The Will of God

Discerning the will of God is complicated by our inability in deciding what we want to do. Instead of living with a "Thy will be done," attitude, we often find ourselves working up a spiritual sweat as we try to fit what we want to do, our own will, inside what is often the clearly heard Word telling us to move into a season of change that is frightening to us because it takes us away from the security of our status quo.  The real problem for many of us with the will of God is not so much in knowing what it is. as doing it.  

For Moses it meant a task which seemed impossible.  For Elijah it meant sitting beside a drying up stream for three years.  For Mary it meant risking the ridicule and scorn of people.  For several of the disciples, it meant leaving their livelihood.  For Jesus it meant going into Jerusalem when He knew He would have to die on a cross before leaving it.  Of course, these are all the Biblical stories and we want to regard those stories as being different from our stories, but the truth is, they are not really so different.   

Most recently God has given me so many new people for whom to pray that I am tempted to tell Him my page is full, but just yesterday He added another.  What I know is that it is His will for me to enter a season of being a more active and involved intercessor for others.  There also seems to be something just beyond the spiritual horizon that I cannot see, but yet, find myself being drawn toward it.  Any of us who are are intentionally seeking to walk with Jesus have a story of discernment.  We sense God's leading, but as is always the case, we want to hesitate since taking the risk puts us in a place of being uncomfortably vulnerable.  One thing we have learned about the will of God is that going after it takes us to a place where depending on Him is required.  This is the frightening part since we would rather go after those things we know are possible in our own strength.  

A Pure Heart

I am living incognito now.  Most of my hair disappeared during chemo.  Today I went to the barber for some trimming and his suggestion was shaving what was left of my beard.  I thought about that one a minute.  In some ways I feet more attached to the hair on my face than the hair on my head.  Until now I have always had hair on my head.  It has changed colors and gone from thick to thin, but it has remained until now.  On the other hand, my beard has been with me since 1986.  Most folks will not know me.  My face has been invisible a long time, but no more.  All that ugliness I have been hiding is now clearly exposed for all to see.   

It is good to know that God recognizes me and knows me regardless of the amount of hair on my head or face.  He has known me when I had unblemished skin even as He knows me now despite my wrinkled and worn out skin.  My appearance has never affected the way God accepts me and loves me.  I have been reminded through the years that God looks not upon the outward appearance, but the heart.   The Word says, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." (Matthew 5:8).  In another place it says, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me."  (Psalm 51:10). 

There was a time when it seemed that we could make our heart pure by doing what we were supposed to do and not doing what we not supposed to do.  I long ago quit playing that game.  Like the Psalmist David said long ago, a pure heart comes not because of us, but because of God.  When we say "Yes" to Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us and to create in us a clean and pure heart.  A pure heart is indeed about a heart that has been given over to the control of the Holy Spirit and His ongoing work of grace in our life.  

The Table

This Sunday was Easter Sunday.  It was also the first Sunday of the month.  This no doubt created a bit of a dilemma for some Methodist preachers who maintain a tradition of offering Holy Communion on the first Sunday of each month.  Of course, Easter Sunday is no ordinary Sunday.  The sanctuary is packed.  Music gets a big part of the worship time and the preacher hopes for a few minutes for the Easter sermon.  Where does this leave offering Communion which no matter how it is done, is going to take up more time than the people who are in a hurry to get to the restaurants want to give.  

I am not sure what most churches did.  Some probably decided to delay the Sacrament until second Sunday.  Some may have decided to wait until the next first Sunday.  The church I attended today apparently did not see it as a problem since people were invited to the Table at all three of the morning services, one of which was the Sunrise Service.  I received the Sacrament at its first offering and then became a watcher at the other two.  One of the things which struck me was the way we are all equal around the Table of the Lord.   

It is a common gathering place for nurturing the soul of the doctor and the homeless.  Some were struggling to walk and others were led by holding the hand of a parent.  Skin color, shirt collar color, economic status, church affiliation, and political persuasion were not important.  Everyone one who needed the gift of grace was welcome to come with open hands and seeking hearts.  I was grateful that I had a place at the Table of our Lord this morning and grateful, too, that so many different people came to join me.  

Easter

The last time I did what I did this morning was before retirement.  I went to an Easter Sunrise Service, had breakfast at the church, went to an early morning contemporary service with a stage full of guitars and drums, and then enjoyed the vibrant organ and piano music of the traditional Easter worship at 11 AM.  Oh yes, everything was at the same church!  Believe it or not, there is still another Easter worship service I want to share later online.  It has been such a great Easter Sunday!  Holy Communion was offered at each service and the final service concluded with the "Hallelujah Chorus."  I walked away with my cup running over!   

Easter is not something which disappoints.  I have shared Easter worship in large churches with all the bells and whistles and in very small churches where it truly was more like where "two or three" are gathered.  The only thing which could have been better about my Easter worship experience would have been preaching at the service.  Preaching on Easter Sunday is one of the highlights of any preacher's year and it is not because of the larger crowds, but because of the resurrection message.  Of course, any preacher who offered me a pulpit on Easter Sunday would be viewed with suspicion since no preacher should ever be found guilty of giving up their pulpit on Easter.    

Christ is risen!  What a wonderful message!  The reality of the resurrection of Jesus changes everything which is a part of life.  It is not that it is just an event which frees us from our fear of death, but one which frees us to live as life could never be lived without it.  Thanks be to God for the glorious life changing message which the church celebrates on this day.

Prayer for the Church

O Church of my heart, how long will you shut the door to what cannot be seen?  How long will you listen to the many voices instead of the one Voice?  How long will you stand at the crossroads and not look for the ancient path?  How long will you fear the risk that goes with faith in what is yet to be revealed?  How long will it be before signs and wonders once again appear midst your people?  How long will you wait for that which is yours?  O Church, when will you call out with a hunger in your soul for the gift of God's Spirit?

 

How long, O Lord, before there is a fresh anointing of Your Holy Spirit upon Your church?  How long will You hold back Your refining fire?  How long will it be before holy wind comes and drives the church out into the world?  How long will it be before the ordinary days of the church become filled with the extraordinary?  How long will it be until miracles become commonplace?  How long will it be before men and women who desire nothing but You come and stand as leaders, preachers, and prophets among us?  O Lord, how long?  How long will You tarry?

 

Come quickly, Holy Spirit.  Your church needs Your power.  Your church has lost its way.  Show it the ancient ways where good lies and where there is rest for the soul.  Come now, Holy Spirit.  Your church needs to know Your Holy Presence.  May Your shekinah glory be visited upon it once more.  May Your church once again become a spring of love for the unloved, a river of compassion for the suffering, and a deep ocean of passion for the lost.  Come, Holy Spirit, not later but now.  Your church needs You more than its silver and gold.  Come now, come quickly, Holy Spirit.  Your church has become powerless and needs Your power to be poured out once again upon it.  

Our Place is Important

It is interesting that the Biblical story is always told in the context of places.  Abraham's story began in a land known as Ur.  Moses grew up in Egypt.  Isaiah was a priest in the Temple in Jerusalem.  Ezekiel was a prophet who lived by the River Chebar.  Jesus walked the roads of Galilee.  John Wesley birthed Methodism out of England.  E. Stanley Jones is known for his missionary work in India. Deitrich Bonhoeffer served Christ in Germany.  Jesus became flesh among us in a little town of Bethlehem, but His work and presence is known in every corner of this round world.   

To drive across the countryside or across the county is to see one steeple after another on streets and roads that are as different as mountains are from the coastline.  Wherever there are people, there are those who are committed to following Jesus and being about His work in the places where He has put them.  There is no place where Christ cannot be served and His Kingdom advanced by the gifts offered to Him.  Many of the great revival movements began with a few people whose hearts burned so for God to work in their midst that they would not quit praying until He acted.  Many acts of kindness are not offered by some organized group, but by a single individual. 

The place where God put us is important in His story.  We may be the one in the particular place where we are upon whom He is depending.  A recent read put it this way, "Remember: you are your brother's keeper; you are your sister's keeper.  You're a watchman.  And where God has placed you, God has placed you on purpose."  ("Healing Prayer" by Chotka and Dunnam).

Sleeping or Awake

As we move deeper into Holy Week, we find that there are so many Biblical passages devoted to these final days of Jesus here on the earth.  Beginning with Palm Sunday, we move toward Good Friday and beyond to the empty tomb.  There are so many events sandwiched between those two Sundays that we are overwhelmed with possibilities for reading and reflection.  Tomorrow which is known as Maundy Thursday is the day the church remembers the final meal Jesus shared with His disciples, but it is also a day filled with many private and public moments.    

One moment often overlooked in the week's story is the moment of prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.  It was where Judas brought the arresting authorities, but it is also a place of intense prayer for Jesus.  After instructing all the disciples to stay together to pray, He took with Him Peter, James, and John as He went deeper into the Garden, telling them, "I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me." (Matthew 26:38). They went to sleep.  Not once did they go to sleep, but three times.  Jesus was praying and agonizing over what was to come and those whom He called to be with Him went to sleep.  He needed them and they went to sleep.  

It is a picture which cuts to the core of our own heart as we ask ourselves about the number of times we were needed by Jesus and went to sleep, or let ourselves become occupied with some personal pursuit which took our attention away from His need for us to be involved with Him in what He was doing.  It is not hard to remember our own moments of waking up while praying, our moments of disappointing Him, or finding something else to instead of doing what we knew Jesus was calling us to do.  Jesus obviously seeks our presence and our help, or He would not have said, "Follow Me."