A God who hears

    Is 55:10-11

Thus says the LORD:
Just as from the heavens
the rain and snow come down
And do not return there
till they have watered the earth,
making it fertile and fruitful,
Giving seed to the one who sows
and bread to the one who eats,
So shall my word be
that goes forth from my mouth;
It shall not return to me void,
but shall do my will,
achieving the end for which I sent it.

Ps 34:4-5, 6-7, 16-17, 18-19
Glorify the LORD with me,
let us together extol his name.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.

Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,
and your faces may not blush with shame.
When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.

The LORD has eyes for the just,
and ears for their cry.
The LORD confronts the evildoers,
to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.

When the just cry out, the LORD hears them,
and from all their distress he rescues them.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.

Gospel Mt 6:7-15
Jesus said to his disciples:
“In praying, do not babble like the pagans,
who think that they will be heard because of their many words.
Do not be like them.
Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

“This is how you are to pray:

Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

“If you forgive men their transgressions,
your heavenly Father will forgive you.
But if you do not forgive men,
neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.”


Talking to God:

One of the most difficult and yet most wonderful and amazing things about the Christian faith is the belief that we can talk to God and He hears us.  Throughout scripture we told over and over that God hears the prayers of his people and that he responds.

Now there are times in scripture when he seems not to respond.  Particularly we see this non-answering God when Israel and Judah became a “stiff necked people”.  When there is obvious and un-confronted sin in their, in our,  lives, it created a separation between God and his people and he says “I cannot hear you,”  “I turn my eyes away” or worse he ‘sees’ and he takes action but not in a way that seems at the moment to be good at the moment, but in the end, draws the people back to repentance.
Other times, we see like in Daniel life when he prayed fervently and the prayer was slow in being answered because of the opposition from the enemy.

God and his Word are inseparably linked and that Word is more than a construction of letters that make sense to us.  The opening chapter of John is a most incredible revelation, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God”.  In the following verses of that 1 chapter of John we see that, that Word was the very source of the Creation in Genesis 1.

If I am honest, many times when I pray – or have times when I don’t – I have forgotten too whom it is that I speak.  Prayer has become common place – at meals, at the openings of events, in pre-ordained spots and times in our services that it comes mundane – and more ritual and habit than it is encounter.
We’ve been going through the ‘Story’ at church – it’s a sermon series that covers the main stories of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation and highlights the upper story of God and the lower story of humankinds journey.  This past week was focusing on Daniel and his friends being taken from Israel as young men and growing to be old men in captivity in Babylon.  One verse stands out that explains their ability to stand in the face of all the oppositions of fiery furnaces and lions dens and other life and faith threatening events.  “Daniel resolved in his heart not to defile him with the Kings table”.  We know that this was more than just an issue of food and drink for Daniel and his friends – it is repeated in Romans 12:1-2

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

We see in today’s readings that God’s Word is neither void nor empty – His Word is full of purpose and reason.   He hears the cries and the words of His people when they come humble and broken-hearted and not filled with pride and sin.
Psa 24:3-5
Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?
Or who may stand in His holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,
Nor sworn deceitfully.
5 He shall receive blessing from the Lord,
And righteousness from the God of his salvation.

If you’re like me when you hear the words of the Psalmist, I wonder, how can I ascend that hill or stand in His holy place?  Then I remember the wonderful words of Hebrews 4:15-17

 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.  Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

I am not the one without sin, He is.  My boldness and my ability to come and speak directly to God through no mediation are because of righteousness and holiness are not mine, but of His.

We constantly need to keep the promise God makes to us squarely in our hearts and minds “If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness”  - I need that daily remembrance, moment by moment, not as a get out of jail free card – it is a get our out of jail card, but it certainly isn’t free.  My, our, ability to speak boldly and free to God and know that He hears us comes at a great and terrible cost – the crucifixion.
This week is the beginning of lent in the Christian calendar – the of Body of Christ remembers together the events of our Lord and Saviour as he turned his face toward Jerusalem and began to make that journey toward the Cross with full knowledge of the pain and anguish that awaited him there.  Yet, so that we may be able to pray and that God our Father would hear and respond to us – he did not turn away.

1.    When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
2.    Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.
3.    See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
4.    Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
 
Closing Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. A-men

Anyway, I was just thinking.
Neil

Imitate me?

I’ve recently been challenged with Paul’s bold and dangerous statement in 1 Corinthians 11:1“And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ” - if we backup just a bit into chapter 10:33 , “I too, try to please everyone in everything I do. I don’t just do what is best for me; I do what is best for others so that many may be saved”.

Sounds a lot like Mark 10:45, where Jesus states “The Son of Man did not come to be serve, but to serve”. I am additionally challenged by Heb 1:3 that remind us that Christ is the perfect reflection of the Father. The very nature of God is to serve and do what is best for others.

Firstly, I’m not sure that I feel as bold as Paul to be able to say to others “you should imitate me…” Yet, that’s not what Paul is saying, he IS saying only imitate me as I imitate Christ. The focus is not Paul, but Christ.

Many may not consciously state “do as I say, not as I do…” however; we tend to behave in that manner. We hold or expect something different than what he in fact hold ourselves too. The problem is I think that really I expect people to behave better than I am will to do myself.

Paul says “I try to please everyone in everything I do; I don’t just do what is best for me”. But we need to dig a little deeper into his motivation – “I do what is best for others, so that they may be saved.”

What I need to understand is that the Kingdom of God isn’t ‘over there’ or ‘just for Sunday’ – the Kingdom of God overarches our entire being – the physical, spiritual, emotionally, the mental. When we come to work – we don’t leave the Kingdom of God behind, it’s here – we’re in it. We’ve talked about this before, and we know this. For the Christian, they are in and are representatives of the Kingdom of God where ever they may be. The only thing that makes Christian Horizons different than any other work place is that we have the rare opportunity to be working alongside Kingdom minded people.

Living in this Kingdom mind set ticks me off sometimes. My wife does a much better job – I was reminded of this recently while at a restaurant. I have an expectation that when I go to a restaurant, I will be treated and served well – and I tip accordingly. If the service is lousy, it definitely affects the tip I leave. It affects the tip my wife leaves as well, but in the opposite direction. This drives me crazy. I know that when we have received lousy service, its’ going to cost me – because, she will tip more rather than less. Her belief is, in spite of bad service, her witness of goodness and grace to another is more important and vital than ever.

I however have pointed out the incongruently of her argument, because when I do less around the house, I don’t get reward more.

All that aside, I am deeply challenge by how I bring the imitation of Christ into existence in all aspects of my life that doesn’t’ depend on the actions or expected reward of another, but solely on the desire to be a living witness of gospel. I certainly believe that is essential when living before people that don’t know Christ. But, we are to do so no less for those that do know him.

Back to my restaurant rant, I don’t know if this is true or not, but I have heard people from the service industry say, that Christians groups can be some of the worst groups to serve because of their attitudes and expectations, and they can the worst tippers.

My point is not to advocate for better tipping – What I am convicted by is the experience others have me and whether they could conclude “I am seeking to imitate Christ” and whether I make things easier – or more difficult for them.

I certainly don’t think Paul’s promoting a spineless, wish washy approach. In fact we can point else in Paul’s writings where he is anything but a dish rag. What he is saying how we interact with one another matters – how we honour, respect – how we follow authority. Every action I undertake either represents the kingdom well – or it does so poorly. I hear in this passage, that I have to take responsibility for my actions, opinion and attitudes – for how I respond – and the frustrating thing for me is, that how I am to respond in my imitation of Christ, has little if nothing to do with the actions, behaviours and decisions of another.

Psalm 1 comes to mind.

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,

Nor stand in the path of sinners,

Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!

2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,

And in His law he meditates day and night.

3 He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,

Which yields its fruit in its season

And its leaf does not wither;

And in whatever he does, he prospers.

The psalmist identifies three specific actions here, walking, standing, sitting. I think it is a conscious progression, one that I have seen in myself too often. I can easily get caught up in the ‘walking of grumbling and complaining – I react, I pull another in, we walk along together initially in the problem, if I don’t get a handle on it, it isn’t just a chance meeting of other walkers, I’m standing, I’m looking to draw people, to drag them into my compliant – by standing I’m becoming an obstacle that others might bump into an now I’m trying to get others to stand with me. If I don’t stop standing, I sit. Not only am I obstacle, now I become a stumbling block for others to trip over. I become entrenched and get others to entrench – to dig in with me.

When this happens I’m a long way from Paul’s call to imitate, to do what is best for others so that they might be saved – or having them experience the Kingdom of God through me.

I would contend that Paul’s idea of ‘saved’ is broader than simply ‘converted’ – certainly that is part of Paul’s hope and agenda, but I believe he has the idea of ‘redeemed’ more in mind – redeemed to be Kingdom livers.

I think Paul would be urging us to wrestle with how can Live, work, be with one another that brings God’s Kingdom into reality – that when we encounter each other, we’re bringing the Kingdom into a fuller existence in this place, in one another’s lives.

As a group of Kingdom people gathering in this place, we return to our Psalm passage, it is necessary and appropriate for us together to mediate on His law – day and night. But that mediation translates into a changed life – one that more fully reflects Christ and the Kingdom of God.

It is the delight of God I think to see us as his people imitate his Son with one so that we become a tree firmly planted by streams of water – his sustaining and life giving power. A gathering which yields nourishing fruit to one another here, and outward to those whom we will be in contact with.

I guess this can sound kinda corny – and ‘feel goody’ or pietistic but I think it really depends on how we understand the Kingdom to God. Is it something we move in and out of – or is it the very existence of our collective beings.

Anyway, I was just thinking,

Neil

An offering with sole

What does it mean to give an offering to God? We are so tied to the idea of offerings from our wallets, that we see it as an obligatory task that we figure out mathematically in an attempt to meet the letter of the law, while engaging in an exercise of completely missing the point.

Consider Harry. Harry came to our church plant in the downtown of Port Colborne. He was a regular figure wandering around town, looking in bins – asking for change, and when he gathered enough, you might find Harry across the street at the Belmont Hotel. He would mutter to himself, and those that did not know Harry, and few did, would give him wide berth. For some reason, Harry would come in and quietly sit at that the back of the church some Sunday mornings. He would come mostly in the winter months. We were able to help Harry from time to time with a few dollars that enabled him to get a room and some food– at the Belmont -- to get out of the cold. We were not able to get to know Harry particularly well, but, it was not difficult to tell that this had not always been Harry’s life. Breaking through the confusion and oft repeat phrases was not easy. However, he had a way about him, the way he carried himself, the way he used words that give glimpses into perhaps another life.

When we gave him a few bucks he was always embarrassed, but appreciative. He always stated that one day he would give back an offering. One Sunday morning, Harry came into church carrying a plastic bag. One of our practices for collecting offering from time to time was people would come to the front and put their offering in the plate. Harry was one of those that morning. He stood quietly, waiting his turn – he was last. He carried his plastic bag to front, opened it and took out a pair of worn, but at one time expense pair of leather shoes. He placed them on the offering plate and walked back to his seat. And there they were, a pair of shoes sitting on the altar. Kind of an odd sight, accompanied by the glances that get shot to one another when things out of the ordinary occur.

After church Harry quickly approached me and said, “They were my good pair. Can you give them to someone who needs a good pair of shoes?” At that moment, something in me broke. That morning Harry had given his best – he had given something, that for him cost dearly, while I had given my carefully calculated portion for the maximum benefit of my tax return.

The Widow’s Offering

41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.


43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:41-44)

Harry gave an incredible and valuable offering that morning that has continued to grow in the Kingdom of God. Harry died shortly after this event – but his offering that morning challenged me deeply and caused me, causes me still, to continue to question myself and others as to what is an acceptable offering we offer to God. Certainly our financial resource is part of that, but our offering is not the carefully calculated obligatory portion, but it is to be our heart, our mind our soul, our being. I think of the old hymn,

Take my life

1. Take my life and let it be

Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.

Take my moments and my days,

Let them flow in endless praise.

2. Take my hands and let them move

At the impulse of Thy love.

Take my feet and let them be

Swift and beautiful for Thee.

3. Take my voice and let me sing,

Always, only for my King.

Take my lips and let them be

Filled with messages from Thee.

4. Take my silver and my gold,

Not a mite would I withhold.

Take my intellect and use

Every pow’r as Thou shalt choose.

5. Take my will and make it Thine,

It shall be no longer mine.

Take my heart, it is Thine own,

It shall be Thy royal throne.

6. Take my love, my Lord, I pour

At Thy feet its treasure store.

Take myself and I will be

Ever, only, all for Thee.

Anyway, I was just thinking.

Neil

In Acts 1:8 we have the last earthly words of Jesus. Although all the words of Jesus are important and powerful – there needs to be special consideration given here. Jesus knows that these are the last words that he is to speak in the flesh before his return to heaven. He is about to leave the 11 that he has walked so closely with and he is looking back on the last 33 years and forward to his crucifixion. He knows the difficult road ahead for the 11, as well as his church until his return. The self limiting earthly restraints are no longer binding on him. He will be returning to his place at the right hand of God – yet, he takes with him the human body, still bearing the scars of our sin - not because he couldn’t remove them – but because he won't. Not because he needs them – but because we do. Not because he needs to remember – or remind God – but because we need to remember, to be reminded – and to recognize him as our Lord and Saviour. These last words are words that Jesus knows he is not just speaking to that small group standing on that hill top – but to all of history – to us.

“but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth”

This is THE Call of all those who would say they are followers of Christ. Through the power of the Holy Spirit – we exist for one purpose, and one purpose only – to live as a witness of the story of Christ – from Genesis to Revelation.

We need to look at this word ‘witness’ not firstly as a verb – as we generally do, (witnessing), but as a noun. The difference is significant –“witness” as a verb is something that we do – whereas, as it is found here in this verse, it is a noun – someone we are. Too often the problem with our witnessing is not with the words necessarily, but with the witness of our own lives, to those words – our ‘being’. That is the amazing revelation of Christ himself. He is not witnessing about the Word – he IS the Word.

Have you ever been asked to be a witness to something? If you have then you were asked – “What did you see…What did you hear… What experience makes you a credible witness?” I’ve been part of a few situations where because of what I saw, heard or directly experienced changed the outcome of a decision. I was a witness of an accident. Initially the person protested and was saying something different, but when they saw there was a witness – they didn’t contest it. Fortunately, it meant I didn’t have to go to court. Just the power of knowing that there was a witness in this case was enough.

It’s what makes the words of 1 John 1:1 so powerful: “what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and our hands handled concerning the word of Life”.  1 Jn 1:1

When John, the disciple of Jesus, writes these words so many years later – after being a witness to Christ’s life, being present with him that day when he ascended to heaven, being in the room when the tongues of fire descended – he was a witness.   How he lived, along with the rest of the disciples was a result of what he had witnessed in his encounter with Christ. His witnessing was born out of his being a witness of the events.

A slight change of gears for a minute, but – it ties in.

Paul writes in Phil 3:20 – For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we eagerly wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ who will transform the body of our humble state in to conformity with the body of his glory by the exertion of the power He has even to subject all things to Himself.

We typically view this verse as a verse that reminds us that we are to forget the things of earth – and transcend the material things of this world. The earth is something we leave behind and look to the future – which while it has truth, is not what Paul meant here.

The people of Philippi would have heard this verse much differently. Paul takes a very familiar, yet powerful phrase and turns it upside and co opts its meaning and power. Philippi was a Roman colony and the Roman’s had a very successful strategy in taking over the surrounding territories and making them loyal to Rome. Rome had their own Gospel – their own good news. The word or idea of gospel is not unique to the Bible. What they would do is capture the citizenry of a town and take them back to Rome while at the same time they would take ‘witnesses’ of Rome – it’s splendor, benefits and opportunities and transplant them into the city they had just captured.. Then these transplanted citizens of Rome would at every opportunity demonstrate and talk about the power of Rome, the magnificence and justice of the Roman system – of the benevolence of Cesar. All that was required (in theory) was that at least once a year, the citizens of that town would come and pay homage to Cesar, give a sacrifice and declare – “Cesar is Lord” They could keep all their gods, business, homes, their beliefs and practices – they just had to make Cesar the supreme god – and they would receive all the benefits of membership. The Roman’s would seek to influence and change the very culture of that city from being what it was, to one that was Roman like. They knew if they changed the minds and hearts of the people - and you don’t need an army – belief in the end holds more power than sword.

However, to reject this ‘kind and gracious’ offer meant that you might join the citizenry of the crucified. There are witness reports that at times on a common hi-way leading into Rome there could be hundreds of those who rejected the graces of Rome roped to wooden cross leading into the city. And these were not quick deaths, as most would die of dehydration and exhaustion. People traveling the roads would be ‘witnesses’ of the futility of rejecting Roman.

The phrase, “I am a citizen of Rome” carried great weight – as Paul himself had invoked it when the Jews where going to put him to death.

Rome would use these witnesses, as they moved them into the captured towns and villages to be ‘the presence of Rome’ – as people asked, “What’s it like? What happens if…? What did you see? What did you hear? What did you witness?” These Roman citizens where expected to be a faithful presence to Rome in the city to which they had been assigned. As a result, the people of Philippi would see the wonderful evidences of these ‘witnesses’ of Rome.

So, when Paul says “we are citizens of heaven” to the Philippians, they knew exactly what was being asked of them. They were to live, work and play in Philippi – or wherever, as citizens of heaven – as a witness of God’s Good News in their own lives. They were not to remove themselves and become separate, but live with and amongst the people so that when people encountered them – whatever they were doing – they were encountering people whose citizenry was in heaven. As those from Rome sought to be a faithful and attracting presence for the good news of Cesar – those who were disciples of Christ were called to live as faithful and attracting witnesses of the power of God and the work of Christ in their lives.

We are not called to withdraw from the world and be a separate people, but to live as salt and light in the world. We are called to be a light on a hill at night that can bring hope, direction and salvation.

We citizens of heaven are to live and work with each other, in the city of Kitchener, before a watching government – with our staff, in serving those with exceptional needs as a faith witness (the noun – who we are). It’s not that we are not to be witnessing – but how we go about that witnessing is firstly and foremost rooted in ourselves being a witness of – and too our encounter with God. The power and invitation to engage in witnessing comes from being a witness to others. As they inquire, “Who, why, how?” they observe and experience an evidence of the faith that lies within.

Paul reminds us in I Timothy :12 “ I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service; even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. And yet I was shown mercy, because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ.

I know more than I want to about who I am or can be as part of the power and presence of Christ in my life. I know what I’m capable of because it still occasionally leaks out. As a citizen of heaven, a witness of God’s mercy, grace, forgiveness and hope in my own life, I am called to be a living witness of the power of God that has come upon me. May we live faithful witnesses so that we too are asked “What did you see, what did you hear, what did you touch, what has touched you?”.

Anyway, I was just thinking….

Neil

A Visit with Joni and Friends

Michael Alemu and I had the privilege of spending a few days with a very special ministry, Joni and Friends in Agoura Hill CA. Sadly, we were unable to actually meet with Joni, and she sent us her regrets. She had been looking forward to meeting Michael- although, she did ask me to be her facebook friend first! :)


In June, Joni discovered she had breast cancer and has been undergoing treatments. One of those treatments was the day before we arrived and she was having a particularly difficult day. She sent a special gift to Christian Horizons. It is a special scrap book edition recounting the beginnings of her journey and the ministry.

She gave Michael and I each a book that is not yet released. I read it on the plane home and have been deeply moved by it. The book is entitled “A Place of Healing: Wrestling with the Mysteries of suffering, pain, and God’s sovereignty”. If anyone has the right to weigh in on the questions of suffering, pain and sovereignty it is this amazing woman. I was doing some reading on another topic this weekend, and incidentally came across a comment by N.T. Wright that stated “Joni Eareckson Tada is an excellent practical theologian”.

The motivation for writing this book was not her continuing struggle of being a quadriplegic – after four decades, she had come to peace with what she believes was God’s will for her life. What raised the issue all over for her was the reality that for the past two years she has been living with unrelenting “grinding” pain. She recounts that this pain drove her back to those first days of despair and anguish. She began wrestling with old questions that she believed had been settled. She believes that God can heal – yet has not- completely paralyzed and totally dependent on others for almost every detail, she cries out to God for relief that does not come. This book is her attempt to answer those questions for herself and the reader.

She says at the conclusion of her book, that ironically as her pain finally seemly subsides, she is now faced with this new battle of cancer- which is she determined to fight. This has not shaken her belief in the Sovereignty of God and she completely trusts in Him for her future. Does this make it easy, or simple – certainly not.

She says she writes with a ‘great urgency, because her life is changing, and she wants to speak to those who are suffering in there life’. In a number of the conversations we had with her team, we heard the struggle, the awareness that things for Joni are indeed changing – that they have to and are preparing for a time when Joni is no longer with them.

The mission of Joni and friends is To communicate the Gospel and equip Christ-honoring Churches worldwide to evangelize and disciple people affected by disabilities.

For the past couple of years we have been building a global partnership with this wonderful organization, and my task was to begin discussions on how we might partner here in Ontario and in Canada in our purpose common purpose. What we are most interested is the Joni and Friends Family Retreats (check out this link http://www.joniandfriends.org/family-retreats ). Michael’s purpose in meeting with them was to deepen and strategize an existing and exciting global partnership.

It was really cool entering the front doors of the Joni and Friends ministry. The centre of the building is a water feature. In the floor of the pool are these words

“Let Justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never failing stream” Amos 5:24

Joni says…there's a chapel right in the center of the lobby and a ramp going around the chapel all the way up to the second floor. When people walk into this center, we want them to be struck with the fact that Christ is our focus and that access to Him is also what we are all about.

That statement has again challenged me deeply about our own reason for existence as a ministry.  Why are we here? Why do we do we do what we do? What sets us a part? Is Jesus the answer to these questions? I pray so. It’s easy for us I think to lose sight of the why what and how in our work- but if we lose our heart we lose the most important part of who we are.

Inside the Chapel

Joni’s book has challenged me in perhaps an unexpected way – as she writes about her battle, and wrestles with the questions of healing, suffering and pain and the real battle that she faces to keep Christ in the centre – I have found myself reflecting on us as an organization- it is no less a battle, a wrestling a struggle to do the same. We have the same tendencies and temptations to let the daily struggles and wrestling – divert our attentions, not just individually, but as teams, departments, - as an organization.

It may sound corny, unless you read it the context. Every morning, as Joni prepares for her day of work she has had the practice of saying to her caregivers as they clean, dress and care for her – “We get to work for Jesus today”. She says, strangely, this has been the gift of her pain – it has reminded her of her total dependency on Christ to get her through. She chooses to sing a hymn as she enters the building – in spite of the fact that it now too painful for her to hold the paint brush between her teeth – in spite of the person agony of realizing that she is losing the ability to do one of few things that she was able to do – draw.

Some may look at this as a simplistic statement – childish, foolish or naïve. But, on a deeper reflection, this is a statement of sheer will, strength and determination. It is of a depth of faith and conviction few have ever reached. Who of us would trade places with her for even a moment if it possible?

Folks, we get to work for Jesus today – let that not be a naïve or simplistic statement for us- but one with depth, conviction and determination to make it a reality. Let’s not let what others believe about this statement hinder us for seeing and living in the privilege of working for Jesus.

...anyway I was just thinking

Neil

This years "eureka" moment

Most pastors, at least those who are honest, will tell you that preparing sermons for Christmas and Easter is challenging because everyone knows the facts and it is difficult to make it “new” each year. Perhaps that is why pastors change churches so they can reuse material.

I find the same holds true for me as a maturing Christian. I don’t want these significant events to come and go and become “routine” for me. I make an effort to read the Scripture passages and listen to the sermons at these times to find something new, some new interpretation or something I just have not seen or heard before.

This past Easter as I read through the familiar Easter passages nothing was becoming this year’s “eureka” moment. Then I read again one of the “last words of Christ” from the cross. “Father forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing”.

At first I agreed that this was true. They didn’t really understand what they were doing. They did not understand who Jesus was and the significance of what was happing, the moment of salvation for the whole world. But, then again, they did know what they were doing. Some were simply following the crowd “if these people are so worked up about this then I am in”. Others were following the religious leaders, their pastors, and understood at least that this man was a threat to their faith and the practices and they had to unite with their leaders to stop him. Some, the religious leaders, knew that there traditions and their positions were being threatened and they had to get rid of this troublemaker.

Yet, from the cross Jesus asked for their forgiveness because of their lack of understanding. Of course if it were me on that cross I highly doubt that I would have been saying these words. I am quite sure that other things would have been on my lips, perhaps defending myself, probably complaining, and likely blaming.

So, what about me, now in 2010? This same Jesus stands at the side of His Father, the God of Heaven, and says when I fail “Father forgive Him, he is one of mine, one of those you have given me.” Most times I know what I am doing when I sin. I have been a follower of Christ for a long time and I know hat the Scriptures teach about right and wrong, about sin. Yet there are times when I don’t yet really understand what I am doing. In either case, whether I acknowledge my sin because I know I sinned and ask forgiveness or I carry on in ignorance or in rebelliousness He is there saying to the father “Forgive Him”.

I am so glad that Jesus was able to plead for forgiveness those around Him at the cross because it gives me confidence to know that in the same way He pleads for my forgiveness. When I stand at Heavens door in His good time I will hear Him say “Forgive Him, He is one of mine.”

Ted Robbins
 
Ted is the Director of Property for Christian Horizons.

A step on the right path?

I was reflecting on Proverbs 16:9, ‘a man’s heart plans his steps, but God directs his paths’ on the drive into work this morning. There are a couple of personal things – rather significant in terms of the ‘path’ directions that I’m trying to determine what the right step is. Finding those steps can be tough. In one decision in particular, the ‘wrong’ step could have serious implications, not just for me, but significantly for others – the ‘right’ step however could open up exciting doors of new opportunities and growth. But which one? Neither step is a question of sin, but the choosing of that step is critical regarding potential outcome.

How do you know then what is the ‘right’ step? Wow, if I could get that nailed down, I truly would have a best seller on my hands. But then, I suppose it would remove the element of stepping out in the adventure of faith.

Over the years, I have developed 4 basic questions that I try to answer to get at my heart when wrestling with what step to take . Now first off, if the step in question is clearly a sin, putting that 'step' through this questioning process is moot. In this case, I simply declaring I chose my way over God’s and He’ll have to deal. That is outside of the realm of this conversation. These questions are for those steps that are more ambiguous in nature and I truly desire to stay firmly on God’s path.

1) Does this step cause me in anyway to compromise or violate the Word and purpose of God, or jeopardize my own person integrity? If the answer is yes, I have my answer. Too many times, I, and perhaps you, have yelled at God for ‘not being there’ when His response is “I didn’t want you there in the first place”. Thank God, literally, that His grace is sufficient, that there is repentance and forgiveness available. Now, I may need to bear the consequences of this decision for sometime – maybe even the rest of my life, I am forgiven. I know this may not sound fair, but, I did make the decision and set a host of realities into being. They don’t evaporate just because I am forgiven. Some of the other related questions I may ask are: Do I have to fudge the truth to make it happen? Do I have to justify to myself why this relationship or behaviour is okay? Does it move me closer to His image or further away?

2) Is the primary intent of this step to elevate, advance or make things ‘happier’ for myself? Or is my intent, to further the Kingdom of God in my life and the lives of others? It is not wrong to desire to move ahead or even be profitable. But if my advancement or profit is at the expensive of my relationship with God or at the expense of another person – again I have my answer. Some decisions do not necessarily fall into this realm; Tim Horton’s or MacDonald’s for lunch. While neither may be a great decision, they are not path altering decisions. Other decisions are path setting – a big part of challenge is recognizing these small steps for what they are or could be. How often I am short sighted regarding the importance of a particular step. I think this one reason the Apostle Paul warns us to take every thought captive. In light our recent learning, this might be similar to the idea of ‘interrogating reality’.

3) Is this step done in ‘faith’ or ‘wish’? I mean, is it a step that God would have me take at all? I’m afraid that many times, my decisions are based on my wishes, desires, and wants rather than on His purpose and Will. This one I find the most difficult to unravel and the easiest to rationalize. My ego can be very tricky – the only solution is diligent prayer and honest self examination of my motivation (search me, try me, examine me to see if there is any wicked way Psa 139:23). ‘What I want’ is an extremely powerful force in our lives. To crucifying the flesh is a difficult and continual death. We have confused personal happiness with faithful discipleship as the chief guide in our lives. God’s way is often the more difficult, and road less traveled. It is one, perhaps, I’d rather avoid because of the cost to my personal happiness. What is at the source of this weakness is my inability to see beyond the ‘now’ and physical into the eternal and spiritual. (I am intrigued by thought of the ‘eternal now’, but that is for another blog)

4) What is the counsel I received from mature Christians. Outside perspective and challenge is vital to choosing the right step. In many counselors, there is wisdom (Proverbs. 24:6). What I generally do is seek out those who tell me what I want to hear. I prefer those that will support the decision that I have already determined is the ‘right’ one for me. This is known as ‘the blind leading the blind’, and both eventually fall into the ditch. I need to hear the voices of those that would hold me accountable to God, purity, integrity and holiness. I may not like what I hear, but I need to listen to it, ponder it, and consider that counsel prayerful. If I chose not to heed it, I take the step at least with my eyes wide open.

If I get green lights on all four, I’m pretty confident to take that step. Experience has taught me however, that just because they all line up, it still doesn’t guarantee ‘successes. I quantify the idea of success because, how I gage success and how God gages success is not always (often?) the same. What seems to be a set back for me, may in fact be a reproving and a strengthening of my faith (read James 1). Even in these times of apparent setbacks and failure, if I know that I have held true to these four questions – I still have retained my integrity and I find that God still keeps me on the path. Frequently, I discover that I come to wonderful unexpected road stops

I wish I was always so careful with all the steps that I take – I seem to retain these questions just for the big ones. But this is a mistake. It is very easy to inadvertently wander off the path and find myself pondering a ‘big’ step on a path that God would have never had me travel. The truth is, it is the many small steps that determine my direction – it is the moment to moment decisions that I seek to yield to God that set the stage for that big step.

Anyway I was just thinking…..

Neil

For Thine is the power, the Kingdom and the Glory, forever and ever A-men

Maybe you are thinking that because we have gotten to the end of the prayer the pressure is finally off. Honestly, I did too. I was ready to rattle off the last bit of this prayer as I do when I am praying it. But I got stuck! I just wanted to get to the forever and ever Amen. Alas however, I tripped over a word – "Thine". Thine is the power, Thine is the kingdom, Thine is the Glory.

Here we find ourselves confronted by our own Copernicus moment. One day Copernicus was doing what he usually did, staring out into space, (the telescope was not invented for another hundred years) and slowly he began to see things that shook his concept of reality, but even more than this - the very teachings of the religious structures of that time. Here is the thought that almost got him killed: "we are not the centre of the universe". Consider: without even thinking about it, we learned right from kindergarten that the earth revolves around the sun. However, in the 14th Century the belief was that the sun revolved around the earth! So, his was truly avant-garde thinking.

As believer our thinking is even more avant-garde– which is even more revolutionary than Copernicus' discovery - is connected with the last phrase of this prayer. It is this: the Son does not revolve around us, but we are to revolve around the Son. Personally, I think that this is a far more dangerous and universe shattering revelation. Largely I still believe that I am the centre of my (and maybe your) universe. However, this belief is as foolish as believing that the earth was flat. We've got to consider something here: that perspective is everything. In the sciences, in which I include Theology, this is called a presumption. A presumption is 1. The acting of presuming or accepting as true or 2. acceptance or belief based on reasonable evidence; assumption or supposition. You see, theology operates in accordance with a presumption – Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God…" There is no way for us to get behind this point, we have to either accept it or reject it. Everything we know, how we interpret, how our knowledge is guided is based on this reality. We build our life and science accordingly. Modern Science has three criteria for reaching a presumption 1. Observation, 2. Measurement, 3. Repeatability. If it anything lies outside of these limits it is not in the realm of 'science' and therefore does not possess the methodology required to be accepted as a presumption – and therefore excludes a presumption that starts with 'In the beginning God'. This if fine as long as the foundation you are standing on and using as your hypothesis is in fact, the right one. Early Roman belief was that a headache was created by trapped vapours or a demon wanting to get out and the only method was to drill a hole. The very intelligent people of Columbus' time maintained the belief that the earth was flat. We would laugh and say how foolish. Yet, based on their perception, they reached a logical presumption. Were they wrong? – Absolutely. Our presumptions inform and powerfully direct our lives. We live our presumptions – even unconsciously. If I look at my life here's what I discover about my presumptions. I believe it is about my power, my kingdom and for my glory. I have a terrible admission to make. I am a glory hound. I want you to recognize me, re-enforce my existence, and stroke my ego. Even when I step to the sidelines, to push someone else into view, I want you to see my humility, my self- sacrifice…. 'oh he's such a great guy'. However, if you look at me through the power of a spiritual telescope – your discovery (and mine) is that the world revolves around me. I am trying to get the sun/Son to revolve around me. To pick up on a point from the last blog, Lucifer's purpose is to get our lives to revolve around him. Either way, he wins.

I have to leave you to figure out what your rotation patterns are. But before you become too judgmental of me or state "well it's about time he saw what we do", do your own spiritual telescope check on yourself – I think you might discover I'm not so alone. What is your presumption?

This line of the prayer is devastating to my universe – and yours. It can create as much anger, fear and irrational outrage responses as when Copernicus postulated his theories to the Church. You can imagine their responses: "Who are you to tell us"! "How dare you!", "Who do you think you are?" and it goes on.

Thine power, not mine. Thine kingdom, not mine. Thine Glory, not mine – not mine, not mine. It is so hard to get out of the centre. I'm comfortable here and I like it here. It hurts and is too hard to give that up. The gravitational pull that keeps me in place is massive. Yet, with you I know that the presumption of Scripture is right: "In the beginning God…". Therefore, my conclusion must be "…for Thine is the power, Thine is the Kingdom, Thine…the Glory forever and ever A-men."

Anyway, I was just thinking

Neil

(this post ends the Lord's Prayer blog posts)

But deliver us from [the] evil [One]

Matthew 5:37 "But let your statement be, 'Yes, yes ' or 'No, no'; anything beyond these is of evil.

John 17:15 "I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.

2 Peter 2:9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgement,

Although we generally recite the prayer ‘…and deliver us from evil’, the consensus of most scholars is that Jesus is clearly identifying the very real presence and purposeful intent of the evil One. Personally, I believe this as well. Although, on one level most Christian still accept the idea of an Evil One, we tend to pragmatically respond as if evil is more of a faceless force. Intellectually we seem to resist this concept of a conscious, intentional and personal incarnation of evil. Christian Science, started by Mary Baker Eddy at the turn of the last century, describes evil as unreal; only good is real, therefore sin is when we do not operate according to our ‘True’ selves. Many other groups have sought to explain away the reality of a conscious evil being. Others have attempted to equate Jesus and Satan in a more Eastern religious approach – as sons of the god caught in struggle of good and evil - one becomes the personification of good (Jesus) and the other evil (Lucifer). This places both Jesus and Satan on the same ‘created’ by God level. The result is more the man/god ideas of Greek mythology. While Lucifer was created, as we are created, Jesus is everlasting God. Lucifer’s separation from God is as wide as our own. It is what drives the obsession of ‘he who would be god’. Though he has access to God’s presence (Job 1) he has a broken relationship. Ours, on the other hand, is repairable.
Consider the entrance of the original sin introduced by the evil One. He slithers into the good, the pure, the holy and by a ‘promise’ - temptation brings Darkness and Death into what was Light and Life. Up to this point he had no part in the relationship equation between humanity and God. But Lucifer wanted in. The distortion is often not obvious and in fact, that is what makes it so dangerous. Lucifer was seeking to affect the rotation of the universe (more on this in next blog). Had Eve clearly seen the resulting impact of her simple decision that day, there is no question she would not have hesitated to flee the other way to ‘escape’ the temptation. Had she seen the darkness and death that indwelt that forbidden fruit, the poison would not have been ingested and passed on to her mate.
If we could see the full implications of a quick, self indulgent and gratifying decision not only in ourselves but also on all those around, I sure it would give us both pause, and the ability to reject the attending Darkness and Death. Sadly however, many times, we like Eve listen to the enticing and slippery words of the evil One.
Here is the incepted and attractive underlying message “You can have your cake, and eat it too”. Think about it for a minute. What was the first temptation? It was not ‘turn your back on God” or “I have something better follow me”. It was taking something that God Himself had made and Lucifer twisted “You can have it both ways”. Look at the temptations of Jesus. Was this not the essential core of those temptations: “you don’t have to deny yourself, you can have what you want and more – you can have both – your cake and eat it too”. On the surface, Lucifer’s temptations were not a rejection of God, but an acceptance of him as a legitimate authority – a god.
That I think is the source of many of our own temptations. I would venture that the vast majority reading this blog are not struggling with the desire to be honouring and pleasing children of God. However, we are constantly faced with the self-denial that it takes for this to happen. Remember the pattern that Jesus calls us to each day in our prayers. Every moment we are called to: “His will done on earth as it is in heaven” - to share our bread in such a way that we keep only our daily need; to seek full forgiveness and repentance of all our sin and to fully and completely forgive those who have created debt with us.
The evil One’s messaging has not changed nor have his tactics. Every day we are faced with self-serving and personally gratifying decisions. Every day he comes to us and seeks to be included as a god. These temptations come to us wearing disguises of ‘good’ with the underlying silky message of ‘you can have your cake and eat it too” You don’t have to deny yourself – God doesn’t mean for you not to have thing that your heart so badly wants. Our weakness lies in our attempts to justify our actions by saying – “God will understand”, “it’s only a little thing and it looks so good” – or, “it’s just too hard”.
What is that forbidden fruit that evil One is holding out to us? “Come on, one little bite, it is not going to hurt”. Don’t deny yourself this little indulgence of ________ (insert your issue here). God doesn’t take it that seriously. What we don’t see is the poison of darkness and death injected into what seems at first as ‘good’. That is why it must be a part of our constant prayers - why we must develop wisdom, discernment, discipline, obedience, all of which are unattainable without self-denial. We cannot have our cake and eat it too – we cannot live both in the Light and Darkness (read 1 John 1).
God is calling us to live according to His truth, His law, His kingdom - to only have one God. He calls us to a radically different pathway of living than that of the world. I think more than we’d like to admit, many of us are yet standing at the cross roads of these two paths. We have stepped toward the narrow and difficult path of self denial, of picking up His cross – but we have not yet managed to fully pull our foot out of the mud of the broad and wide way. The serpent’s voice is still ringing in our ear, ‘come, taste and see, this beautiful fruit won’t kill you – immediately’.

Anyway, I was just thinking.
Neil

…as we also have forgiven our debtors

Let’s pick up on our discussion from the last post. We were considering the parable of Jesus as it related to our conversation of the two debtors. Our prayer, and very real need is that God forgives us of our debt (again see previous post), but now what does that mean as the prayer continues, ‘AS WE ALSO HAVE forgiven our debtors’? There are two primary assumptions here: a) God has and will forgive us our debt – freely, b) we have already forgiven our debtors. There is an ‘in advance’ quantity here. The prayer is not ‘help us to forgive our debtors’, which is how I think most of us interpret the request. It is quite pointed in its intent - we will forgive our debtors.

Now depending on your experiences in life, this may not be an easy decision to come to. For myself, being a part of social services work for many years, pastoring, and simply just reading the news, I have seen the depth of trespassing that can be done from one human being to another and at times it has been unspeakable . As a result, we sometimes ask, “How can God ask or expect us to forgive our debtors – it is too much”. Please do not think that I am minimizing the pain or trauma you may have experienced in any way. But here is what has led me to the conclusion that God can ask and expect that to be our prayer. WHY? We are quickly approaching the Easter season. For years many of us have heard sermons on Christ’s death, resurrection and the days and hours leading up to the Cross. Whatever we might personally think of Mel Gibson’s movie The Passion, the horrific reality of the actual experience way surpasses what the movie depicts. However, the scene that remains most vividly in my mind is not so much the brutality leading up to the crucifiction, but at the tear that falls from heaven and hits the earth causing the earth to quake. It is a perspective from God not often considered. Humanity took God in the flesh, beat Him, humiliated Him, drove nails through His hands and feet – all the while mocking – and in Luke 23:34 we find these words “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing.”

I’m thinking, how do they not know what they are doing? They just tortured and nailed Him to a cross. You don’t do that by accident like knocking over a glass of milk with your elbow. This was some intentional and well-planned stuff that happened here. They didn’t kill Him by mistake. And yet the words “Father forgive them for they know not what they do….” fall from those gasping, pain riddled lips. How can this be? How can this be forgiven? It does not deserve to be forgiven as it is the deepest of violations and rejections directed toward God Himself! Yet He forgives. It is what causes Paul to write in Roman’s “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”. It would take the power of God to forgive this unimaginable debt. What could possibly be sufficient to pay for the cost of death of Christ? That debt could not be paid if all creation and the universe itself could be sold and the payment applied.

It is true, the debt that one human can incur on another can be great,and seemingly humanly unforgivable and without possible re-payment. But herein lies the conundrum, it has already been paid. Christ’s death was and is sufficient payment for all sin, for all time – no matter what it might be. There is no sin greater than Christ’s ability or willingness to forgive (except for one, blasphemy – which could be a whole other series of blogs). There is one simple key 1 John 1:9 “if we confess our sin he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness”. Ha ha, you might declare, there’s the loop hole! The person that has sinned against me has not asked for forgiveness so I do not need to forgive that so and so for what they did.

However, that is not the prayer we find here. It says, “Forgive us of our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors”. There is another element at work here - we are commanded to forgive. Our relationship with God is inhibited when there is unforgiveness toward someone. It is because of what the unforgiveness of debt does to the human spirit, mind and body. It is a major cause of depression (internalized anger) and anxiety. It not only affects us psychologically but physiologically. It controls, destroys and imprisons us - and God wants us free. This is a prayer of freedom. Freedom from all the handles the enemy wants to maintain in our lives in order to play us like a marionette puppet.

The deeper the injury, the more the need of finding that pathway to forgiveness. I read once that forgiveness is not letting someone off scott free and saying or believing that what was done to me is okay or doesn’t matter. What forgiveness does is takes the person off my hook and puts them on God’s. God knows what this means to you . He knows the depth of pain and anguish. He does not minimize the situation. His call is, ‘take on my yoke which is easy and light, and put your burdens and hurts on my shoulders – let me bear them’.
Anyway, I was just thinking.

Neil

And forgive us our Opheilema

Most Bible versions translate the Greek word opheilema (ὀφείλημα) as debts, some as sins, a few as trespasses. Now I ask for your indulgence here on the use of Greek. I am not a Greek scholar and have forgotten more of the Greek than I learned – I remember just enough to be dangerous. However, original language word study is important and can often bring nuances otherwise missed as I believe is the case here. So please, aphiemi (forgive) me and bear with me (yes there is a similar root of forgive and debt – so much to explore so little room).

Many of us probably have recited the prayer as “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that have trespassed against us”. While all are valid interpretations, I believe that the use of the words ‘our debts’ has the most original intent. The weight of the word debt, I believe, communicates a deeper aspect of the request ‘forgive us our debts’, than ‘forgive us our trespasses’ or forgive us our ‘sins’ can. Certainly I need my trespasses and sins forgiven – but again, we tend to individualize and internalize this request – and the focus is me…me…me. Two things I notice here - that again, the request is communal “forgive us”. ‘Forgive me’ of my sins, which I need as well, is an important aspect; but here it appears that it is communal debt, of which I as an individual am a part, that is to be forgiven. This in no way lessens or removes personal sinfulness and the need of individual right standing with God. It is just that in the mindset of the 1st century Jewish mind, they thought and functioned in community. They saw much more their collective responsibility to and with God.

The idea of ‘debt’ evokes a monetary feel intentionally. It is not just a sin or trespass that we have committed, but a debt that has incurred. The accumulation of debt is not just sin that is committed, but that right action has been omitted. “We” owe that debt – we share both blame and responsibility (that has both a good news/bad news kind of deal).

To understand this idea of debt more fully, we need to connect this prayer request with the parable that Jesus told about the two debtors (Matt 18:23-35). The parable begins “the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. As Jesus told the parable, the people were drawn into the story in a dramatic way. They understood exactly what Jesus was talking about because they saw this played out in real life. Life was difficult – between taxes and the cost of materials often sold at highly inflated prices - it was hard to make ends meet. A small landowner would get a loan from a wealthy landowner or even a well-to-do religious leader. These loans would come at a high interest rate. Inevitably, what would happen was that the small landowner would default on his payment and the interest would compound resulting in an astronomical un-payable debt (by design). The lender would demand full payment which the lendee could not pay and for which there was little or no legal recourse. It was the legal right of the lender to then take possession of the land in question, plus have the lendee and his family put into debtors prison until such time that the lendee could pay his full debt, which by the way was still accumulating interest debt (much like my Visa). It was a double whammy – you lost both your land and you still owed the debt! Often the only option was to ‘sell’ yourself and your family members into a type of slavery to work off the debt which of course was impossible because it would continue to accumulate. To add insult to injury, that same wealthy land owner, or well-to-do religious leader would put you to work on the same land you once owned – but now as a slave to him.

As the listeners took in the story – it was one they knew well. What was surprising was first, the generosity of the King; second, the actions of the one who owed a great opheilema (debt) and third, the surprise ending. They themselves would have longed to encounter such a forgiving king – The crowd would have become uniformly angry at the man forgiven of such a great debt demanding payment of the lesser debt.

However, one more shock is yet to be revealed. Matthew 18:35 35"My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart". Essentially Jesus tells the listeners, and us by extension: “you are the man forgiven of great debt”. We are going to expand on this theme next post.

An additional important question is ‘what is the debt’ owed by us? It’s a deeper question than we can fully explore here, but I want to raise one portion of the answer to that larger question. Remember the line before this one “Give us our daily bread”? I think a significant portion of that debt is this – where we have not shared our bread with those most in need. We have consumed and horded and have ignored the unmet ‘daily bread’ needs of those around us – and are daily accumulating that debt. It is both our individual communal responsibility to both repent and respond. It is not enough to simply realize that we have sinned in this area – we need communal repentance - “we have sinned against You Oh Lord”. For the sake of space, time and your patience with me, I will not go into another Greek diatribe, but want to point this out – repentance, which is an essential part of forgiveness (on our part) is an action. True repentance is the leaving of the thing that is wrong and the doing of the thing that is right. When we are forgiven, it means that we are released to go and do the right thing. I better quit here because I feel a full-blown sermon coming on.

Anyway, I was just thinking,

Neil

Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven

The immediate questions that come to my mind are: “ What does the coming of God’s kingdom look like?” and “What exactly is His Will?” These are big questions! Yet, we are called to make this a pattern of our prayer as Jesus tells us “pray this way”. We need to think about it. We are praying for it, but even more so, we are commanded to pray it. But, what does it mean? What does it require of me? First, we must look at what we know about God’s kingdom. As we read the various statements of Jesus in relation to the Kingdom, we find these common themes: justice, kindness and humility. In seeking God’s kingdom, and doing His Will, we must constantly be asking – is what I’m doing Godly justice, Christly love, Holy Spirit humility? All my relationships and encounters are to be marked and come under the subjection of these qualities. I challenge you to re-examine the gospel passages that speak of the kingdom and apply these themes. Ask what is Kingdom justice, Kingdom kindness, Kingdom humility. These are the elements of God’s Kingdom and expressions of His Will. These are the things that if the Kingdom of God is to come, they must be lived through me. Everything is on the table. My choices, wants, attitudes and opinions are a big part of this kingdom. My relationship with my wife, my children, and my co-workers are considerations for coming of the Kingdom. For others is it is their relationship with a girl friend or a boy friend. As persons called ‘Respond to the Call’, it is directly tied to the ‘how and what’ we do as support workers for those with exceptional needs. It comes to play in our conflicts, how we relate to those in authority, etc. In addition, being that this is being written at the end of February, how and what I report on my taxes. It is at the most fundamental pragmatic levels that we need live out the Kingdom of God. I think that is the root of Jesus’ statement: “Seek first the Kingdom of God, then these things will be added to you”.
I have had many people tell me “this or that is God’s Will” after which I am left wondering, “How do you know that?” The problem with declaring something as God’s Will is we effectively lock down input or counsel from anyone else. How do we know with certainty what God’s Will is? I am afraid I have used this, or seen other people use the statement “it’s God’s Will” as a method of manipulation or self-justification of what we personally want to see happen. As well meaning and convinced as I may be, there are few things that I should be as dogmatic about to as to claim “This is God’s Will”. I am not suggesting that we cannot know God’s Will, I am merely pointing out that we need to be very careful and very sure of making that claim. Here is the ironic bit: many, including myself, have claimed this as a truth regarding particular things. However, if you look closely enough at those things that we feel we know for sure are God’s Will – maybe we aren’t doing quite so well with them. Here is what I mean: if you knew the specific Will of God, would you do it? If you knew exactly what He required of you, would you commit all you are to do it? Well here is the rub, He has told us – clearly. The answer to this is found in Micah 6:8
8He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?
We do this in our personal walk with God, in our journey with each other, and in our mission to a world that desperately needs to experience the coming of the Kingdom of God (refer to the Haiti reflections).
Here’s my suggestion – for myself especially: first I must focus on what I know to be the Will of God: justice for the poor, broken and forgotten; kindness be the quality that I am known by, and humility to be my character –

Anyway, I was just thinking,
Neil

Who Art in heaven

We have such a convoluted and an ethereal view of heaven. Philadelphia Cream Cheese isn’t helping. I certainly know I cannot tell you ‘this is where and what heaven is’ in a conclusive manner. For the simple reason, I do not know. We know it is real, it has tangible qualities – God is there, Jesus will greet us personally, it will come to have its city on earth. We are given some ideas about heaven. Jesus tells us ‘it is at hand’. He tells that thief on the cross, ‘on this day you will be with me in paradise’. We have numerous references “the Kingdom of God is like….” We know that heaven itself finds its existence within the person of God – in that it is an extension of who he is – much like the earth itself.

It also tells us something of God – although he is infinite, he also has location – a specific address, so to speak. We all struggle ontologically – which is a fancy word for the nature of being or existence of God. We ask; where is God? Where do we ‘go’ when we die? How do we know that it a real place? And on and on the questions go. I have them, I know you do as well.
We speak of the omni-presence of God – He is in all places with equal presence and awareness – he is ‘close’, but He also has transcendence – complete ‘otherness’, He is above and beyond all that is. We often translate God’s presence as spatial - separate distance, close near, here or there. God is not governed or confined by the physics of time and space. He created them. God is not living outside or breaking the laws as an outlaw might – but they exist in, by, through and for Him. They exist because He exists, they are reflections of the nature and character of God.

If anything is true, we are the outlaws, and presently we living outside the Laws that God created to govern the world. We are not living according to God’s ‘natural laws’ at the moment – quite the contrary – sin is the invader, the unnatural law. We exist surrounded by the Kingdom of Heaven – the enemy kingdom itself exists as small almost immeasurable rebel outpost within the infinite borders of God’s kingdom. It’s all a matter of perspective. A poor example is like the Miami airport I recently visited in route to Haiti. Walking around that airport, it is huge – especially when you have to run from one gate to another. However, once you lift off the ground, the large airport becomes only a small element with the city of Miami itself, and becomes an unidentifiable dot at 33,000 feet. If I was able to afford the millions dollars for a ride on the Soviet space shuttle, my perspective would even be greater as I’d see the continent that Miami was one, but would be indistinguishable as its own identity.

We are surrounded by heaven, by God – we exist as a small dot inside it/Him. Heaven is bigger, infinitely bigger than earth. When we pray, “who art in heaven” we are not praying to some far off place and our prayers travel at the speed of light to get there. It is here and now enveloping us. We are separated by what is to God a thin veil, but to us a massive steal wall. We can’t break out without death, but by life God has entered in.
Anyway, I was just thinking.

Neil

Faith

I doubt. Often. There, I said it. I mean, really, how can one not doubt? In God, in goodness, that there's more to this life and world.

This morning I read Psalm 89. It begins with a proclamation to the Lord "I will sing of the evidence of your mercy forever" (God's Word Translation) and ends with "Where is the evidence of your mercy?". And that's not the only Psalm where the writer expressed doubt.

I have a friend who lost their 6-month old baby. Another friend is in the midst of treatment for leukemia. Some days it's hard to see past it all.

Thinking along these very lines, I arrived at the office before anyone else so I began to listen to the new album from downhere, "Ending is Beginning". The first track, titled "Bleed for this Love" begins with these lyrics:

Out of solid rock I made a river,

To a desert drought I brought the rain

Did you doubt for a moment that I felt your pain?

It seems that I am not the only one who doubts.

Bill Maher recently released a mockumentary called "Religulous" (It looks funny). Maher says he cannot accept anything that is not reasonable. He says that religious traditions and beliefs make no sense, so they are ridiculous.

But according to Hebrews 11:1, it seems faith is not equal to our own standards of reason. "Faith assures us of things we expect and convinces us of the existence of things we cannot see".

Are doubt and faith inextricably linked? Why do we need to be convinced of something if we didn't doubt it in the first place? If so, this is reassuring to me. I grew up thinking that doubt invalidated my faith. In fact, it seems that doubt strengthens my faith. I wouldn't be able to have faith if I didn't have doubt.

I think the Psalmists knew this. Reassuring indeed.

Dwayne Milley, Central District