I write this on my sabbath, my favorite of all days during the week. As I rest I am reminded of a small unassuming sentence penned by David many years ago; in psalms 103 of God he says that,
"He knows how we are formed; he remembers that we are but dust."
My own human weakness and frailty has been my constant instructor in my need for rest. It seems that we run only short races, before we tire physically and emotionally. We grow weary, so quickly as finite beings, and discover within ourselves a swelling need for restoration.
It is not until that we acknowledge the reality of the human condition and it's many limitations; that we can truly discover rest in God.
I have oft, with many others throughout history, found comfort in the psalmist's ancient words:
"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He leadeth beside still waters; he maketh me to lie down in green pastures"
By it, we are reminded that God is the author and the source of all rest. While I have found truths that equal it's relevance in the scriptures; perhaps there is no truth more relevant to the human condition than the doctrine of rest; or at least no truth more often necessitated.
The Sabbath, we are told by Jesus, was made for man. It was God's gift to man; in preparing the earth for humanity, God quipped it with rest. It was one of His many kindnesses to us, knowing that such a small creature would have great need for it.
It is worth noting that while the Sabbath was the Last day of God's week, it was the first day of man's. God wanted us to be born into this sort of rest and euphoria with God. It was from that place in God, that man went forth to create and to toil; to put his hand to the plow of all that God had assigned to him. How much better would our creations be, friends, if we spent the first day of our week with the creator of the cosmos?
I was reminded some time ago, by my friend Taina Brown (who is a fascinating conversationalist) of our need to approach the concept of rest wholistically. Thessalonians 5 reminds us that we are tri-partate beings; body, soul, and spirit. To limit rest to the physical, falls desperately short of the biblical reality. Often our physical frame is what needs rest the least; it is our inner man that longs for restoration perhaps the most.
Our mental, emotional, and spiritual faculties, grow weary under the weight of unkind words, anxieties and traffic :) These all cry out for the Matthew 11 invitation to come to Him, all of us who are "weary and heavy laden", to find "rest for our souls". Oh that like David we would proclaim "My soul finds rest in God alone!"
That we, with the author of Hebrews, would "labor to enter into that rest". Oh that we would yield to the gentle leadings of the Good Shepherd as he leads us to a place beside the still waters...away from the chaos...away from the noise...
Friday, November 5, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Forgiveness
"Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heal that has crushed it"
-Spurgeon
This is the blessedness of agape love; this is the true sign and wonder to the world. A community of lovers of enemies; blessers of cursers, givers to those who cannot return; and forgivers of a fallen world's greatest injustices.
Crush us and we will bleed only love for you. Take and we will give all the more. Destroy us and we will grow.
-Spurgeon
This is the blessedness of agape love; this is the true sign and wonder to the world. A community of lovers of enemies; blessers of cursers, givers to those who cannot return; and forgivers of a fallen world's greatest injustices.
Crush us and we will bleed only love for you. Take and we will give all the more. Destroy us and we will grow.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Charlemagne The Possessor
For better or for worse...I am a man of ambition.
So I found myself yesterday, pondering certain not yet ascertained financial goals that I seem to be struggling to achieve. Namely, my desire to own a home.
As the thought was being painfully mulled over by myself and all the voices within, I was reminded of some small phrases in Luke 12. The first of which was this,
"A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Jesus then ends the parable by basically saying that those possessions should not be the focus of human acquisition, but rather that a man should strive to be, and I quote, "rich towards God".
In that moment I had a small crisis of belief. It was one of those times I discovered a deep gap between what I say I believe, and what is actually in my heart. I discovered that I don't always live as if my life and value is not based primarily on the things which I have earned. These "earnings" are not necessarily all material, but are always temporal i.e. a degree or position.
These moments are always hard, but necessary for change. I am now presented with an opportunity to re-tool my values; to embrace the reality of "treasures laid up in heaven", which, now that we're all being honest, seems so unbelievable to me at times. I feel that to believe this I have to also believe in fairies and unicorns...after all their just as visible. Nevertheless, this is the part of my heart which God is transforming, and I am yielding.
My epiphany yesterday reminded me of a similar one in the life of Charlemagne. If you don't know who he is, google him :). But for the sake of the conversation I will tell you one fact about the emperor. Charlemagne accomplished in his life what only 3 others in history have achieved.
He conquered and ruled the entire world; or at least the entire known world at that time. Only Alexander the great, and a couple others that I forgot :) accomplished the same feat.
It is said that at the end of his life he asked to be seated on a throne in his tomb. Years later when the tomb was opened, the emperor, as requested, was found sitting on a throne. In his lap lay a large book (the bible). His finger pointed to these words on the text below,
"What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?" -Mark 8:36
What powerful words from a man who had actually, "gained the whole world"!
To me it speaks of a man deeply driven to conquer; and after conquering all, still found himself lost. It seems that our ancient friend discovered, that "a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
And I am discovering with him, the need to be rich in another currency. Oh to be rich in good deeds! or to be wealthy in souls, or to not be lacking in love for one another. What an eternal joy it would be to have riches in the age to come. These, friends, are the "true riches" of Luke 17 and I pray that God makes us rich in them all!
So I found myself yesterday, pondering certain not yet ascertained financial goals that I seem to be struggling to achieve. Namely, my desire to own a home.
As the thought was being painfully mulled over by myself and all the voices within, I was reminded of some small phrases in Luke 12. The first of which was this,
"A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Jesus then ends the parable by basically saying that those possessions should not be the focus of human acquisition, but rather that a man should strive to be, and I quote, "rich towards God".
In that moment I had a small crisis of belief. It was one of those times I discovered a deep gap between what I say I believe, and what is actually in my heart. I discovered that I don't always live as if my life and value is not based primarily on the things which I have earned. These "earnings" are not necessarily all material, but are always temporal i.e. a degree or position.
These moments are always hard, but necessary for change. I am now presented with an opportunity to re-tool my values; to embrace the reality of "treasures laid up in heaven", which, now that we're all being honest, seems so unbelievable to me at times. I feel that to believe this I have to also believe in fairies and unicorns...after all their just as visible. Nevertheless, this is the part of my heart which God is transforming, and I am yielding.
My epiphany yesterday reminded me of a similar one in the life of Charlemagne. If you don't know who he is, google him :). But for the sake of the conversation I will tell you one fact about the emperor. Charlemagne accomplished in his life what only 3 others in history have achieved.
He conquered and ruled the entire world; or at least the entire known world at that time. Only Alexander the great, and a couple others that I forgot :) accomplished the same feat.
It is said that at the end of his life he asked to be seated on a throne in his tomb. Years later when the tomb was opened, the emperor, as requested, was found sitting on a throne. In his lap lay a large book (the bible). His finger pointed to these words on the text below,
"What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?" -Mark 8:36
What powerful words from a man who had actually, "gained the whole world"!
To me it speaks of a man deeply driven to conquer; and after conquering all, still found himself lost. It seems that our ancient friend discovered, that "a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
And I am discovering with him, the need to be rich in another currency. Oh to be rich in good deeds! or to be wealthy in souls, or to not be lacking in love for one another. What an eternal joy it would be to have riches in the age to come. These, friends, are the "true riches" of Luke 17 and I pray that God makes us rich in them all!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Athanasius Contra Mundum
I, for better or for worse, am a company man...I don't gossip about my employer or grumble about taxes. I posses a peculiar empathy with the system and those that run it, and for some reason, I find myself defending them often. I don't make waves and generally label those that do as "rebelious" :)
Now, I'm not exactly sure where such a good natured disposition towards the establishment came from...but it appears to be here to stay. So like with all unchangeble personality traits, my job is to capitalize on it's strengths and manage it's weaknesses.
Weaknesses such as a contentment with the status quo, and a propensity to 'overlook' all that is wrong in favor of maintaining my relationship with, and view of the establishment....This is where our friend Athanasius comes in.
For one hundred years he fought for orthodoxy and the divinity of Christ. Though, of course the doctrine is universally accepted now; it was almost completely lost in the 3rd century due to the Arian heresy. He was banished 3 times by two emperors and was repayed in this life only by suffering and persecution; he died not knowing if his fight was in vain...But he kept the faith.
It was said of him that, "while the world was going left, Athanasius went right". He saved the Church, almost singlehandedly, from paganism. After his death the Church slowly moved in the direction of the tide he had swelled and eventually gave him this title,
"Athanasius Contra Mundum"
It means "Athanasius, against the world". One writer put it this way, "He stood for truth, when the world stood against him."
Athanasius reminds me of another man. A man named Jesus. In the 2nd and 3rd chapter of Mark's account, we find 5 consecutive accounts of Jesus ruffling people's feathers and challenging the status quo. Everything from healing on the Sabbath to hanging out with sinners. Now since I know that Mark's gospel isn't written chronologically, I'd say that Mark is trying to make a point about Jesus. He's trying to tell us that Jesus was a revolutionary; he's trying to tell us that Jesus was out to change the world, not blend in.
Jesus was after a life that mattered, and cared little about how that would make certain people feel. I am reminded by the lives of such men, that there are greater values to be had than normalcy; and, I am reminded that there is a better world to be had, and that that world lives on the other side of change and those who will make it.
So may we live "contra mundum" , and may the memory of our Fathers invite us out of our passivity and into the world of passionate abandon; mission at whatever the cost; and when the world is going left, I pray that God will give us the courage...to go right.
Now, I'm not exactly sure where such a good natured disposition towards the establishment came from...but it appears to be here to stay. So like with all unchangeble personality traits, my job is to capitalize on it's strengths and manage it's weaknesses.
Weaknesses such as a contentment with the status quo, and a propensity to 'overlook' all that is wrong in favor of maintaining my relationship with, and view of the establishment....This is where our friend Athanasius comes in.
For one hundred years he fought for orthodoxy and the divinity of Christ. Though, of course the doctrine is universally accepted now; it was almost completely lost in the 3rd century due to the Arian heresy. He was banished 3 times by two emperors and was repayed in this life only by suffering and persecution; he died not knowing if his fight was in vain...But he kept the faith.
It was said of him that, "while the world was going left, Athanasius went right". He saved the Church, almost singlehandedly, from paganism. After his death the Church slowly moved in the direction of the tide he had swelled and eventually gave him this title,
"Athanasius Contra Mundum"
It means "Athanasius, against the world". One writer put it this way, "He stood for truth, when the world stood against him."
Athanasius reminds me of another man. A man named Jesus. In the 2nd and 3rd chapter of Mark's account, we find 5 consecutive accounts of Jesus ruffling people's feathers and challenging the status quo. Everything from healing on the Sabbath to hanging out with sinners. Now since I know that Mark's gospel isn't written chronologically, I'd say that Mark is trying to make a point about Jesus. He's trying to tell us that Jesus was a revolutionary; he's trying to tell us that Jesus was out to change the world, not blend in.
Jesus was after a life that mattered, and cared little about how that would make certain people feel. I am reminded by the lives of such men, that there are greater values to be had than normalcy; and, I am reminded that there is a better world to be had, and that that world lives on the other side of change and those who will make it.
So may we live "contra mundum" , and may the memory of our Fathers invite us out of our passivity and into the world of passionate abandon; mission at whatever the cost; and when the world is going left, I pray that God will give us the courage...to go right.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Augustine The Confessor
Transparency...
For me, like many things in my walk with God, it is a truth previously discovered, but not continuously lived. As of late, I have been on a journey of rediscovering this quality in my own life. My natural bent towards introspection and time alone has, I think, caused me to drift from transparency into a nice, comfy, secluded area of my heart, and to be frank...I like it here :)
Mind you, I'm not hiding in the mountains, with my Bible and a large stockpile of MRE's; it is not an external exclusion of people, but an internal one. I have no troubles including people in what is happening with my life, or at work, or with what I saw on the news the other day; but we all know that these topics shield us from talking about our true selves; they protect us from ever having to unveil the true nature of our struggles and wounds.
The problem with this is that in community, safety is not the most important thing...sharing is (koinenia: lit. sharing all things in common).
The Confessions of St. Augustine (his autobiography), were not as much of a theological masterpiece (though it was one), as it was a literary one. The Confessions was the first autobiographical work of note *. People in the ancient world, quite simply, did not write about themselves.
Augustine in his raw style, talks about his conversion, his doubts, and even his sexual addiction. Such confessions, would take bravery in our culture, let alone in one where there was no precedent for it. What a noble example for us who follow, of a man who was weak, yet that was great.
I am reminded of the command to "confess your sins one to another...that you may be healed". Now, there is usually no redemptive work being done in these conversations (meaning they are unnecessary for forgiveness from God,) but what we are doing, is experiencing for the first time the biblical reality that "no temptation has seized us except that which is common to man". We find that we are not alone in our struggles; and we begin to tread lightly and not without fear into the struggles of another man or woman's heart, and this not to judge...but to heal.
It is in this way that we enter into community; it is in this place we discover that we weren't "alone at being alone", and it is in this circle that we, with boldness, will make our true confession.
For me, like many things in my walk with God, it is a truth previously discovered, but not continuously lived. As of late, I have been on a journey of rediscovering this quality in my own life. My natural bent towards introspection and time alone has, I think, caused me to drift from transparency into a nice, comfy, secluded area of my heart, and to be frank...I like it here :)
Mind you, I'm not hiding in the mountains, with my Bible and a large stockpile of MRE's; it is not an external exclusion of people, but an internal one. I have no troubles including people in what is happening with my life, or at work, or with what I saw on the news the other day; but we all know that these topics shield us from talking about our true selves; they protect us from ever having to unveil the true nature of our struggles and wounds.
The problem with this is that in community, safety is not the most important thing...sharing is (koinenia: lit. sharing all things in common).
The Confessions of St. Augustine (his autobiography), were not as much of a theological masterpiece (though it was one), as it was a literary one. The Confessions was the first autobiographical work of note *. People in the ancient world, quite simply, did not write about themselves.
Augustine in his raw style, talks about his conversion, his doubts, and even his sexual addiction. Such confessions, would take bravery in our culture, let alone in one where there was no precedent for it. What a noble example for us who follow, of a man who was weak, yet that was great.
I am reminded of the command to "confess your sins one to another...that you may be healed". Now, there is usually no redemptive work being done in these conversations (meaning they are unnecessary for forgiveness from God,) but what we are doing, is experiencing for the first time the biblical reality that "no temptation has seized us except that which is common to man". We find that we are not alone in our struggles; and we begin to tread lightly and not without fear into the struggles of another man or woman's heart, and this not to judge...but to heal.
It is in this way that we enter into community; it is in this place we discover that we weren't "alone at being alone", and it is in this circle that we, with boldness, will make our true confession.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Lessons From Our Fathers: A Series
The mysterious author of Hebrews in his 6th chapter, speaks of "not laying again the foundations".
I get the feeling that much of the learning in the Church today, including that from our mistakes, is not a true learning, but a re-learning of many things previously taught to us by history. It is a sort of re-invention of the Eclessiastical wheel.
For example: The blight of televangelism and the proponents of the prosperity gospel in the Church today, are a real problem to be sure, but are no different from those described in the New Testament who used "Godliness as a means to financial gain" (I Timothy 6:9).
In dealing with the issue, I wonder if anyone has taken the time to ask the question, "How was this problem dealt with in the early Church?" Surely we could avoid their mistakes or repeat some of their successes; surely there's something to be learned from their experience.
It is in this light, that lately I've been revisiting our commandment to "honor our father and mother". It is our imperative not only to honor those Fathers that are immediate, but also those Patriarchs which are historical. When I read the classics, I am always astounded that the instructions of men that have been decayed for millennia, can be so acutely relevant today!
So it is with this reality in mind that I embark on this series. I feel as if it would do us well, who have lived so briefly, to heed these "Lessons From Our Fathers". Again, the writer of Hebrews, makes these "Lessons" from lives of Heroes long dead, the literary climax of his opus in the Eleventh Chapter. It is a reminder to us that there is still wisdom to be mined here, that there is still water in this well of knowledge, and it would bode well for us to drink it.
I get the feeling that much of the learning in the Church today, including that from our mistakes, is not a true learning, but a re-learning of many things previously taught to us by history. It is a sort of re-invention of the Eclessiastical wheel.
For example: The blight of televangelism and the proponents of the prosperity gospel in the Church today, are a real problem to be sure, but are no different from those described in the New Testament who used "Godliness as a means to financial gain" (I Timothy 6:9).
In dealing with the issue, I wonder if anyone has taken the time to ask the question, "How was this problem dealt with in the early Church?" Surely we could avoid their mistakes or repeat some of their successes; surely there's something to be learned from their experience.
It is in this light, that lately I've been revisiting our commandment to "honor our father and mother". It is our imperative not only to honor those Fathers that are immediate, but also those Patriarchs which are historical. When I read the classics, I am always astounded that the instructions of men that have been decayed for millennia, can be so acutely relevant today!
So it is with this reality in mind that I embark on this series. I feel as if it would do us well, who have lived so briefly, to heed these "Lessons From Our Fathers". Again, the writer of Hebrews, makes these "Lessons" from lives of Heroes long dead, the literary climax of his opus in the Eleventh Chapter. It is a reminder to us that there is still wisdom to be mined here, that there is still water in this well of knowledge, and it would bode well for us to drink it.
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