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Blessed are those without “Filters”
Thoughts which drag me to Jesus, and to the Cross
23 Then the king gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem together. 2 He went up to the Temple of the LORD, and all the people from Judah and Jerusalem went with him. The priests, prophets, and all the people—from the least important to the most important—went with him. He read to them all the words of the Book of the Agreement that was found in the Temple of the LORD. 3 The king stood by the pillar and made an agreement in the presence of the LORD to follow the LORD and obey his commands, rules, and laws with his whole being, and to obey the words of the agreement written in this book. Then all the people promised to obey the agreement. 2 Kings 23:1-3 NCV
Why we need to learn this is because within each of us is a child of Adam who does not fully trust God. There is someone who wants to control his own life down to the last detail, someone who struggles to believe that God can and will meet all of his needs, someone who questions God’s efficiency and foresight and his unbelievable patience –with all that is wrong in the world and in my life–and someone who absolutely dreads the full implications of the stark order: “Follow Me!”
The correction of this disorder explains why, as the apostles follow Jesus, he constantly does things that set them off. He lets them be frightened at sea, confused on land, and sad and distressed, in his company. He does things that seem to go against common sense, and when provoked, they are very vocal about their frustration, anger, sadness, confusion. And then it gets real. Finally, the unfiltered emotion has broken through and the Physician takes it from there. Healing begins with an exposed wound.
LORD, hear my prayer and let my cry come unto Thee. Hide not Thy face from me for I am poor and needy. Incline Thine ear unto me. When I cry unto Thee, hear me and answer me.
I have a friend, well actually I have several–but I am thinking of one in particular, who has publicly confessed to not have a filter. He is known for saying things without thinking them through, and he gives you, bluntly and honestly, who he is. Sometimes it’s kinda cute, sometimes it is more than abrasive! And sometimes, it is so full of God’s love and hope that everyone sits back in awe,
As I’ve grown older, I have come to appreciate people like this more and more. I long to share the gospel with them, even if they are militant opposed to the Church, and they blame Jesus for the excesses and sins of the people who are sinners, yet are trying to depend on Him. Simply put, the lack of a filter works against them, for that means they have less of a filter defending them. They will put up a fight, but it isn’t hidden behind a false reality that has been carefully constructed. THey end up being wonderful evangelists as well, for they realize their need for God.
You see this with King Josiah. They find for him the scriptures (how they lost them is crazy) and he hearing them goes into high gear and floors it. He and the people repent, and then they begin to clean house – the house of God. And oh do they clean house! and city! and Nation! (Basically a revival breaks out) What an amazing, unfiltered response to hearing about the love of God!
This is what Fr. John is getting at – the extent of the filters we set up to that God has to remove, and then the work of Jesus “Setting us off,” all so that in our state of unfiltered emotion, He can serve us, wash our feet, calm our storms, heal us, and through the cross, the grave and the resurrection, restore us, as broken as we are. But he has to destroy those filters first.
It is then, without filters, without filters, that we can cry out Loehe’s prayer and mean it.
It is then that we can deal with our brokenness honestly, we can confess our sins, and trust God to do what He promised…
Fr. John Henry Hanson, Coached by Josemaria Escriva, p.90
Lœhe, William. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Translated by H. A. Weller, Wartburg Publishing House, 1914, p. 321.
Images, Filters, and Reconciliation
Devotional Thought of the Day
5 Remember, our Message is not about ourselves; we’re proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master. All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus for you. 6 It started when God said, “Light up the darkness!” and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful. 7 If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. 2 Corinthians 4:5-7 (MSG)
592 Don’t forget that you are just a trash can. So if by any chance the divine gardener should lay his hands on you, and scrub and clean you, and fill you with magnificent flowers, neither the scent nor the colors that beautify your ugliness should make you proud. Humble yourself: don’t you know that you are a trash can? (1)
For the last few days, I am seeing more and more of my friends pictures with filters over them.
Some filters are rainbow colored. Some are black and white. A lot I’ve seen are a translucent copy of the papal flag, Even seen a few confederate flags the week before the supreme court decision.
And I guess I don’t understand it. Either personally or pastorally.
First, personally. When I am relating to friends and people, is what your filter speaks of the most important thing about you? Is it what symbolizes you so much, that it must block who you are? Is that what you want to divide you from me, what must stand between us getting to know each other, getting to care for each other? Is that filter the primary lens through which you want to be viewed?
Or can I get to know all of you – not just the one aspect that filters the rest of you from me?
Secondly, as a pastor, I am concerned about the same issue. About people seeing you through just one lens, about it hiding who you are from others. Like I said, I have friends with just about every filter there is. And I have people I struggle with, who also “wear” those filters. They range all over the map, different personality types, different careers, talents, hobbies, Some are nice, some annoying. Yet the effect is dividing FB and other social media into groups, hiding the diversity, hiding who people really are. What is worse is that these groups divide people, not reconcile them. It isolates us from each other, or it causes us to put on masks, so we aren’t seen opposing others. I know not many are putting on these filters to divide themselves from others, but isn’t that the effect at the end of the day?
As a pastor, as I was thinking about these filters this morning, Paul’s image of us being a bunch of ordinary pots, unadorned, unpainted. It is what inside us then that makes the difference. Just like in St. Josemaria’s garbage can. You can have a pot filler with glorious flowers, or one filled with fertilizer. You can have a pot that is cracked that is filled with gold, and you can have a beautifully painted chamber pot. (those were the pots that were used prior to the invention of indoor plumbing) We can be garbage cans, filled with trash, or cleaned and repurposed for something.
it is scripture that tells us what it takes to take something common, ordinary (the original definition of profane btw) and make it something beautiful, something incredible. It’s not the filter that makes us special, it isn’t our pride, or that in which we take pride that makes us more valuable. In fact, it in our humility, where we reach out to other for help, when we realize we need to sit down and talk rather than force our views down the throats of those who have different filters, or are unfiltered folk.
Yes, that includes bluntly discussing some things, like morality. We need to approach each other, even in disagreement, peacefully, desiring the best for each other. Will we disagree on what is best? Perhaps! But unless we drop the filters, how will we ever know if someone has something we need to hear? How will we be able to offer them something that will help them?
And for my fellow believers, are those filters helping you do what God has called you to do?
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). The Way (Kindle Locations 1413-1416). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
