Music and Meditation

Yesterday was an interesting day.  A week ago yesterday, my wife and I closed on our new house.  That created a flurry of activity.  We had a number of things we wanted to do before we moved in.  Yesterday, several of those matters were starting to get planned out.  But to arrive at some of the choices we had to make was not the easiest of processes.  As with any two people, you rarely see eye to eye on things, and we found ourselves having to work through some of them.

Also, at work a number of different things are kicking off.  Once school starts, so also it seems do many of the regular church activities.  I've been in the process of planning several of these, and a few are right on the horizon. 

So between house and work, things have been somewhat hectic, and more than a little stressed.  I won't complain about it, because I knew what I was getting into.  But it still has the tendency to make it tough to focus at times.

So, on my way home yesterday, I did something that I don't do nearly enough.  I pulled out one of my favorite Christian CDs to listen to it.  I have about 5 favorite songs on the album, and found myself forwarding on to them.  And that's when something amazing happened.  It's almost as though the weight on my shoulders was lightened as I took the brief drive home, simply listening to music which sings about the great things God has done for me.

And that's when I was reminded of why I used to schedule a little time every once in a while to simply listen to some music and reflect on what God has been doing in the context of my life.  Sure, to some, it might appear to be a waste of time.  How can it be productive to sit with eyes closed, listening to music?  Isn't that what teenagers do when they're trying to avoid work?  And yet, I have often found those times to be the ones that prepare me for the work and burden of what lies ahead.  I find times of refreshing in them.

It's at times like yesterday where I understand King Saul in the Old Testament.  The Spirit of the LORD had left him, and an evil spirit was tormenting him.  Yet, when David would play for him, the evil spirit departed and he found peace.  And so, when I find my life getting way too busy, when it feels like stress is building, and tension is high, that seems to be the best time for me to have a little music and meditation.

Renewing the spirit, the mind, and the body

From Acts 3:19-20, "Repent therefore and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus,..."

You haven't heard from me for a few days.  In part, this is because I have been undertaking a bit of a time of refreshing.  So often in life, we find that our particular careers and vocations make us hit the ground running, and I have experienced some of that over the past several months.  It isn't that we dislike our work, or that we find it burdensome, but rather, we discover that you can be doing something you love, but as you give your best and your all to it, every once in a while you need to have some time to just sit back and take a brief break from it.

My break is in the form of a class that I am taking.  But more than that, it's a time away from the hustle and bustle that comes with my chosen vocation (or maybe I should say the vocation chosen for me).  Time away doesn't mean that I'm uninvolved, but rather, that I take the opportunity for a bit of renewal of the mind, the spirit, and the body.  In fact, a couple of days ago, I found it very refreshing to simply sit in a church building for a time of prayer and of Bible reading.  In a way, it truly seemed as though the Spirit was doing some measure of cleansing of my mind and my spirit, which truly did cause my body to feel refreshed as well.  I hope to do that a few more times.

God's Spirit refreshes our spirits.  But more than that, I also believe that He does the same thing to our minds and our bodies.  Sometimes we need to feel the burdens of our vocations lifted for a time, to be re-invigorated for what God prepares ahead for us.  That refreshing then allows us to re-discover the joy of our vocation, as well as a greater focus.  For me, the academic portion of it also serves to sharpen my mind, which provides endless benefits when it comes to ministry.

Quiet Time

Over the years, I've had a significant number of times where I have been working in my office with no one else in the building.  The phones were silent, there wasn't anything urgent that needed to be done, and so I was blessed with some quiet time.  I've learned that times such as these are really good for some quiet reflection, some prayer, and even some good Scripture study.

This is the kind of thing that we American's tend not to understand very well.  It seems that our schedules are so busy, we're always on the go, and we're surrounded by so much sound and background noise that we have a hard time when it gets quiet.  Think about the last group conversation you were part of.  When that moment of silence occurred, did everyone seem to revel in it, or did you find yourself fidgeting around, waiting for someone to break the silence and start talking?

Silent times are blessings from God, but I also believe that they are blessings that we have to learn to understand and appreciate, especially since we live in such a frenzied world.  Silence now seems foreign.  It seems to be the intruder into our lives.  And yet, silence can be so refreshing.  Quiet time with God, whether in reading His Word or in prayer, gives a tremendous forum to clear our minds of the things that get in the way of discerning the leading of God's Spirit.  It's a bit of a lost art, and one that I would dearly love to see many people reclaim.

For me, some of this silent time comes when I run.  Other times of it happen when I'm alone in my office, or when I spend time in prayer.  My hope is that you also grow to see the importance of silent, quiet time, especially when you spend it in some way with God.

What it means to be a child

Yesterday I spent a few minutes thinking about this coming Sunday.  In my congregation, we will be observing All Saints' Day.  It's a day that is set aside to remember those who have gone before us in the faith, and who have now received their eternal inheritance with God in Jesus.  In many ways, this is a very moving day to observe, as many churches will read out the names of those that have died to this life and to sin, and now live with God.  Those names bring back memories of dearly loved ones, of people that we knew well, and with whom we get the joy and privilege of spending eternity.

Part of my reflection for this day came from the words of 1 John 3:1-3.  In there, John refers to believers in Christ Jesus as "little children."  It's a very endearing term to use, especially with the pictures and images that come along with it.  We are the children of God.  We are the people who are loved by God.

As you think about the life of a child, we see some of those same reflections in our lives as Christians.  A child is (usually) pretty proud of his or her parents.  A child doesn't want someone talking bad about the parents.  A child is happy to see parents, and looks to the parents to care for them, to give them what they need, and to provide for their well-being.  In all of these, the reflection of God should be pretty obvious.

Being a child also means that you find a lot of joy in life.  For many children, the world is simply filled with wonders that are out there to discover.  I would even say that it's kind of sad when we lose our sense of wonder in this creation of God's.  When we cannot find joy, is it because we have become too focused on our self-importance?  Do we risk losing the joy and wonder of seeing God's handiwork if we're too focused on our own stuff and life?

Being a child means that you are dearly loved.  It means that you have "Daddy", who is there to take care of you and to stand up for you.  And here is where we see that God is the best "Daddy" imaginable.  Not only has He provided for all that we need in life, He even goes so far as to give up His best in order to make sure that we belong to Him.  That's what Jesus and the cross and the resurrection is all about.

In the end, being a child means that we are loved.  Even though that love may not be revealing its complete form among us now, it still spills over into this life.  And so, in our interactions with one another, it would be great if we could all see each other as little children, children who are dearly loved by the Father.

Reflection on God's Word

This week, I have been focusing on an approach to learning, understanding, and growing in the discipline of studying God's Word.  Prayer for the Spirit's guidance, reflection on God's Word, and then paying attention to how we struggle with living out what God says are the three "rules" outlined by Martin Luther in his approach to the Scriptures.

Some may wonder why to follow such an approach to God's Word.  After all, most people don't aspire to develop the kind of knowledge and understanding of the Bible as, say, a pastor would.  So why take this kind of approach to studying the Bible?  What would a "regular" person strive to get from this?

One thing that God emphasizes in the Bible is that His Holy Spirit works in specific ways in this world.  True, places such as John 3 show us that we cannot confine God to a specific manner of revealing Himself, but God always wants us to have certainty about how His Spirit comes to us.  The way that He tells us we can count on God's Spirit working is through God's Word, both spoken and read.

But what does that do for us?  What do we get from this kind of study?  Well, those questions are not easily answered.  But one thing that our study of God's Word does is show us what God's disposition is toward us.  We hear about the actions that He has taken on behalf of His people throughout time, and yet, how He sees the bigger picture that is not always obvious to us.  We start to see our place in the world, in time, and in God's grand scheme of things, among many other things.

But, perhaps most important, God shows us how we can deal with a life that is less than perfect.  He shows us what He has done for us in our pain.  He shows how He cares for us, especially when we are joined with others who share that same belief.  And to think, He does this through our times of engaging His Word.

Community and Meditation

This week's focus has been on Luther's suggested "rules" for meditating upon the Scriptures and growing in understanding of them and God's work.  These three rules are prayer, which asks God to show His intention and meaning, meditation, in which we read and reflect upon what the word or section of Scripture means, and then the struggle, when we discover that we don't do what God says, don't like it, or are tempted to downplay, thinking that God cannot really be that serious.  This is when we truly begin to discover how different God is and thinks as opposed to us.

Today, I simply want to present two thoughts.  The first is how important it is that we don't confine ourselves to this practice all by ourselves.  God created people to be in community with one another.  He even works by His Spirit to give insights into His Word that may not occur to us on our own.  For this reason, God's people gather together to share in what God says and how they see that working out in their lives.

Next, I want to challenge you to practice this on a small part of God's Word.  I have been practicing these three rules on the words of Psalm 4.  I suggest that you choose a similarly short text, and simply follow these three rules.  It may only take a few minutes a day, but practice it for a week.  See where God's Spirit guides your thinking.  See what thoughts and struggles come to mind.  If you would like, feel free to share them through the blog here. 

The Struggle with Scripture

"For I do not understand my own actions.  For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate....For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.  For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing."  Romans 7:15, 18b-19

So far, we have seen Martin Luther's approach to learning and growing in God's Word.  We start with prayer, asking for God's Spirit to instruct us in our understanding.  Then, we meditate and reflect on God's Word, engaging it frequently, and even speaking it aloud to gain understanding.  This, then, brings us to the third part, or "rule", of growing in God's Word.

Inevitably, the Bible will tell us something that we either do not want to hear or that we find ourselves incapable of.  This is the struggle we see in Paul's words above.  For example, Jesus says that we are to seek God's kingdom first, with the full trust that God will then provide all that we need.  And yet, when we look at our lives, we find that we don't do this very well.

This is the struggle which Luther calls the third "rule".  It is where the devil takes God's Word and tries to convince us that we can't do that.  He wants us to give up on growing to be more like Christ.  Or, he tries to convince us that God didn't really mean what He said to the full extent which the Bible says.  For example, when Jesus says that it is better to lose an eye or a hand than for that member to keep us from faith in God's kingdom, we want to believe that Jesus isn't being literal or serious.  Surely God cannot be that strict, we tell ourselves.

This is the struggle which actually forms much of our lives in Jesus.  Paul says it well.  We want to do what God says, but we don't want to.  It's too demanding.  We want to follow God, but we aren't convinced that God will "have our back", so to speak.  And it is at this point where Luther suggests that our true understanding of God begins.

Will we give in to the easy way, or will we take the hard and narrow road in following Jesus?  Paul's answer is that we will do the easy thing.  And yet, God's Spirit works in us, constantly battling against that life of ease that we may think we deserve as God's people.  His Spirit challenges us to take up the hard task and to walk the narrow road.

But we don't do this alone, or without hope.  Paul's conclusion at the end of this section of Romans asks who will save him from this wretched state.  The answer: Jesus alone, by God's grace.  In the end, it isn't about our struggle, but about God's struggle and triumph in Jesus' death and resurrection.  It is God's gift which has made us His own, and which then challenges us to grow in Him, even as we face the struggle.  But in the end, we have the victory, through Jesus.  Thanks be to God!

Meditation and God's Word

"My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise."  Psalm 119:148

What comes to mind when you hear the word "meditate"?  I dare say that, for many, some sort of mystical image comes to mind.  A person sitting on the floor, legs crossed, arms on the knees, and some kind of "mm, mmmm" sound being made by the person meditating.

If that is the image that many have of meditation, then what does Christian meditation "look like"?  Does it involve emptying the mind, focusing on some image, or making strange sounds while sitting in a strange position?

The second of Martin Luther's "rules" for growing in God's Word is to meditate upon that word.  Frequently, Psalm 119 makes use of the word meditate, with David emphasizing how he took time to meditate upon God's laws, statutes, commands, etc, just like we see in the verse above.

Christian meditation involves hearing God's Word, and then intentionally thinking about what God is saying in that word.  Luther would even say that speaking that word out loud, hearing it again and again, is what meditating consists of.  Reflecting not merely on the meaning of the words, but upon what God seeks to convey through those words is what Christian meditation is about.

Why not try that for a few moments today?  Pick out a short Psalm, maybe one in the 120s or 130s.  Pray for God to guide and instruct you, as yesterday's post discussed.  Then, reflect and meditate upon that Psalm.  Speak it out loud a couple of times.  Ask what God is trying to say to His people through that Psalm.  As you do this, you are actually engaging in Christian meditation.

Spirituality and Meditation

"I'm spiritual, but not religious."  "I believe in Jesus, but not in the church."  Perhaps you have heard these expressions before, or even thought them yourself.  In the current day and age, many seem to perceive that being spiritual and being part of a Christian church simply are not compatible.

I have recently began to take a great interest in what it means to be spiritual and to be a Christian.  As a Lutheran Christian, I am looking at these from that particular perspective.  Thus, part of my "research" has been in looking at what Martin Luther had to say about being spiritual and a Christian.

Essentially, Luther summed up the development of the Christian's spiritual life by centering it on God's Word.  He specifically looked at texts such as Psalm 1:2, "...his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night."  From such meditation, and from looking in-depth at Psalm 119, Luther came up with three primary "rules": prayer, meditation/reflection, and then the struggle with the Word and the world.

We'll spend time this week looking at each of these, and considering how they play a part in the spiritual life of a Christian.  I welcome your thoughts on what it means to be spiritual and a Christian.