Lent 2012 A Clean Heart Create in Me
Saturday February 25, Luke 5:31-32
How does Christianity work? Who is it for? Interestingly, Christianity is not necessarily for the righteous but for sinners. According to Luke, Jesus has come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance. Why would you call those living in right relationship with God to begin living in right relationship with God?
I have several problems with leaders who in the name of the "church" teach prejudice against a group of people. Often it is that group that needs God's presence in the form of God's people. Now I am not suggesting that the alcoholic should continue to hang out at the bar among his friends who will lead him back to addiction or other such similar idiocies. I am not telling moms and dads to put their children in crack house day care. However, when the church says through words or policies that certain people are not welcome we are becoming judges, which has never been humanity's strong suit. We are called to reach out to the least and the last and the lost. These people may not look, act, talk or dress as "the righteous" do but these are the very people Christ came to call. When Jesus comes he will not allow cultural, financial, physical barriers to inhibit his work. We can emulate this now. Do we know how God will help? No! We are not called to understand and approve, we are called to be obedient and have faith.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
Wrestling Passion
Lent 2012 A Clean Heart, Create in Me
Friday February 24 Psalm 51:17
I have 2 fabulous high school wrestlers in my church. They have a passion for this sport that they need to in order to be successful. With a controlled diet and exercise plan, this is a sport of the mind as well as the body. They must be able to conquer the hungers of their bodies and the defenses of their opponent. I hope if they read this that they realize how they inspire me.
Fasting from anything is a spiritual discipline but only if its fruit brings us closer to God. Lewis puts it beautifully: "Ascetic practices, (one's that deny our bodily passions and/or split our attention), which in themselves strengthen the will, are only useful in so far as they enable the will to put its own house (the passions) in order, as a preparation for offering our whole self to God."
He asks us how can we love God with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strengths if we are of a split will? So ask the Lord to break our stubborn denial to change our priorities from satisfying our passions to submitting to a diet of God that exercises our faith, so as we conquer the hungers of our bodies we may also be successful in the defeat of our opponents. May God be at the center of your living and loving today and may your fast bear fruit.
Friday February 24 Psalm 51:17
I have 2 fabulous high school wrestlers in my church. They have a passion for this sport that they need to in order to be successful. With a controlled diet and exercise plan, this is a sport of the mind as well as the body. They must be able to conquer the hungers of their bodies and the defenses of their opponent. I hope if they read this that they realize how they inspire me.
Fasting from anything is a spiritual discipline but only if its fruit brings us closer to God. Lewis puts it beautifully: "Ascetic practices, (one's that deny our bodily passions and/or split our attention), which in themselves strengthen the will, are only useful in so far as they enable the will to put its own house (the passions) in order, as a preparation for offering our whole self to God."
He asks us how can we love God with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strengths if we are of a split will? So ask the Lord to break our stubborn denial to change our priorities from satisfying our passions to submitting to a diet of God that exercises our faith, so as we conquer the hungers of our bodies we may also be successful in the defeat of our opponents. May God be at the center of your living and loving today and may your fast bear fruit.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
My Cross and How I bear it
Lent 2012: A Clean Heart Create in Me from C.S.Lewis
Thursday 2/23 Luke 9: 23-24
I hate that sappy poster: If you love something set it free, if it comes back, it is yours but if it does not, it never was. I remember my first collossal broken heart and how that was supposed to bring me hope just devstated me even more. Here comes Jesus spouting seemingly the same nonsense. Oh Boy!
Give up what I love to receive something that I can't even imagine. Hmmmmmm. But what if the cross I'm asked to bear is that which breaks my heart today? Injustice, Poverty, lack of health care, war, and death are all crosses that some people must bear. My friend Marguerite's heart breaks for those people who are struggling to nurture their family alone. She bears it by offering before and after school care, training, support and love. This does not stop the problem but it so transforms the world that more people do more than survive they thrive and then they help others as well. A cross is not meant to punish us but discipline us, hone us, refine us.
My Cross? You. You break my heart. I am called to resource God's people to respond to God's call in their life. How can I so transform the world so that You can get what you need to follow God more effectively and efficiently? How do I bear this cross? I try to stay healthy. I nurture networks of people and resources that are ready for that moment when an inspired person says yes to God. I find many and different ways to connect and communicate with people all over the world. I study and train. I serve a church. I laugh... a lot. For someone who bears a cross, I laugh an insane amount. That helps me bear it. After all laughter is ever so much more attractive than a groan. What is your cross? How can God (possibly through me) help you bear it?
Thursday 2/23 Luke 9: 23-24
I hate that sappy poster: If you love something set it free, if it comes back, it is yours but if it does not, it never was. I remember my first collossal broken heart and how that was supposed to bring me hope just devstated me even more. Here comes Jesus spouting seemingly the same nonsense. Oh Boy!
Give up what I love to receive something that I can't even imagine. Hmmmmmm. But what if the cross I'm asked to bear is that which breaks my heart today? Injustice, Poverty, lack of health care, war, and death are all crosses that some people must bear. My friend Marguerite's heart breaks for those people who are struggling to nurture their family alone. She bears it by offering before and after school care, training, support and love. This does not stop the problem but it so transforms the world that more people do more than survive they thrive and then they help others as well. A cross is not meant to punish us but discipline us, hone us, refine us.
My Cross? You. You break my heart. I am called to resource God's people to respond to God's call in their life. How can I so transform the world so that You can get what you need to follow God more effectively and efficiently? How do I bear this cross? I try to stay healthy. I nurture networks of people and resources that are ready for that moment when an inspired person says yes to God. I find many and different ways to connect and communicate with people all over the world. I study and train. I serve a church. I laugh... a lot. For someone who bears a cross, I laugh an insane amount. That helps me bear it. After all laughter is ever so much more attractive than a groan. What is your cross? How can God (possibly through me) help you bear it?
Do I stink? or Do You Smell What I smell?
Lent 2012 A Clean Heart Create in Me from C.S. Lewis
Psalm 51:1-2 cleanse me.
C.S. Lewis brings up a very good point: Christianity has nothing to offer the person who does not recognize their need. I have been watching a bbc show called Kingdom, where one of the characters has such an odor that others have to cover their faces to converse with him. How could this man not know that he stinks? Even if he, (like Erin's boyfriend, Cody)has a limited sense of smell, wouldn't he notice the behaviors of those arond him? If we had no sense of our germiness, odor, dirt, or fallen nature would we ever seek to be made clean? I think back to times when regular bathing was considered unnecessary and even unhealthy. Are we back in those times now as we consider our souls? Do we all bear such marks of sin that we cannot detect our own need for forgiveness? Open my eyes that I may see.... Create in me a clean heart O Lord.
Psalm 51:1-2 cleanse me.
C.S. Lewis brings up a very good point: Christianity has nothing to offer the person who does not recognize their need. I have been watching a bbc show called Kingdom, where one of the characters has such an odor that others have to cover their faces to converse with him. How could this man not know that he stinks? Even if he, (like Erin's boyfriend, Cody)has a limited sense of smell, wouldn't he notice the behaviors of those arond him? If we had no sense of our germiness, odor, dirt, or fallen nature would we ever seek to be made clean? I think back to times when regular bathing was considered unnecessary and even unhealthy. Are we back in those times now as we consider our souls? Do we all bear such marks of sin that we cannot detect our own need for forgiveness? Open my eyes that I may see.... Create in me a clean heart O Lord.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
For the Ankens and the community they've inspired
On Sunday morning, the sun rose on the cold white of the cemetery at Steuben corners. A family gathered to shed tears and set family members at rest. We gathered on holy ground and said sacred words. We created a place that will always exist out of time and beyond common sense. It is a place of love and memory,a place of joy and prayer, a place to connect and find peace. As we travel to that place whether in person, in our mind or in our dreams we will find exactly what our hearts need according to God's Great Will for us. Our friends are not gone but have simply travelled further on, out of sight but never out of mind. They go ahead and we can so choose to live a life centered on Christ that the services on Saturday and Sunday are not a goodbye but a breath until we all are together again. Until that time, we remain, created in love, taught through grace, and empowered to love others. Thank you Charlie and Georgianna for shining so brightly. Shine on!
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Beatitudes -- what's it all about?
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (NIV)
Jesus was speaking to the disciples and the multitudes that had gathered, This wasn't the temple crowd, these were everyday people seeking to receive some knowledge. I am wondering what God had in mind.
Jesus spoke to people in their context, congruent with their history, using common metaphors/similes/euphemisms etc. to insure that his meaning was clear. What did they hear when he spoke? What message did they receive? I've been taught that blessed would have been interpreted honored. This was a society based on doing the honorable thing. I wonder how that simple change would have transformed the message. Those that are laid low by this world will be honored by God. We who truly are in this world but not of this world will surely connect with God.
I also looked to the sermons of John Wesley for insight. Pastor Wesley preached extensively on this text. He meticulously commented on each phrase. These sermons showed how the working class of England could inherit the kingdom. This was a very different society than the one that Jesus sat with on the mountainside. Did the message still ring true? In a world where class, connection and money were paramount gods of the day and the church merely a vehicle for their power plays did Jesus' words still convey context, history and the language of the day? Wesley explained that the poor in spirit were those who were conscious of their soul's plight and sought to do something about it. I wonder what the people heard when these words were spoken.
There are those who have translated Jesus' word Blessed into Happy, as in happy are those who mourn. What????!!!!!! This just seems incongruous. These words seem out of context, out of history, and just a silly use of language to appease the masses. Instead of the self awareness this sounds like a placating, opiating of the masses. But maybe God is speaking through this incongruity. It is this relationship, of incongruity that God is speaking of. Those mourning the loss of innocence from the garden of Eden will be comforted by a new connection to God through Jesus. Maybe it is this juxtaposition of opposites that God speaks to a new generation.
And what do the beatitudes have to say to us today: in our context, through our history, in our language using the metaphors/similes/euphemisms/figures of speech that this information age possesses? What does it mean to be persecuted for righteousness today? Who are the meek? What do these words call us to today in our broken world? What is it all about? Why does it keep changing? What do you hear?
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (NIV)
Jesus was speaking to the disciples and the multitudes that had gathered, This wasn't the temple crowd, these were everyday people seeking to receive some knowledge. I am wondering what God had in mind.
Jesus spoke to people in their context, congruent with their history, using common metaphors/similes/euphemisms etc. to insure that his meaning was clear. What did they hear when he spoke? What message did they receive? I've been taught that blessed would have been interpreted honored. This was a society based on doing the honorable thing. I wonder how that simple change would have transformed the message. Those that are laid low by this world will be honored by God. We who truly are in this world but not of this world will surely connect with God.
I also looked to the sermons of John Wesley for insight. Pastor Wesley preached extensively on this text. He meticulously commented on each phrase. These sermons showed how the working class of England could inherit the kingdom. This was a very different society than the one that Jesus sat with on the mountainside. Did the message still ring true? In a world where class, connection and money were paramount gods of the day and the church merely a vehicle for their power plays did Jesus' words still convey context, history and the language of the day? Wesley explained that the poor in spirit were those who were conscious of their soul's plight and sought to do something about it. I wonder what the people heard when these words were spoken.
There are those who have translated Jesus' word Blessed into Happy, as in happy are those who mourn. What????!!!!!! This just seems incongruous. These words seem out of context, out of history, and just a silly use of language to appease the masses. Instead of the self awareness this sounds like a placating, opiating of the masses. But maybe God is speaking through this incongruity. It is this relationship, of incongruity that God is speaking of. Those mourning the loss of innocence from the garden of Eden will be comforted by a new connection to God through Jesus. Maybe it is this juxtaposition of opposites that God speaks to a new generation.
And what do the beatitudes have to say to us today: in our context, through our history, in our language using the metaphors/similes/euphemisms/figures of speech that this information age possesses? What does it mean to be persecuted for righteousness today? Who are the meek? What do these words call us to today in our broken world? What is it all about? Why does it keep changing? What do you hear?
Beatitudes 1 -- It's not what I thought
Matthew 5
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (NIV)
Well it seems straight forward.
If you are poor or depressed God will give you the kingdom of heaven, Right?
What else could it mean? Didn't Jesus come to save the least the last and the lost? Well, I'm doing my research and once again I find I am mistaken.
The phrase "poor in spirit" does not refer to poverty of finance or mental illness but to a self awareness of our situation. We are poor in spirit because we live in a broken world, we are prone to sin and we have lost our connection to God and now we know it. Indeed we feel in every fiber of our being the need of salvation from this state and realize that we are unable to save ourselves. I'm poor in spirit just defining it. I could see how someone could spend their earthly fortunes seeking to rectify the status of their soul to no end. This could make them poor. Constantly living in this state of brokenness with no end in sight and no power to affect or change it certainly could lead to depression, feeling poor in spirit.
However depression and poverty are not requirements to receiving the kingdom of God. It is accepting that we are not kings in this kingdom, that we are not the center, that we are not God and seeking to join the kingdom anyway. Jesus bridges the gap and saves us from ourselves.It is in our self awareness of our need and in our seeking of a savior that we first find salvation.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (NIV)
Well it seems straight forward.
If you are poor or depressed God will give you the kingdom of heaven, Right?
What else could it mean? Didn't Jesus come to save the least the last and the lost? Well, I'm doing my research and once again I find I am mistaken.
The phrase "poor in spirit" does not refer to poverty of finance or mental illness but to a self awareness of our situation. We are poor in spirit because we live in a broken world, we are prone to sin and we have lost our connection to God and now we know it. Indeed we feel in every fiber of our being the need of salvation from this state and realize that we are unable to save ourselves. I'm poor in spirit just defining it. I could see how someone could spend their earthly fortunes seeking to rectify the status of their soul to no end. This could make them poor. Constantly living in this state of brokenness with no end in sight and no power to affect or change it certainly could lead to depression, feeling poor in spirit.
However depression and poverty are not requirements to receiving the kingdom of God. It is accepting that we are not kings in this kingdom, that we are not the center, that we are not God and seeking to join the kingdom anyway. Jesus bridges the gap and saves us from ourselves.It is in our self awareness of our need and in our seeking of a savior that we first find salvation.
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