seen, even as the cries we’ve poured out with all that is within us come to being.
We might recognize this on our days in the light, but it takes a trust that is well acquainted with God’s nature, that has experienced being pulled out of the darkmess to relax, to be still, to know that God is there, even when we can’t feel it, even when darkness is suffocating us. And even then, in those first moements when the storms crash, when the waves threaten, when darkness coalesces and gains strength, we can lose sight of who we know, and His history of rescuing us from sin, and Satan’s attacks, and the anxiety of death.
It is at that time we need to remember that we can cry out, that it is not a sign of surrendering to our problems, or the darkness, but a realization that only God’s light can penetrate it, only His light can alleiviate it. Only His love can bring us the assurance that we are in His care. The situation may not change, but His light, His promises, His word, His presence makes all the difference!
So we learn to wait, with expectation, with the knowledge that God’s plan will see you through the time. Hear the voices of people sent to minister to you, to bring that light. Be still, know He is God…. and that His light will indeed shine.
- Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 3533-3536). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
- Lyrics to On Christ the Shining Rock
Really God, You Want Me (or Us) to Do What?
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)
FOR AN INITIAL MEDITATION, I propose that you consider the ministerial mission you will receive. Having been formally commissioned, you will be confronted yet again with this reality: you are created and saved by the same Jesus who now calls you to serve as ministers, and you will therefore need to exercise the discerning generosity required for greater service in this specific mission.
MUCH TO OUR CONSOLATION, scripture has preserved for us the special relation that was established between the Lord and those he sent on mission: Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, Joseph, and so many others. All of them felt deeply their own inadequacy in the face of the Lord’s request: “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt” (Exod 3: 11); “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips” (Isa 6: 5); “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak for I am only a youth” (Jer 1: 6); “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” (Matt 3: 14); even Joseph, who made plans “to dismiss Mary quietly” (Matt 1: 19). There is the initial resistance, the inability to comprehend the magnitude of the call, the fear of the mission. This sign is from the good spirit, especially if it does not stop there but allows the Lord’s strength to express itself through human weakness and to infuse that weakness with consistency and solidity. “I will be with you, and this shall be the sign that I have sent you: when you have brought forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God upon this mountain” (Exod 3: 12); “He touched my mouth and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin forgiven’” (Isa 6: 7); “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you ” (Jer 1: 7-8); “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness” (Matt 3: 15); “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit” (Matt 1: 20). (1)
I’ve tried to write this blog a number of times. It is…difficult at best, because most people don’t see ministry as something that should be challenging, that can break a person who is serving others, who is loving them as Christ commanded, as Christ demonstrated throughout His life and on the cross.
We forget that Jesus even, as He was preparing to die, showed how the pressure could break someone.
It does matter whether you are a parent, ministering to your children (or as common these days, to your parents) It could also be a teacher ministering to her students, or a youth ministry person, trying to help a family work through adolescent traumas. It could be the musicians and singers who facilitate worship, trying to lift spirits of the congregation while they themselves are grieving. It could be the pastor who struggles with needing to repeat the same lessons over and over.
Ministering, serving to others, is rough. You have to go to where the people live, into the lives of pain, or doubt. We end up immersing ourselves, even to the point where we often find ourselves over our head.
We have to face facts. As much as we want to be capable, as much as we want to be successful, on our own – we cannot.
We can’t do this ministry. It is beyond us, just as it was beyond Moses, Joshua, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Peter, John and Paul.
We can’t handle it on our own, but only by remaining focused.
Not on the ministry, not on the problems, but focused on Christ. As we know His mercy, His compassion, His love and His faithfulness…… for that is what sees us through.
Cry out Lord, have mercy! Trust in Him, even while you have to pray that He strengthens that trust.
AMEN
(1) Pope Francis; Jorge M Bergoglio (2013-11-18). Open Mind, Faithful Heart (pp. 35-36). The Crossroad Publishing Company. Kindle Edition.
One Last Thought About Ministry and “Spinning our Wheels”
Devotional Thoughts of the Day:
13 “You have said terrible things about me,” says the LORD. “But you ask, ‘What have we said about you?’ 14 You have said, ‘It’s useless to serve God. What’s the use of doing what he says or of trying to show the LORD Almighty that we are sorry for what we have done? 15 As we see it, proud people are the ones who are happy. Evil people not only prosper, but they test God’s patience with their evil deeds and get away with it.’ ” 16 Then the people who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD listened and heard what they said. In his presence, there was written down in a book a record of those who feared the LORD and respected him. 17 “They will be my people,” says the LORD Almighty. “On the day when I act, they will be my very own. I will be merciful to them as parents are merciful to the children who serve them. Malachi 3:13-17 (TEV)
“The apostle has no aim other than letting God work, making himself available.” (1)
“It is by God’s grace that our feet don’t lose contact with the path we are set out to follow. We say, “here I am, Lord” when He calls. He calls continually to the willing, and the unwilling. It is not so much our ability He has need of, but our availability. (2)
I started a number of blogs this week, questioning the validity of our feelings, when they question the results of our ministries and our very lives. When we wonder if the effort is worth it, when we wonder if we are just spinning our wheels. As I looked at the “hit count”, and the responses to these posts, the results were staggering – a lot of people read these posts. I am not sure whether I should be sad at this being so common, or relieved that I am not alone.
But as I’ve written each day, there is a faith issue involved, as well as one of discernment. It is really easy, as in the Malachi passage to look at this world and see people getting “blessed” for doing good, and those who struggle, not being blessed, at least from our view. Do we see those people who know God is with them and therefore make incredible sacrifices to serve being pointed out as great examples of faith, or those whose political machinations earning them praise?
Do we trust that God is here, listening, acting, being part of our lives as He has promised over and over and over to His people?
Oh how easy it is to question God, or the more “mature” version (since we know we can’t do that) our questioning our own results, the benefit of “our” ministry.
When we trust in God, yes, we rejoice in the the hard times. But we also rejoice in the times of rest, the times where we need to realize God is at work, and that the present trying times are not an indication of His faithfulness to us, nor of His love. We simply make ourselves available, keeping our eyes focused on Him, or remembeing His work in us in our baptism – and rejoicing. Of remembering His invitation to come and dine with Him, to do this knowing His work, His love, His presence. Of seeing His unmatched love for us.
As we do – our focus comes off of us, we stop evaluating things by our standards, our expectations, and realize that He is at work in us.
And that.. simply is glorious.
To reveal the work that happens, that God makes profitable within His will and His desire.
To realize the ways He wants to walk with us may seem different – but then again – He is with us…….
Cry out in those times, Lord Have Mercy, and wait and listen, and know He already has…
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 2454-2455). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
(2) The Northumbrian Community, Celtic Daily Prayer, Harper One p. 313
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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Looking into Eternity….
English: Center Ossipee, NH in 1909; from an old postcard. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
3 Moses went and told the people all the LORD’S commands and all the ordinances, and all the people answered together, “We will do everything that the LORD has said.” 4 Moses wrote down all the LORD’S commands. Early the next morning he built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stones, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 Then he sent young men, and they burned sacrifices to the LORD and sacrificed some cattle as fellowship offerings. 6 Moses took half of the blood of the animals and put it in bowls; and the other half he threw against the altar. 7 Then he took the book of the covenant, in which the LORD’S commands were written, and read it aloud to the people. They said, “We will obey the LORD and do everything that he has commanded.” 8 Then Moses took the blood in the bowls and threw it on the people. He said, “This is the blood that seals the covenant which the LORD made with you when he gave all these commands.” 9 Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the leaders of Israel went up the mountain 10 and they saw the God of Israel. Beneath his feet was what looked like a pavement of sapphire, as blue as the sky. 11 God did not harm these leading men of Israel; they saw God, and then they ate and drank together. Exodus 24:3-11 (TEV)
459 Whenever you see that the glory of God and the good of the Church demand that you should speak out, don’t remain silent. Think about it. Who would lack courage before God and in the face of eternity? There is nothing to be lost and instead so much to be gained. Why do you hold back then? (1)
When you have to deal with death….there is a sense of looking both forward and yet back.
Memories come to mind, in my case walks along shore road in Ossipee, NH, and my dad sitting on the hood of his 75 Monte Carlo, watching me finish a cross country race. Our time working on the boat, and our time outside of Oaklahoma CIty where we waited for a tire to be changed on the U-Haul. Time where he cried as I gave Him communion at the communion rail in Anza and he was so overwhelmed that he was unable to speak the quietest ‘amen”. The jokes and times of seriousness. I dont’ want to deal with the flood of memories, yet they come.
Yet I have to look forward as well – as I’ve written often this week – to the time where we will be together again, in front of the throne of God, sharing in all of God’s glory.
It’s something to remember – and indeed, it is something to consider – as we live our lives.
You see, most of us live our lives for the day… some may plan somethings out weeks or months in advance, but it is challenging to live for those days. Our society is quickly becoming the “eat, drink and be merry… for tomorrow we… die.” society, yet not in view of great battles that occur tomorrow, but just more meaningless, causeless life.
If it wasn’t for death. It shocks us out of our plondering, mundance lives. It makes us actually stop and consider, why are we here? What is going on? Is there anything to this life. And for a moment – we make the changes that mean something. For death makes us evaluate life – our life. And ask ourselves, “why do we hold back?” Why don’t we say the things that need to be said? Why don’t we love more, share God’s love more? Why don’t we help those around us.. forgive those who hurt us? Why can’t we lovingingly challenge those behaviors and words which will bring pain and separation from others, including separation from God? Why do we carry burdens we are not meant to carry?
Even as I try to evaluate my life, my mind went to this passage from Exodus. Israel is walking away from Eqypt – away from a bitter and painful past with God’s help, with His delivering them, with His fighting to free them, and then guiding and protecting them. They enter formally a relationship with God, this generation that Moses leads. The blood is shed, it covers the people’s sins,… it is offered to God…
And then there is a feast, a look far foward to a feast that is to come. A feast in the very presence of God, a feast where they are safe and secure and unafraid in God’s presence… a feast that is a foretaste of the feast tomorrow, as my church gathers and celebrates God’s love for us. A feast that also looks forward to us all being face to face with God, to share in another feast – no, not just another feast – the THE FEAST. God and Man – all of Mankind… dwelling together, In Peace, In His glory, dancing together, celebrating His presence.
Oh what a blessed day that will be…..
It is not hard to hate death… it is not hard to feel it’s sting, to know the anguish, the hurt that comes from “losing” someone. It’s harder still when we don’t live life expecting death.. and what comes after…
Pray for each other, love each other, even if that means confronting sin… for that is death’s primary sting….
and know…always know… in Christ… we find rest and healing.
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 1757-1760). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
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Some wise words to encourage us to pray
As I was preparing for my message this week – I came across these words… some of which will be in my sermon. Even though the language is a bit rough to work through… think through them – especially II, IV, V, VI and VII.
297 Mention Some Reasons that Should Stir and Move Us to Pray When We are Otherwise Slow and Lax.
Text of “Our Father” prayer with Trinity in central column (God the Father, dove of the Holy Spirit, Jesus) and Biblical and symbolic scenes in left and right columns. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Since nearly all of us are by nature cold and slow to pray, it is very helpful and necessary to know such reasons and have them ready at hand; when we consider and meditate on them, the Holy Spirit stirs up and kindles zeal for prayer in us.
I. Since it is the will and command of God that we pray, as we have shown above from Scripture. Neglecting and ceasing to pray devoutly is therefore no light sin.
II. The great and manifold need by which we are burdened in this penitentiary of the world, and which we cannot sufficiently understand or comprehend by thinking, must less guard against or avert by our effort, should properly move us to pray even all by itself.
III. Also the boundless benefit and very abundant fruit of devout prayers should invite us. For spiritual good things are not obtained from God except by prayers (Lk 11:13). And temporal things are not good for us, unless they are sanctified by prayer (1 Ti 4:4–5). So also St. James describes at length the effect of devout prayer (Ja 5:15–18).
IV. Very sweet divine promises draw and incite us, namely that God the Father embraces us with such great love in Christ His Son, that He regards it as pleasing and acceptable if we approach and address Him with our prayers, and He has promised to incline His ears and hear us.
V. Likewise, that our mediator, Christ, has bound Himself with the firm promise that He would be present when we pray (Mt 18:20) and as our advocate and High Priest Himself bring our supplications to the Father, and intercede for us, and ask the Father together with us.
VI. Also that the Holy Spirit of God, as the Spirit of prayer, would kindle zeal for prayer, and devotion, in us, so that we cry in Him: Abba, Father (Gl 4:6). Indeed, He intercedes for us with unutterable sighs (Ro 8:26). They therefore sorely grieve that Spirit of prayer for whom prayers are not [a matter] for concern or for the heart.
VII. Since prayer is common to all members of Christ, who call upon one Father in heaven, whom we therefore call “our” [Father]. Therefore he that does not pray thereby severs and separates himself from Christ the head and from the members of His body, which is the church, or communion of saints. And God Himself regards and holds those as Gentiles, who do not call upon His name (Ps 79:6; Jer 10:25).
VIII. Since the practice of prayer is truly a training for all piety and a most useful exercise of all of Christianity, e.g., of repentance, faith, patience, comfort, hope, etc. For the Holy Spirit nourishes, preserves, and increases these gifts in us through persistence in prayer, just as, on the other hand, by ceasing them [i.e., prayers] those gifts are gradually diminished and finally disappear altogether.
IX. Where the exercise of prayer grows cold and is neglected, there the door and windows are open to the devil for all kinds of temptations (Mt 26:41; Lk 22:40).[1]
[1] Chemnitz, M., & Poellot, L. (1999). Ministry, word, and sacraments: an enchiridion (electronic ed., pp. 141–142). St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House.
Get up – Get Walking… with Jesus
English: The healing of the paralytic : wall painting in the baptistry of the domus ecclesiae in Dura Europos. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Do You Want? Then Rise Up
John 17:20-26
† Jesus! Son and Savior! †
My Dear Friends, as Jesus comes to you in your brokenness, and with grace and mercy calls for you to get up and walk… may you trust in His healing, and run to His rest and peace!
Poolside – what else do we need?
Rest – Deep, reviving rest…
For some, it may seem like a dream lifestyle, and once adjusted to it, it might be a little want to change from it.
Imagine, you get to lie out by the pool every day, take in all the sun, have people bring you food, have people attend to your needs…well all but one. Some of us might like that as well – for there was no one that would toss you into the pool!
Sounds like the dream California life, and like I said, once used to it, could you give it up easily?
There was once a man who gave it up, in the course of a few moments,
All it took was one question, and one word of encouragement.
It was then, that this man who had spent 38 years, laying out by the pool, learned finally what it meant… to rest.
It is time to get up – and walk and find some real rest….
The Scene –
I want you to put yourself in the man’s place, to imagine the sights, the sounds, the smells, the voice.
The poolside was crowded that day, as it was so many. It would be as crowded as a Palm Springs, Miami or Vegas hotel swimming pool on Spring break, with every spot taken, and people just sitting and laying out, enjoying their week of rest, having people to care for them. Having the staff of the pool caring for their every need.
This pool where the man lay was as crowded, but not with people looking for rest, but desiring to be given an active life, to have a miracle happen that would change everything, that would make them whole. They filled every spot – these blind, weak people, these people who had to have people care for them, because they couldn’t care for themselves. .
I imagine after the first few healings, their attention would be focused on the water with everything they were. Ready like sprinters in the blocks, knowing that the answer to their life would be met with the stirring of the water… but after a few weeks? After a few months?
What about 38 years later..
Was he still as ready? Was he as desiring to get into the water?
Or was He comfortable, and had he made this place a “home”.
It may not be a poolside spot in the sun that has been made our home, our comfort zone. However, each of us can easily tire of this life, and become accustom to a sin, Or maybe we’ve given up on praying for a life that is going to pieces, or we find that we can’t stop that which causes our anxiety. Whatever it is, we can feel blind, weak, paralyzed.
There is a point where the emotional overload, whether pain or guilt or shame or anxiety just pounds us down – and we find ourselves giving up on the possibility of being healed, we think overcoming, or seeing things change… no that’s for others….. We just lie there spiritually depressed and defeated. Not bothering even to ask anyone for help – not even realizing that we can pray for that which we need.
Do you want… then get up…
The authority in that command.
Into this pit of despair, walks a man that draws everyone’s attention. They had heard many things about him, rumors of the healings that run through the families of those who had hoped for healings, and would take any opportunity, consider any remedy, try any curative.
He’s here, everyone is whispering to their neighbors, He’s here….as a thousand desperate eyes, desperate for themselves, desperate for those they love, focus in on this man, followed by a few guys, some of them probably arguing among themselves.
He sets his eyes on one man, the one who has been there so long… and he walks up…and asks….”Do you want to be made whole, do you want to be revived and cleansed?” For those words – get is the word – genesis, and the word for well is the word we get hygienic from. Do you want to become, to be born again…clean, whole, perfect?
There is a part of me, the part of me that is a pastor that loves that the excuse is not considered – that Jesus simply says, “Get up – take away that old mat, and walk. I love the authority, His response, the simple way in which Jesus deals with this man. I wish I had the confidence to do this more, and the wisdom to know when!
It scares me a little as well, as one who wants to walk with Jesus. Does He want me to do likewise? Is Jesus not going to hear my excuses? Will He compel me to get up? Are these words just not to that man, on that mat, besides that pool? Or are they to you and I? Is it time to get up – to abandon the things that hold us back, and walk with Christ?
Friends, He has told us this… and it is time to get up – to leave that old life behind, and walk with Him.
Note what awaits us when we Get up?
The Sabbath!
As the end of the gospel reading – the last sentence, the last thought seemed like a comment made in oversight – sort of a “o yeah – it was Saturday….” A nice passing comment – I thought at first. It caught my attention, and I thought about it a little more.
The symbolism is phenomenal. The very thing this man was to do, on his first day of wholeness, it to keep Holy the Sabbath. To spend the time with God, in prayer, in reading the word, in the community of the people of God, gathered in His name. Not out of duty, but in prayer and praise, in rejoicing with them in their healing, in God answering their prayers as well.
There, walking with Jesus, we gain what most people look for, when they plan a vacation poolside. We find our burdens lifted off our shoulders, our sins erased, our hearts and souls healing, for He is here, just as He was for that man who laid around for 38 years. Telling us to get up – and to walk up here… and find rest in Him.
This man who had for so long laid by the pool at Bethsaida – translated as the House of cHesed, the House of God’s loving mercy. That man found the strength he needed – not just the strength of body, but the strength of the soul. He didn’t find it himself – he was right – he needed someone’s assistance, and that someone was the Lord, the God who heals, the God who makes whole,
The God who says to you – even as He prepares to feed you with Christ’s body and blood, “get up – get rid of the stuff and walk…. and come – rest with me.”
As you do – may His peace flood over you – and may you realize it guards you – heart and soul for you dwell in Christ. AMEN!
The Lord’s Supper: A Tangible Invasion of My Darkness…
Christ Washing the Feet of the Apostles by Meister des Hausbuches, 1475 (Gemäldegalerie, Berlin). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Devotional thought of the day….
I’m GOD’s favorite. He made me king of the mountain.” Then you looked the other way and I fell to pieces. Psalm 30:7 (MSG)
As I look at this verse, part of the passage I will discuss in this week’s sermon, I think it well describes the life of a Believer.
I think about Elijah, and the drastic change from the man on Mt Carmel, to the man buried in self-pity in a cave a month’s journey away.
Peter comes to mind – at one moment hearing that the words of his mouth was a revelation directly from the Father, to the next, his pride turned to disgrace as the same mouth is confronted as being the adversary to God. Never mind the night of the last supper, as he goes from correction regarding the foot washing, to the glory of being there for the first celebration of the Lord’s Supper, to the failure to stay awake and pray, to the absolute pit of despair as He hears a rooster crow…and realizes how he has failed again… and denied the Messiah, the Savior.
It’s my life – the moments were I am so sure of God’s presence – with which I get to passively participate, to the moments that I question my ability to stand in His presence, because I am confronted with my own failures, my own thoughts and desires, my own sin. I tell you, there are days I wonder if there are any good caves on the market – (suitably furnished with wi-fi and a refrigerator stocked with Diet Coke with lime and some good cotto salami and cheese) Seriously, there is so much darkness in the world, and in my own life, that I wonder what headway is being made. I wonder if there is anything that will help people… and if I can help them, by God’s mercy, i have some proof of God’s work in my life.
Maybe our lives our like jig-saw puzzles – and it seems when I see the beautiful scene that God has designed coming into focus, someone comes along and tosses all the pieces back in the box.
I know my road may not be as dark as some, and perhaps not as many pieces are thrown in the box (just as I know others who try to comfort themselves with the same thoughts), yet there are times in life where it falls apart, or my mind tries to cope with all the stuff that is flying around me. It doesn’t matter whether it is my own issues, or those of those I count as my family (which includes family, friends, fellow believers that I work with, and well the people on FB that I correspond with often) Our pains aren’t individualized ( Romans 12:15-16) we share them – and the burdens can add up. And when we realize we don’t see God, everything falls apart…. breaks up,… our anxieties build, and..
It is dealing with such things – that I’ve come, more and more, to appreciate the Lord’s Supper, the feast were we Commune with God, what we call the Eucharist, or the Sacrament of the Altar. A piece of bread, a sip of wine, these things we eat and drink, that tangibly invade my darkness, my place where I am broken, among people who are broken….
For the bread and wine aren’t just empty carbs, they are the Body and Blood of Christ, in and under that bread and wine. He is present, tangibly, His holiness, His mercy, His love.
That which is broken, He’s come to repair, that which is hurt, is healed, the pieces are picked up, the tears are dried off, the cold darkness replaced by His warmth and life and …..glory. Yes – by His glory.
For He is here…. comforting us and causing us to realize in that moment, that He always was… He will always will be.
Some have talked about how the Lord’s Supper is something that recharges them, that lifts them up… I think the reason why is simple – it calls us to interact with God in a… well,,. supernatural, divine way. A way that reminds us of the transformation, the very work of Christ in our lives. It calls us to remember the promises, the mercy – but most of all – it recenters us on His presence……
May we always treasure this celebration, and give thanks and praise to the One who is our gift, our grace.
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