The River Bottom

The banks of rivers are constantly being changed by the flowing water which pushes against them.  Not only are the banks of the river changed, but the low land around the river which is prone to flooding is changed as the flowing waters rises during a season of flooding.  Anyone who watches a river knows that no river is ever seen exactly the same twice.  What is visible to the eye is always changing.  It may look the same, but the patient eye will soon see where what was is now something else.    

In the book of John there is a passage about a river.  In John 7:38 the Word enables us to hear Jesus saying, "As the Scripture has said, 'Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water.' "  It creates a powerful image to consider.  Put it alongside of what we hear Jesus saying to the Samaritan woman and another powerful dimension of the image is added. "The water that I give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life."  (John 4:14)  To ponder the images is to see holy power changing and shaping the shoreline of our life, but also changing and shaping our soul in an invisble way even as the moving water changes the visible banks of the river and the invisible river bottom.   

Stop for a moment and understand that the source of this river of living water is Christ and Christ alone.  He is the source, the spring, the beginning.  And from Him, into us and through us, flows this holy stream which enables those who know us to see how we live differenly while at the same time shaping and changing the part of us that cannot be seen externally by anyone except the One whose spirit is flowing into and through us.  As the invisible river bottom is changed by the flowing river so is our soul changed by the flowing Holy Spirit.  

A Continued Blessing

This morning while seeking some additional light on a passage of Scripture, I pulled a commentary off the shelf.  As the book touched my hands, I became awash with gratitude and a sense of undeserved blessing for the way the commentary I held came to me through the blessing of churches I had served.  In the last several pastorates, I was fortunate enough and blessed beyond measure by a generosity that provided a certain amount of money each year for continuing education.  Some of it was used to attend different workshops and some of it was used to buy books and Biblical commentaries.     

The commentary on John's gospel which I held this morning came to me in such a way.  There were no real strings attached to this act of generosity.  It was used at my discretion.  And, when there were unspent funds at the end of the year, I went to the catalogue to add to my volumes of Biblical commentaries.  And so, today even though I am twelve years into retirement, I am still being blessed by what was an unseen ministry of the church to its pastor.    

As I felt gratitude within my spirit this morning, I realized I was both privileged and blessed to serve churches which believed in the value of its pastor continuing to learn and grow in an understanding of the ways that God is present in the circumstances of our lives.  Their ministry to me no doubt made me a better preacher, a kinder pastor, and even now a worn out preacher whose hunger for the Word can continue to be fed.  All I can say at this point in the journey is "Thank you."

An Old Songbook

There must be some law of physics that explains how something hidden at the bottom of a stack eventually makes its way to the top of the stack, but if there is, I missed it along with a lot of other things in that class.  Nonetheless, I am a believer.  It happened just today as an old worn out paperback songbook entitled "Spiritual Life Songs" showed up on the top of the stack of books and magazines.   It is not dated anywhere, but wears a worn out tag on the front which says "Lyons Methodist Church"  and inside it is marked .50 cents so I obviously did not steal it, but bought it secondhand somewhere along the way.  For it not to be marked "United Methodist" means it is older than 1968 which makes it an old one.     

Those old paperback songbooks which sat alongside "The Methodist Hymnal" and "The Cokesbury Hymnal" in most Methodist Churches were not used except on Sunday night and duirng revival services.  The songs inside were strongly invitational, a bit more heavenly oriented, and generated more toe tapping and pew thumping than the stately old hymns of Sunday morning.  As I thumbed through the pages I had a great time walking down memory lane as I softly sang one song after another.  Where else do you find a song entitled "My Mother's Bible" than in one of those small paperback songbooks from long ago?   

Music has changed through the span of the years I have known.  Most of the songs in the old book from the Lyons Church would be unknown to today's singers in worship and for sure, most of the new songs sung in contemporary worship services of today are unknown to this old Methodist preacher.  Regardless of the kind of music, it is a precious gift to the church.  It has a way of touching the heart and traveling with the worshiipper long after the words of the sermon have been forgotten.  I only wish I had a better singing voice and had learned to play some instrument other than the plastic flutophone in Mrs. Shoemaker's fifth grade class.  

Notes in a Journal

Journaling is a spiritual discipline which may not appeal to everyone.  Certainly, it is not as essential to our spiritual life as the discipline of prayer, or attentiveness to the Word, or worship.  It can, nonetheless, be a powerful means of hearing what God is saying to us through the ordinary moments of our life.  There have been times when I have found myself waking up in the midst of a dream and actually getting up and writing a few notes about the dream lest I wake up with no memory of what I wanted to remember.  Dreams are fleeting and the memory of them is often even more fleeting.     

The notes enabled me to remember and to give some reflective thought later to something which had more importance than just nighttime entertainment.  And, what is true of dreams is also true of ordinary events, conversations with people in the course of a day, or things seen which stirred us.  Writing down some record of these things gives us pause to reflect on what might be there to see which is not seen when we just look at them, or experience them.   

The more we are able to pay attention to what seems to be the ordinary in our life, the more we are going to find ourselves learning to hear the Voice of God in the silence and to know His presence in places and in moments we would have otherwise missed.  It seems that the real value in the discipline of keeping a journal is that it helps us pay attention to what God is about in the world around us and in the spirit within us.  Writing in a journal can become a powerful way of seeing, hearing, and knowing the reality of an ever present God.  

Looking and Seeing

A confession I have made before I will make again.  I have the best intentions when it comes to the discipline of journaling, but intentions do not translate into much writing.  No one has to point out to me the value of keeping a journal.  I am convinced it is a good idea.  A friend who inspires me to journal has volumes stored on some shelf that have accumlated over the last twenty or more years.  I started in 2016 and have hardly made a dent in the first notebook set aside for this purpose.    

I suppose what brought all this failure of mine to the surface again was a quote from Henry David Thoreau's journal from 1851 that Ken Gire noted in his book entitled, "Seeing What is Sacred."   The words from the wanderer of Walden Pond are, "The question is not what you look at, but what you see."  Anyone who wants to get everything possible out of every day understands that we need to see what we are looking at.  Most of us do more looking than seeing.  But, of course, what Gire is saying is that keeping a journal helps us do a better job of paying attention and seeing what we are looking at each day.  

There are no hard and fast rules that I have seen about the things that must be included in a journal.  Such is a matter for the mind and heart of the one who pens the pages.  It is not hard to have what is needed for journaling.  A notebook and pen is all that is required.  Mine, as limited as it is, contains records of dreams, poems that touched me deeply, words of encouragment from friends, a few pictures, some notes about Scripture and other readings, but mostly just reflective thoughts about the way a moment has broken into my subconscious and claimed my attention.  I know it is worth the effort required to do it.  And, I am going to continue even though my journaling is no model for the one who is setting out to journal their own notes about life with others and the Creator.  

It is a Feast!

The  23rd Psalm speaks to us in many ways about the nature of God.  He is our Protector.  He is the Shepherd of our Soul.  He guides us along the way.  He is our Provider.  He is our Deliverer.  As we sit with the passage for some unhurried moments, we begin to see many different aspects of the Lord of the Psalm surfacing for us to behold.  And, as we come to the final verses one of the things that becomes so abundantly clear is that the Lord, the Good Shepherd, is the Source of blessings in our life.     

After the Valley of the Shadow of Death words comes those words which say, "Thou preparest a table before me...You anoint my head with oil...goodness and mercy shall follow me...I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever..."  (Psalm 23:5-6)  What wonderful images David creates as he writes these words.  Even as those who would destroy us are watching, even as we face evil, and even as we pass through the dark Valley, He is in the process of providing such incredible blessings for us.  It is not enough that we are never alone, or forsaken, but these words remind us of the kind benevolent spirit of the Creator as He looks upon us on this journey toward Home.  Along the way we may find difficulties, but we shall also find a cup overflowing with blessings.    

It may be that the image of being anointed with oil is strange for some of us to consider, but we all know the sense of antiicpation and the experience of joy when we are called to come gather with others at a table full of the things of a feast.  I remember our first grandson who came to his first Thanksgiving meal at our home.  As a child who had been adopted from Bulgaria, he looked at the food filled table and said, "It is a feast!"  Thanksgiving Day since that day has always been a feast.  And the table the Lord prepares for us will be such a feast of blessing that we will forever be looking for a new word which expresses His abundant goodness and mercy.  

The Shepherd's Toolbox

One of the things I keep handy in the tractor shelter is my fence bucket.  With cows roaming the pasture and always thinking there might be something better to eat on the other side, a fence can take a lot of abuse.  They will lean over the fence trying to get to what might be eaten on the other side.  And if that is not enough, there are always limbs falling on fence lines and breaking down fences.  With cows there is always the likelihood of fence work to be done.  So, I keep a bucket with fence staples, hammers, plyers, and even a roll of barb wire which can be grabbed in a minute.    

My bucket is my fence repair toolbox.  It may seem like an unusual toolbox, but then, consider the toolbox of the Shepherd of the 23rd Psalm.  It is described in the 4th verse as it says, "Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me."  Now, there is long looking tool box!  The rod was a long stout stick used to fight off wild animals that might see a sheep and think about the next meal.  It was a weapon of protection and offense.  The staff was a unique tool.  It was a long stick with a crook at the end that could be used to reach out and hook a sheep and pull it back to a safe place.  

Regardless of what else might be in the Shepherd's toolbox, these two things were not optional.   Of course, as we read the 23rd Psalm we are not reading for its animal husbandry advice, but for spiritual comfort.  To think of the Shepherd of our Souls as one who has these two tools at His disposal is certainly reassuring and comforting.  He is one who is ready to protect us from the evil one who is set on destroying us and He is patient and kind enough to always be reaching out to us to bring us back close to Him where we are safe.  The Shepherd of our Souls not only knows us, but He is with us to care for us when there is danger and to keep us close to Him so we can make it Home.  

No Need for Fear

Fear is something most of us have known and continue to know in our life.  My first remembrance of fear came when I was seven or eight years old.  The night became a time that held too many things I thought I saw and too many noises which had no explanation.  My Uncle Alvin who slept in the twin bed next to mine would be the first one I woke up when the fear became too great to continue hiding under the covers.  He would tell me, "Get up and go see what is making the noise and I will wait here until you get back."  I did and he did.  I remember his words often when I find myself facing some moment when fear is ready to take hold.    

I also remember what I have learned over the years about the power of faith in God.  The 23rd Psalm has those word which say, "Yea, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me...."It is not a Word which tells us what God is going to do to destroy the source of the fear, nor is it a Word which seeks to explain it away, but simply a Word that reminds us that as long as He is present there is nothing to fear.  And what we know is that He is always present.     

Long years ago when I was just a boy my mother would take us to see the family at the old home place on Sunday afternoon and then before going home we would go by the cemetery to visit Daddy's grave.  It was usually dark and my sister and I were afraid of cemeteries at night.  She would tell us,  "There is nothing to be afraid of here."  She was right.  The Word of God is right.  As long as God is present with us, there is nothing to fear.  It matters not that the darkness may be as deep as the Valley of the Shadow of Death, there is still nothing to fear for He is with us there to bring us through it to the glory of eternal life.  

The Valley of the Shadow of Death

 "Tis up there, just ahead,

      deep down it goes, 

        no sun touches it, 

          just black darkness,

            so deep no one sees,

the darkness of the Valley.

 

To it no adventurers go,

    they seek another way,

      a Valley of no return,

        yet, a Valley all must go,

          the Valley of the Shadow

of Death its most common name.

On this side stands a Sentinel,

    a Shepherd some have said,

      in one hand a protecting rod, 

        a shepherd's crook in the other,

           keeping safe those who wander

from the unseen path in the Valley.

On the other upward side,

    a Light begins to shine,

      a Light that finally prevails,

        against all shades of darkness, 

          till nothing is left to see, 

but the bright shining glory of eternity.

Beginnng in Greek

When I came to that word "righteousness" in the 23rd Psalm something kicked in akin to an old man looking in the mirror and thinking he sees the younger version of himself.  When I saw that long religious sounding word I remembered its Greek counterpart from those days in seminary when I sat through two quarters of Greek.  What I also quickly came to terms with was the reality that there were few Greek words that I really remembered.  After the Greek for love and grace, I found myself running on empty.   

Now, I have a friend whom I envy that is a little younger than I am,  but who still reads his New Testament Greek Bible.  It would be an impossible task for me unless I had a Greek dictionary right beside the Bible and then it would be a questionable exercise.  Some might wonder why any preacher would need to learn Greek, or would want to learn it until it is realized that the orignal manuscripts from which the New Testament is translated were written in Greek.  

So, to read Greek puts us back inside the original text which is not a bad place to be, given all the trendy versions of the Scripture avialable today.  It might be likened to the old game of Gossip.  In a circle one person whispers in the ear of another and then the whispered word is whispered to the next until it comes back to the person who first utterred the whisper.  Like any kind of communication, it got changed a bit in the span of even some short time.  Some of the more modern versions of the Scripture want to use contemporary language to the point that the original meaning gets compromised which is why it is important to find a translation of the Word which is faithful to the original languge.  

The Path of Righteousness

The word "righteousness" is a rather long word, seems like a word to describe some super spiritual person, and is just one of those all around frightening religious words that gets thrown around so much we pay it little attention.  The Psalmist made good use of it in that Word we know as the 23rd Psalm when he wrote, "He leadeth me in paths of righteousness."  (Psalm 23:3)  A different and more modern translation other than the traditional King James Version speaks of "right paths" and while those two words get at the meaning of the longer one, it just does not satisfy.    

In this opening section of the Psalm which speaks of how the Good Shepherd actively leads, there is this word which speaks of the way He leads His sheep into the right place.  In this case the right place, if we are to undestand the meaning of  the word "righteousness,"  is a right relationship with the God who created us and sustains us in this life.  It is not enough just to survive, or get by; instead He is about leading in such a way that we live as one approved by Him, or in a right relationship with Him and those around us.    

At the core of "righteousness"  is relationship.  It is important how we live with Him and it is important the way we live with one another.  While some might disagree, there is a right way and a wrong way.  The Shepherd of our Soul seeks to lead us toward that way of life which is not only most pleasing to the Creator God, but speaks to the purpose for which we were conceived and created in the very beginning.  

The Proactive Shepherd

When we read the 23rd Psalm we read about a proactive Lord.  For those who say that God simply sits around watching us do our thing, but never intervenes, or expresses His own desires for our living, the 23rd Psalm becomes something hard to reconcile.  The Good Sheperd set forth in these words of David is a very active Shepherd.  He does not leave the sheep to fend for themselves, or to figure it out for themselves, but instead they live under His watchful eye and His active Spirit.     

Listen again to the beginnning words of that ancient Word, "He maketh me...He leadeth me...He restoreth my soul...He leadeth me..." We read of all this activity in just the first three verses.  It is always tempting for us in our times of trouble when we seem to be going it alone without any divine help to come to the conclusion that God is not paying attention, or even worse, if He is paying attention, He does not care.  What is true is that our walks in the darkness will cause us to entertain the worst case possible scenarios and surely one of those is that God does not care enough to act in our behalf.     

The darkness is, of course, causing us to see and embrace a lie.  We are never alone.  We are never without the care of the Lord.  He not only sees what is going in our life, but He is working in our behalf in the midst of it to bring us thourgh it.  We may not be spared some of the hard moments we would choose to avoid, but as surely as Christ was brought through the horror of the cross to the surprising glory of the empty tomb, so shall we, too, find somewhere in the journey that we were never alone and  always in hands that were guiding us closer to Home.

The Firm Hand

Sometimes the Lord leads us to know-not-where and it seems to be somewhere other than where we ought to be.  Divine leading does not always take us to the place, or to the life which we figure divine leading will take us.  And, of course, sometimes divine leading takes us where we need to be, but still not a place we knew we needed to be.  If all this sounds confusing and like a lot of double talk, consider the second verse of the 23rd Psalm which says, "He maketh me lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside still waters...."   

I am no expert on sheep.  Over the years of being here on the farm I have learned a few things about cows, but not sheep.  Some of my neigbors who raise livestock are into raising sheep, but the only four footed critters we have roaming around here in the pasture are eleven cows.  I suspect they have a few things in common.  Sometimes I need to get my cows to move to another area of the pasture for their own good, but they have minds make up to go in another direction.  Sheep may well be prone to such a wandering spirit as well.    

There are times I have to make them go, or lead them where they do not know they need to be.   Maybe what I am saying is that I have something in common with cows who might have something in common with sheep as we all have a wandering spirit that often needs to be overcome for our own good.  As the old gospel song says, "prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love..."  There is more me in that song than I want to admit.  Sometimes I need the Lord to make me go where He wants me to go and to lead me there even it is against what I think is best for me.  "He maketh me lie down in green pastures, He leadeth me beside still water."   And, I am grateful.

I Shall Not Want

It is easy to wonder if Jesus might have been thinking about the 23rd Psalm when He spoke those words recorded by John, "I am the Good Shepherd.  The Good Shepherd lays His life down for the sheep."  (John 10:11)  While we can never know, we can know He was surely acquainted with this Word written so long ago by David, the shepherd boy who became a King.  Most of us know very little about the habits of sheep, or the life of a shepherd, but the writer of these words grew up among them and cared for them before he went to fight Goliath.    

The beginning words are words of great comfort and confidence.  There is no question or doubt held forth in these words.  "The Lord is my Shepherd,"   and because such is true, "I shall not want."  (Psalm 23:1)  It is not just a word about provision, but more importantly a word about trust.  With the Lord being before us in the manner of the Shepherd, there is nothing to fear.  As sheep are dependent upon the shepherd for safety, so can we know that we are safe in the hands of the Shepherd of our Soul.    

We may not understand everything there is to know about God, but we can know that He is trustworthy.  He is not one who disappoints us by changing His mind about what He has said He will do.  He will continue to be Who He has always been.  His nature is kind and full of grace and mercy.  It is His nature to hold on to us and to seek us when we wander off the path.   With Him looking out after us and caring for us, there may be some things which we want that are not given to us, but never is it true that what we need for the life of our soul is denied us.  When our soul rest in the hands of its Creator, it lives inside the words, "I shall not want."  

He Restoreth My Soul

When it comes to the 23rd Psalm, my memory will not allow me to consider any rendering of it other than the one I first memorized from the King James Version of the Bible.   And, experience tells me this might well be true for countless others.   There were many times at the cemetery when I would invite those gathered to recite aloud with me this partiuclar chapter of Scripture.  I do not recall any confusion about what words to say.  The old tradtional version flowed as naturally as spring water flows down hill from its source.   

If the more contemporary readings are used, one of the words that is lost is the word "soul" which is found in verse 3:  "He restoreth my soul."  The word "life" is just not a good subsitute.  It is signficant that the Psalmist does not speak of his body being restored, but instead, his soul.  To speak of the soul is to speak of that part of us which distinctively bears the imprint of the holy hand of the Creator.  It speaks of that part of us in which the Holy Spirit dwells and it points to that part of us created for eternal life with the Creator who shaped it in the beginning.  

As we use the word "soul" we are giving attention to the essence of who we are.  We are a body which holds within it our soul.  The body is fragile and finite, but the soul within us is as strong and firm as God and was created for communion with Him in the eternal realm.  When we go to the cemetery, we leave our body, but as the often used ritual offers, we conmend our soul to God.  For our soul to be cared for by the Shepherd speaks of an intimate care for the most alive part of us.  When beaten down by what life often offers, our soul may grow weary, but the promise of the 23rd Psalm is that the Shepherd will hold it in His care and restore it to life.

An Old Memory

I did not exactly find it.  I knew where it was and was really looking elsewhere, but somehow it seemed to find me.  I knew I wanted to be in the book of Psalms because there is always a word of comfort and strength found in those pages and I was consciously looking for something other than the 23rd Psalm.  It is not like I have something against that passage of Scripture.  I just already knew what it said and felt a need for something new and different.  And, then, all of a sudden there it was, staring at me from the open page in my hands.    

The 23rd Psalm is the first Scripture I memorized.  Even before I have memory, I seemed to have known those verses.  My mother is surely the one responsible.  What I learned came not from some new version of the Word, but the King James Version full of all those awkward "Thou's" and verb structures that are no longer used.   Even today and tonight as I saw it again, the Words came back not like they were written in the more modern translation, but the old fashioned way I learned them.  

And what I discovered in those moments with this most familiar Word was a new Word that I had not been privy to hear all those other times.  The Holy Spirit is not only an amazing source of inspiration for those who wrote the Scripture, but an equally amazing source of inspiration for those who come to its pages in need of a Word from God.  He never seems to disappoint.  Not even on a night like this night when the heart was quietly and hopefully searching did He disappoint.  I am grateful for that very old Word my mother put in my memory and grateful it showed up again tonight.  

A Word Never Forgotten

When I first started preaching as a greenhorm seminary graduate, I would get in the pulpit on Sunday morning and preach forever.  However, when I finished and looked at my watch, only ten minutes had passed.  Of course, none of my folks complained, but it seemed to the preacher that something was surely missing.  By the time I ended up at my last pastorate some forty years later I must have had it figured out as sermons were more in the thirty minute range and folks were leaving around 12:15.  There were, of course, some folks who complained, but I aways told them all preaching after noon was free.     

In the beginning I was preaching traditional three point sermons and by the end I had decided to choose one point and hammer it home.  In the beginning I preached as if each sermon was my last one and I had to say it all or it would not be said, but by the end I had learned that I would never say it all and saying one thing well might be good enough on most Sundays.  I suppose it is true of most preachers that their preaching changes over the years of their preaching, or at least such was my experience.   

But, one of the things which did not change was the desire to preach the text.  My preaching professor at seminary hammered this theme home to all of us would be preachers.  It is the text which is important in the sermon.  It is the text which speaks.  If it is not allowed to speak, the preacher can preach ten minutes or thirty and still end up sounding like a lot of hot air.  As the prof used to say, "People don't come to church to hear what you think, they come to hear the Word of God.  Be sure you preach it!"

A Moment of Confession

By chance, or maybe it was really providential leading, I came across a word reminding me of something I never would have known.  Twenty-five years ago John O'Donohue wrote "Anam Cara."  Twenty five years ago I would have thought, "so what,' which speaks volumes about who I was back then. I allowed my memory to show me myself back then and what I saw was a guy running around like a chicken with its head cut off doing the work of the institutional church.  I would like to say it was the work of the Lord and maybe some of it was that kind of work, but I know, too, too much of that work of the Lord was being done for the wrong reasons.    

"Anam Cara"  is not a book about doing, or bullding new building, or enlarging memberships, or monitoring the financial health of the church, or about a clergy pathway for success, but a book about being.  Being is something I have not done well.  Sometimes I must confess to hardly givng the being part of my life any attention.  It is hard to be when doing is the prime directive of life or ministry.    

Maybe this sounds like a confession and if so, so be it.  I look back at where I have come and then see the man in my past and I often want to get his attention for a moment, but of course, such is not how life is lived.  All we can do is to allow the collective experiences of our past to be held in the gentle hands of the Holy Spirit and listen to what He is saying about living now in the present so that it, as an important moment, is not squandered with the things that cluttered up the past with regret.  May it be that we all find such blessings as we look gently at our past and hopefully at what is still to come to us.   

A Word Remembered

Long years ago when I was in the mid years of my ministry, I remember something Ed Carruth, our District Superintendent said to us in a meeting as he was trying to get his preachers on board with some Conference program.  It came in response to a preacher who up and said, "Brother Ed, you don't need to convince us, just tell us to do it and we will do it."  It is Brother Ed's response that I remember as he said, "If the only reason you do it is because I said do it, then you are doing it for the wrong reasons."  Ed Carruth proved himself many times to be one of the wiser Superintendents.     

Too much of what is done in the church has been done and continues to be done because someone has said to do it.  When the thinking and personal choice is aborted, good things do not happen.  Maybe they happen, but for the wrong reasons.  When we blindly follow the line of the company store in the church, we only betray ourselves and our own obedience to Christ.    

What we are called to do by Christ and what the insitutuional church wants us to embrace may not be the same thing.  Of course, the possiblity does exist that both are one in the same, but usually the institututional church is concerned too much about self preservation while Christ is not concerned about the presevation of self.  Had that been His motive, the cross never would have been raised on Golgotha. The Scripture teaches us to listen to those who have spiritual authority over us, but it never calls us to ignore what the Spirit is saying to us in our own hearts. It is not always an easy road, but then the road Christ called us to walk was never put forth as a Sunday stroll through a rose garden. 

Praise and Glory

 Praise be the Father,

   the Holy Father, 

     the Creator Father, 

       the Blessed  Father,

         Father of us all,

Praise be and all glroy.

Praise be the Son, 

    the Eternal Light,

      the Touch of Love,

       the caring Healer,

        the Holy Begotten,

Praise be and all glory.

 

Praise be the Spirit,

   the Holy Spirit,

     the Stand Alongside,

       the Wind and Fire,

         the Breath of God,

Praise be and all glory.

Praise be the Trinity,

   the Holy Three, 

     the Three in One

       the Indescribable,

         ever and always,

Praise be and all glory.

From a Boy to a Man

When I was a ten year old kid trying to figure out God, I came to the conclusion that He was up there above my world hanging around on the edges of the big cumulus clouds in the sky.  And if I recall correctly what I remember, He had a big book with names in it and He was always peering over the edge of those clouds to see what was happening below.  I guess it never occrued to me to wonder where He was on blue sky cloudless days!    

What is reality is that all our attempts to understand God have inconsistent holes in them.  What seems to work admirably one day simply does not fly on the next day.  Perhaps, it can be no other way as we with finite minds and visions that are so limited cannot really perceive of One who is eternal, every present, invisible, always revealing Himself, silent, always speaking, and here and there.  God is simply beyond us.  Our understandings are like what can be held in the old fashioned thimble my mother used to keep with her sewing stuff.    

The boy of long ago has become an old man.  And, what I must confess is a more mature concept of the Holy One, but one that is really more about what I do not know than what I do know.  I have learned to live in a world of accepting that there is more I do not know about God than can ever be known.  There is nothing so profound in this view.  It is one that has been embraced by far more people before me than I could ever count.  In the beginning I thought I could figure it out, but as the years have passed, the figuring it out has been replaced by a faith in the Unknown One, the Invistble One; and yet, the ever present One who is always revealing Himself and making His voice known to us.  

An Inspired Writer

John, the writer of the gospel of John, holds forth as person of unique abilities.  He speaks of himself in his gospel, but not directly.  In the early verses it would appear that he was a disciple of John the Baptist who left the Baptist along with Andrew to become a disciple of "The Lamb of God."   The beginning words of his gospel, "In the beginning..."  certainly brings the beginning words of Genesis into view and his unique reference to the Lamb of God creates visions of the blood of the lamb that was put over the portal of the doors of the enslaved Hebrews on the night of the first born deaths.   

His gospel was written much later than the first three known as the Synoptic Gospels and it was clearly his intent to open new windows into the life of Jesus.  His gospel is not just about the biographical details of the life of Jesus, but one that enables us to sense something of the heart of Jesus, the way Jesus saw the world and thought about it, and the way He enountered some unmentioned folks along the way.  Without what he was inspired to write we would have a view of Jesus that is greatly different than the one we have with this fourth gospel.   

The language full of images and symbols is one that stirs the contemplative side of our spirit.  It is a gospel that not only reports, but one that enables us to think in different ways.  What is amazing is that a man such as John who seems to have grown up knowing more about fishing than the contemplative life could write such powerful strokes which reveal the heart of Jesus.  And while it is a testament to the growth of the man who walked with Jesus and the spiritual maturity which grew in him, it is also surely a testimony to the Holy Spirit as He inspired this disicple to write what not even he must have believed was in him.  

The Eternal Light

 From whence it came

    and where it shines,

      making shadows,

       upon the hurts

        hidden in the soul, 

only the Eternal Light knows.

 

'Tis a Light that shines, 

    in deepest darkness, 

     bringing hope to bear,

       making another day

         just one more thing

possible for the hopeless.

 

Shine on Light of Lights,

   touch the deepest places,

     where darkness rules,

       and can only be broken

        by the forever Light

shining from before and everafter.

    

A Brief History

One of the primary distinctive things about Celtic spirituality is that it grew and flourished outside the influence and authoritiy of the instituional church which was then the Roman Catholic Church.  Until the Synod of Whitby in 664 AD, it was a spiritual communitiy which listened to its own drummer.  The drummer's name was John the Apostle.  Unlike the Roman tradition which was built upon Peter as the head of the church, Celtic spirituality was based more on the teaching of John who as it is often expressed in Celtic literature, leaned on the breast of Jesus at the last meal and heard the heartbeat of God.    

Most likely the first converts to the Christian way in the regions around Ireland and Scotland came as a result of converted Roman soldiers.  But, the Roman influence was limited as Roman influence withdrew in defense of the homeland.  This movement created a vaccum several centuries long where the new church could grow apart from the influence of the institutional church, something which did not change until the Synod at Whitby in 664 AD.  

This Synod brought an end to the visible growth of the Celtic community.  It became an underground spiritual movement which survived on the fringes of the spiritual community, one whose influence continued to be known through the passage of its oral tradition.  In more recent years it has experienced something of a revival in the interest of those who are looking for a vein of spirituality which has both stood the test of time and adversity and also was birthed and grew without the burden of adhering to the rigid standards of the institutional church.  

The Story

As we read that first chapter of John's gospel and see Andrew finding his brother, Simon, and Philip finding his friend, Nathaniel, with news about Jesus, we see the heart of evangelism.  For most of us the call to share our faith in Christ with others is a frightening thing.  We fear being rejected.  We fear being regarded as offensive.  We fear we do not really know the right words to say.  There are many reasons why so many are hesitant about sharing their faith in Christ which often means that opportunities often fall by the wayside.   

Over the years of ministry I can remember too many sure fire plans for evangelism and sharing faith that caught fire for a few moments and then fizzled out.  Programs do not enable people to know about Christ like one person simply living out their life of faith and talking to another person.  There are no magic words which must be said.  The only ones which need to be used are the ones which come from our own heart.    

Long years ago during the Asbury Revival I remember a moment when a group of us who were traveling and sharing were given an opportunity to share our faith at Evangelical Theological Seminary.  For a group of college boys, it was a bit overwhelming to consider sharing our faith in such a setting until the one who invited us encouraged us by saying, "Simply share your story."  Each of us have a story.  It has a beginning and it also has a life which is being fleshed out each day in our walk with Christ.  This is the story which is uniquely ours that we have to share.  

The Holy Band

When Andrew became a disciple of Jesus it meant walking away from another spiritual mentor, John the Baptist.  Andrew was obviously a seeker.  The afternoon decision by this man set him on the road of being and becoming a life time disicple of Jesus.  It was for him a memorable moment of saying "yes" to what God was doing in his life.  It was not something he would forget.  As long as he lived, he would look back at that day with wonder and gratitude for it was a moment which changed his life.    

I am one of those who are grateful for a memory of such a moment.  While it did not occur out there in the open spaces as it did for Andrew, it took place in the solitude of my bedroom in the parsonage of the Alamo Methodist Church.  I had said "yes" to Jesus dozens of times at altars of revivals and at church camps, but it was not until this night shortly before graduation from high school that it stuck.  I have not always toed the line of the path I set out to walk, but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that on that night long ago the journey with Jesus really began and has never ended.    

Many who profess faith in Christ have no such memory.  They speak not of a specific place and time, but of a season in their life when they sensed that the journey really began.  And while their life of faitih is as valid as is mine, I am grateful for the memory of beginning in that dark room where I knelt by my bed and gave my life to Christ.  It is a decision I have never regretted and one that is remembered with wonder that He would have me and gratitude that He received a young boy into that holy band of disciples.  

Remembering

While reading what the gospel writer, John, had to say about John the Baptist, I foiund myself remembering some saints from long ago who may have diappeared from the pages of some memories, but remain steadfast in mine.  Back when I was a college student and very young ministerial candidate I worked at a District Youth Camp at Kolomoki State Park near Blakely, Georgia.  This evening I was remembering some of the slightly older pastors who served the church and the camp: Virgil and Sue Lee, Asbury and Eleanor Walton.   

Those years at the Camp were formative years for a lot of young people and for this young ministerial student as well.  They gave steady leadership to the camp, created an atmosphere where young folks could discover faith, and in general, be a  part of those who were building up the body of Christ.   Although it has been over fifty years since I served under their leadership as a counselor, they are remembered this night with much appreciation.  

I am grateful for their influence back then and for their friendship over the years of a shared ministry.  All of us can point to folks like these who are a part of who we are and hopefully there are others out there who look back and count us as one worthy to be remembered in their own faith journey.  Perhaps, in the remembering there can also be a moment of reaching out to someone who encouraged us in the past, or at least giving thanks to God for an opportunty to share the faith journey with one who has received the eternal blessings of the Father in heaven.  

Shadow Dwellers

The shadow dwellers are an unusual breed.  They do not require any light on what they do in ministry for Christ.  They are content to do what they know God has called them to do.  Often they stand in the shadow of someone who is in the spotlight of public attention and adulation.  Most religious historians recognize the name of Charles Finney, a great evangelist of the 19th century who is credited for a great spiritual awakening in this country.  Daniel Nash was one who stood in Finney's shadow, or perhaps, more appropriaely one who knelt in Finney's shadow.    

Before Finney made it to the place where the meeting was to be held, Daniel Nash had already arrived and set up his place of prayer.  Days before the first sermon, Nash was praying and while the sermons were being preached, Nash was praying.  No one except the evangelist himself knew what Nash was doing and understood the power of this shadow dweller's ministry.  When Nash died, Finney soon left the evangelism ministry and became a pastor of a prestigious congregation.  Nash and Finnery were a team and once the bond was broken, the evangelism that changed the face of the country ended.    

No one appreciates the shadow dwellers.  The most prominenet shadow dweller and role model for all shadow dwellers is John the Baptist.  When pressed about who He was, he would declare that he was the voice annoucning that something new was about to happen through the life of the One he knew to be the Lamb of God.  (John 1:19-34)  He soiught no attention.  He stayed out of the spotlight.  He only wanted to point those around him to Jesus.  There is much each of us could learn about how we are to live from this old shadow dweller and others who have walked in his footsteps.

Holy Mystery

I remember reading the Bible back in those years when I was a boy about to become a man.  I always had enjoyed reading the stories of the Old Testament, but as I grew older it was the gospels which seemed to seize my attention.  Particularly, did I find myself going to the gospel of John.  Perhaps, we all have one which is the one most often read and for me that gospel was then and is now the gospel of John.  I have always loved the stories not found in the other gospels, the different teachings of Jesus, and the images and symbols.  In these recent years what has been drawing me to this gospel is what is known as the Prologue, the first 18 verses of John.    

It seems that there is more mystery in these verses than I have time to unravel, but the truth is, had I started in the beginning of my faith journey I would still not have had enough time to unravel and understand all the mystery of those few verses.  What I have come to know is that mystery is not be known, but something with which we live by faith.  There is surely more to reveal than what has been understood.  Such is the nature of holy mytery.    

Holy mystery abounds in the Word and in the creation all around us.  Understanding as we might like to understand is never going to happen, but what we can do is to live within the mystery, to allow the sense of mystery to become imbedded in our spirit, and know that it becomes a  part of us as we allow ourselves to stand in it in silence and awe.  Mystery abides and fills up the silence, it speaks in the stillness, and it flows into the heart of the soul abandoned to God.  

The Faith Mirror

If we want to see what faith looks like and we are not sure that a look in the mirror will show it to us, we can look at some of those who have gone before us like George Mueller, Hudson Taylor, Agnes Sanford, or E. Stanley Jones.  Or, we can turn to some of the Biblical characters like Mary, the mother of Jesus, Ananias, or the Apostle Paul.  And, if our own face does not seem ready to appear in such company, then we can look back through the centuries and imagine the unnamed souls who stood strong when it cost them their lives.   

Another place which might be visited is the world of Celtic spirituality in those early centuries after the birth and resurrection of Jesus.  In that tradition there was a small round rudderless boat in which the saints would embark on a spiritual pilgrimmage to know-not-where.  In search of the place of their resurrection they would set out making no effort to direct their small boat, but instead allow the current of the water and the wind of the Spirit to take them to their unknown destination.  Brendan the Navigator is one such person who is often seen as we look back into those centuries, but there were many others who took lesser journeys that led them to the place God wanted them to be.    

It has often seems that the image of the coracle as their boat was called is an icon of faith.  Who among us is willing to go wherever it is that God wants to take us? Who among us wants to go with Christ with no demands about where the journey will take us?  Who among us is willing to lay aside our notions of what it means to follow Christ and desire nothing more than to go to know-not-where?   As we come to such a place in our spiritual journey, we have reason to stand once again before the mirror that reflects our soul and know that we belong to Him and Him alone.  Such is the real desire of the people of faith and it is to such a life that the Christ is leading us to embrace.  

The Answer

"Come and see,"  is really Jesus' answer to a question (John 1:39).  One of the disciples of John the Baptist and a would be disciple of Jesus asked Him, "Rabbi, where are you staying?"  (John 1:38)  As he and the others would soon find out, Jesus was not about staying anywhere.  He was a man whose home was the road and who was going nowhere and everywhere.  He would sleep under the roof of others, but there would never be one which He would call His own.  If they were looking for a place where they could go and come to understand the teaching of this new rabbi, it would require a sacrifice that would put them out there on the journey as well.   

For so many of us the beginning of our spiritual journey is marked by our own notions about what it means to follow Jesus.  As we look back, we realize what we thought was a life of sacrifice for Him was more about giving up small things and taking comfort in being inconvenienced for His sake.  In the beginning we knew where we were going with Him.  The only problem was that we never really listened to His answer when we asked Him where He was taking us.   For certain He was intent on taking us on the greatest adventure of our life.  For certain He desired to lead us without letting us know exactly where it was we were going.  

We thought we knew, but in all honesty, we knew nothing about where the journey was going to take us.  This going to know-not-where was a part of the faith equation which we failed to understand.  Faith was not then, nor is it now, simply an act of belief, but a decision to live in such a way that the bidding of Christ takes precedence over everything else even in the moments when the bidding makes no sense and seems to be leading to disaster.  What we know now as we have walked the road with Him for a time is not what we thought we knew in the beginning, but even with the awareness of all the uncertainty, we  choose to go to know-not-where simply because it is where He leads.