The Dream Factory

Fire, Salt, and Water

 

Fire, Salt, and Water

 

Take a Knee or a Stand?

Source: Library of Congress, Public Domain

 

Will you take a knee or take a stand?

 

On this day in 1814 – In a turning point in the War of 1812, the British failed to capture Baltimore. During the battle, Francis Scott Key composes his poem "Defence of Fort McHenry", which is later set to music and becomes the United States' national anthem.

 

The War was a skirmish over borders, land and, especially, who had the rights to take advantage of the indigenous people of America. Both sides were glad to see it end and were happy with the outcome. The war ended in a draw. Indigenous nations have been y seen among historians as the real losers.

 

The anthem was from a poem entitled "Defence of Fort M'Henry" by attorney Francis Scott Key. It was set to the tune of a British song written by John Stafford Smith as a theme for the Anacreontic Society, a men's social club called "The Anacreontic Song"

 

"The Star-Spangled Banner" was first use by the United States Navy in 1889, and by U.S. president Woodrow Wilson in 1916. A congressional resolution on March 3, 193, made it the National Anthem. So, it is a rather recent tradition.

 

Before that, three hymns were more often used by Americans to express their patriotism:

 

• "Hail, Columbia"
• "My Country, 'Tis of Thee", to the tune of "God Save the Queen",
• "America the Beautiful",

 

At the time that he wrote the words, Key, a devout Episcopalian, was also a slave owner. In his later life as attorney, he represented both slaves and slave owners in issues regarding that institution.

 

Key represented several slaves seeking their freedom, as well as several slave-owners seeking return of their runaway slaves.

 

The third stanza of the Star-Spangled Banner makes disparaging mention of blacks and demonstrates Key's opinion of their seeking freedom at the time. There were slaves who were escaping to the British, who promised them freedom and that is what the reference in verse three is to.

 

Eventually, Key seems to have come to a place of seeing slavery as wrong, but it was a long and ambiguous road for him.

 

He was a founding member and active leader of the American Colonization Society. Their primary goal was to send free blacks to Africa. As a result of those efforts, the nation of Liberia was founded. He was firmly against immediate abolition of slavery whether it was with or without compensation.

 

The problematic third verse reads:

 

"And where is that band who so vauntingly swore

That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,

A home and a country, should leave us no more?

Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.

No refuge could save the hireling and slave

From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:

And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave."

 

Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote 5th verse during the Civil War:

 

"When our land is illumined with Liberty's smile,

If a foe from within strike a blow at her glory,

Down, down with the traitor that dares to defile

The flag of her stars and the page of her story!

By the millions unchained, who our birthright have gained,

We will keep her bright blazon forever unstained!

And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave

While the land of the free is the home of the brave."

 

It should actually replace the 4th verse entirely, which is an abomination.

 

When the U.S. national anthem was first recognized by law in 1931, there was no prescription as to behavior during its playing. Beginning is 1942 and continuing to the most recent updates in 1976, suggested behavior is prescribed through law, with failure to observe it not being a violation of law. There are protocols with regard to standing, a formal salute by members of the military, and hand over the heart by civilians. There are some variations with regard to whether or not a flag is present and where people should face. There is general and widespread confusion over suggested flag and anthem protocols.

 

For instance, most people at baseball games violate one or more of them.

 

That is some of the history.

 

But, it is the future that matters most.

 

Shall we stand or shall we kneel?

 

I could enthusiastically stand for the America that Holmes envisioned, an America of justice for all, dignity, human rights, liberty, and truth. I could stand for the ideal, if if not fully realized. It is an America that is evolving and expanding in its vision while narrowing in its sense of self importance. I could stand for that.

 

I could kneel in prayer for those hopes and aspirations. Whether or not my body stands, my heart takes a knee.

 

"Oh say, can you see?"

 

We can see much through the eyes of faith, commitment and heart vision.

 

"By the dawn's early light" or the "twilights' last gleaming."

 

Both lights are dim but one is coming and the other going. Yes, I think I can see. 

 

I see a flag of freedom that flies from the lives of people who put their lives and reputations on the line in war or in board rooms or around supper tables or in the public arena who seek to unchain millions. That flag, I see and salute.

 

My body may stand in gratitude and resolve, but sometimes, it will kneel and shall always kneel in repentance, trust, and prayer for grace and mercy.

 

When i do stand, it is for your right to speak and do as you please.

 

When I kneel, it is a prayer for something greater than our will to prevail and it is an act of humility.

 

I stand and I kneel for full human rights protections for all people.

I stand and I kneel for full voting rights and protections for all.

I stand and I kneel for immigrants and refugees who see hope in America.

I stand and I kneel for dignity, respect, and community.

I stand and I kneel for representative democracy as the philosophical foundation of our republic.

I stand and I kneel for brotherhood and sisterhood.

I stand and I kneel for my neighbors, friends, and strangers.

I stand and I kneel for peace and stability.

I stand and I kneel for freedom of speech and religion.

I stand and I kneel for integrity.

I stand and I kneel for limits and accountability on power.

I stand and I kneel for racial justice.

I stand and I kneel for America.

 

God bless America and, America, bless God.

 

Who Do You Say I Am?

Who is Jesus?

Who do people say Jesus is? There is only one place they look --- in our faces.

Who are you?

Who is God according to you? According to your attitudes and deeds and face?

Do they see the smile of God or the scowling frown of God?

Where is the cross in all of this?

If the cross is not on our shoulders, it does not matter how many hills, walls, or necks it hangs on.

My Sunday  Morning Message

 

A Twenty Year Reflection

 

We Have Not Forgotten

 

We are being reminded to remember, but I would suggest that we also reflect. It is something I do on this day every year.

 

I wrote most of this in 2009. I am just touching it up a bit and maybe adding a thing or two or three or four or more.

 

After all, it has been two decades and we have hopefully learned something.

 

We have not forgotten what happened on September 11 in our recent past.

 

It has now been twenty years.

 

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."

 

It was sort of true, but we had some conditions and there was an expiration date on the sentiment.

 

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.

 

Would that we might capture some of the spirit of empathy, caring, helpfulness, and community.

 

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.

 

We bicker a lot now and we divide entire groups of people along rather arbitrary lines.

 

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.

 

Let me say that again because words slip by:

 

Common heartbeat.

 

Common heartbreak.

 

They go together.

 

We remember what it was like to deeply care about one another.

 

I know, I said that. Some things bear repeating.

 

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.

 

But, in the long run, we must also hold them accountable while also honoring their humanity and respecting their capacity to be wrong.

 

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.

 

Again, there is a balance. With any uniform, assignment of limited authority, and permission to use force, there comes great responsibility, accountability, and expectation for a higher degree of integrity and restraint.

 

We flew flags.

 

We did not always understand what those flags meant and sometimes forgot that they meant the right not to fly them or bow to them.

 

flags are great reminders and rallying points and very poor masters. What they symbolize at their best are ideals that are essential to what it means to be free.

 

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.

 

The pictures that move me most are those of tears and hugs and moments of silence, workers tirelessly digging through rubble, first responders moving toward the danger, and people helping people.

 

You can't bomb any of that away.

 

For now, let us pause to remember.

 

And let us grow and keep growing.

 

Years ago, Mad Magazine parodied an attitude that I so often see cropping up. It is of a caricature of a man who boldly proclaims how much he love America with the Mad editorial tag, "while hating most of the people in it."

 

Remember this, that patriotism is not about you loving your self-interests, your group, or your ideologies. Patriotism is about loving the central ideas and people that honor people, protect their dignity, and create an environment where we can love one another.

 

Patriotism is about love and loving people.

 

God bless you as we all remember and reflect today.

 

-----------------------------------------------------------

 

7 Years Ago

I am 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.

 

9 Years Ago

 

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. I also 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.

 

1o Years Ago

 

I had written something profound & when ready to post, the dog & 5 yr old conspired in play to disconnect my plug. Upon reflection - Who cares? What I say, what I remember, where I was - everyone has their own. We are here - still here - same heroism, courage, compassion, love, grief, anger, more love, and grace of a present God as then - at the ready to be summoned. The summons is now, daily. We can be great. We can love & work together. We must do it now. The plug could be pulled any time.

 

Also 10 or 12 Years Ago

 

My friend got me thinking about something in a Toastmaster meeting as he was lamenting the controversies and perceived restrictions in the open arena on religious symbols.

 

We think a lot about symbols these days..

 

There are lots of protests for and against the cross as a symbol of Christianity being displayed in public places - as a symbol, or even as a decoration. It made me think. Just thinking, 

 

His question was, "Just where is the cross lately?"

 

My musing answer was, "Hopefully, it is on our shoulders."

 

I think we sometimes think the cross is a symbol or a decoration rather than something we are called to take up daily and bear --- that it is always bearing, as did Jesus, the burdens of others. I suspect that if all Jesus followers would do that .... well, you can finish the sentence "

 

I am thinking, with this 2021 interjection, about symbols, flags, crosses, and others.

 

I am going with this thought.

 

If all the symbols came down and all the decorations disappeared, would the cross still be visible in America?

 

And, in light of the day, would there still be the liberty represented in our flag?

 

Would Jesus followers bear the cross into the streets of our cities?

Into hospital rooms?

Into jails and homeless shelters?

Into homes and workplaces?

 

Would it be visible in our selfless services? In our willingness to suffer? In our willingness to forgive? In Our love for people that Jesus loves?

 

The right to display the cross is not in the hands of any government or anyone outside of ourselves. the display of the cross in entirely on the shoulders of believers who decide to bear it upon their shoulders.

 

Are we taking up our crosses daily and going on display?

 

Just thinking ... and praying...

 

And asking myself as well.

 

11 Years Ago - Why I Never Called it a War on Terrorism

 

On 9/11, 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.

 

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.

 

________

 

Same Year

 

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.

 

____________________________________________________

 

Just Americans

 

I heard Barry McGuire sing this and so, I dropped him a note asking about it. His wife got back to me and said it was Randy Sparks' song. Thanks, Randy Sparks!

 

 

 

"On September the eleventh
We became Just Americans
Other names were rendered obsolete
All I know about my neighbors
Is that they are Just Americans
Shoulder to shoulder, now, the circle is complete
And we will fight, side by side, in the trenches of the universe
The cause of precious freedom to defend
And let it be remembered that
We are Just Americans
May this day never end
And I pray this day will never end"
- Randy Sparks

 

------------------------------ 

 

God, help us to overcome our legacy of racism, classism, along with our vestiges of  bigotry, partisanship, nationalism, and pride in order to welcome one another into an idea of America that is bigger than all of these distractions. Amen

 

------------------------------ 

Psalm 119:49-50

Remember your word to your servant,

because you have given me hope.

This is my comfort in my trouble,

that your promise gives me life.

 

"God reigns over the nations;
God sits upon his holy throne."
- Psalm 47:8

 

More Heroes

 

Oswald Chambers put life on hold to become a YMCA chaplain in WWI. Egypt, 1917: He suffered an appendicitis but would not go to hospital for 3 days, unwilling to take a bed from wounded soldiers. He died of complications at 43 years old. 100 officers carried his casket. Mostly unknown during his lifetime, his wife spent the rest of her life transcribing his lectures including, "My Utmost for His Highest."

 

911 from Space

https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1466.html

 

 

 

Music Heals the Soul

 

God bless you.

 

James 4:13-5:6 (NRSV):

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money."

Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that."

As it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, commits sin.

Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you.

Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days.

Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.

You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.

You have condemned and murdered the righteous one, who does not resist you.

 

 

Be a Doer!

Sunday, August 29, 2021 at the Fellowship of Joy

Be Doers of the Word and

Not Hearers Only!

 

 

 

Shake, Rattle, and Roll!

"See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to pull down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.”

Jeremiah 1:4-10 is resonating in my heart today.

Some folks seem to be appointed to pluck up, pull down, destroy, and overthrow so that they may build and plant.

“Do not say, ‘I am only a boy.'"

Read it! Here it is in NRSV:

Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.” But the Lord said to me,

“Do not say, ‘I am only a boy’;
for you shall go to all to whom I send you,
and you shall speak whatever I command you.
Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,
says the Lord.”

Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me,

“Now I have put my words in your mouth.
See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to pull down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.”

To be known, consecrated, and appointed is an awe inspiring insight into our own selves under God. It was never, "Will you go?" It was "You shall go."

It was never, "Figure out what to day." It was "You shall say what I command you to say."

But I am a very young boy?

Yes, that is me speaking at 66 and more than a half. I have much to learn and much growing to grow and I am a boy.

"Fooey!" God says in better words.

'"Don't say that. I am with you."

With me? Yes, with me.

That is a big deal. Do not gloss over it.

"Do not be afraid."

Could I be afraid with that reality etched into my consciousness?

Has your mouth been touched and words implanted? Has your courage been strengthened and your resolve reordered?

Words ... pluck up, pull down, destroy, overflow.... with PURPOSE: To plant and build!

Go and say ... today.

"In you, Lord, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame." (Psalm 71:1, NRSV)

"Our God is a consuming fire,: (Hebrews 12:29)

"Awesome," the dudes on the street corner utter, "Awesome!"

He shakes things up.

He shakes me.

He shakes you.

And here we are, just boys and girls and we are shaking the world.

God shakes!

We shake!

The earth shakes!

What a dance!

God has to clear away some debris and old broken down buildings of our own contrivances and the rubble of our rusty rubrics.

There needs to be some bulldozing of old orders for the new order to take hold.

Jesus, by His sprinkled blood, the mediator of the new covenant (Hebrews 12)!

He too, was just a boy!

JUST?!?!

Just nothing ... but JUSTICE!

Yes! just-ice!

He came and healed on the Sabbath and exposed the rubric realm of reigning religiosity. (Luke 13:10-17).

But He was not just a boy! He knew the whole story. He knew what it was all about before we started messing with it, over-structuring it, and supervising it as supposed "deputies of God."

Why do we need anything but the words in our mouths and the God who is with us?

Jesus did not despise the Sabbath. He loved it, celebrated it, and restored it?

He did not come to tear down anything of essence. He came to clear the rubble around it so that it might be seen again, afresh, anew.

What have we come to? (Hebrews 12:18ff.) AWESOME!

There is fire ... always fire.

But there is also festal gathering! Mostly that. That is the THAT!

What cannot be shaken shall remain!

Acceptable worship with reverence!

At that time, a voice shook the earth and it is almost always ...

A VOICE!

Hello there, all you Jeremiahs!

You are not just anything.

You are known, consecrated, and appointed! You shall go! You shall speak! God is with you and His words are in your mouth.

Go shake a few things and see what remains!

There are treasure out there to be unearthed of God's own planting!

Shake, rattle, and roll in your role!

Grace, peace, and joy to you.

 

Be Strong - Today's Message

 

 

 

 

BE SMART - Today's Sermon Video

 

 

Here is the PPT!

Living in the Gap

 

 

Eleven years ago I was at the cemetery officiating the service of a man who had regularly attended our church. He was a quiet, decent, hard working, and interesting man with a deep commitment to Christ.

 

He found himself satisfied with very simple pleasures, few possessions, and a small circle of close friends.

 

He was a very good friend of Bill W. and participated in the groups that met at our church and helped many people as a sponsor.

 

I would not have considered him wealthy. He had a job that could not have paid a great deal of money. He walked almost everywhere he needed to go.

 

Yet, I am told, he left a small fortune behind.

 

It was not that he made a lot of money. He was just frugal and conscientious about savings and investments.

 

As I often do, I chose to talk about the space, dash, or gap on our tombstones between the date of our birth and death. We cannot control the dates, but we can control what happens in the gap to the extent that we are in charge of all of our choices.

 

It caused me to reflect on how I wish to spend my time in that gap.

G 

Growing in grace, gratitude, and giving.

A 

Acting so as to accept what is, acknowledge what is not, and attempt what can be.

P 

Pursuing a purpose that provides peace and promotes the positive, and produces fruit for God's kingdom.

 

How am I living in my gap between January 3, 1955 and that unknown date in the future?

 

Live the life you were placed here to live. Live boldly! Live large and loud!  Livew!

 

Final Frontier

Nasa.Gov

 

It is here. It is within us. It is beyond us. It is within our reach and far beyond.

 

Final Frontier

   Splendid

      Spacious

         Expanse,

Spreading forth to the west,

   The east,

      The north,

         The south,

Vertical and horizontal

   Space,

Waves of

   Wandering

      Wonder.

This is

   Universal unfolding,

      Unfettered movement,

         Undeniable understanding.

These are birds flying,

   Dreams soaring,

      Thoughts set free,

         Potential compressed and

            Released.

 

 

To Label Is to Negate

 

"Once you label me you negate me." - Soren Kiergegaard

That one simple observation, that we know intuitively, provides the best argument against hard and fast labels that I know.

It may also be the reason why people are so prone to use them ... on others.

When our arguments against issues or for our own positions are weak, we feel we can score an easy "win" by putting our adversaries into boxes of someone else's making.

Once we have categorized the person, we can dismiss him or her and that person's words as party lines from some villainous sect or persuasion.

It works except for one annoying reality. It is wrong.

And it counts us out of one of those groups that Jesus commended – truth seekers.

If we cannot seek truth in every situation, we cannot seek it anywhere.

Negate nothing but negativity and negate no one … ever.

 

Step Back

Step back for a wider view.

 

Sometimes I write things that seem very clever, insightful, and truthful to me and then ...

 

I delete them before I post them ...

 

... because they could hurt someone at a level that would be or seem to be unkind ...

 

... whether I intend it that way or not ... and then, sometimes, I miss.

 

Today, I caught two and deleted them.

 

The secret?

 

I stepped back and read them as a third party.

 

Try it.

 

have another cup of coffee while you read yourself.

 

How Sweet the Sound

“How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” – Psalm 119:103

 Do you remember the moment? Can you go back to the time? Can you recall the emotion when you first heard the word of grace in your soul?

Into what fertile ground was the word of grace planted in your life? How deep was your misery or despair? What secret wretchedness was hidden in your heart? How hopeless were your aspirations of a better way? How unacceptable did your life seem to yourself and to God? Was there a place in you that felt unloved, unwanted, and unworthy?

“Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.” – Luke 7:47

Do you love much or do you love little?

It is the heart that was broken and burdened and then relieved by grace, mercy, and forgiveness that receives the word with gladness. To such a one, His voice, the voice of grace, is sweet. It soothes the troubled soul and sweetens the bitterness of guilt and regret.

There is no sin, no disappointment, nor groaning that is out of the earshot of grace.

There is no dissonance that cannot be brought into harmony when the overwhelmingly sweet sound of grace crescendos on the stage of personal history.

Grace notes swell against the chorus of our experiences. All other voices must tune themselves to the fundamental of grace. The instruments of destruction are transformed into the instruments of mercy. Grace takes center stage and all bow before Him who sings the song of the ages.

How sweet the sound of grace to those who have been forgiven much. Jesus opens His mouth and begins to sing to us. It is at the same time a lullaby of peace and a rousing call to arms. Yet, to the one receiving that sound as His Holy Word, it is always sweet. There is no sweeter sound.

Hear the Word of the Lord, dear sinner friend. It is the sound of grace. It is the sound of mercy. It is the sound of forgiveness and hope.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.

Chew That

 

Adams California Fruit Gum 1910s USA chewing gum sweets #AdvertisingArchives, Public Domain

Quick question," my friends say as a preface.

Absolutely. Ask away, but here is a warning, "Have you ever known me to give a quick answer?"

For instance, "Where do you want that box?"

"Hmmm ... there are multiple shades of meaning to the question and numerous possibilities available with multiplied consequences not to mention the unknown unintended ones. Let us explore ...."

"Yawn, never mind."

But I come to God this morning with such quick questions and quick prayers and He really understands all of these contingencies, possibilities, opportunities, consequences, and unfolding repercussions resonating from one stroke of a tuning fork of choice.

And I want a quick answer to a quick question with a quick fix.

Slow down, Tom! Are you a "laborer together with God (read: partner)" or are you just looking for a handout or a mindless assignment?

God has called us to participate in His kingdom and I would suggest that such participation might require allowing some time on my calendar for a few longer meetings.

Thank God He is open to quick questions and answers because He is so patient with me. He gave us Psalm 100, but He also gave us Psalm 119.

As I have taught some of my bible study students to say and do when they get a chew-able biblical vitamin: "CHEW THAT!"

 

When You Run Out of Words

 

When you run out of your own words, quote someone else.

You may agree with them or not. It does not matter. That is not the point.

The point is to lubricate your brain and everyone else's brain.

For instance:

Abraham Lincoln: The best thing about the future is that it only comes one day at a time.

 

Malcolm S. Forbes: The best vision is insight.

 

Theodore Roosevelt: The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it.

 

And then, here is one of mine. Dare I call it a poem?

 

Chaos

The only thing that is consistently predictable in the universe is the consistent persistence of chaos...

And in that, we behold the emergence of divine order at a magnitude that stretches our minds ...

Beyond their capacity.

 

- Tom Sims

 

 

Then, once you have exhausted your own mind again with output, let more quotations flow through you and back into the world. At the risk of repeating myself, for instance:

 

God put me on earth to do a certain number of things.

Right now I'm so far behind I'll never die.

-- Calvin in Calvin & Hobbes, by Bill Waterson

 

Grace and healing are communicated through the vulnerability of men and women who have been fractured and heartbroken by life." -- Brennan Manning, Abba's Child

 

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.

-- Scott Adams

 

You can observe a lot by watching. -- Yogi Berra

 

Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society. -- Mark Twain

 

How will I know what I think

until I see what I write?

-- Lewis Carroll

 

Sometimes I lie awake at night and ask, "Why me?" Then a voice answers, "Nothing personal, your name just happened to come up." -- Charlie Brown in Peanuts, by Charles Schultz

 

That is about all I have to say on that subject today and ...

 

You can quote me on that!

 

Sheep Without a Shepherd

Changeless and Unchanging

 

Does the scripture contradict itself and does God change His mind?

 

Loaded questions #349a&b.

 

Text: 1 Samuel 15:24-35

Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. Now therefore, I pray, pardon my sin, and return with me, so that I may worship the LORD."

 

Samuel said to Saul, "I will not return with you; for you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel."

 

As Samuel turned to go away, Saul caught hold of the hem of his robe, and it tore. And Samuel said to him, "The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this very day, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. Moreover the Glory of Israel will not recant or change his mind; for he is not a mortal, that he should change his mind."

 

Then Saul said, "I have sinned; yet honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, so that I may worship the LORD your God."

 

So Samuel turned back after Saul; and Saul worshiped the LORD. Then Samuel said, "Bring Agag king of the Amalekites here to me." And Agag came to him haltingly.

 

Agag said, "Surely this is the bitterness of death."

 

But Samuel said, "As your sword has made women childless, so your mother shall be childless among women."

 

And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal. Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul. Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the LORD was sorry that he had made Saul king over Israel.

 

 

http://www.cts.edu/ImageLibrary/Images/oldtest/TissSaul.jpg

 

The questions posed do not constitute the thrust of the text, but point to  an underlying idea.

 

The answer actually depends upon how you define the terms and the vantage from which you view the eternal realities of time and space and eternity.

 

Perspective matters.

 

From one perspective, there is a direct contradiction. Samuel says to Saul that God does not change His mind and, therefore, will not relent about rejecting you as king. Then, the editor inserts that God was regretful about choosing Saul in the first place. That conflict is reflected humanly in the heart of Samuel who grieves for Saul.

 

That cognitive dissonance over eternal paradox is often expressed as grief.

 

And paradox it is. God, who does not change, has a change of heart ... or so it seems.

 

And yet, are not all things eternally simultaneous within the Divine Godhead where there is no fixed past, present, and future?

 

It boggles the mind since our assignment is to live presently in time, space, and sequence.

 

BUT ... it is not just eternity that renders this ambiguous; it is often what we are learning about physics itself as we wrestle with the conundra of relativity theory and quantum mechanics.

 

Those things which complicate the matter also simplify both the questions and the answers and reduce them to something other than "yes" or "no," rendering them "yes and no." (with the quotation marks intentionally placed where they are.

 

Does the scripture contradict itself?

 

"Yes" if your hermeneutical tools exclude context.

 

"No" if you consider both context and intent. The circumstances changed and the drama played out in such a way that to not change His mind, God would have to change His ultimate intention.

 

That creates a seeming contradiction if we are trying to interpret the narrative in a limited and literal manner.

 

But that would miss the point and the question. Again: Does God change His mind?

 

"Yes AND no."

 

Not to change His mind, in this circumstance would require (grant it, by our limited and literal logic) a change of ultimate mind, purpose, and intent.

 

That requires us inquiring into the mind, purpose, and intent of God.

 

it also raises the old question: Who moved? Was it Saul or God?

 

Again, it plunged us into the mystery and raises the questions upon which we loved to place inordinate weight such as the human and individualistic implications of election, predestination, and providence. To us, they matter much because we tend toward spiritual narcissism and rugged individualism with a bottom-line of the equivalent of "fire insurance."

 

God's answer to those questions for us who live here is grace. "It is sufficient for you."

 

Thye larger question is the simultaneousness of the eternal reality of a God who is both eternally and temporally present in eternity, in temporal reality, and, as an extension, in quantum reality.

 

All of that is beneath the surface is what is both a mundane and historically significant encounter between Saul and Samuel and in the reconciliation of two, apparently contradictory statements and truths.

 

And none of this is particularly significant to the masses unless they care about entering into this encounter between the Eternally Present God of Grace and Glory and history that is being unfolding moment by moment around us and in us.

 

It is a grand invitation to enter in to something grander than ourselves.

 

God is love and God is holy, wholly Other, Righteous, Just, True, and all knowing-powerful, and God is love.

 

And God is love and it includes all of the above for love drives all of this power, truth, and creativity and is reflected in the regret of God and the grief of Samuel, God's earthly messenger.

 

Because God is love, at the "end of the day" when you have wracked your brain around unfathomable truth, there is only one truth you must know: the Love of God.

 

"...to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:19, NLT)

 

That is the reconciliation.

 

So, what eternally happened to Saul and Agag?

 

Those are not questions addressed in the text and are for another day's speculation. That is a fact that highlights the reality that not every text is scripture is about "fire insurance."

 

But you can know this: Whatever applications are true for us, were true for them as well.

 

Our present calling is always the invitation to enter into the present and eternal reality of the love of God.

 

That is enough.

-----------------------

 

 

 

Hymn excerpt:

"Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father
There is no shadow of turning with Thee
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be
Great is Thy faithfulness ... "

 

 

No One Cared

Caring for a Soul

“… no one cared for my soul..”  Psalms 142:4

God cares for your soul.

How can a statement be true and untrue at the same time?

Many a man or woman has echoed the psalmist’s cry in lonely and despairing hours. Many have passed though the dark tunnel of desolation “like sheep without a shepherd.” In those times it is true that no one really knows the darkness within and no human being cares at the level that caring is needed. The statement is true in that it expresses the essential emotions of the moment.

It is not true in the deeper, larger sense, for there is always One and often, others, who are ready to come to your aid – yes, you, for the psalmist’s story is your story and my story. It is also our challenge to be present, sensitive, and ready to respond to the heart cry of others.

Who might you see as you look around, wandering in a sea of ambiguity and hopelessness? Who is it within your reach that needs to know that he or she is not alone? Who s it that can be reminded of God’s love by your loving touch? Who is it that can learn of God’s care through your care?

Start with yourself, wounded, and battered by life. Be reminded that God cares for your soul, your life, and your deepest self. Receive His love at the point of your most profound pain. Then allow Him to fashion you into an instrument of healing and grace.

Can God really use a wounded healer? Can He take a broken soul and accomplish His purposes through that man or woman? I think of David, and I say, “Oh yes.”

I also think of great men such as Abraham Lincoln, a man often haunted by his own inadequacies, fears, and pain – yet a man who found himself, more and more, turning to God for help – just to cope with the burdens of responsibility, leadership, and the healing of a nation.

God cares for your soul, and He has called you to trust Him and become an agent for His caring in the lives of other people.

 

Unfailing Compassion

Photo by Antón Jáuregui on Unsplash

Passion

It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. -Lamentations 3:22

Compassion combines the concept of deep feeling with the idea of sharing (com=with). God feels with us, deeply and profoundly. That means that He shares our passion, pain, and emotion.

Passion if the at the root of our energy for ministry. It is that God-given quality that enthuses us with clarity of vision and depth of conviction. It moves us when we see the suffering of other people. It drives us when we understand what is to be done about it. Without passion, we whither. With a vibrant passion we can overcome obstacles and rise above our moods. Passion reminds us of our essential purpose and drives us forward. Some characteristics of passionate people are:

P—Positive Priorities

Instead of avoidance behavior, people with passion move toward their commitments aligning themselves with those activities that support the causes for which they are passionate.

A—Active Attitude Adjustments

Passionate people are constantly adjusting their own attitudes and actively tuning their minds in the direction of their goals and objectives.

S—Sincerity

There is no faking real passion. It bubbles up from within and is nurtured by our committed actions.

S – Simplicity

Passionate people can explain their mission to you in a few short sentences. Since it is clear to them, they can make it clear for you.

I—Inspiration

People with true God-given passion for ministry know the reality of God breathing His purpose through His Spirit into their lives. The calling is His and they are driven by that knowledge.

O - Open “Outwardness”

Not necessarily extroverts, passionate people love to talk about their mission and cause. It splashed out of their lives and is contagious.

N—Non-Negotiable

People with passion are not easily deterred from a mission. It becomes one of the non-negotiable values of their lives.

 

 

Bonus Video - this Morning's Online Service from

The Fellowship of Joy

God of the Oppressed

Order Here

 

Reflections on Psalm 9:9-20

Psalm for June 20, 2021

 

Confession: I am not James Cone. I cannot hold an intellectual or theological candle to James Cone These are just my meager reflections on a great Psalm of justice I have collected over time and moments of musing. 

Psalm 9:9 - The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.

The oppressed are very dear to God. A rabbi once said that God must truly love the poor because He made so many of them. So it is with the oppressed. And the story is bigger than we imagine on the surface. We are all among the oppressed. Temptation, sin, the world, the flesh, and the devil oppress us on all sides and from within. When Israel was at the sea and the Egyptians were in pursuit, God called on Moses to lead His people into a wilderness of refuge. There appeared to be no walls and no shelter, but God had a plan to protect His people. He was their refuge and stronghold and He is ours. We, like them, must move toward Him in faith even when what is ahead looks like a vast wilderness without wall. God is your protector from all that oppresses you today.

Psalm 9:10 - Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.

One of the gifts that God gave to Israel was His personal name. It was a secret that was not available outside of the covenant. It was a source of power, strength, and belonging. It was so sacred that no Jew would pronounce it or even consider it without the deepest reverence and awe. And yet, every Jew knew His name and to know it evoked a profound trust and stirred up memories of His faithfulness throughout the generations. To know His name was and is to know Him. We have, through Jesus, free access to our Heavenly Father and know Him by that name. In knowing Him, we trust Him. In trusting Him, we seek Him. And He never forsakes us. Nor shall He forsake you as you seek Him in trust today.

Psalm 9:11 - Sing praises to the Lord, enthroned in Zion; proclaim among the nations what he has done.

We must proclaim, not only amongst ourselves, but also among the nations all that our God has done. As we praise Him openly, we practice worship evangelism. Our sincerity, exuberance, and devotion all bear witness to His glory and His mighty deeds. Praise holds up His character, grace, and love for all to see. Praise declares the sovereignty and reign of God and announces His Kingdom with authenticity and believability.  If we will praise Him with our whole hearts and let His joy and power flow through us, we will bear witness in a manner that is compelling and truthful. Many do not know. As we worship Him transparently and openly, they will see and hear of His wonderful works and be drawn to Him. But remember this is not a show that we produce for the world. It is real praise that we direct to Him with the world looking on. If we keep these first things first we won't be able to avoid the fruit of evangelism.

Psalm 9:12 - For he who avenges blood remembers; he does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.

Who can forget the image of old Jewish elder, disgusted with the injustices of the world, shaking his fist in prayer to the God he loves and adores, demanding God's attention and justice? And God does not strike him dead. In fact, God hears his cry for it comes from one of his faithful servants. Perhaps we would recommend an attitude of greater humility before a holy God, but we would not forget His willingness and determination to hear the cry of the afflicted. God forgets no injustice without remedy. He does not sweep the blood of martyrs under some cosmic rug and wipe their pain from His memory. God deals with it. Look at the cross. God is dealing with it there. He is remedying the injustice. He is correcting the wrong. He is answering the prayers of the afflicted for restoration and He is hearing your prayers as well.

Psalm 9:13-14 - O Lord, see how my enemies persecute me! Have mercy and lift me up form the gates of death, that I may declare your praises in the gates of the Daughter of Zion and there rejoice in your salvation.

When we are burdened and persecuted, is this the nature of our cry that of this psalmist? Are we seeing an end result in God's mercy merciful rescue that culminates in greater and more heartfelt praise for Him? Do we envision rejoicing that ultimately honors Him and brings glory to His name?  How wrapped up are our own wishes, emotions, and requests in His purposes, will, and desires? How deeply do we long for His will to be done and His reign to come on earth as it is in Heaven? Let us not cease to cry for mercy and deliverance - for we are in great need - but may we grow to see that our salvation is something intimately connected with the worship of God.

Psalm 9:15 - The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug; their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.

Like the nations, we have often fallen into puts we have dug or have become entrapped in nets of our own making. This probably does not come as news to you since it is so common to our human experience. If we are honest, we will admit to our contributory role in our own troubles. Whenever we devise clever and sinister plots it is we ourselves who enter into forced servitude to the very forces that drove us to ambition. So powerful are the snares and false promises of success and competition among humans that we are lured into their captivity by a wink, a nod, or an image. The antidote is focus - clear and centered upon God through Jesus Christ. We face grave danger today if we lose our focus and untold possibilities for blessing if we keep seeking Him.

Psalm 9:16 - The Lord is known by his justice; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands.

 Have you ever considered the reputation of God? That fact that He is known by His justice is a telling sign.  Before we encounter the love and grace of God, we already understand that He is fair and righteous and truthful. We also know that in the grand scheme of things, poetic justice dictates that their own devices ensnare the wicked.  If the world already understands this dimension of God and His ways, we have good news for them. Jesus came to brings us, as Paul Harvey says, “the rest of the story.” That story is that this same God passionately and jealously loves us with a love so deep that mercy and grace flow in unbroken succession from His heart. Do not wince at the justice of God, for it is His justice that leads us into His arms.

Psalm 9:17 - The wicked return to the grave, all the nations that forget God.

 There is no future for those who forget God. There is nothing that godlessness offers us but death. Even if we are saved by grace, nothing that we invest in sin will stand the tests of time of eternity. God will not circumvent His own ways in our lives to achieve His purposes. He is consistent and true to Himself and to His Word. Count on it and count on Him to be trustworthy and scrupulously committed to integrity in His dealings with us. If He declares that X + Y = Z, then we can plan our lives around the principle. That is not to say that He cannot and will not intervene in His grace, but we must not presume upon His character. He loves us and pines for us, but He will not force His love upon us. If we reject it and to the extent we reject it, we are left to our own devices which lead to death.

Psalm 9:18 - But the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish.

We have a God whose ways are not our ways and thoughts not our thoughts. He reverses the power of conventional wisdom and defies the accepted truisms of society to make His own order. He simply does not forget the needy. He has a bias for them. He will not abandon the afflicted. For those who are hopeless, He offers hope. Let us proclaim hope daily – first to our own defeated souls, weighed down with the worries and cares of life, discouraged in well doing, spent and depleted. Then let us proclaim the same message with the authentic credibility of a person who has embraced hope in his or her own life to a needy and broken world. May hope exude from our pores. May it be the aura that surrounds our lives, the given pitch that tunes our voices, the color of our countenances, and the tenor of our words. The good news of hope is the one word that broken people cannot create from wishful thinking. It is not denial; it is reality. May we live it and speak it daily.

Psalm 9:19 - Arise, O Lord, let not man triumph; let the nations be judged in you presence.

Man’s ways can be very frightening. The history of mankind is peppered with incidents of mob violence and injustice that was condoned by the crowd. Majority rule has often ruled out righteousness and minorities have been oppressed by masses simply because they had the power to do so. The prayer of the righteous man or woman always includes the desire for justice, for limits on evil, and for God’s restraint and ultimate judgment of all that goes against Him and His ways. We can pray this way with confidence because we are assured of the character and promises of God to set all things aright in His own timing and according to His purposes. Do not grow discouraged and do not stop praying for the right and for God’s will. And do not be alarmed when the evil one seems to be directing the political forces of the world. Evil shall not prevail. God wins – always.

Psalm 9:20 - Strike them with terror, O Lord; let the nations know they are but men.

There is a kind of terror that is to be desired within us and among men and women. It is that terror that absolutely melts our souls under the glaring reality of God. It is that terror that teaches us that we are but mere men. As we grow in grace, may we keep a sense of that terror. Even as we flourish in the wonderful awareness of God’s love, acceptance, dignity, and value of us as His children, may we avoid the conceit that marginalizes Him and maximizes our own importance. We are only human. That is not an excuse and not a put-down; it is basic truth. We do not overcome sin in our own strength. We do not grow in Christ because we have the best motives, the purest thoughts, and the most attractive personalities. We are absolutely, utterly dependent upon God. We are but men – male and female. It is a life-affirming and esteem-building exercise to realize this in the light of the truth that God, who also knows this, chooses to love and to grace us.

 

Bonus Content - The Video of My Sermon This Morning

Juneteenth - Truths Self-Evident

On and Off Topic, Come to the Table

The_School_of_Athens__by_Raffaello_Sanzio_da_Urbino  -  This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons. 

 

Quotes to Catch You Off-Guard

 

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." Albert Einstein

 

"No matter how much cats fight, there always seem to be plenty of kittens." - Abraham Lincoln (according to some reports)

 

"A man's life is what his thoughts make it." ~ Marcus Aurelius (Sounds kind-a like Proverbs 23:7)

"No matter how much cats fight, there always seem to be plenty of kittens." - Abraham Lincoln (according to some reports)

 

"Don't believe everything you read on the internet." - George Washington

 

"Not everyone on the internet is who they claim to be." - Aristotle

 

-------------------

"Reich Church" and the "Confessing Church"

When religious gatherings turn into patriotic rallies, one remembers when Christians were called upon to choose between the "Reich Church" and the "Confessing Church" led by Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Pastor Martin Niemöller.

Gospel integrity will always conflict with nationalism.

This is not to say that patriotic rallies are bad. Just do not confuse them with religious gatherings or confuse religion with patriotism.

"Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral." — Paulo Freire

-------------------

On and Off  Topic

 

You can come to social media as a student, teacher, commentator, advocate, seller, consumer, organizer, agitator, friend, community builder, entertainer, predator, gamer, or more or any combination. But whatever you choose, ask, "What can I contribute to others while here?"

 

Social media is, in part, a library of classics and current literature for me . I cannot learn everything from the titles, but I can make notes for future reading and build a bibliography.

 

Those who consistently comment on Twitter and FB headlines and summaries without reading the linked articles remind me of students who show up for class discussions without doing the reading homework. They usually get the whole class off topic.

 

 

-------------------

Revival Prayer

We pray.

Lord, send a revival.

Show us our sinful ways.

Purge our hearts.

Shake our false foundations, dismantle our pride.

Send us running to you.

 

Something stirs.

We pray against the stirring.

 

"Lord, send a revival."

 

"I am trying to."

 

"That is not what we meant."

"What did you mean, then?"

 

"Well, not that."

 

"Oh, well I thought you might have wanted the full dose."

Be careful about complaining about the tides.]

 

They may be in answer to your prayers.

 

-------------------

 

Lives that Matter

 

You do not have to love anyone less in order to love others more.

 

You do not have to give up your own story in order to hear and embrace the story of another.

 

You do not have to convince everyone in your tribe of the righteousness of the truth you are finding in order to keep hammering away at it.

 

This season of conversation is going to be a lot about exposure, relentless exposure to buried truths.

 

There will be a great deal of monologue and listening.

 

There will be talk of dismantling and fearful resistance, but everyone knows that dismantling comes before rebuilding and restoration.

 

Just watch “This Old House.”

 

There will be ignoring of criticism to be done.

 

You will have to repeat yourself many times.

 

You will have to accept that your good arguments will fall on deaf ears for the most part ... but you do not have to win every argument.

 

You must be true to what God is showing you.

 

You must participate.

 

“Send word to my brothers,” cried the rich man to Father Abraham.”

 

“They already know and have already heard,” replied Father Abraham. They will not believe, my son,” he said, “even if one comes back from the dead.”

 

Do not love less, those with deaf ears and hard hearts, but neither wait for them to understand and a agree.

 

Broaden your heart of love and sharpen your focus for what God is doing in this hour.

 

He has set a national table of conversation and invites all who will come.

 

All Things Are New

 

Sunday's Sermon

All in the Family

In 2009, when I first published this, I knew a number of people who told me they were sick of Christians. They were not sick of Jesus necessarily. In fact, if they had seen more of Jesus in Christians, it would have helped.

Has any of this changed?

Maybe.

I think that, perhaps,  intensified or has been more openly articulated.

Here is what I wrote then:

Sick of Christians?

The pot is being stirred and there is a lot of spillage. The church is struggling with its identity in a rapidly changing world. Everyone, inside and outside, has an opinion - maybe more than one. Sometimes we are fighting the world. Sometimes we are fighting each other. Sometimes we put our collective feet in our mouths.

Sometimes I get sick of Christians.

Sometimes I get sick of myself.

Many recent conversations have not brought out the best in me.

It is hard to hang out with people who have more answers than questions. This has been building up. Others are making definitions of who is what  and codifying them with really long and specific lists.

Sometimes I find it easier to relate to non-Christians who don't claim to have all the answers than to my brothers who are sure that they do.

"Are you biblical, traditional, emergent, liberal, conservative, seeker-sensitive, or what? Careful. Consult the list of criteria before answering."

"Pick a category. Hurry!"

I take Jesus' words, "Seek and ye shall find" to point toward an ongoing process of seeking and finding and seeking some more and finding some more and never being settled and done.

So I come to most conversations with a mixture of dogmatism and ambiguity, a tentative confidence grounded in solid faith, but flexible from the ground up.

I get frustrated with friends who want to finish every conversation with a hard and fast pronouncement. I want to say, "That tree is still alive and subject to quite a bit of movement as it grows upward."

What I know is that as it grows upward, its roots sink deeper - and that is what accounts for my peace and confidence.

If we put most of our focus on the roots without ignoring what is seen, we can do whatever it is we do with trees with the rest of our time and energy.

But it is the root of things that matters most and I see a lot of attention being given to leaves and bark.

What occurs to me is that Jesus said He was the vine; we were the branches; God handled the pruning; and our task was to abide.

I suppose I need to let Him handle the outgrowths that keep annoying and embarrassing me with their references to imprecatory prayers against anyone with whom they disagree or that they see as a threat to God - who has a pretty good track record of being able to take care of Himself.

And thank God He ignores ridiculous prayers where we presume to know who should live or die.

Maybe He chuckles at our assumptions that we must desperately rescue civilization so that his Kingdom will not die from our neglect. It is not that we are not called to engage, transform, influence, and preserve culture. It is a matter of balance and of seeing the larger Kingdom picture which includes thousands of years of chaotic world history and a big world that stretches far beyond our Western orientation.

It is not just the really obnoxious and grotesque examples of mean-spirited distortions of Christianity, but the more subtle things that are bothering me.

Everyone seems to know where things need to be pruned and I see a potentially lopsided bush forming. Many  Christians are just so sure of themselves and what they have "found" in their brief forays into seeking territory.

"We ought to do this and not that. We should be doing such an so. Everyone should stand up for this and against that and we all need to pull together and stand against sin and this is the sin we should be focusing on and isn't it awful that some people don't see it quite the way we do and don't you know that it is us against them and what we need is courage and courage is doing what I say you ought to be doing and please don't question it. And we have to get back to the Bible and these are the verses on which we should focus and this is how it should be done and don't forget to use the right words and slogans and we are right and everyone else is wrong and on and on and on."

So thank God that as much as it seems one party or another is setting God's agenda, He has not relinquished that prerogative to us. It really does not matter what we decide in our back and forth and circular conversations. God will do what God pleases and will continue to make all the definitions.

And God will prune and feed the vine and lead His servants and correct them when necessary and even use us in the process whenever He can trust us to love the sinner like He does.

Yes. I get sick of Christians sometimes - just people with the same personality quirks they would have if they were not Christians - people just as ornery as I am ( or less so because I have a big dose of it).

We get ticked off and opinionated and harsh and then we crash from time to time and ask a lot of questions and then we come back to center - but all the while, our roots are planted in the strong bedrock of God's grace and truth.

I get ticked off and harsh when I perceive people are ticked off and harsh and I judge judgmental people and I am just as human as the rest.

Jesus said He would not feel like spitting us out unless we went lukewarm. He can steer us when we are moving. He can guide us when we are seeking. He can change us when we stay open to change. He can bend us and mold us, and break the resistance of our hearts and He does.

Does Jesus get sick of Christians? When we just don't get it? When we act the same as the folks He was calling to repentance but with Bible verses to justify our rigidity and graceless living?

Maybe, but He doesn't give up. Surprisingly, He loves us passionately and is infinitely patient with us. He uses our crude attempts at service. He includes us in His purpose whether or not we get it.

I have not given up on the church because Jesus has not given up on the church or on me.

The Vinedresser has not retired.

The church has no corner on the market for dogmatism, rigidity, or critical judgments. Humanity is a common "disease" and a common blessing as well.

If I am ever sick of Christians, it is because they are my family and families get on each others nerves from time to time. I really love Christians and other people as well, but Christians are, with all their peccadilloes, my people and God's people.

We are called to be peculiar and even odd.

We are thrown together with our personality issues and commanded to "work it out" with God's help and guidance. We have to struggle and grow in our capacity for relationship. We march to a different drum and, in doing so, we don't flaunt it or push our weight around. That is the plan anyway.

Sometimes it works very well.

 

The pot is being stirred and there is a lot of spillage. The church is struggling with its identity in a rapidly changing world. Everyone, inside and outside, has an opinion - maybe more than one. Sometimes we are fighting the world. Sometimes we are fighting each other. Sometimes we put our collective feet in our mouths.

Sometimes I get sick of Christians.

Sometimes I get sick of myself.

Many recent conversations have not brought out the best in me.

It is hard to hang out with people who have more answers than questions. This has been building up. Others are making definitions of who is what  and codifying them with really long and specific lists.

Sometimes I find it easier to relate to non-Christians who don't claim to have all the answers than to my brothers who are sure that they do.

"Are you biblical, traditional, emergent, liberal, conservative, seeker-sensitive, or what? Careful. Consult the list of criteria before answering."

"Pick a category. Hurry!"

I take Jesus' words, "Seek and ye shall find" to point toward an ongoing process of seeking and finding and seeking some more and finding some more and never being settled and done.

So I come to most conversations with a mixture of dogmatism and ambiguity, a tentative confidence grounded in solid faith, but flexible from the ground up.

I get frustrated with friends who want to finish every conversation with a hard and fast pronouncement. I want to say, "That tree is still alive and subject to quite a bit of movement as it grows upward."

What I know is that as it grows upward, its roots sink deeper - and that is what accounts for my peace and confidence.

If we put most of our focus on the roots without ignoring what is seen, we can do whatever it is we do with trees with the rest of our time and energy.

But it is the root of things that matters most and I see a lot of attention being given to leaves and bark.

What occurs to me is that Jesus said He was the vine; we were the branches; God handled the pruning; and our task was to abide.

I suppose I need to let Him handle the outgrowths that keep annoying and embarrassing me with their references to imprecatory prayers against anyone with whom they disagree or that they see as a threat to God - who has a pretty good track record of being able to take care of Himself.

And thank God He ignores ridiculous prayers where we presume to know who should live or die.

Maybe He chuckles at our assumptions that we must desperately rescue civilization so that his Kingdom will not die from our neglect. It is not that we are not called to engage, transform, influence, and preserve culture. It is a matter of balance and of seeing the larger Kingdom picture which includes thousands of years of chaotic world history and a big world that stretches far beyond our Western orientation.

It is not just the really obnoxious and grotesque examples of mean-spirited distortions of Christianity, but the more subtle things that are bothering me.

Everyone seems to know where things need to be pruned and I see a potentially lopsided bush forming. Many  Christians are just so sure of themselves and what they have "found" in their brief forays into seeking territory.

"We ought to do this and not that. We should be doing such an so. Everyone should stand up for this and against that and we all need to pull together and stand against sin and this is the sin we should be focusing on and isn't it awful that some people don't see it quite the way we do and don't you know that it is us against them and what we need is courage and courage is doing what I say you ought to be doing and please don't question it. And we have to get back to the Bible and these are the verses on which we should focus and this is how it should be done and don't forget to use the right words and slogans and we are right and everyone else is wrong and on and on and on."

So thank God that as much as it seems one party or another is setting God's agenda, He has not relinquished that prerogative to us. It really does not matter what we decide in our back and forth and circular conversations. God will do what God pleases and will continue to make all the definitions.

And God will prune and feed the vine and lead His servants and correct them when necessary and even use us in the process whenever He can trust us to love the sinner like He does.

Yes. I get sick of Christians sometimes - just people with the same personality quirks they would have if they were not Christians - people just as ornery as I am ( or less so because I have a big dose of it).

We get ticked off and opinionated and harsh and then we crash from time to time and ask a lot of questions and then we come back to center - but all the while, our roots are planted in the strong bedrock of God's grace and truth.

I get ticked off and harsh when I perceive people are ticked off and harsh and I judge judgmental people and I am just as human as the rest.

Jesus said He would not feel like spitting us out unless we went lukewarm. He can steer us when we are moving. He can guide us when we are seeking. He can change us when we stay open to change. He can bend us and mold us, and break the resistance of our hearts and He does.

Does Jesus get sick of Christians? When we just don't get it? When we act the same as the folks He was calling to repentance but with Bible verses to justify our rigidity and graceless living?

Maybe, but He doesn't give up. Surprisingly, He loves us passionately and is infinitely patient with us. He uses our crude attempts at service. He includes us in His purpose whether or not we get it.

I have not given up on the church because Jesus has not given up on the church or on me.

The Vinedresser has not retired.

The church has no corner on the market for dogmatism, rigidity, or critical judgments. Humanity is a common "disease" and a common blessing as well.

If I am ever sick of Christians, it is because they are my family and families get on each others nerves from time to time. I really love Christians and other people as well, but Christians are, with all their peccadilloes, my people and God's people.

We are called to be peculiar and even odd.

We are thrown together with our personality issues and commanded to "work it out" with God's help and guidance. We have to struggle and grow in our capacity for relationship. We march to a different drum and, in doing so, we don't flaunt it or push our weight around. That is the plan anyway.

Sometimes it works very well.

Searching Me

The Importance of Self-Examination

Edison and his searchlight cart in 1915, from the Smithsonian. Public Domain

“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you …” -II Corinthians 13:5.

“… Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.…  -Psalm 26:2

When we were children and we went to the doctor, we could be comforted by the words, “Don’t worry, its just an examination."

As we grew older, we came to understand that such examinations could be quite uncomfortable. Furthermore, we began to express concern over what the examiner might find and what the course of treatment might be. We have even deceived ourselves into thinking that if we could ignore a problem, it might go away. That does not work in the physical realm or the spiritual.

The tragedy of avoidance is that in trying not to hear the bad news, we miss the good news as well. 

Let God do the examination and show you what He wants you to know.  He has some things to say to you today about you and one is how much He loves you. He may also wish to show you some areas where He wants to work in your life to help you grow, to overcome some obstacles, and to exercise faith at a new level.  Nothing is too frightening.  He loves you and can transform even the darkest places with His light of the truth and love.

Listen, seek, and wait on Him.

Our task is to examine ourselves. The ultimate question for us to ask is the question of faith. Are we in THE faith and are we acting and living on faith?

If the answer is affirmative, there is no limit to what God can do in and through us.

Let God search your heart and life today and reveal Himself and yourself to you. Then, commit to taking whatever step of faith that He leads you to take with His help and in His strength.

We Have Heart Problems

 

Healthy Heart

We have a heart problem.

That means we do no heed the heart of the matter and hurt ourselves and others as a result.

We have no problem with details sometimes; it is the reason for the details that causes us to balk.

We can abide by the letter, but we use the letter to carefully avoid the principle and implications of the law.

We somehow think that God should be impressed with our religiously observant our words and rituals are as we stomp people into the ground and harshly judge their lives while doing whatever we please outside the walls of our carefully constructed "isms."

What kind of Healthy heart does real faith aim us toward?

Let's focus on the word, "HEALTH."

H - Healthy relationships with God and people. The healthy heart produces healthy life in all its dimensions.

E - Engagement with the meaning of our rituals - a willingness to look deeper than the words and symbols to the essence of what God is saying to us through them.

A - Attitudes of grace, and gratitude, free from the strident bondage of a faith based on rules and rigid judgmentalism.

L - Living what we profess so that God is honored and people are lifted, granted justice, offered compassion, and set free to live abundantly.

T - Testing the results of our beliefs in the crucible of how they effect our behaviors and the well-being of people.

H - Humility that causes us to examine our own lives before pointing the finger at other people.

Now, hear the Word of the LORD:

Matthew 15:1-20 The Message (MSG):

After that, Pharisees and religion scholars came to Jesus all the way from Jerusalem, criticizing, “Why do your disciples play fast and loose with the rules?”
But Jesus put it right back on them. “Why do you use your rules to play fast and loose with God’s commands? God clearly says, ‘Respect your father and mother,’ and, ‘Anyone denouncing father or mother should be killed.’ But you weasel around that by saying, ‘Whoever wants to, can say to father and mother, What I owed to you I’ve given to God.’ That can hardly be called respecting a parent. You cancel God’s command by your rules.

Frauds! Isaiah’s prophecy of you hit the bull’s-eye:

"These people make a big show of saying the right thing,
but their heart isn’t in it.
They act like they’re worshiping me,
but they don’t mean it.
They just use me as a cover
for teaching whatever suits their fancy.”

He then called the crowd together and said, “Listen, and take this to heart. It’s not what you swallow that pollutes your life, but what you vomit up.”
Later his disciples came and told him, “Did you know how upset the Pharisees were when they heard what you said?”

Jesus shrugged it off. “Every tree that wasn’t planted by my Father in heaven will be pulled up by its roots. Forget them. They are blind men leading blind men. When a blind man leads a blind man, they both end up in the ditch.”

Peter said, “I don’t get it. Put it in plain language.”

Jesus replied, “You, too? Are you being willfully stupid? Don’t you know that anything that is swallowed works its way through the intestines and is finally defecated? But what comes out of the mouth gets its start in the heart. It’s from the heart that we vomit up evil arguments, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, lies, and cussing. That’s what pollutes. Eating or not eating certain foods, washing or not washing your hands—that’s neither here nor there.”

The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

 

Interfaith Friendship without Milk Toast Theology

The image was chosen to get your attention, not to imply that all religions are the same. Everyone knows that while most have some common themes, they are unique and have their own theologies, concepts of God, and core teachings, and values.

 

This image, which was originally posted to Flickr, was uploaded to Commons using Flickr upload bot on 9 August 2008, 02:30 by Russavia. On that date, it was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the license indicated. Temple of All Religions in Kazan, Russia

 

People of different faiths periodically fast and seek God as they understand God.

 

When this happens, two blessings I pray.

 

One is that they will be successful in that effort of seeking and finding.

 

I know that the reality is that God seeks us. It is the greatest reality, but there are also calls in Jewish and Christian scripture to seek God.

 

God spoke to the Magi as they sought truth through a star. They did not have a Yahwistic theology or concept of God.

 

May God surprise us all.

 

God taps me in the shoulder when I am not even paying attention, much lest being theologically on target.

 

May all who seek, find.

 

The second is that my Christian and even non believing friends would practice fasting or some other form of spiritual discipline to seek God and/or truth more deeply and to pray/empathize more effectively for themselves, for others, and the world.

 

May those efforts be blessed.

 

I do not surrender my faith in Jesus when I wish my neighbor well. I do not have to endorse or adopt the faith of another to find encouragement to go deeper in my own faith because of the commitment he or she has to his or hers.

 

God invaded my life though Jesus almost 60 years ago and radicalized me forever. I am unashamedly a Jesus follower and, a such, a friend to people.

 

"Seek and ye shall find," is a rather simple statement when applied to a sincere heart.

 

May God, who loves all people, give us all sincere and seeking hearts whatever the season and draw us all to Himself.

 

I am willing to give Him rather broad leeway to accomplish that and desire to make myself available to Him for that purpose.

 

Our theology does not have to be perfected before we can be met by God. He will help with that as we move forward in relationship.

 

Much love to all my friends today. Blessings.

 

 

 

The Culture of Giving

 

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

Now it is not necessary for me to write you about the ministry to the saints, for I know your eagerness, which is the subject of my boasting about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year; and your zeal has stirred up most of them.

But I am sending the brothers in order that our boasting about you may not prove to have been empty in this case, so that you may be ready, as I said you would be; otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated-- to say nothing of you-- in this undertaking.

So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you, and arrange in advance for this bountiful gift that you have promised, so that it may be ready as a voluntary gift and not as an extortion.

The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.

As it is written, "He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures forever."

He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us; for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God.

Through the testing of this ministry you glorify God by your obedience to the confession of the gospel of Christ and by the generosity of your sharing with them and with all others, while they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God that he has given you.

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! 

- 2 Corinthians 9:1-15 (NRSV)

A Lifestyle of Giving

In a world of getting, Paul suggests a lifestyle and a culture of giving.

He suggests that it flow out of something deeper than obligation. In fact, he uses the word, "cheerful," which is rooted in "hilarity."

Giddy givers get greater gratification, gaining grace by granting grace.

Eagerness is cited.

Readiness is recommended.

Follow through is essential.

Thanksgiving is predicted and mandated.

Abundance is the atmosphere of generosity. It is the expectation rather than the exception. It is the flow from source, through force, and all along the course of it from the receiver who gives to the receiver who gives and perpetually moving in a n endless river of God's provision.

Sowing and reaping point toward the reality of the matter.

The church is planted to perpetuate a culture and atmosphere where giving becomes the norm and is seen as a joyous expression of the life of grace.

It is intrinsic to the gospel.

It is endemic in the nature of God.

It is reciprocal in our relationships with God and with other people.

Thanks be to God for God's unspeakable gift!

 

High Grounded Politics

 

 

If I do not tell you when I wrote this or who was in power, will it help?

 

It should not matter. I have lived through thirteen administrations and this has always been my approach.

 

People, like me , who often have serious moral issues with policies, philosophies, and words of government, do not need to resort to cruel pranks, hurtful attacks, or suggestions of violence to dispute, resist, and bear witness.

 

The "other side," whatever it might be at any time or place in history, generally delivers enough primary-source material that can be openly and objectively disputed in the light of day without embellishment.

 

It always weakens our arguments to call people names or gloss over the details and subtleties of debatable topics. It always dilutes our arguments if we use our energy to assign motivation.

 

I do not wish to see good arguments weakened or important issues marginalized by questionable behavior by mean-spirited actions of our allies.

 

If I don't like the deeds done to my side, I can't accept them from my side.

 

We need to take the high ground.

 

O, See! Can You Say?

 

“Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.” – Joshua 4:7

If, with star spangled enthusiasm one might gasp, "Oh say, can you see," might one also find an opportune moment to ask, "Oh see, can you say?"

Stones and flags and monuments are built with the best of intentions to remind future generations of past events that have lasting impact. Days are set aside so that we may not forget times and people who have shaped our present reality.

I am most likely to speak what I see and express what is temporally or metaphorically visible to my consciousness. I fix my eyes upon a flag to be reminded of the principles it attempts to symbolize. I gaze upon a facsimile of the cross to focus my attention on the cross of Jesus.

We set aside a day of remembrance to show our grief, love, and appreciation for men and women we must not forget because their sacrifices have reinforced a hedge of protection around our fragile freedom.

Can we see it? If so, can we say it? If I can get it, I can give it. If I can grasp it, I can pass it on. If it inspires me, I can use it to inspire others. Let us not allow our songs of patriotic fervor to be reduced to nostalgic sentimentality or rote formality. Nor let us pledge empty allegiance to the flag that flies over the land of the free.

Can you see what has been given you? Can you visualize the fruits of the labors of those who have given their lives? Can you grasp the full measure of the undeserved benefits that have come your way through their efforts and bloodshed?

We are the recipients of great gifts purchased at great cost in the realms of the Spirit and the flesh. Tomorrows is a significant day of remembrance and refocus. Don’t miss it. Oh see! Can you say?

_______________________

That being said, here is a tribute to our nation's Memorial Day as we continue to reach for the fulfillment of the aspiration of liberty and justice for all.

It's About Time

 

Photo by Pavel Kalenik on Unsplash

 

How to Be Rigidly Flexible About Time

First Posted in 2006

Let me start by saying that I only have a few minutes to compose this entry.

The fact that I have any time flexibility at all is because I was rather rigid about planning my day today. Having said that, I have already made several revisions in the schedule - lowering expectations in some areas and increasing them in  others, moving arbitrary deadlines and getting ahead on a few projects.

So, here I am with about 5 or 10 minutes to blog.

The title is a bit deceptive because I cannot really tell you how to do this. Having Outlook fully operational is helpful. Making attempts in the direction of realism is a plus. Commitment is necessary. Margins are indispensable. Grace is crucial.

Having things to do during the gaps is a useful tool - especially small jobs. Otherwise we slip into a pattern of time-consuming thumb-twiddling - which can be both tiring and frustrating.

Well, here are a couple of list items which are not meant to be exhaustive.

1) No matter if it does seem to be a waste of time, take time, and plenty of it to really think about your week and your day and what you really want to accomplish and plan it analytically, realistically, and rigidly, knowing that you will have to be flexible to cope with the unexpected.

2) Plan margins.

3) Plan projects that can fit into the margins.

4) Plan breaks and do not negotiate these away. If you are like me, plan changes of focus regularly.

5) Raise your expectations of yourself in some areas and lower them in others.

6) Use that infuriating alarm bell in MS Outlook. For instance, mine just went off telling me it is time to pack up and go - which I am going to do - even though I am not done.

I said this would not be exhaustive or plenary in nature - just some passing observations.

"Gotta go.'

 

Let me start by saying that I only have a few minutes to compose this entry.

The fact that I have any time flexibility at all is because I was rather rigid about planning my day today. Having said that, I have already made several revisions in the schedule - lowering expectations in some areas and increasing them in  others, moving arbitrary deadlines and getting ahead on a few projects.

So, here I am with about 5 or 10 minutes to blog.

The title is a bit deceptive because I cannot really tell you how to do this. Having Outlook fully operational is helpful. Making attempts in the direction of realism is a plus. Commitment is necessary. Margins are indispensable. Grace is crucial.

Having things to do during the gaps is a useful tool - especially small jobs. Otherwise we slip into a pattern of time-consuming thumb-twiddling - which can be both tiring and frustrating.

Well, here are a couple of list items which are not meant to be exhaustive.

1) No matter if it does seem to be a waste of time, take time, and plenty of it to really think about your week and your day and what you really want to accomplish and plan it analytically, realistically, and rigidly, knowing that you will have to be flexible to cope with the unexpected.

2) Plan margins.

3) Plan projects that can fit into the margins.

4) Plan breaks and do not negotiate these away. If you are like me, plan changes of focus regularly.

5) Raise your expectations of yourself in some areas and lower them in others.

6) Use that infuriating alarm bell in MS Outlook. For instance, mine just went off telling me it is time to pack up and go - which I am going to do - even though I am not done.

I said this would not be exhaustive or plenary in nature - just some passing observations.

"Gotta go.'

 

Just Living - A Play on Words

Photo by Kalea Morgan @kaleamorgan

 

Living Justly in an Unjust World

 

The blog I've not written, but know that I must has a title and a theme thus, a thrust

... to be just.

 

In a word it is to love that which is above us, surrounds us, envelops us, has created and is creating us and to love those who also are created and are being created ...

But it is an unjust world, you cry, protest, and flail.

 

We can try, resist, and ultimately fail to live justly in such a world ... and I say, "Hogwash!"

 

If it were not possible to swim against the tide, there would be no more salmon on the planet.

 

Grant it, it is hard and our charred, scarred, burned and battered selves must energize, prioritize, and optimize, but we can live justly in an unjust world.

 

In the end (and at the beginning), it is all we can do

 

... and what we cannot be stopped from doing.

 

It is just living, after all, and it is living justly.

 

Awesome!

 

 

Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash

 

The congregation of Israel in the desert knew that the sun was hot and bright. yet, God warns them not to worship the sun, or anything else in creation.

 

"I am a consuming fire," God iterates.

 

Is God jealous?

 

He says so, but we really do not know what that means because our human jealousy is petty, self-serving, and immature.

 

God's is unrelenting, honest, and persistent. God IS and does not back down from who and what God is. God does not share God's godness with anything in the material world.

 

Is God hot like fire?

 

It is a metaphor even as the reference of the face of God is a metaphor. God has no face and God is not a manifestation of the laws of physics.

 

But the metaphor is overshadowed by the reality. The reality is greater than the language used to convey that reality. And that is the point.

 

The point is that there is no substitute for God and trivialities like those associated with ancient idolatrous practices do not approach the magnitude of God.

 

Moses is telling people to take God seriously and to remember the covenant.

 

The covenant was the intervention of God, the holy, mighty, overwhelming, awesome, and consuming one into the affairs of humans. It was the outreach of a God who was Other into the community He was redeeming. It was God breaking through time and space to show the essence of His love to those who could only see the small glimpses of the fire that surrounded Him. It was grace shining through the wall of wrath. It was mercy breaking through the relentless tide of unbending truth.

Don't forget the covenant. It is your lifeline.

 

Be careful to remember the covenant; it is your point of contact.

 

Cling to the covenant that clings to you because it is your hope and redemption.

 

Our God is a holy God and a God who does not share His glory in any way that would diminish or define Him ... but He desires to be known, experienced, and worshiped because, in those ways, He chooses to manifest His love and connect with us.

 

Moses warns the people, "For your own good, do not trivialize God."

-----------------------------------

 

Since you saw no form when the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire, take care and watch yourselves closely, so that you do not act corruptly by making an idol for yourselves, in the form of any figure-- the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth.

 

And when you look up to the heavens and see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, do not be led astray and bow down to them and serve them, things that the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples everywhere under heaven.

 

But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron-smelter, out of Egypt, to become a people of his very own possession, as you are now.

 

The LORD was angry with me because of you, and he vowed that I should not cross the Jordan and that I should not enter the good land that the LORD your God is giving for your possession. For I am going to die in this land without crossing over the Jordan, but you are going to cross over to take possession of that good land.

 

So be careful not to forget the covenant that the LORD your God made with you, and not to make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything that the LORD your God has forbidden you. For the LORD your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God. - Deuteronomy 4:15-24 (NRSV)

Knowing Where and Nowhere

 

Nowhere or Know Where

Back in the day, on the old  MySpace platform, I posted a bulletin with an error severe enough to change the meaning of a phrase.

In my flawed messages I said that something was going "know where."

I meant "nowhere."

I was only a few letters and a space off, but the meaning changed.

Never one to let a good lemon go wasted without making lemonade, I pondered the deeper meaning of the contrasting terms.

If you are going to where you know where then you can't be going nowhere.

That was not excellent grammar, but I think you get the point. If not, let me rephrase.

If you know where you are going, you can't be going nowhere.

You must be going somewhere.

While I can't tell you where nowhere is, I know that somewhere is real and worthy of your efforts.

So there!

Now then, what is the difference between nowhere and know where?

Nowhere

N - Negative because it is kNee jerk. It is reactive rather than responsive or proactive.

O - Oblique because of its lack of clarity or definition.

W - Worthless because it is the product of a void of values.

H - Hopeless not because it is so awful, but because it was not born of hope.

E - Effortless and effort accompanies value.

R - Redeemable if we are willing to stop and recalibrate our intentions.

E - Efficient. If it is your goal to go where, you will always succeed.

Now .... KNOW WHERE you are going ...

Know

K - Knowledge is the key word. You have given this some thought and gathered wisdom.

N - kNees engaged - Not kNee jerk, but born of prayer.

O - Obvious - There is so much clarity that others can see where you are going.

W - Worthy - your destination is a worthy and worthwhile goal.

Where

W - Will - Your will is engaged. You have made a decision and are following through.

H - Hopeful - This dream is born of hope, bathed in hope, and built daily with hope.

E - Energized moment by moment. You put in the effort and see the fruit.

R - Reachable - It may be lofty, but you can do it. You can get where you are going.

E - Extraordinary - Efficiency is not enough. You were created by God for an extraordinary life!

Back in the day, on the old  MySpace platform, I posted a bulletin with an error severe enough to change the meaning of a phrase.

In my flawed messages I said that something was going "know where."

I meant "nowhere."

I was only a few letters and a space off, but the meaning changed.

Never one to let a good lemon go wasted without making lemonade, I pondered the deeper meaning of the contrasting terms.

If you are going to where you know where then you can't be going nowhere.

That was not excellent grammar, but I think you get the point. If not, let me rephrase.

If you know where you are going, you can't be going nowhere.

You must be going somewhere.

While I can't tell you where nowhere is, I know that somewhere is real and worthy of your efforts.

So there!

Now then, what is the difference between nowhere and know where?

Nowhere

N - Negative because it is kNee jerk. It is reactive rather than responsive or proactive.

O - Oblique because of its lack of clarity or definition.

W - Worthless because it is the product of a void of values.

H - Hopeless not because it is so awful, but because it was not born of hope.

E - Effortless and effort accompanies value.

R - Redeemable if we are willing to stop and recalibrate our intentions.

E - Efficient. If it is your goal to go where, you will always succeed.

Now .... KNOW WHERE you are going ...

Know

K - Knowledge is the key word. You have given this some thought and gathered wisdom.

N - kNees engaged - Not kNee jerk, but born of prayer.

O - Obvious - There is so much clarity that others can see where you are going.

W - Worthy - your destination is a worthy and worthwhile goal.

Where

W - Will - Your will is engaged. You have made a decision and are following through.

H - Hopeful - This dream is born of hope, bathed in hope, and built daily with hope.

E - Energized moment by moment. You put in the effort and see the fruit.

R - Reachable - It may be lofty, but you can do it. You can get where you are going.

E - Extraordinary - Efficiency is not enough. You were created by God for an extraordinary life!

You Have a Reason to Smile.

 

You need a big WHY for your SMILE today.

It is true that you can smile without one, but it is better if you have one.

It makes smiling so much easier and it is makes your story so much better.

Then, when the smile causes the release of your smile hormones, the energy and motivation you feel has a basis in truth and hope. Then, you smile because you are smiling because you have a reason for smiling.

Did you track that?

WHY?

W - We

H - Have

Y- Your Reason

It is your smile and it is your reason for smiling, but here is my suggestion.

Smile because:

S - Someone or Something made the Sun to Shine today.

That is right. The sun is shining. Whatever chemical reactions caused this miracle and placed this planet where it is, the miracle of life was born here. We have just enough of the stuff of life and the exact right conditions for life to flourish. When you have not-too-much and not-too-little of the right stuff, it is a perfect day.

M - Matter Matters.

Energy has reached just the right temperature so that your surroundings have materialized into matter. You've got "stuff," and lots of stuff, starting with your body. That is a miracle in and of itself. Then, you have stuff to put in your body and on your body. You have stuff to sit on and a place to sit in. You are surrounded by stuff and that matter matters because you have what you need to succeed.

I - Insight and Inspiration from Ideas that Ignite you Invite you to change the world.

Sure, there are things that need changing, but you are entertaining great ideas today and gaining insight. These ideas that you are acquiring are inspiring something deep within you and igniting the fire you need to make the changes and be the changes that the world needs to get its smile back. Smile about that.

L - Leverage is yours for all you Lack.

You don't have everything you want. You may not have all that you think you need. Yet, where there is lack, you have leverage. You can leverage the gifts of other people around you, ideas you have not considered, resources you can borrow, and hopes that have not been fully realized. You have leverage that will cover all you lack.

E -Everyone has Enough Energy.

It may not seem true, but everyone here on this ball of carbon-based matter has enough energy to get done what needs to be done today. You may be weary and worn, but you have managed to get moving and awake enough to read these words and be encouraged by them. That took energy. It came from the sun and the sun's Source and it has been given to you to give back to the world.

So do it! And start with your smile!

 

 

Where Are your Rocks?

Photo by p j on Unsplash

Big Rocks

In "First Things First," Stephen Covey tells a story that was told him. I don’t know the sources, so I will embellish a bit.

There was a speaker who was called upon to address a group of young people. As a prop, he pulled out a wide-mouth gallon jar and placed it next to a pile of fist-sized rocks, another pile of gravel, a jar of sand, and a glass of water.

“Who believes I can get all of this into this one gallon jar?” The question evoked some chuckling. No one raised their hand.

After filling the jar to the top with rocks, he asked, "Is the jar full?"

The group replied, "Yes."

He then took the pile of gravel and began to pour it in. He jiggled the jar until the gravel filled the spaces between the rocks.

Again, he asked, "Is the jar full?"

By now, the group cautiously replied, "Probably not."

The speaker then added the sand and asked, "Is the jar full?"

"No!" shouted the group.

Finally, the speaker filled the jar to the brim with water and asked the group the point of this illustration.

Someone replied that you could always fit more things into your life if "you really work at it."

"No," countered the speaker. The point is, if that if you don't put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get any of them in.

What are the big rocks in your life? I’d like to suggest a few for your consideration:

Do not neglect the rock of FAITH:

Have faith in the power of TRUTH – and by that, I suggest to you, ultimate truth, a higher power, God if you will.

Have faith in the power of TENACITY. Keep on keeping on. Don’t give up. Persist and insist on a successful outcome and work toward it.

Have faith in the power of TENURE – By that I mean, time invested and time passed. Be patient with temporary setbacks and inconveniences.

Have faith in the power of TEAMWORK. Work together. TEAM stands for – Together Everyone Accomplishes More!

"Gettin' good players is easy. Gettin' 'em to play together is the hard part." - Casey Stengel

"The strength of the team is each individual member...the strength of each member is the team."- Coach Phil Jackson Chicago Bulls

"Men have never been individually self-sufficient." - Reinhold Niebuhr

" All winning teams are goal-oriented. Teams like these win consistently because everyone connected with them concentrates on specific objectives. They go about their business with blinders on; nothing will distract them from achieving their aims. " - Lou Holtz

Teamwork counts and teams count. Gather the right team, nurture it, and deploy it.

Let your team be one of the biggest rocks in your life.

THE WOLF

"Now is the Law of the Jungle---as old and true as the sky;

And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die.

As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk, the Law runneth forward and back---

For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack."
- Rudyard Kipling

Do not neglect the rock of FAMILY:

You are here because you believe in family and have committed yourself to strengthening families. You have been sharpening your skills for that purpose. You are already heroes and deserve praise. Now, do not neglect your own family.

CREATE family.

If you do not have a warm family, CREATE it! Gather folks around you with whom you can be accountable, authentic, and supportive. If your family is dysfunctional, you will also be in creative mode by setting and observing strong boundaries and creating a safe zone of functionality around yourself. When Rich Mullins, the song writer and leader of the Ragamuffin Band died, there was a traveling funeral that moved from city to city, mostly on university campuses because it was said that Rich created communities wherever he went.

CULTIVATE family.

Like a garden, a warm and nurturing family must grow. To grow, it needs the sunlight of truth, the food of love, and the water of life.

COMMUNICATE family.

Third, we must all make it a point to COMMUNICATE as families and develop healthy communication skills which we can pass on to our children. Strong and nurturing families that resolve conflict with healthy communication, fair “fighting,” and unconditional love are the hope of society because the skills children learn in families, they practice in the larger community and world.

Do not neglect the rock of the FUTURE.

Become futurists. That means to begin to live a life of hope and optimism in a dark world.

Have a WINNING attitude. Your future will rise or fall on your attitude.

Translate I WANT to I WILL! Then, will it and do it!

Then, WORK toward a brighter future for, after all is said and done, the big rock of success, which is a journey and not a destination, is a four letter word spelled simply: W-O-R-K.

Don’t forget the big rocks in these difficult times and be blessed:

Times are tough.
You are tougher. Face the times.

Life is hard.
You are resilient. Keep moving forward.

The future is uncertain.
God is already there. Do not be afraid.

Hope is a rare commodity.
Hope is within the grasp of your imagination. Let it soar.

Money is scarce.
You have all you need in a seed. Plant it and watch it grow.

You are discouraged.
There is a great dream within you. Feed it, follow it, fulfill it.

You deeply desire a blessing.
Be a blessing.

You lack courage.

Encourage someone else.

You have nothing left to give.
Give what only God can supply.

You are frightened of failure.
Risk everything to be all you can be.

These are not idle words. This is how you must live if you will live above your circumstances.

Weighing all possible outcomes of the choices you can make right now, to do nothing, risk nothing, and give nothing will insure that nothing will come back to you. You will be a success in the art of failure by default.

However, if you risk extending yourself, you may also fail, but you will fail with the satisfaction of trying and with all the lessons you can only learn by climbing out on a limb.

But you might also succeed. Out on that limb, when circumstances cut it from under you, you may discover that you can fly.

You'll never find out without taking the big risk.

Take the risk, get the big rocks in place, and be blessed.

 

And keep this in mind:

 

The Courage to be a Peacemaker

Photo by Levi Meir Clancy on Unsplash

"Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace."

"Where there is hatred, let me sow love."

Where are the instruments of God's peace in the world? Are we praying to be counted among them?

It takes courage to be a peacemaker.

Peacemakers stand in the middle of the hostilities and deflect the bullets and blows with their own bodies, souls, and reputations. They seldom emerge unscathed.

Narcissism does not lend itself to peacemaking leadership.

Narcissism is a heavy burden to bear in any place of leadership. It cripples credibility, curtails collaboration, crushes constructive criticism, and cancels cooperation.

Not only that, it obscures vision, muddles thinking, and distorts perception.

So, how does one shake it? How do we abandon our self-absorbed decision-making and walk away from our self-destructive tendency to imagine the world as something that exists to serve our ambitious pride? Is there a cure?

When he came to Jesus, Nicodemus seemed to hint at the perplexity and impossibility of starting over. But starting over was the courageous and miraculous answer.

Jesus responded that it was a Spirit thing. Maturity does not happen overnight, but new beginnings can happen every day... for the willing.

God, the peacemaker is making peacemakers out of self-serving narcissists.

He is making wholistic thinkers out of compartmentalizing knee-jerkers.

"In academic life the temptation to worship the Part instead of the Whole is subtle and rationally appealing. In the sciences—natural and social—in the humanities, we learn an enormous amount of invigorating truth. We know this search is valid. And therefore it is an aspect of the search for God himself. " - Gordon W. ...Allport, Waiting for the Lord: Meditations on God and Man

Peacemaking is an exercise in considering the whole and the holy. It is a brutal plunge into an ocean of honesty and where realism, optimism, and idealism meet.

"There is a beautiful transparency to honest disciples who never wear a false face and do not pretend to be anything but who they are." -Brennan Manning

Peacemaking happens when someone is heartbroken over broken peace, tormented by hostility, and devastated by injustice. Yet, it is embodied in the mission and lifestyle, only, of those who have been brought to life by the grace of God, enlivened by hope.

It looks like compassion.

"Compassion is the sometimes fatal capacity for feeling what it is like to live inside somebody else's skin. It's the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you too. " — Frederick Buechner

Where are God's peacemakers?

Start with the mirror and a willing heart.

What's Trending?

 

Things that deserve my attention today:

 

#1 - Being in an honest and transparent relationship with God and with the people in my life.

 

#2 - Making positive change in the world in those areas where I have influence.

 

#3a - Paying attention to issues that involve correcting justice in PUBLIC policy, international diplomacy, matters of war and peace, issues of oppression and other areas where my influence, vote, or comments may count.

 

#3b - Encouraging, inspiring, motivating, and uplifting people.

 

#4 - Doing my work and minding my own business.

 

#5-1976 n- A variety of things.

 

#1977 (if that high) - The personal scandals of high profile people (apparently somewhere between 1-4 on many peoples lists).

 

"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." - Eleanor Roosevelt

 

How Many Changers Does It Take to Change?

What?!!! Change?!!!

If we don't want change, all change is intimidating.

George Carlin said he put some money into one of those change machines and nothing happened.

Sometimes, I'd be happy to find a change machine that actually produced transformation in any number of areas of my life and community.

That is one of the appeals of the Jesus movement through history. Those who embrace it and proclaim it know it to be a message of transformation. The human side of transformation is a word that sounds like a Bible thumper's theme, "repentance." It calls forth memories of muggy nights, loud preaching, stern looks, and harsh threats to all who will not repent.

It really means "change" and the gospel writers paired it in the preaching of Jesus with the good news of God's Kingdom.

Why good news?

The good news is that, because there is a new regime and order of things with the coming of a new king, change is possible. It is mandated because it is no longer futile.

A man asked the Zen Buddhist merchant for change for a dollar and he replied, "All change comes from within."

True. It does. It comes from the indwelling presence of a power greater than ourselves who possesses power and personality and who deeply desires for us to come a be a part of His kingdom of joy.

What about an extreme makeover - spiritual edition?

We start with the CORE of our lives - our spirits,  ignited to life by God's Spirit and radiating out into four dimensions of living:

• Community,

• Occupation,

• Resources, and

• Emotions (Yes, that spells, CORE).

Another key word is related to the construction of a life that is strong and resilient in the midst of the culture quakes, economic tornadoes, circumstantial floods, and faith explosions of our times.

That word is STAND.

To STAND, we must:

• Shore up our foundations,

• Take a Team approach,

• Act purposefully,

• Name our resources, and

• Develop our souls.

If it is a sermon or lesson series, it will take five weeks to consider and a lifetime to implement.

Change is possible and we can stand and withstand the onslaughts of overwhelming problems in uncertain times if we will develop from the CORE.

 

I Meme You No Harm

A Prayer for You and Me

 

 

 

 

For Small Group Discussion:

Ready or Not

 

 

I am in a state of unready readiness.

 

God of readiness, of constancy, and of mystery,

Invade me, overthrow my stubborn reluctance and

Disperse my stagnant sentries who stagger the soul

And stalwartly resist that which you insist will set me free.

Mercy and grace be Your weapons of invasion,

My only defense is pretense.

 

Lower the flag that flies over the castle of my heart

Declaring autonomy and replace it ...

 

Raise the flag of liberation and spontaneity!

Raise the flag of serendipitous joy!

Raise the flag of righteousness and peace!

Raise the flag of readiness for I am ready to be made ready!

 

I am ready and I am rising from the place to go to the next place ...

 

And then .......

 

And then, Amen

 

And Amen again.

 

Deconstruction or Destruction?

 

The Acronym, PAUSE

Parse

Aggregate

Understand

Simplify

Expand

How about a hope of RECONSTRUCTION?

Old Mothers

“… despise not thy mother when she is old.” -Proverbs 23:22b 

Your Mother When She Is Old

We need as many “old mothers” as we can get in the church and in our lives. We need to honor the older mothers among us and change our thinking about the word, “old.”

For some reason, we have attached a stigma to old age such that people do not like to be called, “old.” Yet, in the scriptures, it is a badge of honor and a sign of God’s blessing.

Perhaps some thought ought to be given to reviving the old custom of honoring the eldest mother in the church on Mother’s Day. In the New testament, older women were all considered mothers of the church. That had something to give and the church was tuned to receive it.

One can think of three reasons why we might learn from and honor the eldest among us and they spell O-L-D.

O – Older mothers have gotten OVER some things.

There is no substitute for experience. The most important and valuable advantage of experience is that it teaches us that wherever we are in our journey, we are stuck. We might be going through some difficulties, but we can and will get through them. We might be laboring under some burdens, but we can and will get over them. We can know this because our elders could and did get over theirs.

L - Older mothers have LEARNED some things.

Life has taught them some lessons and most are willing to share those lessons. We all know more today than we did yesterday. The longer we go, the more we potentially learn. We can honor our mothers by listening to their perspectives. They know some things we do not know because they have had time to learn them.

D – Older mothers have DONE some things.

They have had time to accomplish some goals, to have a few failures, and to enjoy some victories. When we look at their lives, we take courage in knowing that we can also accomplish some things. In fact, they sometimes did what seemed impossible, but with God’s help, they did them anyway. We need them as role models.

These are three reasons to honor our older mothers and to strive to someday be old mothers and old fathers.

 

A Day of Prayer - Reflections on This Day

 

This is prayer.

 

We move in the direction of God.

 

The movement itself is far more important that the words we use or the sentiments we experience. It is the movement that expresses the true intentions of our hearts.

 

The movement is the most honest and reliable indicator of our spiritual progress ... whether we know it or feel it or not.

 

Let us move toward God today.

 

"Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." - Hebrews 4:16,  New International Version (©1984)

 

When I say I pray for you, I do. I come beside you, stand with you, and bring you before the God I serve. It is my way of loving you.

A three letter word for prayer: AWE!

 

"I stand amazed in the presence ..."

 

Another word for prayer: WONDER!

 

"Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17) - not quitting and maintaining the attitude and constant awareness of One who is Other.

 

I do pray for America today and invite others to pray in whatever way they pray. For those who don't, do what you and wish America well.

 

I am not just praying for our nation today. I am praying for our larger community on the planet - No permission or sanction needed - but encouragement welcome and concerted effort celebrated.

 

Do we NEED a national day of prayer? I think so - DAILY!

 

I am amused by the fuss we make over symbols and language when prayer and gathering to pray is always legal. If it is ever not, we still will.

 

This is a day of prayer. It matters little whether it is declared or not (It has been). It is always legal in any jurisdiction, to pray.

 

Holiness

 

Shai Halevi on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority - Enlargement of image at Wikimedia-Commons https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/1039-1_for_screen.jpg

Close-up of paleo-Hebrew Leviticus scroll, now at the Israel Antiquities Authority in Jerusalem

Today, I seek from God what I must give to God. It is a presumptuous request and an audacious expectation that I could be what I seek to be, holy.

Holiness is fully integrated wholeness before God and within ourselves. It is sincere, focused attention and utter consecration.

It is being that flows through doing.

It is knowing who we are and Whose we are.

It is belonging.

It is availability.

It is the capacity to stand in awe and chuckle at the twists and turns of life as God intervenes in life.

It is what I lack and what I have at the same time.

"Be holy, for I am holy ," (Leviticus 11:44) is quite an assignment. Yet, every assignment is a sign of hope and possibility.

By God's grace and incarnate sacrifice, we are holy because we have been bought with a price. We are holy in spiritual reality, but we may lag in actualization. I do.

Dear Fanny Crosby, whose only light was the light of God within her, blind to the world, but ever so perceptive to the Spirit, penned her hearts desire this way. I make it a prayer today as well:

I Am Thine, O Lord

I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice,
And it told Thy love to me;
But I long to rise in the arms of faith
And be closer drawn to Thee.

Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To the cross where Thou hast died.
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To Thy precious, bleeding side.

Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord,
By the power of grace divine;
Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope,
And my will be lost in Thine.

O the pure delight of a single hour
That before Thy throne I spend,
When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God
I commune as friend with friend!

There are depths of love that I cannot know
Till I cross the narrow sea;
There are heights of joy that I may not reach
Till I rest in peace with Thee.

Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To the cross where Thou hast died.
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To Thy precious, bleeding side.

This is my personal devotion for the day, the focus of my attention as I set out on my various tasks of living. It is my meditation as I seek to integrate the loose strands of life's demands and make myself available to God and the world as a follower of Jesus.

It is my prayer. It is my intention. It is my heart.

Eventually ...

 

 

The church that aspires to being coddled by the world, that whines for preferred status, that complains in the wilderness that it only has manna, and that expects great privilege has, perhaps, not read Peter's first epistle enough or Jesus' admonitions on the mountain in Matthew 5 and following.

What is now, is momentary.

What will be, eventually will be.

We are to live graciously, truthfully, and faithfully and to expect hostility, receiving even that, as manna and honor and returning only love in the name of Jesus.

"For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps." -1 Peter 2:20-21 

His steps are the steps of suffering, not coddling.

World Context

"Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene," - Luke 3:1

It sounds like "too much information to some ears.

Yet, it is vital information. It sets the story in time and place so that understanding time and place, the message can be timeless. The truth can transcend its historical setting.

In the arena of God’s activity, there are always multiple events transpiring at the same time.

Everything happens in context.

Christian awareness has a true north focus on the activity of God in the world, but it cannot ignore the world around it. To do so would be to deny that God uses world events to establish a context for His message.

God is aware of our world. He knows its culture, politics and trends. When His Word comes to us, it is in context. The Christian who shuts his or her eyes to the world is going to miss part of what God is addressing in time and space.

Not to acknowledge context is to make God’s Word simply an esoteric nicety with no punch.

At any given time in history, our context might be privilege or persecution or anything in between. It might be hardship or ease. It might be high favor or no favor, but there will always be flavor and ...

God will always be at work in the dead center of things.

Be of good cheer.

Surely, You Jest!

"The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'
They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
there is none who does good."
-Psalm 53:1 (ESV)

 

There is jesting that makes us jolly and jovial and there is truth that makes us joyful. It cannot be assumed that they are the same. Joy is grounded in something beyond the tangible and tangential.  Joy is rooted in eternal truth. That demarks and differentiates the territory between felicity and foolishness.

This verse is not really or primarily about atheism, because it is not about an intellectual conviction or doubt. It is an assessment of a heart inclination that knows one thing and behaves in an oppositional manner toward truth.

There are many theists who have said in their hearts that there is no God. To know one thing and act as if what we know is not true or irrelevant to our lives is foolish.

Neither is it about intellectual deficiency. The biblical context for use of the word, "fool" is almost always the absence of wisdom and moral discretion. In fact, it self-defines in this verse as, "they are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity."

In other words, "You act as if there were no governing truth or Governor of truth in the universe. You live your life in contempt of God."

I used to call this "practical atheism."

Some of my friends would argue that morality and theology have no correlation and I would remind them that I am preaching to the choir who feels that because their theology is sort of OK, that they are OK.

But then, it gets more inclusive than that. Do you like inclusiveness? Try this: "There is none who does good."

None.

Is it "psalmistic" hyperbole, the exasperation of a godly soul who is fed up with all the ungodliness or is it the reality of human depravity and universal susceptibility?

Maybe both.

Does he include himself?

I do not know, but I count me among those who have worn the jester's hat and played the fool.

Every time I forget my Center, I am among the company of spiritual, oral, and ethical idiots who are saying in their hearts (mission control of the decision-making process) that there is no God.

"Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When God restores the fortunes of his people,
let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad."
-Psalm 53:6 (ESV)

So, after the initial exasperation of verse one, where the fool says in his heart that there is no God, the psalmist processes things and processes them some more and lands on hope and redemption.

God is in the restoration business.

The opposite of unbelief is, among other things, real rejoicing.