Always

11/29/2014

1 Thessalonians 4.17 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.  – St. Paul to the Church at Thessalonica (ESV)

So what does it mean to be always with the Lord? Where will we be? What will we do? How along is always? I thought about this as I read this morning and I realized that Heaven, or the Lord’s presence is probably going to be vastly different than what we imagine it to be: exceedingly abundantly beyond all we can ask or imagine (Cf. Ephesians 3) It will be different and it will take all of eternity and more to experience it.

I prayed about my work today. I prayed that I would learn to get out of the way and let God do what He is doing. That, I think, is the best place any of us could be vocationally: out of His way. Maybe though, there is one place better: alongside Him in His way. I would rather be alongside God in all I do rather than crossways with Him in all I attempt to accomplish.

I thought about what we might do in eternity as we will be always with the Lord. I thought about the mission we will be on and the possibility that somewhere along the line in our journey with Him we will be called to do something exceedingly, abundantly beyond all we can ask or imagine. What if, as Jesus did, we are called upon by God to go to someplace in the Universe (or in some other universe) to become as the creatures are in that place, and share the gospel to them? Just a thought?

What if we are called to go to someplace to represent God to ones who’ve never heard, who were created specifically for such a time as our coming? What if, for all eternity, we represent God in fractals of faith, hope, and love so that for all eternity from then, the Story of salvation and redemption continue forever and ever and ever? It sure beats the thought of laying around on clouds with chubby cherubs playing harps…

To be always with the Lord means to be always away from this partial life we live here. It means there will truly be no more sin, sorrow, or sickness. It means we will be freed at last to be all that God has created us to be – and to spend eternity with Him creating our relationship with Him beyond our wildest dreams and imaginations…the furthest reaches of the Universe will see small in comparison.

Father, today, perhaps in an attempt to quiet my heart and mind over the present, I’ve wandered off into thinking about tomorrow – with You there is a tomorrow. And that tomorrow is to be always – or forever – with You. My prayer is that it will be all it’s supposed to be, and that Your creation, Your love, Your presence will be my inheritance as I serve alongside You however, and wherever our adventures take me with You eternally. I can hardly wait! Amen.

How We See

11.26.14

Matthew 25.37-39 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ – Jesus, describing the righteous (ESV)

Like many, I came to Christ in a moment of crisis – I was at my wits end (that’s how I felt) and I didn’t know what to do, so I sought out this guy who seemed to know how to help. He was a crusty former Air Force sergeant with a tough exterior but a wise interior. And he could see. He could see that what I thought I wanted was not what I needed and one day he asked me: how’s your spiritual life? I had been raised in church and couldn’t answer the question. I finally muttered: I don’t have one. To which he replied: would you like one? I said I did.

From that moment on things changed. I fell in love with Jesus but I also became quite attracted to religion and all I knew of religion was: you work hard to impress God at how hard you work. Enter Matthew 25 – the sheep and the goats. I was terrified by this place in the Scripture; I wasn’t able to see the hungry, the strangers, the sick, or the prisoners. I couldn’t see them. All I knew was I had to, in order to impress Jesus. I wasn’t doing a very good job of impressing and to this day I’ve never been in a prison to visit prisoners. Sorry Jesus, it’s true.

The point of the parable is not works. I get that now. Thirty-one years ago I didn’t get it. All those years ago all I knew was Jesus was keeping score and my scorecard was blank. But His teaching is not about works – it’s about how we see.

Four times in this brief passage Jesus focuses on seeing. He points out that those who see and respond are the ones who are blessed by God. How we see, means seeing beyond myself. Seeing properly, means seeing through God’s eyes the needs of people all around me and recognizing that everyone has needs. And then meeting the needs of those I see. No score, just responding. When I see how I’m supposed to see, with God’s eyes, then my natural response is how can I help you? Or better: here bud, here’s 10 bucks, let’s get you some lunch.

The needs are everywhere and the righteous see and attempt to meet those needs. The righteous see how to help and attempt to do so. It isn’t welfare, it’s worship. Sickness, hunger, imprisonment, loneliness come in a vast array of different shapes and sizes. Imprisonment may mean literally in jail…or it may mean being caught up in a mindset that prevents one from coming to the Ultimate Help: God Himself. I can meet people’s needs but if it’s only to fill some divine scorecard, then I think the meaning and the effectiveness are lost.

Father, the man sang it in my office last night: Open the eyes of my heart, Lord. Open the eyes of my heart; I want to see You! I want to see You. To see You high and lifted up shining in the light of Your glory, and shining through the sick, the imprisoned, the lonely, the rejected, and the hungry. Through their needs a light shines that should move me to act in love. Lord, open the eyes of my heart; may I see properly. Amen.

A Lunkhead Like Me

11.25.14

Matthew 20.15-16 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ 16 So the last will be first, and the first last.” – Jesus, recounting the Parable of the Laborers (ESV)

Sometimes, the Bible is a book of riddles to me. This morning was such a time as I read the parable of the laborers. It says the Kingdom of Heaven is like… it resembles in some manner a man who went out every morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. So, Jesus was saying: So, when you think about God’s Kingdom think about it like this…

The difficulty for me, a modern reader, is the lack of context for such a story. It may have been fitting for first century Palestine, but I have a bit of a problem putting the story into my everyday life. It's harder for me to say that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a landowner that goes out every day to hire workers to work his fields - who does that?

So, I read this and I think: what is this all about – and why does it matter? Well it matters because regardless of then or now, I need to have some understanding of what the Kingdom of Heaven is all about and how it affects me. I may not understand a third-world agricultural setting but I do understand my need for knowing what the Kingdom of Heaven is all about.

The Kingdom of Heaven in one sense is no different than everyday life. With all of its majesty and mystery, the Kingdom of Heaven is as ordinary as getting up and going to work every day – it’s accessible. So, to avoid the paralysis of analysis, I quit trying to understand what the hidden meaning might be of a man and his vineyard and his workers, and accept that this is the metaphor that Jesus chose to describe (along with other such stories) what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. It isn’t in a place far, far away; it’s like: going to work at the grocery store, or selling insurance, or changing tires, or herding cattle.

Now, the invitation is for everyone to partake in the Kingdom. Not everyone wants to. And the rules are the same for everybody all the time – when you’re in, you’re in – there’s no seniority. And one cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven and begin to dictate how it operates. But one can participate freely and expect to be treated fairly as a result. No favoritism there.

So, Jesus used simple analogies for lunkheads like me so I can understand that the Kingdom of Heaven is not of my own making, but of His; and it isn’t all that hard to understand. So everyone who comes into the Kingdom whether then, now, or later, is in, and is welcome.

Father, Sometimes, I just have to think about what I do understand and see, and leave what I don’t alone. Your Kingdom – as vast and intricate as it may be, is a safe and welcome place for someone like me who may have a hard time relating to ancient landowners and their workers. Help me not to read the parables and develop complicated theologies over them, but to simply take them as they are: simple stories about everyday life that I can mold and shape to my life in this day and age. So simple even a lunkhead like me can find some understanding and truth – amen.

The Miracle of Trust

11.24.14

Matthew 17.27 27 However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself.” – Jesus (ESV)

I like miracles – I think. Miracles are often hard to understand and sometimes the outcome of the miracle is harder to deal with than the miracle itself. If someone is healed by some means other than modern medicine, we might categorize it as a miracle. Some would gladly accept it as such, and others may view it with suspicion: he wasn’t really sick in the first place… like I said, sometimes the outcome of a miracle is harder to deal with than the miracle itself.

In this passage in Matthew 17 we see what appears not so much to be a miracle, but an unusual occurrence regarding a mundane thing. The Temple Tax collectors came along to get the tax from Jesus. Peter happened to intercept them and when questioned as to whether or not his Teacher gave, Peter assured them He did.

I don’t know if there was just no money in the coffers, but apparently a half-shekel was needed to pay the tax bill and apparently, no one in the group had any money to pay. The story really raises a lot of questions. Bottom line: somebody needed to come up with some cash to take care of Jesus and this tax. So, Peter goes to Jesus to see what to do. Jesus tells him to go fishing and all that was needed would be supplied; some fish had a stash of cash.

As I said, I like miracles – I think. The rest of the story (we assume) is that Peter did indeed go fishing and did indeed find the coin and did indeed pay the tax for himself and for Jesus. Was it a miracle that the coin was in the fish’s mouth? Not necessarily. Was it a miracle that Jesus knew the coin would be there and it would be the first fish Peter caught? (If it was me Jesus sent to fish it would be a miracle that I caught anything at all…)

I think about what this did to Peter and his faith. I wonder why this story isn’t shared in Mark, the gospel that Peter allegedly dictated. I wonder what would happen to me if this happened to me today. I’m just glad that when I humble myself and ask God for help, I always seem to locate my car keys, or my wallet, or my glasses…

The miracle is this: God can be trusted to provide whatever we need. God owns the cattle on earth (and the cattle on a thousand hills). And God cares for you and me. Today, I need to remember this account and remember that even in the smallest things, God is there and He cares about us. Sometimes He uses miracles to help us and sometimes it’s simply a coin caught in the mouth of a fish that a fisherman knew how to catch.

Father in Heaven, You know my needs today and one of the biggest is my need to trust You for what I need. I have bills to pay and food to buy and, and, and… You know it all. May I trust You today to supply all I need. Thank You for Your wonderful care over Your child – he really does appreciate it. Amen.

The Second Oldest Profession

11.23.14

Matthew 14.6 6 Jesus said to them, “Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

One of the dangers of reading Scripture is to read something (like the above), mentally process it, and go away thinking, Got it! And we really don’t get it. I’m not really sure how old the human concept of news is, but I suspect it’s been around since there’ve been people who want to know what’s going on – or what happened, or who got hurt, or who won. I think we humans have an innate need to know. I think news is the second oldest profession…

Jesus warned His men about their need to know and about the influence that happened to them when they felt they needed to know. Specifically, Jesus was referring to the religious leaders of the day who seemed to dispense all of what anyone, who was, needed to know. If one wasn’t, then one didn’t need to know. Jesus was warning His men about influence.

It’s one thing to find out what’s going on. (It is absolutely maddening when someone posts on Facebook of something dramatic and won’t divulge any details but instructs: you just need to pray!) What!? Pray what!? Pray that they will die? Pray that they will live? Pray that the divorce doesn’t happen? Pray that they will wisely spend their lottery earnings? Beware the leaven of Facebook.

Or we turn on the news because we think we need news and we need to know what’s happening around us so that we can know. The residual effect of news is we know what someone else needs to know and what someone else wants us to believe about what it is we just found out we needed to know. Do we stop and consider what we just found out we needed to know, or did we just find out what someone else wanted us to know? Beware the leaven of the news media.

You see, the stumbling block is simply taking in the information and then not taking the time to consider whether the information is necessary, or useful, or not. How does what we just found out help us in our devotion to Jesus? If Jesus told His men to beware of the leaven of leaders, is that something I ought to pay attention to as well, or am I somehow immune to the leaven all around me because I live in such an enlightened age? And, am I immune to the leaven of what I learn in my safe places (church, friends, home)?

Jesus, there is leaven all around me every day. There is the overwhelming leaven of simply listening only to what it is I want to hear. I pray for wisdom. I pray for guidance as I float about in this ocean called the Information Age. I need to know what is right and I need to know how it is I can help my fellow creatures come to know You better and rise about the leaven around us all. Lord, give me words to say and actions to take that will help me help others who may suspect the leaven yet feel powerless to do anything about it. Amen. 

I Love a Parade

11.15.14

1 Corinthians 2.14 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. St. Paul to the Corinthian Church (ESV)

To me it always seems warmer when the temperature is -2º when it is at +15º. Today it is -2º here in Baker, and I can just imagine what -2º is doing in our fair little community: heaters not working, pipes frozen, space heaters selling out, bags upon bags upon bags of ice melt being purchased. And in the midst of it all, with soaring heat bills and plummeting temperatures: Jesus Christ always leads us in triumphal procession.

On my trip to Kenya this past June, this was the verse that stood out in my mind as a planned 36 hour trip turned into a six-day ordeal. Then as I began a new career in July, this verse continues to lead me wherever and however I go. Triumphal procession.

This morning my thoughts have turned to a friend of mine who languishes at his home with advancing stages of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. ALS attacks the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement. This morning, in his increasingly debilitative condition, Jesus Christ leads him in triumphal procession. Another friend posted on Facebook yesterday of the passing of his older brother – he too is being led in triumphal procession through his grief at the loss of his sibling.

Well, what’s the big deal Paul? The big deal is no matter the stuff that life throws at us, the Lord Christ always leads us in triumphal procession – whether or not we understand it, there is a plan and a purpose for everything in our lives and Jesus Christ leads us through it all. The only catch is this: we have to believe He does.

Pain and suffering are a part of life and if we allow pain and suffering to do their work, we’ll be better off for it. Well, Paul, do you mean that ALS or death are things God uses to changes us!? How fair is that!? No matter our pain, no matter our suffering, God is with us in our circumstances – He never uses them against us. Stuff happens, and life is what life is; and life includes pain, suffering, and death. But if we’ll believe it, God is with us in the midst of our pain in order to give us gain. And that means in the midst of pain we don’t want, don’t accept, and cannot understand. Triumphal procession.

God wants us to believe and focus on His leading us through, rather than our momentary issues. He doesn’t promise to take our pain away, He promises to be with us in it; and to lead us through it: triumphal procession.

Father God – one of the mysteries of life is the presence of pain. But the truth is that through our pain You lead us; You guide the way. Pain helps us to focus on You and to grow in ways we never dreamed possible. My prayer is for comfort for those who grieve in their present pain. I pray that Your mercy and grace find a place of sufficiency in their lives and that their difficulties lead them to praise You for leading them – always leading them – in triumphal procession to that place where pain and suffering are no more… Amen.

Insert Your Name

11.12.14

Job 37.14 “Hear this, O Job; stop and consider the wondrous works of God." – Elihu (ESV)

There is a voice calling from heaven into the heart and life of every human on earth: “Hear this, O __________________ (insert your name); stop and consider the wondrous works of God.”

As I am wont to do most mornings I get on the computer (actually, I just turn it on and go to my favorite sites and read and think and, well, basically waste time) it’s my way of waking up. And when I read I try to think about things and come up with some kind of mental response like: hmmm…, or: yeah, or: that’s bizarre!

Here are a couple tid-bits from today:

“But those fat cat CEOs on Wall Street make more than $500 billion in a single day right? Let’s just raise taxes on them a little bit.”

“Had fun playing homemaker today. Rearranging things, scrubbing and dusting, did so much laundry washer is acting up now. Cooked sweet potato waffles, an elk roast, and zucchini brownies. So much time to soak and pray. Bethel music on Spotify blessed me immensely.”

I could go on and on. But then I remembered what I’m really supposed to do in the morning: and I read Job 37 and 38, and 1 Corinthians 12. Elihu’s narrative, once again, caught my attention and it seemed to be a fitting response to all I read about this morning and I thought, what a difference it would make in this world of ours if everyone stopped doing what they do and did what they should: stop and consider the works of God.

That got my attention. That made me think and I felt as if the Lord had spoken to me: O Paul, stop all your worrying and fretting and consider My wondrous works. Quit fearing the unknown and rejoice in the known! Be assured child, I am in control and I have never failed. I don’t fail. And I won’t fail you.

I feel I am called today to stop and consider the wondrous works of God and rejoice that I have a life to enjoy because of them.

I don’t know the answers; I never have and probably never will. But I do know this: God does and He has promised to lead me to the answers I need. Today I will stop thinking He won’t and start trusting He will.

Father, thank You for Your word today and for Elihu’s comment to Job: O Job; stop and consider the wondrous works of God. It made me come back to reality and I will walk and delight in it today – You are the Wondrous God who loves me! Amen.

Mr. Deeds

11.10.14

Job 35.6-7 6 If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against him? And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him? 7 If you are righteous, what do you give to him? Or what does he receive from your hand? – Elihu (ESV)

I don’t understand the book of Job. I don’t understand why what happened to Job happened. I can guess, but I don’t know. I can read commentaries, but I still don’t know. I don’t understand the characters in the book, but I do know this: men have opinions. Men have opinions about everything – and men have opinions about God.

I do know this: the book of Job for its complexities says some amazing things. The book speaks of nature and science and knowledge and wisdom, and some things I am familiar with: like the above: If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against [Him]? And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to [Him]? If you are righteous, what do you give to [Him]? Or what does [He] receive from your hand? Nothing.

I know about this because I have lived it. I have tried to retaliate against God and done things as if to say: In Your face, Almighty! I have also conducted myself in such a manner as to say, See God, I get it! Elihu, as I’ve read today, for all his incomprehensibility to me, said something that resonated with me. I may not understand the book of Job, but I do understand trying to hurt God or to win His favor. I’ve done it.

The point is I can do neither; I cannot hurt God, nor can I win His favor. I am impotent to harm Him or help Him. God isn’t afraid of my harm, nor is He helped by my ‘goodness’. God is completely complete without me. I don’t invite God into my world, He invites me into His. And the issues of help or hurt only affect me – and diminish my relationship with Him.

Hurting God only hurts me. Hurting God only distances me from what He offers. Helping God – or more appropriately, attempting to impress Him – only insulates me from what I really need: Him! Elihu was right: If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against him? And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him? If you are righteous, what do you give to him? Or what does he receive from your hand?

Father, all I have ever needed is You. And the longer I live the more I realize all I want is You. I have done the deeds – good and bad – and have received the reward: remorse. All I want is You. Today Lord, I remember the song and the words:

Jesus – all for Jesus

All I am and have

And ever hope to be

All of my ambitions

Hopes and plans

I surrender these

Into Your hands

Amen.

Temples

11.09.14

1 Corinthians 6.19-20 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. – St. Paul (ESV)

It would have been interesting to be with St. Paul as he traveled from town to town and taught Jesus in the communities he visited. Paul was changed people’s minds and changed the world. Paul taught in a way that challenged people to choose: the status quo, or Christ. Paul didn’t travel with style; he traveled with passion; he wanted to share the truth about Jesus. And he did, and it challenged people.

Paul made bold statements that he fully expected people to hear and believe – not because he said them, but because they were life-changing and truth. In chapter 4 of his 1^st letter to the Corinthians he said, “I urge you, then, be imitators of me.” (4.16) Paul was in essence telling them: do as I say and do as I do. Later on in the letter he said, “Whatever you do, do all for the glory of God.” (10.31). Huge statement!

And then, here in chapter 6 of this letter, he said the above: So glorify God in your body. That means glorifying God in what you do, what you say, what you think, what you hear, what you touch, and in what you put into your body. Hmmm…

We humans have been allowed the freedom of will. We can do whatever we think we can, and so, we do what we think. Americans have unbelievable freedoms and so, we do what we think and more. We smoke, we drink, and we eat – and eat, and eat… There is more medicine available to us than to any society on earth. We have books upon books upon books of self-help, exercise, diet, health, wealth, and prosperity – and yet we are a very unhealthy society. We are sleek. The biblical definition of sleek is: fat. And we Americans try so hard to flee fat, but we are enslaved to our lifestyles: we don’t glorify God with our bodies.

Christianity is not about bodies or body worship. Our bodies are, as Paul said, temples to God; temples of the Holy Spirit. We aren’t to worship the temple – we’re to worship the Dweller of the Temple: the Holy Spirit. And we’re to use the temple to honor the One whom we worship. Worship, among other things, means paying attention to – we’re to pay attention to the One who indwells the temple: this marvelous and mysterious vessel we call our body. And we’re to take care – good care – of the body; without it, we’re toast.

Father, You know I struggle with what I put into my body and what I expose it to. I know I’m to rule over it; but I also know often it rules over me. The fruit of Your presence in self-control but self-control can only be real in Your presence and strength. Help me to see it. Help me to accept it, and Lord, above all, help me to glorify You with my body – Paul was right, it’s not my own… Amen.

In My Defense

11.02.14

Job 23.7 There an upright man could argue with him, and I would be acquitted forever by my judge. – Job (ESV)

Adam tried it. David tried it. And so did Job. And so do we: we all try to acquit ourselves before God. Adam blamed the woman who blamed the serpent, who blamed God. David blamed weariness. And Job – Job blamed God because Job was quite sure God had made a mistake. And if only Job could stand before the Almighty, he was sure he could make his defense: I didn’t deserve this; surely, God, see, You have made some kind of mistake.

Again, we all do it. I’m not so bad. It’s my parents fault. If I just had (or didn’t have…). We all feel pretty confident we could stand before God and make our case.

Fortunately, the story of Job has a beginning to which we are privy to a conversation of which Job wasn’t. Why we are privy and why Job wasn’t is something we aren’t privy to; only God has that knowledge. Friday, I consoled a friend who was feeling the bite of criticism and judgment, that the cheap seats are always full. We can sit in the cheap seats when we read Job’s story, or David’s or Adam’s, or Peter’s and claim we would’ve done it differently. (Personally, part of me is truly relieved that it was them who were chosen, not me…)

Philip Yancey says of Job: All of us go through the same struggles as Job, the difference is ours are spread out over a lifetime.* It’s true. Job had to deal with all of it all at once. We get to deal with ours over the ebbs and flows and seasons of our entire life. And we aren’t privy to the heavenly conversations about us – but we do get to read Job’s story and we do get to think.

Job said, If I could just stand before God, I could get this all taken care of – I would stand in my defense, argue my case, and win God over. If only.

I’ve recently taken this stance: If God is allowing me to do this so that I can go flying down the interstate of live at 80 mph and slam into a brick wall, then so be it. I am tempted to think that at times. And really, I have no access – no privy – to the divine conversations of which I am the topic. But, I do know this: my Savior loves me and sits at our Father’s right hand and intercedes for me. I do know God doesn’t make mistakes, and His love never fails, despite brick walls that pop up here and there.

I have no self-defense save this: Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong; they are weak, but He is strong.

Jesus, in my defense, all I can claim is You. You are my defense, my fortress, my shield, my strong tower. I trust that the brick walls I fear will be dealt with mightily in Your infinite power, wisdom, and mercy. And I trust You Lord. In my defense, I only ask for Your presence in all I do – privy or not. And Lord, I leave it there with You. Thank You, amen.