How Would You Respond?

It's time for that Friday feature again, only today, this one is going to be a pretty deep and heavy entry.  Following through my Facebook and Twitter accounts, one thing jumped out at me in both of them.  Several links and articles entered my feed about eight Christians in ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) who were crucified because they refused to renounce their faith in Jesus.  While many of the specific details aren't fully known right now (such as if they were killed prior to crucifiction or not), it still speaks to the real persecution that happens in this world to those who bear the name of Jesus.

I do not, in any way, want to demean the sacrifice that these men made for their faith and their Savior, and so I'm not going to ask you the question on how you would respond in their place.  Truly, I do believe that it is God who gives the strength to endure if persecution and death are the path that our faith leads us down, and it's not anything that we can know prior to actually facing it.  God gives the strength and endurance as He sees fit, and as is needed.  We simply cannot know that ahead of time.

However, when we hear news of events such as this, it probably should have an impact on us, and on how we talk with others about matters of our faith as we live our lives.  When our brothers or sisters truly do die and meet their Savior, it often puts what we endure into a bit of a different perspective.  It shows us that we may not be facing the ultimate brand of persecution.  Yes, what we may face is still real, and still presents its challenges, and isn't to be taken lightly, but it also seems to pale in comparison to what many of our brothers and sisters in Jesus face.

So the question for today is, how will you respond when others ask you what you think or make of such a story as this?  Are you going to simply write it off as something that happened in a strange country far away, treating it as though it has little impact on you?  When they ask, how will your faith be demonstrated in what you say?  That's the one of which I'm asking how you would respond.

Comic Relief Friday

Here's the little comic strip based on this coming Sunday's reading from the Gospel accounts, specifically Matthew 13:31-52.

Thoughts from the News

We don't live our Christian faith and life in a vacuum.  We live in the world of the things that happen around us each and every day.  That means that we are inevitably influenced, in some way, by the things that happen in our world.  Especially in this day and age of instant access and reporting, things happen on the other side of the world, and we are hearing about them even before leaders of the nation in which they happen are able to respond.

So, on Thursdays, I'm regularly going to check in on a few things happening that are making the news, and giving a few thoughts on how our Christian faith informs us as to how we approach the stories, and how we can even be salt and light for Christ when others discuss the same topics.

Today, I've actually got a couple of items for our consideration, so please bear with me.  The first one is something that has been in the news regularly in the Atlanta metro area, where a two year old was left in a car and died, and now the parents are facing charges in the child's death.  On top of that, there have been additional incidences in other states, and even a couple of indicents locally here that continue to shine the spotlight on this.

As Christians, we believe that God is the giver and taker of life.  It is inappropriate for us humans, outside of God's given authority, to take life by our own choosing.  It doesn't matter whether that life barely has begun when the sperm and egg meet, or if it's the life of a 95 year old who suffers greatly.  God is the giver, and God is the taker. 

It really should not only sadden our hearts, but anger us, when we come across stories like this.  We are saddened that a life has been taken, especially one so young, in which the experience of life has not yet taken place.  We also are angered at the injustice of it, and yes, we should rightfully be angry at injustice.  God's people are to strive to see that justice happens, even as we seek to inject mercy into the situation as is applicable.  While God alone can do that perfectly, having both of those thoughts in our heads is actually a good and appropriate thing.

The second thing from the news that I want to touch on is the rash of planes crashing or being shot down in the past week.  As one who has traveled far and wide, and is likely to do so in the future, this is something that weighs on my mind.  And yet, even as we take to the various pathways of travel, can we be in any better hands than that of our God?  If God has redeemed us by the blood of Christ, then our life in Him is secure, even if we happen to be in a plane shot down or crash-landing.  While it may not be our chosen way of arriving before our God, in the end, our hope endures and is secure.  Thanks be to God for that, in Jesus. 

So What Do You Expect?

As I write these various blog entries, I hope and pray that you remember that I don't toss these out to others as though I'm doing them perfectly, and expecting everyone else to get on board.  Rather, these are quite often my way of thinking out loud, and even expressing some of the challenges that I find myself personally facing as I engage what God tells us about Himself and about our lives and how He designed us to live.  So there's no 'holier than thou' thing going on here, but instead, a confused guy simply asking the questions, knowing that they probably affect others just like they affect him.

So with that said, let me present today's question.  What do you expect from God on a daily basis?  I have to admit, this is one of those questions that isn't really that easy to answer.  There's the easy answer of, "well, God gives me everything I need each day, grace and love as well as the physical necessities of life, so I expect everything from Him."  At the same time, though, we could look at how we go about our daily lives and discover that we may say that, but our lives might betray that we look an awful lot to ourselves to provide and take care of the things we need.

I realize that this really can be one of those questions that more easily condemns than encourages.  And that's why I think Paul had some profound wisdom in Ephesians 3:20-21.  God can, and does, far more than what we ask or think.  God is doing things that we cannot even fathom, much less see and give Him credit for.  We don't see everything that God protects us from.  We don't see God's hand working to provide everything we need in life.  We don't see God's hand in nurturing our lives, our families, and the like.  And yet, there is God, doing it all, even if we aren't expecting it.

At the same time, it also seems that God is truly waiting to do even more.  Imagine if your father wanted to give you a million dollar inheritance, and yet, all you asked for was enough to fill your car with gas.  You're barely scratching the surface on what He wants to give, and you're settling for far less than what He wants to give.  I do believe that we sometimes have that kind of expectation of God.  We expect to have an okay marriage, when God is waiting to make it a dynamic, outstanding marriage.  We expect to have an okay gathering of believers, while God is waiting to make it a place where His grace and forgiveness flow into the lives of many.  In other words, we so often seem to be the ones shortchanging God in our expectations, not Him shortchanging us in what He provides.

So what do you expect?  What can you expect God to do in a greater way than what you have expected before?  How will your eyes be opened to see how God is doing far more than what you think or ask?

I Need More Power!

I almost feel like starting this post off with some kind of a Star Trek quote, something to the effect of Captain Kirk telling Scotty that he needs more power, and the accented engineer replying along the lines of, "I'm givin' her all she's got, Captain!"  Okay, maybe that's the Star Trek nerd in me coming out, but some things influence you so much in childhood that they never go away.

At the gym I used to work out in when I lived in another state, they had a T-shirt that you could buy which simply said, "Lift heavy things."  I don't remember the picture, just the saying, but the implication was that, if you wanted to get stronger and have more power, you had to lift heavy things.  As you can imagine, that would be a common perception in a gym.

Now, we humans can take a good idea like that and over-apply it to our lives.  I've heard, on any number of occasions, that people should strengthen their spiritual lives.  I've heard and read too many approaches to give them any press here.  But it basically always seems to boil down to one thing.  YOU pick up something and start doing something.  YOU dedicate yourself to reading the Bible more regularly.  YOU devote yourself more to prayer, and perhaps a few other spiritual disciplines.  YOU, and YOU, and YOU.

The only problem is, that doesn't seem to be the biblical way of growing in power and strength, either in faith toward God, or in love toward others.  I think St. Paul hits it on the head in Ephesians 3:16, when he prays that the Ephesian Christians would be granted  to be strengthened with power through God's Spirit.  In other words, Paul recognizes where any growth in power or strength comes from.  Not from extra Bible reading (how would that work for people who either couldn't read, or who didn't have the full Bible like we do now?), or from extra dedication to prayer, but as God grants it.

Our human conceit is that we want to be the ones who do the strengthening, and not relying upon God to choose how strong or powerful we are.  So these words from Paul truly do humble us.  We're only as strong as God grants us to be.  But what we also discover is that there is a lot of good news in that.

First, God does indeed give us strength and power.  We aren't powerless, but are given power by God's granting.  And, we also find that God does grow us in that power and strength.  Sometimes He does so through our study of His Word and our prayer, but He does it according to His granting, not according to how fervent we are, or how pure our desire may be.  He does it as He grants it.

In the verses around Ephesians 3:16, Paul also makes it clear why God grants growth and power in faith and love.  It's to grow our love for others.  It isn't for us to show off how powerful we are, or how strong of a faith or love we have.  It's to humbly look to the good of others.  And in the end, that's probably why it comes at God's granting.  In it all, we're guided right back to what God does, and how God chooses to work, so often through us, but according to His power and granting.

How Would You Respond?

On Fridays, I'm going to start a new series for these posts.  I'll paint a picture of an opportunity to minister in Christ's name, and ask how you would respond to it.  In the comments that you may make, please be respectful of each other (and of me, too!), and focus primarily on how we build up the kingdom of Christ rather than looking to tear down what other people think (myself included!).

So here's today's scenario.  You are going through the line at the grocery store.  The clerk does the typical, "how are you today" line, and you share the typical "Find, and you?"  He or she responds that they are looking forward to getting off work and enjoying the beautiful day outside.

How would you respond to their statement?  Or, perhaps, let me ask it in a different way.  How could you respond in a way that would bring your faith into the conversation?  You might have only a minute or two until they are done ringing up your groceries, so your response has to be fairly to the point.  What are some ways that you could respond by bringing God or even Jesus into the conversation?

I look forward to hearing what you might come up with. 

A little comic relief

Our cartoon, based on our Bible reading from Matthew 13, which we will hear this Sunday.

You want me to do WHAT?

"...so that through the Church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made know to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places."  St. Paul in Ephesians 3:10

Who as the last person with whom you talked about your faith?  I don't mean the last person you saw at church with whom you talked about the things going on there.  I mean the last person with whom you discussed why you believe in Jesus and what He has done for you.  Chances are, if you are like so many Christians in our nation, you may not actually be able to remember when that last conversation took place.

I don't say this to make you feel bad (though there is a place for us to feel righteous guilt at failing to do the things God would have us do).  Rather, I want to look at this from another standpoint.  If God wants to communicate the message of Good News to the world, how is He going to go about doing that?  He could show signs and wonders in the skies, but we have a way of explaning those thing away.  He could speak individually to every person on the planet, but it seems that He does that kind of thing fairly rarely. 

Instead, God has chosen to spread His message through those who belong to Him.  That's what Paul wrote about to the Ephesian Christians in the verse above, a verse which still speaks to our role in the spread of the message of Good News.  God spreads His Good News through the Church.  That's you and I.  It's not merely those who are called and gifted to be evangelists, or pastors, or missionaries, or the like.  It's all of us.

I would argue that the reason so many of us are uncomfortable with that thought is simply because we haven't regularly done it.  Really, all I say we need is to practice at it.  True, it's going to the Spirit who guides the response on the part of the other person, but our sharing of the Good News is something that becomes less frightening when we actually do it.  We may never get over the butterflies in the stomach, but it gets less daunting when we've actually done it a few times.  Sure, we'll find that the conversations will go in vastly different ways, but only doing it, only practicing it, will get us used to doing what God created the Church to do.

Who doesn't love mysteries?

As far back as I can remember, I've always loved mysteries.  I read the Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys books growing up.  The movie "Clue" became one of my favorite, and I still love playing the board game.  Trying to figure out who done it piques my interest.  I like the challenge of figuring out the mystery.  I would suppose that's even part of the reason why I like Sudoku, trying to solve the mystery of what numbers should be in which square.

By and large, we humans like mysteries.  Rather, I should say that we like solving mysteries.  We don't tend to like loose ends.  We want to know why things happen, how things happen, and how to get them to happen.  We don't like living in the mystery, we like to see the mystery solved.

I would suggest that some of this thinking is the reason behind many people's reluctance to believe in the matters that the Bible speaks about.  Really, there are a lot of mysteries in there that just cannot be solved.  How could God create everything simply by speaking it into existence?  How can one man's blood pay the price of sin for all people?  These are mysteries that God has chosen not to reveal to us, and since we cannot understand them, I believe many look to see if they can find some tangible explanation.

The thing is, there is one rather large mystery that isn't a mystery for us.  Jesus's blood, His perfect life, death, and resurrection, have indeed served as God's means of restoring His fallen, sinful creation back to Himself.  That's not a mystery.  Sure, the mechanism for how He could do such a thing might be a mystery, but as God reveals it, it's not a mystery that God has done this for all people of the world.

We have plenty of mysteries to be solved, and really, I have come to believe that God doesn't answer all our mysteries, simply to remind us that we aren't ones who are God.  There are things about Him that we cannot comprehend or understand.  And, while the mystery solver in me doesn't really like that, the faith in me says that it's okay that God is God, and I am not. 

Strangers and Aliens

I admit that I have been fascinated by space, aliens, and things of that nature since I was very young.  I still have a tough time passing over a headline that says something about UFO's.  Not that I necessarily believe them, but I just find them fascinating.  After all, space is the final frontier, and these are (not) the voyages of a starship, but a little boy's mind still at work, even in a more grown up body.

Aliens and strangers are different.  I remember the cantina scene in the original Star Wars movie, and still find them all fascinating.  They are so different, and yet, appealing.  Star Trek, and especially Mr. Spock, have always stood out to me.  Alien, yet enough alike to be able to fit in (and who knows, pointy ears could just be a conversation point rather than a point of difference).

When I read Ephesians 2:13-23, especially verses 19-23, we see a picture of aliens and strangers being brought together.  In Jesus, all us human beings are no longer aliens and strangers, but are part of the household of God in Jesus.  We are fellow citizens with the saints. 

What does that mean for us?  It means that we may look different, sound different, act different, and even prefer different things (music styles, chairs vs. pews, etc.), but we all belong together.  We are in a household, and just like a household has variety that is accomodated, so also in the household of God.  God brings people of radically different backgrounds, likes, and thoughts, and unites them together in Christ Jesus.

The thing is, we may no longer be strangers and aliens, but we still have to deal with the differences that arise.  And that's where we learn to deal with one another in Christian love.  Yes, we will still sin against our household, and yes, we will still need to not only confess and ask for/receive forgiveness, but we will have to figure out how to resolve those differences in loving, tangible ways.  But we do so guided by love.  After all, we are part of the family.  The family is to be stronger than our disagreements.

So I guess you could say that I am still fascinated by aliens and strangers.  Only, now I find my fascination to be in how to bring them together in Christ love, just as Jesus has brought them together into His eternal household. 

Compassion: The Wound that Never Heals

"But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water."  John 19:34

"And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, 'You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me.'"  Mark 10:21

"And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain..."  Revelation 5:6

I cannot tell you the exact time it happened, but I know it happened quite a while ago.  In ministering in the name of Jesus, a pastor has many, many opportunties where his heart gets opened up to someone in need of compassion.  He sees a person or family hurting, and his heart goes out to them.  He feels the heartache that they feel.  It becomes his own as he walks through the situation with them, or as he watches them go through it.

I myself have had this happen any number of times over the 13 years that I have been a pastor.  And I remember one of the early temptations that I had.  I don't remember the specific situation, but I had undoubtedly gone through a tough time with someone.  I had seen the hurt in their life, and I had felt it myself.  (Perhaps this points to one of my strengths and weaknesses, I get too attached, too close, and take their pain upon myself.)

After watching their struggle, I remember this part fairly clearly.  I realized that I could protect myself.  I could limit my exposure to their pain, and perhaps keep myself from hurting so badly through their struggle.  It would seem to save a great deal of heartache on my part.  It would mean that I could walk through the situation with them, but I would have to remain somewhat detached and apart from them.

I realized that doing this could save me a lot of heartache and pain.  And I distinctly remember choosing that, in the future, I wouldn't do that.  I would not choose to limit my pain in the interactions I would have with God's people as they struggled.  I would feel their heartache and pain.  Like Jesus, in the second verse above that I listed out, I would love them, even if it meant hurt and pain for me.

Compassion is a wound that never heals.  Now, I don't have the same vision as that which John had, either of Jesus on the cross or in the Revelation of Jesus.  But John sees Jesus as the lamb who was slain.  We're not told specifically, but you would imagine that the spear thrust into the side of Jesus went up into His heart.  In the vision that John saw, it would seem that the wound was not healed, but remained.  Jesus even presented it to His disciples following His resurrection.

While this may be somewhat of an metaphorical reach, I would go so far as to suggest that Jesus' heart remaining open like that is a sign that God's compassion never stops.  The wound of compassion never heals.  God does not separate from us in our pain.  He feels it most keenly and deeply.  And His servants often find that the sharing of the message of Good News happens when they feel the same pain as God's people.

Over the years, I have shared in the pain of many of God's people.  Like I said, I chose not to keep myself detached from it, but to walk through it.  And yes, sometimes I even do that without their knowing it.  It hurts, but in the end, I would rather be able to relate to their pain, and to be able to show that I am walking through it with them, rather than be detached, and have my words and actions ring more hollow than true. 

Compassion is a wound that never heals.  We never will arrive at a place where compassion is unnecessary in this world.  We may shut our heart off from feeling compassion, but in my mind, that cuts us off from truly relating to others.  Even if it means heartache, I pray that my heart will always be open to showing compassion.

Kindness

Quick, without looking in a dictionary, how would you define the word kindness?  Think about it for a moment.  I would even suggest that you write down your definition before you go any further into this post.  Reflect on why you chose the words you did, and what they say about what you understand this word to mean.

A quick search of the ESV Bible reveals that the word kindness appears 29 times in the Scriptures.  One in particular stood out to me.  It's from Psalm 141:5.  It talks about being struck by a righteous man, and that is a kindness.  Now, in our day and age, we might wonder at that.  It hardly seems to be kindness to be struck by anyone, even a righteous man.  And that's where, when we dig in, we start to see the depth of this word kindness.

Anytime someone turns you from a dangerous path to one of safety and wisdom, you can say that the person struck you in kindness.  They took the risk of confronting you about the path you were headed down, and guided you toward a path that would be far better for you.  In truth, that's always difficult for us humans to hear.  We don't like to hear that we're going the wrong way.  We resist is, sometimes even to the point where we know we're wrong, but we just don't want to admit it.  And yet, it is kindness that risks such a confrontation to turn us to the right path.

In Ephesians 2:7, Paul writes about God's kindness toward us.  Only, look at the words that Paul uses to surround that word, kindness.  In the coming ages, God might show to us the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  God's kindness is to show us the path that leads to the immeasurable riches that are ours in Jesus.  God's kindness is to reveal to us the way to have access to His immeasurable riches.  God's kindness is to show us what He has done for us, pointing us to Jesus, the cross, the resurrection, and His ruling and having all authority.

God's kindness calls for our humility.  God wants to do great things for us, and to give us far greater gifts than what we could ever have in this world.  And that's why we started this post out by defining kindness.  God shows us, not that he is nice, but that he richly cares for us.  Kindness goes beyond simply being nice to someone, but sinks into the depths of a deep, abiding care for them.  You want to see the best for them.  You don't want to see harm and danger brought to them.  You want to show them everything that they could have.  And that's the kindness of our God toward us. 

What Exactly is Empathy?

In walking through Paul's letter to the Ephesian Christians, one cannot help but notice the way that Paul relates with his fellow Christians there.  If you read through, you will find Paul repeatedly using "we" and "us" and "our" as his pronouns.  Paul is making a point very clearly in this.  The Ephesian Christians are united with their fellow Christians of all makes and models, regardless of things such as their religious backgrounds, ethnic background, nationality, or language.

As Paul goes to great lengths to explain this, he also does something else.  He levels the playing field, so to speak.  As Christians, we simply cannot make others out to be "more sinful" than we are.  Paul does this very well in the first few verses of chatper 2 in the letter to the Ephesians.  He writes, in verse three, that "we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind..." 

I think Paul is really onto something here that we, as Christians living in our day and age, would be wise to consider.  We are just the same as those who are not Christians, at least in the respect that we have a sinful nature like they do.  We might want to point out that our sins are "less" in some way than theirs, but Paul simply won't let us do that.  He says that we all lived in the passions of our flesh.  We all carried out the desires of the body and of the mind.

Instead of pointing out how much better we are than others, it seems that Paul would point out to us that empathizing with others in our shared sinfulness is a far better approach.  When we empathize with another, we bring ourselves down to their level, rather than expecting them to raise themselves up to ours.  We show that we have the same starting point in God's eyes.  We show that we deserve the very same thing that we are telling them they deserve.  We empathize, and in doing so, we show that we have something in common with them.

Is this a comfortable confession to make?  By no means!  We hate to sit down with the habitual liar and admit that we also have lying tendencies.  We hate to sit down with the adulterer and admit that we have lustful tendencies.  We hate to sit down with the habitual gossiper and admit that we ourselves have not always painted others in the best of lights.  It's uncomfortable, and yet, what better place is there to start approaching the Gospel message from than our shared beginning point with God?

Empathy isn't just some strong emotion we feel toward others.  It involves actually relating to them where they are.  It means we must look at ourselves with humility, ready to confess and ask for forgiveness as necessary.  It means that we simply cannot look down on others in their sin, but rather, we relate to them in their sin.

Is this a guarantee for the entrance of the Gospel message?  Not at all.  But I will say this.  It's probably a much better starting point than looking down on them would be.  Easy?  No.  But then, when does God ever tell us that He expects things to be easy and carefree for us as His people?