A World Without the Cross

When Jesus died on the cross, something happened which changed everything.  Everything that was inevitable was no longer inevitable, only a chosen possibility.  The inevitable is our receiving the consequences for our sins.  The consequences for our sins is separation from God, the One who created us and Who seeks us.  The One Who seeks us seeks us because He loves us; yet, without the cross we would never be able to experience that love which God desires to give and which we so desperately need. 

 

Without the cross there is no way for us to reconciled to God.  Without the cross we are forever separated from the One we must have in our life to live.  The Psalmist expresses this for us as he prays what we find in the 51st Psalm.  "For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.  Against You, You alone, have I sinned...Do not cast me away from Your presence..."  The separation from God which David feared is a thing to be greatly feared.  When we sin and the inevitable separation takes place there is nothing we can do to make things right again.  Once separated from God, there is nothing we can do to restore that relationship.

If there was no cross that inevitable separation would be eternal with no hope of again being at one with God.  It is the cross, the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for our sins, which provides a way out that human predicament caused by our choosing to sin against God.  It is the way God has planned and prepared for us.  There is no other way.  We choose the cross and the One who died there for us, or we choose to live forever separated from the God for Whom our soul desperately longs. 

 

Preaching the Cross

In another place in another time in my life when I was pastoring a church, Holy Week showed up on the calendar.  The custom in that community was what is done in many places across this area.  Churches in the community all came together each day during Holy Week for a noon day service and lunch.  The preaching was assigned and topics were set up by the local Ministerial Association.  The preacher on Friday was to preach on a text that focused on Jesus's suffering and death on the cross.  When the meal was done, the preacher announced, "No one wants to hear about all that suffering and death stuff.  I am going to preach about Easter!"  And off he went.

 

I most likely raised my "it's not proper" eyebrows and set my auto pilot on "endure it,"  but, the truth is all of us would rather talk about Easter than Good Friday.  After all, how many people show up for Good Friday worship?  And, how many show up for Easter morning?  However, it is not just the people who show up which is an indicator of how no one wants to dwell on the cross because there is little preaching today which causes those who hear to linger under the shadow of that awful instrument of death where Jesus died for us.  In a church with a "feel good" theology, there is hardly any room for too much about the cross.  It is not a comfortable place, but a convicting place.

 

If the cross is preached seriously, there is going to be preaching about sin in our hearts.  If the cross is preached and taken seriously, people will hear preaching which is persuasive and not entertaining.  If the cross is taken seriously, both preacher and people will see it not just as a sign of God's love, but a sign that desperate action had to be taken to bring us back from the brink of being eternally separated from God and everything that is good and holy.  If the cross is taken seriously, it will be preached and preached until people like you and me start hearing the message about deliverance from our sins and doing something about it. 

Uncomfortable in the Presence

After the meal, Jesus led His disciples out of the room made holy by broken bread and poured out wine.  The meal shared was the Passover, but before it was over Jesus took bread and wine and pointed them toward the sacrifice He was going to make for them before the next sun had set.  Of course, they missed what He was saying to them.  As Luke tells the story, they were still arguing about who among them was the greatest.  On to the Mount of Olives went Jesus with the disciples trailing along behind Him, still grumbling.  While He prayed with every ounce of energy in His soul, the disciples fell asleep.  As He woke them, Judas and the soldiers came and the ordeal of Good Friday began.

 

The church has through the centuries remembered the events of this day known as Maundy Thursday through worship services, enactments of some of the events, and the sharing of Holy Communion.  It is a day rich in liturgical possibilities and one that can easily overwhelm the senses of anyone who comes with a mind and heart that is open to what God has done for us through His Son.  One of the events often experienced is the Stripping of the Sanctuary, a moment where all liturgical symbols are removed as darkness settles over the Sanctuary.  It is not uncommon to hear the sounds of weeping as the darkness comes and the awareness of what Christ has done for us begins to soak into the soul.

 

Sometimes we want to run from strange worship services that we do not understand, or that are not a part of the way we normally worship.  It is unfortunate that some stay away from such services because it makes them uncomfortable.  Being uncomfortable in the presence of a working Holy Spirit should not be a surprise.  It should be expected.  Who among us should not be uncomfortable in the powerful presence of the Holy?

Short Time

If you knew your time on this earth was short, very short, as in two days, what would you do?  As we mark Wednesday of Holy Week, we are aware as Jesus must have  been aware that His time was short.  When He came into Jerusalem on Sunday, He knew He was living on short time.  On Wednesday He knew it was even shorter.  Two days.  By Wednesday the reality of the cross was surely looming large in the eyes of this One sent from God.  He was nearing the end of this earthly journey that had started out only a few years earlier in Bethlehem.

 

What He did on this Wednesday was to draw away from all the turmoil which was swirling around Him.  He did not even go into Jerusalem as He had for the last three days.  He intentionally avoided the conflict.  Tradition tells us that He spent the day quietly out of the city and away from the dark storm which was gathering.  With the toughest of times ahead, He sought the presence of the Father who had sent Him.  It would be from Him that He would receive any final confirmation needed to send Him forward with confidence.  If going to the cross represented the Father's bidding, and He knew such was true, then He would go with certainty that all would be well.

 

Tough times are going to come to all of us.  The toughest of times will come to all of us.  It is inevitable.  And while living right each day means that we are preparing all along for those times, there is wisdom in drawing apart for time in the presence of the Father God when we can see the storm clouds gathering before us.  There are some things we cannot endure alone.  Such is how we were created.  But, we were also created to be accompanied by the Holy Spirit who has the promise of the Father that we shall get through the darkness.

Undermining People

Those who sought out Jesus on that Tuesday before the cross may have been religious, but they were not really listening for an invitation to become one of His disciples.  They were sure no one could match them in their understanding of theology and the ways of God.  The fact that others saw Jesus as more in touch with God than them was a thorn in their collective ecclesiastical flesh.  When they came at Jesus that day with all their challenging questions, they were not only seeking something they could use to label Him a heretic, but they were also seeking to undermine Him in the eyes of those who followed Him.

 

We sometimes want to soften the words of Jesus.  We want to present them in a way which lessens the possibility that someone who is listening will be offended.  How many times have we heard ourselves saying, "Well, that is not what Jesus was saying.." as if we were experts in reading  the Words of Jesus as well as His mind.  In such moments we are like those Tuesday challengers of Jesus.  We join the ranks of those who seek to undermind and declare Him not One to be trusted.

It is not a position we set out to take, but whenever we cast doubt on the Words of Jesus in order to appease someone else, we become one of the undermining people.  As a disciple of Jesus, we are to live with unconditional obedience to Him.  As a disciple we live with an uncompromising and unchangeable belief that Jesus really speaks truth about God and humanity.  Understanding everything He says and knowing why He said it is not necessary.  All that is required is trust.  Nothing more and nothing less.

A Holy Uprooar

When Jesus went into the Temple that Monday and threw everything into a holy uproar, He touched an economic nerve which was more than the religious authorities could stand.  They had put up with His disregard for their rituals.  They had struggled in their theological debates.  They had argued with His interpretations of Scripture.  What He did in the Temple was the last straw.  It was the intolerable act.  Money was the issue that Monday.  The religious authorities had allowed the House of Prayer to be turned into a profitable enterprise for everyone who was corruptible and they were some of them.

 

We can only wonder what He would think of today's church.  Today's church is much like the pre-Reformation church.  Money drives it.  It would seem that something spiritual would be the driving force for today's institutionalized church, but the bottom line has become a line item on a financial spread sheet.  Perhaps, in the beginning the local church was driven by sharing Jesus and inviting others to Jesus, but what pushes the church forward today is the amount of money it can raise and spend on itself.  If this seems harsh, look at a church budget see how much of the money given to it is actually used on some mission enterprise which gives no financial benefit to the institutional church.

 

Churches are measured today not by the number of baptisms, but by its wealth, by its building program, and the size of the Sunday morning congregation.   The church pats itself on its back when it achieves success as success is determined by the secular community.  If Jesus threw over a few tables because of the way the spiritual mission of the sacred community had been corrupted, nothing would be upright within today's sacred spaces. 

Obedience

When a new preacher comes to town, there is no end to the kind words.  Even before time has allowed enough to pass for the preacher to prove himself, it is assumed that he or she is the best thing since buttered bread.  I remember one place it was a bit different.  The church was going through a rough time and one woman said to me, "These people are expecting you to be a messiah and you better be it."  The one who had preached in that place before me had been crucified upon his departure and I knew the cross, hammer, and nails had only been put away, not forgotten.

 

When Jesus arrived in the Jerusalem that final Sunday of his life, He knew what was waiting for Him.  There were no end to the words of praise thrown His way as He entered the city.  The crowd was energized to crown Him King.  The religious authorities were not in His corner, but so many of the common folk were that those who held the power feared to act.  However, Jesus was not taken in by those who praised Him.  He knew the hammer and nails waited and that some of those who called for Him to be King would be calling for Him to die.

 

To read the story of Jesus is to realize that He went into the city fully aware of what was going to happen.  The only concern He had was obedience to the will of the Father.  He was not concerned about how many liked Him and much they would support Him.  What obedience required was for Him to give His life, not to have it taken from Him.  When the preacher or those who sit in the pews allow something other than obedience to God to become the issue, turmoil ensues.  Maybe even crucifixions.

 

Discard Coincidences

If we want to experience God daily in the ordinary moments of life, then we must discard the possibilities of coincidences.  After all, do we believe in coincidence, or do we believe in God?  Is life about chance and whimsical circumstance, or is it about a divine Spirit who leads us into the future God has planned for us?  If there is room for coincidence in our life, then we have made the mistake of those ancient Hebrews who tried to worship at two altars.  It is always one or the other.

 

Coincidences are not discarded as a matter of logical thinking, but as something which is worked out quietly over a long period of time in the moments when we sit silently with God.  In such moments we begin to understand that God is about some important stuff in our world and for some strange reason He has chosen to partner with folks who are no more dependable than you and me.  Not only does He desire us as partners in holy work, but He longs for us to daily make ourselves available to Him for whatever it is that He would choose for the two of us to  do.

 

When we intentionally declare ourselves available for whatever it is that He wants to do with us and through us, we start seeing life unfolding before us in a powerfully different way.  We find ourselves walking into moments when it is clear that we are being given the opportunity to  make a difference in some situation or in someone's life.  Sometimes this reality is experienced as we become the one who does whatever it is that He wants done and sometimes we find that we have become the recipient of some act of kindness another is being led to offer.  God does not engineer coincidences, He puts people together in such a way that a holy moment is experienced.  Watch for them.  And, walk into them.

Re-Thinking

When I was doing the work of a pastor and preacher, it was easy to see myself as one who was in a partnership with God.  When retirement came and life on a farm became the norm, everything seemed different.  While the call to ministry was not just for a certain number of years to be turned off at a certain point, it took some time to learn to see myself as one who was still a partner.  The other day when the last cow came out of the chute after her meeting with the local cow guru who did the A-I work (Artificial Insemination), I had an unexpected moment of affirmation as one still in that partnership which has been a part of my life for all these years.

 

What I have experienced here on the farm is a different kind of partnership.  As the cow left the chute, I somehow felt like one who had a hand in God's work of creating new life.  There have been other times when a crop of pecans was gathered, or a field of hay was baled and I sensed that I was a partner with God in caring for the earth.  What I have learned is that a farm is a great place for sensing that what I do is partnership work with the One who called me to such a life way back when I was too young to understand what was ahead.

 

All of who trust in God and seek to live according to His plan for us are partners with Him.  We partner in doing such things as feeding the hungry, offering care to the sick, being responsible for the physical stuff entrusted to us, and even the nitty gritty work of family life.  None of us, no matter what our station and position, are outside the realm of living as a partner with God entrusted with doing some stuff which is important to Him.

Our Side of the Fence

I remember well looking down the back fence line of the pasture as I was leaving the farm.  It is a habit developed over the years.  I came back on the farm about ten minutes later and across that same fence line was the top of a tree which had fallen in some gust of wind.  Around the tree top which had pushed down the fence were all the cows in the pasture.  All ten of them had gathered there to see if there was not some way for them to get to the other side of the fence.  Now, their side of the fence had the hay, the beginnings of grass, water, mineral block, and dust bag.  Everything they needed was on their side of the fence, but all they wanted was to be on the other side.

 

Sometimes I see too much of humanity mirrored in these bovine creatures that inhabit the pasture down in front of the house.  It would seem they would be content with life as they had it, but give them a glimpse of something on the other side of the fence and they are ready to go.  Many of our problems are bred by our own inability to be content with what is on our side of the fence.  The Apostle Paul points us to a way of life that is difficult for many of us as he wrote to the Philippian Christians, "I have learned to be content with whatever I have.  I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty...." (Philippians 4:11-12)

 

Too much of our life is about striving.  Too much is about wanting more when we have enough.  Too much of life is spent in seeking something which will surely give us happiness.  Too much of life is spent in pursuing the illusion that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.  God has put us where we are.  The reason we cannot be content with where we are and what we have has to do with our trust in Him.  We look to the other side of the fence because we do not trust Him to provide what we need on our side of the fence. 

In Need of Teaching

It should surprise no one that the disciples were overwhelmed by the prayer life they saw modeled through the life of Jesus.  What we see in the pages of the gospel is surely more like the tip of the iceberg.  The disciples found him gone in the morning before the sun came so that He could pray.  They knew it spent large chunks of time with the Father in heaven.  They heard His prayers.  They were embarrassed with themselves by sleeping when told to pray for their own good.  Steeped in a religious tradition that placed a high value on prayer, they no doubt felt like novices.

 

It is no wonder there came that moment when they said to Jesus, "Lord, teach us to pray as John taught his disciples."  (Luke 11:1)  Some of them had been disciples of John before coming to Jesus and they knew what they had learned, though good, was not enough.  There was still more to learn.  It is a place that most of us have come in our own spiritual journey.  Like many others, I have prayed much.  Perhaps, not nearly enough, but it has always been a part of my spiritual lifestyle.  And like many, I have read more than my share of books on prayers and have learned much from them.

 

However, it does not take much to realize I am a long way from graduation.   Today while reading there was a brief word about prayer which caused me to painfully realize that I have such a long way to go.  I keep coming to those moments of feeling that my prayer life needs a personal revival.  My prayers today seem to be too much like the ones offered yesterday and last week.  It is so easy to let the routine part of my prayer life become like a wagon which only goes forward in the ruts made from yesterday.  There are moments when I just feel a need to cry out toward heaven, "Lord, forgive me and, please, keep teaching me to pray.  Amen."

A Slithery Story

If some of those folks who went with Moses from Egypt to Canaan had been United Methodists, there never would have been a need for God to tell Moses to make a bronze serpent in the wilderness.  The story of those slithery snakes who came at the call of God to punish the Hebrews for their sins is told in the 21st chapter of Numbers.  Had their been some United Methodists around, they would have created a committee to figure out what to do and then sent out a "mission team" like group with big sticks to beat those snakes back into the bushes.  Ah, but God did not have any United Methodists.  He had something else in mind.

 

What is interesting about the story and something often missed is that even after the bronze serpent was made and set up on a pole for the snake bitten people to look for healing,  the snakes still slithered around and in and out of the camp.  They did not disappear.  Verse 9 of that chapter says, "...when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze serpent they lived."  The assumption is that even after the means for healing and wholeness was provided, people would still be bitten.

 

How true it is that trouble always seems to lurk around us.  Some of it may not be much more than an inconvenience, but some of it is life threatening.  We know God as the source of our healing and wholeness.  We know Jesus as the One who delivers us from our sin.  We know where to look for our Helper, Our Healer, Our Deliver.   But, it is only when we make the final journey into the valley of death that we shall no longer see trouble and danger and difficulty around us.  In the midst of our trouble, our Deliver can be seen, not on a bronze pole, but on a wooden cross. 

A Time

It was one of those perfect afternoons.  High above white clouds raced across the canopy of blue which covered the farm; yet, down among the pecan trees, hardly a breeze could be felt on a face warmed by the Spring sun.  As I stood there aware of my small place in this moment of serendipity, the cows out in the pasture caught my attention.  They had given up grazing and settled down on the earth to chew their cud.  It was a picture of rest and peace.  Suddenly, my mind went to a most familiar part of the Scripture which says, "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven."  (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

 

Cows spend most their day working.  Their work is eating grass and hay.  But, they also know when to stop their grazing and settle down, get still, and bring up that food from one of their stomachs to chew on it some more.  Watching made me think about myself and others who are like me.  We do not always practice the wisdom of these bovine creatures.  We forget that rest is a part of the order to which we were created.  We rush and hurry, seldom stop, and call it living.

 

Maybe it is a kind of living, but it is not the living we were created to do.  We were created for seasons of rest, times of quietness, moments when we realize who we really are, and Who it is that is providing for us.  To replay the mantra for these days of my life, we were created to pay attention to where we are and who is with us.  When we rush through our life forgetting to chew our cud, we miss out on something as necessary for our soul as air is to our body. 

In the Belly of a Big Fish

When I finished High School in 1966, I went to the summer session at Young Harris College which put me a quarter ahead.  Thus, instead of finishing at the end of Spring quarter 1968, I finished at the end of Winter quarter.  Since YHC was a junior college, I had to make a decision about going to another college to get my degree.  While it may sound strange to some, I felt strongly that God was leading me to Asbury College in Kentucky.  So, I went to Georgia Southern College.  I did not want to go to Asbury so my Georgia Southern quarter was my "Jonah in the belly of the big fish" experience.  I had the best academic quarter of my college years, but was miserable so in the fall of 1968 I went kicking and complaining to Asbury College in Kentucky.

 

I cannot imagine how my life would have been had I not made the decision to choose obedience even though it was not what I wanted.  I met the woman I would marry.  I was present and transformed by the Asbury Revival of 1970.  Those two things alone greatly shaped both my personal life as well as my spiritual life.  Those two years at Asbury prepared me for the future in ways I am not sure would have happened in any other place.  God knew what he was doing when He started pushing me in that direction.

 

I sometimes wonder how many times I have missed the leading of God.  Some of those moments are rather obvious, but I suspect there are far many more that I just missed because my heart was bent on going in a different direction.  God leads us throughout our life, but He never pushes to the point that we cannot choose to say "No."  Always He respects our choices.

Strategic Moments

History classrooms seemed like a waste to some, but not for me.  History classrooms are filled with the names of important people, dates to be remembered, and a host of details.  It is always interesting to read history with current day hindsight which illuminates the way certain events from the past gave direction to the future.  It is also interesting to remember our own history through such a lens and realize the way certain moments were strategic in getting us where we are.

 

How did we get to where we are?  How did we get from Point A to Point Whatever?  Would life have been different had some of those moments been different?  Would a different history have sent our life in a different direction?   As we reflect with this looking glass which sees the past, we see the importance of our choices.  A different choice in a particular moment would likely mean a different moment in our present.

 

But, another thing we surely see is the shaping and directing hand of God.  He, too, had a plan for our life to which He has always been seeking to take us.  His plan may, or may not be, as specific as the place we end up living as it is with the way we spend the energy of our lives.  To look back is to see strategic moments when He began to take us in the direction of living in such a way that our lives count for the cause of the Kingdom.  This look behind also makes us to see that even in the moment of wrong choices, He still persists in leading us to the place where our life becomes something other than a wasted trip.  God does not give up on us.

Railroad Track Words

During the years between the death of my father and my mother's re-marriage five years later, we lived in Waycross, Georgia.  The first few months we lived in a duplex under the shadow of a nearby city water tank and only a few blocks away from the railroad tracks.  Back then Waycross was a major rail center and tracks went out of town in every direction.  No matter how affluent the neighborhood, those trains rumbling along the tracks could be heard.   Even after we moved on the edge of town, a nearby track provided trains noises all through the night.

 

Back then the common warning about train crossings was "Stop.  Look.  Listen."  I came across those words a few days ago in a book written by Frederick Beuchner entitled, "The Remarkable Ordinary."  There is a line in his book which says, "Stop, look, listen--a lot I think.  I think in a sense that is what Biblical faith is saying, almost before it says anything else.  Stop, and look, and listen."  In the case of a railroad crossing, it is a life saving word.  Maybe, just maybe, it is really no different in our spiritual lives.

 

What we usually would think is that the most important part of our daily spiritual discipline is what we do.  Things like keeping a set time, or maintaining a certain order, or reading chunks of the Word are the things deemed important to our spiritual health.  Who would think that just being aware of what is around us and who, sometimes Who, is speaking to us are the things of real value?  Certainly, it is a harder discipline for us to embrace than the ones which keep us going full speed ahead. 

Spiritual Spontaneity

Our aim in the spiritual life is to live spontaneously.  Some say spontaneous living is the only way to go.  Let the wind take us where it will.  No thinking is necessary.  Just act.  Marketing people count on this as they put all those candy bars at the check out counter in stores.  And, of course, those same candy bars are but a small indicator of why some say spontaneous living is not a good thing.  It is better to let rational planned thought guide our actions. 

 

However, spiritual spontaneity is one of our aims in the spiritual life.  What we want as a believer in Christ is to engage the world and the opportunities it affords us with the spirit of Jesus.  As a boy I read Charles Sheldon's book entitled "In His Steps."  It espoused the modern version of the WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) movement.  The only problem with this way of life is that it requires a rational thought process that weighs the pro and con of a certain response.  It speaks more of what I can do than what the Holy Spirit wants to do through me.

The Holy Spirit seeks to do the work of inner transformation in our spiritual lives.  He seeks to make us after the image of the heart of Christ.  He seeks to do heart work which changes the way we view the world.  He seeks to enable us to respond to the world in a spontaneous way as we follow His leading in our daily living.  We become the hands and feet and the heart of Jesus as we allow Him to do His work in us.  We live spontaneously.

Fruity People

The value of spiritual disciplines is not short term.  While there may be some value today to the spiritual discipline of the morning, the real value is not known so much in the present as it is in what is to come.  Spiritual disciplines have cumulative value.  The value experienced personally is amplified as the practice becomes more a part of our lifestyle instead of just something done every now and again.  Even as habits do not create a new way of doing things overnight, so it is with these things we call spiritual disciplines.

 

It makes more sense to think of spiritual disciplines as those things which produce spiritual fruit in us.  They have a way of transforming the inner being so that outwardly something new is eventually expressed.  As we read the 15th chapter of John and hear Jesus teaching, we hear Him saying, "I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit..."  (John 15:5)  This is the season around here for realizing that fruit is not produced suddenly.  This is the season of pruning.  It is the season of watching fruit trees bud.  It is the season of watching as small nuggets of fruit start appearing.  But, it is not the season of harvesting fruit.  It is months away.  It takes time and the blessing of divine and human care.

 

The fruit spiritual disciplines produce do not show themselves suddenly.  It takes time for things like "...love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control..." (Galatians 5:22) to be produced in our lives.  Our spiritual goal is to live as one who knows the abiding presence of Christ.  Spiritual disciplines point us toward that goal, but no single act at any single time is all that is needed.  The value of spiritual disciplines is not short term.

Blessing the Land

Not far from where I live is a coastal community which has an annual community event known as "The Blessing of the Fleet."  This religious service which is highly publicized brings in a large crowd and provides a blessing on the shrimpers who have been going out from that place for decades.  Just up the road a piece from our place is a blueberry farmer who also has a formal religious service every year to bless the land and the crop he grows on it.  And recently I saw a poster promoting a community wide "Blessing of the Land" service as a prelude for the Spring planting.  Hebrews 6:7 was printed on the poster.  "Ground that drinks up the rain falling on it repeatedly, and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God."

 

As one who has gotten more in touch with the land and those who work to earn a living from it, I have come to realize what a great act of faith these farmers make every year as they throw seed into the ground.  It is risky business.  Even with all the technology, even with all the irrigation systems, and even with the most modern equipment, growing a crop from the ground is an act of faith.  So many things can go wrong and the one who plants the seed know it better than most. 

 

Asking God to bless the land is an act which expresses the partnership which exist between the One who created and owns the land and the ones who manage and care for it.   Anyone who puts their hand in the dirt for a while and considers how the food on the table comes from the earth knows that something miraculous is taking place.  Perhaps, there is no better way to express gratitude for the food we eat than to share in these services of blessing which acknowledge the supremely important role of the Creator.

A Newsletter Note

Today while reading the newsletter of the "Unto the Least of His"  ministry, I saw a short picture and note about a man named David Law and his contributions to the mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  It brought back a memory of another man named Law who was David's Father.  Burleigh Law was a Methodist missionary who lost his life in 1964 as he tried to rescue five missionary families being held captive by rebels in that country's civil war.  He was shot and killed as he landed his plane in a rescue attempt.  All this happened in 1964.  I was in high school and remember the story from those days. 

 

Few people today would know the name Burleigh Law.  Perhaps, this is why I felt such a compulsion to call it again in this blog posting.  At first it might seem that this missionary was simply a courageous man to do what he did.  No doubt this true, but what surely compelled him to go, knowing that he could lose his life, was his faithfulness to the call he heard from Christ when he was a much younger man.  He was not the first to become a martyr for his faith in Christ and, certainly, he is not the last.  Somehow it simply is important today to remember him, his sacrifice, and his faithfulness to Jesus.

 

Anyone who says "Yes" to Jesus is saying "Yes" to whatever.  None of us know where the road leads as we start out following Him.  Most of us are not led down a road that literally leads to our physical death, but if we are obedient, we will do some dying along the way.  We will find ourselves being called to live as if dead to some things so that we can be made alive in a way that speaks of what Christ wants to do in us.  As Burleigh Law surely understood, it is not an easy way, but it is the only way we can go if we are truly serious about following Jesus. 

Gratitude

When I watch us eat, I sometimes wonder if we said the blessing.  Oh, I know we say a most sufficient table blessing on Thanksgiving and other times when the larger extended family gathers, but I wonder about those meals I see us eating with two or three big bites on the way to somewhere that is surely more important than eating.  Too many of us have forgotten that meals are to be enjoyed and not just devoured.  The way we eat so many of our hurried meals hardly speaks of an attitude of thanksgiving "for the food we are about to eat."  Neither does it speaks of thanks "for the hands that have prepared it."

 

Some years ago I read an author who suggested that we have not really expressed gratitude for the food we eat until we take a leisurely moment to look back down the food chain and see those who have brought it to our table.  As we glance back we are likely to see someone on hands and knees working in the dirt.  If we are not careful we may miss the people who rise early in the morning and come back after dark to make sure the cows are milked so we can enjoy all those dairy products.  The food we eat is touched by farmers, food processers, truck drivers, warehouse workers, grocery store clerks and a host of people who spend long days getting some food to folks like you and me.

 

It seems like such ingratitude to devour a meal without giving any thought to the real cost of eating it.  We simply are a take it for granted consumer society.  We have a right to our bread and chicken fingers. How it gets to us and how many go to bed at night exhausted because of their labors is no concern of ours.  All we want is our food and we want it now.  A grateful heart is good for the stomach.  "Lord, have mercy. Forgive me for thinking it is all about me.  Amen."

All Around

It happens every now and again as I walk around or work on this farm which has been our home in these eight years of retirement.  What happens is that I run across something someone before me  has left on the ground.  I remember an old rusted gate hinge which showed up as it started breaking the surface of the ground down in the pasture where there is no gate.  On another day there was a long section of fence wire which I found just beneath the ground as I was pulling weeds from around a pecan tree.  And, only a few days ago as I was working in the blueberry patch up from the ground came a Bud Light bottle cap. 

I knew no one had enjoyed a beer where I was working for at least the past eight years.  Of course, I have not been here every minute and anything is possible, but it is more likely that someone long before we got here stood near the place I was kneeling opened a bottle and threw the cap on the ground.  While all these finds may not mean much to most folks, it reminds me that others have walked and tended this ground long before me.  It makes me want to look over my shoulder to see who might be watching me from the past.  And, it also makes me wonder what I might be leaving for someone of a still-to-come generation to find.

Life, like land, has a transient nature.  The Scripture teaches us to number our days and to remember that life is fleeting.  Where I have walked others have walked before me.  And some will walk after me.  It is the nature of our living.  And on those days when I look over my shoulder trying to see into the past, I am reminded to look ahead for glimpses of the great crowd of witnesses gathered in the heavenly place.  We are connected to both and both speak of who we are.

Over and Done

In each of the three situations, it was over and done in a matter of minutes.  The first was with a check out clerk at a grocery store.  Between checking out the groceries and waiting on the check reader, she told me how she made it here from Florida and how it was impacting her family.  The second encounter came as I was paying a bill at the utility company and I overheard the person next to me telling the woman behind the counter she was eight dollars short.  And, then in another place, as money was exchanging hands with the convenience store clerk, she told me that she had been out of work a few days because her mother had died.

 

Chance encounters?  Random conversations?  No, I think of another explanation.  Sometimes God puts us into brief moments with other people.  Maybe the moment has within it an answer to a prayer that has been prayed.  Or, maybe it is a moment for being blessed.  Or, maybe God brings two strangers together for a brief moment for reasons unknown and, perhaps, even unrecognized by either one.  While this is not the first time such has happened, I found myself remembering these moments as times for which preparation is done in time previously spent quietly in the presence of God.

In these over and done moments there is no time for doing a lot of thinking about possible responses.  There is not even time to be surprised.  It is over as quickly as it started.  It is simply a brief moment to which God brings us.  He knew about it.  He planned it.  It may surprise us, but not Him.  And, if we paid attention while we with Him in our quiet time, we might realize with some hindsight how He was preparing us for that single moment of expressing a caring heart.  Such is the only explanation which really makes sense. 

Beggars All

My sister recently told me a story about her experience feeding deer that visited in her yard.  In the beginning there were two that showed up.  No big deal. So, she fed them. Next thing she knew there were ten coming for the feast.  At this point she decided to close the buffet.  The question we were talking about as she told the story had to do with the way animals seem to know stuff and the way they let the others know about it.  Seems like one deer tells another where there is easy and convenient food.

 

It made me think about an old definition of evangelism which said,  "One beggar telling another beggar where there is food."  It is a simple enough definition of an important spiritual discipline, but unfortunately the deer seem to do it better.   Maybe we have lost the realization that we are beggars, or if we want to use the Biblical term, sinners.  Maybe we have gotten so accustomed to having plenty and feeling good about ourselves that we no longer look in the mirror and see a sinner who is keenly dependent on God's grace.  And an even bigger concern is the possibility that we do not understand the supreme importance of the salvation offered through Christ on the cross.

 

The church no longer seems to be filled with folks who think of themselves as sinners with a desperate need for Jesus.  When we lost sight of this basic fundamental about ourselves, we no longer saw the need to bring others because everyone around us seems to be doing ok as well.  Ah, this theology of doing ok and feeling good.. it is surely, along with good intentions, a part of the road that leads to Hell. 

The New Silence

Since retirement I have been experiencing life out of the office and on a small farm.  I have moved from looking at the daily calendar to looking at the seasons and the weather day to day.  I have become aware that there is not as much noise in my life as there used to be.  Actually, I have become aware that there is a new silence all around me.  It is not an absolute silence, but it is a quietness never before heard.

 

In the new quietness I find myself taking note of things to which I had never really paid attention.  When an airplane drones overhead, I stop and look for it.  I hear birds singing as well the crows announcing their presence.  I hear the two wind chimes we have hanging on pecan trees.  I know the sound of grass being torn as the cows allow me to stand alongside of them while they are grazing.  I know the sound of the dog's feet as she runs behind me to catch up.  When I hear the sound of chickens cackling, I now know what that fuss is all about.  And whenever a car comes slowly up the dirt road, I hear the sounds of tires on dirt long before I hear the roar of the engine.

 

I am beginning to understand the reason why silence and quietness is a necessary thing in our spiritual life.  We need a moment for hearing the things never before heard.  We need to learn to pay attention to what might be heard that we have been missing because of our hurrying lifestyle.  I am convinced that God is in our quietness.  He rambles about in the silence.  In the quiet silence, He seeks to be heard.  "Lord, give me ears to hear.  Amen."

Working At It

"Lectio Divina"  is a spiritual discipline not suited for everyone.  It requires a commitment to slowing down which is a major roadblock for many who seek to journey with Christ.  It also involves believing that the voice of God can still be heard.  And, those who dip into the deep waters of this spiritual discipline will have to learn how to listen for that divine voice.  While it is a discipline which has been practiced for a long time, it is not for the fainthearted.

 

It is interesting that we want more of God in our life, but not at a "whatever the cost."  When we talk about wanting more of God, we are usually talking about having what we want without any inconvenience or delay or work.  The truth is any relationship is work.  None of them work out if we are only interested in doing the relationship thing when it is convenient and easy for us.  Those kind of relationships do not work out.  We only have to look behind to us to how this is true.

 

It is not any different with the relationship we say we are seeking with God.  It will not come if we are only willing to pursue it when it is convenient or easy.  It is always important that we show up.  To grow deeper in this relationship of faith means meeting with God at an hour appointed.  It may be morning or night, but there must be a time set aside for Him, or the relationship we have is not going anywhere except where it is.  For some "Lectio Divina"  sounds like too much effort.  For others it sounds like a breath of fresh air that gives hope for life once again. 

Read, Reflect, Respond, REST

Sometimes we wonder where things come from that enter into our mind and seem to latch onto the old gray matter.  Perhaps, seeing something brings to the surface some buried and forgotten memory.  And, other times, the Spirit who dwells within us leads us down a spiritual journey not anticipated.  So, it was that I found myself thinking about God creating and resting on the seventh day.  I found myself wondering if He spent the time sitting, experiencing, and being midst the creation.  And if He rested midst the creation on that seventh day, did He listen, watch, and feel the glory of the created order which was all around Him?

Maybe such a reflection came from thinking about "Lectio Divina."  After the reading comes the reflection and after the reflection comes the responding and after the responding comes the resting.  The final part of this spiritual discipline, the resting, is not about nodding, or sleeping.  It is about being.  The first three parts bring us to this final place where sitting quietly in the silence of the room as well as in the silence of our heart is what we do.  It is the moment for listening for the Voice.  It is the moment where He is given free reign to do or say whatever.  It is a moment emptied of expectations.  It is a moment filled with anticipation of Presence.

Of all the movements of "Lectio Divina" this may be the hardest for it is the most unnatural for us.  It is also the final part of the discipline which might lend itself to hurrying so we can get on to whatever it is that may be starting to press in upon us.  However, more than at any point, it is imperative that we simply breathe in and out and refuse the spirit of hurry to drive us prematurely to the moment of being with God.  Being with God is not a moment we want to miss.   

Read, Reflect, RESPOND, Rest

After reading a portion of the Word and discovering the point of reflection, we are ready for the next part of the spiritual discipline known as "Lectio Divina."   While it is not quite as simple as moving from one step to another, there is a definite movement within this particular discipline.  What we are searching for in the beginning is the Word God wants us to hear and experience.  Once this has happened, responding to Him is but a natural part of our progression toward Him.

 

After the reading and the reflection comes the response.  What will surely be discovered is that there is nothing predictable about it.  As we begin with "Lectio Divina"  it is impossible to know how we are going to be responding to what God is revealing to us because there is no way to know in the beginning the direction the reading and the reflection will take us.  It may be that we are gripped by a deep sense of sorrow.  It may be that the reflection takes us to joy and a spirit of celebration.  Or, perhaps, our response will be guided by a sense that God is leading us into some new territory where we are called to let go of ourselves in a deeper way. 

 

Instead of speaking to God through the language of our normal prayer ritual, or going over the list of prayer concerns we normally present to Him, we are enabled by the Holy Spirit to respond according to the mood or the spirit He has created in us.  It does not matter if our response is repentance or praise, it is where we have been taken by the Spirit instead of going where we would choose to go.  As we practice "Lectio Divina"  we are more likely to hear ourselves responding according to the heart of God than echoing the prayers we often offer. 

 

 

 

 

Read, REFLECT, Respond, Rest

When we moved from work to retirement eight years ago, we moved to a farm and started tending a few cows.  I had a lot to learn.  The grass they eat is swallowed, goes into one of four stomachs, and is pushed back up for them to chew on again.  When cows are sitting down on their haunches working their jaws up and down, they are chewing their cud.  They seem to do this endlessly.  Cow ruminate, they chew their cud.

So, when "Lectio Divina"  speaks of reading and then reflecting, as in the sense of ruminating, I have a great visual.  This spiritual discipline starts with reading a short portion of Scripture and then becoming focused on a much smaller part of it, like a phrase, or word.  After the focus becomes clear, the next step is the reflection, as in the ruminating.  It is like taking in a small amount of spiritual food and sitting with it, chewing on it again and again, and then swallowing it so that it can provide life giving nutrients for the soul.  Reflection does not require a commentary or footnotes from the Bible. It is about taking the divine Word and then just chewing on it for a long, long time.

What is becoming apparent is that the spiritual discipline set forth by "Lectio Divina"  is not for the hurried.  It is to be entered into prayerfully and experienced slowly.  The end result is to experience what it is to be in the presence of God where we not only speak to Him, but listen for His voice.  But, the main focus of the discipline is to be in His presence for whatever purpose He may have in His mind and heart.  "Lectio Divina"  takes us away from seeking what our ego wants to seeking only what God wants for us.   

READ, Reflect, Respond,Rest

"Lectio Divina" is a spiritual discipline which invites us to read the Word.  However, it is not the kind of reading we might normally do.  Some of us read until we are exhausted.  Some of us read a chapter a night.  Or, maybe some have a plan for reading a certain amount of time.  When I first started reading the Word, I would write down the month and date at the end of my reading so that it would remind me of my faithfulness to the reading discipline. 

 

"Lectio Divina" is a different approach to reading the Word as it encourages us to read shorter portions of Scripture.  Instead of racing to more verses, this discipline suggests that we read the same short portion over and over again, sometimes silently, sometimes aloud so that we can hear it.   We read the same portion of the Word until we find ourselves becoming focused on a verse, or a phrase, or maybe even just a word.  As we practice this discipline of Scripture, we are not looking for information, but a focus point to which the Holy Spirit is leading us.

 

So, it goes without saying that to practice the discipline of "Lectio Divina" is to pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  This is not to be confused with opening the Bible, closing our eyes, and putting a finger on a place on the page expecting it to be the place that God wants us to read.  Praying for the guidance of the Spirit is not about random decision making, but Spirit led decision making.  As we move into this spiritual discipline we want to become focused on the part of the Word from which God desires to speak and make Himself known.  Thus, a pointed finger cannot take the place of praying for guidance as we begin to read. 

Lectio Divina

When I was a student at Wheeler County High School in Alamo, Georgia, the only foreign language taught was Latin.  Now, my graduation was not before the turn of the century, but in the 1960's.  It was a small rural high school and it is likely that Mrs. Thomas was the only one on the faculty certified to teach any foreign language so we got Latin.  For two years I labored through Latin vocabulary and the wars fought by Julius Caesar.  I was told it would prepare me for any language studies which I later found out to be true.

 

So, when I saw the words, "Lectio Divina" I knew it meant divine reading.  Actually, it is a Benedictine discipline of reading and meditating on the Scripture.  It is not a discipline designed to provide a learning experience, but a spiritual one.  It is not about learning about God, but being in the presence of God.  It does not send us to commentaries, but into a spirit of contemplation.  It is a spiritual discipline that has been practiced for centuries and is not something reserved for Roman Catholics who choose life in a monastery.  It is a discipline which is useful to any of us who seek to learn what it means to sit in the presence of God.

In one of Thomas Merton's writings, he speaks of the four dimensions of  "Lectio Divina."   The first step is Reading the Word.  The second is Reflection, as in the sense of ruminating.  The third step is Response as in spontaneous prayer.  And, finally, there is Resting in the presence of God.  While this brief word only opens the door to this particular spiritual discipline, much more can be learned and experienced in our spiritual journey.