The Eternal Care of God

The eternal care of God
     was put in place
     before the constellations,
     was shining brightly
     long before the sun,
     always and never ending,
Hovering o'er, surrounding us.

The eternal care of God
     was made a promise
     before the arching rainbow,
     carved carefully in stone
     'er the commandments,
     spoken into existence
As was sun, moon, and stars.

The eternal care of God
     was gifted by grace,
     undeserved, freely given,
     granting life and hope
     not for a small moment,
     but one lasting forever.
All for you, even for me.
     

Standing in Line

While standing in one of life's line, I overheard a conversation going on ahead of me.  I really was not trying to listen, but the voices simply carried on down the line to where I was not so patiently waiting my turn to be at the head of the line.  "How you been doing?" asked the clerk.  "Just fine, just fine," replied the customer, "The Lord woke me up this morning.  He reached down and touched me on the shoulder and woke me up.  It was not the alarm clock that woke me up.  It was not my wife who woke me up.  I was laying there not knowing anything and God just woke me up for another day.  It is a fine day, a fine day."

 

This old gentlemen sorta had the preacher voice by the time he got through singing praises to the One who woke him up every day.  I just listened along with all the other waiters.  I do not know what everyone else thought, but I was blessed by this man giving an unsolicited witness for the work of God in his life.  Before the old guy left, it was obvious from what the younger clerk said to him that I was not the only one getting blessed in that rather ordinary place where only the things of the world are transacted.

 

What I heard was so true.  We are all living as if we are dead when we are asleep.  We know nothing.  We are just there in that moment when it seems that the only thing alive is what is unconscious.  And, then somehow we are no longer asleep, but awake.  We never shake ourselves and wake ourselves up.  The fellow there at the head of the line said that God wakes him up every day.  It sounded good to me.  Henceforth, I am going with his explanation.

An Oft Missed Fact

As the parables of Jesus go, the one about the Good Samaritan is certainly one of the more well known ones.  Even the folks who are unacquainted with Biblical stuff have some idea about what is being talked about when the title, "Good Samaritan" is hung on someone.  The parable is spoken to a member of the Jewish upper crust who wants to make sure he is seen as good in the eyes of Jesus as he is in his own eyes.  Of course, the parable tells us of a robbed and beaten man who is passed by a couple of guys who would have been expected to help.  But, the one who finally stops to help is a Samaritan at whom the lawyer looked down his aristocratic nose with a great deal of disdain.

 

What has always proven to be an interesting fact is the one about whom Jesus said, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers..." (Luke 10:30)  There is absolutely nothing said to identify the man left for dead.  Nothing is said about religion, economic status, or birth.  But, those who heard the parable jumped to the assumption the man in distress was a Jew.  Who else could he be?  It is this assumption which made the Samaritan's kindness such a surprise.  It is the unexpected element of the parable.  Actually, the man left for dead could have been a Samaritan, or he could have been a Jew, or maybe, even an Egyptian.

 

When Jesus identified the sufferer in need of someone's help, he simply used the identifying title, "man."  The one left for dead was just another human being who was mostly like anyone who saw him there on the road.  Such are the ones we are called to offer care.  Who or what does not matter.  It never has.  It never will.  It is the human suffering which beckons us.  It is in seeing the need that we hear the call.  If it is not that way for us, then we can choose the name "priest" or "levite."  Either one will fit us.

Where?

A recent reading from Oswald Chamber's (My Utmost For His Highest) read, "In the beginning Moses realized he was the man to deliver the people, but he had to be trained an disciplined by God first...He was not the man for the work until he had learned communion with God."  So, there is this question.  Where do you learn about communion with God?  Long years ago I went to a seminary and spent three years learning.  I learned to read theologians.  I learned about church history.  I learned about social activism.  I learned about preaching.  I learned a lot of things, but no one taught me anything about communion with God.

 

Maybe those who were teaching figured that the communion with God was a given.  Maybe they figured that anybody enrolled in a seminary was already doing the communion with God thing.  Or, maybe they figured it was one of those things that would just happen, or I would figure it out on my own.  They were wrong.  Maybe I should have gone to some monastery and spent a month mingling with the resident monks.  Or, maybe I should have gone to one more retreat on spiritual formation.  Maybe I should have done something I did not do. 

 

Or, maybe communion with God is the result of a lifetime of seeking after the presence of God.   I sense a hunger and thirst for God more in this last season of my life than those which have passed and gone behind me.  When younger and more energetic too much of life was expended on things other than seeking Him.  Maybe the communion with God is not the result of finding God, but the result of seeking Him. 

Figuring It Out

It is not always easy to do what Jesus often seems to be telling us to do.  Certainly there were times when He was quite explicit about what to do.  But, there were also those moments when His parting admonition is "Go figure."  Jesus did not see Himself as the Answer Man who kept us from doing our own thinking.  Actually, He taught in such a way as to encourage truth seeking through personal reflection.  And while some church groups are very specific in telling its people what to believe and what can or cannot be done, some seem patterned more after the teaching style of Jesus giving some room for personal reflection.

 

One thing I have always appreciated about the United Methodist tradition is the focus on experiencing faith as it speaks of "hearts being strangely warmed."  However, this does not mean the same tradition calls people to leave their heads at home.  Most United Methodists have come to appreciate what is known as "the Wesley Quadrilateral."  It is a term used to describe how John Wesley, the founder and father of Methodism, developed good theology.  He said there were four things to guide us in our search for good theology.  One is the Scripture.  The second is orthodox tradition.  The third is personal experience.  And, the fourth is reason.  With all four of these lights to guide us, we are much more likely to come to a belief system that can be characterized as good theology.

 

The Wesley Quadrilateral helps us avoid extreme theological positions that are impractical and unrealistic.  Wesley maintained that the primary source of influence was the Scripture.  When in doubt, or when struggling, let the Scripture be the primary guide, not something as volatile as emotions, or experience.  Unfortunately, many today have a different view.  The Scripture is not held as the sacred authoritative Word of God.  For many people the Scripture does not have the last word.  It is no surprise that theological confusion runs rampant.

Always Connected

I have read recently that whenever we eat a meal, true thanksgiving is expressed when we remember the ones who have brought the food to our table.  The broccoli on my plate this evening did not just suddenly appear.  Someone planted a seed, another tended it, and still another harvested.  How many people stand between the planting and the table?  Farmers, truckers, manufacturing workers, grocery store owners and employees.  Long years ago I held up a can of beans in a children's sermon and asked from whence the beans came only to have a child answer, "The grocery store." 

 

We live in a world where we are connected to countless unseen people.  We may flaunt our independence and self-reliance, but the truth is that we live dependent on many, many people.  Stopping long enough to give thanks for them is something that only makes sense.  In a recent reading of the letters of the Apostle Paul, it struck me that the Apostle lived in a community of people who needed him and who he needed.  As we read about these people in the latter sections of many of his letters, we see how he longed for those from who he was separated and how he depended on others to be with him as helpers and partners.  Some of them are named and some are not, but all were important to him.

Take a moment and look behind you.  None of us have gotten where we are standing today apart from the sacrifice and love of a sea of people.  Some of them are family.  Some are teachers.  Some are just folks who for some unknown reason paused in their living to make room for someone like us.  Some of them we know by name, recognize what they have done for us, and, perhaps, are even people we have thanked.  But, there are so many more who we will never know except as the person who planted our broccoli.

Compassion

Not every act of apparent compassion is an act of compassion.   There are times when what seems to be an act of compassion is really an act which speaks of duty or obligation.  Compassion is not something which can be turned off and on like a light bulb attached to a switch.  Compassion requires attention to the present moment.  Perhaps, this is why it is not always an easy thing for many of us.  While the priest and the Levite of the Good Samaritan narrative may have been afraid to stop lest they become victimized by lurking bandits, it also seems that had other, more important, things on their minds. 

 

Compassion requires attention to the present moment.  What's next, tomorrow, the future is always pushing with demanding insistence upon what or who is before us.  Tending to the needs of the present moment is not always as easy for us as it ought to be.  Compassion is not something felt and expressed according to the dictates of convenience.  When the need for compassion rises, it is either present within us or it is not.  It is not something to be conjured up like some potion in a pot. 

Our compassion may express itself in a physical act; however, it is not act of duty, but an act of the heart.  Compassion is a response to human need that is filled with passion.  Compassion goes beyond the physical response to the one involving our emotions.  It is not something which springs from the head which says, "I ought to do this...duty demands it," but something which comes the heart  which says, "I can do naught else but care and act."   When Jesus saw the widow of Nain in that funeral procession, it was a compassionate heart which caused Him to see nothing in that moment as being more important than caring for one beaten and broken by the suffering so common to humankind.  So, it is for us in this day if we are to truly follow Him.