The sun is shining today, and the floods are receding. I sent out a dove and it came back with a branch in its mouth; it might have been seaweed, but I wasn’t sure. There is still a lot of standing water, and people will be assessing and dealing with the damage for months.
It is hard to know how to talk about events such as the rains we experienced this weekend. On the one hand, I have no doubt that God has ultimate control of all creation. He can and does actively use extremes of nature for his purposes in the lives of his children and the world he made. God made it all, and has the absolute right to do with it as he pleases. Droughts, floods, storms and more can be tools in God’s hand for punishment, correction, or even just to remind us God is still around (remember Elijah!).
On the other hand (I know, I sound like Tevya again), I am convinced that much of the destructive stuff we often refer to as “acts of God” can be traced back to the Fall. Romans 8:19-20 tells us that all of creation was put under the curse of decay because of the sin of humanity, and that it groans under the burden. It makes sense to me that destructive extremes such as we saw a few days ago could fit in the category of consequences of our own making. We were put here as stewards of creation, to nurture it and care for it. When we rebelled against God’s sovereignty and the role we were given, we brought severe consequences on ourselves and the world of which we had been put in charge. It might even be argued that we gave control over to the enemy; if that is true, the only surprise should be that chaos is not the norm!
So, what do I say to someone whose house had 6 feet of water flowing through, and who lost pretty much everything they had? Do I tell them that God was angry with them; that they brought this on themselves? Or do I tell them that stuff happens in a fallen world, and that God just lets it?
Unless and until God speaks a direct word through a prophet (a title I do not claim!) about why the skies opened up so wide last week, I simply do not have any idea why it happened. Perhaps some day I will be given some insight about that, perhaps not.
But in the meantime, what I can tell that person is that God was not caught unaware by the rain; that the Lord was and is present with them to see them through. Often how the Lord makes his presence known in trying times is by sending people like you and me to be the hands and feet of Christ in the world. We can help in many ways. We can help fill sandbags or carry out damaged furniture. We can give essential supplies to get them through the days ahead. We can sit down and weep with them over their losses. The ministry of presence is a powerful Means of Grace that we can offer on behalf of Christ and his Church. And it can be much more helpful in the long run than having answers to all those questions.
Grace and peace,
Bruce
Friday, May 7, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
Disagreening Without Being Disagreeable
Happy Easter!
We are in the season of Easter in the Church calendar. I know, WalMart has already put away their ½ Off All Easter Candy displays; the bunnies are packed away for another year and all the marshmallow eggs have long been eaten. As far as the secular world is concerned, Easter ended on the Saturday night before Easter. But our season just began. We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ every Sunday, but especially in the weeks after Easter Sunday we focus our attention on the incredible power of God to redeem us, which is the same power that raised Christ from the dead.
One of the reasons we celebrate this power is because it reconciles us with God, and can reconcile us with each other. On April 25th, the message in worship was about how we can handle conflict within the church in healthy and constructive ways. I believe this is so important that I want to do a bit of a review.
First, we might as well get used to the idea that conflict is going to happen, even in the church. I pray that we have passionate people involved in the various ministries, and when passionate people have an idea, they get passionate about that idea. If some other passionate person doesn’t share their vision of how to accomplish their particular ministry, sparks will fly. This is not a bad thing! The problems arise when we don’t handle conflicts properly. Kind of like the sparks I just spoke of. If you handle electricity properly, it can do amazing things; but if you are “care-less” with it, you will get hurt, or you will hurt someone else.
So, how can we disagree with each other and still maintain unity in the body of Christ? First, decide that being in relationship with one another is much more important than being right. We are commanded to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, and to love one another. These two most important commands are pretty clear, and rank far above trying to convince everyone else that my way is the right way on any particular issue.
Second, whenever we are considering a word or action, or are offended by the words or actions of someone else, the first question we should ask about it is, “Is this a Kingdom issue?” Is it an important element in our mission to invite people to know Jesus Christ? Will it help or hurt in that effort? If it does not affect that priority of our lives, then is it really worth getting upset about it and letting it bring division to the body? Scripture is pretty clear that because we have been loved so much, and forgiven so much, that we are to overlook much in each other. What we cannot overlook, we are to forgive.
I know, love also demands that we hold each other accountable and encourage each other as we grow upward to perfection. And that brings me to the next point. Whenever we have something that bothers us about someone else, if we cannot simply overlook it, our first responsibility is to go to that person and seek reconciliation. If I have been offended by something you said or did, love demands that I go to you and let you know how I was hurt by your words or actions. If I have offended you, love demands that I go to you and ask your forgiveness for the pain I caused. Love requires that I do not go to all my friends and tell them what an awful thing you did; I must go to you, in love, and speak the truth, in love.
And finally (at least as far as my message on the 25th went), we are called to make building one another up a lifestyle. It is so easy for us to get into the habit of tearing each other down. We vocally and publicly question a person’s motives, their integrity, even their salvation (“I just don’t know how a person can call themselves a Christian and do what they did to me...”). How rare it is for us to vocally and publicly praise people, especially those with whom we disagree. What an incredible witness that would be to the world around us, to have them see us disagree with each other without being disagreeable. If our community could see us handle conflict in healthy ways that promote our mission and build up everyone in the body, we would have a lot more people coming to visit, just to see why we act so “peculiar”.
There is much more to be said and learned about dealing with conflict. It is my hope to be able to expand on this topic more in the coming weeks. I know I have only scratched the surface of all this. But I am convinced that these heart matters are a good beginning, and that only if we get our hearts wrapped around these questions will we be able to sail through the inevitable conflicts that come in our life together and be stronger for them. “Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7 (NLT)
Bruce
We are in the season of Easter in the Church calendar. I know, WalMart has already put away their ½ Off All Easter Candy displays; the bunnies are packed away for another year and all the marshmallow eggs have long been eaten. As far as the secular world is concerned, Easter ended on the Saturday night before Easter. But our season just began. We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ every Sunday, but especially in the weeks after Easter Sunday we focus our attention on the incredible power of God to redeem us, which is the same power that raised Christ from the dead.
One of the reasons we celebrate this power is because it reconciles us with God, and can reconcile us with each other. On April 25th, the message in worship was about how we can handle conflict within the church in healthy and constructive ways. I believe this is so important that I want to do a bit of a review.
First, we might as well get used to the idea that conflict is going to happen, even in the church. I pray that we have passionate people involved in the various ministries, and when passionate people have an idea, they get passionate about that idea. If some other passionate person doesn’t share their vision of how to accomplish their particular ministry, sparks will fly. This is not a bad thing! The problems arise when we don’t handle conflicts properly. Kind of like the sparks I just spoke of. If you handle electricity properly, it can do amazing things; but if you are “care-less” with it, you will get hurt, or you will hurt someone else.
So, how can we disagree with each other and still maintain unity in the body of Christ? First, decide that being in relationship with one another is much more important than being right. We are commanded to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, and to love one another. These two most important commands are pretty clear, and rank far above trying to convince everyone else that my way is the right way on any particular issue.
Second, whenever we are considering a word or action, or are offended by the words or actions of someone else, the first question we should ask about it is, “Is this a Kingdom issue?” Is it an important element in our mission to invite people to know Jesus Christ? Will it help or hurt in that effort? If it does not affect that priority of our lives, then is it really worth getting upset about it and letting it bring division to the body? Scripture is pretty clear that because we have been loved so much, and forgiven so much, that we are to overlook much in each other. What we cannot overlook, we are to forgive.
I know, love also demands that we hold each other accountable and encourage each other as we grow upward to perfection. And that brings me to the next point. Whenever we have something that bothers us about someone else, if we cannot simply overlook it, our first responsibility is to go to that person and seek reconciliation. If I have been offended by something you said or did, love demands that I go to you and let you know how I was hurt by your words or actions. If I have offended you, love demands that I go to you and ask your forgiveness for the pain I caused. Love requires that I do not go to all my friends and tell them what an awful thing you did; I must go to you, in love, and speak the truth, in love.
And finally (at least as far as my message on the 25th went), we are called to make building one another up a lifestyle. It is so easy for us to get into the habit of tearing each other down. We vocally and publicly question a person’s motives, their integrity, even their salvation (“I just don’t know how a person can call themselves a Christian and do what they did to me...”). How rare it is for us to vocally and publicly praise people, especially those with whom we disagree. What an incredible witness that would be to the world around us, to have them see us disagree with each other without being disagreeable. If our community could see us handle conflict in healthy ways that promote our mission and build up everyone in the body, we would have a lot more people coming to visit, just to see why we act so “peculiar”.
There is much more to be said and learned about dealing with conflict. It is my hope to be able to expand on this topic more in the coming weeks. I know I have only scratched the surface of all this. But I am convinced that these heart matters are a good beginning, and that only if we get our hearts wrapped around these questions will we be able to sail through the inevitable conflicts that come in our life together and be stronger for them. “Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7 (NLT)
Bruce
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
I am a member of...
Hi, my name is Bruce, and I am a sinner.
Last month (wow, did that go by fast), I was pondering the meaning of church membership. I remember once asking some people in a church I served what they thought it meant to be a member, and the general consensus seemed to be, “not much.” I remember thinking, “How sad!”, but somehow I didn’t pursue it after that. But today, finally, I want to respond.
If we think that belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ doesn’t mean much, we simply have not been paying attention. Almighty God, creator and sustainer of the universe, chose to become one of the very human beings he had created, and who had turned their backs on him. He did this not to punish us; he did this because he loves us so passionately that he can’t stand the thought of losing us to our own folly. In Jesus of Nazareth, born into time some 2000 years ago, God came to undo the terrible damage we had done in our disobedience. In our fallen humanity we had not only condemned ourselves, but we had placed an unbearable burden on the rest of the physical universe, as well. We had thrown everything out of balance, and we had no way to restore that balance. Only God could do that, and because he loves us more than we can imagine, God chose to do whatever it took. What it took was a perfect human life, which only Jesus the Son of God could live, offered as a sacrifice to pay the penalty for our sin. The justice which God had built into the fabric of creation could only be restored when the debt was paid, and only a sinless life could pay that debt.
“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 NLT) We hear this verse so often we sometimes forget to think about what it means; kind of like our church membership. God did this for us, and chooses to adopt us who were lost and without hope. Through the death and resurrection of his Son, God makes it possible for us to be brought back into his own family.
When we join a church, when we declare ourselves to be Christians, we are saying that we get it; that we understand, at least a little, our own need and the terrible price God was willing to pay on our behalf. When we join a church we declare that we were lost but have been found; orphaned but now adopted; dead but now brought into new LIFE. Joining this church, or any Christian church, is all about the grace of God, and our need to receive it. It is much more like joining AA than some exclusive social club. We are here not because we deserve any such favor, but because we are desperate for the only eternal hope there is, which is God’s mercy and grace.
Hi, my name is Bruce, and I am a sinner, saved by grace. I have been in recovery for 41 years now, and by God’s grace I live every day striving to grow up into the likeness of Christ.
Last month (wow, did that go by fast), I was pondering the meaning of church membership. I remember once asking some people in a church I served what they thought it meant to be a member, and the general consensus seemed to be, “not much.” I remember thinking, “How sad!”, but somehow I didn’t pursue it after that. But today, finally, I want to respond.
If we think that belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ doesn’t mean much, we simply have not been paying attention. Almighty God, creator and sustainer of the universe, chose to become one of the very human beings he had created, and who had turned their backs on him. He did this not to punish us; he did this because he loves us so passionately that he can’t stand the thought of losing us to our own folly. In Jesus of Nazareth, born into time some 2000 years ago, God came to undo the terrible damage we had done in our disobedience. In our fallen humanity we had not only condemned ourselves, but we had placed an unbearable burden on the rest of the physical universe, as well. We had thrown everything out of balance, and we had no way to restore that balance. Only God could do that, and because he loves us more than we can imagine, God chose to do whatever it took. What it took was a perfect human life, which only Jesus the Son of God could live, offered as a sacrifice to pay the penalty for our sin. The justice which God had built into the fabric of creation could only be restored when the debt was paid, and only a sinless life could pay that debt.
“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 NLT) We hear this verse so often we sometimes forget to think about what it means; kind of like our church membership. God did this for us, and chooses to adopt us who were lost and without hope. Through the death and resurrection of his Son, God makes it possible for us to be brought back into his own family.
When we join a church, when we declare ourselves to be Christians, we are saying that we get it; that we understand, at least a little, our own need and the terrible price God was willing to pay on our behalf. When we join a church we declare that we were lost but have been found; orphaned but now adopted; dead but now brought into new LIFE. Joining this church, or any Christian church, is all about the grace of God, and our need to receive it. It is much more like joining AA than some exclusive social club. We are here not because we deserve any such favor, but because we are desperate for the only eternal hope there is, which is God’s mercy and grace.
Hi, my name is Bruce, and I am a sinner, saved by grace. I have been in recovery for 41 years now, and by God’s grace I live every day striving to grow up into the likeness of Christ.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Member of ???
I have been thinking recently about what it means to be a member of a church. Why would someone want to have their name on the list of Professing Members of a United Methodist Church, or of Faith United Methodist Church in particular? What expectations are there, if any, because one’s name is on that list?
I guess what got me started on this tangent was working on the State of the Communion address I presented a week ago, as well as beginning the season of Lent. Lent has been part of the Church calendar for a very long time, as a season of reflection and self-examination. It grew out of the practice of the early church to require a period of learning about and living out what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. The Roman Catholic catechism is an example of how this is played out even today. During the early years of the Church, due in part to the persecution they were going through, Church leaders required people to show they really meant it when they professed turning their lives over to Christ. Within just a generation or two after the events we read of in scripture, persons who professed belief had to go through a time of teaching and testing before they could even be baptized.
I sometimes wonder what our responses would be if we suddenly had to pass a test before we could become members of our churches today. How would we fare if we had to show by the way we lived, by the way we served, by the way we witnessed to others our faith in Christ, that we could justify being called Christians?
Now, don’t get me wrong. I haven’t forgotten GRACE. The more you get to know me, the more you will know that I am all about grace. But grace poured out on us so richly and freely demands a response. Not that we could pay for it or earn it in any way, but a response.
When Paul wrote his letter to the church in Rome, he spent ¾ of the letter describing all the amazing things God had done and was doing. He went on and on about God’s grace in sending his Son to die for us “while we were yet sinners.” Then, after such a song of praise, he writes, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual [or reasonable] worship” (Romans 12:1 NRSV). Paul understood, and wanted believers to understand, that after considering all God had done and continues to do for us, there is only one reasonable response, and that is total sell-out, total surrender. Anything else spits in the face of the One who moves heaven and earth to restore the relationship we broke. Anything else shows that we don’t really get it, that we don’t have a clue about our own need or about the salvation God has made possible through his Son.
So, back to my original musing. What does it mean to be a member of a Church? If we are being honest and wish to consider our lives in the Church with integrity, it must mean being a devoted disciple of Jesus Christ; it must mean constantly yearning and striving for more of God’s Spirit in me so that I can be made holy, as my Father in heaven is holy. That is what we are about this Lent season. In worship and on Wednesday evenings we are walking through some of the ways God has given us to accomplish that goal. I hope you will come and let us learn together, and that you will begin at least one new practice during this season and beyond, so that God has one more open door into your heart to do his amazing work of sanctifying grace.
I guess what got me started on this tangent was working on the State of the Communion address I presented a week ago, as well as beginning the season of Lent. Lent has been part of the Church calendar for a very long time, as a season of reflection and self-examination. It grew out of the practice of the early church to require a period of learning about and living out what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. The Roman Catholic catechism is an example of how this is played out even today. During the early years of the Church, due in part to the persecution they were going through, Church leaders required people to show they really meant it when they professed turning their lives over to Christ. Within just a generation or two after the events we read of in scripture, persons who professed belief had to go through a time of teaching and testing before they could even be baptized.
I sometimes wonder what our responses would be if we suddenly had to pass a test before we could become members of our churches today. How would we fare if we had to show by the way we lived, by the way we served, by the way we witnessed to others our faith in Christ, that we could justify being called Christians?
Now, don’t get me wrong. I haven’t forgotten GRACE. The more you get to know me, the more you will know that I am all about grace. But grace poured out on us so richly and freely demands a response. Not that we could pay for it or earn it in any way, but a response.
When Paul wrote his letter to the church in Rome, he spent ¾ of the letter describing all the amazing things God had done and was doing. He went on and on about God’s grace in sending his Son to die for us “while we were yet sinners.” Then, after such a song of praise, he writes, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual [or reasonable] worship” (Romans 12:1 NRSV). Paul understood, and wanted believers to understand, that after considering all God had done and continues to do for us, there is only one reasonable response, and that is total sell-out, total surrender. Anything else spits in the face of the One who moves heaven and earth to restore the relationship we broke. Anything else shows that we don’t really get it, that we don’t have a clue about our own need or about the salvation God has made possible through his Son.
So, back to my original musing. What does it mean to be a member of a Church? If we are being honest and wish to consider our lives in the Church with integrity, it must mean being a devoted disciple of Jesus Christ; it must mean constantly yearning and striving for more of God’s Spirit in me so that I can be made holy, as my Father in heaven is holy. That is what we are about this Lent season. In worship and on Wednesday evenings we are walking through some of the ways God has given us to accomplish that goal. I hope you will come and let us learn together, and that you will begin at least one new practice during this season and beyond, so that God has one more open door into your heart to do his amazing work of sanctifying grace.
Monday, February 15, 2010
What, Me Worry?
The great American philosopher Alfred E. Newman* once said, “What, me worry?” I have been contemplating lately the uncomfortable fact that I am not in control of my world. As I write this, I am finishing preparations for a special Ash Wednesday worship service, scheduled for the day after tomorrow. Also as I write this, I look out my window and see some incredibly beautiful snowflakes falling down as part of what is supposed to be 1-3 inches of snow by tomorrow morning. So naturally I worry about the weather forcing us to cancel plans for this service and other activities here at the church where I serve as pastor.
Now, there is nothing I can do about the weather; I have absolutely no say in whether the snow continues for the next 48 hours or stops in the next 45 seconds. And yet I spend mental, emotional and spiritual energy on worrying about whether we will be able to have this service, or have other scheduled events. I worry that someone will get hurt on their way to or from one of these events if we don’t cancel them. I worry about whether people will begin to wonder what they are paying me for if we keep canceling events. I worry about the church being able to pay our bills if we keep having such weather experiences. I worry...
A very wise man (much wiser than Newman!) once said, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” (Matthew 6:34). Jesus’ words offer people like me grace in the face of our tendency to worry. It is as if he is telling me, “If you can’t make yourself stop worrying (a much better frame of mind, by the way), at least try to limit yourself to one day at a time. There is enough to focus on in this one day, this one moment. You are liable to explode if you try to take on too much worry at one time.” I think he is right, too. I have felt like I was right on the verge of my head blowing up at times. Or maybe that is just my allergies to cats?
So, what to do? Should I worry about worrying too much? Can I handle that one more thing to worry about? Or could I perhaps choose a saner approach and pause to thank God that I am not in charge of tomorrow, or even of very much of today. I am pretty sure most of us would not like the results very much if I was. There was way too much truth in the movie “Bruce Almighty” for my comfort.
A saner approach would be, as I said, to celebrate the one who really is in charge. To work every day at giving away one piece of my desire to control and to confess my lack of trust. To echo a father many years ago who cried out to Jesus, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.”
And then to sit back a moment and really pay attention to those beautiful snowflakes while they last. But wait, they have stopped! I wonder if I should be worried about that?
*Alfred E Newman. Oh come on, you know, from MAD Magazine. You know you used to love it!
Now, there is nothing I can do about the weather; I have absolutely no say in whether the snow continues for the next 48 hours or stops in the next 45 seconds. And yet I spend mental, emotional and spiritual energy on worrying about whether we will be able to have this service, or have other scheduled events. I worry that someone will get hurt on their way to or from one of these events if we don’t cancel them. I worry about whether people will begin to wonder what they are paying me for if we keep canceling events. I worry about the church being able to pay our bills if we keep having such weather experiences. I worry...
A very wise man (much wiser than Newman!) once said, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” (Matthew 6:34). Jesus’ words offer people like me grace in the face of our tendency to worry. It is as if he is telling me, “If you can’t make yourself stop worrying (a much better frame of mind, by the way), at least try to limit yourself to one day at a time. There is enough to focus on in this one day, this one moment. You are liable to explode if you try to take on too much worry at one time.” I think he is right, too. I have felt like I was right on the verge of my head blowing up at times. Or maybe that is just my allergies to cats?
So, what to do? Should I worry about worrying too much? Can I handle that one more thing to worry about? Or could I perhaps choose a saner approach and pause to thank God that I am not in charge of tomorrow, or even of very much of today. I am pretty sure most of us would not like the results very much if I was. There was way too much truth in the movie “Bruce Almighty” for my comfort.
A saner approach would be, as I said, to celebrate the one who really is in charge. To work every day at giving away one piece of my desire to control and to confess my lack of trust. To echo a father many years ago who cried out to Jesus, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.”
And then to sit back a moment and really pay attention to those beautiful snowflakes while they last. But wait, they have stopped! I wonder if I should be worried about that?
*Alfred E Newman. Oh come on, you know, from MAD Magazine. You know you used to love it!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Whoa, that was fast. Yesterday morning I was getting ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas, today I woke up and January is almost over. Spent time with family (although never enough); ate more than I needed; watched the WRONG SEC football team win the national championship; began doing a better job of caring for myself.
Now here we are, well into the new year. It really is true, that the older I get, the faster time seems to flow. It occurs to me now how much of that time I have wasted over the years, and I find myself not wanting to waste so much any more.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not saying a person should never take leisure time; we need times of refreshing and rest. Lisa and I took a vacation to see her mom right after Christmas, and I hadn’t even realized how much I needed the rest until we got there. Human beings were not made to be consumed with our jobs or our to-do lists.
What I am contemplating is whether a lot of the stuff we do is really worth doing. Is the way I am spending my time benefiting anyone; even me? Am I helping others see the amazing love of God? Am I growing more into the image of that amazing God? Or am I just spinning my wheels, or even worse, moving backwards and becoming less like my Daddy.
Beginning in Lent, we will be looking at some of the ways God has given us to grow spiritually. There are many ways God can reach into our lives and do his work; an infinite and creative God can often surprise us. There are a handful of practices, however, that God seems to bless over and over again; we call these Means of Grace (we also call these practices spiritual disciplines, but I don’t like to use such offensive language where everyone can read it!). We will explore several of them to see how useful they can be as we “travel on to perfection.”
What I want you to get as you read this today is this: there will never come a day when you and I can be content with where we are and it is okay to stop working at growing. It is a universal truth, in both our physical and spiritual lives; the minute we stop growing, we start dying. No matter how mature we become (physically or spiritually), we still have a long way to go to reach the goal, and we still have infinite room to grow in God’s grace. I am convinced that even after we die we will continue to grow in the knowledge of God’s love, because God’s love is infinite and we will never explore the fullness of his kingdom.
Many people choose to give up something for Lent; a small way of identifying with the sacrifice Jesus Christ made for us on the cross. Let me suggest that you consider adding something in the place of whatever you may give up, or even if you don’t give up anything. Add a couple extra minutes in prayer (remember our sanctuary is open every weekday morning at 7:00); add a few passages of Scripture to your day. Perhaps you could add an hour or so of volunteer work, trying to bring justice a little closer for someone. Whatever it might be, I encourage you to add one of these Means of Grace to your routine, expecting that the Lord will add blessings to your life and the lives of others around you because of it.
I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.
Now here we are, well into the new year. It really is true, that the older I get, the faster time seems to flow. It occurs to me now how much of that time I have wasted over the years, and I find myself not wanting to waste so much any more.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not saying a person should never take leisure time; we need times of refreshing and rest. Lisa and I took a vacation to see her mom right after Christmas, and I hadn’t even realized how much I needed the rest until we got there. Human beings were not made to be consumed with our jobs or our to-do lists.
What I am contemplating is whether a lot of the stuff we do is really worth doing. Is the way I am spending my time benefiting anyone; even me? Am I helping others see the amazing love of God? Am I growing more into the image of that amazing God? Or am I just spinning my wheels, or even worse, moving backwards and becoming less like my Daddy.
Beginning in Lent, we will be looking at some of the ways God has given us to grow spiritually. There are many ways God can reach into our lives and do his work; an infinite and creative God can often surprise us. There are a handful of practices, however, that God seems to bless over and over again; we call these Means of Grace (we also call these practices spiritual disciplines, but I don’t like to use such offensive language where everyone can read it!). We will explore several of them to see how useful they can be as we “travel on to perfection.”
What I want you to get as you read this today is this: there will never come a day when you and I can be content with where we are and it is okay to stop working at growing. It is a universal truth, in both our physical and spiritual lives; the minute we stop growing, we start dying. No matter how mature we become (physically or spiritually), we still have a long way to go to reach the goal, and we still have infinite room to grow in God’s grace. I am convinced that even after we die we will continue to grow in the knowledge of God’s love, because God’s love is infinite and we will never explore the fullness of his kingdom.
Many people choose to give up something for Lent; a small way of identifying with the sacrifice Jesus Christ made for us on the cross. Let me suggest that you consider adding something in the place of whatever you may give up, or even if you don’t give up anything. Add a couple extra minutes in prayer (remember our sanctuary is open every weekday morning at 7:00); add a few passages of Scripture to your day. Perhaps you could add an hour or so of volunteer work, trying to bring justice a little closer for someone. Whatever it might be, I encourage you to add one of these Means of Grace to your routine, expecting that the Lord will add blessings to your life and the lives of others around you because of it.
I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.
Ephesians 1:16b-18 (NLT)
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Christmas Eve thoughts
It’s Christmas eve. It hardly seems possible; it feels like just a few weeks ago that Lisa and I moved into Bowling Green to begin our ministry with the people of Faith United Methodist Church. And yet, 6 months have passed and this calendar year is almost over.
It’s Christmas eve. We have so much written and spoken in our culture about this holy night that it is kind of confusing. Our words and actions around this time send so many mixed messages some might wonder at our mental health. Or perhaps it would be better to wonder at our spiritual health. We have elevated a plethora (for my family :D) of things and values to the level of devotion and even worship. We obsess about decorations and the purchase and giving of cards and gifts, often putting ourselves in debt that will burden us for months or even years. We do real harm to our physical and emotional health in arranging and enduring family gatherings that many times do more harm to our relationships with each other than good. We try to include worship in our schedule, if we have the time and if our friends and families don’t mind too much, but it usually takes a back seat to lots of other things.
It’s Christmas eve. A day when we commemorate a miracle. No, not the fact that a virgin supernaturally became pregnant and bore a son; although that is pretty miraculous. It has never happened before or since. And we are not all worked up over the astronomical signs that drew Magi to Jerusalem, or shepherds from their fields. The miracle we celebrate this night is that God loves us so much that he was willing to become one of us. The Son became Jeshua bar Joseph, born in Bethlehem and raised in Nazareth, so he could die for us and reconcile all people to God. That infinite, unconditional and incomprehensible love is the miracle we mark tonight.
It is Christmas eve. It is Love that causes us to fall down and worship; it is Love that we proclaim in song and light. It’s Christmas eve, a night to love and be loved, because the Word became flesh, and “what has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” And it never will!
Merry Christ-mass,
Bruce
It’s Christmas eve. We have so much written and spoken in our culture about this holy night that it is kind of confusing. Our words and actions around this time send so many mixed messages some might wonder at our mental health. Or perhaps it would be better to wonder at our spiritual health. We have elevated a plethora (for my family :D) of things and values to the level of devotion and even worship. We obsess about decorations and the purchase and giving of cards and gifts, often putting ourselves in debt that will burden us for months or even years. We do real harm to our physical and emotional health in arranging and enduring family gatherings that many times do more harm to our relationships with each other than good. We try to include worship in our schedule, if we have the time and if our friends and families don’t mind too much, but it usually takes a back seat to lots of other things.
It’s Christmas eve. A day when we commemorate a miracle. No, not the fact that a virgin supernaturally became pregnant and bore a son; although that is pretty miraculous. It has never happened before or since. And we are not all worked up over the astronomical signs that drew Magi to Jerusalem, or shepherds from their fields. The miracle we celebrate this night is that God loves us so much that he was willing to become one of us. The Son became Jeshua bar Joseph, born in Bethlehem and raised in Nazareth, so he could die for us and reconcile all people to God. That infinite, unconditional and incomprehensible love is the miracle we mark tonight.
It is Christmas eve. It is Love that causes us to fall down and worship; it is Love that we proclaim in song and light. It’s Christmas eve, a night to love and be loved, because the Word became flesh, and “what has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” And it never will!
Merry Christ-mass,
Bruce
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