Wondering

Our paths first crossed a little more than fifteen years ago when Glenn Haynes came to the Perry Church as the new Minister of Music.  In more recent years our separate journeys brought us to the same area where we bump into each other and touch our friendship again.  A few days ago I saw a painting on display in the lobby of a local bank entitled, "Where Two Worlds Meet."  My old friend was the artist.  It was a wonderful piece which invited the one standing in front of it to enter into the world of the painting.  Its invitation to stand and listen and experience with all five senses the place where river embraced the earth was unmistakable. 

 

If I were a wealthy patron of the arts, I would commission my friend to paint a similar work portraying the place where the visible world in which we live touches the invisible world which is surely around us.  My recent readings on Celtic spirituality speak of a strong belief that there are thin places where the eternal realm is opened to the finite earthly realm.  What I realized in the reading was that I had come to such a belief long years ago.  So many times it has seemed that I was walking here, but aware that unseen others were walking nearby.  The thin places are not in specific geographic sites.  They are all around us.  They are where we walk.

 

I have come to some awareness of this thin veil just beyond me and wondered as I saw my friend's painting how it might look through the eyes of an artist whose skills and spirit might enable transcending the world that is completely physical.  I have come to some understanding of it through my own soul's experience.  Like the heavy morning fog which shrouds and hides the earth we know is underneath it, so does this spiritual realm surely hover over us, around us, and, perhaps, even within us. 

The Unseen Plan

Sometime about late afternoon yesterday, another new calf dropped on the ground.  Just like her Moma, she was spade black with a white blotch on her face.  Throughout the day I had been watching the about-to-give birth cow pace back and forth all by herself over on the far side of the pasture.  From the distance I saw a spot of black on the ground and knew immediately the calf had come.  Despite the fact that quite a few calves have been birthed around here these past eight years, it is still a big deal.  We hurried to the truck, parked at the fence line, and for the next hour we watched Moma cow get her new calf ready for life in the pasture.

 

No matter how many times we have been privileged to share in these moments of new beginning, it is always a moment filled with amazement and awe.  I am amazed at the way a switch is pushed and a cow who has never had a calf suddenly knows all the right moves.  And, it is always a moment filled with awe and wonder as the miracle of new life unfolds in our midst.  Spending such moments at the fence line gives a different perspective on all that is going around us.

 

It is certainly true that life is filled with some hard-to-understand-difficult-to-get-through experiences and it is equally as true that given the choice, there are things we would never choose.  Life is not always as easy as it seems out in the pasture where things can go wrong even as they can go wrong on my side of the fence.  But, whenever I watch and behold I am always struck by the way there is such order in creation.  Creation is not something that just happens by chance, but something that works according to a plan.  Even though I am caught up in the plan, I cannot always see it in the moment.  And while I do not know the plan, I do know the One who created the plan.  In those confusing and difficult moments, I am thankful I know the One who knows the plan I cannot yet see. 

The Dwelling Place

I do not see ahead as far as I used to see.  When I was younger it seemed that the view toward the horizon was close to being eternal in length.  I even made plans for days and years I could not see.  Some of the plans actually came to pass, although, many of them had some unplanned twists and turns which were surprises.  Some of the surprises were pleasant and some, not so pleasant.  In those days I may not have said it to others, but I thought of myself as the one who directed my future.

Youth may be the time of strength and stamina, but it can also be the time of great foolishness.   The view I have now of those days that are past requires me to realize that I have never had any control of my life which is also a view that enables me to see what is left of the road ahead more clearly.  Actually, I no longer cast my eyes very far ahead, but work at keeping them more focused on where the next foot is going to step.  I wish years ago someone could have come along and caused me to see the importance of paying attention to the present moment.

More than ever it seems that God is experienced in the present.  There is no guarantee of a greater sense of presence due to reaching some set out goal which speaks of having arrived.  When I started with these JourneyNotes some ten years ago, I had no idea how much life was about the journey. I had spent most of my life trying to get somewhere, to reach some level of achievement, to become someone I did not see myself as yet being.  And while I have not figured it all out even now in this latter part of the journey, I have at least learned that the most important place to be is where I am and the most important ones are the ones present with me in the moment.  And, finally, I have also learned that the God who created eternity dwells with me in the ordinary span called the present. 

The Only Explanation

As we move along through our life and the years ahead seem smaller in number than the ones which are behind us, we begin to realize how indebted we are to others.  No matter how self sufficient we see ourselves as being, and no matter how much credit we give to ourselves for our success, it is all only an illusion. None of us get where we are going solely because of our own efforts, our own intellect, or our own ingenuity.   To be blessed with some extra years is to realize that life is not really as much about us, or me, as we once thought.

 

The truth is we are the results of what others have invested in us.  It is also true that we are in many ways the results of some one's prayers.  And, above all else, as we get older, we begin to understand how life has been so very much about the grace of God.  Grace really is what has brought us this far.  Grace and grace alone has brought us to this moment in our life.  One of the great mysteries of my life has been struggling with the early death of good friends who had so much to offer.  Why they are gone and I am still here is not something I have figured out.  The only explanation which makes any sense is grace. 

 

Of course, this is not to say that hard work and responsible living is unimportant.  It is not just enough to be blessed with years, but to live those years well.  But, the things I cannot control are far greater in number than the things I can control.  Though I can opt for a healthy lifestyle, I cannot really control my health.  Diseases are indiscriminate.  I cannot control how long my body or mind will function.  I cannot control the time of my death.  What I have come to believe through the years is that all of life is in the hands of God and that He can be trusted to tend to our life from beginning to end and even beyond. 

The Beginning and the End

In the narrative of the infant Jesus there is that moment when leaving all that is familiar and going to the unknown and uncertain becomes a reality to consider.  The need to leave is underscored in the beginning by the fears of the men from the East who came to worship Jesus and, then, later in a dream where an angel spoke to Joseph saying, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy Him."  (Matthew 2:13)  The world would see the murderous intent of Herod with the slaughter of the innocents described in the next few verses.

 

While there are many things which can be seen in this part of the story, one thing which surely stands out is the provision of the Father.  The men from the East came to worship, but also to bring expensive gifts which no doubt were useful for barter on the journey to Egypt and for daily care when they arrived.  From two different sources Joseph was directed by God to flee to a safe place.  From the beginning it was known in the heavenly place that Jesus would die for the sins of the people, but the time for that single act of sacrifice had not yet fully come.

 

It is strange that Egypt would be the place Joseph would take his family.  His ancestors had gone to that place generations before and become slaves.  It was a place of deliverance for his Hebrew ancestors and it would be a place of deliverance for him as well.   Like every part of the story, it is one which none of us would have thought to write.  Of course, we were not the writers of that story of salvation which opened that night in Bethlehem.  And, neither are we the writers of the story being written even in this very moment.  It is likely we would not write our story exactly as it is being written, but then, the God who knew the beginning and the end of the story of Jesus' journey on the earth knows ours as well. 

Time for Pondering

When those shepherds finally left the manger that night, the silence must have once again settled in like deep snow.  Surely, those men who were accustomed to talking out in the field created quite a stir when they arrived at the place to which the angel directed them.  Imagine for a moment the excitement which must have filled the place when they stood there looking at the child Jesus.  The nativity scenes always depict three shepherds, but who knows for sure how many might have come and crowded into that place filled with the holy.  Excited as they likely were, it is also likely that they all were trying to talk at once.  What a noisy fuss they must have caused!

 

When they left it must have seemed that all the air had been sucked out of the room.  Mary's response to all those men from the field brought with them is set forth in a few words in Luke's telling of the story.  "But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart."  (Luke 2:19)  Treasuring words is something we all have done.  Young lovers do it when separated from the one who is loved and old lovers do it as they remember the days which have gone by.  Words do and can become great treasures. 

 

But, that word "ponder" is not quite as easy to put in a box.  When was the last time we thought of ourselves as pondering something someone said?  And if we did ponder something, would we know we were pondering it?  Of course, it is possible to dig up a commentary which might bring us to a degree of enlightenment, but maybe the shortcut would shortcut our ability to ponder.  Surely, the experience of pondering something means carrying it with us and living with it for awhile.  People who ponder what they have heard or read do not  walk away from those things quickly.  Lest we miss out on something important God is trying to say to us, maybe we should pray asking the Spirit to help us ponder what we have been hearing from Him in our hearts. 

Christmas 2018

The light of the Star
    shined a night or two,
      most likely longer,
       just long enough
to get the travelers there.

The Light of the World
    born under the Star
      lighted a manger,
       next a village,
and then the wide world.

The all sufficient Light
     born that holy night
       shines into eternity
        bringing grace to all,
And hope to every human heart.

Praise be to the Light,
    the Light sent from God,
      the Light powered by Spirit,
        God, Christ and the Spirit
Blessing us all, everyone.

An Overheard Conversation

"Is it time yet?  I have been watching for some time now.  I saw them in Bethlehem, but that is no surprise.  I knew it would not happen until they got there.  We have known where they were heading long before they started the journey.  So, I want to know if it is time.  Are we going to have to keep up this endless thing of watching and waiting for what we have been told was going to happen since the beginning of creation?  I don't know how she can wait much longer.  The last time I got a good look, she was having some serious pains.  It just can't be much longer, can it?'

 

"I wouldn't think so.  I heard through the grapevine that a choral group has already been sent out to wake up some shepherds near Bethlehem.  Are they ever going to be surprised!  Rumor has it that they are set to be the first ones to go and worship, but someone has got to go and tell them to go.  It seems that this is now in motion so it shouldn't be too long.  But, you never know.  When I ask upstairs where the big decisions are made all I hear is, "The time is not yet fully come."  Some one ought to tell Mary.  She certainly looks like the time has fully come.  I am with you.  It can't be very long.  Soon, very soon, is what I would say."

 

"Hey, you two need to be quiet.  Settle down.  I know you are new to this angel stuff, but that is no excuse for acting in a manner unbecoming to being an angel.  When He is ready, He will be ready. Not a minute before.  Just hang on.  What I hear is that if we are quiet, we will be able to hear in the silence of the night the first cry of the boy being born in Bethlehem.  Patience, now.  Listen, it will not be long.  Very soon the story will begin.  You will hear His cry in the night, but you must listen."

Opportunities

I do not imagine the inn keeper ever realized that he was going to go through history as some guy who missed out on the opportunity of his life.  If he could have known, he might have thrown out one of his guest, or maybe not.  Who knows?  His guests were paying customers and the manger probably suited the pocket book of Joseph much better.  What surely is true is that there is some mercy in not knowing that we have missed out on the opportunity of a lifetime.  Knowing that we have missed out on some that were of less consequence is often painful enough.

 

Those of us who choose to believe in divine providence instead of mere coincidence must also believe that God is putting us on a course where meaningful opportunities will pave the way forward.  As we consider the reality that each day has God provides opportunities to accomplish something which speaks of His purpose for us, we quickly realize that there is something exciting to anticipate each day.  I often remember the author from some years ago who invited his readers to begin each day with the prayer, "Lord, what is it that You want me to do for You today.  Lord, know I am willing and ready."

 

Such a prayer is a lot different than the one which begins, "Lord, help me get through this day.  Stuff is really piling up."  As we rise each morning, is it with dread or anticipation?  Is it with fear, or excitement?  Is it knowing that God is going to provide some opportunity for us to share with Him in doing something which might just be life changing for someone we meet along the way?  We each choose the road we walk and we choose the attitude which carries us along. 

Unseen Characters

When we look at those nativity scenes which are now all around us, we see all the expected characters.  Mary, Joseph, Jesus, angels, shepherds, and even the men from the East who surely did not arrive at the same time as the men who watched their flocks by night.  One of the more popular songs of the season tells us there was a little drummer boy present, but no one has put him in any manger scenes that I have seen.  There were other unseen characters who were more likely there with the nativity couple than the little drummer boy.  Maybe there was a stable boy who tended the livestock in the manger.  And, it should be no surprise for a midwife to be present to help young Mary with a frightening moment in her life.

 

Our stories are full of people who have important parts in our lives, but who remain unseen.  During these days I have found myself remembering some of them who have with the passing of the years become largely invisible.  When I was twelve Bernie introduced me to the passion of my teenage years, amateur radio.  I remember, too, my friend Larry who took a boy from the city and gave him his first hunting lessons.  There is a fifth grade teacher who taught me my first music lessons and a literature teacher who encouraged me to write essays and join the debate team.  One of my father's brother-in-laws took me and this three sons fishing on the Altamaha River.  To remember a few is to have to put the reins on my mind as there are so many who stood alongside of me, only to disappear in the pages of the story.

As we remember the greatest story ever told and look for the unseen characters, maybe it could be a time for looking at our own stories and remembering some of the people who touched us, but mostly remain unseen in the shadows.  Most likely your story is like mine in that the One who has made the most difference is the One who was born in Bethlehem  and who died on Calvary.  Even as my memory tells me my life was made different by the unseen characters in my own story, there is simply no way to remember the story that belongs to me without remembering Jesus.

Shepherds Out in the Field

I love those shepherds who were watching their flocks by night out there around Bethlehem so long ago.  They were just ordinary guys.  If the fields of Bethlehem had rednecks, maybe these guys were in that fold as well.  Minding their business is what they were doing when all heaven broke loose around them, or maybe, above them.  When the Word says, "...they were terrified...," (Luke 2:9), it is no surprise.  Who among us would not be terrified to have our comfortable space invaded by an angel of the Lord?  The picture I see in those words is a bunch of men sticking their faces into the dirt in fear!

 

And what is even more amazing than the angelic visitation is their response after things settled down.  When the angels disappeared into whatever it is that angels abide and the earth was once again dark and still, one of those guys must have looked at the others and said, "Let's go.  Let's go to Bethlehem!"   Off they went.  I have often wondered if they just left their sheep alone, or if one of the more timid souls volunteered to stay with the sheep instead of going into the village to find a baby boy.  What is important is that they went.  They went to see if what the angel said was true and when they arrived at the birthplace they told the young couple what had happened to them out there in the dark fields around Bethlehem.  And, then, they left with praise and worship on their lips and heart!

Praise and worship would be a wonderful thing to take with us when we come to that moment of seeing the reality of the Word becoming flesh among us.  The manger is not a setting for a nice story, or a once-a-year spectacle relived in primitive skits and elaborate drama, but a place where the heart of God intersected with the needs of a broken and sinful humanity.  It we let these days pass without a bit of fear and wonder, awe and worship, we most likely have missed the point of one of the most important events in all of human history. 

Thick Darkness

In tonight's darkness, I was caused to look more deeply into the darkness around me.  What soon became evident is that the darkness is not as absolute as it first seemed, but more like near darkness.  Maybe there are times when it seems that I am sitting in the darkness and that I have been  overwhelmed by the darkness when it is not really the darkness it seemed in the beginning.  All around are these small digital lights illuminating the dark.  These tiny lights collectively have power to break into the darkness enabling me to see what is at the onset of the darkness not seen.

 

And, so I wonder.  And, I remember a passage from Isaiah which is often read during the early days of Advent.  "Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.  For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the people; but the Lord will rise upon you, and His glory will be revealed over you."  (Isaiah 60:1-2)  Most of us have walked in some thick darkness.  It may even seem that we live in it.  My experience has taught me to never pretend the darkness cannot be thick and overwhelming.  But, like this dark room around me, is there not a Light which; perhaps, is not seen at first, but is bringing light into the darkness that afflicts the soul?

 

No matter how difficult these days may be, and no matter how thick the darkness, we can be equally as sure of the penetrating power of the light being brought to bear by the Light of the World.  At first the Light may be so subtle that it is easily missed, but even in the thick darkness He dwells with us for the purpose of showing us that no darkness has the power we sometimes want to give it.  Claim the darkness.  It is what honesty requires.  But, also claim the Light.  It is what faith requires.  In the claiming of both, we will most certainly find our way through the thick darkness to the eternal light.

New Life

Just after sunset new life came into the pasture across the way.  Early in the day one of our cows whose heaviness was not about the grass and hay eaten, but about the growing calf within her took herself apart from the herd and started pacing back and forth along the lower fence.  Though still a greenhorn when it comes to knowing about cows, I knew it was time for her to birth her calf.  Just after darkness had settled on the ground, the newborn calf dropped to the ground as well.  Though never a mother before this birth, the one who gave birth immediately started licking the new calf, nudging her, and pushing her up to take the life giving milk put aside for her.

 

It is always exciting when a calf is born around here.  Through the moma's cows licking and nudging, the new life is marked as one who belongs out there with the others.  The new calf has no initiation rite to fulfill to belong.  She does not have to come before the cow council for a vote.  She is dropped on the ground in the midst of a community where she immediately is given membership.  Unlike a cow brought in from another farm, this new calf born on this night belongs here.  She is one of them and also one of us. 

 

We all belong to our earthly parents, but we also belong to God and the community He has ordained for us to live.  Our problem is in accepting where we belong.  We look for acceptance and belonging in a host of wrong places before we follow our heart home to God.  It is not always an easy journey for us, but it is a journey that once started has a sure and certain end.  Nicodemus found his home through what Jesus spoke of as a new birth.  The new birth is our ticket home, too.  Those who are born of the Spirit never have to wonder where they belong, or to Whom they belong.

What Is Lost

Soon the shelves will be empty.  The layaway bin will be desolate.  Nothing will remain but the waste-your-money pick-ups by the check out counter.  All these things plus human relief that it is about done for another year will surely signal the nearness of Christmas Day.  It is a shame that a day with such spiritual significance has been compromised to the point that it has become only a day we are glad to see in the rear view mirror.

 

If we could only hit the re-set button and see how things might have been, or how they could be, our grief for what is lost would be even greater.  It would be overwhelming.  What we have forgotten is the child's anticipation of Christmas morning.  What we no longer see is the sense of wonder described in that story of shepherds and traveling men from the East.   No longer do we see the event at Bethlehem as an event which not only changes lives, but has forever changed history.  There is nothing to which we can compare this moment in time when God acted to bring a means of deliverance to all of us.

 

Perhaps, the most important thing we no longer see is our sin.  It is something with which we have learned to live.  It has become something which is an acceptable part of what it means to be human because it is nothing more than what everyone else is doing.  To look in the mirror and see a sinner means realizing that a horrible thing has occurred which we have caused and to realize that another horrible thing is necessary if our life is to be made right.  What we have lost in our journey toward adulthood is not the man from the North Pole, but the Savior sent from God has the power to save us, to deliver us, to forgive us, and to make us right once again before the One who created us. 

Christmas Worship

While it is possible to offer worship to God when we are absolutely alone, there is also something uniquely powerful about sharing the moment with others who gather with a similar purpose.  When we worship with the congregation of God's people, we participate in a shared experience that transcends our own finiteness as well the as boundaries of space and time.  Transcendent moments are rare in this secular culture of ours where the mysterious and unexplainable have no place. 

 

Christmas is now encroaching on this season of Advent and within the moment are powerful gatherings where the Word is read and the hymns about the Christ-event are sung.  No matter how many times we have heard those Words from Luke and sung those old songs about what God has done through Christ, it is a moment of eager anticipation and fresh excitement.  It is not only true that we are able to look around and see others who are worshipping with us, but it is equally true that we are sharing in a moment of worship which connects us to those who have worshipped before us throughout every generation since Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

 

How many times have the people of God gathered around images of the manger to worship the One born among us?  How many times has "Silent Night' and "Joy to the World"  filled a room filled with those whose hearts are full of faith?  How many people have stood in places such as those places where we stand in awe and wonder?  Ah, we are not the first to worship this Holy Child.  We stand and kneel midst a great and long stream of faithful followers.  We walk a worn road and we are now putting new footprints on that road for the generations which are still to be born to sing of the Messiah's birth.  What a joy it is to worship with those who stand beside us and those who listen and sing and worship from the very throne room of Heaven. 

Tenacious

In these retirement years I have come to a place where I am prone to put words in the mouth of things that have no mouth, things that have no voice, and were never meant to speak.  Now, it is true that I do not hear voices, but it does sometimes seem that the trees have around here have things to say.  Or, maybe, the voice I hear comes from the running water in the branch, or a limb which has fallen in the wind, or the cows grazing out in the pasture.  More recently, I have been listening to the sandspurs.

 

The sandspur is such a tiny thing.  It is a prickly thing.  It is a first class hitch hiker.  It is the epitome of tenacious.  Tenacious is the word I keep hearing as I pull them off of my jeans and the laces of my boots.  Tenacious is the word I keep hearing as I put on clothes that have been through the washer and the dryer only to find a sandspur hanging on tightly in the fabric.  Tenacious is the word I hear when those hidden washed and dried sandspurs stick me unexpectedly.  Sandspurs stick.  Sandspurs do not turn loose.  They hang on no matter what they have to go through to hang on.

 

It seems that the tiny sandspur has a lesson for those of who are faith walkers with Jesus.  There are times when life sends us through the washer and dryer cycle and spits us out frayed around the edges and wrinkled and the first thing we want to do is to abandon our faith in Christ.  There have been too many times when the hard circumstances have caused us to turn loose of our faith for a day, or maybe even a season of our life.  What we need is a tenacious faith, one that hangs on regardless of the things swirling around us.  The Word of God speaks of that kind of faith in the life of the Apostle Paul as we hear him saying, "...forgetting what lies behind an straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus."  (Philippians 3:13-14)  Hang on.  Do not...do not...do not ever let go!   Tenacious is the word!

A New Look

Out there where the Jordan River touched the wilderness, John the Baptist preached a message declaring that God was about to do something new.  When he directed his own disciples to the One he identified as "the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29), he provided a visualization of what it was that God was not about to do, but doing.  Something that had never before happened on the earth was about to happen.  Or, perhaps, it is more appropriate to say that Someone who had never happened on the earth was about to happen.

 

One of the things which has been lost to us in the passing of the gospel story through the centuries as well as the living with it for a lifetime is its freshness.  For us there is nothing new about it.  It is an old story that we have heard more times than we can count and every time we hear it, we already know how it is going to end.  The result of such familiarity is that we often lose the ability to really hear it, or to hear it without past remembrances wiping out the possibility of a fresh and new Word being proclaimed to us in the midst of it. 

 

Rediscovering that freshness is not as easy as deciding to read one of the gospels again.  It will surely be something which will require much prayer.  I often remember some writer whose name is beyond recall at the moment who suggested praying, "Lord, what do You want to say to me today through this Word?"  It will likely mean a slower reading that has inspiration as its goal instead of finding some new nugget of information.   A notebook for questions that probe the soul instead of searching a commentary can be helpful in slowing us down.  Whatever it might take, this is a season for slowing down and figuring out what new thing God might be trying to do in our life.  Whatever it might take is more than worth it. 

Lights and Glitter

Though Advent is the first season on the Christian calendar, it gives the church fits.  The church does not seem to know what to do with it.  The problem does not have to do with a lack of understanding.  It is more an issue of listening to the culture around us which puts Christmas on express delivery.  Advent is about exploring what it means to live with hope and anticipation.  It is not a season which simply prepares us for Christmas as it is defined by culture, but one which prepares and makes the heart ready for Christ to be present in all the many parts of our life. 

 

The world is in a hurry to get Christmas here and to get it done and there is no rest until the last note  of the cantata has been sung and the final gift is unwrapped.  Advent is really more about experiencing the rest which comes with waiting.  It is about savoring with every sense what it means for the Holy One to be sent into the world through the most common of means and to exit the same world through the most vilest of means.  It is about struggling to understand that Jesus born in Bethlehem came not as a hero character in a great story, but as a Savior.

 

We sing about the Savior during these days.  And the closer the Christ-event comes, the more we will sing the songs extolling Him as our Savior.  What Advent does is to give us some time to consider that a Savior means there is a need for deliverance.   We are the ones in need of deliverance.  We are the sinners who cannot make things right between ourselves and God.  Advent creates some space to sit with this reality of the human heart.  The more I sit, the more I realize no one needs this Savior as much as I do.  But, then maybe Advent is about this kind of heart work and not so much about the light and glitter work.

Story Telling

I saw someone today across the way whom I did not know, but he looked like someone I used to know long years ago.  When I saw the stranger and thought of the one who was no stranger to my memory, I remembered a story from years ago.  Actually, it was not my story I remembered, but the one whom I remembered belonging to my friend from the past.  The moment set me to thinking how it has been that I have been privileged to be a small part of a lot of stories written by others.

 

I suppose it is the nature of being a pastor.  To be a pastor means that other people invite you to share in their lives at significant moments.  When there is a tragedy, the pastor is called.  When a wedding is being planned, the pastor is called.  When people are in the midst of great joy, or great sorrow the door is often opened for the one known as their pastor to enter.  To step through that open door at their invitation means becoming a small part of their story.  In the scheme of things, it may be nothing more than a phrase or two, or maybe a sentence in the whole of the story, but still it is a part of the story.

 

I have often wondered how some of those stories continued after I left and went on to another church.  When my mind was turned to the memory of an old friend by a face that seemed familiar, I found my thoughts running off in tangents wondering how things worked out.  Some stories are stories without endings as they are still being written.  Surely, it is like this with the story we are writing through our walk with Christ.  I often wonder where it is leading.  I often wonder how it is that He has worked in my life to bring me to this particular page in my story.  Sometimes I think it is more His story with me than mine with Him.  If such is the case, then it is surely a better story with the prospects of a better ending. 

The Servant at the River

John the Baptist was not exactly a prophet though he came across in the prophet mode.  Neither was he a polished teacher.   And while his personality might not be regarded as charismatic, there was something about him which caused people to come out to the Jordan River where he was preaching and baptizing.  Some surely came out of curiosity, but there were others who went out where he was with hope that he might be the one signaling change.  And, of course, some went out of spiritual hunger. 

 

Regardless of why folks came, John the Baptist was not concerned with meeting their expectations.  He was an unusual kind of man.  He was one who was content to dwell in the shadows.  Once Jesus showed up on the scene, he moves off the stage.  He even gave those who were his disciples encouragement to become disciples of Jesus.  And, of course, in the end his faithfulness to who God was calling him to be cost him his life.  Many things can be said of the Baptizer, but it is most assuredly true that he knew how to live as a servant.

 

Before he ever became visible out there on the edge of the wilderness, he lived to serve God.  As is the case with Jesus, we know nothing about John as a young child, or as a young adult.  Somewhere around his 30th year, he becomes visible and then only for a short time.  What is seen and learned about him from his ministry around the Jordan River is that this life long servant of God became a servant of Jesus as soon as Jesus stepped out of the shadows.  It is obvious that there was nothing more important to him than pointing people to Jesus and in the pointing he served the One who had been sent by God.

The Unlikely Messenger

It is amazing that people would come to hear and see John the Baptist.  He was not exactly the kind of guy who would be invited to come home with us for dinner.  Neither is he one concerned about dressing for success, or climbing the ladder which leads to success.  Most likely he would be smelled before he was seen.  And when he was seen, those who saw him surely looked away in disbelief saying to themselves, "I can't believe I came all this way to listen to him!"  His breath smelled like dried locust and his beard was always matted with honey and other stuff.

 

Yet, he had a message which drew people to the Jordan where he was preaching a hard message about the necessity of a changed heart.  With Jesus coming it would no longer be possible to continue living life according to the status quo.  No longer would religious law be enough.  Someone new was on the scene and something new was being preached.  It was not a pie-in-the-sky kind of message, but one which was as down to earth as giving away one of your two coats to someone who had none, or being fair in business dealings, or choosing not to exploit others from a position of power. 

 

It was not that these kind of things had saving power, but that they were the kind of things which would come from a heart that had turned away from looking out for self to one which was bent on looking out for the concerns of God.  Repentance does this in our life.  When we repent, there is a fruit which is produced.  When we repent, our heart is changed and what comes from the heart is different.  What comes from the heart is not a response which is planned and pre-meditated, but one which comes forth spontaneously.  Such is always the difference between those who have truly repented and those who are still talking about it.

The Changing Order

On days when we shiver in awe of the cold grip of winter, we are reminded that there is an ever changing order in the creation.  Creation never remains the same.  It has been that way since the Word first spoke it into existence. Sometimes it has changed violently and suddenly by colliding meteors and other times slowly by building glaciers of ice.  Though these changes belong to the ages, others things like hurricanes, earthquakes, fire, and water are constantly wearing down the earth's landscape changing it into something different than yesterday.  What we call catastrophic is but a part of the ever changing order of the creation.

The hard cold of winter which sends us toward warming fires and the growing things into a deep rest also speak to us of the order of the creative process always ongoing around us.  And, so it is with each one of us as well.  None of us live within the creation without being a part of the constant change.  Our movement from conception to birth to youth to old age and finally death is the always reminder that we, too, are a part of the order of the creation around us.  Though we fail to see it until it is often too late, we are not designed to outlast the creation, but to be a part of it for a smidgen of time. 

As we go through our time in this order, we are being shaped by the obvious and the things not always noted.  As surely as our lives our shaped by the passing years, so are they shaped by the hard-to-get-through moments of our living.  Those things which overwhelm us as well as those things which bring us delightful joy are some of the things which bring change in our life.  The changes though sometimes feared and dreaded are but a part of the order for nothing created was made to stay the same.  Not even the part of creation which was created for eternity is immune.

The Old Baptizer

Even as the first week of Advent has us looking into the heavens for that image of Jesus returning in the clouds, so does the second week of the season bring us down to earth with a thud.  After such lofty contemplation, John the Baptist walks into the picture.  The Baptizer is always such a surprise when he shows us to spew his message about getting ready for Jesus.  He pulls no punches.  Those he saw as a brood of vipers, he called a brood of vipers.  He also shows courage as he speaks such words to those who had the power to do him in which is exactly what they did. 

 

Oswald Chambers recently spoke a word through "My Utmost for His Highest" which said, "Beware of refusing to go to the funeral of your own independence."  While some folks get all wrapped up in naming the sins, when we stop and look for the common denominator which connects all of as the sinners we are, surely, the word "independence" hooks us all together.  Of course, Chambers was not in reference to a kind of political independence upon which democracies are built, but upon an independence which causes us to think that we can live without God. 

 

If we sin, or, perhaps, it is more appropriate to say, when we sin, is it not because we are seeking to live our life our way instead of God's way?  Is it not because we figure we have a better way than the way God has outlined for us through His Word?  Even after we start the journey of faith, we find ourselves on this road called independence which causes us to try living in our own strength and without God.  When we honestly look at the many ways we try to walk the road of faith depending more upon ourselves than God, we realize we once again need to hear message of the old Baptizer. 

An Advent Coming

From sunrise to sunset and beyond, a thick gray blanket of clouds has covered this place called home.  Stretching from east to west and north to south not a single ray of sunshine has penetrated the gray thickness  and all the sounds under it have been amplified as they bounce between heaven and earth through the damp air.  The neighbor's cows some two farms over sound like they are huddled in the back yard.  For those who can find no beauty in gray, it has surely been a horrible day. 

 

The rest of the creation seemed to reflect the gray mood of the heavens.  Pecan trees which earlier were heavy with green foliage and nuts now stand like stark naked skeletons against the sky.  The pasture and hay fields once green are now rusty brown.   Some speak of winter as being a season when everything is dead.  The cold gray days of winter are even often used as a metaphor for death.  But, to look around with a memory of how things were and a hope for how things will be is to realize that the creation is not in some death-like state, but instead is in a state of resting. 

If we could give human characteristics to things like trees and fields we would surely hear them saying that they are not dead but waiting with hope for a life giving surge to push forth from the dirt into their roots to give them life again.  Surely, such would be the expectation of these brown fields and bare trees.  And, is it not like this for all of us? Are we not waiting for some life giving power to touch the roots of our life so that we might once again know the life intended for us by the Creator of grass and tree and human beings?  Just maybe Advent came in its fullness today even as the earth was shrouded in a kind of deep gray darkness.    

Our Hope

While we do hope for short term things as we say something like, "I hope you have a good day tomorrow," most of our hope is focused more on the long term.  Our hope carries us beyond today, beyond tomorrow, into some distant point in the future.  Usually, the object of our hope is on some unseen thing which is also the reminder of the Word. "...Now hope that is seen is not hope.  For who hopes for what is seen?  But, if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience."  (Romans 8:24)

For those who seek to enter into the moods of Advent, hope is not a strange thought to ponder.  Long centuries ago there was much hope among the Hebrew people for someone to come and deliver them from those who oppressed them.  There was hope that the kingdom would once again be restored.  Of course, many failed to understand that the coming of Jesus was the fulfillment of that hope.  As we stand on the other side of that watershed event in human history, our hope is not for the Christ born in Bethlehem, but for the Christ who will come again to bring humanity to its senses and restore the Kingdom order on the earth.

And, in the midst of this hope for the Kingdom to come is our hope for a day when things like the struggles of suffering, the tears of grief, and the darkness of death will no longer shadow our living.  We hope not just for a better day tomorrow, but we hope that Christ will indeed come in the midst of those things which overwhelm us to bring us through them to the abundant life He promised.  The reality is that He is in the present moment working to accomplish this end.  Our eyes may not see what He is doing in this present moment, but our heart continues to hope for that day to come soon.  Come, quickly, Lord Jesus. 

Don't Talk About It

As Advent opens up on the pages of the Christian calendar, a topic is brought into the spotlight by the Advent Scripture readings which the church mostly wants to ignore.  Often times those lessons about the return of Christ are read and the preacher goes elsewhere for preaching material.   Certainly, no one in the church wants those on the outside to say the church is other worldly, or preaching something which borders on a fantasy tale. 

 

While it is understandable that those outside the church might have a dim view of the return of Christ, it seems a bit strange that the same attitude prevails among many who are card carrying members of the church and cross wearing disciples of Jesus.  What makes it strange is the prayer prayed most every Sunday in most every church in which we pray, "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."   Just maybe we should listen to what it is we are asking God to do. 

 

The lessons for the early days of Advent speak of our waiting with hope for the Kingdom of God to come on the earth as it has already come in heaven.  Sounds a lot like second coming talk, doesn't it?  Maybe we should re-do that prayer for the sake of being less conflicted, more consistent, and more comfortable.  Of course, not too many folks get uncomfortable about any part of what we call "The Lord's Prayer" which likely is a sure sign we are just giving it lip service instead of really offering a heartfelt prayer.  The manger stuff which took place in Bethlehem makes for a nice reading, but that stuff about Jesus coming in the clouds is something altogether different.  It is too bad the gospel is not a pick and choose buffet filled with theological possibilities to select according to personal whim. 

Advent Beckoning

Much of our waiting is of the forced variety.  It does not count.  Forced waiting is done because someone says, ""You have to do it."  Time spent in waiting rooms, traffic jams, and lines that end in a cash registers do not count for the kind of waiting to which Advent invites us.  Where is it that we wait because we choose to wait?  Where is it that we enter into a moment knowing that the waiting is more an integral part of the moment than the doing part?  Where is it in our life that we express patience in the time table and the scheduling of God? 

 

How do we go from seeing ourselves as the one who is in charge, the one who should be at the center of attention, the one whose agenda is the most important to being the one who is simply content to be wherever it is that God decides is the place for us to be?  Coming to such a place puts us in a position where we are more likely to be able to walk at a different pace which will allow us to include time for discovering that God has plans and purposes He desires to work out in our lives.  Those who rush through life with their mind set on accomplishing all the stuff that has their name on it are not likely to look for the things on which God has put their names.

 

Waiting as Advent beckons us to wait can never be a planned activity.  It is more the by-product of other lifestyle choices.  It may be what enables the waiting on God part of our life is the prioritizing that prunes the parts of our life which are not really connecting us to the life giving and life sustaining Vine (John 15).   As the unnecessary things begin to fall from our life, our inner being is finally able to see a heart that is waiting with longing for God.  And in that moment when the waiting overwhelms us, we will know God present and will we need to know nothing else.   

A Counter Culture Season

Waiting is about not rushing.   Rushing seems to be what we do best.  From sunrise to beyond sunset we rush.  We are always in a hurry.  According to the values of our culture, those who wait get run over and smashed flat as a doormat.  The world  blesses not the "meek," (Matthew 5:5) but those who have mastered the art of rushing and hurrying through life.  All we have to do is to take a moment to become a watcher of those around us to see this truth.  Advent is a counter culture season as it calls us to live as one who waits.

 

It is not easy for any of us to live out of step with the secular culture around us which is exactly what Advent calls us to do.  When we are forced to wait, we feel out of sync.  Those who make us wait must pay the price of sharply honked horns, condescending angry stares, and harshly spoken words.  We have no time for the slow to move, the slow to speak, and the slow to get out of our way. Living differently as one who is oriented toward the pace set by the Kingdom of God points us in a different direction, but we usually embrace the discipline of waiting only because we are forced to do so. 

 

Learning to wait is an important discipline for those desiring to live according to the Kingdom.  If we are going to know what God wants to do in our life, it will involve waiting.  The early day of Advent remind us that we are to live as those who are waiting for Jesus to come once again.  It calls us to live as those who are waiting on God to do new things.  God cannot be rushed and we cannot live caught up in the rush of life if we are to find His pace which enables us to see Him present in us and around us. 

Waiting

Advent is not one of the more popular seasons on the Christian calendar which explains the reason it is often either ignored or abused.  The abuse occurs as the church turns it into a pre-Christmas season. Nativity scenes complete with the baby Jesus adorn the landscape and the church buildings are decorated with greenery and pseudo candles.  The first day of Advent sends the church into a period of frenzied activity with all the getting ready.  And while some use the season in ways not really in keeping with the spirit of Advent, others just ignore it altogether.

 

It is easy to understand.  One of the themes of Advent is waiting and we do not wait very well.  It is hard for us wait for God to do what God is going to do.  We usually have a better way,  or at the very least, a faster way.   How easy it is to forget that God is not in a hurry.  We work with a timepiece and a calendar.  He works with eternity.  Mary and Joseph had to wait nine months to see exactly what it was that God was doing in their lives.  Abraham waited twenty-five years for God to deliver on His promise of a son.  Elijah waited three years for God to send some rain on parched earth.  The Hebrews had to wait forty years to get to the Promised Land.  Read the story in the Word and know that it often the story of someone waiting on God to do what God said He was going to do.

 

Advent announces that God is about to do something new.  Of course, we no longer see the birth of Jesus as something new.  It is an old story, but it is an old story which is fleshed out in thousands of new and different ways among us.  While we may strain and push against it, we find ourselves waiting for God to act and bring us through to a new day as we struggle in situations beyond our own ability to change or handle.   What we want to happen today is mostly important only to us and often becomes the moment when we hear God saying, "Not yet, maybe later."  Advent reminds us that time does not really go according to our schedule.  We are not in charge of the time allotted to our living.  Life is, therefore, about waiting on Him to see what it is that He is going to do.

Advent 2018

Neither angels nor prophets sound the early notes of Advent around here.  Neither has some John the Baptist look alike walking around thumping the Holy Book.  Around here the beginning strains of the Advent season are being heard from the most unlikely of places.  Instead of coming from the heavenly corridors, it is coming from the pasture across the way.  Instead of it sounding like the sweet voices of angels, it is sounding like the soft moo of a small herd of expectant Moma cows.

 

Back in the Spring all eight of these cows out in the pasture were brought together for a visit from the local cow guru who does the artificial insemination work.  So, knowing the beginning point means being able to predict the birthing time.  The middle of this month will be what is called around here "the calving season."  Every time I look across the way toward the pasture, words like hope and expectation and anticipation come to mind.  I am hoping all the Moma cows do well.  I am expecting these new calves.  And, I am anticipating a bumper crop running around behind their Momas in a few weeks. 

 

Hope.  Expectation.  Anticipation.  Throw in a little waiting and it sure sounds like Advent is upon us.   These are words that have sounded in many of our churches on this the first Sunday of Advent.  In our worship we have heard that word announcing something new is upon us.  It is not just a new start of the Christian calendar, but a new sense of hope in the world as these days begin to unfold and fill our lives.   Maybe some folks were surprised when they arrived in worship only to hear the themes of Advent.  Around here those themes are being heard from some unexpected members of God's creation.

Middle of the Night Prayers

The boy Samuel heard God calling his name in the night.  Maybe he was awake, but it seems more likely that he was sleeping and found himself brought into consciousness by the sound of a voice in his ear.  Joseph, the husband of Mary, seems to have had a nighttime caller in his bedroom as well.  The Scripture says an angel appeared to him in a dream which strongly suggests he, like Samuel, was sleeping.  Maybe there was something to folks sleeping during my preaching that I never considered!

 

However, as we think about just those two stories of God coming in the night, it makes us take a second look at those moments when we find ourselves being strangely awaken during the night and unable to fall back into sleep.  Could it be that God sometimes wakes us up because it is a moment when praying would be of greater value than sleeping?  A friend who nearly died from a gunshot in the middle of the night writes about his wife being awaken in their home to pray even as he was near death.  Not only was she awaken, but twenty other folks in their church came out of their sleep to pray.  ( "Afterlife: A Personal Journey"  by Dr. Jim Jackson)

 

Those souls who rose to prayer and intercede without even knowing for whom they were praying were not the first to be called to this ministry in the dark hours of the night and they will surely not be the last.  When we find ourselves suddenly awaken from our sleep, perhaps, instead of beating the pillow a time or two, it might be a good thing to ask the Lord if there is a reason why we have been awaken.  I heard someone recently say that being awaken each morning was something God did in his life bringing him out of the darkness of sleep into the light of conscious living.  Like a resurrection each day is the way he put it.  So, maybe this One to whom we entrust ourselves as we go to sleep and the One who wakes us up each morning might decide to disturb that sleep to share with Him in some important business.  It is something to think about when we find ourselves looking at the ceiling in the middle of the night.  It could be God instead of something we ate.

Simplify, Simplify.

Labels abound in theological circles.  Some go by the name of their denomination; other take pride in their no-denomination status.  Some call themselves liberals, or conservatives, or moderates.  Evangelical and orthodox are a couple of others.  Sometimes the labels are worn proudly and other times a label might be thrown upon someone's shoulders in derision.  The one thing labels are almost guaranteed to do is divide and separate. 

 

Perhaps, it is an inevitable phenomena.  After all, we may feel so strongly about what we believe and how we express our belief that we do not want to be confused with someone of a lesser religious value system.  The truth is there is room for all of us with our different labels under the umbrella of God seekers.  The Church that was jumpstarted in Jerusalem on Pentecost was at first unsuccessfully put into a box labeled Jewish, but it was not a church for a box.  It was a church for the world and all of its peoples.  As the Church finally moved away from the box and toward the outermost ends of the earth, the label Christian seemed to be the label which identified the Jesus people.

 

One of the things with which we struggle in our day is a mindset that declares the Church cannot be so simply understood or described.  Like those first century legalist against which Jesus struggled, we tend to impose our interpretations and opinions upon the life of the Church as if those personal views equal the written Word of God.  There was a day when it seemed to a young Christian that everything was simpler.  Maybe it never was true.  Maybe simple was never the right word.  Maybe it should be.  Just maybe the Word itself is all that is needed to move the church forward.  But, then if such were to happen, labels would have to be forsaken so that folks who are Jesus people would simply be known again as Christians. 

A Great Way to Go

As I have become more and more acquainted with Celtic spirituality, the more it resonates in my spirit.  It is as there has been this part of me that I knew was present, but did not have a way to express it.   For a long time there has been this growing conviction that eternity is so close to earth that it is just beyond sight, but always there behind the "thin veil" which is the language of Celtic spirituality.   Other aspects of it which draw me toward it is the emphasis on the Trinity and the holiness of the earth.  But, one of things which I have really come to appreciate are the prayers and blessings.

 

One of those prayers I find myself repeating at night as I am about ready to drift off into sleep.  It is a simple word which prays, "I lie down this night with God, And God  will lie down with me,  I lie down this night with Christ, And Christ will lie down with me,  I lie down this night with Spirit, And the Spirit will lie down with me, God and Christ and the Spirit Be lying down with me."   Of course, this single prayer cannot take the place of the normal praying we do, but it does serve as something which introduces another dimension that is rich and powerful in its meaning.

 

One of things I have discovered with this prayer which speaks about the presence of the holy in the ordinary moment of sleeping is the way it can be used in so many other things of life.  When we are driving down the road, the prayer can be adapted so that we might pray, "I go down this road with God, and God  goes down this road with me..."  And, the wonder of it is that there is no end to the way this simple prayer can be adapted to remind us that in all our going and in all our doing God, and Christ, and the Spirit are present with us.  What a great way to go!

A Ton of Faith

While it is grace that is more than sufficient for the journey with Christ, it takes a ton of faith to walk the road where He leads.  Grace makes it all possible for us to have a road upon which to put our feet, but it is the act of faith which keeps them in motion once we are enabled by grace to see the road.   If it is true that faith has to do with living in the presence of what cannot be seen, then a ton or two is going to required for us to make it down the road to the place where our home awaits us.

 

What we could never really possibly figure when we started with Christ are all the things which are ahead.  Some of it might have been obvious to us, but most of it falls into the category of the unexpected.  To look back over the years of following Christ is to realize how impossible it would have been for me to know what was ahead down the road and into the years.  And to be honest, if we had some window through which we could look ahead and see all the tough stuff which awaits us, we might very likely turn and try to find another way. 

 

Satan tried to tempt Jesus in this way at the very beginning of His ministry.  The temptations which are recorded shortly after His baptism were not temptations to do the outrageous or terrible things.  Satan surely understood the goals of Jesus and simply sought to offer Him an alternative route to accomplish them.  It is much the same for us as we walk this road of faith in Christ.  The way forward with Jesus can be really hard.  The road often leads us into some places we would not choose to go, into some darkness we would rather avoid, and into some difficulties which seem to be insurmountable.  The tempter seems to walk along with us showing us other paths to take.  It takes a ton of faith to stay on the road trusting that Jesus will get us through even though other options suggest an easier way. 

Not Getting It

As we read the gospels we are often amazed that the disciples did not get it.  Jesus kept saying things to them and it often seemed to simply go over their heads.  While He was talking to them about going to Jerusalem to die, they were pre-occupied with trying to determine who among them was the greatest.  When He was struggling in prayer in those last hours of His earthly life, they could not see the urgency of the hour and went to sleep.  And even after the resurrection, Thomas did not get what had happened even though Jesus had provided a spoiler alert and the rest of those who knew Him as he did told him what Jesus said would happen had happened. 

 

We are those who know the end of the story.  Not a one of us started out this journey of faith without knowing the whole story.  Before we set out we knew the beginning and the end.  It is strange that the end of the journey is often accompanied with an awareness that so much was missed along the way.  And, along with that awareness comes the distinct sense that there is even more to learn and know.  We have missed so much and are likely not going to be able to make it up because the wrong end of the hourglass is filled with too much sand.

As we walk the road ever closer to the end of our journey, we know that we are not really the ones to throw stones at the disciples for failing to get it.  Every now and again as we read the Scripture there comes a moment of such clarity that we cannot believe we have not seen a particular Word in the light we presently see it.  Maybe it is ok that we are like the disciples.  Maybe it is ok that we do not understand today what will be clearly seen tomorrow.  Maybe it is ok since each day we walk with Jesus, we are seeing Him and knowing Him through the window of a new experience never seen or known at any moment in our past. 

Then and Now

It was ten years ago that I wrote my first blog.  Another way of writing about the distance between then and now is to say then was over 1300 blog postings ago.  Had I been told back in 2008 that I would write that many of these things, I would have moved away from the keyboard and declared it too big a task.  And, if it had been necessary to write them all in one day, or one week, or even one year, it would have been impossible.  Fortunately, it was only necessary to write one at a time.

 

Our journey of faith can be understood in much the same way.  In the beginning we had no idea what was going to be ahead.  We could not have imagined the great moments we would share and the tough overwhelming moments we would experience.  Mountain tops and deep valleys are hard to see at the beginning of the journey.  If we make it to tomorrow and the tomorrow afterwards, it will be because of the grace of God and our willingness to walk one step at a time, one day at a time.  Grace sustains us for the journey of faith, but it is our faith in the Giver of grace which keeps us on the road.

 

In the beginning most of us figure moving forward with Christ is "all about me."  It is about those things of the human spirit like determination, and will power, and discipline.  It is about learning the lessons of experience and fortifying ourselves with the spiritual inspiration of others.  As the years slip by us and we see them gathering in a number that we know is far greater than the ones awaiting us, we come to a place of realizing how the journey is more about the Christ who walks ahead of us and with us.  Were He not alongside of us, we would have never made it from then to now.  The road which stretches far ahead He does not allow us to see.  All we can see is where the next foot is to be planted and sometimes not even that far.  And, so we walk knowing only that He is with us and that He has every intention of getting us from then to now and even beyond. 

Where He Leads

When we said "Yes" to Jesus and started the journey, we thought we knew where it was going to take us.  But, the truth is that we really had no idea.  Many of us started out with the illusion that it would take us down a road which would cause us to think that each day was better than the one before it.  To walk with Jesus meant that the way forward was mapped out for us.  After journeying with Christ for a spell, we begin to realize we had not a clue where the road was taking us.  And, we discovered that staying the course was going to require more faith than we ever imagined we could muster.

 

To walk with Jesus for more than just a few days, or a few years, or a few decades is to get a clearer understanding of what it might have been like for Abraham who heard the Lord say, "Go from your country, and your kindred, and your father's house to the land that I will show you."  (Genesis 12:1) and disciples like Philip who heard Jesus say, "Follow me." (John 1:43)  No one replied, "Tell me more," or "Where," instead they just went not knowing where they were going, or what it would mean to go. 

 

Many miles after the first steps it comes to us that the final step on the road will take us home, but everything between then and the now part of our life is unknown.  When we look behind we see that the road already walked had many twists and turns with surprises and disasters that came unexpectedly which causes us to know that the road ahead will be no different. All we can know for sure is that Jesus said, "Come with Me," and we decided to go wherever He chose to lead. 

A Prayer for the Day

Just before Jayber Crow made his departure from Pigeonville College where he was a pre-ministerial student, he experienced a sort of spiritual meltdown.  When this character created by Wendell Berry in his book entitled "Jayber Crow" started seriously reading the New Testament, he ran into things he could not simply ignore.  One of those things impossible for him to ignore was a moment of insight about prayer.  "...I was unsure what it would be proper to pray for, or how to pray for it.  After you have said 'thy will be done,' what more can be said.  And where do you find the strength to pray 'thy will be done' after you see what it means?" 

The prayer which troubled Jayber is one we pray most every week when we gather for worship.  But, then it is also a part of prayer that  we pray more from rote memory than from the heart.  As what we know as "The Lord's Prayer" is reaching toward the "Amen," we speak this word, "Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" into existence.  By that point in the prayer, we are no longer really thinking about what we are praying.  We are on auto pilot and inwardly are moving rapidly toward the place where the prayer is done.  Regardless of its place in the prayer, these words are powerful life changing words.  It is a final petition which declares that we want the will of God to take precedence over anything we might want or think we need.

"Our Father, I pray now for those who read these words.  May each one who passes this way be aware in this moment that prayer has been lifted up in their behalf.  I know, Father God, that those who come this way bring with them troubles which cannot be laid down, loads that are overwhelming, and fears that take away hope.  Bless each one, Father, with Your mercy.  Bless each one, Lord Jesus, with Your love.  Bless each one, Holy Spirit, with Your healing presence.  Bless each one with a deep awareness that the perfect will of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is being worked out in their lives, and so I pray.  Amen."

Thanksgiving

Back in  2013 I read a book entitled "1000 Gifts" by Ann Voskamp.  Actually, I read it once and then again several times.  It was that kind of book.  And while I have not done a re-read recently, I still continue with the "Gratitude Journal" which was an idea that held the book together as well as one which resonated enough with me to give it a try myself.  I know people who journal and that it can be an important spiritual discipline, but my movement in that direction has always been sporadic. 

 

Such is really how I would have to describe the writing I do in my "Gratitude Journal."  Listing things for which we are thankful is what Voskamp encouraged her readers to do.  She listed a thousand in a year.  I have been at it now for over five years and am a long way from that number.  But, still it has brought benefit to my spiritual life.  It has made me more conscious of the many things which are blessings in my life.  One of the things she wrote which I found noteworthy is, "Thanksgiving is the evidence of our acceptance of whatever God gives." 

 

Honesty requires confessing that my life is not yet at that place.  Perhaps, I am moving closer, but I still come to those moments of ranting and raving and hollering out, "Why me?  Why don't You do things differently, Lord?"  Ephesians 5:20 calls us to "give thanks for everything."  Maybe one day I will get to that place where that kind of thanksgiving flows seamlessly out of my spirit, but most days it seems there are still miles to go.  In the meantime I continue writing down those things which bring forth gratitude.  Sometimes now I can even see some things under the dark clouds.  Nothing to brag about.  But, at least I have been given an understanding that there is in everything something for which to be thankful.  I pray one day the head knowledge will become my heart's response. 

Heaven Came Down

Dressed in a head-to-toe white robe she stands there with head and shoulders thrown back.  Both arms are stretched out parallel to the ground beneath her and several blue birds are perched on either arm.  She is not a commanding figure, but then she is only a little under six inches tall.  For six or seven years her home and pedestal has been the tall chest in the corner of the bedroom.  I walk by her going to and from the bed, but have never really seen her....at least not until this morning.

 

This morning I was literally stopped in my tracks as I saw this Willow Tree figurine named "Happiness" for what is surely the first time.  The rising sun was pouring through the bedroom window and the place where she stood was lit up by its  bright blaze.   It first seemed to me that she was embracing the new day and its sun with her arms outstretched and her head thrown back.  And, then, as I took the second look, I saw the perfect shadow she was casting upon the wall behind her. The sun was lighting up her face and behind her was what looked like the place where the One who called Himself the Light of the World died.

 

It was no longer just an ordinary trek from the bed to the kitchen.  I sat down and watched as the sun slipped higher and higher and the bright illuminating light passed over her bringing to close a moment of holy morning glory.  For those fifteen or so minutes, the room was filled with the Holy.  I will never be able to pass by her again without remembering those few minutes when light filled the room and the glory of heaven seemed to invade it.  When some inanimate object is so used to bring the glory of God with all His holiness into our space, it is never seen the same again.  Every morning now as the sun streams in the bedroom window, my opening eyes will be drawn toward her to see if once again heaven has broken in upon the earth. 

A Long History

My history with the Methodist Church is one that spans almost as many years as I have lived.  It started when I was seven years old and my father was buried in a country Methodist Church cemetery.  This small church was accessible only by dirt roads, one of which required driving through a black water branch.  Later we went to a First Church before settling into a small neighborhood church where I was baptized and started Sunday School.  The number of Methodist Churches which have been a part of my life would take all my fingers and toes to count and then some.

 

When I came to  the moment of saying "Yes" to Jesus and hearing a call to preach, it was once again because of the ministry of the Methodist Church.  My marriage was at its altar as was my ordination.  My faith and the faith of my family has been nurtured and sustained over the decades by its ministries.  My life has been filled with going from one of its churches to still another as one of its preachers.  I have always been grateful to be a part of a spiritual tradition that was birthed by John Wesley back in the 18th century.

 

I think often of something Wesley once said,  "I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this undoubtedly will be the case unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they first set out." (‘Thoughts Upon Methodism,’ 1786.)  It seems that words like "doctrine, spirit, and discipline" are little regarded today in a world where compromising opinions take precedence.  While living in the past is a dangerous thing, it is also a dangerous thing to throw away the tradition that has brought us this far.

Down and Up

As we get older, kneeling gets harder.  It is not necessarily the ego which is the issue, but the knees.  Older knees do not work quite like younger knees.  And once older knees get bent and down, getting back up again is another issue altogether.  I always remember an older guy who told me as a younger man, "When I bend over to tie my shoes, I always check around while I am down there to see if anything else needs doing."  As we put on the years, the challenge is not in getting down, but in getting up!

 

Over the years I have watched older people gather around the altar.  Some of them come and stand which is always appropriate, but some insist on kneeling.  More than just a few times, I have felt a need to lean over the altar rail and offer a hand of support while someone was rising.  As I have gotten into the seventh decade, I can appreciate more fully their struggle with desiring to do something and not being able to do it as it was done in earlier years. 

 

What I have witnessed over and over through the years it is the determination of some of the older folks to do what they felt was the right thing to do in terms of expressing their faith even when it was difficult.  I have often been amazed at the way some get to worship while dealing with what seems to be insurmountable troubles while the trouble free find the most flimsy excuse.  I have known folks who hear very little of what is being said, but still come every Sunday because they always have done so.  I remember one older widow who had very little only to give up a subscription to a newspaper so she would have something to give to a missionary.  Let it not be said that those who cannot get up once they get down have nothing to teach the rest of us. 

The Point of Intersection

I must confess to being somewhat like the guy in the old story who fell into a well one night after leaving the local tavern.  By the time he had dug his fingers and toes into the side of the well and pulled himself out, he had as it is sometimes said, "found the Lord."  He became such a devout soul that he went to the tavern, not to drink, but to find others who could hardly walk so he could lead them to the well so they could fall to the bottom and "find the Lord."

 

Now, the way I am like the guy in the story has nothing to do with visits to the local tavern, but instead, has to do with visits to altars.  There is a part of me which wants to believe that if folks can get on their knees at the altar it will make a world of difference in their relationship with God.  Of course, I have been on enough dry runs at the altar to say that an altar trip equates with a stronger spiritual life, but it still seems that it is a good place to start.

 

Kneeling at an altar, or kneeling anywhere if we are seeking to kneel before God, can be a life changing moment.  When we are kneeling, there is nowhere to look but up.  And, if we take a moment to look around we are likely to realize that everyone around us is on the same platform.  An altar is a great equalizer.  In the old days when revivals and altar calls were the norm, people wanting to deal with the sin in their lives gathered on their knees.  And even when kneeling people are not necessarily seeking a first experience with Jesus, they are there because of some unmanageable need in their lives.  It has always seemed that the altar is a place where raw human need and the grace of God intersect which is a good place to be. 

"You Ain't Him!"

Through the years I have knelt at a lot of altars.  Being in a Methodist Church since age seven has meant that there was always one somewhere around.  My first trips to the kneeling place was in a small country church where my father is buried.  I was just a boy then trying to figure out things that were far beyond my years.  Along the way to where I am now, I have knelt at some altars that held several times the number that could have knelt at that first country church.  The length or ornateness of the altar never mattered.  Kneeling people are not usually looking at their surroundings, but in their hearts.

 

I am one of those preachers that always believed more altar time would be a good thing for the church.  As I moved through the years of ministry, preachers started getting shy about preaching invitational sermons and extending "altar calls."  Maybe the assumption was that there were no longer any people in the church who needed to accept Jesus as Savior.  Or, maybe folks were getting what they needed from the counselor's office and the self-help books.  It has always seemed to me that important spiritual work gets done at altars, but if no one invites, getting there becomes too difficult a journey for many to make.

 

It may be too simplistic to say that more trips to the altar would lessen some of the struggles of the church today.  But, then again, more praying is certainly not something that is going to do harm to the church.  One thing is certain.  Our perspective is different when we are viewing the world from our knees.  It also puts us in a position to better realize the truth of what an old friend loved to say to those of us who gathered for a weekly dose of honesty.  "There is a God and you ain't Him!"

The Good Exercise

When I was a boy learning to pray, my regular time of prayer was bedtime.  In the beginning I remember my mother coming and praying with me.  After a time it became such a habit that I started praying at bedtime even though she was not present.  My early praying was done on my knees.  Before getting into bed I would kneel beside it and pray my prayers.  I am grateful for that early beginning and grateful, too, for a church tradition that had altars.  Altars are for kneeling.  Kneeling is good exercise for the soul.

 

Of course, kneeling in prayer is something we do not do so often as adults.  Most of my praying these days is done while sitting instead of kneeling.  Maybe kneeling would make for better praying.  The posture of kneeling is an act that reminds us of who we are and Who is hearing our prayers. There is no place else in our culture where we are encouraged or invited to kneel.  Certainly, there is no other man or woman to whom we would even consider kneeling.  Kneeling is an act of submission.  It is an act that declares that someone else has the authority over us.  It is unfortunate that kneeling has become an anachronism. 

 

I am of that old school that still believes a church is its strongest when its people are on their knees.  We spend too much time in meetings and not enough in praying.  Our obsession with meetings is surely an indicator of who we perceive to be in charge of the church.  It is easy to give lip service to the idea that Christ is the head of the church, but another matter entirely to submit to Him as the One who has the final word.  Perhaps, more times set aside for kneeling would be a healthy discipline for the church as well as for our souls. 

The Wesley Quadrilateral

Trying to figure out what is theologically sound is no easy matter for most of us.  Theology may sound like too big a word for many folks who would like to say it is just a word for preachers, but it is actually a word that has a bearing on all of us seek to live a life of faith in Christ.  Differences in theology have caused bloodshed and disruption in the life of the Church.  These are days when the winds of change are blowing so hard that it seems the church will either make significant changes or be blown away.

 

One of the guiding factors for the denomination that ordained me (The United Methodist Church) has always been something known as the Wesley Quadrilateral which simply means that four things are used to determine sound theology.  Those four elements are Scripture, tradition, reason, and experience with Scripture always holding the trump card.  When these four elements of faith are in alignment, there is a greater likelihood of sound theology and doctrine being at the core of our individual spiritual life as well as the life of the church.

 

We live in a day when experience and the reason birthed by the popular opinion is having a great influence on the shaping of our personal faith and the life of the church.  It is difficult to understand how some would declare common consensus to have such power as to shape what the Word (Scripture) is saying.  It would seem to make more sense for the Word to shape what is regarded as common consensus.  Looking at what we are giving authority is an important matter for each one of us for it is the decision that results in the foundation for our life.

Thin Places

Whenever I have read the story of the resurrected Jesus appearing to the disciples on the evening of Resurrection Sunday, the reference to the locked doors has always directed my view of what was happening  (John 20:11ff.) .  It is interesting how our minds can get locked on one detail to the point that any other possibilities are impossible to see.  Such has been the case all these years.  E. Stanley Jones wrote that the disciples met behind locked doors because they were afraid.  Those called to go into all the world were meeting in secret behind locked doors to keep the world out. 

 

My mind always went to one thing.  Jesus passed through the locked door to get into the room.  Nothing else seemed plausible.  However, in recent days I have been reading a good number of books on Celtic spirituality.  The Celtic tradition has a strong sense that there are thin places in the world. There are places where the veil between earth and heaven is very thin.  While I never knew to call it a part of the Celtic tradition, it has seemed to me for a long time that there was indeed a thin veil between here and there.  During All Saints Day communion it always seemed that we had unseen company at the end of the table that extended just beyond our sight. 

 

Maybe there is another possibility other than the one which points to Jesus passing through a physical door.  Maybe the door was only there because the disciples needed an entrance and an exit.  Could it not be that during that resurrection period Jesus was stepping in and out of that thin veil which separates earth and heaven?  Could it not be that the thin place was in the room and Jesus simply moved from it into the room and then back again?  For the skeptic there is the Transfiguration story and the appearance of Moses and Elijah.  Maybe there was something thin on the mountain besides the air.  Maybe there was a thin place in that room where the disciples gathered and just maybe there are thin places all around us.