Hope, which lay at the bottom of the box, remained. Allegorical painting by George Frederic Watts, 1886
"Where there is despair, [let me sow] hope." - Prayer of St Francis
Oh God, there is such despair in the world. Desp-AIR, taking the wind out of our sails, the bounce from our steps, The rhythm from our souls. Airless we gasp for something to breath ... Let us breath in hope, Oh God of hope. Let us, then, breathe it out into the world where we all ... Share the air >>>>> And out of despair, repair our own resolve to live ... One more day, And then another and another until ... You take away our breath and ... Breathless, we stand before you. This is our hope eternal, Eternal God. Amen.
Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all. - Emily Dickinson
.Engraving of Pandora trying to close the box that she had opened out of curiosity.
At left, the evils of the world taunt her as they escape. The engraving is based on a painting by F. S. Church.
Pandora is depicted as exercising hope, but it is false and unrealistic hope.
Our true hope may not seem any more realistic than hers, but it is real, verified by the experience of those who have lived in it, prayed for it, and relied upon it.
It comes from God and is well founded. However, scriptures remind us to be careful not to invest in false hopes.
"Don't bank on the power brokers of this world" is what the compiler and editor of the psalms identifies as the core message of Psalm 146.
They can neither make you nor break you. The powers of this world are temporal and finite. The best they can do is bestow upon you some fading glory or wealth.
The worst they can do is kill you. They cannot destroy you. Nor can they preserve their own power forever.
God's power is over all and He sets prisoners free, opens the eyes of the blind, lifts up those who are bowed down, loves the righteous, watches over the sojourners, upholds the widow and the fatherless, and frustrates the ways of the wicked bringing them to ruin.
"Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul! I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being."
"Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish."
"Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry."
"The LORD sets the prisoners free; the LORD opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous. The LORD watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin."
"The LORD will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the LORD!" - Psalm 146 (ESV)
Moses breaking the tablets with the Ten Commandments, from the 1493 Nuremberg Chronicle.
I think this season is a time of exposure. It exposes a lot of good in the hearts of people. It exposes the evil around us, by contrast. In the marketplace and in our institutions, it exposes our idolatry. More important, it exposes an alternative to all of those which is a life lived by the example and command of Jesus to love our neighbors.
I wanted a graphic for this blog about idolatry and, as I searched, I realized the word had been hijacked by popular culture and the most common items in the search engines were based upon a popular television show that exposes great talent among common people, elevated the winners to the status of a living idol.
The meaning for ancient Jews was quite different. The idols God warned them against were cruel and consuming in contrast to a Covenant God with Covenant love.
Follow along with me if you can. I've woven some old notes into what I hope will be a thread.
First, since I read the daily papers, I have to unload this. Evil is slapping me in the face daily.
I have studied the problem of evil since I learned to think philosophically, psychologically, and theologically.
I have all the easy answers in a short file.
I have the really tough ones in the question box. We can dismiss it all with the word "sin," but that three letter word is far larger than we think or know.
It is so deep and so pervasive that it requires divine intervention, sacrifice, and planning to correct. At the same time, it requires far less from us when we come to dealing with our own lives.
Sin is so nagging that, even after repentance and regeneration, the Apostle Paul still struggled with its residual effects.
It is simple, but it is not simplistic. It is both human and dehumanizing. It is a distortion of reality, yet part of our daily reality.
Does evil exist?
Some philosophical systems suggest that evil is but an illusion. If it is, it is like the apparition that can frighten someone to death.
Some days, the best I can do is to look at the evil, bitterness, coldness, anger, and bigotry in my own heart, cry out in despair, shake my head, and lift my voice to God, "Have mercy upon me!"
The heart of much evil is the pernicious and persistent sin of idolatry Idolatry takes many forms. The ones we like to overlook are very respectable and sometimes even religious.
The vicious downward cycle of idolatry is that we construct gods in our own image that decay at a rate faster than we do.
In worshiping them, we become like them through imitation, complacency, and decay.
Then, the next round of idol making is more decadent than the one before and on and on until we are worshiping debauchery, violence, and human ugliness as well as our own self-interests.
That is why each generation of God-fearers, must check in with its roots of faith and with the God who roots faith to renew authenticity and ask hard questions about its forms, rituals, and assumptions.
The "old time religion" is what we need --- as long as it is OLD ENOUGH and not just built on the errors of the interim-past.
"The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; they have eyes, but do not see; they have ears, but do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouths. Those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them." - Psalm 135:15-18 (ESV)
We are all susceptible to sin and idolatry. We have all fallen, at best, and jumped, at worst into it.
But that is not the whole story. We are more and can be more.
This is the description of a man who is seeking more:
"Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments! His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever. Light dawns in the darkness for the upright; he is gracious, merciful, and righteous. It is well with the man who deals generously and lends; who conducts his affairs with justice. For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered forever. He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD. His heart is steady; he will not be afraid, until he looks in triumph on his adversaries. He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn is exalted in honor. The wicked man sees it and is angry; he gnashes his teeth and melts away; the desire of the wicked will perish!" - Psalm 112 (ESV)
Look as some of the things, among others, that can be said of him:
He is gracious, merciful, and righteous.
He deals generously and lends. (An Orthodox friend once told me that lending was essentially giving from his perspective since he did not expect and could not expect to be repaid.)
He conducts his affairs with justice.
He lives his life with confident faith.
He lives, trusting in the LORD.
He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor.
The way he lives irks his enemies because God shows Him favor.
A final thought:
We are, indeed, about to enter Advent.
It is my favorite musical season of the year. We generally feel better about our altruistic selves at Christmas.
Gear up for lots of carols.
I am all about humbug for the rush to decorate, buy stuff, sell stuff, and all the other stuff, but I go crazy over the wonderful Advent scriptures and songs!!!! And I want to continue them until Epiphany and beyond!!! I am listening now! AND ... Just thinking ....What if ... What if ... we actually kept Christ in Christmas
(I don't mean the government, the culture, friends of other faiths - I mean people who follow JESUS)
I mean, what if we did so by dumping some of our idols celebrated Jesus by loving our neighbors as ourselves?
" Happy are those who act with justice and always do what is right! " - Psalm 106:3
When we establish a premise, what follows, stated or unstated, is a "therefore" which is there for a reason.
When we come to the crossroads of a decision that will impact others we must ask two questions:
Is it just? Is it right?
True contentment lies in the balance.
Therefore, there is a response that we must make.
I wonder how many times "therefore" or its equivalents show up in scripture.
It is not hard to find out. Here is the "why" of the "wonder," namely, we get stuck in the details of obscurities and muddled in the maze of mind boggling statements, not that they have no significance. However, when then real meat on the table, what follows the "therefore" is of greater significance.
What am I going to do about it?
Looking back over old notes: This is just a thought I had as I waddled through Matthew 24, my text for a given Sunday.
"I don't have to be to have a final interpretation of the mysteries, but I'd better get the "therefore"s pretty straight."
What is your "therefore" there for?
Another version of the implied question is a rather specific: SO WHAT?
Based upon the text before before you and your current circumstances, what is just and right for you to do next?
Ultimately, that is all that you must know in the moment in order to proceed.
For instance, when we are informed of the resurrection:
"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." - I Corinthians 15:58
It is proud and haughty. She does not listen and there is no accountability.
She, her structures, and her power brokers are doomed.
"Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled, the oppressing city! She listens to no voice; she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the LORD; she does not draw near to her God."
"Her officials within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves that leave nothing till the morning. Her prophets are fickle, treacherous men; her priests profane what is holy; they do violence to the law. The LORD within her is righteous; he does no injustice; every morning he shows forth his justice; each dawn he does not fail; but the unjust knows no shame."
I leave it to you to list the failings of the unjust city. They are not hidden in the text nor are they hidden in history or in current events. They are blatant, violent, and oppressive. At the gut level, they are revolting to the senses.
In judgment of the first city is a redemptive and reconciling cry to those who will hear and respond. The sad commentary is the intransigent reluctance of those who resist the call to correction and hop.e
“'I have cut off nations; their battlements are in ruins; I have laid waste their streets so that no one walks in them; their cities have been made desolate, without a man, without an inhabitant. I said, ‘Surely you will fear me; you will accept correction. Then your dwelling would not be cut off according to all that I have appointed against you.’ But all the more they were eager to make all their deeds corrupt.'"
The other city is the city of hope, grace, childlike trust, faith, and Kingdom shalom.
First, must come to denouncement of what is against the righteousness of the City of Shalom. It takes patience to wait for it.
"'Therefore wait for me,” declares the LORD, “for the day when I rise up to seize the prey. For my decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them my indignation, all my burning anger; for in the fire of my jealousy all the earth shall be consumed.'"
The prophetic announcement of judgment on wickedness always is good news to those seeking righteousness and always can be to those who desire to enter in to the Righteous Kingdom.
“'For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call upon the name of the LORD and serve him with one accord. From beyond the rivers of Cush my worshipers, the daughter of my dispersed ones, shall bring my offering."
“'On that day you shall not be put to shame because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me; for then I will remove from your midst your proudly exultant ones, and you shall no longer be haughty in my holy mountain. But I will leave in your midst a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the LORD, those who are left in Israel; they shall do no injustice and speak no lies, nor shall there be found in their mouth a deceitful tongue. For they shall graze and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.'”
"I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war!"
The psalmist is an idealist and a realist. He walks a middle road and is torn between extremes.
Why would anyone hate peace? Do any actually hate peace?
As we often say, we follow the benefit trail. If we perceive that we benefit more from animosity, violence, hatred, war, dissension, division, mistrust, and intimidation with oppression, we probably will be for war.
The exploratory territory for me in this scripture today, is within my own soul.
Am I for peace or am I for war? My first dwelling place is within myself and I too often am for peace and hate peace at the same time because peace is a long term gratification while war gets my juices flowing.
"Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace. I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war!" -Psalm 120:6-7 (ESV)
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God dwells in the heart of each of our cities, walks the streets, hears the angry cries, the frustrations of conflicting forces, and the pain of broken dreams.
God is present in the cities ... in every Jerusalem when His walking, talking, living, breathing temples dwell. God weeps over the cities and is ready to hear our prayers for the cities.
Everyone in the city is an object of His concern. When we align ourselves with that concern, we are moving toward prayer for the shalom of the city.
This sort of prayer is hard work because it moves into active seeking of the good of the city and that is messy work - building community, sharing our faith and its implications, loving our neighbors, working for progress, living the good news of the Kingdom of God.
"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! “May they be secure who love you! Peace be within your walls and security within your towers!” For my brothers and companions' sake I will say, “Peace be within you!” For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your good." - Psalm 122:5-9 (ESV)
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So easily we make ourselves at ease. So destructively, we build our protective fortresses of contempt and pride. So precariously we draw lines of mistrust and and scorn for our own false notions of well being and so readily we find ourselves at odds with those who do the same from their own vantage point of dubious self-protection.
"Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt. Our soul has had more than enough of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud." - Psalm 123:3-4 (ESV)
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Eight words of open-ended, eternal truth ... "If it had not been for the LORD."
" If it had not been the LORD who was on our side— let Israel now say— if it had not been the LORD who was on our side when people rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us; then the flood would have swept us away, the torrent would have gone over us; then over us would have gone the raging waters." - Psalm 124:1-5 (ESV)
Jacob Blessing His Sons by François Maitre. The mention of a bed in Genesis 49:33 indicates that this is a deathbed speech. Jacob Blessing His Sons, miniature by François Maitre from Augustine's "La Cité de Dieu", book I-X (manuscript "Den Haag, MMW, 10 A 11"). Book 1, 13; at the Museum Meermanno Westreenianum, The Hague
Let us toss around a couple of notions in a blessing salad and see what comes of it:
A recognition and celebration of cultural diversity with main ingredient of trust in God, seasoned with providence and confidence in a future shaped in the mix.
Jesus identified with every variation of our humanity, including our ethnicity, culture, race, standing, and vulnerability to being marginalized by our fellow human beings.
Value is expressed when our uniqueness is called out and celebrated ... as God so readily practices.
Throughout time, the uniqueness of people is named. Jacob described each of his sons and how their tribes would carry on their fathers' legacies.
"By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped, leaning on top of his staff." - Hebrews 11:21 (NKJV)
God is the Father calling all tribes to the place of acceptance to pronounce a blessing upon them, each one individually and individualized.
Our tribes matter. Our cultures matter.
Jacob worshiped, leaning ...
Faith, in itself, is a kind of leaning.
Blessing others, we lean into them. Proclaiming the blessing as if already accomplished, is a leaning into the future with faith.
Worshiping is leaning into God.
"Leaning on the everlasting arms,"we need a bit of support. Jacob had a staff.
It worked, but still, he was dying.
But aren't we?
We live with dying and we die with living.
We leave behind the values, attitudes, quirks, and stories we have created, curated, and nurtured in our lifetime.
We also send ahead of us, the things that God has accomplished within us.
We will not be here to control the futures of the people we have influenced. We will not stick around to see how they take what we have imparted and improve upon it ... or not. We will leave this world the way we moved around in it, with faith.
Jacob chose faith in his dying days, he envisioned a future that would be within the trust of his family who would become families and tries.
Each would matter.
Then he fell upon his staff and found God supporting him. Thus he worshiped.
I am not exactly sure how this day will unfold, but I am leaning toward a faith that shall not falter with faith that cannot fail because it leans forward on a Father who receives my faith as an expression of worship.
Then, there was Moses.
The secret of endurance as discovered by Moses ...
"he endured as seeing Him who is invisible." Hebrews 11:27b, (NKJV)
Seeing the invisible God.
It really goes to the heart of faith for people of faith.
We deal in that realm that an outsider might legitimately view as subjective ... and yet we see.
All people of vision, whether people of faith or not, see things that others do not see.
Some see the future.
Some see possibilities.
Some see realities too small or far away for the naked eye to surround.
If it can be captured and perceived through the optical nerves, it may not be faith and it may not be enough to produce endurance. If it requires a leap into the uncharted unknown, one has lengthened the distance of vision and shortened the gap between what is and what can be through the Eyes of the One Who Is.
All people and peoples matter in the scheme of things. All are part of the weaving God is weaving and has woven. All are part of the historic weave and the prophetic weave.
Ours is to celebrate, appreciate, and anticipate.
While we are still breathing, let us bless the next generation. They are different than us. They are diverse. They are unique. We are not sure how God is going to work out the blessing, but we can be sure that God will.
The Lord said to Moses,“Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:
“‘“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’
“So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.” - Numbers 6:22-27, (NIV)
1 : contrary to or different from an acknowledged standard, a traditional form, or an established religion :unorthodox, unconventional
2 : holding unorthodox opinions or doctrines
The Heterodox Stalwart
His heterodoxy was a source of pride As he floated through timeless space| In ethereal ambiguity and baseless bliss.
Yet, when he stood before the bar And with a smile, invited interrogation, He seemed surprisingly orthodox ...
For he declared with profound confidence, That his was a positional ground of superior Thought ... albeit eclectic, nevertheless, defined.
"We must believe in free will — we have no choice." - Isaac Bashevis Singer, born , November 21, 1902, Polish-American novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate.
Born November 21, 1694 – Voltaire, French historian, playwright, and philosopher (d. 1778).
He was an ardent critic of the church and Christianity and a Deist who wrote,
"He challenged orthodoxy by asking: "What is faith? Is it to believe that which is evident? No. It is perfectly evident to my mind that there exists a necessary, eternal, supreme, and intelligent being. This is no matter of faith, but of reason."
He would identify with Christianity in some of his writings by calling it, "our religion," even as he criticized it.
As an advocate for religious freedom, he wrote, "
"It does not require great art, or magnificently trained eloquence, to prove that Christians should tolerate each other. I, however, am going further: I say that we should regard all men as our brothers. What? The Turk my brother? The Chinaman my brother? The Jew? The Siam? Yes, without doubt; are we not all children of the same father and creatures of the same God?"
In writing Candide, he advocated for a life of simplicity that reminds me of the book of Ecclesiastes in the closing song of the musical setting inspired by his work (via Leonard Bernstein).
I think it describes the tug-of-war within his own soul, and perhaps of the times he lived in -- even the divergent claims made by many of his deathbed utterances.
Just in case you were not already confused about life. Consider the most famous equation of all time:
There is more to these musings than intellectual curiosity around issues of ambivalence and ambiguity.
Having broached the subject of being heterodox in a world of orthodox and even homodox partitioning, I am confronted with the current condition of the American experiment.
The Mayflower Compact was recently celebrated on its anniversary and we shall soon remember one of the early European Thanksgivings among the Puritans.
It was in 1620 at Plymouth Colony when settlers signed the Mayflower Compact which was written by the male Separatist Puritans on the ship from England, originally bound for Virginia.
It was their aim to form a colony based on religious principles rather than on the concept of religious freedom.
The freedom they sought was initially to build a community where church and state were intertwined and where there was no line of demarcation between civil authority and ecclesiastic authority.
Thus, rather than the King calling the shots over the church, the local civil government could enforce its principles such as church attendance, government licensing of preachers, church "taxes," and Sunday laws.
The downside was that this sucks the life out of the church, the individual and a spiritual being before God, and of society. The upside is that they meant well and their initial piety was very real - and born out of a persecution ... that they would later inflict on others who dissented..
Also, it set the stage for the sort of decline that brought forth thinkers like Roger Williams and the Rhode Island experiment and later, the Great Awakening, which. along with the secular ideas of the Enlightenment gave birth to the revolutionary fervor to come and the concepts of soul freedom and freedom of religion.
The document as we have it is worth reading and contains some great ideas.
Modern version:
"IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first Colony in the northern Parts of Virginia; Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid: And by Virtue hereof do enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Officers, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general Good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due Submission and Obedience. IN WITNESS whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape-Cod the eleventh of November, in the Reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, Anno Domini; 1620."
Artwork: Signing the Mayflower Compact 1620, a painting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris 1899
We are abandoned in a cloud of polarized elements that float in the same air and share profound atomic similarities while resisting any semblance of meeting. Our "doxies' and self-descriptions have birthed severe filters to our thinking and understanding of the other.
Is there any reconciliation at all?
The sons of Mathias, like Judas, saw none on the horizon of persecution and annihilation of their faith and identity. Their singularity had been overrun by an intolerant plurality that was so orthodox in its heterodox orientation that its arms could not embrace the uniqueness of the Jews.
"It is easy for many to be hemmed in by few, for in the sight of Heaven there is no difference between saving by many or by few. It is not on the size of the army that victory in battle depends, but strength comes from Heaven. They come against us in great insolence and lawlessness to destroy us and our wives and our children, and to despoil us; but we fight for our lives and our laws. He himself will crush them before us; as for you, do not be afraid of them." - Judas Maccabeus
For Judas, there was no choice in the moment of crisis but to heroically conquer the threatening forces. It was a time to stand for something.
Imperialism, whether it is religious, cultural, or political seeks to suppress the freedom that expresses itself in diversity as well as distinctiveness.
I come from a long tradition of free people who insisted on freedom and framed it as "soul competency" and "the priesthood of the believer." Coerced confessionalism, state preference for particular religious traditions, and community enforcement of matters of religious conscience were anathema to our Baptist forerunners.
The gospel of the Kingdom of God in Jesus is neither orthodox nor heterodox in terms of compulsion. It stifles neither open exploration solid certainty. It makes room for seekers and finders. It arranges a meeting with God and invites men and women to meet each other. It tolerates meanderings such as this stream of consciousness believing in the gravitational power of truth to lead us into a place of un-contrived unity.
It may seem to be a contradiction here to settle on anything, but where the scriptures seem to set themselves down on this issue is that we, who follow Jesus, are indeed unorthodox in relationship to the rest of the world and even religious establishments. We are always living in tension with anything that approximates stasis in matters of faith. So, Peter surmises:
"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light ... " - I Peter 2:9
Peculiar, then, we are and peculiar we shall be.
Perhaps that is heterodox or perhaps it just seems to be.
Sometimes you have to hear the logic of the logical exercising their role as "cautioneers" and naysayers and acknowledge that the safest and most reasonable thing to do is one thing and then, do the opposite because our loyalty is to the law of love and the Lord of love.
We can do the thing that protects and preserves us or we can follow Jesus. It is not a criticism of those who warn us or disrespect to reject their warnings.
We already know that this path has danger when we choose it.
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You came without an ax to grind; you did not tow the party line."
"The world can't stand what it cannot own." - Rich Mullins
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How can I ever thank you?" gushed a woman to Clarence Darrow, after he had solved her legal troubles. "My dear woman," Darrow replied, "ever since the Phoenicians invented money, there has been only one answer to that question."
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"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure." - J. Danforth Quayle
"If we don't risk, we face the certainty of failure" - Tom Sims
In fact, if we fail, we run the risk of success.
It just shows to go you, even garbled speech can go somewhere!
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Since you are now awake, it is time to resume dreaming.
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You just cannot comment on everything in the news. If you did, you would do nothing else. News feeds would lead you around by the nose in desert of mission drift.
Note to self. Pay attention to last tweet.
Resist.
Sometimes I will let you have the last word because sequence is of no consequence.
Besides, I am not trying to win every dispute. God will sort it out.
There is a distinct possibility I might be wrong about a few things .... from time to time.
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We are addicted to fixing blame assuming that every inconvenience and discomfort we experience is someone's fault.
I would (but am not) be interested in public service (or might have been at another stage of life) if it did not involve attacking opponents or bragging about myself. We have good ones who do neither, but it is hard.
We can and should criticize systems, ideas, policies, choices, and power itself. The challenge is to find and encourage what is best in flawed people.
I guess it requires more prayer than I do.
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If I were president and pardoned a turkey, someone would call it nepotism.
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"The restoration of the church will surely come only from a new kind of monasticism which will have nothing in common with the old but a life of uncompromising adherence to the Sermon on the Mount in imitation of Christ." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Thanksgiving is coming. It is not too early to begin to prepare.
The Prayer of Thanksgiving (by Walter Rauschenbusch, 1861–1918)
"For the wide sky and the blessed sun, For the salt sea and the running water, For the everlasting hills And the never-resting winds, For trees and the common grass underfoot. We thank you for our senses By which we hear the songs of birds, And see the splendor of the summer fields, And taste of the autumn fruits, And rejoice in the feel of the snow, And smell the breath of the spring. Grant us a heart wide open to all this beauty; And save our souls from being so blind That we pass unseeing When even the common thornbush Is aflame with your glory, O God our creator, Who lives and reigns for ever and ever."
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Why are there interstate highways in Hawaii?
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An 95 year old man was lying in bed dying. The doctor said he had minutes to live. His first and only wife was by his bedside to hear his dying words and comfort him.
He began to speak.
"Honey, do you remember how when we got married, I was a cheerful, handsome, wealthy man? But soon after we were married, I lost all my money on bad investments. Never-the-less, you stayed with me the whole time."
"Then my first business went bankrupt, and we lost everything we had. You didn't leave me. You were right by my side the whole time."
"And now I've had a long sickness, which has used up all our savings. I'm a wrinkled, grouchy. old, poverty-stricken, dying man."
"You're still by my side!"
"So with my dying breath, I just want to say three little words to you:
(With his dying breath)
(PAUSE --- LONG PAUSE)
"Honey, YOU'RE BAD LUCK!"
.... But I am sure glad you are here!
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I am going to check out what pithy things others are saying today ... Maybe a flood or maybe a trickle.
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I wrote a letter to myself and forgot to sign it. I also forgot to put a stamp on it; so it came back. I guess what goes around comes around.
This could be a poem if laid out differently ....
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I am really a work in progress. Most of the advice I give is mostly a reminder and advice to ME!
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Do not assume from my tweets on encouragement that I answer every unknown number call. I just try, when I do, to take the opportunity for fun, encouragement, or education and I have had some good experiences.
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I am not sure this stream has made it to the ocean, but I think it has played out.
Let me see if I get this flow correctly from Luke 17:1-10, and follow the implications, the conversation might be something like this:
First - Jesus says to avoid sin, never be a stumbling block for others, and seek reconciliation and offer forgiveness as many times as necessary whenever we are offended.
Then, the disciples say. "We need more faith for that; give us more faith."
Jesus replies, "You have enough faith already; if you used all you had, you have no concept of all you could accomplish; you just need to obey and do as you are told! Then your faith will increase and you will do mighty things."
We need to stop making excuses and start rebuilding reconciled relationships!
The Scriptures from Luke 17:
"And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”"
"The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you."
"“Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”"
Let us make a salad out of Three Heads of LET-US(10:19-25)
Let us APPROACH (10:22) – This is our life of Prayer, Intercession, and Intimacy with God.
You can. The door is open (10:11-15).
You may because you are invited into covenant (10:16-18)
You must because you need it and the world needs you.
Let us HOLD FAST (10:23) – This is our stand! This is our witness and our open confession of faith.
Stand for hope.
Bear witness to the world.
Act in love and goodness (10:24).
Let us CONSIDER HOW TO PROVOKE (10:24-25) – This is fellowship and encouragement as we encourage love and good deeds in our brothers and sisters. Our response to Christ’s coming, whenever it might be is to encourage one another.
P – It is POSITIVE (Not a negative threat, but a positive affirmation).
R – It is REDEMPTIVE (We are forgiven people).
O – It is OPPORTUNISTIC (“Consider how to … ). κατανοῶμεν
V – It is VISIONARY (“… as you see the Day approaching …)
O – It is about ONE ANOTHER – We cannot do this alone. παρακαλοῦντες
K – It is KINETIC – forces producing motion or change. παροξυσμὸν is stirring up
E – ENCOURAGE - παρακαλοῦντες - Encouraging one another.
Lord of this morning, Light of this day, Master of the darkness that daily dies, God of night and light and all that is,
I come ... Empty handed, I come. I bring to the morning and the day, nothing, Nothing, Nothing, but me ...myself .... my self, Undone, unfettered, unconditionally empty.
I come. Our Father .... My loved one's Father .... Ours ... Father of my dearest friends and most adamant enemies if I have any .... Ours ... Father of the nations scattered, Father of the stranger ... Ours .... Hallowed be Thy Name.
Holy, holy, holy, Lord, God Almighty. Thy name is Holy. Thy Name ... vast, uncontainable, unfathomable, yet ... Revealed to us as "I Am."
You ARE ... Hallowed be THY NAME.
Thy Kingdom ... Thy rule .... Thy dominating, liberating, rejuvenating Kingdom of Love, of Life, of Wonder ... COME! I come. Thy Kingdom Come ... Come to this house, to this body, to my church, my city, my nation ... My world.
WE come, OUR Father ... Send forth Thy Kingdom in us and through us.
Thy Will, which we know in part, in tiny part, Thy will, perfect and all-knowing will of grace and power, of holiness and kindness, Thy will be DONE!!! DONE!!!! DONE!!!
Start here and now with me, Oh God. Straighten up my calendar. Schedule my appointments. Prepare my words. Master my thoughts. Guide me in Thy paths. Thy will be done. On earth ... on the ground upon which we walk as in Heaven. Heaven! "Eye hath not seen, nor ear hear, neither hath it entered into the heart of man ..." what You have prepared for us who love you. Heaven! Your will! Amazing grace, how sweet the sound!
Give us, this day, our daily bread .... As You have every day of our lives. Thank you! And you will again! Thank You!
I trust you. I don't know how you are going to do it ... And I am not sure when, but You always provide.
Thank you. And You are OUR Father, so, So, Dear God ... Daily bread of healing for my friends who are sick ... I name them before You... For those in prison.... In distress.... On the streets .... Struggling with decisions ... Burdened with depression .... Tortured for their faith ... On battlefields ... On mission fields ..... Just far afield .... And those waiting for a word of encouragement ... maybe from me ... And those waiting to hear the good news of repentance possible in Your Kingdom of turn-rounds ... And those ... Lost in a wilderness of ambiguity. You are our provider. You provide for Your work and for Your people.
Thank You.
And lead us not into temptation .... Not that you would ... It is a jungle out there and there are many snares. We need You to handle some of those for us and the rest ... In us and through us. People are tripping up all the time, discrediting Your name and work. I could, God forbid, be one of those. I am weak and susceptible to temptation. Deliver me for Thy Names' sake.
Give us strength and deliver us from evil. I will not be preoccupied with such. You are my deliverance. I will not fear for You, Oh Lord are able to .... Deliver us from evil. And again I ask ... lead me away from those snares that have snare us in the past ... Lead us away in the future You have prepared for us ... And handle any evil that may threaten me.
Thine is the kingdom! It is not mine ... Except that Your Son has invited me to participate. Thine is the Power ... And You have shared much of that with me! Thank You! I praise Your Name! Thine is the Glory!!!! Glory!!!! Glory!!!! Glory !!!!
And this part amazes me Lord of Amazing things .... FOREVER .... and ever ... and ever ..... Amen! And I pray in the Name of the One who taught me to pray this way ... And teaches me daily ... And today ... In Jesus' Name. Amen.
No one is going to come along with you until you start moving. Now one is going to see it, get it, or understand it until you live it and demonstrate it. Do not wait for a vote of your peers or critics to start living a life of faith, compassion, or obedience to God. If you are going to follow Jesus, it will be a counter cultural move. Do not expect applause or ease. Do expect to be called names -- it does not matter which ones. You may be called a "liberal" by some or a "fundy" by others. Forget it and move on. Some will call you fascist and others, a communist.
Neither will be true and it still does not matter.
They do not get it. They cannot get it. They have never seen it. It is a different paradigm. You are neither liberal nor conservative and you are, at the same time,both. Let them scratch their heads in utter confusion over you. You are like the wind that blows here and there, said Jesus, moved by the Spirit. Let the Spirit move you and hear the word, "Move!" No one is going to come along with you until you start moving ... But ... Once you start moving ... Some will.
They are just people ... They need to see it to get it.
Don't judge them... just do what you were called to do ...
Enough with the hand wringing. Enough with the despair. Enough waiting for someone else to have enough faith ... Enough to change the world ... Enough ...
Enough waiting on Republicans or Democrats or Independents. Enough waiting on public opinion. Enough complaining and waiting and procrastinating as governments do ... What they do best ... And worst ... Wait and do nothing ... Or worse ...
Enough passive hope and more active hoping. Enough finger-pointing, shouting down, name-calling ... Enough!
Today, the little faith we have is what we bring to our active cry. That little faith says the impossible and ... Activates the impossible.
"Move, mountain of hate!" "Move, mountain of fear!" "Move, mountain of injustice!" "Move, mountain of oppressive sin!" "Move, mountain of terror, intimidation, bigotry, and torment." "Move, mountain of convulsing hopelessness." "Move!"
Our faith is small, but .. What faith we have, we bring to this mountain and cry, "Move!"
Do something bold today.
"And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.” And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.” And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”" - Matthew 17:14-20 - (ESV)
Getting ready to be ready is as important as getting ready.
Sometimes it is the best you can do.
There are 197 instances of the words, "prepare" and "preparation" in the NIV Bible including this reference to Yahweh's preparation:
"You prepare table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows." - Psalm 23:5
Mark 14:12 offers us an insight into taking steps toward stepping out when the disciples ask,
"Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?"
In this case, they were making preparations for a preparation. The Passover was one of the last steps in preparing Jesus for the cross and the finding a location for the meal was a preparation for that.
You will not arrive where you are going in a single leap. Whatever your goals may be, they will be reached systematically and patiently or not at all.
Step back to step forward and begin to take the steps that will lead toward stepping out.
Good not that you did, but that you know it. We all do well & sometimes blow it. You lost some hours, perhaps even more. Now its time to dust it off; its time to soar. You have wings & you can rise. You have this moment; you have new skies.
I post my fun messing with spammer & scammers, but not being mean. There are thousands of telemarketers trying to earn a living. You might be inconvenienced, but they have to put up with people like us all day. Have you ever considered being kind & adding value to their lives?
Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting,
"Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon."
But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, "Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us."
He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
But she came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, help me."
He answered, "It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs."
She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."
Then Jesus answered her, "Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish."
And her daughter was healed instantly. - Matthew 15:21-28
She challenged him and I think he both knew she would and wanted her too.
She made his point.
She became the lesson.
What was her faith? It was that a rabbi from what her people assumed to be a regional, cultural, and exclusive religion whose adherents had come to feel and project privilege and exclusivity had a gift and message for her.
Jesus voiced that shared assumption and, I believe had a twinkle in his eye. He knew how she might respond to him and how he would respond to her if she did.
Perhaps he was taken off-guard by her candor, clarity, and resilience, but he could feel her persistence from the start.
She had figured out something that Isaiah and the prophets had foretold and that Jesus was laying to ground work to unfold.
Faith in Yahweh was a universal faith for all and not an exclusive faith for a few.
He was setting the stage for a universal movement of love and faith ... and hers, from an unlikely place and culture, was great and an example for all.
Erin Rod - Own work ... Fluorescent proteins visualize the cell cycle progression. IFP2.0-hGem(1/110) fluorescence is shown in green and highlights the S/G2/M phases. smURFP-hCdtI(30/120) fluorescence is shown in red and highlights the G0/G1 phases. ... CC BY-SA 4.0
All life grows. That is a biological reality. Growth is a definition of life.
That is what I was thinking as I sat in a coffee shop preparing some speeches I needed to give to a couple of graduating classes. I jotted down my notes on a napkin as I often do.
I wanted to encourage the people in those groups to keep growing and complement them on the growth they had already achieved by taking the courses.
If you are not growing as a person and growing professionally, you are cheating yourself out of success and the world out of the good you can do. You are dying in some dimension of your existence.
Not to grow is to die. When cell division ceases in an organism, death comes quickly.
So, to help you think about growing, I offer Acronym for GROWING:
G - Give.
Growers are givers and givers are growers. Some things can only multiply if you give them away.
R - Reach out.
As someone said, and I believe it was Ken Blanchard when I heard it, "If you ever see a turtle at the top of a pole and he tells you he got there on his own, he is either lying or he doesn't understand the nature of things, or both." We need others in order to keep moving forward.
O - Overcome Obstacles by allowing them to become Opportunities.
This is an old one, but it is so true. The building blocks of your life are the same things that other people use as excuses for not moving forward.
W - Work on it and work at it and work it out!!!
Growing is a 4-letter word; WORK. you have to put some energy behind this thing. It will not happen unintentionally or without effort.
I - Intentionally Invest in yourself and the process.
That means work too, but also time, resources, sacrifices, and whatever it takes to become the person you were made to be. Growth is costly. We must decide we are willing to pay the price.
N - Negotiate with people.
The word literally means "to carry on business." In the broader sense it reminds us that a big part of our personal growth happens as we develop the people skills necessary to work with, learn from, and collaborate with other people. It involves the mindset that enables us to lose some ground in order to gain a lot more ground.
G - Get up and Get Going!!!!
This is not just about the future. It is about now! You can't wait for a big inspiration or motivation. You must motivate yourself and there is no better time than the time you see on the clock in front of you. Get on with it!!!!!
Public Domain - The Deserter by Boardman Robinson. Anti-war cartoon depicting Jesus facing a firing squad made up of soldiers from five different European countries (at that time the US had not yet entered the war). First published in The Masses in 1916.
Violence is in the news this morning.
Every morning.
Every evening.
All violence is terrifying and intimidating, wielding illegitimate power, an attempt to subjugate whether it be mass violence, violence sanctioned by governments, gang violence, or domestic violence.
It's all terrorism because it terrorizes.
Our culture thrives on it, or pretends to do so, fooling itself into believing it is being nurtured or protected by it.
We fantasize about it, threaten it, practice it, encourage it, and even vote for it in all of its forms. Yet, it is antithetical to the gospel in every form through which it manifests itself individually and corporately.
It is even at the heart of much of our entertainment.
The gospel of a new kingdom counters it:
Lay down your weapons, fists and guns; follow the Prince of Peace.
Start with the heart for the heart is the heart of the matter.
"For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile." - from Matthew 18:1-20
It is a statement made in radical simplicity.
As we make our minds available to be stretched beyond capacity, we start to comprehend that which is beyond compression.
The sweet spot shows itself where that which is tangled and interwoven shows itself as one steady thread of peace.
We are challenged to go for the essence, the radical roots, the core, the spirit that transcends tradition, and sheds religious baggage, the good news that liberates.
But we want it complicated, truncated, elaborated, and negated of its hearty demands.
So, we redact, retract, and react to and with words and exceptions that extract the sting from its power. We place these rather unambiguous teachings of Jesus in the column where we store his hyperbolic and humorous sayings.
"He could not possibly meant for us to practice non-violence and non-retaliation in such a violent world. It is not practical."
"So, for the sake of your tradition, you make void the word of God. " - from Matthew 15:1-20
Then, we take those sayings that are meant to provoke our searching questions and we make judgmental rules of them that allow us to violate the Great Commandment.
How convenient for us - we heaping burdens of tradition on people's shoulders and calling it doctrine while we lay aside a gospel truth that truly liberates.
"This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines." - from Matthew 15:1-20
What do we do?
First, we acknowledge who we are. We are not called to the ordinary, but the extraordinary. We are not called to do what everyone else does and accepts as acceptable. We are called to be odd balls and if we are called such, we thank the person who notices.
Second, we bear witness by speaking, advocating for peaceful policies, and practicing what we preach. We do it with consistency, non-judgmental joy, and grace toward those who do not get it.
Third, we keep doing it, expecting neither reward nor compliment, nor positive results. This is not a feasibility study. It is an alternate lifestyle.
It might not end well, except for this: When we come to the end, we know that it is not really the end.
"Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God." - Matthew 5:9
And children of God endure and thrive beyond a culture that thinks it is thriving, but is, in fact, on a road to disaster.
The Prince of Peace is sensitive enough to notice the smallest gift given in love.
As he taught, Jesus said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces,and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets.They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.”
Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts.But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.
Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” - Mark 12:38-44
A thought comes to mind of a the tiny pea in the pod, with an illustration of Hans Christian Andersen's, "The Princess and the Pea." The tiny thing became a great source of annoyance and attention.
Jesus lifts up the life lesson of a little lady whose gift was greater than any of the mighty and powerful ... It was tiny, but it was powerful.
How does this widow inform our thinking about the stewardship of our resources, our lives, our influence, and our world?
I. The BASIS of our STEWARDSHIP
We are all tenants here. We don't "own" this world. God does. (vv 1-12). It is His and when we try to claim it as our own, treat it as our own, or mistreat His messengers, who so often come to us in rags, He stands ready to remind us that He is still in charge.
II. THE BOUNDARIES of our STEWARDSHIP
We have some obligations to "the systems" of this world, but our primary obligation is to God. (vv. 13-17). The government does not and cannot do anything that thwarts the stewardship of our lives. Whatever they take, they take, but what we give to God is ourselves.
III. THE BOXES of our SENSES
Worldly thinking, temporally bounded, is not eternal thinking. (vv 18-27) We not only need to start thinking out of the box, but outside of the boxes of time and space as we know them. How easily distracted we are from our real stewardship when we try to figure everything out in our relentless search for loopholes. Forget dead issues; He is the God of the living!
IV. THE BONDS of our SERVICE
Serving God and following His commands is not a complicated thing. It is all summed up in the law of love. (vv. 28-34) This is a stewardship we can learn. When we start loving God and others, following Jesus is simplified and begins to come easy to us.
V. THE BRANDING of the SON
Jesus is Lord! That is His designation, branding, and name. Jesus teaches this lesson with an open-ended question. He expected His disciples to go off and think about some things and figure them out ... but not to over complicate them. Sometimes, He would create a sense of mystery and complexity on one level so that His disciples would turn to the sheer simplicity of the matter ---- "Follow me." Stewardship is simply about following Jesus. (vv. 35-37).
VI. THE BLASPHEMY of the "SAINTS."
... or "Beware of lawyers ..." :) --- actually, people who think they have power over us spiritually and in other ways. Some folks think they are saintlier than others and they have the degrees, titles, power, and wealth the prove it! They delight in recognition and special privileges and, in the process, abuse the poor and weak. We need to beware and make sure we stay free in Christ ... and that we do not become those people. (vv. 38-40).
VII. THE BEAUTY of our SACRIFICES
On this Veteran's Day Sunday, we honor people who were willing to sacrifice their lives. Following Jesus involves laying our lives on the altar and becoming living sacrifices as well. (Romans 12) That brings us to the PEA POD (vv. 41-44. see also Hebrews 9:24-28.):
The Widow's SACRIFICE of GIVING was a thing of BEAUTY to Jesus. It illustrated three truths about how we give something beautiful, acceptable, and useful to God.
The PEA
P = Out of POVERTY
She did not give out of abundance or rely on abundance. She did not abound in things. She gave out of extreme personal poverty as did the Macedonians in II Corinthians 8:2. We cannot measure the significance of tiny things that become great. every pea in the pod can become a giver of great life.
E = EVERYTHING she had .
She emptied herself of all her resources. She gave it all as did Jesus, as Paul described Him in Philippians 2:7. Good is sensitive to tiny gifts as was the princess in Andersen's story. Little becomes much.
A = ALL she had TO LIVE ON!!!
That was it. The repercussions of giving everything were that --- THAT WAS ALL ... There was nothing left. She, like the widow in of Zarapheth, would just have to die. That adds meaning to the admonition to count the cost. We are all willing to give if we think it won't hurt. She gave with humility and grace, perhaps even with joy. It would cost her, but after counting the cost, she gave anyway .... Which put her back at the contextual, point I - Absolute reliance on the planter of the vineyard to provide for her needs.
This widow, humble, quiet, and maligned, became the example for us all to follow, of pea pod stewardship and giving. it is all His stuff and we are tenants.
Our obligations are to God.
Our thinking needs de-stinking.
Our bonds are bonds of love.
We follow only one Master.
Many will try to manipulate us, malign us, and manage us, but He will use the tiniest things to make the biggest points.
In the meantime, it is little things that mean a lot.
We know Jesus is the true Prince because he notices the smallest things.
"After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory. And he called out with a mighty voice,
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!
She has become a dwelling place for demons,
a haunt for every unclean spirit,
a haunt for every unclean bird,
a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.
For all nations have drunk
the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality,
and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her,
and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.”"
-Revelation 18:1-3 (ESV)
Here is an angel, a messenger of God, speaking truth to power - power that you are either attracted to or that you resist --- or both.
What is your Babylon? What is that seat of power that attracts those who also want power and hope to get it through association, conspiracy, and sinister collaboration that oppresses the weak and the righteous?
We are attracted to that bright, beautiful, lively, ostentatious "city of influence," its sensual pleasures and its facade of wealth, luxury, and illegitimate power.
It intoxicates and it draws in those who are inclined to be drawn.
And lest we lift our own heads in pride, something in it is inclined to draw something in us and it can intoxicate us as well --- for a season or for a lifetime --- our choice if we remain conscious enough to make choices.
For Babylon is fallen. It is an eternal reality in Heaven where all is accomplished already.
Every false god and every pretender to every throne has eventually been vanquished and neutralized. It has been; it shall be. Ultimate rectification is reality, but in the meantime, the dance is repeated throughout history.
The only history that immediately matters for us is the one we are living, the choices we are making, the alignments we are activating, and the loyalties we are forming.
It is an angel, a messenger by definition, that has the authority to put power in check and glory gathers around the sound of his mighty voice.
That says that it is truth that brings powers to their knees. It is the voice of truth, the message of God that humbles the proud and pronounces judgment upon oppressors.
Let that be an encouragement to all of you who daily, and without apparent reward, consistently and faithfully, speak truth to power.
More on this ... because at the end of the list is the real "cargo" of unscrupulous commerce in a marriage of convenience with illegitimate and oppressive power. It is the slavery of human souls.
"And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls." - Revelation 18:11-13 (ESV)
This subversive circular is calling out power for its tracking of humanity. The test of authenticity, legitimacy, and righteousness in any system of commerce and government with all their entanglements may well be --- Does it profit from the enslavement of human souls?
If it does, and that includes the enticements of systems of addiction, then red flags go up everywhere. This one is "Babylon" and it is going down.
The picture of judgment is telling. It is not poured down the throats of the proud and haughty. They lap it up. Warned not to be proud, they lust for more and it is judgment they consume that judges them in the end --- and judges us daily. Pride of heart and haughtiness of spirit are not our friends. When we choose not to walk humbly before our God and graciously among our neighbors, we lap up judgment to ourselves.
" I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’
and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn;
do not lift up your horn on high,
or speak with haughty neck.’”
For not from the east or from the west
and not from the wilderness comes lifting up,
but it is God who executes judgment,
putting down one and lifting up another.
For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup
with foaming wine, well mixed,
and he pours out from it,
and all the wicked of the earth
shall drain it down to the dregs" - Psalm 75:4-8 (ESV)
Christ healing an infirm woman by James Tissot, 1886-1896.
Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight.
When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment."
When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God.
But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day."
But the Lord answered him and said, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?"
When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.
-Luke 13:10-17
Speaking a word of liberation and healing is not desecrating, but celebrating Sabbath in its truest meaning. A woman who had labored under a crippling curse for years, was set free by the embodied gospel of grace in Luke 13.
The good news puts people ahead of rituals.
The good news infuriates those who use religion to build up their own power at the expense of people.
The good news does not contradict the meaning behind the forms, but breaths new life into them.
The good news causes the broken to stand up straight.
The good news exposes hypocrisy.
The good news shames the opponents of Jesus but causes rejoicing among the people.
There is a fallacy that we can alleviate evil by just being harsher in our judgments and punishments.
History and the social sciences join this text in bringing that assumption into question.
Revelation 16:1: takes us to an eternal grandstand where we observe a tragic example:
"The fifth angel poured his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness; people gnawed their tongues in agony, and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and sores, and they did not repent of their deeds."
God exercises such prerogatives when there is no other way.
He shows us so that we might know and so that we might repent.
John's vision is a good description of the self-destructive personality, addicted to negativity.
Often, no amount of suffering from the consequences can produce an effective impetus for change.
God is reaching out in judgment and hearts are getting harder.
We sadly see this mindset illustrated with great frequency in our ministries to the hurting who are as likely to hurt themselves as they are others.
They would rather curse God than turn to Him for mercy and new life.
Their stubborn willfulness is not the result of the judgment, but is revealed by it. It is a last straw, a final outreach.
Sometimes, the prospects seem bleak.
That being said, we keep trying to shine the light of love and grace.
We keep the lighthouse open and the light shining on the rocky shores of destruction.
Through our personal, prayerful, and political choices, we are working together with God to create a new world.
One theory of reality suggests that there are infinite realities in infinite dimensions, each created with each new choice or variable in the previous dimension.
It grows through geometric progression ... but since there is no way to cross over from one to the other, it matters little except as an interesting point of speculation.
But this is beyond speculation: There are countless possibilities ahead to be determined by the choices and behaviors today of all of us.
Imagine a place in a universe that operates on some different historical premises. One little piece of that universe that might be called earth is the subject of your focus.
Some things we assume have not happened in that place; others have; outcomes have changed.
What does that place look like? How is it different from our world? Is it possible for you, in this world, to help create that world?
Is it too late?
Is it too early?
Is it too much?
Is it a little bit possible to pray and to live the prayer, "Thy Kingdom come ... on earth?"
If every possibility creates a new "world," what sort of world are you creating by your daily and moment-by-moment choices?
As I was walking to St Joe, I met a man with a broken toe. He knew some things I did not know, Which I suppose just goes to show ....
That little ditty, of course, means nothing. I just stuck it in because I did not know where else to place it. Did it make any difference in anything?
Well?
Did it?
How about the way I see and meet you and you see and meet me?
When you see me And I, in turn, fear you, The spiral of Communication Downward Would be the envy Of roller coaster Engineers
What about the decisions with which I am wrestling? How about non-decision?
If making up my mind is like making up my bed, it won't last long ... or I will be too sleep deprived to remember anyway.
I once felt more impressed with concept of standing my ground. Then. I was in an earthquake and it hook up my assumptions.
Buber says it is all about meeting - people or tectonic plates.
So, let's meet. Reflections on Buber.
We are different and can only experience what those differences truly mean as we come together in an I-Thou manner.
Meetings of minds are superfluous among clones, but essential to the fluid thoughts of intersecting individuals crisscrossing life's journey.
There must be some detente if there is going to be any negotiation. Negotiators do not compromise principles. They start with common ground.
If I say that Z is an unprincipled ignoramus, but Z is holding cards we need for a mutual win, I've gained nothing by winning that battle.
There's no shortage of clever slogans to obscure, marginalize, fragment, & distort the truth they purport to underscore- including this one.
If I represent Jesus, it may require that I keep my own opinions within the laboratory of my own mind until they are better formulated.
If I cannot recognize the name you are calling me, how can I know you want me to listen. Name calling accomplishes nothing of good ever.
I cannot hear the voices whose volume exceeds their content or whose hyperbolic pronouncements outdistance their capacity to listen.
Politics at its best includes collective, collaborative, courteous, and civil communication to solve problems as a people of differing perspectives.
To distinguish between Opinion, Preference, Emotion, Perspective, Prejudice, Inspiration, and Insight Is no small task. Speak. Listen. Be.
As for my opinions (and these are mere meditations):
My opinions are like underarms. Like most, I have two. Others are offended by their emanating aroma before I notice I need opinion hygiene.
We must not be distracted.
"... So I sent messengers to them, saying, "I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. "" - Nehemiah 6:8
This is our work. If any of this is to be sorted out. If this dimension of reality, the only one relevant to us, the only one we know and can access to this point, is to reflect the best of all possibilities, we must pray and act on this prayer:
"Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven."
Come tomorrow ...
Come tomorrow, what if Christians in our nation would make some resolutions like those I humbly and tentatively suggest below?
I can only speak to and for Christians on this matter. People of other faiths and ideologies often have similar ethics, but I am a follower of Jesus and these resolutions flow from my understanding of His directives to His followers.
We shall love, respect, and pray for our leaders whoever they are. We shall obey our laws.
If there is a law that we, in good conscience cannot obey (not just that we don't like it), we shall peacefully and respectfully resist and accept the consequences quietly and humbly.
We shall continue to love our neighbors and let our voices be heard for peace, justice, and a righteous, compassionate society beginning at the local level.
We shall work across the lines of ideology to support common causes and be willing to be distinct and different without disrespecting those with whom we differ.
We shall assume sincere motives in hearts of our opponents as a basis for reasoning with them and cooperating with them whenever possible.
We shall practice our freedom of speech, religion, and every other freedom with the assumption that those freedoms are protected, without fear, and without intimidation. We shall not expect the endorsement of civil authorities or special protections or considerations beyond that which is common to all -- even those who have other beliefs and practices.
If our freedoms of speech and religion are indeed threatened, we shall continue to exercise them no matter what the consequences.
We shall care for and advocate for those who have no voice, for the oppressed, the poor, the broken, and the outcasts.
We shall work for peace on earth and understanding among nations. We know that there shall continue to be wars and rumors of wars in the continuation of human history, but we shall do what we have been commanded to do and work for peace in our time.
We shall be friendly and winsome.
We shall guard our own personal morality and be honest in business, politics, and human relations. We shall seek to set an example of sexual purity, integrity, and fidelity. We shall conduct ourselves in our families and churches in such a way as not to discredit the Kingdom of God.
We will guard our words, temper our speech, practice the Sermon on the Mount, love God, love our neighbor, and pray for people in power as a witness to the words we speak.
We shall continue to confess Jesus as our Lord and Savior and the guide of our lives.
We shall believe in God and in the words of Jesus that He would be with us always as we follow Him and call others to follow and ...
We shall follow, making disciples as we go, teaching them to do what He taught us to to remembering that the essence of what He taught us to do was to love.
We shall continue to pray, "Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven," believing that if the King has invited us to pray that way, He has a plan to answer our prayer.
That is my personal, prayerful, and political strategy for a new world that is yet to be created.
" Do not cast me off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength is spent." -Psalm 71:9 (ESV)
My heart is young. My mind is young . My dreams are young.
My hope and vision are young.
I am renewed day by day.
Some of you are right there with me, but your bodies are not cooperating,
God grant you new energy and strength today. There is much to be done.
" May all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you! May those who love your salvation say evermore, “God is great!” But I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay!''-Psalm 70:4-5 (ESV)
"And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." - Revelation 7:14
There are two powerful words joined together in the scriptures – two prepositions that together bring us hope in our trials and tribulations: out of.
We catch a glimpse of Heaven and behold the saints, on display as examples of potential victory and ultimate triumph. These are they who have come out of tribulation. You might as well say, “through.”
My wife recently underwent surgery for breast cancer. The next day she was visited by a survivor. While she had already made up her mind to be more than that – even an “overcomer,” the visit was an encouragement. Someone had come out of the struggle, through the difficulties, and over the hurdles. And out of those tribulations, there emerged good.
“I have already come.”
When we hear those words and when we speak those words, we get courage. Whether it is our experience or someone else’s, there is precedent for victory. We affirm again with Paul that we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
We draw upon past victories to nurture belief for present and future challenges. We recognize the power of God’s grace in our lives up until this point. We see where we were, what we had to face, and how we emerged and we know that if we have to, we can do it again.
We don’t want to do it again, but we can.
Then we think of the saints around the throne and know that we have really faced such little hardship compared to them. And from there we look to the cross and know that we have not even approached Christ’s suffering. Then we go back to our Bibles and underscore the words, “out of,” and back to our hymnals and highlight the word, “through.”
I was mediating on the power of a moment well done.
And wondering if this was one.
Moments create momentum without being obvious or ostentatious. Momentous moments motion us over and envelop us like a cloud and then ... Pass over.
Missing moments is a mournful sorrow. Magnificent moments multiply in some invisible space called influence, but ... Muddling moments may move us on to the next and the next and the next ... Move in and with the moment or meddle with the muck ... Lots of luck with that ...
Rather, just be in that moment and be what you are intended to be for you ... You were made for this moment and ... This moment was made for you.
Who knows what it will bring to you and more ... What it will bring through you and by that, I mean ... YOU MAY NEVER KNOW ....
But KNOW that NO moment well lived is ever lost and Nothing, nothing, nothing is ever lost to God. This is your moment. Live it.
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