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“And the woman left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, ’Come, see a man, who told me all the things that I ever did. Is this not the Christ?’” – John 4:28-29
Are we too attached to our water pots to carry the call of Jesus to our cities? Are we so fixated on our trivial tasks that we cannot leave them to bear witness to His power, grace, and truth?
Here was a woman with the worst reputation in the village and she went to the very people with whom she had made her reputation. To the men of the city, with whom she had no credibility at all, she declared the credibility of Jesus. At least they would talk to her. And she did it without the slightest hint of intimidation and completely without distraction by the unfinished mission that had taken her to the well in the first place.
Who cares about two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen when you can have living water?
Washing clothes can wait.
Cooking can be done later.
Even drinking water can be postponed.
It’s not everyday that you have a chance to meet a man who can tell you everything you have ever done – and in such a way that you feel love, forgiveness, and acceptance rather that shame, guilt, and fear.
This woman had been summoned to a new mission, a higher calling. She received the call and bore the call with passionate conviction and urgency. The call is upon us and on our lips, but if it is to be heard by the people of the cities, we must leave our water pots and deliver it in person.
Too late for one ... Too early for the next, We thought and acted and stretched and flexed. It is never too late and never too early. So don't get all bent and don't get all surly. Rather embrace the day that's before you. If you are an oddball, just let them ignore you. There's nothing that is that could matter more Than you getting started to get out the door.
Remember at least one of these thoughts as you head out for the day or continue your day or salvage what is left of your day.
No one is from nowhere and we are all somebodies going somewhere.
So whoever you meet today, wherever you are and wherever you are, greet that somebody as someone from somewhere who matters .
Start in the mirror.
Speaking of your day ...
Is there something better and more uplifting you can do or say today than your first thought?
Whatever it is, it is possibly more important than you think it is.
Every calling is a high calling and all work is meaningful when consecrated to an eternal purpose.
Whatever it is, it is possibly more important than you think it is.
And remember this:
"The hero is no braver than the ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Don't be afraid of disconnected thoughts and do not be afraid to connect them.
" Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the LORD!" -Psalm 31:24 (ESV)
And one more thing:
Add some beautiful music to your life for only one reason:
What possibilities may be hidden in the unexpected places of your life?
Is there one opportunity that will pass unless you act now?
Is there one victory over procrastination you can have in the next 15 minutes?
Is there one life into which you can speak encouragement today?
Is there one thing that will make today significant within the power of your choices?
Piety
Piety is the conversation that happens at the crossing light at the corner of Holiness Way and Desperation Blvd. in the City of Human Vulnerability on a foggy day in January.
Politician and Prophet
Martin Luther King taught us the difference between a politician and a prophet.
A politician is pretty careful not to go against his/her allies.
A prophet will speak truth to power even if the powerful are his/her friends or allies on some other issue.
And a prophet will do it in love.
A "Recognized" Leader
How many people have to recognize you before you can use the word, "recognized" in your title .. like ... "Recognized Leader."
Does my dog count?
Tiptoes
Standing on tiptoe in expectancy.
Living breathless in the wind.
Waiting with expectation among the voices of boredom.
Living above the storm ...
Hopeful ...
Hope.
FOLLOW
In case you need a sermon, here is the outline of one of my messages from Mark 1:14-20:
It spells the word, "FOLLOW."
F - FULFILLMENT which speaks of URGENCY because "The time has come."
O - OPPORTUNITY which brings an OBLIGATION which is based upon the SUFFICIENCY we receive to believe good news.
L - LEAVE which is one part of the good news of repentance, sometimes the dark side, or is perceived to be. It is the INSURGENCY that calls us from the ordinary, from old business, and from old concepts of a "bad news God."
L- LINK ourselves to God's new deal, the Kingdom of God, the God movement introduced by Jesus at the right moment. The Kingdom link brings LEGITIMACY to the call.
O - OPEN your hearts to good news, the second part of repentance, believing and receiving something fresh, new, and enlivening. This evokes EXPECTANCY.
W - Do it WITHOUT DELAY - This is the IMMEDIACY of the good news/gospel message of the Kingdom that Jesus proclaimed. It is also how eager souls responded without coercion or manipulation.
It boils down to a very simple and uncomplicated call from Jesus, "Follow me."
When we respond to that, the other pieces fall into place and He can deal with our theology and other burning questions in time and as they arise.
The Power Grab
There was a power grab on a planet swirling through space Long ago. Chiefs, generals, engineers, and masons Deluded Thought If only If only we could add enough of What has been made Piece by piece and build upon it What has been made With our ingenuity and effort We can reach and be The creator. We can take over. All we need is the will and The energy and The creativity and The commitment To rise higher than The Originator and we can be Original. And they unified around that Big Idea and ended up In utter confusion. In spite of all their unity and Progress ... They forgot a few key Home Truths or Cradles of Civilization.
Either way ....
Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.”
And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”
And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And the LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech.”
So the LORD dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. And from there the LORD dispersed them over the face of all the earth."
Genesis 11:1-9 (ESV)
So then ....
Where does your piety lead you out of your collision of thoughts, motives, passions, desires, and commitments? Is it to prophecy, to lead, to stand on tiptoe in wonder, or simply to follow ... or all?
And can all be one?
Consider this, the way of political expediency and grabbing of power will overflow into a confusion of soul and of direction. To settle on the One will bring the many strands into one thing. So ask the questions again and act accordingly ...
If you follow my drift ... my streaming and meandering drift into center:
One Thing
What possibilities may be hidden in the unexpected places of your life?
Is there one opportunity that will pass unless you act now?
Is there one victory over procrastination you can have in the next 15 minutes?
Is there one life into which you can speak encouragement today?
Is there one thing that will make today significant within the power of your choices?
Since we are being someone random, you can dance now!
“ For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Begotten Son, that whosoever beleiveth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” – John 3:16
It is the first verse we learned as children and the one that remains dearest to our hearts. It is the gospel in a verse. It is so familiar that it is tempting to treat it as trite.
It is a glimpse into the very heart of God and it deeply informs our understanding of His purposes and ways.
We were taught to insert our names in place of “the world.” This morning, I would encourage you to insert your neighbors’ names.
Any Christian worldview must acknowledge how God sees lost humanity. They are the objects of His relentless and unfailing love. The extent to which He will go to redeem is shown in the life and death of Jesus. \
If you and I have been invited to join Him in His work and vision, it must include such love of the lost. We cannot pass it off as theoretical or poetic. God’s love is gutsy, giving, and gregarious.
His call is to share His love with the open invitation to all to receive and believe. Visualize an individual, family, or neighborhood where lost people live. See the faces and view them through the eyes of Jesus. Imagine their lives changed by His liberating love and grace. Ask God what part you and your church play in actively and sacrificially loving them.
If we say that we desire the very heart of God to beat within us, we must love the lost. If we would be holy and consecrated people, we must filter our judgments and choices through that love. If we have any hope of becoming Christ-like, it will be as this love flows through us.
"While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." - Genesis 8:22
Harvest reminds us of continuity. The wheat in the fields points upward toward the God who brings growth year after year along with the changing seasons.
Night points to day, winter to summer, cold to heat and back again.
Earth remains as all else changes because God is unchanging and His patterns form an artistically crafted choreography set to the tune of a grand symphony of nature.
Thomas Chisolm penned it this way in his lovely hymn, “Great Is Thy Faithfulness,”
“Summer and winter and springtime and harvest, Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above Join with all nature in manifold witness To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.”
The message of the seasons is a witness to the faithfulness of God.
The scripture says that grass, and wheat is a grass, will whither even as the flower fades. It is the Word of God that endures forever.
My favorite radio programs tout summer reading lists where notable individuals list the books they are reading in the summer. It is a catch up time for intellectual and literary pursuits.
May I suggest going out in a field or forest, or sitting on a beach in the midst of nature and catching up on the Bible?
God is faithful and His Word never changes. Seasons come and go. Crops are planted, grow, and die. Life goes on and God keeps the universe on course with His faithful guiding hand.
I pray for you today, purpose, grace, and life that defies death.
"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."
"Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen."- Ephesians 3:14-21 (ESV)
So them for strength emanating from infinite power, Christ, himself dwelling in you by his infinite Spirit, perceptions growing, life continually rooting, grounding, growing in infinite love - these things, for you, I pray. That you may know more than you can know, be more than you can be, and do more than you can do, infinite, eternal blessings to you - my prayer for you.
May you live until you die, in and on purpose.
"Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints." - Psalm 116:15 (ESV)
Something in us longs for a sense of conclusion as long as that conclusion is culmination of purpose. Sainthood presupposes purpose and closure in accordance with purpose. Let us live with the peace that in the last chapter of our lives, God has determined to bring precious meaning and to fulfill His purposes in us.
"For you have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling;
I will walk before the LORD
in the land of the living." - Psalm 116:8-9 (ESV)
We are not dead, but living. Life has overcome spiritual death. Even in temporal death, we focus on life. I pray that you may live fully today.
Death was a reality in my life. The LORD delivered me.
Tears were in my eyes. The LORD gave healed me.
My feet kept stumbling. His hand steadied me.
I was unsure where to walk. He led me and ...
I walk before Him in the land of the living.
When your heart belongs to God and is, essentially set on the purposes of God, a new shaping begins to take place.
"May he grant you your heart's desire and fulfill all your plans!" - Psalm 20:4 (ESV)
None of this is perfected in time and space, but, to the extent that it is dominant reality of our lives, it does affect our desires. Our desires exist at multilevel layers. They are not all-together free of corruption, but neither are they all-together corrupt. We must listen to our emerging desires, inner stirrings, and subliminal awareness because it is often at that layer that our minds, hearts, and spirits are sorting out the scriptures and insights that God is giving us through many sources all at once. It is those desires that we want Him to fulfill because they are His desires and they are our deepest desires.
Out of those desires flow the legitimate dreams, visions, and plans for the future He purposes for us.
Listen to your desires and prayerfully examine your plans. Do not dismiss them, but dig deeper into them. Examine them in the light of scripture and prayer, peeling away the layers until you discover what God is saying to you in and through them.
Grace to you this day.
Free flowing, fresh, thirst quenching, life altering, mind bending, countenance lifting, laughter evoking, heart wrenching, heart mending, sweet, precious grace to you.
Grace to you that is greater than than sin, disappointment, and fear.
Grace to you that is so flavored with giddy God joy that no bitter words can shatter its confidence and all swords of disparagement pass through it like knives through Jello. Grace, grace, grace to you.
Grace to you that lifts you and challenges you.
May grace that cannot be contained in you, be in you and flow through you to others today.
If you do not believe as I do, that grace can come in a person and dwell within you, may grace still surround you and may people of grace be gracious unto you.
"And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart..."
Visit a time with me when Jesus was angry.
Jesus is both angry and grieved here, because otherwise good people with sound doctrine are adding burdens to people that stand between them and their healing and redemption.
Jesus' heart does not allow him to pass a man with a withered hand and not do all he can to help and restore. He can no less pass an opportunity to make a teaching point in his own indignation - even if it creates hostility against him.
There are many lessons here, but one strikes me today. These Pharisees, by all accounts, reformers who sought to bring the faith of Israel back to its authentic roots, had gotten familiar with power and honor and were threatened when something different came along. They had also fallen for the mistaken belief that if everyone just followed the rules as they interpreted them, they would all be "cool" with God.
They were so convinced of their calling to control the Sabbath that God had given to man and made the Son of Man in charge of, that they were willing to align with the money-grabbing, religiously antagonistic, power brokers of the day whose Herodian inclinations were secular, unjust, oppressive, and basically evil.
They had something in common - common economic and political interests that they were willing to justify with religious language.
So great was there lust for order, power, and social/religious favor and equilibrium that they made plans to destroy the voice that would upset their tentative and fragile apple cart of Roman-Jewish coexistence.
Jesus' response was to feel the indignation, grief, and compassion, recognize the risk, and do what he would do anyway.
He was not about to be intimidated.
Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.”
And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?”
But they were silent.
And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.”
He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.
Public people make big public blunders and big public bad choices and sometimes, their sins look very ugly amplified in the multiple media.
Sometimes they really are ugly, almost as ugly as mine.
Our instinct is to hide our ugliness. We do not want it seen, known, scrutinized, criticized, ostracized, or categorized. We don't want to be boxed in. We want to create the image that everyone sees in us and that becomes the source of our identity, strength, confidence, and purpose --- sometimes, even our income.
When a public person tumbles, fumbles, or humbles himself or herself, I hope for the best, for them, for all. I tend to look for that. I tend to withhold judgment and stand with those who declare their innocence.
It is not always possible to believe the best.
It is not always helpful.
When public people fall, they fall hard. The inclination is to scrutinize, criticize, ostracize, and categorize. Why? Because, for one thing, it is safe to do it from afar.
We don't know them. They don't know us. We are far more forgiving with those we know.
Second, and this is the best part, we want to learn from their failures and not make the same errors. We want our children to learn, "Don't do that." We want our neighbors to learn. A bad example is still useful.
Mostly, it just brings out some sense of indignation, superiority, or curiosity in us and we a tantalized by the whole thing and react.
I can understand all of that, but I am a pastor and I cannot maintain that stance for long. I've known some public people and they are people. I've known some not-so-public people and they are people too. I just assume that at any moment, I could be called upon to pastor that person and, if I were, I'd want to meet them ... really meet them as person to person.
It starts with meeting and meeting is a place of empathy, caring, and intercession.
So, I tend to be reminded ... after an occasional foray into delusional moral superiority .... that I am an intercessor and can pastor people from afar.
Any of us can.
So, I pray. I may not pray well, long, or with intensity, but I pray in my way and it brings me into a curious contact with that person and I start to really care about his or her well being.
I am a conservationist and I do not think anyone belongs permanently on the scrap heap. Everything can be used in some way. Everyone has a purpose. Everyone is redeemable and I do not want to be the guy that got in the way of that because I had something clever, perhaps true, but totally unnecessary and vitriolic to say about that particular child of God.
We do need to be occasionally prophetic , perhaps often prophetic, but we do not need to be jerks. Some old preacher said, "Brothers, tell the truth, but don't be mean for Jesus."
Sure, these folks a big targets and have big potential to lead many astray before disappointing them.
That is all the more reason to intercede for and with them.
Everybody is somebody's child ... even the meanest man on earth.
And everyone is God's child.
Let us find it in our hearts to lift up all the people we meet, and those we don't, from afar, in prayer.
Today, your assignment it to see the spark in someone in whom you do not expect a spark. Find the spark and do or say what you can to keep it going to the next step of intensity. Protect it from the torrential rain of criticism or the inertial force of negativity. Encourage someone. Help them to discover their own genius. Affirm them in being themselves. Introduce them to others. Find some way to be a friend if only for a few seconds. Make a difference in one life today and you might just ... will just, change the world. See the genius and you might just discover that the glass through which you view this friend ... is a mirror and .... the genius is ... YOU!
I struggled with it and still do because it represents something larger.
... not political, although it can be ...
... something holistic about violence and something inside the best of us that must be bridled, processed, understood, and harnessed for its purpose.
Two nice guys go into a movie theater and a disagreement arises.
Both lose their tempers.
Something boils up inside of one of them probably unrelated to the incident. One has a bag of popcorn; the other a gun. One throws the popcorn in frustration; other other fires his gun in some sort of misguided compulsion for self-defense.
His life is ruined; the other man's life is gone. Two families are deprived of fathers and grandfathers and are devastated.
All the witnesses are traumatized. Something is dreadfully wrong with this picture ...
It only took a second and a split second decision to change so many lives.
And because it happened in a nice middle class place with nice middle class people, we all know about it and react ...
We all have opinions.
But I can tell you that it happens all the time. Every day, someone loses a loved one over something stupid. I see it and I shake my head.
Personally --- only personally .... I do not trust myself with a weapon ... and I am a nice non-violent guy .... but so were those two guys as far as I can tell. I do not want to be violent to harm another human, even in self defense. I would rather be harmed ....
But that is one part of me. The other knows that the chemicals in my body and my old selfish nature will react rather than respond if left to their own devices in certain situations. I have the capacity to lash out with words or weapons or willfulness.
I need spiritual centering in the Ultimate, the One, the core of my life or I do not trust myself even with my own words.
I need grace .... and so do those families who have suffered tragedy .... and so do the people I meet this week who will never make the news and will hardly be noticed by the system ... victims and perpetrators who will quickly, almost anonymously, be processed and forgotten.
Not me? I'd never do that?
None of us has finished our lives yet who is reading this or living among us. We cannot know what stupid thing we might do that would bring disrepute upon all that we have been up until that point.
We need to be tidying our own houses on a daily basis, keeping our emotional lives up-to-date along with our spiritual lives. We cannot point a finger without 4 pointing back at us. "Let each man examine himself," the scripture reminds us.
"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer." - Psalm 19:14
It is a daily prayer along with others ...
"May I not bring harm to another human being ..."
"Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace ..."
Every time I am tempted to be smug or self-confident, I try to remember what I am capable of at my worst and to trust the One who can prevent me from traveling that path. This One can make me more than I can be as the contemporary song goes.
There will be some positive outcomes to this public tragedy. There always are.
Some will take time.
Some will go unnoticed.
People will pontificate.
Others will meditate.
I just shake my head.
And I am still trying to decide whether or not to hit the "post" button.
Oh ... why not ... ?
Satisfied with His likeness, Beholding His face in righteousness, Fully awakened from dullness of mind, Fully engaged, embracing this day, We move on in the spirit of Psalm 17.
Devaluation of life is a cancer wherever it emerges, whether it it unborn life, lives of people living among us, or the lives of future generations who will inhabit this planet.
We must create a climate and community that values, nurtures, protects, and supports life and affirms its dignity.
How that is accomplished is often a matter of hot debate.
However, I believe that such a climate would take much of this out of the political arena and return it to a realm free of posturing and slogan-wielding.
Personally, I cringe whenever I overhear my grandson playing video games where players cheer whenever there is a "kill."
That is a systemic, societal, attitudinal problem that no policies can address because so many of us have adopted it.
I have been having that problem with television and movies for years.
This weekend, there will be two commemorative events. one will be the celebration of MLK Jr.'s life and another will be Sanctity of Life Sunday.
Many sincere Christians are torn between what they feel are competing convictions and commitments. For them, I am offering information on an alternative that embraces all life.
The Consistent Life Network - I became aware of this through looking into the life of actor, Martin Sheen, a committed Catholic.
I have put money and energy in to my small piece of this, encouraging those who choose life with the knowledge of safe and loving homes for children they feel they cannot raise.
Consistent Life Ethic offers a third way that embraces a kingdom ethic for all issues where life is in the balance:
What is so often lacking in an atmosphere of debate are the qualities of compassion and respect. Perhaps that is because of the sectioning off of people based upon positions and labels and the rarity of actual conversation over sensitive and potentially explosive topics.
It is also because of the importance of the issues and the passions that surround them.
Also, there is a problem with overlapping ideologies. For instance, the eugenics movement, often embraced by a racist right, but also embraced by some on the left, began to advocate for population control based upon intelligence, viability, race, ethnicity, and likelihood of disability.
Those who opposed this fell to the right and to the left.
A surprising number of people find it describes their views:
"The non-profit organization Consistent Life Network, founded in 1987 as the Seamless Garment Network, promotes adherence to the ethic through education and non-violent action. Individual endorsers belonging to the Consistent Life Network organization include Father Daniel Berrigan, theologian Harvey Cox, Village Voice columnist Nat Hentoff, Father Theodore Hesburgh, actress Patricia Heaton, L'Arche founder Jean Vanier, death penalty activist Sister Helen Prejean, pro-life activist Abby Johnson, author Ken Kesey, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and Nobel Peace Prize laureates Mairead Corrigan Maguire and Adolfo Pérez Esquivel.Rachel MacNair, for ten years (1994–2004) President of Feminists for Life, a pro-life organization, is the director of the Institute for Integrated Social Analysis, the research arm of Consistent Life Network."
"In the US, several groups have promoted the "consistent ethic of life" approach, including the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Democrats for Life of America, and the American Solidarity Party, a Christian Democratic political organization. Groups without a religious orientation that support the ideology include Democrats for Life of America, the Pro-Life Alliance of Gays and Lesbians (PLAGAL), and All Our Lives (a pro-contraception feminist group), all of which are members of the Consistent Life Network. Other secular groups supporting a consistent ethic of life position include Rehumanize International (formerly known as Life Matters Journal) and New Wave Feminists. Other prominent authors who have written in support of the consistent life ethic include Frank Pavone,James Martin, John Dear, Ron Sider, Tony Campolo, Joel Hunter, Wendell Berry,and Shane Claiborne."
Cain and Abel, 15th-century German depiction from Speculum Humanae Salvationis
"But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell." - Genesis 4:5
Have you ever felt the sting of God not being pleased with your offering? Such was Cain’s story as he displayed the hang-dog look in the presence of the Almighty. Genesis does not tell us why it happened that way. The lesson is that we are not always 100% and in those times, God still speaks to us lovingly:
"And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him." -Genesis 4:6-7
Even though Cain’s first offering was not accepted, there would be more opportunities. He could learn from his error and get it right the next time. Unfortunately, the next time, he got it very wrong and killed his brother in a jealous rage.
It is one thing to be confronted with our own imperfection. It is another to be resentful of those who succeed more easily or frequently.
Anger, resentment, jealous, and bitter rivalries are toxic to the core.
Frankly, God has some lessons that can only be taught through disappointment, failure, and discouragement. In those disappointing moments, He wants us to do well, to make the right choices, and to master sin in our lives.
These are not times for excuses, but for exponential growth.
Sin almost has mind of its own. Sin's purpose is to become our master. God’s will is for us to master sin.
That comes through choice.
Cain made the wrong choice and then compounded that wrong choice with an even worse choice and it cost him everything.
What does it take to have our offering accepted?
Do the right thing.
What is the right thing for you?
The answer is found in the New Testament:
"By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh." -Hebrews 11:4
God invites us to come to Him by faith.
Whatever is not of faith is sin.
Through faith comes righteousness and we make the right choices and bring acceptable offerings. God counts our faith as “doing well” and it gives birth to all sorts of good deeds as it brightens the countenance.
The story could have ended differently, but it is enacted, recorded, and retold to explain much about our motives, our wars, and our downward spiraling relationships. It speaks to us where we are today about where we may be tomorrow.
“… Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” – John 1:29
It is not enough to have a theoretical understanding of God’s redemption through Jesus and how He came to fulfill the Old Testament system of sacrifices as the Paschal Lamb – as important as that information may be.
No, it is of greatest importance that we behold Him.
Some translate the word, “Look,” but the meaning is the same. We must linger over the vision of Jesus and stare into His eyes.
We must be captivated by His presence so that to even blink we would disrupt the flow of His radiance into our souls.
We must drink deeply of His beauty that transcends human comeliness. We must experience Him in all His glory and behold Him.
In Jesus Christ, the Living Word, we have beheld the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. God has allowed us to glimpse Himself and touch His own incarnate flesh.
Why wouldn’t we stop everything else we might be doing and bathe in the wonder of a moment of Lamb of God?
Oh, Lamb of God Upon whose sinless shoulders All sin has pressed down its awful weight, We pause amidst the frivolous trivialities of our lives To behold You In a manger, on the cross, ascending to Your throne Coming once again in glory Amen.
Johann Wenzel Peter: Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden / Adam and Eve in the earthly paradise (1745-1829) Public Domain
And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. - Genesis 3:8
It was the cool of the day on the first day of what they had supposed to be their enlightenment. On the day when they presumed their eyes would have been opened and life would be free, they were suddenly ashamed. What they saw was not the same world of possibilities and wonder, but their own nakedness. They were exposed and vulnerable. All they could think to do was hide.
It was the cool of the day and all was at peace – except the turmoil in their souls.
It was the cool of the day and God was taking a stroll. Ordinarily, that would have been a welcome sound. It would have evoked feelings of blessed anticipation – so sweet was the fellowship they had enjoyed.
“God is coming!” they must have exclaimed many times with youthful glee. “Let’s hurry to meet Him!”
This time, they hurried to flee from Him.
They knew that they would have to have a very unpleasant conversation the next time they met God. They would have to admit that they had disobeyed Him. And to do that, they would have to admit an even more painful truth: they had not believed Him. They had taken the serpent’s word over His.
The serpent had been right about one thing: their eyes had been opened. But they had not seen what they had hoped to see. They had become like gods, but they had not become God or even like God. The only god status they had achieved was the false kind, the fodder of myth and legend. They had come to resemble the capricious, conniving, conscious-of-self kind of creature that knows evil enough to embrace it, but not enough to avoid it.
It was the cool of the day. It ought to have been the most precious time of their day. Instead, because of sin, they hid in the trees God had made. They were foolish enough to think He could not see through them or into their hearts. He sees, He knows, and He comes to confront us and to redeem us.
"Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." - Genesis 2:24
June flowers allure the senses and sound the downbeat for the season of weddings throughout the land. Graduations have taken place and it is now time for another sort of graduation into adulthood, the leaving of father and mother and the entry into marriage.
Weddings are cultural events. Some are administered, sanctioned, or licensed by families, states, religious entities, entire communities.
Rules vary.
Traditions are diverse.
Meanings are subjective to the cultures or individuals involved.
Practices transition.
Is there a root to the evolving celebration of marriage? Is there some commonality flowing from its origins?
The biblical narrative gives a clue to what might be the germ of the idea – to bring together opposites into a dynamic partnership that makes two walking together stronger than the two walking alone.
A 1948 film with Bette Davis celebrates the mystique of the June bride, There is something romantic and enticing about a wedding in June as Spring gives way to Summer with an entire season of sunshine awaiting the new couple.
Romance is God’s idea. That is why He gave us the Song of Solomon which, for whatever deep meaning it might hold, celebrates the love between a man and a woman who unite in marriage and gaze forever longingly into each others eyes. That is why the great celebration that welcomes us to Heaven is called the marriage feast of the Lamb and His bride, the church.
Two become one as the bells toll, as the scriptures are read, and as they recite these words:
“I take thee to be my wedded wife (husband) to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish till death do us part.”
Shakespeare said, “Now join hands, and with your hands, your hearts.”
There is leaving and joining as new unions are born.
Nathan was a prophet, charged with speaking truth to power.
David was a shepherd, a pastor, charged with protecting and leading people.
Nathan was rather pro-David. However, he knew when he needed to lay aside his affection and admiration for the king and speak truth to power. It was a risky thing to do, but he did it and it saved both David and the nation.
We have had some great moments as a nation & some very dark moments. Many have suffered because of the greed and ruthlessness of a few. At times, people have felt the touch of generous compassion from Americans. We owe our best and most compassionate self to God and to the world.
We have received much. We owe much.
There is only one world and we have been disproportionately blessed with the share of it we possess.
It is not ours to hold; it is our stewardship to share and our trust to manage with care.
I am an optimist. I am a lover of people. I have met very few people I dislike and none that I cannot work at liking. I hold out hope for people though I do not trust all of them all the time. It keeps me going to believe that people can change. So, I don't give up - I can't.
I am not prophetic. I do not aspire to be prophetic. My calling is pastoral. My inclination is toward embrace and not confrontation. Condemnation is not my tool of choice for change, but I am part of a prophetic community whose voice must sometimes break the silence and speak unpopular truth to one's own people - the people we love.
That being said ...
We cannot abdicate responsibilities as citizens of a nation or of the world. Having been placed in a position of great influence, we are responsible to exercise our rights and responsibilities with vigilance and integrity. Citizenship is a big deal in a representative democracy.
We cannot abdicate our prophetic responsibilities either, even if they are not our strongest gifts and calling.
Every nation, office, and people group, is accountable to the same God, valued equally, and responsible for doing the right thing on a case by case basis. No entity, country, or person gets a free pass because of divine appointment or favor. Every deed is evaluated on the face of it.
Who is the king of the United States?
Who has authority? By our system -the electorate.
Our leaders in the three branches, hold no authority beyond what they are given and are accountable to the people who rule. They are employees, whose roles are respected, appreciated, and supervised.
We the people - we are collectively the King and we hire shepherd kings to protect and lead us.
Through it all, we must continue to speak truth to temporal power.
I have been gruntled, so far all day. It beats the tar out of being disgruntled. If anything changes, it will be my choice. Our attitudes are always our choices. No one can "make us" feel anything.
However ...
There are things, about which, I do choose to be disgruntled. I choose to lean into the pain and be disheartened and disgusted.
Whatever degrades humanity or oppresses people offends me and I choose to be offended by racism ...not just of one man, but of society.
Bazile, Castera. Baptism of Jesus, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=54305 [retrieved January 12, 2020]. Original source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PortAuPrinceMural.jpg.
“… and lo, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him.” – Matthew 3:16b
A family of doves built a nest in a flower basket on our patio. I have mentioned this in several contexts and they taught me many lessons. With great interest, we watched as that family, and later, others, came and nested there, hatched their young, and sent them on their way. The site of doves descending is a wonder of nature. The vision of the Spirit descending is a wonder of super nature.
There was little reason for Jesus to be baptized except to fulfill all righteousness and to identify with sinful humanity in preparation for His sacrificial death on the cross. However, as He stepped into the nest of human experience and began to bear the burden of our frail weakness and disobedience, He was affirmed by the Father and knew the pleasure of His purposes.
As little birds stumble out of the nest and first began to fly, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to face temptation as we face it. He committed in His baptism to be as vulnerable as those He came to save. By the power of the same Spirit and Word available to us, He stood in the face of Satan’s lures.
The baptism of Jesus speaks of His credibility and ties to us as our elder brother, the first born of a new creation. Where He leads, we can follow, because He has avoided none of the steps we must take. As He identified with us in His baptism, so we identify with Him and His redemption in ours. As His Spirit descends upon us in the new birth, we can ascend. Because He has been in the valley of temptation, we can be victorious.
Because He has born our sins, we can be free.
January 11, 2020
Mighty God lifts humble humanity. All knowing and poly-focused Sovereign lifts the lowly. God of all sufficiency and no need cares to rectify injustice. LORD of creation, whose thoughts are beyond our thoughts .... Knows and enters into our thinking to reveal as much of Himself as ... As we can handle.
"He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. The LORD lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground." - Psalm 147:4-6 (ESV)
It is the little things we do to serve that make the big differences in life and in the world.
Who can know what one kind word will mean and what the ripple effects might be in the river of life?
We are going to be given some amazing opportunities today in our daily walk.
We are going to be interrupted, distracted, and disturbed. It may only take a minute, but what f that one minute was the most significant thing in our day ... with the longest and most far reaching implications,
Would you live all day for a few seconds of significance?
I cannot think of any human enemies that I might have at this point in my life.
Nor can I remember the names or faces or stories of any I might have had along the way.
Maybe there have been some and I either did not notice or do not remember.
That is fine with me. In fact, it is my choice.
The story of David is not my story today, but it is the psalmist's.
And, there is a way it might be my story.
Digging deeper, it might be everyone's story every day because, positive and emotionally healthy people may not have a lot of people enemies (at least they seldom notice if they do), we have a truckload of spiritual enemies.
And they bring us down and, if we allow it, we waste away.
So, it is a suitable prayer for every day - especially days of fasting and prayer.
"My eyes are wasted with grief and worn away because of all my enemies." - Psalm 6:7
Note on Art:
Illumination from the Hours of Étienne Chevalier, created by the artist Jean Fouquet in the 1450s. David, in armour, kneels in penitence before God encircled by cherubim, while in the foreground lies a corpse, with devils torturing souls. Below, in gold capitals on a blue ground, are the opening words of Psalm 6: Domine ne in furore tuo arguas me neque in ira tua corripias me - "Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chastise me in thy wrath."
I originally told this story ten years ago, but thought it might be time to revisit it.
It was a day much like today. I was on a mission and I had a plan. There is a certain level of pride and confidence that accompanies those two ideals.
However, I had a pretty good lesson in humility and pride on that particular day. It was a moment of internal embarrassment and readjustment in my thinking.
It was one of those outdoor shopping centers with a Best Buy and an Office Depot spaced with several other stores in between. I was comparing prices on laptops and calculating insurance reimbursements in light of a recent burglary. It was the upside of getting ripped off and having good coverage.
But that is not the story.
I had taken note of the order of the stores from the parking lot and calculated that I could get a nice walk accomplished just by moving between them and within them. I left Best Buy and began to walk toward Office Depot when a man crossed my path looking a bit dazed and confused and heading toward the Target Store.
When he was unable to open the door because he was attempting to enter through the exit, I mentally prepared to point at the entrance to help him out.
I may or may not have actually pointed. I am a little fuzzy on this point because the real work was going on inside me. There was a flash of smugness and superiority.
"I can read signs," I thought. "Why can't everyone else?"
That was short lived.
At the next shop, I entered through the correct door - without a hitch. It was not an exit. It was an entrance! How proud of myself, I was. "I can read signs."
Then, I looked around and, in a moment of bewilderment, observed racks of clothes.
"Why are they selling clothes at Office Depot?"
Had the world gone mad? Had there been a shift in reality?
They were not selling clothes at Office Depot it turned out.
They were selling clothes at T.J. Maxx.
Tom Sims, the great sign reader-observer, had entered the door of the wrong store while basking in the glory of in his ability to use the right door.
"Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." - I Corinthians 10:12
In The Message, the extend version reads:
These are all warning markers—danger!—in our history books, written down so that we don’t repeat their mistakes. Our positions in the story are parallel—they at the beginning, we at the end—and we are just as capable of messing it up as they were. Don’t be so naive and self-confident. You’re not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence.
No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.
So, which was worse, the wrong store or the wrong door?
Somehow, as I chuckled inside at my own fallibility and silly pride, I knew I would have to confess this in my blog and hang it out like dirty laundry for all the world to see.
I was reminded to cultivate God-confidence over self-confidence and embrace the tests of how well I am trusting that as a step of growth.
There was also some mention of a speck in your brother's eye and a plank in ones own as I recall ...
Brightest Brilliance, Breathtaking Vision, Expanding across a grey sky Dispelling darkness in a Festival of spectral colors.
Sine unfiltered Into these eyes dimmed and Heart quenched in the Calcifying hardness of my Stubborn stillness and Persistent self-interests.
Disturb me, God of Light. Trouble my soul from false and Superficial peace and Pastel imitations of Light Until I ... Desperately Earnestly Eagerly Seek and Find ...
“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the peoples, but the LORD shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.” - Isaiah 60:1-3
As you begin a new year, you will be turning the pages of the calendar and making some decisions emotionally. Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future? Are you embracing the passages of time or shunning them with fear and apprehension?
For every genuine human emotion, there is a superficial counterfeit. There is a kind of optimism that denies the reality of darkness and projects a positive facade in the hope that it will become real through some miracle of manipulation. That is not what God is evoking in this call to hope.
The reality is that darkness has covered the earth from time to time in her history as a precursor of the pervasive darkness of the last days. It is also true that out of that darkness, the brightest hopes and the most brilliant sunrises have emerged. We are a people of bright prospects. We do not deny the darkness nor seek to squelch it with artificial light. Nor do we focus on its power because it is fading and receding. The true light has come and we gaze upon it with the eyes of faith.
“God is light and in Him is no darkness at all, " I John 1:5.
The great spectacle of His rising over us and within our hearts is a beacon in the darkness to the nations. As the children sing, “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine,” so let us live with hope and genuine optimism.
Rise heart! Thy Lord is risen. Sing His praise. Sing His praise without delays. - George Herbert
"Empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference, that is, the capacity to place oneself in another's position."-Wikipedia
In short, empathy, about which theologians, philosophers, linguists, psychologists, anthropologists, sociologists, and criminologists have written volumes, is the capacity to feel the pain and passion of another person. It is the ability for us to put ourselves in someone else's shoes, see through their eyes, hear through their ears, and care deeply.
It makes us civilized. It makes us human. It equips us to become more than we are. In opens our hearts and minds. It enables us to build peace and to achieve mutual good. It facilitates understanding and service.
It is at a deficit in the narcissistic. It is nearly absent in psychopathology. It is developing in the young. It is seasoned in the old who have suffered with grace.
It is empowered by spiritual sensitivity when souls are connected with a God of compassion (σπλαγχνίζομαι) and it is in full bloom among those who seek it most.
It is necessary for an active life of intercessory prayer or a ministry of mercy.
The quality of mercy is not strained. It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest: It blesseth him that gives and him that takes. 'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes The thronèd monarch better than his crown. His scepter shows the force of temporal power, The attribute to awe and majesty Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings; But mercy is above this sceptered sway. It is enthronèd in the hearts of kings; It is an attribute to God Himself; And earthly power doth then show likest God's When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew, Though justice be thy plea, consider this: That in the course of justice none of us Should see salvation. We do pray for mercy, And that same prayer doth teach us all to render The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much To mitigate the justice of thy plea, Which, if thou follow, this strict court of Venice Must needs give sentence 'gainst the merchant there.
Though it is a sign of maturity, it is often seen most vividly in children. No wonder Jesus said that his kingdom was made up of such people. No wonder he said we must enter as children.
I can be right and be all wrong, if I have no empathy.
If I do not care, I have nothing to share.
I cannot speak to the soul of any whom I do not love. God can and may speak through my mouth, by working around my bad attitudes, but it will be in spite of the obstacles I erect.
If your pain does not SWAY my heart. I have nothing to SAY to your heart.
Real intercession flows from our capacity to empathize with compassion in Spirit and Truth.
There is no correlation between genuine empathy with compassion and our points of agreement with people who are suffering. We do not need to agree to care. If we possess the qualities of compassion and mercy, they are available to all who hurt.
In fact, they are most tested and revealed by their manifestation toward those who are most distant from us geographically, ethnically, ideologically, socially, economically, religiously, or through life experience.
Besides all of that, it is our call, mandate, and lifestyle.
"Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail." - Lamentations 3:22 (NIV)
"When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." - Matthew 9:36 (NIV)
"Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." - Ephesians 4:32 (NIV)
“Sing unto him a new song; play skillfully with a loud noise.” – Psalm 33:3
There are three things that God reminds us of today that He would like for us to offer Him in worship.
The first is newness. He wants a new song.
Now an old song can be a new song if it is fresh and quickened by new awareness of God Himself or of some spiritual insight that has captured our hearts. He is not interested in innovation; He is concerned that we are being born anew in every act of worship toward Him.
He wants us to come to Him today with the same sense of wonder as when we first knew Him.
The second thing is He wants us to play skillfully. That means He wants the best we can offer.
God is not impressed with mediocrity when we can do better. He is not enamored with improvisation when it substitutes for preparation. He loves spontaneity, but He also loves and desires our full engagement of all our abilities and senses in truly worshiping Him as One who is worthy of the best we can offer.
The third thing is volume. That does not mean being loud for the sake of being loud. Nor does it mean fake volume of the sort that can be artificially produced by turning up the dial of our amplification systems.
It means engagement of the whole instrument in praise whether that is a piano, harp, guitar, or vocal mechanism. If we sing, we are called to sing with our whole bodies and souls.
It is for God and it is to God. Let us hold back nothing.
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. - Matthew 2:1-2
When Jesus was born …
How common the words, how incidental they sound. Yet, they introduce an event of such significance that all of time is measured as before and after the coming of this one child into the world and the drama of His life, death, and resurrection.
When Jesus comes, it is a new day. Governments are in place imagining themselves all powerful and enduring and suddenly they sense that they are temporal and vulnerable. The truly wise recognize the waves of change in the cosmos and once again become seekers moving in the direction of the source of that change. They that move with the currents of change come to worship.
New days and new years are best observed by recognizing God and worshiping Him.
We measure small blocks of time in seconds and move up the continuum, pausing to recognize the passing of years. In a year we circle the sun and pass through all of the seasons. We count them off and, as they pass, we find ourselves counting faster and faster.
We mark off the old and look with anticipation upon the new.
And while all of that is going on, something is being born, a new life, a novel opportunity, a fresh idea, a renewed hope, and occasionally, a burst of light. We follow that light and it leads us to a manger where, in unassuming splendor and simple elegance, we encounter the Son of God.
There we worship.
Because of that ever present possibility of meeting God in the passages of time, we peek around the corner of every new day and every new year with anticipatory wonder.
We know, as did the wise men, why we have come to this time.
We have come to worship Him.
Happy New Life!
“And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. … And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God … And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! “ - John 1:32, 34, 36
Against the backdrop of the Christmas story, we meditate upon John’s testimony to the significance of the Incarnate Word of God. The Spirit descends, the record is borne, and the Lamb of God is revealed.
It is a transitional moment of transformational power. The formative years of Jesus’ life are complete and the babe we left in the manger is now a man who knows who He is and what his mission is on earth is to be. It is the conclusion of the Christmas story and the beginning of a ministry that will culminate in His passion.
Jesus comes to John to be baptized and His baptism is a celebration of new life and new possibilities.
He stands with sinners though He has never sinned. He enters into the symbol of repentance for the sins that we have committed. He identifies intimately with humanity and in that act of identification, God sends forth His own Spirit to visibly and dramatically identify with Him.
It is a new day. In much the same way that we mark a new year with noise and celebration, God marks the ministry of Christ with John’s declaration, “This is the Son of God,” followed by “Look everyone! This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the World!”
The old is passing away. The new has come. From now on baptism will mean something entirely different and no one will need to be imprisoned in their despair of sin. New years had come and gone for centuries with their twin commemoration of the Day of Atonement. This was no mere new year. This announcement was of new life!
Happy New Life!
When the Time Comes
“And when the days …. were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord;” - Luke 2:22
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven … ” - Ecclesiastes 3:1
Everything has a right time and season.
Even in the life of Jesus, from earliest childhood, this was true.
Farmers know this. Chefs, bread makers, glass makers, road builders, and river rafters follow this principle. For everything, there is a season. When the days or the hours or the minutes are accomplished, we do what is right for the moment.
This is in accordance with God’s purposes under heaven.
Some things take time to grow, ferment, and season. Science and history join hands to testify to this.
Our days amplify the reality. We have our coffee in the morning and our herbal tea or warm milk in the evening.
There are seasons of our lives.
We giggle, gurgle, and coo until we learn to play. As we develop coordination and skill, our games increase in sophistication. There is, then, a time to learn and prepare, then work, marriage, parenting, emptying the next, growing old gracefully, and finally, going home to Jesus and making space for another in this world of time and space.
God, who exists in fullness outside of time and space, chooses to enter into our realm to relate to us and to guide us toward His eternal purposes. He dwells here within us, acts in an orderly fashion, and though He could do so, chooses not to compress all of history into one millisecond of a moment just to get it over with.
He chooses to do what He does so well, in the fullness of time as days are accomplished. He chooses to flow through the rhythms of time.
What time is it in your life? What is so new about a new year for you? What is ready to be accomplished? What is next?
It's Christmas! Happy Easter!
What did you get for Christmas? Would you settle for some fish?
Jesus received gold, frankincense, and myrrh, but it was years late and followed by a life of rejection and a cross at the end of the road. Once he found a coin in a fish to pay His taxes and, another time, He took a few fish and some bread and fed a mob of thousands. He was particularly fond of some fishermen and called them to follow Him and fish for men. He changed one of them into a shepherd over a plate of fish.
"Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise. This is now the third time that Jesus showed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead." (John 21:12-14)
What a marvelous Christmas and Easter gift it was! The risen Christ met His disciples in the course of their lives and invited them to come and dine with Him. It was in that setting that Jesus walked Simon Peter back through the steps of rejection he had taken through a reaffirmation of his love and a new commission to feed His very own sheep.
Jesus meets us in the course of our lives along the shores of wherever we are struggling to get by. He shows us how to do what we are doing better, but interrupts us for something more important. He calls us to sit down with Him in intimate fellowship, to be fed on His sacrifice, forgiven by His grace, and sent forth in His power to feed others.
And it's the greatest Christmas, New Year's, Easter gift of all: the gift of His saving presence and His calling.
It's Christmas! Happy Easter! Happy New Year! Go forth!
Psalm 20:1 - May the LORD answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
In the spirit of blessing and benediction, we come to pray for a friend who is a leader of people. Such a prayer blesses the giver, the receiver, and the heart of God. In this case, the intercessor is speaking to God on behalf of another but in doing so openly, is speaking also, to the other on behalf of God. It is a ministry of healing, grace, and love that encourages the head upon which the blessing is laid. It is priestly, and it is sacramental. Protection and deliverance come to the distressed often after the prayer of another. Who can you bless today?
Psalm 20:2 - May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion.
In ministry, the help that we offer does not come from us. It proceeds directly from the presence of God. Our encouraging presence is not a gift of our own resources, but of the Master who fashioned us and sent us forth equipped to serve. We offer support by “being there,” but that support is the Christ within us who comes alongside. He is the Spirit, the Paraclete who lifts the broken and heals the wounded. We can withhold such a blessing to our detriment and that of others, but we cannot manufacture it. Stop withholding.
Psalm 20:3 - May he remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings. Selah
This verse, interpreted in the light of the New Covenant lifts up the cross in the presence of God and the person we desire to bless. It is not our sacrifice, but that with which we identify in Christ that makes an offering of our lives acceptable to God. We can have confidence in such a sacramental act as was wrought in the passion of the Lamb of God. Into the malaise of our frail attempts to appease God, He entered with the perfect offering for sin and made this prayer possible.
Psalm 20:4 - May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.
As astounding as it may sound, God desires to give us our desires, but only after He has transformed those desires and brought them into sync with His own. He wants our plans to succeed, but inasmuch as His Spirit has planted those plans in our hearts. The progression of the blessing is the prerequisite experience of the blanket prayer. First there is distress, then divine deliverance and protection, followed by help, support, sacrifice, and offering. The transforming power of these events paves the way for success.
Psalm 20:5 – We will shout for joy when you are victorious and will lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the LORD grant all your requests.
There have been many along the way that have cheered you on to spiritual success and growth. The have applauded God at your salvation, baptism, and first steps in discipleship. They have encouraged you and embraced you along your pilgrimage. It is your turn to do this for another. You are called to be an encourager or a mentor or even a cheerleader. You have the capacity to invest your life and prayers in someone other than yourself and to take great joy in his or her progress. Don’t let the opportunity slip away.
Psalm 20:6 - Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed; he answers him from his holy heaven with the saving power of his right hand.
It is a serendipitous moment when we realize within ourselves that God does indeed save those upon whom His purposes rest. Jesus Christ is God’s anointed and all who are found in Him are heirs of God’s purposes, promises, and privileges. We suddenly discover that we can reinterpret every event in our lives in the newly discerned light of God’s eternal program in which we are included. Live each day in the light of His promises and in the confidence of your secure position in His eternal family.
Psalm 20:7 – Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
The difference between God’s anointed and the self-appointed is a matter of trust. We don’t need more insight as Brennan Manning has noted in “Ruthless Trust,” but more trust. We need to recklessly abandon our lives to God with such radical displacement of self and fleshly confidence that we will sink, or swim based only upon God’s truth, love, and faithfulness. It is the call of the Christian to climb as far out on a limb with God as possible and then, to live there in an ever-deepening reliance upon Him and Him alone.
Psalm 20:8 - They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm.
Those who trust in the weapons and schemes of man are ultimately frustrated in every human effort. Often, the contrast is most pronounced in times of crisis, grief, or hardship. The countenance of the worldly falls with the loss of position, strength, prosperity, or self-confidence. The godly, though battered, bruised, broken, and besieged, will rise up and stand firm. Grief and sorrow befall every soul, but “that soul who on Jesus hath leaned for repose …” God “… will never, no never desert to his foes.”
Psalm 20:9 - O LORD, save the king! Answer us when we call!
From the sanctuary of Israel rises up a song of prayer for the man who symbolized their security, well being, and success as a nation. God’s people had the impulse to pray for their nation and leaders in the days of the psalmist. They knew that no people and no potentate could stand apart from the awesome power of the King of the Universe. How seldom we pray for people in power, for decision makers, for the affairs of state and for people of note. How deeply they need our prayers.
Let us commit to pray for our leaders and friends.
Art Credit
Eickemeyer, Rudolf, 1862-1932. Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=55501 [retrieved December 30, 2019]. Original source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Give-us-this-day-our-daily-bread-reickemeyer.jpg.g
"I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies." - Psalm 18:1-3 (ESV)
The editor observed in the introduction:
"To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, the servant of the LORD, who addressed the words of this song to the LORD on the day when the LORD rescued him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said ..."
What is your battle?
Who is your strength?
"I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies."
"The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me; the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me."
"In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears." - Psalm 18:3-6 (ESV)
In distress we call ; In reverence we fall; In joy, in sorrow, all ... We bring to Him and crawl To be lifted. Enthrall ... The nations. Install ... His glory. Each wall ... Collapse. Each hall ... Be filled with wonder and praise!
"For I have kept the ways of the LORD,
and have not wickedly departed from my God. For all his rules were before me, and his statutes I did not put away from me. I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from my guilt. So the LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight." - Psalm 18:21-24 (ESV)
Poor David had a bit of a blind side in his self assessment.
Or did he?
If God forgets my sin and separates them from me as far as the east is from the west, why should I wallow in guilt of that which is forgiven.
God sees me through different eyes than I could ever see myself.
He see the future and the present me ... perfected in Christ, made complete by grace.
Only that which is Christ in me, the hope of glory, comes to His attention. He looks a my little, pitiful efforts to follow Him and calls the angels over so that He can brag about His child.
Maybe I can sing these verses in faith after all!!!!
Here is a dilemma: You don't have large enough blocks of time to focus on your big projects. Everything is chopped up with what we have called cracks in time available. The cracks seem to small to allow accomplishments. On the other hand, you work so hard that when you get the big blocks, you are weary and wasteful with that time. Your body doesn't want to do what is necessary for you to dig in.
What will you do?
Well, there is down time and then, there is down time.
True down time is a good thing, is to be celebrated, and is to be sanctified. It is Sabbath and we all need it.
Remember it and keep it holy. That means separate and unique and uncluttered with worry and self-flagellation over how you ought to be using it to catch up. You ARE using it to catch up. Your body is replenishing its resources and your total being is renewing itself for future full engagement.
The other sort of down time is all in your head. It is not down time at all and needs to be redefined - I do that by spelling things out.
D = Decide that you can use the time fruitfully and be ready to do so. If I seem redundant it is because I still don't have this attitude perfected in me. I need to decide and re-decide and maybe you do too. Prepare for the times when all you have is ten or fifteen minutes. So many of the jobs I procrastinate for months take less time than that.
O = Obligate yourself to use every moment that is not genuine rest and reflection to some productive end. Rest and reflection are also productive, so don't count them out if that is what is called for in the moment. Make a commitment to live every second of your life with purpose.
W = Walk in Wonder. It may well be that the next thought you need to think will arise from something you see or hear if you will stop to look and listen. Don't pass up the opportunities for "aha" moments because you are in such a hurry to get to the next thing.
N = Negotiate and renegotiate with time. It is not your adversary but you can enrage it and yourself by not honoring it with some attention and respect. Time can be arranged and rearranged, but it will always be a factor.
For the most part, Christmas is past. The season continues, even on the Christian calendar, the lights are still up, and the malls still resound with carols, but something has passed of the wonder, excitement, and joy. In fact, all artificial joy has faded and most of the world is experiencing an emotional letdown at this very moment.
But the Christian is not subject to deflation in the economy of joy. Real joy is something deeper and non-circumstantial.
A New Year is about to dawn. Assessing the old year may bring a feeling of disappointment, but tomorrow is filled with hope and promise. Resolutions for how this fresh opportunity will be embraced are even now forming in our minds. Our hearts are turning slowly to the promise of tomorrow.
But what of today?
The psalmist declares that this is the day that God has made. Yesterday is passed. Tomorrow may or may not come as we expect it. Today is now. It s a new creation. It is full of promise and presence. God’s promises are eternal and His presence is a cause for celebration. It is still Christmas and will continue to be Christmas every day we awaken with a heartbeat. Then someday, we will awaken without a heartbeat and we will be in His perfect presence.
That will be Christmas indeed.
In the meantime, we have one great task each new morning before any other is performed. We are called to rejoice and be glad, to offer up the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, and to meet God in the day as if it were the only day He had ever made.
Position in which a Jewish kohen places his hands and fingers during the Priestly BlessingMozaic in Synagoge of Enschede, Netherlands- The mosaic text reads "בשמאלה עשר וכבוד"- "in her left hand riches and honor" from Proverbs 3:16
Blessing, my friends!
My sisters and my brothers!
It is a joy to count all of you as my friends.
You encourage me, lift me, strengthen me, and bring deep meaning to my life.
What a blessing to see so many who aim for something better and toward becoming all they can be.
It is a source of joy to see so many who are cultivating faith in their lives and businesses.
I regret the long gaps that sometimes come between our conversations.
Life seems to have other plans than those we neatly organize.
And that is part of the beauty of it.
May your God-given dreams envelope you in a sea of wonder.
May your goals be ever before you to get you up and get you going.
May you celebrate your successes and embrace your failures as cobblestones on the road to success.
May the joy of this season of hope lift you to higher planes of grace and deeper levels of commitment.
May your view be always fixed ahead and above while you live with awe in the present and in peace with the past.
May the One who gives life and health guide you over the storms of this present sea of danger and opportunity steadily into the port of purpose.
May each day of your life be filled with glorious manifestations of infinite possibilities.
May your home be a reservoir of love overflowing into the streets of your city.
May your life be a lighthouse of hope and integrity; may your words be well chosen food for the souls of many; may your thoughts be seeds of greatness for yourself and others.
You have it in you and I am honored to be called your friend.
Keep up the good work.
You are making a difference in this world and the world to come.
Pain is information. There are four ways pain informs us:
1. We are informed that we are alive and have the capacity to feel.
2. We are informed that something is possibly wrong and needs to be addressed.
3. We are informed that we are weak and needy of grace. We need grace from God and we need the grace God gives us through other people.
4. We are informed that God's grace is sufficient and sometimes the pain is actually the knitting of our torn places, the healing of our deepest hurts, and the mending of our broken places.
Still, it is unpleasant, sometimes unbearable, and always a challenge.
So, we need some sort of healing from it, through it, or in it.
Sometimes the healing relieves us of the pain, but, most often, the healing helps us bear it and bear up under it. It helps us channel it and grow through it.
Either way, it is still healing.
What I never want to do is mask it, ignore it, or keep it from doing what it is intended to do for me and through me.
If pain is information, may I be willing to receive and understand its message on the road to real and ultimate healing.
Peering eyes barely opened, recognized his mother from a bed of straw. He squirmed, tentatively exploring his world, not knowing it would so soon reject him or that for it, he would lay down his life. Yet to discover what in eternity he knew, that he was the Savior-Sovereign, he whimpered as any infant would and cried out for suckle. So vulnerable was the Son of God, so frail the Son of Man and we did esteem him stricken, smitten, afflicted by God.
Crucified from the foundations of the earth, he emptied himself of glory. Yet, glory pursued him. He took on the form of a servant as angels stood by awaiting his slightest summons. He subjected himself to temptation, but shunned sin. He walked among men as a man, but his divinity could not be hidden. He prayed as we must pray and taught us in so doing to embrace the kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. There he lay, a bundle of need who had hitherto known no need. Packaged in his person, the potent possibilities of reconciliation and redemption.
Here lay an offering, wiggling beneath swaddling clothes, wrapped up and carefully placed under every family's tree.
Here lay the concentrated reality of all God's love for humankind.
Here was a promise fulfilled, a hope realized, a purpose unfolding before our very eyes - and we esteemed him not.
How we have marginalized this child. How we have assigned him but a season of sentimental reflection and generalized good wishes. How we have misunderstood, misrepresented, or misappropriated the meaning of his coming. God manifest, he was and is and nothing less. Emmanuel - more than a pleasant sounding melody - is the miracle of incarnation. God is, absolutely, irrevocably, undeniably, and unambiguously, with us.
A child - weak and hungry – he was born into a world without incubators or Pampers or formula. He was born into a world of high infant mortality with an elevated threat on the Herodian horizon. For each who welcomed him, there were companies of soldiers seeking to snuff out his life. Soon to be on the run, a fugitive from his own people, he would return again and again and ultimately in a final show of death-defying atonement.
He is the Lord we laud, the Master we magnify, and the Savior we salute on this night of nights. We have no gold, frankincense nor myrrh to bring as acts of homage. We bring empty hands extended toward him that he might fill them with his own gifts. We fall down before him and worship with broken and joyful hearts, celebrating the power of the pregnant paradox - they that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
Gaze upon him in wonder this night. Sing to him a lullaby of praise.
O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord.
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Wrapped in vulnerability, Love descended ... exposed to the elements ... exposed to threat and danger ... exposed, vulnerable, human ... Love: Incarnate ... invisible divinity and visible humanity. Love ... an open target ... a viable opportunity to align or malign and yet Alive! Very Alive! Present with us, Among us, One of us, Like us ... in all our infirmity ... every temptation, every disease, every emotion, every pain and passion, poured upon Love! Welcome, Jesus! Welcome, Spirit! Welcome, Presence and Power of God, Emptied and embodied in a body. We are your body now. All that you were among us, We are called to be. Let us be who you were and let us give as you gave and let us speak as you spoke and let us love as you loved. You, who are the Prince of Peace have made us ... Peacemakers and called us ... Blessed. And we are ... Blessed. Welcome, Lord Jesus. Welcome to our hearts and lives and World. Joy to the World! The Lord has come. Let earth receive her King!
Zacharias_(Michelangelo) - Zechariah as depicted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
“… I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH … Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:. “ - Zechariah 3:8,6:12
From behind the curtain of Old Testament typology emerges a glimpse at a coming Messiah built upon a recurring and persistent messianic hope.
It is a deep urge for redemption and yearning for deliverance. It burns within the bosom of a captive people.
What child is this in the manger?
He is the very extension of the life of the Father. He is God reaching down to us. He expresses the life of God because he is God Incarnate.
Jesus would teach us that He is the vine and we are His branches drawing the essence of our life from Him.
While that does not make us Him, it does mean that we are His Body on earth.
The Father’s Branch is a servant.
Jesus came to serve.
He became the servant of all. He is the very demonstration and personification of servanthood who gave His life as a ransom for many. In everything, He served the Father’s purposes even as He served people.
So He impresses upon our hearts the call to a lifestyle of service.
The Father’s Branch is also the Builder of the Temple.
The Old Testament types of a coming Christ built temples made with hands, but Jesus came to build a temple of people that He might indwell by His Spirit.
He who lay in a manger desires to come and live in us and make our hearts His house.
"On that day, says the LORD of hosts, you shall invite each other to come under your vine and fig tree."
Zechariah 3:1-10 (NRSV)
Then he showed me the high priest Joshua standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.
And the LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, O Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this man a brand plucked from the fire?"
Now Joshua was dressed with filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. The angel said to those who were standing before him, "Take off his filthy clothes."
And to him he said, "See, I have taken your guilt away from you, and I will clothe you with festal apparel."
And I said, "Let them put a clean turban on his head."
So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with the apparel; and the angel of the LORD was standing by.
Then the angel of the LORD assured Joshua, saying "Thus says the LORD of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among those who are standing here.
Now listen, Joshua, high priest, you and your colleagues who sit before you! For they are an omen of things to come:
I am going to bring my servant the Branch.
For on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with seven facets, I will engrave its inscription, says the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the guilt of this land in a single day.
On that day, says the LORD of hosts, you shall invite each other to come under your vine and fig tree."
"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him." - Matthew 2:1-2
When Jesus was born …
How common the words, how incidental they sound. Yet, they introduce an event of such significance that all of time is measured as before and after the coming of this one child into the world and the drama of His life, death, and resurrection.
When Jesus comes, it is a new day.
Governments are in place imagining themselves all powerful and enduring and suddenly they sense that they are temporal and vulnerable. The truly wise recognize the waves of change in the cosmos and once again become seekers moving in the direction of the source of that change. They that move with the currents of change come to worship.
New days and new years are best observed by recognizing God and worshiping Him.
We measure small blocks of time in seconds and move up the continuum, pausing to recognize the passing of years. In a year we circle the sun and pass through all of the seasons. We count them off and, as they pass, we find ourselves counting faster and faster.
We mark off the old and look with anticipation upon the new.
And while all of that is going on, something is being born, a new life, a novel opportunity, a fresh idea, a renewed hope, and occasionally, a burst of light.
We follow that light and it leads us to a manger where, in unassuming splendor and simple elegance, we encounter the Son of God.
There we worship.
Because of that ever-present possibility of meeting God in the passages of time, we peek around the corner of every new day and every new year with anticipatory wonder.
We know, as did the wise men, why we have come to this time. We have come to worship Him.
The Land of Beginning Again Louisa Fletcher
I wish that there were some wonderful place Called the land of Beginning Again, Where all our mistakes and all our heartaches And all of our poor selfish grief Could be dropped like a shabby old coat at the door, And never put on again.
I wish we could come on it all unaware, Like the hunter who finds a lost trail; And I wish that the one whom our blindness had done The greatest injustice of all Could be at the gates like an old friend that waits For the comrade he's gladdest to hail.
We would find all the things we intended to do But forgot, and remembered too late, Little praises unspoken, little promises broken, And all of the thousand and one Little duties neglected that might have perfected The day for one less fortunate.
It wouldn't be possible not to be kind In the land of Beginning Again; And the ones we misjudged and the ones Whom we grudged The moments of victory here Would find in the grasp of our loving handclasp More than penitent lips could explain
For what had been hardest we'd know had been best And what had seemed loss would be gain; For there isn't a sting that will not take wing When we've faced it and laughed it away; And I think that the laughter is most what we're after In the land of Beginning Again.
So I wish that there were some wonderful place Called the land of Beginning Again, Where all our mistakes and all our heartaches And all of our poor selfish grief Could be dropped like a shabby old coat at the door, And never be put on again.
Jesus appears. It is the advent of peace and grace. He comes with mercy and deliverance. He comes to save wretches.
“ O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” – Romans 7:24
“ Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked …” - Revelation 3:17
No one aspires to wretchedness. All resist the implication that they are wretched. No one wants to be known as a wretch.
However, to be a recipient of grace, the soul must know its great need and acknowledge that it is depraved and lost in a sea of sin.
The sound of grace, the voice of God, the Word of the Gospel, that Word which was made flesh has sounded forth from Heaven into the realm of time and space. It has declared with unambiguous truth, “Thou are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and bind, and naked.”
And without a breath or a rest in the song of grace, it has declared to us, the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve that we shall be called Benjamin, for we are “the beloved of the Lord.”
Saul was of the tribe of Benjamin, wretched in his righteousness, zealous in his misguided legalism, vengeful in his passion to please God. “Why persecutest thou me,” our Lord inquires. And grace came to Brother Saul and the wretched one became the instrument of proclaiming grace to the nations, even “the least of the Apostles” and the chief of sinners who would declare,
“But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” – I Corinthians 5:10
How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.
We must know our state apart from grace that we might fully appreciate what God has wrought in us and done for us. It evokes in the heart of an honest soul both gratitude and hope, flowing from the fount of humility.
To be eligible for great grace, we must know how great our need is.
"If this Book means anything it means that at the wall of the world stands God, and any man driven there by conviction of sin finds the arms of God outstretched to save him." --Oswald Chambers, in He Shall Glorify Me from the Quotable Oswald Chambers
When we are up against the wall, when we are backed into a corner, when we are bereft of options, when we are standing alone, there is God.
God stands.
When we are confused, forsaken, forgotten, and forlorn, God stands.
When we face failure and drink from it's sacramental cup of defeat and pain, God's hands are outstretched.
When we know we blew it and when we suspect we will not recover, we look, and there is God waiting with outstretched love.
We might feel that silence implies vacillation, lack of courage, or unwillingness to engage.
Perhaps, sometimes, it does. At other times, it merely indicates a feeling that all has been said and a confidence that one has considered all the arguments and others have had the same opportunity.
Our old seminary professor was facing a barrage of criticism at one point in the form of mass mailing campaigns. Asked if he would respond, he sort of yawned and said , "No. I don't think so. If you wrestle with a skunk, even if you win, you lose."
So then, what do we do about out critics?.
I know a few techniques that work for me, but here is a start:
Love them.
Let's talk about love for a moment ... nothing weak or wimpy or gushy about it.
Love is strong and gutsy.
Love will take someone else's punches and then take another and keep standing up and staring evil in the eye until evil blinks.
Love does not back off.
Love does not make conditions because love knows that no one can live up to them.
Love is realistic. Love knows the world is a messy fallen place with messy fallen people.
Love does not need to be convinced of its own validity because it does not need to be subject to anyone's idea of rational or deserving.
Love just is and it is the most powerful, enduring force available in the world and we must love.
I live a big part of my life in a community founded on the law of love for God and neighbor. Our calling is to model love.
We are not called to exercise retributive justice, but that justice, rooted in the love that restores more than it refutes.
We are called to live in communities with different people who have different opinions and are sometimes hard to get along with.
We are called to be models of what love can look like if it takes hold in the larger society. My Master, Jesus, called me to live by the law of love and that is my commitment.
It must effect our communication to love.
Sometimes it means we must answer out of respect. respectfully, but truthfully.
Sometimes, it requires us to acknowledge the validity of the criticism of others. Sometimes, it means that we must simply acknowledge that they have given it, but that we respectfully disagree.
Another tool is to appreciate the critics for what they bring to the table. They may have good ideas.
I am OK with people expressing their commitments to make the world better and their perspectives on how to fix the problems we face.
One example is violence.
Do you have an idea?
Go for it. This is probably a good time, but remember, if you demonize your opponent and do not listen to his or her heart, that is the seed of violence.
There is a difference in being a critic and being in attack mode.
If you marginalize another person because to categorize his or her opinion as this or that, someone will take that same sentiment and build a little hate into it and it will escalate.
You may have no intention to do that or to promote hate, but in not promoting love and understanding, dignity, respect, and high regard for the person-hood of another, you have missed an opportunity for good and left a vacuum which evil can fill.
For instance, there are good people whose focus is on gun rights and they think that carrying weapons can save lives.
I am not one of them, but I respect them as fellow human beings. I assume that most of them are not trigger happy and hope they will never sense the need to point their gun at anyone.
I hope so.
There are good people who believe that reasonable restrictions on gun ownership is constitutional and can save lives.
There are good people with extreme views and moderate views on may different issues in our society.
They do not live in "camps."
They live next door to you, maybe in your house.
Sometimes they are your critics.
Sometimes you are their critic.
They are the people we want to save and serve.
They are the people we need in order to solve problems.
We used to use the word "goodwill" more often.
Different people see things from different perspectives.
I have strong --- very strong opinions about many of the issues that concern our world today. Many of my friends disagree with them.
I do not have to give up my viewpoint in order to work with these folks. I just need to respect their humanity and love them and be willing to work things out with them.
If they decide to be my critics, I will still love them.
Back to the question:
Should a person always answer his or her critics?
Probably, but maybe not the way our impulses dictate in the moment. Maybe more the way our well-tuned hearts lead us.
There is only one way we are going to solve our biggest problems: TOGETHER!
“And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled …” - Matthew 24:6a,
"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” – Philippians 4:6
It seems that we have been at war most of our lives.
Each time we go to a new war, there are some who feel it will be the last, but Jesus reminds us to expect more and not to be troubled because the time may not be yet.
Paul admonishes us that the cure for anxiety is prayer. The whole counsel of scripture gives us lessons on how to pray during times of war.
Pray for policy makers and military commanders that they will be guided by God and by truth.
Pray for the sergeants and chiefs that they will be able to maintain discipline and morale.
Pray for the soldiers, sailors, and airmen that they will be strengthened by God's grace and protected from harm.
Pray that we will have our understanding of what God's blessing is tempered by God and accept His definition of His blessings to us.
Pray for a minimum number of casualties on all sides and that civilian populations will be protected from harm.
Pray for righteousness, justice, and peace and for the success of every righteous cause including an end to evil and that many will turn to God, for worldwide revival.
Pray for our enemies that God will bless them. This is a non-negotiable command from Jesus. This includes praying that terrorists will voluntarily submit themselves before the bar of divine mercy and human justice and that they and others will be saved - this is what blessing ultimately means.
Pray for the will of God to be done in every dimension of human affairs and for His Kingdom to come on earth as it is in Heaven, for repentance and forgiveness regarding our individual and corporate offenses against God and other human beings.
Pray for oppressed people wherever they are to be liberated and dealt with in a just and merciful manner.
Pray for comfort and healing for victims and their families and for families that are sending their sons and daughters to war.
Pray that we will hear whatever God may be saying to us in this hour.
In the Advent season, peace is on our hearts as we prepare to celebrate the welcoming of the Prince of Peace. It is he who told us what to expect as we live in a world of turmoil and hostility:
Do not be alarmed. These things will happen, but we are not abandoned or forgotten.
Do not give up. Endure till the end.
Keep spreading the good news of the Kingdom. There will come a day when all wars shall cease.
And remember to pray and work for peace.
Matthew 24:1-14 (NRSV) -
As Jesus came out of the temple and was going away, his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. Then he asked them, "You see all these, do you not? Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down."
When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"
Jesus answered them, "Beware that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Messiah!' and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places: all this is but the beginning of the birth pangs."
"Then they will hand you over to be tortured and will put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of my name. Then many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold."
"But the one who endures to the end will be saved."
"And this good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world, as a testimony to all the nations; and then the end will come."
“… Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am He that liveth and was dead; and, behold; I am alive forever more, Amen, and I have the keys of hell and death.” – Revelation 1:17b-18
At the start of Jesus’ earthly life the angel brings the same message to the shepherds that the resurrected glorified Christ gives to John on the Isle of Patmos, “Fear not.” He, who is the first and last, has the first and last word in this mater.
We are not called to fear, but to faith.
We are not designed for timidity, but for courage.
We are not relegated to lives of restless anxiety, but to confidence in a Lord who surrounds times and envelops space, One whose purposes are eternal and whose promises endure forever.
He is indeed the first and the last. Nothing preempts His preeminence in all things. In the beginning, He is God. In the end, He is God. He created history and He will sum it up in the final analysis.
It would be enough to know that He is eternal, but He became temporal flesh and blood for us. We can expel fear because He faced our deepest fears in His own body. Death, our old nemesis, has stalked us through all of our years. He turned to death as if to say, “Just try to take me. Give it your best shot.”
And He died – horribly, as hideously as possible, but even in death, He had the last word, “It is finished!”
Sometimes you feel locked in and the walls seem to be caving in on you. Sometimes you feel locked out, unable to enter the place of security and joy. Whether you feel locked in or out, fearful of the unknown, apprehensive of the future, regretful of the past, I have good news for you. The keeper of the keys is extending one hand to you and dangling the keys to all the great mysteries and eternity itself in the other. Death and hell are in His hand. He has been there to release the captives and all we must do is follow Him.
But that is not all. He is alive forevermore demonstrating that death is not final for one who believes with heart and life in the Lord of life. But even that is not all – for even if we were to conquer the fear of death, there would be eternity to contend with.
And to that anxiety, Jesus exclaims, “Fear not … I have the keys.”
In this morning's Advent readings, I saw people being challenged to change their thinking.
Jesus asked questions that upset the mental lethargy of his detractors.
John, in the Revelation has to adjust his eyes to a new way of seeing Jesus.
Amos the prophet is called upon to step out of the comfort zone of his own self-concept and do something different.
You and I are always being encouraged and required to reorder our old thinking as well. We must do so to meet new challenges and face new perplexities.
Sometimes, we need a complete overhaul.
You may not be able to change all your thinking at once, but you could start with something.
1. Evaluate - Is there something in my thinking that is getting the results I do not want?
2. Excavate - What is the source of that thinking? Is it possible that I am moving on a belief about myself, others, or reality that has no validity?
3. Eradicate - Abandon that belief, if only for a moment. Seek God's help and a new perspective.
4. Emancipate - Free yourself to move into a new reality where you can pursue your new dreams with new behaviors and new attitudes. See what happens
... then CELEBRATE!
Let us pray.
This is a new day, God of hope.
It has not been fully formed.
A million choices will frame it and fill in the blanks.
Some are ours; some are others' and then ...
There is nature and nature's choice's.
We know this, at the end of the day, not one eternal purpose of Yours
will be thwarted,
Not one soul will be out of Your sight,
Not one thought will escape Your notice, and
All who will be guided, will be guided by Your hand.
“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." - Revelation 1:8
Everything is wrapped up in the babe who was wrapped in swaddling clothes.
In a tiny bundle of newborn humanity is the sum total of all truth and meaning. In that crude cradle of creation lay the Creator of the universe.
His Incarnation condensed into one representative human life the start and finish of history and the cosmos.
Though he presented Himself in time and space as a participant in our history, He is beyond history. He is the Lord of eternity, the Almighty. And we knew it not.
The grand spiritual, “Sweet Little Jesus Boy,” says it succinctly, “We didn’t know it was you.”
But it was him and is him and always will be him? What child is this? Oh, so much more than we could ever imagine. He is Alpha and Omega, the A and the Z. He starts things and finishes them. He always was and yet, is present. And he always will be. Divine mystery is flesh. John wrote that we could touch him, the Word of Truth.
“What wondrous love is this, that caused the Lord of bliss” to come and live among us? We didn’t know who he was and John, in the Revelation of Jesus Christ allows us to see what he saw and He conveys to us His vision of the risen and exalted Christ, the Eternal One.
Consequently, through his humble abasement, we have been lifted.
“John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” - Revelation 1:4-6
There has been a societal emphasis on self-esteem and feeling good about ourselves.
Children with a distorted concept of themselves grow into troubled adults. Without a sense of value and worth, people disrespect themselves and tend to disrespect others. Sometimes this disrespect leads to crime or anti-social behaviors. It is self-destructive and manifests itself in unhealthy families. It is visited upon children and children’s children.
But the remedy is not found in superficial affirmations of our essential worth or in the denial of sin and darkness.
It is to be found in God and His esteem for us. He loves us because of His amazing grace, tender mercy, and sovereign choice. All of this was bestowed while we were yet sinners. He saw what we could be.
God, who stepped out of Heaven and into time and space, has called us out of darkness. He has freed us from sin by the blood of His Son so that every impediment to who we were intended to be has been removed.
The Alpha and Omega came to a place in the middle and stood with us.
The outcome is that God’s vision of us as His people is an elevated vision.
He does not look upon His children, who have received His grace, as miserable sinners. He sees us as a kingdom of priests who serve and exalt Him.
We are enveloped in the Alpha and the Omega.
That is, in reality, who we are. All other visions of self are false and deceptive.
We are kingdom people and we are priestly people with a high calling and a sanctified standing. It is by grace and it is complete.
God’s glory is manifest in His loving esteem for us.
He is the Alpha and the Omega and we are God's kingdom of priests.
Show me your pain and I will show you your passion.
It is the same and it is transforming, first, by transforming itself ...
into joy!
Without the pain,
there is no passion,
Without the passion,
there is no joy.
Without the joy ...
Without the JOY!?!?
You must be kidding me!
Without the joy, I'll go back to bed.
But with joy, I'm going out there to passionately,
make a difference
today.
And let me never forget,
Oh One Who came to suffer and to serve,
that it was through pain that You
brought us life and through Your suffering that we,
were set free and sent forth
to serve.
We live in a world of pain and concentrated suffering.
Where is your pain focused? You have your own and that is a given. Have you found that place where you have absorbed and borne the pain of some part of the world or some people or some cause?n Have you found that place in your heart where you can suffer with (COM-passion) others and feels their pain as much or more than your own?
That is where your passion will be an that is where you will be energized by God to serve and to change the world through business, ministry, or life. Whatever the venue, the source is within you ... where you hurt most is where you will find your greatest joy.
Explore these things. They are not for the faint-at-heart who desire to remain afloat in a sea of complacency and pseudo comfort, but they are for you ...
I know this because ...
You are still reading this while others have dropped off and because ...
You want to make a difference and because ...
You do know where you hurt and have moved beyond your personal pain to embrace the pain of others ... and ...
It makes you sick to your stomach to think of things going on as they are and you want to heal the broken people you see and you, you, you want to make a difference and this passion is not something you sought or something you made up.
It has come to you as a gift and a call.
Today!
Think and pray!
God bless you.
"It is in pardoning that we are pardoned."
How can I, God of mercy,
How can I humble myself
To seek Thy forgiveness
If I am haughty enough to demand retribution
From my neighbor?
How can I seek pardon,
Guilty as I am,
If I withhold it from one who has offended me?
Is there not one entry way to my soul for
That which flows in and
That which flows forth?
If I close down the outflow of mercy,
How can I drink of its inflow?
God of love, I am a stained as anyone.
I am as needy as the most despicable and defiled.
You, who knows and sees all and
Sees my heart,
You know how dark it can be in there when
The lights go out.
I cannot live in the dark and,
It is in the dark,
The bleak and cold dark where I ...
Seek only justice and revenge for myself ...
It is in the dark where I delight in
The pain of my enemy and
The defeat of those who seek my defeat.
I cannot live in such darkness.
It is in the dark where I, who with my lips,
Seek pardon,
Refuse it for there is one word,
Just One,
Just one word of acceptance or refusal ...
For myself and for my neighbor.
It is either "Yes" or "No,"
And it covers us both.
Cover me, Oh God of giddy grace,
With rose pedals of yeses!
Cover me with snowflakes of mercy and
Forgiveness.
Cover my face with smiles for my nemeses that they may be
My soon friends.
Cover my darkness with light and
Obliterate the darkness of bitterness and
Anger with
The bright, sparkling, shiny glow
of Love.
In Jesus' Name,
Amen and
Amen.
"It is in dying that we are born to eternal life." - Prayer of St. Francis
So, let me die today and die daily. There is nothing in my instincts to pray such a prayer. But then, there is nothing in my instinctual drive to cling ... ... to extinct-ual or ... extinguishable "living" that lives beyond the moment. I pray to resist that drive, that urge, that urgency to survive that extinguishes life. Some day, that will mean laying down my body, but, today it means ... laying down this body of sin, of self, of sensual necessity that says, "I am thee," but is not me. Nor is it Thee in me, Oh God who knows and gives and lives in and through all who die this way. I prayed, "Kill me," and Thou didst not... and would not. You said, "Just die and live," and I tried it and I did and there You were! You handed me a cross and said, "Go carry it." And I asked, "What is it?" And You said, "It is the pain and suffering and pain and disgust, and ugliness, and bad choices, and bitter gall, and nasty words, thoughts, and accusations, and hateful hurts of those You will meet today." And I said, "Why should I?" And You said, "Because I did and do and you said that You wanted to follow me and this is what we carry." And I said, "The burden is too heavy." And You said, "I know." And I asked, "So?" And You said, "Go ... I am with you." And so ... I did ... at least that day and then I asked, "What do I do with them?" And You said, "Bring them to me," and I replied, "But You already have all of these," and You said, "Mind Your own business, I've got it handled." I said. "OK, You are the Master," and You smiled and said, "I know." Master, this really feels and lot like living and You said, "I know. I told you so. What you though was living, was not. It distorts your view because the lens is sprinkled with mirrors always pointing back at you and seeing life and events and people from ego and self-interest and it is not in your self-interest to be that interested in yourself. Deadsville! Die to Deadsville and live!" In so many words And so, Lord, I die today, I nail Deadsville ...
... and my citizenship there with all my credentials and investments to Your cross. Thanks for my cross. It fits me. I sort of like it. I know I love this new life You have given me and I really love these people You keep bringing into my life. Help me to bear their burdens until I can get them to You and Thank You for bearing them and mine. I am starting to get it ... It is in dying that we are born To eternal life. I look forward to seeing You face to face some day, When I have laid down this body of flesh and this cross. Thanks for the invitation and for paying the admission price. Thank You, my Jesus, My Lord, my Savior, my Friend, and My Brother, Amen.
And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire …. - Jude 1:23
When John Wesley was a very young child, the rectory at Epworth where he lived with his family, caught fire. John was trapped on the second floor and the parishioners and neighbors had to build a human ladder to rescue him. For the rest of her life, Susanna Wesley knew he was a special child with a special call, and referred to him as a brand plucked from the burning.
We are on a fearful rescue mission in the midst of a raging fire.. We are commanded by God to snatch people out of that fire. God does not want them in the fire and God has sent you to bring them out alive.
Read this admonition in context.
It is sandwiched in a directive about how we are to deal with people in kindness, mercy, and love. It encourages us to be holy and to let our prayers be Spirit filled, to grow, and to be expectant of the Lord’s return. It reminds us that the Lord is able to keep us from falling. And in the midst of it all is this simple plea to rescue people who are being drawn deeper and deeper into the destructive fires of eternal separation from God.
Snatch them.
It is not a passive activity. It is not something that we do casually or without passion. We snatch them because we can see their fate and we love them in Christ. We utilize whatever godly. loving, and respectful means are at our disposal and we employ all of our energy.
If you saw a child in a burning car, analysis would be quick and action would be primary. You would be calling for help even as you initiated efforts to do whatever it took to save that child. You might not even feel the burns on your own hands until later.
There would be one primary objective on your mind: get the kid out alive!
Why not have such passion for announcing the Kingdom of mercy, forgiveness, and compassion to people? Aren’t people dying? Are they not being treated unjustly? Aren't they living with systemic oppression? Aren't they lonely, depressed, addicted, incarcerated, and sad? Are there not those headed on a path of ruin?
We have the means to bring them out entrusted to us – a message of grace and love, yet we sit by as spectators, observers, and critics. The paramedics do not scold the injured driver on his poor driving. The fire fighter does not wait to put out the fire until she has ascertained who was negligent.The life guard does not deliver a safety lecture before rescuing a drowning child.
Neither does a herald of the kingdom of God approach the good news of repentance as some sort of punitive word. It is a message of hope and opportunity to those who ware looking for an escape from their despair.
It is Advent, the entrance into time and space of something dramatic, new, fresh, and redeeming. It foretells a day of ultimate reconciliation, judgment, salvation, and truth. What could be a better time to enlist as members of a rescue team equipped with life itself .
Back to John Wesley, Blogger and preacher, Dr. James Nored writes:
For "fifty years John Wesley rode 250,000 miles on the roads of England, Scotland and Ireland. He gave over 42,000 sermons, always preaching twice each day, and often three or four times daily, for fifty years. His tireless work changed British society and made evangelistic Christianity a life-giving force throughout the English-speaking world . . . . "
"At the age of 86 he was still preaching to huge gatherings of people two and three times a day, seven days a week." - James Nored
You might just rescue a Wesley, but whoever it is, it will be a child of God.
Yes, it is. Only with an open had can I do either ... And the same hand that gives, receives. Lord, guide my intentions to give today. At the moment, my hand is empty, But I hold it out so that You might place in it ... What my neighbor needs and that I May not grasp it as my own. Amen.
I was honored to speak with yesterday at the Mentoring group of a local college seven years ago and I spoke from this outline:
It was from my napkin ... some "P" words for starting a new business or non-profit venture (or any bold initiative):
A Purposeful Product - What are you bringing to the table and is there a real and perceived need with the right timing? Let me say this as the veteran of many excellent presentations and promising ventures. If there is not a compelling, useful, reliable, and needed product, it does not matter how sound and attractive the compensation plan or business model is; you do not have a sustainable business. Good business requires a great product. Period.
Passion - Does this ring your bell, ignite your fire, and tug at your heart. Can and do you believe that this "product," visible or invisible, can change the world and make a difference in people's lives? If not, find something that fires up your passion. If you do not have a passion for the product, you are flailing in the water and wearing yourself out.
Plan - You need to think our and write business plan. Follow a guide like "Business Plans for Dummies" and do it with a mentor or coach to ask the right questions. You cannot go far without a plan.
People - You have to relate to, network with, get along with, incorporate, empower, and use the skills of people in any business that multiplies itself. Learn too like them!!! Ask people for advice. Make friends. Determine to serve people. Make people your greatest resource but not something you use. If you can give something away, do it. Put people first and they will love you and want to do business with you.
Presentation - I ironically started to run out of time here. Find a way and develop the skills necessary to tell your story. A hint--- Toastmasters is a great resources for you here. Federal Toastmasters and many other local groups can help you can start a club on your campus, at your office, or in your community. Contact me at pastortomsims@gmail.com if I can help. I also do coaching on communication skills. I can recommend books and can skill development.
Promote. You will need a marketing plan and you will need to work it. Learn the art of selling. Read Frank Betcher's classic, "How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling."
Persevere. "Fail forward" (credit to John C. Maxwell) and turn your failures into building blocks for future
All the best to you in your new entrepreneurial venture. Stay in touch. Comment. Let me know how it is going. Ask questions. Be all that you can be. You will find many allies including me.
Are you looking for a Christmas gift that will keep giving encouragement and hope? Ship it to your friends today. You can also read it free on Kindle. I am not trying to get rich off of this:
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