"I can't Feel at Home in this World Anymore" is both mournful and hopeful. We all long for home. For a time, we may be content with the values, hopes, and benefits of this world. As we progress, we find ourselves outside the mainstream or, perhaps, fading in our capacity to adapt and thrive.
It could be the loss of our own health, or our friends and family. It could be the growing sense of a better home.
What then, is the attraction of home?
H - At home you HANG your hat.
You hang your hat, your hopes, and your baggage on the racks of home. You take off your shoes. You recline. You identify. You give out your address as your place of residence. On a good day, it is where you can be found. When you are at home, you are not wandering.
O - At home you OCCUPY your environment.
You can roam around the house when you are at home. Things feel familiar. The people are familiar. You can find your favorite mug. Your favorite foods are in the cupboard. Your home has been fashioned around your needs and preferences.
M - At home you MINGLE your vision with those with whom you dwell.
There is a commonality with your home folks. You may not all have the same habits or preferences, but you have been able to mingle and merge your needs and work together to build community and life. Your common life has been defined in agreements and understandings.
E - At home, you are at EASE, you rest, and you are comforted.
You relax at home because it is home. When you walk in the door, it all fits. You belong. There is peace.
So, when the singer says, "I can't feel at home in this world anymore, she or he implies that those things are no longer true of the world.
Part of it is a longing for an eternal home. With that comes the sense that, in some ways, we no longer belong here. We can't fit in. We can't relax. We cannot merge our values. We cannot adapt our identity. We cannot share our vision of truth.
When we say we are not home yet, we are saying, with hope and expectation, that we are on our way.
Many cities and states are observing the day. Here’s some of the history behind it.
Three years after President Biden became the first U.S. president to formally commemorate Indigenous Peoples’ Day, more than a dozen states recognize some version of the holiday in lieu of Columbus Day.
More than 100 cities have adopted the holiday, choosing to heed calls from Indigenous groups and other activists not to celebrate Christopher Columbus, the Italian navigator after whom the holiday is named. They say he brought genocide and colonization to communities that had been in the Americas for thousands of years. Many around the country, however, still celebrate Columbus Day or Italian Heritage Day as a point of pride.
"Lord, you have assigned my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure." - Psalm 16:5
God is righteous. That means that everything about Him is fully integrated into His holy character – He is 100% pure truth, love, goodness, and holiness.
There are no contradictions in God – except those that we contrive in our own misunderstanding of Him.
God loves justice.
God's heart delights in seeing things set aright.
God loves consistency in our lives. He takes joy when His truth is integrated into the loose dimensions of our lives and we come into right relationship with Him.
There is a promise in this verse, that the upright will see His face. What a glorious affirmation!
The more we seek God, the more our hearts are changed by His power within us and the clearer our vision of Who He is becomes.
We can see God. God's grace in Jesus Christ removes the scales from our eyes so that we may have a glimpse in this life and the hope of full disclosure in the life to come.
Let that truth sink into the pores of your being today and celebrate it as you walk through the maze of confusing messages and distorted truth.
Entering the Kingdom of God is hard because it involves a change of values. We discover that the things we think we own may own us.
But Jesus, looking at us with love, invites us to go, and get rid of our false masters so that we might come and follow him.
It is hard and we are sad when we think we cannot do it. Jesus says, that while such a reordering of our lives is hard and impossible, with God, all things are possible.
The origins of life? I believe it all comes from God, but that is only part of the story.
It came from God originally and it continues to come from God, is sustained by God, and is brought to its end by God. Life is both fleeting and enduring, but this life gives way to other life and that life must also, some day, to passed to others and to God Himself, the source of life and all that sustains life.
Nature "gets it" without contemplating it.
We contemplate it "to death" and don't "get it."
Life is a circle. Things go around and come around. We begin in the middle and endure past the end. We flow from one and into another.
Life is a line. We have a start and an end and the line continues. Someone began what they could not finish. We continue, but we do not finish either. The line goes on.
Life is every shape imaginable and beyond imagination. It is every color. It is every sound.
Life is a vapor, only because we cannot grasp a better word and the concept takes us into the realm of the undefinable, invisible, incomprehensible nature of things.
Life is life itself.
That is enough to say.
Life, in all of its cyclical, chaotic order and beauty. really is a good thing, but we are so preoccupied with our perception that it is imperfect and that we must control it and cling to our understanding of it that we miss it.
Sometimes we just need to get out of the way and let God renew things.
Live life, life itself.
"These all look to you,
to give them their food in due season.
When you give it to them, they gather it up;
when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
When you hide your face, they are dismayed;
when you take away their breath, they die
and return to their dust.
When you send forth your Spirit, they are created,
In English, it is two words and a recurring New Testament theme, "Rise Up."
Sins are forgiven, weights are lifted, and impediments are rendered irrelevant.
Rise Up!
Matthew 9:1-8
And after getting into a boat he crossed the sea and came to his own town. And just then some people were carrying a paralyzed man lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven."
Then some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming."
But Jesus, perceiving their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, ’stand up and walk'? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"-- he then said to the paralytic-- "Stand up, take your bed and go to your home."
And he stood up and went to his home.
When the crowds saw it, they were filled with awe, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to human beings.
"How shall we sing the Lord’s song upon an alien soil?" - Psalm 137:4
It was the key theologically reflective question of the period of Exile,
It became the foundational question for a faith that was not centered in place or in a priesthood, but in Word and teaching.
It would not obliterate all theology of place and space, nor of ritual, praxis, or priestly ministry, but it would move the center.
Even after the people returned, reestablished Jerusalem, and the Temple, they would have the Synagogue, gathered around the Torah. Rabbis/Teachers took on new prominence and a great role in shaping faith.
So, when the Romans, centuries later, once and for all, destroyed the Temple, they could not destroy the faith of the people which endures to this day.
"How shall we sing the Lord’s song upon an alien soil?" - Psalm 137:4
Joe Hill was executed for a murder he most likely did not commit. However, he came to believe he was worth more to the labor movement dead as a martyr than alive.
As a result his last words to the firing squad were, "Go ahead, fire."
Just prior to his execution, Hill had written to Bill Haywood, an IWW leader, saying, "Goodbye Bill. I die like a true blue rebel. Don't waste any time in mourning. Organize ... Could you arrange to have my body hauled to the state line to be buried? I don't want to be found dead in Utah."
Hill's will was written as a poem beginning with: "My will is easy to decide/for there is nothing to divide".
Not only was he an organizer and agitator, but he was a song writer and poet. His songs often were to the tune of popular songs and hymns of the time. He coined the phrase "pie in the sky" in his song "The Preacher and the Slave" (a parody of the hymn "In the Sweet By-and-By"). He also wrote "The Tramp", "There Is Power in a Union", "The Rebel Girl", and "Casey Jones—the Union Scab".
My will is easy to decide For there is nothing to divide My kin don't need to fuss and moan "Moss does not cling to rolling stone"
My body? Oh, if I could choose I would to ashes it reduce And let the merry breezes blow My dust to where some flowers grow
Perhaps some fading flower then Would come to life and bloom again. This is my Last and final Will. Good Luck to All of you Joe Hill
Too many "hills to die on" make too many people dead. ----------------------------------------
Dogmatic people do not like compromise.
Bullies do not like compromise.
Most people do not like the "everyone loses something" part of compromise.
Most of us prefer it over the "everyone loses everything" possibility and most like the "everyone gets something" side of it.
Since no system exists where everyone agrees, when the people come together to make policy, it is called politics and politics is the art of fair compromise where everyone wins as much as possible.
Too many "hills to die on" make too many people dead.
If we are to live in a community of mutual respect where we want what is best for each other, we will grit our teeth and learn to compromise.
Jesus brought a perspective on religion that placed people over ritual and humanity over custom. He did not abolish custom, ritual, religion, and piety, but endowed them with renewed rooting in the relationship of God to humanity. It is a recurring theme in the gospels and is easily lost from generation to generation where we are always only a few steps away from institutionalizing faith to the exclusion of vitality and authenticity.
"On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” And Jesus answered them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?” And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”"
" On another Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him. But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there. And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” And after looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored. But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus."
"Unamuno was an early existentialist who concerned himself largely with the tension between intellect and emotion, faith and reason. At the heart of his view of life was his personal and passionate longing for immortality. "- Britannica
"Unamuno's philosophy was not systematic but rather a negation of all systems and an affirmation of faith "in itself." He developed intellectually under the influence of rationalism and positivism ... " - Wikipedia
"It is sad not to be loved, but it is much sadder not to be able to love."
"It has often been said that every man who has suffered misfortunes prefers to be himself, even with his misfortunes, rather than to be someone else without them."
"Man sees, hears, touches, tastes and smells that which it is necessary for him to see, hear, touch, taste and smell in order to preserve his life."
"Is pure thought possible, without consciousness of self, without personality? Can there exist pure knowledge without feeling, without that species of materiality which feelings lends to it?"
"The vain man is in like cause with the avaricious — he takes the mean for the end; forgetting the end he pursues the means for its own sake and goes no further. The seeming to be something, conducive to being it, ends by forming our objective. We need that others should believe in our superiority to them in order that we may believe in it ourselves, and upon their belief base our faith in our own persistence, or at least in the persistence of our fame. We are more grateful to him that congratulates us on the skill with which we defend a cause than we are to him who recognizes the truth or goodness of the cause itself. A rabid mania for originality is rife in the modern intellectual world and characterizes all individual effort. We would rather err with genius than hit the mark with the crowd."
"My idea of God is different each time that I conceive it. Identity, which is death, is the goal of the intellect. The mind seeks what is dead, for what is living escapes it."
"To believe in God is to yearn for His existence and, furthermore, it is to act as if He did exist."
"The attacks which are directed against religion from a presumed scientific or philosophical point of view are merely attacks from another but opposing religious point of view."
"Love personalizes all that it loves. Only by personalizing it can we fall in love with an idea."
"This Consciousness of the Universe, which a love, personalizing all that it loves, discovers, is what we call God."
"The knowledge of God proceeds from the love of God, and this love has little or nothing of the rational in it. For God is indefinable."
"Faith is an act of the will — it is a movement of the soul towards a practical truth, towards a person, towards something that makes us not merely comprehend life, but that makes us live."
"Act so that in your own judgment and in the judgment of others you may merit eternity, act so that you may become irreplaceable, act so that you may not merit death."
Paul was stirring the truth pot urging people to seek God.
By Gid, Paul meant, the self-actualizing, self-sufficient, self-defining God of Abraham, God of the nations, God of the universe who had been sub-divided by divine characteristics into thousands of sub-deities in the kinds of the peoples. Their gods had been tribalized, trivialized, and memorialized in objects made with hands.
A solid income had been developed by those who were skilled at crafting hand held deities. Religious merchandise had a life of its own.
Paul's unorthodox preaching was resonating with the hearts of the people and threatened a lifestyle of privilege that gathered around a civil religion. Demetrius stirred the artisans with a chant that appealed, on the surface, to their local religion, but was really about their money and power.
One fears this sounds familiar in any time or generation when we must examine our centers of faith.
Genuine God-seeking can drift into regions of commercial, civil, or political self-interest. When that happens, something drive theology other than the Theos.
When we stop seeking and commence repeating repetitious chants designed to silence people's thinking or attentiveness to the Spirit, we reveal our true motives.
Do money, empowerment, and leadership have no place in matters of spirituality, religion, or faith?
No, that is not the message. But they are subservient to the ultimate. They are not gods to be worshipped and served. They are life worthy motives for lifetime commitment. They are incidental accoutrements to facilitate, but not dominate.
God does not need us to exist or receive glory. and religion that merely exists to provide wealth for an elite few is idolatry.
No wonder Demetrius and his friends felt threatened.
Acts 19:21-41 New International Version
After all this had happened, Paul decided to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I have been there,” he said, “I must visit Rome also.” He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed in the province of Asia a little longer.
About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way. A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in a lot of business for the craftsmen there. He called them together, along with the workers in related trades, and said: “You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business. And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all. There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.”
When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia, and all of them rushed into the theater together. Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples would not let him. Even some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theater.
The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there. The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander to the front, and they shouted instructions to him. He motioned for silence in order to make a defense before the people. But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
The city clerk quieted the crowd and said: “Fellow Ephesians, doesn’t all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven? Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you ought to calm down and not do anything rash. You have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed temples nor blasphemed our goddess. If, then, Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a grievance against anybody, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. They can press charges. If there is anything further you want to bring up, it must be settled in a legal assembly. As it is, we are in danger of being charged with rioting because of what happened today. In that case we would not be able to account for this commotion, since there is no reason for it.” After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.
Life is a process. Real life is no shallow exercise of mundane motions, but an interwoven tapestry of threads that journey through, across, and deep within the relationships of many threads and weaves until a unity emerges.
Here is Psalm 90 (KJV) with an Ives setting to listen to as you read if you can read and listen to Ives at the same time. Charles Ives is not for musical cowards or spiritual wimps. He captures the ambiguities and resolutions of faith at a level that is often contradictory to the cursory view, but is, in fact, in perfect harmony with the realities of divine providence and direction.
Life is not a steady slope. Nor is it always a clear path, but the Lord is our dwelling place in the midst. He teaches us to number our days. He multiples the works of our hands.
He is with us.
Hear the Word of the LORD as sung and reflected upon by the psalmist:
''Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.''
''Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.''
''Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men.''
''For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.''
''Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up.''
''In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth.''
''For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled.''
''Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.''
''For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told.''
''The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.''
''Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath.''
''So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.''
''Return, O Lord, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants.''
''O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.''
''Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil.
''Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children.''
And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it."
I never tire of this piece and your presentation has transported me beyond this tired realm of dust and decay. I hope that someday, I can ascend from this place to my permanent home with such beauty in my ears. I am trembling now in anticipation and joy.
Let us glorify God in our bodies.It is a difficult thing when our appetites, cravings, and desires shout with such fever pitched shrills seeking to drown out the quiet and still voice of God whose voice is even more pronounced yet deep.
We tune to the frequency of perishable fading sounds and tune out that which is truly refreshing and life-giving love. It is our journey and our struggle, but not ours alone.
'“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.''
(1 Corinthians 6:12-20 ESV)
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I have been taking a stroll through Isaiah this morning and sat down at a bench in chapter 7. God is using Isaiah to speak truth to power. God says that He expected more justice for the poor. God reveals His glory and His intention to rule supreme and to bring all peoples and nations to Jerusalem to worship One God as one people. But we are arrogant and exercise whatever power we grab with that arrogance and sense of absolute autonomy.
So, He zeroes in on some specific kings who are sure of their own success based upon their own strategies, armies, and arms.
To one He says:
"...Unless your faith is firm,
I cannot make you stand firm.” (Isaiah 7:9b, New Living Translation)
We do not outgrow our need for solid faith in our lives.
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"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant." - Robert Louis Stevenson
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We are to give, pray, and fast, not to draw attention to ourselves, but to draw our attention to God. Sharing here is a dangerous balance of allowing the blessings and challenges to bless others, of being authentic as a fellow struggling soul, and to squash the temptations toward pride. It helps when you are another ragamuffin among many with more questions than answers. But it is so important to dwell most, in the secret place of the Most High.
No one, but God knows your truest, deepest prayers or struggles.
Your most satisfying reward is that God knows and invites you into intimacy with Himself.
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.''
“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.''
“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.''
(Matthew 6:1-6 ESV)
“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.''
(Matthew 6:16-18 ESV)
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“The grace of God should lead us to see the truth about ourselves, and to gain a certain lucidity, a certain humor, a certain down-to-earthness.” -Gerhard Forde
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Have you ever said, "I had to pinch myself," because you wondered if you were really alive, awake, or experiencing what you were seeing or hearing?
One of the closest cognitive experiences we have to mimic death might be anesthesia. Apart from the reality of the spiritual realm our brains do not record pain, pleasure, or any other sensation.
After experiencing and learning to cope with bouts of severe pain, I came to appreciate the quote below:
"Pain is a kindly, hopeful thing, a certain proof of life, a clear assurance that all is not yet over, that there is still a chance. But if your heart has no pain -- well, that may betoken health, as you suppose: but are you certain that it does not mean that your soul is dead?" - Arthur John (A. J.) Gossip
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Takeheed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them ..." - Deuteronomy 12:30a
"Tom, you're not useless.We can always use you as a bad example."
Have you ever seen a want add for a bad example?
HELP WANTED Badly flawed, underqualified, low-motivated, mid-level manager to take responsibility for counter-intuitive training and institutionalized scape-goating for corporate inadequacies. No-experience needed. Apply in person. First in line gets the job. Tenure and top level salary with full benefits on day one.
There now may be some scientific basis for that light hearted insult.
How do we use this in our own self-management? Are there some skills we can introduce?
Or might it be better to set a high bar and expect the best from all?
We're more likely to behave ethically when we see rivals behaving badly : Cognitive Daily - from 09/24/2009 by Dave Munger
"As an undergraduate, at my school it was practically a requirement to steal silverware from the campus cafeteria. There were students who'd commandeered full sets of china. The desk clerk at my dorm used to say that the only thing we were learning from our college education was 'how to steal.'"
"Somehow it didn't seem wrong to us to steal from the cafeteria (though I drew the line at a single setting of silverware). Plus, we'd heard that at other schools, students used the cafeteria trays as sleds after the first winter snow. At least we weren't doing that (though arguably this was only because there are no hills in Chicago)."
"All work takes time. When it becomes clear to us that prayer is a part of our daily program of work, it will also become clear to us that we must arrange our daily program in such a way that there is time also for this work, just as we set aside time for other necessary things, such as eating and dressing." - Ole Kristian O. Hallesby
Ole Hallesby (1879-1961) was one of Norway's leading Christian teachers and devotional writers. During World War II he was imprisoned for his resistance to the Nazi regime. He worked as a seminary professor in Oslo until his death.)
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I am no fan of Cortez, slightly more of Julius, basically, a pacifist by conviction. However, we are always engaged in some sort of spiritual, emotional, and ideological warfare where the principles of such apply. Struggle is a constant companion. What can Sun Tzu teach us?
A Prayer for Love to the Lord of Love
Art: "God the Father" by Cima da Conegliano, circa, 1515
I am weak, Lord.
I am lowly.
I bring nothing in my hands. I offer no credentials, no reputation, no resume worth reading.
My track record is checkered. My focus is scattered. My mind is here and there and everywhere. I am easily distracted and frequently tested to the core.
Yet, God, you are my God.
Yet, God, you love me, value me, invest in me, and show grace and mercy to me daily.
I am unworthy. You are worthy.
All my value is that you regard me.
Why, oh why?
It does not matter why because You are the Why of all things and of my existence and You have engraved Your love into the fabric of the universe.
Your love, Oh LORD, is the only true reality, standard, and truth that bleeds through all of our opinions about ourselves and others.
Your wrath is against all that is not love. Why then, if I am not judged, can I ever stand in judgment against my neighbor?
I shall not.
He and she are Yours. You see in them that which is precious even as You see something precious in me.
Give me glimpses today of the wonder in my neighbors eyes and the love in his or her heart that I may view my neighbor through the lenses of Your redemptive and reconciling grace and lay all of my prejudices and agendas aside.
And may my neighbor join me in this cause and his neighbor and her neighbor.
I pray this, as the only solution to our divisions in the Name of Jesus who divided us in order to unite us, who showed us hard truth in order to reconcile us to Himself and to one another, who bore all pain, sin, and alienation upon Himself in order to introduce us to You as Your long lost children who have come home.
Give us the heart of the prodigal's father.
Give us Your heart and the heart of Jesus, Your Son. Amen.
Jesus’ ministry to his disciples was one of instilling and deepening belief in their lives.
The Transfiguration was part of that.
The vision of transfiguration comes in the days of preparation for intensifying opposition, humiliating disgrace, and unmerited suffering.
How could it be that one, illuminated in glory and endorsed by God, the Father, could be delivered to the hands of conniving men, beaten, scorned, falsely accused, and murdered?
How could it be?
Jesus counters that one's character, calling, and nature do not prevent suffering and unjust treatment in the world, rather, they reveal the truth about ultimate reality, character, and vindication.
Three men needed this vision of what was real to carry them through the fog that was to come.
Cling to the moments when God discloses Himself in your life because there will be long days of dark haze in which those moments may be your only guiding light.
Mark 9:2-13
"Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus.
Then Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, "This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!"
Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.
As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead could mean. Then they asked him, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"
He said to them, "Elijah is indeed coming first to restore all things. How then is it written about the Son of Man, that he is to go through many sufferings and be treated with contempt? But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written about him." "
"Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice,..."
"This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!"
Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead could mean.
The disciples knew Malachi's words about Elijah coming before the Messianic Age could commence.
For them it was a barrier.
For Jesus, it was just a matter of fact. There is always an Elijah. In fact, he seems to be referring to John the Baptist as having most recently fulfilled that role.
There is nothing that keeps people from turning around, turning to God, turning to their parents, their children, their loved ones, their friends, their neighbors, and their enemies in love, forgiveness and restoration.
There is nothing that keeps God's people from doing righteousness.
There is nothing that keeps the wicked from turning from sin and oppression and deeds that make them stubble to a new life.
There is nothing that any of us need to wait for before we can answer the call of Jesus to stop doing as we please to the messengers of truth and start following the one to whom the message points.
The day and age of fulfillment has come and any hesitation we have is all on us.
"I believe; help my unbelief!"
Mark 9:14-29 (NRSV)
When they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with them. When the whole crowd saw him, they were immediately overcome with awe, and they ran forward to greet him. He asked them, "What are you arguing about with them?"
Someone from the crowd answered him, "Teacher, I brought you my son; he has a spirit that makes him unable to speak; and whenever it seizes him, it dashes him down; and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid; and I asked your disciples to cast it out, but they could not do so."
He answered them, "You faithless generation, how much longer must I be among you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him to me."
And they brought the boy to him. When the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the father, "How long has this been happening to him?"
And he said, "From childhood. It has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us."
Jesus said to him, "If you are able!-- All things can be done for the one who believes."
Immediately the father of the child cried out, "I believe; help my unbelief!"
When Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "You spirit that keeps this boy from speaking and hearing, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again!"
After crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, "He is dead."
But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he was able to stand. When he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?"
He said to them, "This kind can come out only through prayer."
Here is the key to the lesson Jesus is teaching His disciples when they asked why they could not help the man and his boy. After all, they believed, and Jesus had said that all things were possible to those who believed.
But the man did more than just believe.
He believed and prayed.
Jesus said that deliverance from the oppressing demon that tormented the boy required prayer. Some manuscripts include, “and fasting.”
Prayer requires belief, but in this case, belief is verified and amplified through prayer. After all, the man declares, in His prayer to Jesus, that he does indeed believe, but he doubts the power of his own, weak, feeble, capacity to believe. He is honest, but he is also desperate.
His trust is like the one who believes enough to jump into the darkness even though he is still trembling with shades of uncertainty.
What took his belief beyond its own ability to believe was the declaration, “I believe,” followed by the prayer, “Help my unbelief.”
Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. - Mark 9:23
To this challenge, a man in need replied that he believed, but he needed help with his unbelief, those edges where belief was still developing.
In ministry, we are in the business of helping people believe—first in God, then in the possibilities of God working in and through them to accomplish His purposes.
Belief is the most powerful attitude in the universe.
It is essential for realizing God’s promises and our own potential under God.
It is the great missing component of people’s lives who are defeated, discouraged, and frustrated by the details of life.
Belief precedes reality because it is rooted in faith: “the SUBSTANCE of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 1:1).
Faith is substantive.
Therefore, we can build it on a shoestring. We don’t need any resources other than substantive belief to build belief.
As we share our faith, we lend our confidence and hope to people who are operating on a deficit. The wonderful story of Stone Soup illustrates the power of positive belief when it is shared and multiplied in the lives of people and in communities.
To recognize more fully the power of belief, observe the consequences of unbelief.
Take note of the despair, hopelessness, and cynicism prevalent among those who have chosen the path of the skeptic.
Observe the parade of dejected masses who travel along the highways of routine existence fearful of change and suspicious of any radical call to absolute discipleship.
Do you believe in God enough to believe in His potential for the people among whom He has called you to serve? If so, start communicating that faith and instilling it in others.
Then, step back and see what He can and will accomplish through you.
It one corner, we have the pressure to conform to the gods of this world that govern the marketplace of necessity and pleasure. On the other, we are pressured to conform to systems of religion and pseudo righteousness that have frozen grace into a form of rigid compliance that does not resemble the good news of God's grace.
Both poles require resistance and from both, Jesus offers liberation.
We are caught up in a tug of war over what it authentic discipleship and what is extra baggage that we have inherited from our culture, our desire to fit in, and our fear of standing out and being persecuted. It requires constant reexamination of the claims and call of Jesus in every fresh context as we wrestle with timeless truth and shifting concerns. It is not new to our generation. It was happening in the early church and decades later among the band of ragtag disciples who had begun to follow Jesus.
It is as if we are constantly being torn between the poles of secularism and religiosity.
Galatians 6:11-18 (NRSV)
See what large letters I make when I am writing in my own hand! It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh that try to compel you to be circumcised-- only that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. Even the circumcised do not themselves obey the law, but they want you to be circumcised so that they may boast about your flesh. May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything! As for those who will follow this rule-- peace be upon them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. From now on, let no one make trouble for me; for I carry the marks of Jesus branded on my body. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.
There was a brief moment in the history of the early church where a protection against Roman persecution existed. It was circumcision as a mark of one’s Judaism. The Romans had thrown up their hands in frustration and had relented in their push to introduce polytheism and emperor worship in all parts of their domain.
Every other conquered nation had complied, but the Jews would not, no matter how much pressure was applied, fall down and bow before the shrine of the imperial cult.
So, Rome made an exception. Everyone had to comply except Jews. As long as the Jesus movement was a sect of Judaism, the church was safe. Once it came out from under that protection, she was subject to harsh treatment, pressure, and even death.
As the gospel and the movement moved into the gentile (non-Jewish world), the question first came from the Jewish Christians and the church had its controversy internally. Do followers of Jesus first have to become Jews, be circumcised, and submit to the law before becoming Christians or are they exempt.
Once that was settled in favor of the latter option, the pressure came from Rome. No longer seen as a branch of Judaism either by Jews or by Rome, Christians, who held the same monotheistic convictions as their Jewish brethren, were not longer protected by affiliation. They were expected to make their sacrifices at the altar of the imperial cult, worship Caesar, and acknowledge the gods of Rome.
To declare that Jesus was Lord and not Caesar was cause for persecution. Even short of death, the state could close the doors of commerce and apply great hardship on vast numbers of believers. Some among them would go to prison and some would die.
I think this is what Paul is referring to when he refers to the pressure to submit to be circumcised as way to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ.
It was also being held up as a cause for boasting and pride.
“See! I am a five star believer! I have all my bases covered!”
Paul takes everyone back to the cross and obliterates any cause for boasting, pride, self-righteousness, or nationalism.
“I won’t boast about anything but the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Through it and Him, I have died a crucified death too everything else and it has died to me.”
He reaffirms his love and blessing for Israel and shakes off the criticism of the self-righteous church folks.
In so doing, he raises a banner of defiance and embrace.
He defies all fear of persecution from the world and embraces the possibility of suffering from Christ. He will not hide who he is and what his core commitments are. The easy way out is not an option.
He defies the internal pressures of the church to conform to anything but what God has called the followers of Jesus to do and to be. He rejects any cultural, racial, nationalistic, or ritualistic identification of what it means to be a Jesus follower and goes for the essential commitment of the gospel – Jesus Himself, crucified and resurrected.
He backs up everything he says with the credibility of his own life, even his own body, marked with the scars inflicted upon him by the whips of his persecutors. What he says is verified by his life and his own suffering. Even as a circumcised Jew, he refused to call upon his affiliation as a way of denying his faith. He took the blows and he gloried in them.
Today, we are still pressured from outside and inside of the church to conform to some standard other than the call of Jesus. On one hand, we are pressured to deny Him. On the other, we are shamed into squeezing into boxes not of His making.
What Jesus is calling us to do, is to lose ourselves in Him, be who he has made us to be, and follow Him in total identification, sold out to His kingdom, and relying only on His grace. It is a dangerous adventure, but it is an adventure indeed.
Now, look back to a scene from Jesus’ ministry.
Rather than looking back on the cross as a defining moment, He is looking ahead with his original disciples. He is warning them of suffering. He is preparing them for its inevitability. He would go first and He would die at the hands of men.
Mark 9:30-41 (NRSV)
They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, "The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again."
But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him. Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, "What were you arguing about on the way?"
But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all."
Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me."
John said to him, "Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us."
But Jesus said, "Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.”
Even as He is seeking to engage their hearts in this radical teaching, whenever they had the chance, they began to engage in petty disputes over trivial concerns.
One of those concerns was which of them would be the greatest!
Pride, competition, boasting, power. None of these ever have been compatible with the Jesus walk, but they are the way of the world.
What Paul dealt with was just another manifestation of what Jesus encountered. It was a clash of cultures and values. The culture of power and human greatness was coming face to face with the gospel of peace, of love, and of service.
The suffering servant as king of the kingdom flew in the face of the prevailing view of the culture. It was an insult to the sensibilities of godless Romans and godly Jews. All had been drinking from the same well of grandiosity.
“You have to be more like children,” Jesus admonishes them. “You have to be more like slaves.”
“You have to give up this notion that you can be great by putting others down or dominating them. The greatest among you will be the one perceived, by the world’s standards, to be the least.”
And if you want to really serve me and identify with me, start handing out water.
In a simple rebuke and encouragement, He turns the tables on everything and rights the course of our thinking.
But that thinking must be renewed often. It had to be renewed with every new context such as Paul’s circumcision controversy in Galatia and it has to be renewed today as we confront our gods of materialism, safety, comfort, American exceptionalism, and parochial bigotry.
We are always having to shake loose extra baggage we accumulate along the grace highway. Some of it has become deeply embedded in our psyches, our rituals, and our conversation. It has become intertwined with our way of speaking truth so that it is not easy to extract from the truth. It has permeated our culture and defined our false boundaries, but it is not the gospel and it never will be.
Like Paul, we must be daily crucified with Christ to the world and to that, which is of the world, but disguised as Christianity.
It was costly then and it is likely to be costly today.
Instilling Belief
Let’s go back a moment to recap a central idea.
Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. (Mark 9:23)
In ministry, we are in the business of helping people believe—first in God, then in the possibilities of God working in and through them to accomplish His purposes. Belief is the most powerful attitude in the universe. It is absolutely essential for realizing God’s promises and our own potential under God. It is the great missing component of people’s lives who are defeated, discouraged, and frustrated by the details of life. Belief precedes reality because it is rooted in faith: “the SUBTANCE of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 1:1).
Do you believe in God enough to believe in His potential for the people among whom He has called you to serve? If so, start communicating that faith and instilling it in others. Then, step back and see what He can and will accomplish through you.
“Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart. Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight. Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness. Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.” -Psalm 119:33-37
If you want to see God’s Word, come alive in your heart, decide ahead of time to obey whatever it says, prior to even knowing what that is.
It will be like approaching a tree filled with gifts on Christmas, knowing that there is something for you there, but not knowing exactly what it is. Your heart is filled with excitement and wonder. You know you will love it. You can’t wait to find out what it is.
It is like waiting for the birth of a child. You already love him having never laid eyes on him. You are absolutely committed to years of child rearing without seeing his face or knowing his disposition. It is a prior commitment, and it empowers your seeking and inflames your heart.
“Teach me,” is the great prayer here. “I shall keep,” is the promise of prior commitment.
It is followed by a heartfelt petition that could be paraphrased this way, “Now that I have promised to keep your Word, observe it with my whole heart, and delight in all of your commands, HELP ME!”
He prays for a heart that is inclined toward God’s will, eyes that do not focus on vanity, and quickening energy to keep on keeping on.
Prior commitment does not mean that you have all the resources already to do what you are promising. It means that you intend to do so, without even knowing what God will require, and that you trust Him for the ability to keep your promise.
Read the Bible that way and see what a difference it makes.
I saw a church board that declared that Satan is the author of confusion. I assume that comes from 1 Corinthians 14:33
"For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints."
However, the premise that confusion is always the role of the adversary/accuser is as faulty as the avoidance of the context of that verse.
What we call confusion may result from wonder in the face of the unknown and unfathomable. It may be a necessary step on the road to peace that passes understanding. It may be part of the tension that is resolved in faith.
What the pastor was advertising was, "Show up here and we will hand you all the answers on a silver platter with 3-4 easy steps."
That does not seem to be the way of God through confusion to peace.
How unlike the way Jesus taught when he presented a conundrum and then challenged the hearers to go and think and pray about it.
For me, the message of Peter, Paul, and Mary always transcended politics.
This song is no exception.
It is about common decency - the kind that seems in such jeopardy these days. It seems out of favor to look into the eyes of another and see the image of God.
Jesus said we ought to look for Him in the broken, wounded, and ostracized.
"Don't laugh at me. Don't call me names. Don't get your pleasure from my pain."
We don't have to all be friends. We don't have to agree with each other politically, spiritually, or in any way.
We don't have to endorse or adopt each others' choices, lifestyles, behaviors, or beliefs.
We do need to be decent to each other. We need to respect each other as children of God. We need to learn to live by love and reject hate.
We need to approach each other with open hands and hearts.
That is what this song says to me.
What we used to call common courtesy, people shrug off these days as political correctness. In fact, it seems to be politically incorrect to ask people to embrace these old fashioned values for fear that we will be considered politically correct.
But the real hurts and hearts of people have not changed. Everyone needs to feel loved and accepted. Everyone needs to feel valued by God and others. Everyone deserves a change. Everyone is entitled to respect. All people ought to be allowed to live without being judged by anyone except the Almighty who is gracious and merciful.
This is not about accepting everyone's values as equal. It is about accepting everyone's humanity as equal.
We need to hear and heed these words today more than ever.
(Job 6:11 KJV) What is my strength, that I should hope? and what is mine end, that I should prolong my life? (Job 3:11 KJV) Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly? (Job 10:9 KJV) Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust…
Job has been in a whirlwind, swept up by the erratic power of confusion, colored by despair, sharpened by pain, and stirred by doubt. A new whirlwind comes, shaking loose the settling seeds of hopelessness to clarify and ground a greater truth.
God speaks and God makes the tornado of trouble seem like a brief gust of breath, an impotent passing wind.
God's voice thunders like none other.
God begins to speak and it starts with a series of questions.
Job 40:1-19 New International Version
The Lord said to Job:
“Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!”
Then Job answered the Lord:
“I am unworthy—how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer— twice, but I will say no more.”
Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm:
“Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.
“Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself? Do you have an arm like God’s, and can your voice thunder like his? Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor, and clothe yourself in honor and majesty. Unleash the fury of your wrath, look at all who are proud and bring them low, look at all who are proud and humble them, crush the wicked where they stand. Bury them all in the dust together; shroud their faces in the grave. Then I myself will admit to you that your own right hand can save you.
“Look at Behemoth, which I made along with you and which feeds on grass like an ox. What strength it has in its loins, what power in the muscles of its belly! Its tail sways like a cedar; the sinews of its thighs are close-knit. Its bones are tubes of bronze, its limbs like rods of iron. It ranks first among the works of God, yet its Maker can approach it with his sword.
Having wisdom and sharing wisdom is sometimes different from having to apply it to your own life.
We may have helped others but, in our own time of crisis, discover that our words to them are inadequate to our own suffering.
In fact, all words are inadequate. they may be good words, but they do not sink in. If we were to replay our own speeches, they would be resisted. It may be good advice, but we are not ready to receive it.
The book of Job has some pretty good insights for both the care giver and the care receiver - how we give and how we receive help.
"Behold, you have instructed many, and you have strengthened the weak hands. Your words have upheld him who was stumbling, and you have made firm the feeble knees. But now it has come to you, and you are impatient; it touches you, and you are dismayed. Is not your fear of God your confidence, and the integrity of your ways your hope?" (Job 4:3-6 ESV)
In those days when there was again a great crowd without anything to eat, he called his disciples and said to them, “I have compassion for the crowd because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way—and some of them have come from a great distance.” His disciples replied, “How can one feed these people with bread here in the desert?” He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.” Then he ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground, and he took the seven loaves, and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute, and they distributed them to the crowd. They had also a few small fish, and after blessing them he ordered that these, too, should be distributed. They ate and were filled, and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. Now there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.
The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, asking him for a sign from heaven, to test him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.” And he left them, and getting into the boat again he went across to the other side.
Now the disciples had forgotten to bring any bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out—beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.” They said to one another, “It is because we have no bread.” And becoming aware of it, Jesus said to them, “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and fail to see? Do you have ears and fail to hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?” They said to him, “Twelve.” “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?” And they said to him, “Seven.” Then he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”
They came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Can you see anything?” And the man looked up and said, “I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.” Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again, and he looked intently, and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Then he sent him away to his home, saying, “Do not even go into the village.”
Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi, and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.
Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes and be killed and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
He called the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE)
"And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples..."
This raises an interesting question that I will return to in a few paragraphs.
For me and for today, the big phrase in this morning's gospel portion is this phrase:
"I have compassion for the crowd..."
He was concerned that they were hungry and would not make it home in good health.
So, he immediately formulated a strategy and involved his inner circle in solving the problem, calling upon the power of Eternity to make up for what resources they might have lacked.
Then he got into a boat.
Here is another statement that I often overlook.
It seems that, while in Galilee, Jesus often traveled by boat and would just get in the boat.
Where did the boat come from?
Did he hire it, rent it, borrow it, or own it?
I think I would like to imagine that it was a part of the mini fleet from the business that Andrew and Simon Peter left behind.
I like to imagine that when they became disciples of Jesus, the resources that they had were available to the God-Movement and that there was always a boat ready for Jesus and the disciples.
What resources from your life and work have you brought to the God-Movement?
Are they available to Jesus at a Moment's notice?
Someone made fish and bread available, but there was also, that boat.
What About You?
"And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ." - Mark 8:29
Who does John say that I am? What does Mary say about me? How does Hector view me? Did Lupe quote me? Who and what do people say that I am?
When Jesus asks the question, it is merely a preface to the larger and more profound question, “Who do you say that I am?
It is as if he were asking, “Who am I to you? What place do I have in your life?”
It is very likely that if you have occupied your place in the pew for any length of time, you know all the right answers about who Jesus is. You know multiple names for him. You have a vocabulary full of adjectives to describe him.
Your doctrine about the nature and mission of Jesus is sound.
But what does your heart say about him? What does your life reflect? What does your soul believe? To what one thing about Jesus does your whole being cling?
Peter said, “Thou art the Christ” and he added, “the Son of the Living God.”
It meant something.
You are the Messiah, the one for whom we have been waiting. You are the promised one and the promise itself. You came from God. You are God’s Son. Whatever any of these kings and princes of Rome claim to be, you are the living one who has come from the Living God.
Where does such a conviction originate?
Jesus tells Peter that it came directly from God. It was a spiritual confidence that led him to speak so boldly and with such assurance.
From what part of your soul do you speak when you answer Jesus’ direct question? Who do you say he is?
If you lack the sort of testimony in your life that Peter was blessed with, ask God to give you such a blessing, a heart conviction that Jesus is the One.
Don't report the final score before the whistle blows and don't assume that setbacks predict loss. Furthermore, don't pursue that which is easy, popular, or compatible with the dominant narrative of any generation at the cost of the soul-searching, soul-wrenching, upside-down message of sacrifice, service, and radical discipleship.
The depth, reality, and long-term character of the call is seldom what would seem most expeditious in a meeting of our own minds for the purpose of securing short-term gains.
We come to Jesus, the Son and delight of the Father.
He knows who he is.
He knows why he has come.
He knows what people say and it does not matter.
He knows what he must do.
He wants his followers to know, and, to some extent, Simon Peter does.
But Simon is also an “accuser,” who, those his motives are to spare Jesus’ rejection and death, would terminate his mission by diverting him from it.
Grace, mercy, peace, and love do not come without a price and God pays the price.
To turn to God by turning to Jesus is to face the way of the cross.
It is to deny self which is to deny self-indulgence as well as self-righteousness and self-sufficiency. It is to deny both the pleasures of a God avoiding life and responsibility of setting ourselves up as demi-gods.
Jesus knew how difficult it would be for Peter and the friends to understand this.
His ways and thoughts were not theirs, but theirs would be transformed and enlightened. They would see things that would amaze them and give them a new perspective.
Maybe the dancers "get it" more than some of the rest of us who contemplate and pontificate.
God is inviting us to a dance and whether or not we are skilled or talented, we can join in and, as we do, He will teach us the steps.
After listening to Peter, Paul, and Mary singing, "Don't let the Light Go Out" in honor of Chanukah, I was thinking about light and oil and miracles and how we gravitate toward celebration in singing, dance, and giving.
Every spark, every glimmer, every ray of light in my life has been a miracle and a gift from God.
What is this human urge to celebrate with light and laughter and generosity of spirit?
There is gravity and solemnity in much of what we do religiously, but there is also celebration and joy.
Religions are different. If I were not convinced that God had spoken and visited us in Jesus, I would be something other than a Jesus follower. I state my beliefs, humbly, as truth because I am convinced of their truth. I don't apologize for that and never expect my friends who are convinced of their beliefs to apologize for them either.
However, my conviction that I am settled on Jesus does not negate the common elements of our experience. They are present because truth is universal and because the God who fashioned us in His image is always reaching out to us and touching that something in us that makes us want to stand up and dance.
We are made for something more, something "Other," something eternal. All of us! We are all created by and for God and with a deep urge to embrace what Nehemiah called, "The joy of the Lord," and described as "your strength."
The oil in the temple was just not in ample supply for the days of dedication when the first candle was lit. Yet, there kept being enough ... enough for each day. The description of the event was and remains, "A great miracle happened there."
Our lives are miracles. The oil of joy, healing, and anointing for significance does not seem to be ample for the demands we face. Yet, each day, if we will light the candle in faith and celebration, there seems to be just enough ... and enough ... and enough for each day.
And our hearts desire is to celebrate, to give gifts, to light candles, to be charitable and jolly and gracious.
This is a God-connector. It is a sign. It is a message through us and back to us that we are loved, have been visited by the God who made us, and are invited to join the song and the dance of time and eternity.
Jesus said, "seek and ye shall find." It is an open invitation to keep our hearts open to the One who loves us. Joy, grace, giving, and gratitude are all different facets of the same diamond in my faith and language in which it was expressed.
I am not a "Dancing With the Stars" fanatic like most of America and my own household, but I do "get it." We are made to sing and to dance. It is intrinsic and one of the ways God woos us.
There were Magi in the story of Jesus' coming. They did not practice the same faith as Jesus' family or my traditions. In fact, we might find some of their beliefs at real odds with our own - like astrology for instance. But they most likely lived in a place where the influence of the Jews had been strong and they were acquainted with Jewish scripture.
They longed for the divine moment and the appearing of One who would be worthy of their worship. The scriptures I embrace say that the Eternal One crossed the barriers of race and religion and drew them to the place where they could see and do what they longed to see and do.
There is this longing we share.
We can wish each other well in this common quest and encourage the seeking. If I believe my Master, and I do, seekers find. Those who knock get doors opened. Those who ask, receive.
Why do we share some common experiences when we have such differing beliefs? Without arguing for one universal religion or watering anything down, I can say with confidence that there really is only One God and whether we describe Him correctly or incorrectly or somewhere between, that God is always reaching out to all of us to supply the oil and light the candles within us,.
To the extent that we respond to that, it ignites something within us that wants more and more and more.
So, let's dance! As you dance, you might just learn the steps and get to know the Choreographer!
“The people therefore that was with him when he called Lazarus out of his grave, and raised him from the dead, bare record. For this cause the people also met him, for that they heard that he had done this miracle.” – John 12:17-18
Among the throngs who joined the procession of those ushering Jesus into Jerusalem were the witnesses of Lazarus’ miracle. On the road to Calvary, Jesus stopped in Bethany to raise His friend from death and to announce that He, Himself, was the resurrection and the life.
The road was well traveled, but He passed it as none had done before, for He was proceeding toward the cross.
It was a march of death that looked so much like a march of life. Out of death would come life – just as it had for Lazarus. Only Jesus’ resurrection would be self-propelled and would be the gateway for all that would find eternal life in Him.
So, the witnesses marched with Jesus in a festive parade. They cried, “Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord! (verse 13)” and were unwitting prophets of the meaning of the moment.
Their presence and participation shouted, “Listen to this man; He brings the dead to life! Listen to Him! He is the King!”
Little did they realize that His throne would be a cross and His kingly chambers, a tomb. Nor could they understand that, just as Lazarus had come to life through he gateway of death, so the Lord Jesus must pass that way.
There is a procession today that retraces the path that Jesus trod. He invites us to join Him and follow to life eternal.
Thank you to those who enter into this full experience. of 9–11–2001 remembrance with me.
9–11 was many things, but it did not fit my definition of a war between nations or entities. “War” was a useful rallying cry, I suppose, but that was the extent of its usefulness.
9/11 — I remember well. It touches a place of sadness. It also touches a place of admiration and appreciation for the humanity that was so much stronger than the inhumanity and the courage, heroism, and sacrifice that have been an example to our generation.
It caused us to pray for peace and justice and a world where we demonstrate God’s love to each other and receive love, even across the great divides of strong convictions.
May God bless our country during these days of division and ideological sparring. If we could but join hands for the things that are not in dispute, we could find the time for our disputes, but always come together again as fellow citizens who esteem each other.
On 9/11/2001, over 40 nations lost citizens.
Among these, Australia lost 11, Bangladesh, 6 Canada, 24, Colombia, 17, Germany, 11,Jamaica, 16, Mexico, 16, Philippines, 16, South Korea 28, and United Kingdom, 66.
Some were secular in religious persuasion; some were Christian, some Jewish, some Muslim, and some other.
The perpetrators were criminals who distorted their own religious teachings for their own fanatical and political ends. They represented no legitimate government and no official religion.
I Never Liked Calling It a War
To call it war legitimizes what they did.
It was a crime inspired by irrational hate. Many heroes rose to the occasion and went up the stairs to save as the masses (many of whom were also heroic) sought to go down to safety.
These we honor and remember.
They said nothing would ever be the same. Not true. Things settle down. We mustn’t forget what happened this day, but it does not define us. It refines us.
Some of our responses have been noble, pragmatic, wise, necessary, and compassionate. Others have been driven by fear, irrationality, and unbridled anger. We cannot live in fear, hate, suspicion, and anger. Nor can we cling to grief. Ours is to live and love.
We Have Not Forgotten
We have not forgotten what happened on September 11 in our recent past.
I remember where I was when the first hint of news came across the wave via NPR. I remember my thoughts.’
I remember how we came together and put our differences aside. As Randy Sparks wrote in a song, “On September the 11th, we became just Americans.”
I remember how some folks said that nothing would ever be the same again … but they are in most ways except the ways that time and progress change everything.
Then, we started using the tragedy to move from being a people who valued freedom above everything else to being a people who would surrender freedom for safety and security.
And we started a couple of wars, at least one clearly in response to a very real threat of terrorism in the world.
And we started rethinking the meaning of our Constitution — not that we shouldn’t from time to time. We just need to hold on to what is true and just and good.
And we started bickering again.
Yet, we have not forgotten.
We are not exactly sure what the lessons were, but we learned what it meant to share a common heartbeat and a common heartbreak.
We remember what it was like to deeply care about one another.
We remember what it was like, for a moment, to respect our leaders and give them a great deal of leeway and trust along with much prayer.
What stands out for me in my memory is a heightened value for the heroes among us, in and out of uniform who are willing to lay down their lives for others. Many of these are still placing themselves in daily harm’s way.
We flew flags.
We sought the comfort of God and of one another.
We sang together, mourned together, and worked together.
We can remember, but we cannot be defined by tragedy. Nor can we live in a perpetual state of emergency.
The world is dangerous. Horrible things could happen. We could all die — but that is not the most important thing.
The most important thing is whether or not we will choose to live, and to live as free people until we die. Will we love each other? Will we pray when we are not in crisis? We will show each other respect? Will we be “just Americans” and not blue or red or whatever that is and whatever that means?
If we will remember, then we can commit to being our best as Americans and working together for common good.
For now, let us pause to remember.
Our National Folk Song
We may have national anthem, but this is our national folk song.
Just as we have various points of commonality here in our communities, greetings, common interests, and shared commitments, having walked the streets of our cities, so we were all in one moment on one fateful day. And we all had one thing in common: we were a part of one nation, although many nations lost their sons and daughters as well.
We had a common resolve to grieve together and help one another.
We can be divided on many things, but our true greatness comes in finding our common pains, joys, and loves — and then building on those.
Greetings on this day of remembering.
Where were you when you heard?
I was on Interstate 5, just past the National Cemetary in Gustine, CA.., traveling from Fresno to the Bay Area, listening to NPR News as the word broke.
Years later…. I was thinking of whether or not to say something about 911 and maybe this is saying something about 911. There are always things we do not want to forget. There are always people that we always want to remember and honor. There are always lessons from the past that we want to build upon. There is nothing in our past that is tragic that we want to define or confine us. 911 was one of our collective travesties and tragedies and it brought to light the best of those folks who united across all sorts of lines to make a positive difference in the darkness.
Tragedies and travesties continue around the world. Our past is cluttered with them. We have perpetrated some as a people. Our ancestors from most every culture have done so, likewise.
We do not live in shame or regret. But we do not forget our shame or regret. We find redemption, reconciliation, and resolve to be better people individually and collectively by the grace of God.
We look for areas where we, in agreement, can stand together and work together.
We are human. We are frail. My theology teaches that we a “mark-missers (sinners in translation).” But we are also beloved and called.
Grace, mercy, and peace are God’s gifts to us in the gaps that our resolve cannot fill. As a follower of Jesus, I am always looking through the lenses of God’s desire for the redemption of everyone and everything, the call to a possibility and necessity of mind/life change (repentance) as good news, and the message of the rule of God (the Kingdom) as always present and imminent in every situation.
That is my bias and leaning and it opens doors to vast possibilities of love in the presence of hate, peace in days of war, hope in times of despair, light in darkness, possibilities at the place of dead-ends, handshakes and hugs when the gloves are off, and salt on the unseasoned mundanity of humanity.
911 was a day and is an emergency number. We do not live in a world dominated and ruled by emergency, but possibility.
Let us live!
We Were Reminded to Love People.
We are not promised tomorrow.
We may not have another opportunity to show or express our love.
Songs Were Sung
We sang because music goes deep and mines the emotions of our souls, gives voice to our hopes as well as our sorrows, and teaches us to find meaning in the mud of life.
I play this every year on September 11 to remind myself what real patriotism is — love for one’s countrymen who walk varied paths from varied backgrounds and places of origin.
By the way, Randy Sparks died last year.
After a respectable pause, Paul Simon brought Saturday Night Live back to the airwaves with this song. This is not that performance, but another.
Later, he sang this as a tribute to the many heroes of 9–11.
For many of us, it was our faith that brought us through the dark days.
Let Us Not Forget to Be Grateful as We Remember
Thank you for the joy of living. And for the joy and love of giving. Thank you for mercy and forgiving.
We give you thanks.
Thank you for the peace to which we aspire And for the blessings daily, we acquire. Thank you for each hope of that which we desire.
We give you thanks.
Thank you for friends who gather around us, For all the beauty that surrounds us And for the gifts that abound to us.
We give you thanks.
Make us grateful for each wilting flower, Thankful for each day and hour, For all that is sweet and all that is sour.
We give you thanks.
May we choose to view the glass Half full as all life’s moments pass. We behold you as through a glass
We give you thanks.
And may we live amid the pace, In every time and every place, Asd a people full of grace.
We give you thanks.
Finally, I believe that while tragedy can bring out the worst in people, it can also bring out the best. Times of great crisis reveal our true colors.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, was first and foremost, a poet. It was not an avocation for him. It was his primary vocation. It was calling. He was certain of it. Even if old age, when granted a peerage which gained him admission to the House of Lords in England, he said that he accepted on behalf of literature.
If he had written nothing else, this work would have made the journey worthwhile for all of us.
Sunset and evening star, And one clear call for me! And may there be no moaning of the bar, When I put out to sea,
But such a tide as moving seems asleep, Too full for sound and foam, When that which drew from out the boundless deep Turns again home.
Twilight and evening bell, And after that the dark! And may there be no sadness of farewell, When I embark;
For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place The flood may bear me far, I hope to see my Pilot face to face When I have crost the bar.
Write out your purpose and your mission. And if you can't distinguish between them, it's because often for many different models, they are interchangeable terms. But work with someone and begin to write out a statement of brief statement of what your mission is in the world.
The funding will come as you meet that need. I suggest that you find a good mentor or coach or both a mentor and a coach could be the same person, or they could be different people but do not take this journey alone.
Attention to the details, answering complaints in a timely, courteous, and forthright manner, and going the extra mile will all contribute toward a positive association with your name in the minds of the masses.
Gone are the days when the only bad publicity is no publicity. Negative press is negative except in the sense that it offers an opportunity to demonstrate how a person or company deals graciously with criticism.
One of the saddest moments in the book of Job is when, in his suffering, he realizes that he is not able to be useful to others like he once was.
" because I delivered the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to help him. The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me, and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy." - Job 29:12-13 ESV
Maybe we had a savior complex, but we genuinely loved to help.
For many of us, loss of the ability to do these things defines the tragic part of aging
We want to do the things that Job longed to do again. However,, our ability to do them in a way that we measure as significant has been stifled by our weakness.
We think that those activities and their intensity define who we are. Therefore, we feel useless in the world.
How many long for a day when they felt more needed and useful?
Some folks long for such a day in the future. We measure our significance by how much people need us. Somewhere, some way, some time and all the time, may we be useful.
We can be. We are.
Importance is unimportant.
Prestige is not pristine.
Recognition is not required.
Titles are titular.
Being on top is top heavy.
What I need is to fill a need at every stage of my living.
Productivity may diminish. Flamboyance may falter. I may need to step back from leading, but I can come along.
Grant, Oh God, a searching assessment of my capacity and a dedication of that capacity to your glory and the good of others.
I pray to be a part of the movement, an encourager to the emerging generation of leaders, and a participant in the celebration of the success of others.
Show me my role and grant me the grace to fill it with humility and joy.
May your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven and in me.
Make me an example of how that is possible for others as well
Donatello, Imago Pietatis, 1449–50, bronze relief from the high altar of the Basilica of Saint Anthony in Padua
Weeping Savior
"Jesus wept." John 11:36
No two words are as precious as these. The Lord of glory so identified with our suffering that He came to weep with us - and those tears led directly through Jerusalem and His triumphant entry on Palm Sunday to the Mount of Olives where He prayed through the agony of humanity, to the cross where He bore our sins.
There was a church hearing two prospective pastors or two consecutive Sundays. Neither had a great deal of time to prepare sermons, as they were farmers.
So, without realizing it, both discovered the same old sermon by a pulpit master on the subject of hell. On the first Sunday, the farmer-pastor presented his message with great skill. He was sure that the church would call him as pastor and he would be able to leave his plowing and preach the gospel full-time.
However, to assess the “competition,” he showed up and sat semi-disguised in the balcony. To his utter shock, the second preacher had “borrowed” the same sermon on hell and preached it adequately if not with all the smooth inflections of the first.
The church met and called the second preacher who inquired as to why. “I happen to know that he preached the same sermon as I did and not as well.”
“That is true,” replied the pulpit committee chairman, “I have that book of sermons on my bookshelf, but the second man preached it with a tear in his eye.”
There are tears in God's eyes as we choose harshness over mercy, death over life, judgment over forgiveness, and despair over hope.
It was a man named, Bliss, Phillip Bliss, who wrote the hymn about sorrows.
Our Savior weeps with us and for us. He knows our sorrows and cares. And His heart is broken over every lost soul. “Hallelujah! What a Savior!”
This beautiful rendition of the beloved hymn brought my heart to Acts 14.
1."It is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God."
2. "When they arrived, they called the church together and related all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith for the Gentiles."
Meditate on these as you face the squeeze.
Notice how, in one breath, he cites a cost, persecutions, to being fully enveloped in a participating in God's government and the Jesus movement. Then, when it is time to report, it is all about open doors and opportunities.
What does this contrast teach you about Paul's attitude?
Acts 14:19-28
But Jews came there from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds. Then they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. But when the disciples surrounded him, he got up and went into the city.
The next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. After they had proclaimed the good news to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, then on to Iconium and Antioch.
There they strengthened the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue in the faith, saying, "It is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God."
And after they had appointed elders for them in each church, with prayer and fasting they entrusted them to the Lord in whom they had come to believe. Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. When they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia.
From there they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had completed.
When they arrived, they called the church together and related all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith for the Gentiles. And they stayed there with the disciples for some time.
1. In shady, green pastures, so rich and so sweet, God leads His dear children along; Where the water’s cool flow bathes the weary one’s feet, God leads His dear children along.
Refrain: Some through the waters, some through the flood, Some through the fire, but all through the blood; Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song, In the night season and all the day long.
2. Sometimes on the mount where the sun shines so bright, God leads His dear children along; Sometimes in the valley, in darkest of night, God leads His dear children along.
3. Though sorrows befall us and evils oppose, God leads His dear children along; Through grace we can conquer, defeat all our foes, God leads His dear children along.
4. Away from the mire, and away from the clay, God leads His dear children along; Away up in glory, eternity’s day, God leads His dear children along.
":Young was an obscure 19th Century preacher and carpenter who spent a lifetime serving in small rural communities. Often his financial support was small, and it was hard on his family. But through all the ups and downs his faithful wife never wavered in her loyalty to God and to her husband."
"After a long struggle, the family was able to move into their own small home (which George built himself). But then, on an occasion when George was away preaching, some local thugs—who didn’t like his Gospel preaching—set fire to the house, and it was totally destroyed."
"It was out of that experience that Young reaffirmed his faith in God by writing God Leads Us Along."
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Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went by way of Sidon toward the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened."
And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.
Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one, but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.
They were astounded beyond measure, saying, "He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."
Psalm 146 A Model for Leadership that Lasts
In contrast to trust, dependence, reliance and subjugation to human leadership that always dies, even our own leadership with its termination date in the future, God models leadership that lasts.
Do you want to leave a legacy? Check out the priorities of God from Psalm 146. To the extent that our leadership, and any sphere of influence, reflect and honor these, something lasts when we are dead.
These are the things God does:
God made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them. (We cannot add to that, but we can respect it and respect His creation.
God keeps faith forever. (We can be leaders of integrity.)
God executes justice for the oppressed. (He is always for the "underdog.")
The LORD sets the prisoners free (America leads the world in mass incarceration.).
The LORD opens the eyes of the blind.
The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down.
The LORD loves the righteous.
The LORD watches over the sojourners.
God upholds the widow and the fatherless.
God brings the way of the wicked to ruin.
Here is a model for people/leaders who want something to survive after their plans perish with them.
In Tragedy and Travesty
We get numb to the news and tragedy overload overwhelms us into dullness.
It is complicated. We cannot blame this group or that group for this manifestation of evil or desperation or delusion or all of those things wrapped into a moment of very bad choices ... yet many courses are now altered by one man's issues whose issues intersect and overlap with the issues of others and of all of us.
It is not easy stuff to handle, but that is why we are up right now ... in fellowship with one another, some of us in prayer and in fellowship with The Other.
All of us are here in common compassion and concern. Let us lift our hearts together.
“You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know.” ― William Wilberforce
There is no hope intrinsic in our political system or in any system of human power. There will be seasons of righteousness, but they cannot command our ultimate trust and confidence. Good people come and go and represent various political philosophies, but they are and shall remain, human.
We are admonished not to put our trust in princes.
This is from the Psalms. The founder and first sponsor of the Psalmist Institution was, himself, a prince. So, he ought to know the limitations of power as well as the responsibilities of power.
His successors would also know that, for they would live to see princes who, unlike God and those who do have a heart for God see every plan of their lives perish with them. They do not create something out of nothing.
Evil, earthly princes, who lust for power, have no power to save.
Nor do they keep faith forever. Human powers are always beset with integrity issues. Even David struggled with serious character flaws.
They do not execute justice for the oppressed.
They do not give food to the hungry.
They do not set prisoners free.
They have no concern for opening the eyes of the blind.
They do not lift those who are bowed down.
Ungodly, human princes have no bias toward the righteous, but expediently align with those who can help them achieve their own ends.
God is a true independent. He is not swayed. He loves righteousness and aligns with the righteous because the righteous align with righteousness.
Evil, earthly princes have no regard for sojourners (AKA: foreigners/aliens).
They do not uphold the fatherless (AKA: those without a guardian/spokesman/protector - the powerless).
They do not thwart the ways of the wicked.
God, on the other hand, can be trusted to do the right thing and to win!
Hear the Word of the LORD and let us model our leadership after His example.
"Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul! I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.''
''Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish.''
''Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry.''
''The LORD sets the prisoners free; the LORD opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous. The LORD watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.''
''The LORD will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the LORD!'' - Psalm 146
Trusting in Princes
We either treat our leaders with blind trust and awe or with disrespect, contempt, and disgust. It is hard to find the middle ground where we honor them, recognize their limitations and humanity, and see them as temporary occupiers of a role that they will one day surrender to another.
FDR did not finish the New Deal; LBJ did not complete the architecture of a Great Society; Nixon did not give us a Just and Lasting Peace; they all left office, dead or alive, with unfinished plans.
So will we.
So will every leader. Our plans perish when they depend upon us.
On the other hand, to the extent that these and others offered plans that were part of a larger plan of God and invested in other people who caught a vision and took them to the next level with God's help and guidance, they survived.
It was not about faith in humans, but it God who guides, leads, and brings to pass.
Even, and especially, Jesus, understood and modeled this. He spent most of His ministry teaching His plan to the "next generation" of leaders and then, completed His work by dying and rising. He returned from death, gave His final lessons, and commissioned the church to take His plan and vision to all future generations.
He commissioned only a church, not a government, prince, or corporation, to execute, propagate, and lead His not-of-this-world kingdom of grace.
That is how plans survive.
"Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish." Psalm 146:3-4
Trust in Princes or ...
Trust on God
God can be trusted to do the right thing and to win!
And Jesus does all things well.
Hear the Word of the LORD and let us model our leadership after His example.
How God Helps
Here is a review.
What kind of helper is God in whom we invest our hope?
His track record is creation and His ongoing record is faithfulness. He demonstrates His faithfulness by His actions:
* Executes justice for the oppressed. * Gives food to the hungry. * Sets the prisoners free.
If we read the rest of the Bible, it indicates that those three tasks are, to some extent, delegated to us as His agents on earth.
"Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets the prisoners free;" Psalm 146:5-7 (ESV)
Application for Living by the Royal Law
James 2:1-10, (11-13), 14-17
Faith without works is dead
"My brothers and sisters, do not claim the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory while showing partiality. For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, "Have a seat here in a good place, please," while to the one who is poor you say, "Stand there," or, "Sit by my footstool," have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
"Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor person. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?
"If you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you do well.
"But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. For the one who said, "You shall not commit adultery," also said, "You shall not murder." Now if you do not commit adultery but if you murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
"So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.
"For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment. What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Surely that faith cannot save, can it? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill," and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?
"We should always choose our books as God chooses our friends, just a bit beyond us, so that we have to do our level best to keep up with them. - Oswald chambers, "Shade of His Hand"
"It is not what a man does that is of final importance, but what he is in what he does. The atmosphere produced by a man, much more than his activities, has the lasting influence. " - Oswald Chambers, Baffled to Fight Better
"Hope is lived where we come out of our shells and participate in the life others, in both joy and pain." -Juergen Moltmann
“To live by grace means to acknowledge my whole life story, the light and the dark. I learn who I am& what God's grace means” –Brennan Manning
"Jesus didn't die at the hands of muggers, rapists, or thugs, but the well-scrubbed hands of the deeply religious." --Brennan Manning
"The message of God crucified should never get old. And grace—charis should never be neutered and chained up." - Preston Sprinkle
"God, you called John Bunyan to be valiant for truth: Grant that as strangers and pilgrims we may at last rejoice in your heavenly city" - Justin Holcomb
“A curse of our age is theology without subtlety; theology without nuance; theology as a club rather than a torch which illuminates” –Justin Welby
"May we always run the risk of overemphasizing grace, for it is a risk that will never be realized" –Robert Capon
"We do not know how long we will live, but this "not knowing" calls us to live every day to its full potential." - Henri Nouwen
"If ever we loved one another as God already loves us, the world would be a house of prayer." - Henri Nouwen
"Did I offer peace today? Did I bring a smile to someone? Did I say words of healing? Did I love? These are the real question" - Henri Nouwen
"None of us are above reproach and none of us are beyond redemption." -Shane Claiborne
"True love is like a terminal disease, eventually because of love, you'll die to yourself and begin to live for others" - Erwin McManus
"Everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you're climbing it." -Andy Rooney
"And may the angel of His presence keep your heart And when your prayers give flight to your dreams May the only scars you see on their wings Be the wounds of love "
In stormy times, one can expect storms to continue. In the eye of the hurricane, we ready ourselves for what is next. The pauses short, the respites, few.
Our hands are braced, our muscles flexed. We ready our hearts for whatever's new. A storm is coming. Some sort of storm is welling up, building in intensity, readying itself to test our readiness ... but that is OK.
We are where we are.
We are readier than we think.
We are not alone.
We go nowhere where none have gone before.
We are ready for the storm.
Be of good courage.
Fear not.
I don't know what it means entirely. It is a lament. It is for you to figure out and contextualize. Sometimes, just having the right song or psalm to express yourself is what you need most. It was inspired by a book the lyricist John Lang read called The Broken Wings, which many of us have loved by Kahlil Gibran.
Solomon was attracted to women and to power. He could get both by marrying both. He found a way to satisfy his desire for what Richard Foster identified as our 3 most vulnerable lusts: money, sex, and power.
He could accumulate exotic women, their eclectic cultures, their family wealth, and their political alliances by marrying into wealthy and powerful families.
God, who never stopped loving or blessing Solomon in his lifetime, responded and reacted to this power grab by declaring an end to it. The united kingdom would not continue. Too much concentrated political power becomes abusive, degrading, and an amalgamated civil religion unto itself.
The state cannot become a god (or, actually it can, but it must not). That is the problem - not women per se, but idolatry and how idolatry perpetuates itself and leads us astray.
We are always in danger. By making ourselves comfortable with systems and powers, by confusing our ultimate loyalties with the symbols of empire and nationalism, by grabbing what we want and putting our own personal, national, or group interests first, we are doing a solomonic power grab.
Let us be warned and informed by the lessons of sacred history.
1 Kings 11:1-13: King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the Israelites, "You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you; for they will surely incline your heart to follow their gods"
Solomon clung to these in love.
Among his wives were seven hundred princesses and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of his father David. For Solomon followed Astarte the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not completely follow the LORD, as his father David had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. He did the same for all his foreign wives, who offered incense and sacrificed to their gods.
Then the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, and had commanded him concerning this matter, that he should not follow other gods; but he did not observe what the LORD commanded.
Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, "Since this has been your mind and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and give it to your servant. Yet for the sake of your father David I will not do it in your lifetime; I will tear it out of the hand of your son. I will not, however, tear away the entire kingdom; I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen."
He does not say, "Heal me because I am a good man," here. Nor does he suggest any qualities of his character to make him deserving. Rather he pleads his own sin as the reason he requests healing.
It gives me hope.
On that basis, I certainly qualify!
" The LORD sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness you restore him to full health."
"As for me, I said, “O LORD, be gracious to me; heal me, for I have sinned against you!”"
I wondered if it was true years after telling it and hearing it and not questioning it. I guess one gets more skeptical as one ages. Thankfully, it really is true. Here is one quote among many I found:
"According to the best accounts of the incident I have heard (many have taken on weird additions), Karl Barth was at Rockefeller Chapel (really a Gothic cathedral!) on the campus of the University of Chicago during his lecture tour of the U.S. in 1962. After his lecture, during the Q & A time, a student asked Barth if he could summarize his whole life’s work in theology in a sentence. Barth allegedly said something like “Yes, I can. In the words of a song I learned at my mother’s knee: ‘Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” That is the simple, unadorned story. Many tellers have adorned it with additions of their own (in sermons, etc.). " [Roger Olson - https://www.patheos.com/.../did-karl-barth-really-say.../]
We have to get from fainting away in unfulfilled longing to exhilarating praise It does not come with a finger snap, but it may come with a good night's sleep and a movement from one verse to the next. We look upon God. We behold. We experience His unfailing love. We praise. Keep moving through those verses and living them.
" O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands."
(Psalm 63:1-4 ESV)
At some point, you just can't catch up, so you start where you are and move forward.
We have to get from fainting away in unfulfilled longing to exhilarating praise It does not come with a finger snap, but it may come with a good night's sleep and a movement from one verse to the next.
We look upon God.
We behold.
We experience His unfailing love.
We praise.
Keep moving through those verses and living them.
" O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands." (Psalm 63:1-4 ESV)
My face is red with weeping, and deep darkness is on my eyelids, though there is no violence in my hands, and my prayer is pure. "O earth, do not cover my blood; let my outcry find no resting place.
Even now, in fact, my witness is in heaven, and he that vouches for me is on high. My friends scorn me; my eye pours out tears to God, that he would maintain the right of a mortal with God, as one does for a neighbor. For when a few years have come, I shall go the way from which I shall not return.
My spirit is broken, my days are extinct, the grave is ready for me. If I look for Sheol as my house, if I spread my couch in darkness,
if I say to the Pit, 'You are my father,' and to the worm, 'My mother,' or 'My sister,' where then is my hope? Who will see my hope? Will it go down to the bars of Sheol?
