The Visible God

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. ----- Colossians 1:15 - 20

Oh, this is powerful Scripture. How easy it is to read these verses and move past them because they are introductory.  How easy to plow through, looking for the "meat" of the letter. This IS the meat! Before creation, Jesus is. Before God crafted a single cell of mankind, Jesus is. And Jesus with God in creation.

Before God's perfect human creation could rebel and fall away, God had a plan to bring us back to Him. Can I even take that in? This is how awesome our Creator is. How can there be a person in this world who could not believe that He exists?

Is it because that person has not seen Jesus?

The first verse of this passage clearly tells us that Jesus is God, Spirit made visible to mankind. We don't know God because He is invisible, we can't see Him.  In our simple-mindedness, we only know what we can see.  And God, our compassionate Creator, knows this. So He sent Jesus. All that God is--mercy, compassion, love, kindness, gentleness, peace, goodness...all that God is...it is all packaged into the man Jesus...all for the purpose of showing God to the people...so that they will believe.

He is first in all creation, and Jesus is the firstborn of the dead.  He died the human death, but God restored His life and called Him back to His place above creation. Jesus died, but He lives. And He remains on earth...invisibly.

So who can see Him today?  Is it any wonder people don't believe...frail people who must see to believe?

Jesus has given us--those who do believe--He has given us His Spirit...so that we can be filled with the fullness of God. So that all that God is can dwell within us. So that we can be Jesus--God--made visible.  So that the world can know Jesus.

Oh, Jesus, I pray that on this day especially that you would make yourself visible through me. Help me get out of your way; if there is one who needs to see you today, Jesus, please help me put myself down so that you can shine through. Oh, that the invisible God would be seen in the visible Jesus...Jesus the light shining through me.

A True "Magic" Kingdom

3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.

    He shall not judge by what his eyes see,

or decide disputes by what his ears hear,

4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,

     and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;

and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,

and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,

and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

----- Isaiah 11:3 - 5

The Kingdom of God is here. Jesus introduced it over 2000 years ago. It will fully come, it will be fully established, when He returns. But I have to accept that the Kingdom IS here and now. As a disciple of Christ, I am a citizen of the Kingdom. And I am sensing more and more: that's not a ticket for entry into a never-ending Disney-created place of fun and magic. I received admission the moment I accepted Christ. That "ticket" was stamped for immediate entry; at that moment I walked through the turnstile.

The Kingdom of God is here and now. That means that the King reigns today.  That means that the godly King is judging in righteousness and faithfulness...not when He returns, but now. And judging in righteousness is all about making things right.

• Poverty is not right; no one deserves to live in poverty. People may be impoverished due to the circumstances of their lives. Some may judge that they get what they deserve...they haven't taken advantage of the opportunities given to them. But the godly King says the real injustice is that sin entered the world and put people in impoverished circumstances. He will make right the injustice of poverty.
• Oppression is not right; no one deserves to live only to be used by another. People may be oppressed because they cannot fight back. They have no voice, no power, no one standing alongside them. Some may judge that they've gotten what they deserve...they were ignorant or weak, so of course they were taken advantage of. But the godly King says the real injustice is that sin entered the world and put people in circumstances that allowed others to take advantage and use them. This King will make right the injustice of oppression
• Racism is not right; no human deserves to be cast aside, discarded, or discounted because of race. People may be looked down on because of the color of their skin, the shape of their eyes, or the culture in which they were raised. Some may judge that they were born to a lower status. But the godly King says that the real injustice is that sin entered the world and people feel the need to place themselves above others. The King will make right the injustice of racism.
• Prostitution, addictions, abuse, murder, cheating, stealing, adultery, abortion, war, materialism...these things are not right. And homosexuality. These things were never a part of God's creation. They entered our world through sin. They settled and eroded the care and nurture God entrusted to us. It may be judged that some of these cause no harm--they are "victimless," choices that adults of reason should be allowed to make. It may be judged that some of these are justifiable, not crimes at all. It may be judged that some are to be handled by the state, that man's governing ability can decide what is just and unjust.  But only the godly King can judge...and He has been anointed to judge in righteousness...to make things right.  Sin can be forgiven.  And in the King's order of righteousness, it is forgiven...and then forgotten. Only the godly King can rule with that kind of justice. Only a godly King can lead His people to forgive as He has forgiven them.  

This is the true "Magic" Kingdom. It is the Kingdom of God, and it is here and now. The King leads in righteousness and faithfulness...today. He leads His people...me. So I have to ask, am I waiting around for Jesus to return so that He will make things right? Or am I living as a citizen of the Kingdom here and now...today...seeking to work with Him today to make right the injustices around me? Am I simply a spectator to this business of making right? Am I watching from the sidelines, looking to Him to do it all? Or am I allowing Him--the King who leads in righteousness and faithfulness--to lead me to join Him as a player.

Lord Jesus, make me a player--a first-string player. Help me judge not with eyes nor ears, but judge through your righteousness. Lead me, my King, to the work of your kingdom. Amen.

The Thing I Fear

Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.”  The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the a thick darkness where God was.  ----- Exodus 20:18 - 21 

Fear. In many circles today, it is a word to issue when one disagrees with another. Rather than accepting the point of disagreement, response becomes an accusation: Fear! It seems that disagreement does not mean a difference of opinions; it means fear--specifically a fear of change.

Of course, there is some truth to the charge...change is frightening. It means a disruption to the usual.  Change means adapting to the unusual.  And it is the unusual, the out-of-the-norm that we fear.

Take, for an example, a visit from an angel. That's out of the ordinary.  And throughout Scripture, such visits illicit fear. Mary and Zachariah each experienced fear in the presence of Gabriel.  This is because angel appearances are unconventional, out-of-the-ordinary....unusual.

The verses from Exodus 20 paint a fearful picture: thunder, lightening, smoking mountain, and a trumpet sound.  Thunder and lightening are common enough (well, common enough to our experiences; were they unusual to people who had lived in Egypt?), but  to see a mountain on fire and hear the blare of a trumpet...all these things happening at once...it must have been a terrifying scene.

For the Hebrew slaves, having experienced the miracles of the ten plagues, the possibility that this Mighty God would speak to them was unusual...frightening. It could only mean their certain death.  I smile...how silly...the God who desires relationship with his people would not strike them dead in conversation. Though this fear was a healthy sign--such reverence would keep the people from sinning--conversation with God was not to be feared.

Then why do I fear it?  Why is prayer so difficult for me? Why when I sit down w/devotions or sermon prep, why when I feel the nudge to quiet myself and begin w/prayer...why is it so difficult to actually do it? It's not the fear of death the Hebrews had. My fear does not show that degree of reverence; in fact, I think it shows a more casual attitude toward Almighty God. My fear is a self-centered fear: a fear of failure...I won't do it right...I won't please God w/my prayers...therefore, I won't get what I want. I lack obedience because I know God on the New Covenant level. I know the forgiveness, the grace. Yet, when I take advantage of that grace and decide that God will forgive me if I willfully choose disobedience over His nudge to pray...then I lack the reverence, the fear, that will keep me from sinning. I will disregard (grieve) the Holy Spirit who keeps those nudges coming...to keep me from sinning.

Oh, Lord, please do not put out the light of your Holy Spirit. I thank you for every call He gives, whenever I feel like going off on my own:  nudges to pick up the phone and make a call, nudges to stick w/my writing and not give in to distractions, and especially nudges to sit quietly and enjoy your presence, dear God. Thank you for shining light on my darkness, on the self-centeredness, that fills me with foolish fears.  All praise and glory, all reverence belongs to you Father God Almighty. Amens

Rescue Me

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 

----- 1 CORINTHIANS 1:3 - 4

This is a very favorite passage. It gives me an answer for suffering, for why God allows tragedy in our lives.  Yes, God could easily step into the situations of our lives and prevent the tragedies  and heartache.  But He doesn't...not always.  We need to be remember that we aren't even aware of tragedy that God has kept from us. Yet, some does enter our lives. Why? Why is God okay with our heartbreak, loneliness, rejection, abandonment, and loss?

Could it be that God is more interested in redeeming our miseries and misfortunes than in giving us a rescue, a way out?

I am reminded that this is God's nature. He does rescue, but it is His nature to redeem, to buy back, that which was taken from Him. It is in suffering that we are more likely to know our need for Him.

There is a story of a drowning man who recognized His need for God--that only God could rescue him.  "God, if you save me, everything, all that I am, is yours. I will give myself totally to you." Suddenly the man felt stronger.  Hope filled him. He paddled a little further, then promised, "God, maybe I don't have to give you everything. But I promise I will give to the church if you save me." The man felt a pull to the shore; drowning did not seem to be his only outcome.  "Maybe you don't need my money, God.  If you save me maybe I'll just come to church," he said. "Uh," he added, "when I can get there." The man felt sand under his feet. As he walked toward the shore, he declared, "I made it. I thought I was a goner, but I stayed with it. I'm just lucky I'm a strong swimmer."

God rescued the man in this story...but it made no difference in how the man lived his life.  Despite promises to give everything to God--to give money, to go to church, once the man was safely ashore--despite it all, he forgot that God had rescued him.  He never followed through on a single promise made in the dire moments when his life was on the line.

The man was saved, yet he remains adrift.  He is lost.  He is not, however, beyond the reach of the Father.  God will save him, but salvation will accompany pain and suffering because this is what is redeemed.  The struggle, anguish, the heartache are bought by God because once He owns them, He can make them new...and good.  Only until we experience tragedy will we know our need for God.  Being rescued won't clarify the need. Being redeemed will validate it.

But even after redeeming the tragedy, God isn't done with us.  He then blesses us with others who need our comfort.  Because of the misery we've suffered, because of our trust that God will redeem it and make something new, God will place people in our lives who need the comfort of our experience.  Our suffering will be used to help someone else get through their own time of suffering.  If God stepped in to rescue, someone might miss the blessing of the comfort we are able to provide.  It is only in this that we can give thanks for our heartbreak.

Covered with Love

15 What then?  Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. ----- Romans 6:15 - 18

Philip Yancey calls it grace abuse: taking God's forgiving grace for granted, and forging ahead according to my own plans and desires.  Grace abuse is continuing to live as a slave to sin, "trusting" God's grace to bail me out. This is what cheapens grace. And it's effects are damaging to the Kingdom of God.

God's grace does indeed cover me. He has lavished me with forgiveness. In this same letter to the church in Rome, Paul reminds me that there is nothing in this world or in the spiritual realm that will ever come between me and God's grace.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord -----Romans 8:38 - 39

This is such an awesome promise to take hold of, to put my trust in: there will never be a distance, a gap...a breath...between me and God's love.  Nothing will come between me and His love! That's a promise on which to build my faith. It surrounds me.  NO, it covers me.  I belong to Him, and He will never abandon me.  Because of that, don't I owe Him everything? Because I will always have the support of the One, True God, the Almighty and Eternal, should I not surrender all that I have, all that I am, to Him? Is there even such a thing as "my" will when considering all that I have in Christ Jesus?

Yes, there is. I still have the ability to choose to go my own way--to sin--or to choose obedience. This great God has not covered me with an encumbering, robotic conformity. Instead He has entrusted to me willful obedience. I have the ability to choose His ways. And when I surrender my self-centered desires and ambitions--when I choose to obey the ways of God--I choose to love Him. Obeying God is my greatest act of love. It means I trust His outcomes. I hold His promises with deepest faith.  The grace of God is with me through whatever I encounter. And I honor that grace when I choose to obey. That is slavery I can accept.

Nighttime Wrestling

24 And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. 25 When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. 26 Then he said, “Let me go, for

the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”  27 And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”  28 Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.

 

Before Jacob met up with his brother, a reunion coming after a 20-year separation, following a painful and life-threatening parting...before the brothers met up again, Jacob needed some time for reflection and repentance. He needed to take stock of his life and make some decisions before he re-entered his homeland...the land that had been entrusted to him. Jacob needed to face who He was and who God was in his life.

This account reminds us that God is with us in our times of reflection and self-disclosure. In fact, it is God who draws us to such moments. Jacob knew it was time to return home. He knew it was time to face his estranged family. God was nudging these decisions, but He wouldn't let Jacob go until Jacob acknowledged the deceptions he had inflicted on his family.

Sometimes we know the right (the righteous) thing to do, but we resist.

• It may mean giving up something we have "earned," something we treasure. Jacob was ready to turn over flocks and herds in order to appease his brother.
• It may mean admitting we were wrong. Jacob bowed seven times before approaching his brother, humbling himself, acknowledging an unworthiness before Esau.
• It may mean giving our life. Jacob was ready to meet his brother, remembering Esau's anger against him, not knowing whether 20 years apart had soothed the murderous rage. Jacob was ready to meet his brother Esau, to settle the past between them...even if that meeting cost him his life.

But during the dark and lonely night, Jacob gained something new. In the struggle of the night, Jacob faced up to the person he really was. Jacob struggled against the deceiver he had been and the peacemaker he wanted to be. This time of wrestling and struggle with God was a time of confession and repentance. It was a time before God when Jacob acknowledged the deeds of his life and their consequences. He squared off against God...and came away changed. Jacob left that battle with a permanent limp...and a new identity. No longer was he Jacob the Deceiver. Now he was Israel, who had wrestled with God (and mankind)...and overcome. He had not defeated God in the struggle--he had lived through it. He could now face his brother, even with the possibility of death, because he had been through a greater struggle. 

 

God calls us to the dark, lonely times when we must face who we really are...those lonely, sleepless nights that sap our strength and hope. If we give in and acknowledge our deeds, we find God's mercy and forgiveness. We walk away from the encounter changed. If we continue in the battle, God will intervene with something that causes us to let up. Will His intervention bring us to the moment He longs for...the moment of confession and repentance? That remains in our will, but the battle will go on. 

 

I've had my battles. Years of insomnia were sleepless nights of wrestling with what I had done in my life. There was no peace. God called me to do the right (the righteous) thing, but in my pride, I could not confess my sin. The insomnia continued. It continued after my confession until I could accept Jesus' forgiveness. It continued after knowing I'd been forgiven. I suffered with the wrestling in literal insomnia until I could forgive myself. And once Jesus showed me how that could happen, I've had years of nighttime peace.  

 

It was difficult to accept who I really was--a sinner. It's so much easier to deny sinfulness, or re-write what sin is. But then come the sleepless nights when the unconscious mind tries to reconcile the voice of the conscious. Accepting sin as God defines it leads to confession, which leads to repentance...the healing of deep wounds begins. It begins, and continues today. The road to healing is a road of many miles and I have not completed the journey. But thanks be to God! I don't walk them alone. Jesus, my shepherd, walks them with me.

 

Remembering Where I've Been

13 But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel.  14 But they had a wanton craving in the wilderness, and put God to the test in the desert; 15 he gave them what they asked, but sent a wasting disease among them. ----- Psalm 106:13 - 15

 

What happens when we forget to look to God, and instead fill up with other things?

When I neglect the relationship--when I decide I don't have time to read Scripture or seek my Father in prayer--it becomes easier for me to forget the great things that God has done in my life. When I choose to give myself to activities of distraction (shopping, eating) or of modern life (watching television, time on the computer) instead of giving that time to God, I put Him at a convenient distance. It's like I say, I'll deal with Him some other time, sometime soon when I feel up to it. When I put the relationship on hold for other things, God is not my centerpoint. And those wonderful experiences of Him stepping into my life become nostalgic memories.

It becomes easier to go ahead with my own plans when I neglect the relationship. And when my plans don't work out, how easy it is to then go to God and tell Him how I expect Him to make the situation work for me. God does sometimes give me what I want. And how often do I then get MORE than I've asked for...more headaches, more disappointment, more frustration...?

When I'm giving to the relationship--spending time in God's Word, praying, putting the relationship into action--that is when I remember. How easily I recall that Christ wooed me, calling me out of the darkness of self-hatred, healing the deep wounds, assuring me that I am His beloved. I remember where I was...and see so clearly where I am today. When I remember where I was, when I take stock of where I am today compared to those dark days not so very long ago, why would I ever choose to go off without Him?

Well, maybe it's not a choice. Perhaps it's simply the outcome of neglecting the relationship. Because when I am consciously aware of what once was, I immediately give God thanks! Remembering the past brings the automatic, I-can't-help-myself love response of praise. And with that, I'm attending to the relationship.

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Dead Is Dead

I have joined Christ in death. My baptism--even my infant baptism--united me to Christ. I share in His death to sin. Having joined Christ in death, I also joined Him in the grave. AND I joined him in the resurrection. I also have been raised to new life. I have new life in Christ Jesus where sin has no power, because it is dead.

Joanna Weaver gives a rather funny illustration of this truth in her devotional At the Feet of Jesus:

...you can't tempt a dead person--or make one afraid. Go ahead and try. Prop him up in a corner and parade beautiful women past him, and he won't even steal a glance (pg 297).

Dead is dead. Our society of violence, promoted through the various media, blurs the reality of death. We get away from the fact that death is final. There is no coming back, no return to normal.

And so it is with sin. It is dead. Jesus put it to death. And that is final. Being baptized to new life in Christ Jesus, sin no longer has rule over our lives.

Yet we live as if we are helpless. We allow sin to victimize us. We continue on in our self-centered passions, not because sin has power over us. We continue in sin because we want to. And we turn to the grace of God to pull us out of the situations we find ourselves in because of the consequence of sin. Yet that same grace of God is there before we choose to sin. We could choose to trust in God for escape before we sin.

By the grace of God we are dead to sin and it's powerful hold. Oh, that we would grab onto that grace before we choose the path of sin.

Lord Jesus, your precious death freed me from the grip of sin. I know I have joined you in that death. I know I have experienced the dank, dark solitude of the grave. I know I have new life that pulls me from trauma and damage when I rely on your grace in times of temptation. Oh, thank you for that grace...amazing grace. Please keep me from abusing it, from taking it for granted. Amen

 

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Reject This

GENESIS 4:5b - 7

5...So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.

 

I understand how Cain felt. His offering to God was not accepted, while his brother's was. Cain's was rejected; Abel's accepted. And Cain made the leap that I often make: the offering was rejected, therefore he was rejected. My work, words, or outreach are rejected; I am therefore rejected. But the Scriptures provide the key to this dilemma; the truth of the rejection is found in God's word.

Verse 3 describes Cain's sacrifice as an offering of the fruit of the ground. Pretty nondescript. But verse 4 goes into much detail about Abel's offering. It was from the first born of the flock and it was the fat portion of the animal. Abel's sacrifice cost him much: the first offspring of his ewes. We don't sense that Cain brought such a costly offering. He didn't bring God the finest grain. Or perhaps he brought God what was left over after he sold the crop and paid his bills. Whatever the circumstances, Cain made sure he was taken care of and then made his offering to God. And that offering was rejected. Cain was not rejected; but his offering and his attitude toward it was. He had not made a pleasing offering to the Lord. And God would not accept what he offered. Cain became angry...even knowing he had not given his best. And his anger was apparent to God.

Yet, in His mercy, God attempts to correct Cain. Don't let the anger get the best of you, He says. Do what you know is right and you will be accepted; let anger rule your emotions and sin is waiting to trip you up.

Isn't this so true? We know we haven't done or given our best and we get angry when it's rejected. When I haven't given a friend what she needs and she seeks out someone else. When I haven't put in enough time or practice on a sermon and no one seems to get it. When I haven't prayed before a meeting and there seems to be chaos. In these situations I feel rejected and I become angry. God's word is clear: if I give my best it will be accepted.

But of course this scripture speaks of what I offer to God. So often what I offer is presented to humans beings. Sin is crouching at their doors, waiting to enter. I cannot control their responses to that. And what I offer, presented to human beings will be rejected. How I have let this rejection anger me. How I have allowed sin to therefore enter and spoil relationships.

And the mercy that God offered to Cain is available to me. He reminds me to do my best, to offer the best. HE will accept my best offerings. Rejection of what I have to offer is not rejection of me, because HE has accepted me. Sin does not have to have entry into my home/dwelling.

Thank you, Father, for accepting me. How you deserve the best I have to offer in everything I do: my work, my family, my time with you. Thank you for reminding me to give the best...and then to know that it is accepted...by you. Thank you, good and gracious Father.

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Keeping His Eye on Me

For the past month I have been following “40-Days of Prayer and Scripture” for a set of upcoming Emmaus Walks. Each day I study scripture appropriate for one of the talks or a team or an Emmaus event. This morning the prayer focus was Snacks and Receptions; the topic was “Unseen Servants.” If you’ve been on the walk to Emmaus, you know that snacks appear, disappear, and reappear as if by magic. Somewhere in the that Emmaus Never-Neverland live cookie-baking fairies ready to swoop in with over-laden trays of frosted, glazed, chip-filled delicacies…and the occasional bowl of fresh fruit.

Ephesians 6:5 – 9 was the suggested scripture to guide my thoughts and prayers today:

5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, 6 not by the way of eye-service

OK…that stopped me short…eye-service…that’s was a new one…what in the world? I googled and pulled up the first definition that came up. From the Urban Dictionary (grace for the exclusive language please):

When an employee pretends to be working hard only when his boss is watching. Basically, he starts working only when the boss comes walking by.

Jim had the ultimate sinecure. As a call center worker for a company that more resembled the governmental bureaucracy than a competitive firm, he got to play Yahoo Checkers all day, and whenever his boss came by he switched to eyeservice mode, quickly pressing alt+tab and staring at a spreadsheet, while saying "Hmmm... we've logged 37% today and ... uhh... oh hello Sir, I hope you're having a splendid day!"

Boss: "Why I'm doing fine. Thank you. And how are those call logs coming along?"

Jim: "Oh, they're pretty good. My rankin...I mean my sorting algorithm works fine now."

Boss: "Great, well, I'll see you around then."

Jim: "See you around.... *alt+tab* (mumbling) ... darn it! I'm time ran out and my ranking went down to 1370.. "

Eye-service is looking busy for the ones you’re accountable to. But when they’re not around, it’s do your own thing…shop online, check your facebook, play Candy Crush. Some are masters at eye-service. Or so they think. Like the eerie 6th or 7th sense of a mom with preschoolers, the boss knows what’s going on.

A foreman found that his workers were afflicted with this disease of eyeservice; they worked only when he watched them. His own work would not allow him to remain with the crew throughout the day and while he was gone, the workers took an extended break.

But this particular foreman was the proud owner of a glass eye. He found that he could remove eye from socket and lay it on a stump where it could watch the men. He could leave and attend to his duties and the crew would continue working.

One day the foreman returned to the jobsite to find the men back to their old ways. He had placed the eye on the stump before he left, but one worker found a way to sneak around, come up from behind, and place his hat over the eye so that it no longer saw them.

This is eye-service. And it’s no modern day affliction. Paul warned the Ephesians to avoid it. To keep at their work, respecting and honoring their bosses as if they were working for Christ Himself. As if the work of their jobs had been handed to them by Jesus Himself…continuing on with verse 7

7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, 8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.

And there were also words of warning to the bosses as well (v 9)

9 Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.

I serve on the District Superintendency Committee--kind of like the DS's PPR Committee. It occurs to me that Paul’s advice for slave/master, employee/boss, applies those serving this committee. We are to do the work as if it came straight from Jesus’ hands AND we are to respect those who work for us as servants of Christ. We are to help our DS who watches over nearly 70 churches and 50-some pastors. Some of us actually answer to him, our “boss," with fear and trembling…or rather with the honor and respect his authority deserves. We value his administrative assistant as a worker for the district and support her attitude of honor and respect for the DS. We go home and serve the people of the churches with good will as to the Lord. They accept work as if receiving it from Christ’s hand.

It’s a circle of mutual respect…slave/master, employee/boss, parishioner/pastor, pastor/DS. Whatever the hat we’re wearing…and knowing those hats change with our relationships…whatever our role, we strive for our work to please Christ alone. We maintain a workplace ethic that doesn't make us look good before the boss. Our ethic acknowledges the power of Christ’s presence in our every part of our lives, especially the work part.

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First Things

MATTHEW 6:31 - 34

31Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

What are my worries today? Meetings? Tasks such as getting the bulletin done? Writing a concise, coherent and inspired sermon? The upcoming Pastor Evaluation? All the above? Oh, there are so many things. Have I taken them to God? Ummm...yes. Honestly? Eventually yes.

I confess I don't go there first. I set my to-do list for things that must be done this week. Each day I write down every chore to be completed before going to bed that night. However, it seems I'm always adding to the list--there's always more that I could be/should be doing. It seems that I try to organize myself...that organization will ensure that I don't miss anything and will therefore eliminate any potential for worry.

In reality, it doesn't really work that way. Organization, checking things off the list, doesn't keep me from worrying.

I need to take these things to God first. He loves me. He cares for me. He wants the best for me. Do I believe this? Do I actually believe what I say? Yes, I do, but do practice what I preach? Do I let God have the things of my life that keep me anxious? The truth is I sit down with my lists. I sketch out all that needs to be done so that I won't forget anything...because if something is forgotten, calamity will occur. My organization prevents the awful from happening, therefore I must keep to my list.

And so I have to honestly ask, "How's that working for you, Anne?"

Why is so much of my life about preventing conflict? Why do I let myself think ahead to future days when there might be strife and struggle? Why do I play out various confrontation scenarios in my head, anticipating the ugly words and judgmental stares. Why? So that I'll be prepared? Rehearsed? Can I not let God prepare me?

If I seek God first, if I first seek the things of the Kingdom (righteousness, peace, joy, etc), I will have all that I need. If I give thanks for the conflicts and what could come from them, if I pray for my "enemies" and thank God for them, if I allow God to provide what I need each day...I will have peace. I will be able to let things go. Most important of all, I will be able to allow people to be who they are--cranks and critics they might be.

 

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We're All Priests

1 PETER 2:4 - 5

4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

I preached the later verses of this passage (1 Peter 2:9 - 10) just a few weeks ago...this idea from Martin Luther that we're all priests...that its not the pastor's job alone to be out sharing the gospel, to counsel the lost, to care for the sick, to bring people into the church. It's the responsibility of every believer because we all share the priesthood...in our own temples...the temple that is the body.

The idea of priesthood over individual temples, individual houses of worship--in other words, spiritual houses--begins with the foundation built on Christ. We don't build individual spiritual houses in order to become all-powerful rulers over our own kingdoms. We build these houses so that we can offer spiritual sacrifices to God. No longer do we approach an altar to offer the life of an animal, mixed with fragrant incense. No longer does this type of sacrifice please God or pay for our unfaithfulness and disobedience. A single sacrifice has been made to settle that score. One sacrifice, once for all.

As priests of this new priesthood, we offer God ourselves...our very lives. We are priests over our own temples to offer sacrifices of prayer; prayers of praise, of intercession, of thanks. We offer sacrifices of listening, of peaceful countenance, of hope. We offer sacrifices of intervention, of hospitality, of unconditional friendship. These are the pleasing sacrifices to God--sacrifices built on the life, on faith in the eternal life of Jesus Christ. There is no other response, no other structure can be built, except the one that lives to offer sacrifice to Him...the living sacrifice.

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Keeping it Holy

8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy (EXODUS 20:8 - 11)

Do I recognize the blessing of a day of rest? It has been given to us by God...a day set aside to not work, but rather to rest from our work, to rest in Him. Do I look forward to the Sabbath as a day off from work, a day to "catch up?"

I think I'm better at keeping it a day of rest, but do I rest in the Lord? It seems I just sit around, snooze in my chair, and eat. The Sabbath is a holy day...how can I be more intentional about resting in Him? What would that look like?

Definitely more time in prayer. Maybe taking a prayer walk. Maybe staying in the church to pray for every person who attended. Maybe writing a prayer reflecting on the week.

I could read--Scripture or an inspirational book. Read just to read...and then meditate on what I read...hide it in my heart.

I could listen to music--maybe something I don't normally listen to: a symphony or choral music.

I could refuse certain things...TV shows, stopping at the store, Facebook or computer games...things that are a part of the other six days of the week.

As I write this list, I see that I could incorporate all of these ideas...unless it becomes work. Once the object becomes doing the things instead of resting in God, then the Sabbath is no longer holy. It becomes another day.

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Cutting Back

JOHN 15:1 - 4

1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.

The black raspberry crop this year is overwhelming. Each day I go out to the patch at the edge our backyard and pick at least a quart of the plump purple-black globes. I've noticed, though, there are many clusters of undeveloped, dried-up berries. These clusters come from britle, whithered branches, while branches on the same vine remain lush and suptle. It's time to cut the unproductive branches off before they rob the productive branches of life-giving energy.

Pruning is necessary to the fruitful life. Pruning involves cutting back and cutting off. Both are done in order to bring about more fruitfulness. But the cutting off is a task of finality. The branch is no longer or has quit giving fruit. It is cut so that the vine can nourish and support the branches that are producing fruit. Cutting off is an act of finality. Branches are removed--detached from the life-giving vine--and then thrown into the fire...burned to char and ash.

Cutting back, however, is an act of continuation, of perpetuation. The branch that has produced fruit is cut back so that it can support more blossoms, more fruit, perhaps even shoot another branch.

It is important to note that branches that produce fruit are cut back. Branches that don't produce fruit are cut off, but branches that are productive are not allowed to go on, assuming that the will always produce the abundant, luscious fruit that they once produced. These branches are trimmed back so that their fruit will increase. More will be expected from them...but they will be prepared to produce more.

Wow! Can I look at my recent times of pruning as a time of preparation? God, the vinedresser has removed branches from me that produced no fruit, but even where there was fruit, he has cut that branch back...so that it would produce more. The months of questioning, self doubt, and self-pity are not punishment...they are months of pruning--removing some pride, complacency, some laziness. I give thanks for this pruning. Though it stung at the time, I couldn't see that the non-producing branch was damaging future fruit production.

And where fruit has been produced, even those branches have been cut back. I see spiritual growth, but it's not explosive...not yet. That branch needs more tending, more preparation. It has been pruned. More fruit is coming...maybe in the next season...or two or three.

Throughout this whole process I must stay attached to my vine. I am not the vine...I am a branch dependent upon the rooted vine to nourish and strengthen me. My vine is my support. One day my branch will bear so much fruit that I will need that vine to hold me up. Without strength from the vine, I will break off and die. My abundant fruit will fall to the ground and rot before it has a chance to ripen.

 

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In the Weeds

JONAH 2:5 - 7

5 The waters closed in over me to take my life;

the deep surrounded me;

weeds were wrapped about my head

6 at the roots of the mountains.

I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever;

yet you brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God.

7 When my life was fainting away, I remembered the LORD,

and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.

Feeling overwhelmed. Feeling trapped by the overwhelming depths. Where is my way out, my escape? Have I remembered God?

In her devotional book, At the Feet of Jesus, Joanna Weaver says that the root of the word "tomb" means "to recall or remember." The word for the place of final rest, a word signifying death, means to remember. When Jonah was at the place of his imminent death, he remembered. Isn't that so human? We start going down, we struggle and try to fight our way back to the surface, but we're pulled to the depths where the lush weeds ensnare. As we fight with the last breath...we then remember. We call on God. It seems that only until we reach that point of waning oxygen will we remember to cry out for help. Yet God's help is available to us every step of the way. Why do we wait until we're in the tomb? Why do we not "remember" until the weeds have their hold?

One of my favorite sayings--going back to my days of waiting tables--is, "I'm in the weeds." In the food service industry, that meant I needed help. I had too many tables at various stages of service and I couldn't meet their needs. If I told the hostess or the manager that I was in the weeds, I wouldn't be seated more tables. Someone would take drinks to a waiting table, another person would fix my salads, yet another would tray up food from the window so that as I was taking the order for one table, the food for another would be ready to be served. With this cooperative help, I was soon free of the weeds.

This feeling of being in the weeds resonates today. So many things to attend to...so many problems or potential problems...where do I go first? Do I dare start something that might not get finished because I will be pulled to another problem area? And what about those problems that just don't seem to make any sense? Problems that shouldn't be...but yet are.

I am in the weeds. That means I'm in the depths and my breath is failing. How will I use that final breath? Will I cry out? Oh, yes. But WHY did I wait until this desperate moment? Why did I not cry out as I was going down? Did I not recognize it as it was happening? or did I not include God in my plans?

Isn't this the story of Jonah? God had a plan for him, but he decided on another plan--his own. And he worked it. He worked it hard, until his plan resulted in rejection. He was thrown overboard and sank. It wasn't until he was in the depths, the tomb, that he remembered his faithful God. And He cried out.

I am also in the depths. I cry out, not for my success, but to be restored to my call; to proceed in what God has called me to do, with God as my partner. God will rescue me. And I will remember His rescue, not when I'm in the tomb, but as I follow His lead.

 

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Preventing Build-Up

ZECHARIAH 7:11 - 14

11 But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear. 12 They made their hearts diamond-hard lest they should hear the law and the words that the LORD of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great anger came from the LORD of hosts. 13 As I called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear,” says the LORD of hosts, 14 “and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known. Thus the land they left was desolate, so that no one went to and fro, and the pleasant land was made desolate.”

Hard hearts, soft hearts. I like how this is stated in verse 12: They made their hearts diamond-hard. The people made their hearts as hard as diamonds--impenetrable. Nothing got through. God called to them, encouraged them, wooed them, but they would not listen.

I'll admit...I find listening for God a difficult part of the call. Listening is difficult in any relationship. How often do I tune out my husband because I'm sure he's telling me something I already know. How often do I break into someone's conversation to add my opinion...because after all, I do have something valuable to add--something they need to hear.

Listening is difficult. With evangelism as our topic for this month's sermons, we'll learn that listening is a key part of our interactions w/people. How can we know that the time is right to share our faith if we aren't listening for cues that a person is ready to hear what we have to say?

But it all begins with listening to God. And that is even more difficult because we aren't face-to-face. We have to trust that what comes into the heart is from God. That means I have to know God...I have to know His character. I have to know that whatever I believe comes from Him is true to His character. And then knowing that He is patient, kind, loving...I can trust any direction that calls me to take to be the same.

I also have to recognize that sometimes I "decide" that something has come from God, when I know it is my own will. I have to be honest with myself because I do know my own character. I need to sort my own selfish will from the will of God. I need to make the difficult choice of putting aside my wants and needs (usually the need to be right). Each time I choose my own way and not God's, my heart will callous, toughen, turn diamond-hard. Because I allow the buil-up, it becomes more difficult for God's word to enter and transform me.

Father God, I want the soft heart that listens for and accepts your word of counsel and correction. Please keep me from hardening this heart against you. Keep me honest with myself, judging my own motives and actions against your righteousness. Thank you, Father. Amen.

 

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Enough to Live On

LUKE 12:16 -21 (ESV)

16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.

Is this parable strictly about material wealth? What about our obligation and commitment to grow the Kingdom? Isn't there a bountiful harvest there that we might be tempted to store away thinking we've done enough...thinking that our time has come to live off that abundance?

It's interesting that within the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13), Jesus gave an explanation for why He taught in parables. He said to the disciples concerning the religious elite:

 

To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. (Matthew 13:11 - 13)

 

Jesus was saying that a spiritual blindness exists that keeps people from seeing the Kingdom of God; a spiritual deafness exists that keeps them from hearing the word of God. Those who those who have (in His day, the Jews who were certain that they were "right with God" because of their heritage) actually have-not. And what they think they have will be taken away and given to others. There are others who may appear to not have much, but in reality they do. And to what they have, even more is added.

The parable of the sower speaks of one who has. He goes out and spreads the seed. What he has, he casts plentifully. The farmer has been given an abundance of seed. He goes out to the fields and sows it with abandon. It doesn't take root everywhere, but that does not concern the farmer. He knows somewhere in the field there will be a crop. And sure enough, some of the seed yields a crop...an abundant crop. And here is where I paste the Luke parable. This farmer who had much, now has even more. What will he do with it? Will he store the harvest for himself so that he can sit back and take life easy? Or does he continue to work with the crop, preparing it for the next planting season?

If what the farmer has been given is "faith," and he has a great amount, he goes out to the fields and plants it. He shares his faith, telling his story and the work God has done in his life. He puts his faith to action by serving the needs of others--because of what the Lord has done for him. Not everyone who hears his story will accept it. Not everyone who sees him helping others will see that he does it out of love for God. But somewhere in that field, that seed will take root and the farmer will have a harvest. Someone will hear his story, will see his work, and that person will be moved to let Jesus into their life. The faith of that seedling-person will grow and flourish. The farmer will work with that one, disciple him/her, and preparing him/her to go out to the fields themselves. And that farmer will have a greater crop.

If I am one who "has," Jesus says more will be given to me. If I am one who has faith, even more will be given to me. What will I do with my abundance? Will I store it away to bring out and admire once in a while? Or will I go out and share it, knowing that it will not be received by everyone who hears or sees? That's a risk. Can I take it?

 

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