tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9322378322750499192024-02-07T13:03:20.933-08:00Pat Vance Widescreena blog about aspect ratios in lifePathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04310937246781439474noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932237832275049919.post-55575583590001792982015-02-18T15:51:00.001-08:002015-02-18T15:51:21.903-08:00"Not by Bread Alone" A Meditation for Ash WednesdayAfter his baptism, Jesus begins his ministry, not with a public call to reformation, but with a retreat into the desert to fast and pray!
…Before activism, came contemplation.
Matthew tells us that the Spirit who anointed Jesus at his baptism as the heavenly Father confirmed messiah-deliverer, is the same Spirit who now leads Jesus into the desert.
But this is more than simply a time of spiritual retreat. This is, in fact, a first showdown between Jesus and the enemy.
This is a confrontation between competing kingdoms and their rulers.
Here in this barren land will meet two figures who each lay claim to the souls of men and women.
By means of this retreat, Jesus now advances the Kingdom of God.
We pause right here to underline two vital points given to us in this scene.
First, that spiritual preparation for life and ministry is essential.
The Gospels record several times when Jesus went away to a lonely place to prayerfully prepare for some significant event about to happen.
Prayer and fasting are both ways to focus our attention on God and listen for his direction in our lives.
Like Israel being led into the wilderness before entering the Promised Land, so we learn the spiritual principle of retreat as preparation to advancing the Kingdom of God in our lives.
Second, this scene with Jesus reminds us that the retreat may include trial.
…That contemplation can also involve combat.
This scene in Matthew 4 is one of spiritual warfare.
Matthew relates that Jesus is led into the desert for the express purpose of being tempted by the devil.
The real adversary is present and the Spirit is leading Jesus to an encounter with him.
The same Spirit Jesus will learn to trust to direct him throughout every step of his life,
is the Spirit leading him toward this confrontation.
For Jesus, the desert is not only about communion with God, but also engagement with the enemy.
The Spirit who leads him to this place of struggle, will also empower him overcome it.
And so for us we are reminded that a genuine adversary exists who opposes the Kingdom of God and intends to draw us off and halt that Kingdom’s advance in our lives and world.
Two words appear in this story which we should circle.
These are temptation and test.
A temptation is an enticement to move us in a direction which is contrary to God’s will in our lives.
Usually these are not frontal attacks which come with brute force, but instead are subtle subterfuges which work to sidetrack us from the path of righteousness on which God would lead us.
A test is meant to prove our faithfulness to God’s will.
The Bible is clear that God never tempts anyone to do evil as James 1:13 says, but God does, as Heb. 11:17 reveals, use circumstances to test our character or resolve in the doing of God’s will.
In this scene with Jesus we see well how this works.
Satan means to get Jesus to go contrary to God’s will for his life, but in the middle of the circumstances being used, God the Father uses the enemy’s evil intention to a good purpose and so strengthens Jesus for his ministry as the messiah.
We pause here then to note that our adversary, the accuser of the saints and the enemy of our souls, as intelligent, powerful and subtle as he may be, is never free to act independently of God.
Instead, the devil is on a short leash.
Satan may try to get Job to curse God and be disobedient to his will, but when Job later turns to God, the Lord strengths him by the very trial through which he has passed.
The enemy might seek to use the intentions of Joseph’s brothers to subvert God’s plan for Israel through slavery in Egypt, but God used those same circumstances to preserve his people and move his plan forward to bless the world through them.
And of course Satan worked behind the scenes at the crucifixion, thinking to slay the heir and take over the vineyard, only to find that the true Owner used it to bring salvation to all who seek him.
A temptation in the hands of the devil becomes a test in the hands of God.
In the wilderness scene of Matt. 4 the failure of Adam is reversed by Jesus.
Where Adam was tempted and failed in the best of conditions, Jesus succeeds in the worst of them.
Death was the result of Adam’s sin, but with Jesus’ suffering and temptation, he is able to make atonement for sin and bring life to all who trust in him.
In this scene, the disobedience of Israel is also addressed.
In his forty days of fasting and prayer in the desert Jesus replays the forty year wildness testing of Israel.
And this time, by being fully obedient to the Spirit’s leading, Jesus is victorious where Israel was not.
We see at every turn, that as the darkness of sin and chaos hover over all humanity, Jesus is called into the desert to overcome that darkness.
There and throughout his life, Jesus will confront the enemy which seeks to foil God’s plan for humanity’s redemption by disqualifying Jesus as the sinless Savior and obedient Son of God.
As with us, the devil tries to tempt us away from our adoption as children of God and ruin us in the barren land of our own willful desires.
In Matt. 4:3-4, Satan does not doubt who Jesus is as the Son of God.
As the Gospels show, demons in general seem to have had no trouble identifying Jesus as God’s Son.
Satan is also not trying to get Jesus himself to doubt who he is.
Instead, he is trying to get Jesus to misuse his identity and his prerogatives as God’s Son.
This is true for us as well…
If you are the Son of God, the devil says to Jesus, Why should you go hungry?
You can turn these stones into bread, why not use your power to end your suffering?
Come on…for goodness sake man, take care of yourself!
We know Jesus indeed has this power.
Later he will feed four and five thousand people at a time by miraculously multiplying a few loaves and fishes to do so!
…No power shortage with Jesus.
But God sent Jesus into the world to live a truly human life.
This is the meaning of his incarnation.
The divine Son of God would become fully human in order to save humans from their sin.
Part of being human meant that Jesus would acquire his daily bread through normal human means…just like everyone else.
Had Jesus turned cold stones into freshly baked bread in this case, he would have acted outside of God’s will for his Son’s incarnational experience.
Because of Jesus’ obedience the Apostle Paul would later quote an early Christian hymn as he wrote to the Christians in Philippi about their relationship issues.
Paul says,
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
In Deut. 8 Moses reminds the people of Israel that God led them those forty years in the desert to test their loyalty to God.
One of the tests was their hunger and God’s provision. The purpose of that test was to teach that that God’s people do not simply live by their appetites or even their daily bread.
There are deeper dimensions to life in relationship with God.
Life also comes from the nourishing words of God which feed our souls.
As with Jesus, so also with us, the enemy endeavors to get at the core of our personal trust in God’s leading.
At our weakest moments, the devil will come to get us to sell our true identity in Christ for a bowl of porridge.
Let’s remember from the Matt. 4 story that the immediate outcome of Jesus’ rebuke of the devil and of his obedience to the Spirit’s leading was,
“Then the devil left him.”
As James 4:7 says,
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
And I Peter 5:9 also reminds us that we are not alone in this battle.
Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
No matter what the circumstances and whatever temptations we may face, standing firm on the truth of God’s word will send the devil packing every time.
Again, the Apostle Paul instructs us saying,
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. (I Cor. 10:13)
Temptations are real.
Do we give in to them?
Yes, unfortunately we do.
The season of Lent reminds us of our mortality and our mortal limits.
From dust we come and to dust we go.
We are ever dependent on God for life.
The more we stay focused on the promised resources of God’s grace, the more we will grow in our ability to resist temptations and stand in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Then bread alone will never be enough.
Our hunger will only be satisfied by the bread of life and every word of it which comes from the mouth of God.
Amen.
Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04310937246781439474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932237832275049919.post-15532868057603560032014-01-24T17:04:00.000-08:002014-01-24T17:04:14.230-08:00"We was robbed!" Last Monday in the early morning hours our church was broken into and several big ticket audio/visual items were taken. My associate and I spent the morning filling out police and insurance reports…nice way to start the week!
After the police left I stopped us to pray for those who had committed the robbery. It was the standard, “Lord forgive them and bless their pointed little heads” type of prayer which as a pastor I felt obligated to offer on their behalf.
Later that day at staff meeting I had another opportunity to pray for the thieves and this time I reflected on Psalm 23 and prayed that these folks would not live the rest of their lives only trying to fill their own cups and make them overflow (with other people’s stuff!) and that they would find satisfaction in the blessing and provision of God.
At home, later that night,… I got angry.
I was angry for having had my day taken down a path I didn’t choose…a major interruption and all the bother. Plus I was upset at the hindrance caused by the loss to the various ministries that were affected. “Dang it people! How thoughtless and self-serving can you be? Don’t you care about the trouble you have caused? And don’t you feel extra guilty stealing from a church for goodness sake? Really people!!!!????”
I think my praying from earlier in the day was turning into lamenting…you know, like the psalmist does when he prays things like “Wow Lord! How come the bad guys get to do this stuff? And why are they at home laughin it up while I am here filling out paperwork? Unfair!!” …Deep theology…
But the major revelation of my day was realizing that all the praying and lamenting were actually about me. I was the one who needed to pray for things like forgiving the thieves and for God to bless their lives and I suppose I had some Biblical permission to cry out to God about it at the end of the day.
But I prayed for them and needed to I think, because I needed God to search my own heart to see how tied to things and convenience and the like I was. Loss always makes you have to decide how empty you are already…how much you have been filling your own cup and not holding it up to the Lord for the blessings God provides.
And on church…it seems to me that I want to be pastor of a church which is just as much for those thieves as for the nice people who leave our stuff where we put it. I think if Jesus had been the pastor on call Monday morning and he had known the bad guys were at church, he would have raced over to see if he could offer them anything else they might have missed!
…I want our early morning visitors from this week to know that we are happy to have them come back and want to be their church and a blessing to them.
Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04310937246781439474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932237832275049919.post-4101120216964172292013-10-07T19:27:00.002-07:002013-10-07T19:27:12.101-07:00Here is a video I saw at my recent Spiritual Academy Retreat.
As a person of Christian faith I can hear the echoes of God's love and grace behind what Rene Brown says.
It's about 20 min. and well worth the time.
Brené Brown studies human connection -- our ability to empathize, belong, love. In a poignant, funny talk, she shares a deep insight from her research, one that sent her on a personal quest to know herself as well as to understand humanity. A talk to share. (Filmed at TEDxHouston.)
http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability.htmlPathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04310937246781439474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932237832275049919.post-51052877156511937952013-10-03T21:13:00.001-07:002013-10-03T21:13:37.644-07:00How God has used the Spiritual Academy Retreats in My Life. (Ted Talk-Extended Version)The following is the extended version of a Ted Talk I gave today on the impact of the four Spiritual Academy retreats I have experienced over the last eighteen months.
In the fall of 2009 I did a sermon series at my church called, The Geography of Grace.
It was a study of Ephesians and it focused on spiritual formation, a topic I had been living with for over a year at that point.
The final message in the series was given by me on Sunday, December 12th.
This was just two weeks before I went in for my annual physical and which two days after that my doctor called me to say that my PSA count was a concern, having doubled in the last year.
PSA stands for Prostate Specific Antigen.
I was 58 years old and in the best shape I had been for some time and suddenly the geography of my life was about to change dramatically taking me into dark and unknown territory.
As it turned out my sermon series ended at the beginning of what would become the next significant steps in my own spiritual journey, steps which continue to this day.
From that December to the following May I took pills and went through tests and scans and finally a biopsy determined that I had early, but aggressive prostate cancer.
The doctors were optimistic, but didn't want to waste any time and I underwent surgery on May 18th.
The post op lab report three days later said, “Tumor contained in the prostate, all margins clear.”
Both my specialist and my surgeon phoned me the same afternoon to tell me the positive news and wish me a good weekend.
My recovery went well and I was back to work in two weeks.
Three months later I had my follow up PSA test and was very pleased to see a zero where before there had been a large number.
I went to my follow up appointment with a smile on my face and a word of cheer for all the people at the clinic.
The news was less than stellar.
It turns out I wasn't out of the woods yet.
Instead of a PSA reading of 0.00 my three month post op reading was 0.52.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtID7XnRYsrKUBESEGCFHKRjHNNVN6rx8OJSKXl8Ps9PFUVQaTZ6q82MMeZRh_bJPunMjIPkGEdEGMO7m3IWPNLDI99MOFmz6sxAL6YEE-Y69F77OUYyOT5_3uR5vDaXHy_icHA9fPhEo/s1600/GeoGrace+Title.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtID7XnRYsrKUBESEGCFHKRjHNNVN6rx8OJSKXl8Ps9PFUVQaTZ6q82MMeZRh_bJPunMjIPkGEdEGMO7m3IWPNLDI99MOFmz6sxAL6YEE-Y69F77OUYyOT5_3uR5vDaXHy_icHA9fPhEo/s320/GeoGrace+Title.jpg" /></a></div>
The doctor said, he was concerned to see this and rather mystified that he did.
For the next three months we watched the PSA count climb and by 0.7 it didn't appear to be leveling off.
My life soon became be a by the numbers game.
All the things I had been told before the surgery that were very unlikely contingency measures including the prospect of weeks of radiation treatments and two or more years of hormone therapy shots were fast becoming the possible next steps.
Within two weeks of discovering where the cancer had migrated to those tasked with my now upcoming radiation treatments were surveying the locations of my organs and tattooing sign posts on me to make a road map to guide the machine which would give me the maximum dose of radiation allowed for human beings.
I found myself asking, is this journey really necessary?
Did God’s shepherding of my life mean the green pastures would now turn to mud, the still waters stagnate and from here on would my paths lead only into dark valleys?
And not only was my journey becoming dark and fearful, I realized just how unprepared I was to make the trek.
Heretofore, I had spent my travel time focused on the next challenge, climbing over the moguls in my path like stepping stones on the way to achieving the heights I most desired.
Sometimes the journey had been more like a race than a walk.
Speed was the thing and with such a focus on the mission that those things in my life peripheral to it were simply a blur as I sped past them.
In fact I had been running the race with such singular focus for so long that I couldn’t remember large sections of its’ scenery or even be able to tell myself just how I had arrived at my present location.
And now it would appear I was in a new kind of race.
A race for just being able to stay in the race and not only was I ill prepared for it, but I was trying to do it while running on fumes.
My tank was reading empty.
Sadly, this was not the first time that had happened.
My tank had been empty before.
It had gone dry in 1986 after 15 years of marriage and career pursuit and in that part of the race I went completely off the course, slamming into the hay bales and flipping over without a roll bar.
The geography of my journey then became that of burn out, separation and near divorce, as well as, the loss of my chosen occupation and the ministry that went with it.
I have described that time to others as the one in which I could taste death in my mouth.
And what of the geography of grace?
I suppose during that first road wreck grace was present in things like having to work long hours at trying to make it as a new insurance agent.
Grace was also to be found in God’s Spirit patiently hovering over the waters of my chaos and helping me to begin to make some sense out of them.
Grace was separation from my wife and time alone where I found space to recognize the desperation and neediness raging in my heart.
And there was one other way that grace was made real in my situation, but in a way not known to me until many years later and is still an absolute mystery to me in how it could have been there,
…or why.
A couple had lived next door to us and had become our good friends up to and including the car wreck period of our journey.
They were upwardly mobile, art loving, wine drinking educated pagans.
They were everything I secretly longed to be at times and we loved them!
They were people safe to be with while venting ministry steam and stress. They were the least judgmental people I knew.
They watched my wife and I come to the end of ourselves, crash and burn.
Years later I baptized them.
They told me that it was knowing my wife and me and watching us live our lives through difficult times that convinced them of their own spiritual need and to seek the Jesus we had professed to know and did such a terrible job of following.
…Grace.
I suppose this all makes the case for the need for spiritual formation in my life and being in an academy such as this one.
It was in between learning I had cancer and the first round of dealing with it that I took part in the first Space for God Retreat in our church conference.
A small group of Free Methodist pastors were invited to a three day experience at the Catholic Retreat Center in Federal Way, WA.
Morris and Rita led the experience.
At the retreat God used Morris and Rita to speak into my life in such a way that my troubled steps began to find new direction in grace and toward growth.
After the retreat, as I continued sharing with Rita she envisioned some of the journey ahead of me.
Rita could see me and what God would be doing with me, ahead of my being able to see it.
Because of this prophetic seeing I was encourage to believe God for more than I would have and that included coming to take part in this cohort of the Spiritual Academy.
The challenges of my journey these past eighteen months have been set in the context of the location, content and fellowship of this experience and God has been using this in my life.
The location of the abbey is near to where I went to seminary.
Coming to our retreat here has allowed me space to revisit the geographical locations where parts of my earlier life took place and God in grace has been using this to redeem much of what I had come to believe had been lost in the chaos of later decisions.
Being in the Academy has given me an elevated view of my journey similar to the one we get when we look down on the vineyards below the Abbey.
More and more I have been enabled to see my journey from God’s perspective rather than just my own down in the valley view of it and that has given me more insight into it.
While at the second retreat God spoke to me in a profound manner.
I had been reading the Gospel of Mark prior to coming and about 5 minutes into our centering time before the first presentation I heard the Lord say to me,
You are the man of Mark 8.
You have been touched by me and though you have been able to see these many years, much of it is still a blur.
…I am going to touch you again and give you clarity.
The next day while Rita was presenting the clarity came and I filled ten pages of notes on how my life was connected to God’s grace.
It was incredible.
The map of my life which revealed so many slippery paths, arid spaces, tar pits, box canyons and dark valleys was suddenly redrawn into a spiritual landscape that only God could create and lead me through.
The impact of the Academy on my ministry at church has been wonderful.
The church family has been helped by having their pastor endeavor to draw closer to God.
The work of God in my life has led me to a new transparency, freedom and power in my preaching, teaching and counseling ministries.
And the new tools and resources I have been learning to use have enabled me to be more intentional about shepherding my congregation in the way of spiritual formation.
An example of this is the development of what we call the First Step, Next Step and Disciple Road Experience.
(Ad lib this part)
Finally there is this.
Of all the benefits I have enjoyed from attending the Academy, all the ways it has helped me and spilled over from me into my ministry to and with others, the most profound benefit of all has come from doing the soul care which has placed me in a position to be able to experience the grace of forgiveness.
To be forgiven and to forgive.
I have traversed the ways of bitterness far too long and it has been a cancer in my soul.
It has been the content of the Academy, the timing of it and the shared experience of it with you that the Holy Spirit has used to set my feet on the path of forgiveness.
It has been during these four retreats that I have found God’s grace to return to and remember rightly some of the most painful, hurtful and sinful parts of my story and to see God transform me and others in relation to it.
I can’t imagine making that trip alone.
I thank God that I didn't have to.
Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04310937246781439474noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932237832275049919.post-62696326049785317812013-10-02T09:28:00.002-07:002013-10-02T09:30:24.498-07:00A prayer by Thomas Merton
MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOKADlDOZ3V668Wu8HsRPyvio-y_2Jr3-8faHRglWFth6eSUhcNhkaL_JNexWn1E7_hmUzGAmjg58IPYwxbJ_JGrRWVujT4Fq1omz922K24YoN8gYuPtYpg4x8XcKJAL2mO5Ws-i5aduo/s1600/Thomas+Merton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOKADlDOZ3V668Wu8HsRPyvio-y_2Jr3-8faHRglWFth6eSUhcNhkaL_JNexWn1E7_hmUzGAmjg58IPYwxbJ_JGrRWVujT4Fq1omz922K24YoN8gYuPtYpg4x8XcKJAL2mO5Ws-i5aduo/s320/Thomas+Merton.jpg" /></a></div>Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04310937246781439474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932237832275049919.post-61836426064878705512013-09-30T16:18:00.000-07:002013-09-30T16:18:38.977-07:00I am at the final retreat of the Spiritual Academy here at Mt. Angel Abbey in Oregon.
Here are my notes from the first session which was on God's Calling on Our Lives.
We all have a void in our lives.
You have to step into the void to get in touch with your deep desire for God.
My calling comes from before me. From eternity past.
Most recently through the prayers of my grandfather Charles Isenberg who prayed for a grandson who would become a pastor. He died 6 months before I was born. I am that grandchild.
I have felt the weight of this calling since soon after my conversion at age 17. I knew almost immediately where I was called by God to be.
I have run toward this calling, run with it, run ahead of it and run from it.
It was the most evident to me when I ran from it after I left the ministry in 1987.
Others even told me that knew I was called to ministry and was not being obedient to my calling! This when I thought my ministry life was over.
It is in transitions that God wants to deepen our faith.
Oswald Chambers said, “Beware of anything that competes with your loyalty to Jesus Christ. The greatest competitor of true devotion to Jesus is the service we do for Him.”
It is easier to serve than to pour out our lives completely for Him. The goal of the call of God is His satisfaction, not simply that we should do something for Him. We are not sent to do battle for God, but to be used by God in His battles. Are we more devoted to service than we are to Jesus Christ Himself?
Personal Calling is balanced by three things:
• It must be fitted into God’s story and God’s redemptive purposes.
• There needs to be a corporate sense to it.
• Personal sense of calling must be balanced by 1st order calling.
First Order Calling=to love God with all that you are.
(This would be my relationship with God).
Second Order Calling=what we do to follow Jesus in this world.
(This would be my pastoral ministry calling).
These two callings must not be pitted against each other.
The must be kept in the right order of priority.
Second order calling must not become detached from first order calling.
Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04310937246781439474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932237832275049919.post-6717146400466757062012-01-19T23:08:00.000-08:002012-01-19T23:21:11.012-08:00Cross ReflectionsThank you Charles Beard for the time and effort you have put into this project for us.<br />
And even more, thank you for your willingness to listen to the voice of God in your life and respond in obedience to the direction it set for you.<br />
<br />
…When we look up at this cross we immediately see its’ threeness.<br />
…One in three; three in one.<br />
<br />
As Christians, the concept of trinity is central to our understanding of God for our lives.<br />
Our faith proclaims that we worship the one true and living God, maker of heaven and earth who has made himself known to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.<br />
The threeness of this cross also imagines for us the three crosses on the hill of Golgotha. <br />
It helps us to remember the scene when redemption was accomplished for sinners, when the Son of God was crucified between two of them, for their sakes and ours.<br />
The three crosses also remind us of how scripture declares that in the work of redemption this One who was crucified holds the three offices of Prophet, Priest and King.<br />
<br />
Many things can be said of the cross and its significance for Christian faith. One hymn writer has penned the opening line,<br />
When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died, in part I think, because a survey approach is needed in order to review the many meanings of this symbol. It can be said that because of the reality of the cross, Christian faith is about the agony and the ecstasy.<br />
As Rom. 8:17 says, Christians are heirs God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.<br />
<br />
The order in Christian faith is always agony before ecstasy or as Paul writes to pastor Timothy,<br />
If we suffer, we shall also reign with him.<br />
Paul even refers to himself as, crucified with Christ, as a way of explaining his daily experience of faith.<br />
<br />
The cross is central to Paul’s understanding of redemption. In the Pauline theology of salvation, the cross is the revelation of God’s power and wisdom.<br />
The cross dramatically reveals an all en-compassing reconciliation which bridges the gap between God the Holy One and a sinful humanity.<br />
Through the cross the barrier has been broken between God and humans and even between alienated groups of people such as Jew and Gentile.<br />
The cross also marks the starting point of the final era which will ultimately lead to God’s restoration of the entire cosmos.<br />
<br />
Here are some reflections on each of the three crosses as Charles envisioned them.<br />
<br />
The cross which forms the foundation of this piece is made of rough, unadorned cedar. It is believed that this was the type of wood most commonly used for crucifixions in the ancient world. In the first century AD crucifixion was one of the strongest forms of deterrence against insurrection or political agitation under Roman rule.<br />
When Jesus was crucified the sign posted above his head mockingly read, <br />
King of the Jews. It was for the supposed reason that Jesus had been proclaiming himself Lord and King above Caesar that Rome put him to death. At the same time, to the Jewish community, Jesus was a blasphemer, being accused of making himself out to be God, and so crucifixion was for the Jews of that time a way of making real Deut. 21:22-23 which proclaims that blasphemers are cursed and should be put on public display by being hung on a tree.<br />
This first rough hune cross in the piece reminds us that a Roman cross in Jesus’ day was both a cruel and terrible instrument of death and a means of public disgrace for the person hung who on it and by extension, for those who followed that person. There was no method worse than crucifixion as an instrument of public execution.<br />
Jews could not imagine that God would allow their Messiah to die in such a way and Greeks and Romans had no respect for such victims.<br />
For Jews, the crucifixion of Jesus proved he wasn’t the Messiah and for the Gentiles it made Jesus a person no body would take seriously.<br />
So from all sides of culture the prophecy in Isa. 53:3 was fulfilled in the crucifixion of Jesus,<br />
He was despised and rejected by mankind, <br />
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. <br />
Like one from whom people hide their faces <br />
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.<br />
<br />
The stark roughness of this first cross reminds us that at the foundation of our faith, at the cornerstone of redemption’s work, there is rejection and death.<br />
As John says,<br />
He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.<br />
<br />
This is the scandal of the cross.<br />
It dares us to put our trust in the one who was cast out, humiliated and cursed as he hung upon it. Yet it is also God’s way of salvation for despite its’ rejection and death those who trust in the work done upon it are received by God and find eternal life through this same crucified One. John says,<br />
12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.<br />
<br />
In vivid contrast to the base cross, the second cross is pure white and unmarred.<br />
White is the color which takes into itself all colors and in this piece the white cross stands for the Holy One of Israel whom scripture reveals to be the God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Looking at the white cross in between the other two crosses reminds us that sin is the reason we are separated from God.<br />
Sin separates because God is Holy.<br />
Isaiah cried Woe is Me! <br />
…and was undone when he was suddenly confronted by the holiness of God with nothing in between to shield him from it. Peter had a similar experience when a miraculous catch of fish suddenly gave him a glimpse of who Jesus really was.<br />
Peter fell at Jesus’ feet and said to him,<br />
Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.<br />
<br />
Again the threeness of this cross piece symbolizes for us who God is. For in this second white cross we hear the seraphim of Isa. 6:3 calling out,<br />
Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty.<br />
The thrice repeated word holy conveys the Hebrew way of understanding God as not simply good or holy, but as most holy.<br />
Yahweh is the most holy One.<br />
It is this superlative holiness that judges sinners and bars their way to the throne of God.<br />
And it is because of this holiness that sin can never be ignored and or left unpunished. It was this One of such holiness who was present at the scene of crucifixion.<br />
The Holy One of Israel stood over the cross of execution, there judging the sin which separates and so elicited that mournful cry of, <br />
Eloi Eloi Lama Sabachthani from the lips of Jesus as he, who knew no sin, literally became sin for each of us.<br />
<br />
The second white cross reminds us that God’s holiness was at stake in the sin of humanity and the need for God to vindicate that holiness through the blood shed from the sacrificial lamb on the cross was genuine. At the same time, pure love was also on the scene working through the crucifixion to forgive sin and reconcile sinners unto God.<br />
This is why our faith declares that Salvation is by grace through faith and not by the accomplishment of sinful human beings.<br />
God alone has provided the lamb for the sacrifice.<br />
And it is by that lamb that the curtain which formerly barred access for people into the holy of holies has now forever been ripped asunder.<br />
<br />
The third cross in this piece is in fact our former sanctuary cross. In this way Charles has joined together our church’s past and future.<br />
<br />
Note the position of the third cross.<br />
It is slightly to the left of center from the other two upon which it rests. Charles told me this positioning of the third cross represents the perspective as seen from God’s point of view. It affirms that Christ is the risen and ascended Lord who now sits at the right hand of God the Father acting there as our advocate.<br />
<br />
Charles has completed his trinity cross with the grandest of truths about the meaning of the Person and Work of Jesus Christ. Both Hebrews 1:3 and 8:1 say that Christ is at the right hand of the Majesty on high and that means as, Karl Barth notes, that the throne of God also belongs to Christ. That Christ is God in the fulfillment of the divine will, the use of his divine power and the revelation of his divine purpose. To Christ, God the Father has committed all things.<br />
It is Him God loved before the foundation of the world and through him that same world came into being and is now being held together.<br />
It is in Christ that God has reconciled the world to himself which thus declares that Jesus Christ is the bread of life, <br />
…the good shepherd,<br />
The light of the world, <br />
…and the way, the truth and the life.<br />
<br />
As these three crosses before us affirm,<br />
All that belongs to God also belongs to Christ.<br />
The Father is in him and he is in the Father,<br />
…for he and the Father are indeed one.<br />
Those who see the Son, also see the Father who sent him.<br />
Those who believe in him believe not only in him, but also in the one who sent him!<br />
There is nothing that is not subject to him that is not also subject to the Father as well.<br />
To the glory of God the Father, Christ is the bearer of the name which is above every name, and one day at the hearing of that name every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that the crucified and risen Jesus is both Lord and Christ!<br />
<br />
Jesus Christ is the Good News we proclaim!<br />
It is the glad tidings of his kingdom we publish to our world!<br />
He is the pearl of great price and the hidden treasure we sell all to get.<br />
To encounter Christ is to know God.<br />
To listen to Christ is to hear God.<br />
To obey Christ is to obey God.<br />
<br />
It is therefore to become a disciple of this Lord that we deny ourselves and take up the instrument of his crucifixion as our own. To God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, three in one, be glory, honor and praise forever just as these crosses proclaim!<br />
Amen.Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04310937246781439474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932237832275049919.post-20900205259804722022011-09-12T21:07:00.000-07:002011-09-12T21:07:26.503-07:00A Prayer for Peace on the Tenth Anniversary of 9/11This is a prayer my friend and pastoral associate Brent Johnson recently wrote in remembrance of 9/11.<br />
<br />
Heavenly Father,<br />
As we reflect on that tragic day, in the face of such profound evil, such horrific destruction, such great sorrow, it’s so easy for us to ask, Where are you, God? When Jesus on the cross cried out in anguish, “My God, why have you forsaken me?”, he spoke on behalf of so many who find themselves at the brink of despair, in the face of death itself. And so we know you understand how we come to ask such a question. There are times so hard, situations so bleak that we feel forsaken, abandoned, forgotten by you.<br />
Though we in this room tonight may not have been personally touched by death on that terrible day ten years ago, we have all felt the aftershocks of war, violence, terrorism, fear, economic hardship, and international instability that have resulted from the events of September 11, 2001. Those aftershocks have changed some of our lives in very significant ways. <br />
But for so many of us, the effects have been in our hearts. We have grown distrustful of certain ethnicities, loveless towards people groups that you love dearly. For some of us, the seeds of sorrow that were sown on September 11 have grown into weeds of hatred that have gripped our hearts ever since. We confess to you our need for your love. You told us to love our enemies, to pray for those who persecute us. Give us hearts that reflect your love, that emulate your gracious forgiveness. <br />
Father, with your grace making up for where ours falls short, we speak forgiveness over the men who planned and executed the horrific events of that day. The enemy used them to steal, kill and destroy. And he stole, killed and destroyed many of their own lives through dark deception as well as those who died with them in the planes or in the buildings that were destroyed. If we have harbored unforgiveness in our hearts, we confess that to you and ask for your forgiveness, and ask also for the grace to forgive them. We surrender our right to vengeance. We leave it in your hands. While our human systems can rightly work to bring evildoers to justice, we will hold no blood-thirsty vengeance in our hearts. It is yours to set things right in the end. We let that go.<br />
Lord, we pray that you would be near today to those who lost a loved one on that tragic day ten years ago. Your Word says that you are close to those whose hearts are breaking. Surround them with a sense of your compassionate presence. If they don’t know you, let them know it is you who is meeting them in the valley of the shadow of death to replace their fear with peace. Send them your children to be your hands of tender care.<br />
And lastly, Lord, we pray that you would be at work in human hearts and human systems of government and military power to work towards the good of mankind to counter the destruction we bring upon ourselves. Give leaders the ability to make decisions that lift up the hurting, bring justice for the poor, and work towards peace between people groups and nations that have only known conflict and strife. Let every one of us learn from the pain of human tragedy to be more kind, compassionate, and life-giving than we have been in the past, that your will might be done here on earth, as it is in heaven.<br />
It is in the strong name of Jesus Christ our Lord, and for the sake of His Kingdom that we pray,<br />
AmenPathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04310937246781439474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932237832275049919.post-52498416658587411112011-08-01T10:12:00.000-07:002011-08-01T10:12:50.274-07:00Mercy and the Wise and and Foolish PersonOn Sunday I led a panel discussion on the biblical topic of justice which got us into talking about God's mercy. I made the point that God's mercy and grace are extended even to people we might deem undeserving by virtue of their own self-indulgence and or laziness. In response the following questions were emailed to me to which I am responding in this post. <br />
Here is what was asked:<br />
I want to ask you about the part where we are supposed to give to "everybody" regardless of whether they got themselves into their mess or not.<br />
Many people out there do not want to work, make lousy decisions, and have<br />
their hand out for any and all handouts. I know, that sounds very harsh;<br />
but I don't feel that I, a responsible person, should have to feel<br />
responsible for a irresponsible person who has no intention of working and<br />
is happy with the life they have chosen. Is this what God calls us to do?<br />
What ever happened to personal responsibility? Aren't we enabling this<br />
behavior by rewarding it? What am I missing here?<br />
Here's my response:<br />
These are very good questions and thanks for asking them.<br />
The problem with public speaking and limited amounts of time to do it in is you can't stop and cover something to the extent you might like to sometimes.<br />
Here is an attempt to fill in a bit more on the point I made about the standard of judgment we use and God's grace and mercy.<br />
The Bible says that All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God-Rom. 3:23. <br />
All means All so in that sense we are all in the same boat, no one is exempt.<br />
Also, all of us have been and are-self-indulgent-that's why Jesus (John 12:24) and Paul (Gal. 2:20) both call us to die to self.<br />
And at times all of us are lazy. In fact my favorite theologian, Karl Barth says that the root of human sin is sloth. All of us are spiritually lazy creatures.<br />
Self and sloth are in the picture for each of us and all the time.<br />
And, all of us are where we are in part because of who we are and the choices we have made. Each person is responsible before God for their present situation no matter what background circumstances may also be involved. In this sense we are all both victims and victimizers. That's why the Bible talks about judgment for sinners and accountability to Christ for Christians. However on this point I will add that the grace of God is always in play and we can also say we are where we are at his point in life because of it too. When we receive God's grace it makes the great exception to our situation like I was sharing about Sunday...I was blind, but now I see, was lost but now I am found. This only comes by grace and to the extent that we respond to it our situations improve from what they would be if only sin reigned over them.<br />
All of the above is why we can assert that the playing field for humanity is level.<br />
All have sinned and all need God's gift of grace through Jesus Christ and the eternal life it brings which saves us from the eternal death we have clung to (Rom. 3:24).<br />
Now, all that being said, the Bible also says there are three kinds of people-Wise, Foolish and Evil.<br />
Wise people can be told the truth about something they did or about a negative trait they have, and even if it is hard to hear and they don't like it, even if it wounds them, they can receive it, thank you for it and act on it to better themselves. That, the Bible says, makes them wise and they grow in wisdom because of it. The book of Proverbs is filled with examples of wise and foolish living.<br />
Foolish people are those who reject or deflect the truth said to them. They make excuses and blame others or other circumstances for their actions. They don't learn from the truth, can't use it to grow and so remain unwise. Over time they even can move further into darkened thinking and acting because of their ongoing resistance to truth and light.<br />
Evil people move beyond foolishness and actually mean to bring harm toward others. These people are dangerous and rather than try to give them truth, we may have to protect ourselves from them.<br />
To me this is where the crimminal and the addict with all that can go with these conditions comes into play.<br />
These are people who are so given over to the needs of self that they invade our boundaries and ruin our lives in pursuit of their own needs. This goes far beyond the normal side of this type of selfish strategy which all of us sinners sometimes use with each other. Let's face it, we all have an agenda at times and want what we want right?<br />
Jesus said we are to be as wise as serpents, but as gentle as doves-Matt. 10:16. And discernment is certainly a Christian discipline we ought to utilize. <br />
We don't help people with addictive behaviors by being naive toward them or simplistic in our response to them. Sometimes the best thing we can do to help someone is confront their behavior and establish firm boundaries with them. And in some cases we must cut off contact with them for safety's sake. Two books well worth reading on these topics are Boundaries http://www.amazon.com/Boundaries-When-Take-Control-Your/dp/0310585902/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312218653&sr=1-4<br />
and Necessary Endings http://www.amazon.com/Necessary-Endings-Employees-Businesses-Relationships/dp/0061777129/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312218653&sr=1-1 both are by Dr. Henry Cloud.<br />
Hope this rounds out for you the comments made from Sunday.Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04310937246781439474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932237832275049919.post-73100519994160277372011-06-22T22:04:00.000-07:002011-06-22T22:04:10.787-07:00Father's Day Penguins and the Story That MattersPenguins are cool…counterintuitive little critters.<br />
They have wings, but they use them for swimming not flying. In fact they are the fastest bird swimmer out there at 15-20 mph (try that Michael Phelps).<br />
Penguins dress for the opera, but are actually outfitted for stealth (does that make them the 007’s of the animal realm?)<br />
Penguins live in community and often mate for life.<br />
Dad Penguins are stay at home parents and Moms are career gals.<br />
…And of all God’s creatures, let’s face it, nothing looks or walks like a penguin! They are the Charlie Chaplins of bird-dom. <br />
<br />
…This year my wife gave me a Father’s Day card with two penguins on it. In fact the picture I have posted here is the very same picture that is on the card.<br />
Up to this point when I have pictured my self as a penguin it has always been in conjunction with my dear friend Brian. Back in our high school days we were budding Steven Spielbergs making Super 8 movies together (Hey isn’t there a summer movie by Spielberg out just now and having to do with that?) Brian and I formed a film company which we called Penguin Films. We were the two penguins.<br />
<br />
I have not thought of Cathi and me as Penguins, but it’s worth thinking about.<br />
In our 39 years of marriage we have certainly been swimming together, sometimes in sync other times not. Calm waters…stormy seas…you get the picture.<br />
But Cathi’s point in giving me this year’s card so pictured has to do with the two birds waddling along together with the immense ocean lapping near by. The picture shows the two birds walking together in the same direction. The ocean is near them and while they are not actually in it, their feet are wet from the surf so they are connected to it.<br />
<br />
Here is what Cathi wrote to me in the card,<br />
So many stories take place on the shores of the sea…<br />
Our age has become addicted to “happy endings” for each individual story.<br />
The One Story has an unimaginable ending which is also the beginning of the One Truly Happy Ending. It is that story which will give us all what we long for.<br />
<br />
So here’s my take away from Father’s Day. With a nod to Brian MacLaren, which story do we find ourselves in? Is it only about me or you on the beach? Is the surfside story all there is? Is that story all we get our meaning from, have our hopes in or search for the happy ending through? Or is it just possible that we are amblin along in our own little stories while actually on the edge of the big story that really matters? The big story that has all the meaning and the genuinely happy ending (see Revelation 21-22)? <br />
I like to think we are…or at least that our feet are wet from it. <br />
Surf’s up…penguins unite…God’s big story is upon us! <br />
…Check your feet…dry or wet? <br />
Here’s to penguins on the sea shore.<br />
…Thanks for the card dear wife.Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04310937246781439474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932237832275049919.post-40266939458097589302011-05-28T11:27:00.000-07:002011-05-28T11:27:29.798-07:00Meditation for Esther Whitehead Jackson17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! <br />
How vast is the sum of them! <br />
18 Were I to count them, <br />
they would outnumber the grains of sand…<br />
<br />
So say verses 17 and 18 of Ps. 139. The Psalm Tiffany read for us and which Esther loved.<br />
<br />
How precious are your thoughts… <br />
<br />
Here are some thoughts I found expressed in a book of poetry and quotations kept by Esther.<br />
<br />
From the Keswick Hymnal,<br />
When I stand before the throne<br />
Dressed in beauty not my own,<br />
When I see Thee as Thou art,<br />
Love Thee with unsinning heart,<br />
Then the Lord shall I fully know,<br />
Not til then…how much I owe.<br />
<br />
From Elizabeth Elliott,<br />
The whole purpose of life, I believe, is to learn to know God. This is life eternal.<br />
<br />
From a prayer by Phillips Brooks,<br />
Oh Lord, by all Thy dealings with us, <br />
Whether of joy or pain, of light or darkness,<br />
Let us be brought to Thee.<br />
<br />
And at the very opening of the book Esther has written,<br />
Into Thy hands I commit my spirit.<br />
<br />
You learn much about a person by what they note and quote.<br />
When Esther quotes Dante saying,<br />
The Lord’s will is our peace.<br />
…She reveals much about the inner disposition of her soul and her perspective on life.<br />
<br />
Quotes and notes can also act like marker stones along the path of one’s journey.<br />
For example we know that Esther, with husband Leslie and family spent many years in pastoral ministry which included several parsonage stops along the way.<br />
One dog eared page in Esther’s book has this quote from Flora Thompson,<br />
Poverty is no disgrace, but tis a great inconvenience.<br />
We can only imagine how this line might have applied to the various parsonage situations the Whiteheads experienced through the years!<br />
Or how about this delightful peek into Esther’s family life?<br />
Esther tells a story from Christmas 1951 while living in the parsonage in Vancouver B.C.<br />
She writes,<br />
Les and I talked with Mark about baby Jesus and the stable and why he was born there because there was no room at the inn. <br />
After Jane was born (two weeks later), Mark was all concerned and wanted to know if there was any room for her at the hospital.<br />
…A footnote on that same page says that this story was later included in a Christmas sermon by Dr. C. Dorr Demarary.<br />
<br />
We could spend hours reading through Esther’s precious thoughts and would find spiritual treasures a plenty in them.<br />
One thing her notes make clear is that Esther’s thoughts centered on God’s thoughts.<br />
How precious are your thoughts O God.<br />
It was God’s thoughts which Esther pondered and which she shared with others.<br />
And she drew on those thoughts from scripture.<br />
Like her book of quotations, Esther’s Bible was filled with notes and quotes.<br />
When you open her Bible you see that Esther has filled every available blank space on the cover pages with quotes, verses and references. <br />
Its’ as if she was already busy engaging the text before she even got to Gen. 1:1!<br />
<br />
Another thing we see in her Bible is that on in the margin of each page, Esther has the date she read that page. Follow the dates and you see she daily read her way through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.<br />
Esther loved the Bible.<br />
She quotes Billy Graham who says,<br />
The Bible is food for the soul.<br />
Esther was a biblical nutritionist.<br />
She was constantly feeding on God’s word and serving it up to others.<br />
Throughout her life we know that Esther led numerous Bible study groups large and small.<br />
She took time to be with others in the word.<br />
Matt told me that he and his mother would enjoy 3 or 4 phone visits a week and they always included scripture sharing and discussion.<br />
Esther wrote notes to family and friends using the scriptures to encourage, instruct and speak to people’s situations from God’s point of view.<br />
She also helped grandchildren and others to memorize verses, psalms and chapters.<br />
<br />
Hers was the Wesleyan practice of scriptural conversation.<br />
John Wesley asserted that Christians should be so familiar with God’s word that their very language should become a blend of common speech and scripture.<br />
I have personally had conversations with Esther where she would seamlessly move back and forth from speech to scripture. It was like warm music being played in our conversation.<br />
<br />
I discovered that Esther had the lovely practice of reading the Bible through in a year for someone.<br />
She would pick a person like Matt or Jane or Mark or perhaps a grandchild then buy a Bible for them and read it through.<br />
While reading it she would fill the pages with notes and comments and then when finished she would gift that Bible to the person for whom she had been reading it.<br />
Isn’t that wonderful?<br />
<br />
Scripture was the script for Esther’s life.<br />
God’s word oversaw the goings out and the comings in of Esther’s daily life.<br />
In response to the One who was familiar with all her ways, Esther was becoming intimately acquainted with all the ways of that One through scripture.<br />
The path of her spiritual journey was being lit by the lamp of God’s word.<br />
For example Ps. 139 in v. 7 asks,<br />
Where can I go from your Spirit? <br />
Where can I flee from your presence?<br />
This is the affirmation that God is everywhere.<br />
There is nowhere we can go where God is not.<br />
…Even the darkest most remote places on earth…like a crowded refugee camp in Tanzania for example.<br />
Scripture scripted Esther’s walk toward social justice.<br />
Because God is just and in Christ is reconciling all things unto himself, Esther made sure she was involved in that reconciling reality!<br />
<br />
For several years Esther worked with World Relief to help settle refugees throughout the Pacific NW. <br />
While living in the Warm Beach Senior Community she worked tirelessly with the African Refugee Ministry team to visit churches throughout the state presenting the refugee camp needs to congregations and taking love offerings for that work.<br />
Those offerings were mostly small ones from equally small sized churches and yet in time Esther helped to raise over 100,000 dollars in support of the refugee ministry.<br />
<br />
Like Jesus, Esther took God’s love to the marginalized. She was about redemption for the last, the lost and the least.<br />
And like Jesus, she found such work an uphill climb.<br />
A revealing note in her book reads,<br />
A Xenophobia revival is making the task of organizations which support refugees particularly arduous.<br />
…Esther was no Xenophobe…she held no aversion in her heart to strangers and aliens.<br />
Esther suffered from redemptive colorblindness which limited her to only seeing people with the vision of God’s love for them irrespective of their ethnicity.<br />
<br />
Esther knew from Scripture that she lived in a world where the darkness of sin endeavors to hide people its’ cloak.<br />
But she knew from her favorite psalm that with God,<br />
even the darkness will not be dark to you; <br />
the night will shine like the day, <br />
for darkness is as light to you.<br />
Esther believed that God can see in the dark where we can’t. That in fact God turns night into day and brings dawn to hopelessly night engulfed situations.<br />
<br />
I specifically asked that when Ps. 139 was read in this service that the entire psalm would be read including verses 19-22.<br />
I recall that during one of the first times I made a hospital visit to someone when a student pastor I read Ps. 139 to the patient.<br />
After reading aloud all those great verses about God’s thoughts, light and presence with us, even from the womb to the end of our days, I got to the last verses and was suddenly reading the psalmist’s venting of wrath against God’s hated enemies and the look on the patient’s face changed from bliss to concern!<br />
She even said to me after the reading…<br />
Oh I never read those last verses…they just ruin the psalm!<br />
I made a note to myself then and there never again to include those verses among my texts for pastoral care with people!<br />
<br />
What was the psalmist thinking here?<br />
Why ruin a perfectly good psalm with stuff about hating enemies when later in the gospels, Jesus would clearly be against doing that…right?<br />
Well the point here and why I believe Esther read and applied all the verses of Ps. 139 to her life, is that when the psalmist says,<br />
Do I not hate those who hate you, LORD, <br />
and abhor those who are in rebellion against you? <br />
The psalmist is standing with God against sin, wickedness and all the unrighteousness of fallen humankind.<br />
These verses aren’t a so much a vindictive against people as they are an affirmation about committing to stand with God on the side of right.<br />
They are about making God’s cause our cause.<br />
And the fact that these verses are followed in vs. 23-24 by a plea for God to search the heart and life of the psalmist in order to make sure he is right with God, tells us that verses 19-22 need to be read in the context of a humbleness of spirit.<br />
Search me, God, and know my heart; <br />
test me and know my anxious thoughts. <br />
24 See if there is any offensive way in me, <br />
and lead me in the way everlasting.<br />
This humbleness of spirit permeated Esther’s life as she walked the paths of social justice and of soul winning.<br />
<br />
Justice and Evangelism for Esther were both scripted by God’s word and guided by God’s heart.<br />
In sharing the saving news about Jesus Christ with others, Esther never did so with a holier than thou attitude. She was never condescending in her soul winning.<br />
In fact, Esther was the perfect fisher of people.<br />
She knew that God included all types of fish in his catch and she was always aware and grateful that she herself had been caught in the net as one of those types!<br />
Esther had a marvelous openness to people always seeing them as included in the sphere of God’s love no matter what type of fish they were…common or odd!<br />
Like Acts 17 and Paul in the marketplace of ideas, Esther went where the people were and connected with them and their contexts.<br />
She was a relater of the good news…showing people how God’s saving work in Christ was relevant to their lives and situations.<br />
Wherever people were at, cynical religionists, tentative seekers or avowed unbelievers, Esther was always operating in I Peter 3:15 mode.<br />
She was always prepared to give an answer to everyone who asked her to give the reason for the hope she had in Christ.<br />
<br />
With the way everlasting as her concern, Esther was always cultivating relationships with people.<br />
Her sister Eunice told Matt that when she herself arrived to begin living at the Warm Beach Senior Community she soon met nine different people who each told her they were Esther’s best friend! Esther had made each of them feel that special.<br />
<br />
In the ER after her fall while everyone was showing their concern for Esther, her one concern was that someone would contact the young woman she was to have Bible study with and tell her Esther couldn’t make it this week.<br />
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Esther loved people because God so loves the world.<br />
And like God who gave his son for the world, Esther gave herself for others that they might know him who loves them.<br />
Scripted by God’s word, Esther was a new creation conversationalist.<br />
She was an illuminated witness to the God who lights the darkest places and brings hope to the hopeless.<br />
Esther leaves us with the sure witness that God had created her inmost being…God had knit Esther’s life together from the womb to the end of the days which were ordained for her.<br />
<br />
How vast were the sum of God’s thoughts in Esther’s life.<br />
In her own words of testimony Esther writes,<br />
I gave my heart to Jesus when I was a child of 6 years old…Although I was very young, I understood that I had not given my heart to Jesus. I remember speaking to my mother and telling her I wanted to be “saved.” She knelt with me by our library table and I prayed and entered the family of God.<br />
There have been bumps along the way and many trips to the altar, but there was solid ground under my feet and that first decision has held firm.<br />
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This would be Esther’s desire for each of us.<br />
That we would each know the One who saves and make him known to others.<br />
And now as we are parted from her for a time we are assured by her favorite psalm that when she awakes she will still and ever be with her Lord.<br />
<br />
May the life and witness of Esther E. Whitehead-Jackson be an encouragement to each of us to trust in the God who is present in all things…bidden or unbidden, he is there…Esther’s life assures of this.<br />
Amen.Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04310937246781439474noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932237832275049919.post-66600121870052459642011-03-12T12:15:00.000-08:002011-03-12T12:15:10.474-08:00...rants by Me on-Limited Grace and A Lack of Extended Forgiveness<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span>Lately I keep hearing about examples of limited grace and a lack of extended forgiveness.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span>NPR did a piece last week about a fundamentalist church congregation that likes to show up at funerals for gay soldiers and proclaim God's wrath on them and their families. They do this with signs that read things like <em>God hates fags! </em>and <em>Thank God for another dead gay soldier. </em>I just can't see Jesus taking this approach. ...Pharisees yes, Jesus no. I think Jesus would want to reach out to the grieving family and not make things even harder from them to be open to God's love and leadership in their lives by using some self-righteous, ham fisted and wrong headed witnessing tactics. These church folk say that the reason the US Armed Forces is currently experiencing casualties in the middle east is because America tolerates gays. So does this mean that the logic of their argument is, <em>that if we got rid of all the gays tonight then tomorrow forward our armies would be invincible? Think McFly, think! Didn't Hiltler try this for his army with the Jews? Or was it the Ark of the Covenant I forget.</em></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span>Recently I experienced a wonderful weekend of spiritual renewal led by an amazing Spirit-filled woman who's daily walk with God rivals that of the apostle Paul. Yet someone came to me after and suggested that because this woman was on the stout side body type wise, that this person felt her ministry was less valid. Overweight Christians (this would be the average America person including me) unite! WOW is this person missing God's point! Talk about the wrong focus! In I Samuel 16:7 it reads, <em>The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” </em></span><span>In saying it is finished Jesus was announcing to the world that the doing which was needed in order for salvation to happen had in truth been finally accomplished. Jesus did it so now it was done. Salvation was a done deal. There is nothing we need to do to experience it other than use our faith to bask in it and let it permeate us. That’s all. </span></div><br />
Outside or inside? Shallow or deep?...where are we focused?<br />
<br />
And then I have a dear friend currently struggling with God's forgiveness in his own life (who doesn't?).<br />
We all wrestle with the works and grace issue, the doing and done thing. Some of us can't handle that God really loves us and we don't have to earn that love or merit God's forgiveness...in fact there is nothing we can be or do to earn these things. Others of us though receive God's gift of grace, but then once <em>saved </em>we go right back to what I call White Knuckle Christianity. WKC is when God saves us by grace and then we take over again and try to become a new person by pulling ourselves up by our own self-help boot straps. <br />
<em>Grace has saved me and now I must try harder to be better! </em>Sound familar? Dr. Henry Cloud of Boundaries fame asks us to think who are we, the person riding in the ambulance or the driver of it?<br />
<br />
So here's my parting thought on the lack of forgiveness we show others and ourselves and the limited amounts of grace we seem to despense to the same:<br />
<br />
…Not do, but be. <br />
…Be inside the done. <br />
As theologian Karl Barth says,<br />
<em>In His death He exercised judgment according to His wonderful righteousness, and He did so once and for all for the sins of all men. Is not the result of this just judgment mercy and forgiveness for all? Who, then, is not included? Which category of particularly great sinners is exempted from the pardon effected on the basis of the death penalty carried out at <place w:st="on">Calvary</place>?</em> <br />
Amen brother Barth.Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04310937246781439474noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932237832275049919.post-53571707338225429182010-12-25T12:49:00.000-08:002010-12-25T12:49:24.120-08:00The Way of Peace Its Christmas Day 2010 and I am thinking of the angelic announcement, <strong><em>Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors. </em></strong>(Luke 2:14). We usually read and say this as simply, <em>Peace on earth and Good Will toward Men. </em>Anyway you translate it the idea is of course that with Jesus' birth the possibility of peace among humans is enhanced, perhaps even truly enabled. But how?<br />
Human history has been anything but a peace parade! The very fact that what Jesus came to bring, namely grace, mercy, forgiveness and reconciliation shows us that the world is full of their opposites. The world is a vivid contrast to each of these divine gifts. This is true with individuals, small groups and nations with nations. The need for peace on earth is demonstrated daily by the discord within each of ourselves on the micro and macro scales. The need is real, but again what is the way for finding the meeting of the need? Dietrich Bonhoeffer sheds some light on this for us.<br />
I have been reading a recent bio of Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas called Bonhoeffer, <em>Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy. </em>Bonhoeffer is the Christian theologian who was an activist in the resistence movement in Germany against Adolf Hitler. He was also involved in one of the many plots to assassinate the dictator and was later executed for it. At age 28 Bonhoeffer addressed a gathering of German church leaders and gave his now often quoted and memorable <strong>Peace Speech. </strong>This was a call for Christians to hear God's Word and obey it. In the speech Bonhoeffer points to the path to peace and that path is a radical one. I believe this way answers the question for us about how peace can be achieved among humans. Here's a quote from the speech:<br />
<strong><em>There is no way to peace along the way of safety. For peace must be dared, it is itself the great venture and can never be safe. Peace is the opposite of security. To demand guarantees is to want to protect oneself. Peace means giving oneself completely to God's commandment, wanting no security, but in faith and obedience laying the destiny of the nations in the hand of Almighty God, not trying to direct it for selfish purposes. Battles are won, not with weapons, but with God. They are won when the way leads to the cross.</em></strong><br />
<strong><em> </em></strong>On this Christmas Day I am reminded that the babe born in Bethlehem was, as the hymn writer says, <strong><em>Born to die, that man might live. </em></strong>The way of peace and of the reconciliation which brings that peace, is the way of the cross. It is by death to selfishness that the way is cleared for peace to reign. Only when we choose not to take offense, but love and forgive the offender, will we be following in the way of the Prince of Peace. This way of the cross can be taken by us in our daily interactions with others and our world. It is a hard way, because it is not a natural course for us. But when we take it we are demonstrating our trust in the One who lived, died and rose again to take that path ahead of us and bid us follow after him upon it.<br />
Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04310937246781439474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932237832275049919.post-15906533149286867842010-07-09T20:13:00.000-07:002010-07-20T09:11:41.133-07:00Amazing Plot Twist.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIMsFlGDWFVCIf11BBtRbjDV8utTHKy-LVr0NuaOXoQjW48ticcAYWapO52hSuvCiQdsJzqlznLsIluMRKPzP8AU8U1kg3vspeYod9S2im3npjsCvKq-wXkqFXHgm-3emzV6YNwKeYfuo/s1600/high-and-low-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIMsFlGDWFVCIf11BBtRbjDV8utTHKy-LVr0NuaOXoQjW48ticcAYWapO52hSuvCiQdsJzqlznLsIluMRKPzP8AU8U1kg3vspeYod9S2im3npjsCvKq-wXkqFXHgm-3emzV6YNwKeYfuo/s320/high-and-low-2.jpg" /></a></div>I am a fan of the films of Akira Kurosawa (Stray Dog, Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, Kagemusha and Ran to name a few). Recently I watched High and Low (aka Heaven and Hell) Kurosawa’s 1963 thriller with Toshiro Mifune.<br />
<br />
Told in two acts, the first is about a wealthy executive named Kingo Gondo (Mifune) who mortgages all he has to stage a leveraged buyout and gain control of a company called National Shoes, with the intent of keeping the company out of the hands of its other executives. Gondo disagrees with the executives over the direction of the company. One faction wants to make the company a modern mass market low quality manufacturer while the founder of the company tries to keep it conservative with good quality. Gondo believes he can split the difference by making high quality modern shoes. Then he is told that his son has been kidnapped. Gondo is prepared to pay the ransom, until he learns that the kidnappers have mistakenly abducted the child of Gondo's chauffeur, instead of his own son.<br />
The kidnapping occurs in parallel with the corporate buyout drama and Gondo is forced to make a decision about whether to pay the ransom or complete the buyout. His vulnerable position is exposed to the other executives when his top aide betrays him to protect himself. Finally, after a long night of contemplation and pressure from his wife and the chauffeur, Gondo decides to pay the ransom. This decision essentially seals his fate, as the other executives now have the power to vote him out of his directorship, leaving him hopelessly indebted. This move ends up making Gondo into a national hero, while the National Shoe Company is vilified and boycotted.<br />
The second act follows police procedure as they put together clues to find the ransom money, and the kidnapper. It is revealed that the main kidnapper is in fact a medical intern at a nearby hospital, whose sole motive is his hatred for Gondo which stems from jealousy. His apartment is directly under Gondo's significantly larger house on an overlooking hill, one of the many hints of the film's title throughout the film. As the kidnapper gets rid of his accomplices by causing them to overdose on drugs, the detective hatches a plot to catch him when all seems lost. The detective lures him out of hiding by pretending that his accomplices survived his attempt to dispatch them. Most of the ransom money is recovered, but too late for Gondo to avert financial ruin. With the kidnapper facing a death sentence, he and Gondo finally meet face to face at the very end, and motives and feelings are examined.<br />
For me the most dramatic moment of the film is when Gondo learns who has really been kidnapped. Now that he knows his own son is safe should he pay the ransom for the son of his lowly chauffeur? It’s a wonderful and unexpected twist in the plot. There really is no reason why Gondo should involve himself further. Why jeopardize the big business deal he is about to complete? His whole future rests on that deal and ransoming his driver’s son would virtually mean the ruining of that deal. And yet that is what Gondo does. He pays the ransom, not out of logic, but compassion. Kurosawa uses this plot device to reveal his character’s humanity.<br />
This reminds me of a similar plot twist found in the Biblical story. Fallen humanity gives God no reason to be saved. All have sinned, all have fallen short of God’s glory, yet God reveals his divinity by saving us. In fact God becomes human to do so. It is as if we are all the children of some lowly, undeserving and minor worker, yet that does not stand in the way of God providing the ransom payment for us. <br />
Kurosawa was on the right path…but it seems that God took things even further!Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04310937246781439474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932237832275049919.post-40192129281027012972010-07-02T10:55:00.000-07:002010-07-02T10:55:45.610-07:00Thoughts on July 4thIn 1983 I had the privilege of traveling with Dr. Charles Kirkpatrick who was then General Secretary for Free Methodist World Missions. Through a series of circumstances God had enabled me to become a link in contacting the leadership of the Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship. These were pastors and congregations who had been disenfranchised by the Hungarian State Church and who were then basically homeless having lost churches and parsonages which had been taken away from them by their government.<br />
<br />
Some really great things happened on the trip and now we have a seminary in Buda Pest and a strong Free Methodist presence there. But I will never forget the moment when we landed at the Buda Pest airport.<br />
We had taken off from Sweden for the last leg of our trip where I had been on a Swedish chocolate buying binge just prior to take off! As our plane rolled up to the terminal I looked out my window to see soldiers with automatic rifles standing at the foot of each plane’s stairway. I suddenly realized I wasn’t in Kansas any more!<br />
<br />
This was especially confirmed later that night when driving to our host’s apt. we were stopped by police and had to show our papers.<br />
…Just like in some Cold War spy movie!<br />
<br />
These and other experiences from that visit in what was then known as an Iron Curtain country have given me a deep appreciation for the independence we enjoy in this country.<br />
<br />
Today our nation celebrates that independence and much will be rightly made of it.<br />
We thank God today for those founders who courageously pursued a vision of human government which may genuinely be called enlightened and unlike anything known before it. We also pay homage to the thousands of Americans which have sacrificed themselves to protect our independence in conflicts at home and abroad. Our heartfelt prayer today should be God bless America…God bless our leaders and our people with the wisdom and courage to live the right and just way in this fallen world of ours.<br />
As Prov. 14:34 says,<br />
Righteousness exalts a nation, <br />
but sin is a disgrace to any people.<br />
<br />
And that is the issue isn’t it?...Sin?<br />
No person or people can be free if they are not free from sin. No one is genuinely independent when bound by sin. <br />
<br />
When God intervened to deliver his people from bondage in Egypt God did so by rescuing them from the powers of the gods of Egypt. The people’s salvation was realized as they discovered the living God and were led out to follow him in faith and obedience. This transformed these former slaves into the independent nation of Israel. Their freedom came through their relationship with God and whenever they forsook that relationship they found themselves in bondage once again.<br />
<br />
This weekend millions of people across our nation will use the 4th as a reason to celebrate. Whether they will be genuinely thankful for America and the freedoms they enjoy here or just use the holiday as an excuse for self indulgence is up to them. But unless there is acknowledgment of sin and the need for repentance, individually and nationally, the celebration will be hollow at best.<br />
<br />
As the Lords says 2 Chron. 7:14,<br />
…if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.<br />
<br />
Individual and national sin is linked for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.<br />
This is why the ultimate source for independence is not a human vision or document, but the grace of God and the cross of Jesus Christ. God’s Word, not the words of man, is the way.<br />
<br />
As we celebrate those patriots who suffered under the burden of foreign tyranny and sought to bring a solution to save this nation from it…to declare its’ independence from such power…let us not forget the One who came to bear the burden of the weight of everyone’s sin and to offer himself as the means whereby God can deliver us from its’ tyranny.Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04310937246781439474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932237832275049919.post-52606083530319447612010-06-12T20:27:00.000-07:002010-06-12T20:27:46.298-07:00Contextualizing LifeYesterday I went to my daughter Elizabeth’s graduation ceremony. She has completed her B.A. as a History major through the University of Washington. She graduated on the Dean’s List. When she began college she was a single Mom. For the last four years she has managed being a mother, a student, and later a wife with a home to run. Throughout she has maintained an A grade level and not lost her sense of enjoyment for her studies. I am very proud of her to say the least!<br />
At the ceremony the head of the History department talked about the study of history as a means for contextualizing a person’s life. I was struck by that insight. We live in such an instant society where the NOW seems so important and history is what happened last week or last month or maybe, if you stretch it, five or ten years ago at best. Once on a flight home I sat next to a high school age boy and a twenty something woman. At one point they began discussing life and especially his school experience and he made the remark, I just don’t get all this history stuff. I mean what does my knowing about the Civil War have anything to do with my life today?...My heart sank.<br />
George Santayana (1863-1952) philosopher, essayist, poet and novelist said, Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it. Maybe a more contemporary application of his observation might be that failure to understand history can leave a person and a culture without a context. <br />
Has anyone checked recently to see where we are going as a society? From individuals to our nation as a whole we appear to have very little sense of direction other than the to do lists of the moment. People live their lives today like they are adrift. They have lost their moorings. Could it be a loss of context…mental, emotional, historic and spiritual? Are we only preoccupied with self and its’ interests? Sure seems that way. Perhaps that is the best we can do when we have little or no historic framework for our lives…for our culture?Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04310937246781439474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932237832275049919.post-3787887226783577112010-06-09T22:56:00.000-07:002010-06-09T23:18:25.580-07:00Last December I went in for my annual exam. After several years of exercise and weight lifting I went to the doctor's with a cocky attitude! I couldn't wait for the part where he asked me to take off my shirt so I could show off the results of my weight lifting labors.<br /><br />The next day I did the routine blood work...the day after that the nurse called to tell me my PSA count had doubled since last year's exam. What followed was a journey from January to May of antibiotics, tests and finally a biposy. Cancer. Early, but aggressive. WOW who would of thought?<br />On May 18 I had four hours of robotic surgery. Now I am on the mend. Not so cocky now. More aware of Who is really in control of things.<br /><br />For months now James 4:13-16 has been cycling through my mind with great regularity.<br />It says,<br /><em>Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil</em>.<br /><br />Too bad it takes a jolt from cancer or some such thing to remind us we are not actually the <em>Captains of our Fate</em>, but rather creatures in the hands of the living God.<br />...Awesome, yet <em>GOOD</em> what better hands to be in than His.Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04310937246781439474noreply@blogger.com1