A number of years ago, I went to a Tenebrae Service (it is a service held on Good Friday and is very quiet, somber and reflective in nature) and during the course of the service, I came across Psalms 24. As I reflected on the passage, there are several key elements that I took away from that passage and I have been reminded of those as of recently.
The crux of the passage for me is in verses 3-6 where King David ask the all important question of who can actually ascend the hill of the Lord. What David is really asking is God really approachable and personable, or is God some sort of distant Deity that rules with an iron fist. In the time of David, the thought of the day that the Deities of the day sat on top of the highest mountain ruling the earth. So if people wanted to meet with the deity, they would encamp around a particular mountain and I would venture to guess that a few brave souls would try and climb that mountain to meet their god. What David is telling us, is that not only God approachable and personable, but there are requirements to being in His presence.
The first requirement is that our actions do matter. What we do and how we treat people is important to God. I think how we treat people through our actions is important, because we can easily either degrade or uplift people by what we do to them or for them. As important as to focus on our actions, we also need to be careful what we say. If you spend any time on social media, people are quite vicious to each other. Some of it is that there is a lack of accountability. I can call someone a jerk on Facebook and have no fear of being punched in the face as if I were to do it in person. So here is my question, do our words and actions build each other up, or do they tend to be sarcastic in nature and tend to tear people down or apart. What we do and say is a reflection of the condition or heart.
The second requirement is that as much as our words and actions matter, our intentions matter just as much. One of the things I have wrestled with is that is doing the wrong thing for the right reason still wrong. I have come to the conclusion that it is still wrong just as doing the right thing for the wrong reason is just as wrong. I know I have been guilty of this, it is dong something nice so that I might gain favor with someone or that it will get me out of some future trouble. Our are intentions God fearing or self fulfilling. To help decipher where our intentions lie, as who will be glorified the most, ourselves, others or God along with does it build people up or bring them down. Our goal is so that our actions and actions match up and this only can happen through God changing our heart. Here is a good reminder. Our thoughts/intentions often leads to words, our words often lead to actions and our actions builds our character. So if any one thing goes unchecked for a period of time, it can lead to some serious issues.
The third requirement is that we be pure in heart. This harkens back to the Beatitudes found in Mathew 5. Being pure in heart is more than just looking the part. It is more than showing up to church/small group along with doing and saying all the churchy things are important, but are we doing these things out of show or is it because we are the real deal. When we do things for show, it eventually will catch up with us and our true colors will shine through. In essence, sometimes faking it till you make it is still faking it no matter how hard one tries.
Being pure in heart often manifest itself in how we treat other people. Are we people of our word and keep up what we promise to the best of our ability. Do we honor our commitments in a timely manner while doing it to the best of our ability. How do we treat others who honor who may owe us something? Do we treat them with respect our do we gouge them for everything they are worth. Being pure in heart is loving God with all we have, and letting Him transform us while loving our neighbor as ourselves. Being pure in heart does not mean we are nieve or aloof. It means we take an honest look at life and where we are at. It also is knowing what we are created for and pursuing that while setting our hearts and minds to everything that is good, right, pure and just.
The fourth requirement is that not all who wants to ascend the hill of the Lord will make it. Whether the cost is to great, or we are being stubborn, or good ole apathy, not everyone will make it to heaven. Even though God is a personable and not only wants to meet with us, but provides a way, not all will do it. We are reminded at the beginning of the chapter that God is the Creator of all and all the earth belongs to Him. We can not reach heaven on our own terms, because God is Holy, Just and Righteous, and our sin without the atoning work of Jesus wont get us into heaven. Getting into heaven on our own is about as easy as getting into the Oval Office without the blessing or the invitation of the President. The rock n world has made a keen observation about this world and eternity. If there is a stairway to heaven and a highway to hell, this should tell us about the expected traffic flow to both places. My final question is this, are we Christians in name only, or are we becoming disciples, putting into practice what it means to love God with everything we have and loving our neighbors as ourselves day in and day out?
Monday, November 20, 2017
Tuesday, November 14, 2017
Picking up my cross
In a previous post, I discussed some of my observations from N.T. Wrights book The Day the Revolution Started. There is one thought that I didn't explore in the post because in all reality, it deserves its own post and I will try and tackle it today. The thought is that when Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 16, that if they wanted to follow Him, they needed to deny themselves and pick up their crosses. This is a scary thought, not matter the time period, and what does it mean for us to pick up our cross and to bear it daily. There are several implications to this phrase that scare me and here is the first one.
The first implication is that the phrase "to pick up ones cross" has a totally different meaning in the first century then it does today. The Romans were really good at finding gruesome ways getting rid of infidels and criminals. The most gruesome way was the death by cross, because people died by suffocation when they were executed this way. This means someone was going to die a long and painful death. What made this phrase so revolting is that in the first century, you could find crosses up and down road with people being executed this way. The imagery would of provoked great fear in to those who would of heard Jesus say those words and it is a realization that picking up ones cross would lead to humiliation, great pain, and eventually death. What Jesus is really saying, is that following Him is not easy, pretty and it involves us dying to ourselves on a daily basis so that He may fully reign in us. Essentially Jesus is drawing the line in the sand. It is either our way or His way, and there is no middle ground. Its an all or nothing type of deal and there are consequences for what we chose.
The second implication that I realized is that as Americans, we don't handle death well. Whether it is not talking about/to trying to put a positive spin on it or searching for the best medical attention we can afford or find. In a book I am reading by Caleb Wilde, The Confessions of a Funeral Director, he makes the observation that when he is picking up a body from an institution for embalming, he is usually directed to the back door for pick up of the deceased body. The implication is that we like to hid death and if we hide it, that means it either didn't happen, or its not real or that we do not have to deal with it right now. People deal with death in their own way, and I find some of them rather weird, especially in the planning of the service or at the funeral service itself. In all reality, there are only two ways we leave this planet and the first and most popular one right now is by death.
The other part of this implication is that when we die to ourselves, it leads to a life better than we could have planned for ourselves. In the spring time, if we want to see new leaves, the old ones need to die and to fall off either during the previous fall or during the winter. But there always seems to be the pesky leaf or two that still holds on, and the only way it will fall off is if there is new life being coming in behind it. In essence, if we want new leaves, the old ones have to die and fall off first. This is the same way in life, we all want new habits, or a different outlook on life. The only way this will happen is if we put to death the old, so we can have not only new life, but so we can have it abundantly. To look at it this way, to die just to die is kind of pointless and maybe even a little vain, but are we allowing death to ourselves so that can shape us into the people He wants us to be.
The third implication is that picking up ones cross shows ones commitment level. When Jesus tells His disciples and us for that matter, following Him is an all or nothing commitment. We can not pick and choose what we want to follow or make some half ass commitment in following Him. Jesus keeps it really real, and really simple. To quote the movie Happy Gilmore, "Do you want a piece of me Bob" and Bob Barkers response is "I don't want a piece of you, I want the whole thing." By the way, God is the same way, He doesn't want just a piece of us, but He wants all of us. I know in my life, when I am not fully committed, I don't give it my all, and not only do I miss out on some really cool stuff, we are cheating God and others. When we half ass it with God, we are really saying that we are either lazy, apathetic, or we are willing to only follow God on the parts we want to or until it gets rough. In all honesty, we demand all of God, we demand all of other people, and yet we only require minimal effort from ourselves. This does not seem right and it isn't
The last implication is that in order for us not only to have eternal life, but a life worth living on this side of heaven is that we need to die to ourselves. Are we willing to live our lives comfortably, or at be the king of our castle on this side of eternity and totally miss an eternity with God. I get it, we all want to be like Sinatra and do things our way, but how often does doing things our way actually work out. In my experience when we do this, our lives turns into a Michael Bay move with a lot of explosions, action, but the story line is lacking at best. We have to be honest with ourselves and realize that most if not all of our ideas and motives are questionable at best. Its really asking what is the point of having everything I want and or desire if it leads me to missing out on eternal life. The last I checked, what God values is not only way better, but it is also better than anything this world has to offer. So, how often are we picking up our cross and dying to ourselves so that we can seek Gods Kingdom and Righteousness first. The last time I checked this needs to be at leas a daily thing if not a moment by moment decision,
The first implication is that the phrase "to pick up ones cross" has a totally different meaning in the first century then it does today. The Romans were really good at finding gruesome ways getting rid of infidels and criminals. The most gruesome way was the death by cross, because people died by suffocation when they were executed this way. This means someone was going to die a long and painful death. What made this phrase so revolting is that in the first century, you could find crosses up and down road with people being executed this way. The imagery would of provoked great fear in to those who would of heard Jesus say those words and it is a realization that picking up ones cross would lead to humiliation, great pain, and eventually death. What Jesus is really saying, is that following Him is not easy, pretty and it involves us dying to ourselves on a daily basis so that He may fully reign in us. Essentially Jesus is drawing the line in the sand. It is either our way or His way, and there is no middle ground. Its an all or nothing type of deal and there are consequences for what we chose.
The second implication that I realized is that as Americans, we don't handle death well. Whether it is not talking about/to trying to put a positive spin on it or searching for the best medical attention we can afford or find. In a book I am reading by Caleb Wilde, The Confessions of a Funeral Director, he makes the observation that when he is picking up a body from an institution for embalming, he is usually directed to the back door for pick up of the deceased body. The implication is that we like to hid death and if we hide it, that means it either didn't happen, or its not real or that we do not have to deal with it right now. People deal with death in their own way, and I find some of them rather weird, especially in the planning of the service or at the funeral service itself. In all reality, there are only two ways we leave this planet and the first and most popular one right now is by death.
The other part of this implication is that when we die to ourselves, it leads to a life better than we could have planned for ourselves. In the spring time, if we want to see new leaves, the old ones need to die and to fall off either during the previous fall or during the winter. But there always seems to be the pesky leaf or two that still holds on, and the only way it will fall off is if there is new life being coming in behind it. In essence, if we want new leaves, the old ones have to die and fall off first. This is the same way in life, we all want new habits, or a different outlook on life. The only way this will happen is if we put to death the old, so we can have not only new life, but so we can have it abundantly. To look at it this way, to die just to die is kind of pointless and maybe even a little vain, but are we allowing death to ourselves so that can shape us into the people He wants us to be.
The third implication is that picking up ones cross shows ones commitment level. When Jesus tells His disciples and us for that matter, following Him is an all or nothing commitment. We can not pick and choose what we want to follow or make some half ass commitment in following Him. Jesus keeps it really real, and really simple. To quote the movie Happy Gilmore, "Do you want a piece of me Bob" and Bob Barkers response is "I don't want a piece of you, I want the whole thing." By the way, God is the same way, He doesn't want just a piece of us, but He wants all of us. I know in my life, when I am not fully committed, I don't give it my all, and not only do I miss out on some really cool stuff, we are cheating God and others. When we half ass it with God, we are really saying that we are either lazy, apathetic, or we are willing to only follow God on the parts we want to or until it gets rough. In all honesty, we demand all of God, we demand all of other people, and yet we only require minimal effort from ourselves. This does not seem right and it isn't
The last implication is that in order for us not only to have eternal life, but a life worth living on this side of heaven is that we need to die to ourselves. Are we willing to live our lives comfortably, or at be the king of our castle on this side of eternity and totally miss an eternity with God. I get it, we all want to be like Sinatra and do things our way, but how often does doing things our way actually work out. In my experience when we do this, our lives turns into a Michael Bay move with a lot of explosions, action, but the story line is lacking at best. We have to be honest with ourselves and realize that most if not all of our ideas and motives are questionable at best. Its really asking what is the point of having everything I want and or desire if it leads me to missing out on eternal life. The last I checked, what God values is not only way better, but it is also better than anything this world has to offer. So, how often are we picking up our cross and dying to ourselves so that we can seek Gods Kingdom and Righteousness first. The last time I checked this needs to be at leas a daily thing if not a moment by moment decision,
Saturday, November 4, 2017
Being still
Today is the opening of Minnesota's favorite holiday which is rifle season for hunting deer. People put on their favorite color of orange and head to their favorite hunting places to spend at least the weekend if not the full week of hunting, eating and sharing exaggerated tales of days gone by. I know for many, my family included, the hunting is cool, getting a deer is even better, but it is the ability to share several meals with friends you haven't seen since the last deer season is the highlight of the season. One of the characteristics of being a good hunter is the ability to be stay still and to be quiet for long periods of time. When one is able to do this, our senses our usually heightened because the chances of that trophy deer to walk by increases. There are several observations that I have made about being quiet and still that hit close to home.
The first one is that as Americans, we have a hard time being quiet and still. If we don't have our earphones plugged in, surfing our social media accounts, or watching/doing the next great thing, we find something else to distract our attention. If any of you have ever watched tv with me while I have held the remote knows that I cant stay one station long and I despise commercials. It got to the point when I would go over to a friends house, I could not touch the remote. Sometimes in order to be quiet, we have to be content with where we are and with our situation. Being content often gets rid of our distractions to be people pleasers, and learning to find value in what we have. Here is just a forewarning, being content does not mean we are lazy. Just as any good hunter knows deer movement and knowing when to change locations and where too, being content should lead us to do the same thing. Its knowing when and where we need to grow and making those changes without making a big scene out of it.
The second observation is that learning how to be still and content is that it limits the bonehead decisions. How often when things are not going well, or even when they are, we make a rash decision and it ends up back firing on us. These decisions tend to be messy and to use a popular phrase, its like poop hitting the fan. When we are learning to be content with what we have, we may not know what all of our steps are going to be, but we know what the next one is and it is taking it. There are plenty of times where that next step takes us out of our comfort zone, but we know it is the next step and it is an important one. It is learning the difference between taking risk and being stupid. The last time I checked, God doesn't call us to stupidity. Where God is calling us is often where we are fighting against the most or just avoiding all together. This usually leads to a lot of awkward silence.
The third observation about being content is that we listen. When we listen, we are not listening to respond, but listening to learn. This usually happens when the world is throwing the kitchen sink at us and Murphy and his stupid laws are camping out in your life, During this time who we listen to is very important. We will hear those dominate voices in our life, and they range from your a no good idiot, to what on Gods green earth are you doing, to people who are in your corner giving you encouragement and telling you to keep on keeping on. If we listen close enough, the next step that we should take often comes in a still small voice, and the only way we can hear it is if we turn off the noise and shut up. Often during these times we are in the valley and maybe even in the shadow of death, but its where we grow the most because in the valley is where the good grass is. The last time I checked, God usually doesn't send out emails, rent billboards or post on our Facebook walls to talk to us or make His point, but He often speaks to us in the still small voice. Are we quiet enough to find it and listen to it, or do we keep listening to the distractions.
The fourth observation comes from Psalms 46. The Psalmist writing about how the chaos of life is throwing the author for a loop. To put it in modern terms, it is being stuck in a crappy job with no way out, bills that are pilling up, unfavorable medical situation to family/relational strife. I have seen verse ten broken down this way:
Be still and know that I am God
Be still and know that I am
Be still and know that I
Be still and know that
Be still and know
Be still and
Be still
Be
We can have all the right answers and we can put away all of the distractions, but its about knowing who we are, knowing God and living in the present situation that we a child of His no matter what and living in that reality. The sooner we realize that our life is about our actions coming out of who we are and not vice versa, the better life will be.
The first one is that as Americans, we have a hard time being quiet and still. If we don't have our earphones plugged in, surfing our social media accounts, or watching/doing the next great thing, we find something else to distract our attention. If any of you have ever watched tv with me while I have held the remote knows that I cant stay one station long and I despise commercials. It got to the point when I would go over to a friends house, I could not touch the remote. Sometimes in order to be quiet, we have to be content with where we are and with our situation. Being content often gets rid of our distractions to be people pleasers, and learning to find value in what we have. Here is just a forewarning, being content does not mean we are lazy. Just as any good hunter knows deer movement and knowing when to change locations and where too, being content should lead us to do the same thing. Its knowing when and where we need to grow and making those changes without making a big scene out of it.
The second observation is that learning how to be still and content is that it limits the bonehead decisions. How often when things are not going well, or even when they are, we make a rash decision and it ends up back firing on us. These decisions tend to be messy and to use a popular phrase, its like poop hitting the fan. When we are learning to be content with what we have, we may not know what all of our steps are going to be, but we know what the next one is and it is taking it. There are plenty of times where that next step takes us out of our comfort zone, but we know it is the next step and it is an important one. It is learning the difference between taking risk and being stupid. The last time I checked, God doesn't call us to stupidity. Where God is calling us is often where we are fighting against the most or just avoiding all together. This usually leads to a lot of awkward silence.
The third observation about being content is that we listen. When we listen, we are not listening to respond, but listening to learn. This usually happens when the world is throwing the kitchen sink at us and Murphy and his stupid laws are camping out in your life, During this time who we listen to is very important. We will hear those dominate voices in our life, and they range from your a no good idiot, to what on Gods green earth are you doing, to people who are in your corner giving you encouragement and telling you to keep on keeping on. If we listen close enough, the next step that we should take often comes in a still small voice, and the only way we can hear it is if we turn off the noise and shut up. Often during these times we are in the valley and maybe even in the shadow of death, but its where we grow the most because in the valley is where the good grass is. The last time I checked, God usually doesn't send out emails, rent billboards or post on our Facebook walls to talk to us or make His point, but He often speaks to us in the still small voice. Are we quiet enough to find it and listen to it, or do we keep listening to the distractions.
The fourth observation comes from Psalms 46. The Psalmist writing about how the chaos of life is throwing the author for a loop. To put it in modern terms, it is being stuck in a crappy job with no way out, bills that are pilling up, unfavorable medical situation to family/relational strife. I have seen verse ten broken down this way:
Be still and know that I am God
Be still and know that I am
Be still and know that I
Be still and know that
Be still and know
Be still and
Be still
Be
We can have all the right answers and we can put away all of the distractions, but its about knowing who we are, knowing God and living in the present situation that we a child of His no matter what and living in that reality. The sooner we realize that our life is about our actions coming out of who we are and not vice versa, the better life will be.
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