I recently read a collection of essays called Joy and Human Flourishing: Essays on Theology, Culture, and the Good Life. The book is put together by Miroslov Volf and Eric Crisp. Different theologians took a crack at writing on the subject of joy and look at from several different angles. I am still wrestling with some of the concepts that the book presents.
The first premise that the book makes is that there is a difference between happiness and joy. The biggest difference is that happiness can be very subjective and even very hedonistic. In other words, what may make me happy can make other people sad or distraught. The birth of my niece made me happy, but maybe for the couple who have struggled to have children or for the person who never had that opportunity, could lead to sadness and sorrow. Happiness is an emotional response to what is being done to or for us. Joy is different because it is often a response in spite of our circumstances. It is a choice to be joyful, and often it is a supernatural response. Reading through the book of Psalms, the different authors often find joy in God in spite of their world crashing down on them. Psalm 46 is realizing when the world comes crashing down, our joy comes in the form that God is our protector, and He is our helper in our time of need. Are we taking time to be still and to trust God, or do we want to fight our own battles and end up getting beaten up.
Joy is also a choice that we make on a daily basis, and sometimes even a moment by moment decision. In essence, are we taking time to be joyful, or are we content with being the Negative Nancy and not only ruing our day, but often we are ruing other peoples days also. I have noticed when I am around people who are joyful, I tend to be joyful, and the opposite is also true.
One of the things I realized is that since joy is a choice, we need to make good decisions to help sustain it. Being around joyful people is only apart of it. Looking at Psalm 42 there are some things that we can put into practice. The first one is that our joy, whether it is genuine or fake, comes out of what we worship and what we desire the most. True joy comes from longing and seeking after God through prayer, worship, and confession. The second idea is that true joy does not gloss over sorrow, pain and heartache. True joy does not minimize or make the issues into mountains, but it takes a look at those things straight in the eye and deals with them in healthy ways. Whether it is talking it out, making life style changes, or even letting go of some non healthy relationships, true joy is finding ways to live healthy. True joy gives us hope for tomorrow while giving us a reason to live to the fullest today.
True joy is only something that can be given by God and it can not be manufactured. Fake joy is a lot like fake/click bait news. It may get us excited and stirred up for awhile, but its because it sticks us on a sugar high and we end up crashing hard with no real substance and we end up with cavities.
Friday, January 26, 2018
Wednesday, January 10, 2018
Dearly Beloved
The musician known as Prince has a well known song entitled Lets Go Crazy and it has caught my attention for several different reasons. The first one is because it became the song that got played every time the Minnesota Wild scores a goal at home, and the second reason is for the opening line in the song. It goes "dearly beloved we are gathered together to get through this thing called life." What really is pulling at my heart strings is the phrase dearly beloved. We just don't hear that phrase anymore unless one is at a wedding and maybe a funeral. In two instances the Apostle Paul uses this phrase in reference to Philemon and Timothy, and it is sign of relationship and closeness. I think there are several things we can learn about being beloved.
We live in a time where we are encouraged to have many friends and to make connections with them. I know with myself and if I were to take a look at my friend list on Facebook, it would not only be expansive, but with a lot of the people on the list, I can't remember the last time I talked with them, or even looked/wrote on their Facebook wall. I know I am not the only person who has this issue. The irony with social media is that we can communicate with people all over the world, but how often do we form and maintain meaningful relationships with anyone in our circle of friends. Being dearly beloved means that we view people more than just a number, or what they can do for us, but it is seeing people for who they are as people for who they are and not what they can provide for us and our ego.
Another thing about being dearly beloved is that there is a level of intimacy with the people in the relationship. Intimacy is about being open and honest with people. Now I do admit that there are varying levels of intimacy. We often don't share the same stories with acquaintances as we would with our best friend and or significant other. When we are intiment with each other, it means that we are honest with each other and we tend to keep it real. It is the ability to share truth with each other and not having to sugar coat it. We should always tell the truth, but how many of our friends get the unfiltered version of it where we don't dress it up. Being intiment with other people means that we don't hide anything, and that we are completely honest with each other and are willing to stick around for the good and the bad, because our intimacy is based on ones relationship with each other and with God.
Being dearly beloved also means accountability. As I have witnessed many weddings along with infant baptism/dedications, I have noticed everyone in the room has a special connection to the people in the ceremony. I feel like when one is a dearly beloved, there is an element of trust and accountability. Whether its the accountability to come along side the parents to raise a Godly child to helping the couple remember and live our their vows. As Paul wrote in his letter to Philemon, he encouraged Philemon to take Onesimus back, and not to treat him as a slave, but as a fellow worker in Christ. Truly beloved not only treat each other with respect, but we make sure that wrongs are righted and that we care more about restoring relationship and growing in grace. When we take this approach to life, it often means sacrifice. We are more concerned with glorifying God than we are having our own back scratched.
Being dearly beloved also means that we right wrongs that have been committed. Paul pleads with Philemon to not only take Onesimus back as a brother and fellow worker, but if Onesimus has any outstanding debt, to put on his tab. Being dearly beloved means we do not let things fester and allow mole hills to turn into mountains, and vice versa. Being dearly beloved means more than saying sorry or performing actions without meaning it, but it is fixing what is wrong and creating healthy boundaries within the relationship. Being dearly beloved also means seeking out and granting grace and forgiveness. These two things are a necessity to any growing relationship. It is sometimes putting down our ego and seeking out people to make things right. Now we can not always control their response or reaction, but we can control how we respond and our intentions going into the situation. Humility goes along way, but this does not mean we need to be a push over.
Finally, when I think of being dearly beloved, I think of communion. It is a group of Gods people gathering around the table to remember the sacrifice of Jesus and that the tomb is now empty. In my tradition, when we take communion, we are figuratively gathering around the table and partaking in the meal. I know for me growing up, the kitchen table was one of the most intimate places in the house. My parents spent many nights at the kitchen table with friends talking and playing cards with close friends as us kids played. I went over to some friends house for Christmas Eve, and we ended up not in the living room, but around that table eating, talking and sharing a lot of laughs along the way. I think that communion reminds us that no matter what the world tells us, we are beloved by God and that the church is more than just a place to sing a few songs and here a sermon. Church is a place where family gathers to do life together, because as a Christian, we are family encouraging each other to grow, along with celebrating the good times and praying with each other through the bad
We live in a time where we are encouraged to have many friends and to make connections with them. I know with myself and if I were to take a look at my friend list on Facebook, it would not only be expansive, but with a lot of the people on the list, I can't remember the last time I talked with them, or even looked/wrote on their Facebook wall. I know I am not the only person who has this issue. The irony with social media is that we can communicate with people all over the world, but how often do we form and maintain meaningful relationships with anyone in our circle of friends. Being dearly beloved means that we view people more than just a number, or what they can do for us, but it is seeing people for who they are as people for who they are and not what they can provide for us and our ego.
Another thing about being dearly beloved is that there is a level of intimacy with the people in the relationship. Intimacy is about being open and honest with people. Now I do admit that there are varying levels of intimacy. We often don't share the same stories with acquaintances as we would with our best friend and or significant other. When we are intiment with each other, it means that we are honest with each other and we tend to keep it real. It is the ability to share truth with each other and not having to sugar coat it. We should always tell the truth, but how many of our friends get the unfiltered version of it where we don't dress it up. Being intiment with other people means that we don't hide anything, and that we are completely honest with each other and are willing to stick around for the good and the bad, because our intimacy is based on ones relationship with each other and with God.
Being dearly beloved also means accountability. As I have witnessed many weddings along with infant baptism/dedications, I have noticed everyone in the room has a special connection to the people in the ceremony. I feel like when one is a dearly beloved, there is an element of trust and accountability. Whether its the accountability to come along side the parents to raise a Godly child to helping the couple remember and live our their vows. As Paul wrote in his letter to Philemon, he encouraged Philemon to take Onesimus back, and not to treat him as a slave, but as a fellow worker in Christ. Truly beloved not only treat each other with respect, but we make sure that wrongs are righted and that we care more about restoring relationship and growing in grace. When we take this approach to life, it often means sacrifice. We are more concerned with glorifying God than we are having our own back scratched.
Being dearly beloved also means that we right wrongs that have been committed. Paul pleads with Philemon to not only take Onesimus back as a brother and fellow worker, but if Onesimus has any outstanding debt, to put on his tab. Being dearly beloved means we do not let things fester and allow mole hills to turn into mountains, and vice versa. Being dearly beloved means more than saying sorry or performing actions without meaning it, but it is fixing what is wrong and creating healthy boundaries within the relationship. Being dearly beloved also means seeking out and granting grace and forgiveness. These two things are a necessity to any growing relationship. It is sometimes putting down our ego and seeking out people to make things right. Now we can not always control their response or reaction, but we can control how we respond and our intentions going into the situation. Humility goes along way, but this does not mean we need to be a push over.
Finally, when I think of being dearly beloved, I think of communion. It is a group of Gods people gathering around the table to remember the sacrifice of Jesus and that the tomb is now empty. In my tradition, when we take communion, we are figuratively gathering around the table and partaking in the meal. I know for me growing up, the kitchen table was one of the most intimate places in the house. My parents spent many nights at the kitchen table with friends talking and playing cards with close friends as us kids played. I went over to some friends house for Christmas Eve, and we ended up not in the living room, but around that table eating, talking and sharing a lot of laughs along the way. I think that communion reminds us that no matter what the world tells us, we are beloved by God and that the church is more than just a place to sing a few songs and here a sermon. Church is a place where family gathers to do life together, because as a Christian, we are family encouraging each other to grow, along with celebrating the good times and praying with each other through the bad
Wednesday, January 3, 2018
Winning
Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing- Vince Lombardi
Our culture has two very distinct and polar opposites views of what being a winner is. The first one is that you are a winner for just showing up and participating. It is geared to make you feel warm and fuzzy and everyone gets a trophy just for showing up. The other view is summed up in the quote above. If you didn’t win, you came in last place. It is about doing whatever it takes to win and this mentality breeds the idea of it isn’t illegal unless you get caught, and even then it still might not be wrong. I think there is a third version of what it means to be a winner and it can be found in Deuteronomy 6. Deuteronomy is Moses farewell letter to the nation of Israel, and he is reminding them of several truths in this chapter.
The first truth is: that we need to Hear. Hearing is more than listening so one can respond to what is being said, but it is also dwelling and understanding what is being said. When we are listening to respond, we often make quick judgements, assumptions that are not always correct while sticking our foot in our mouths. Moses urges us to hear to understand because what he has to say is really important and life changing. There probably is a reason why the good Lord gave us two ears and one mouth. Its so we can listen more and speak when needed. Listening also means we hear and process through the tough stuff and that we don't make excuses and we own up to things that need to be owned up to. This allows us to hold on to Truth and to throw out the garbage that comes our way.
The second truth is: there is one God. No matter what our culture tries to tell us, there is only one God and that non of us are Him. God is the Creator of all things and we are apart of His creation. As hard as people try to play God and believe that they can do whatever they want, this is just simply impossible, because it will send all of creation into chaos. In all reality, God is the ultimate judge and jury, and at the end of the day, every person will be held accountable for what they said and done along with their attitudes.
The third truth is: keep it Simple. There is the KISS method of doing life, and it is keep it simple stupid. We trend to mess things up and God knows this, so He gave us a very simple rule and that is that we are to love Him with all we have. This means that God is the center of our lives and everything else will fall into place. It wont always be easy, but we do have a choice. Do we worship ourselves and watch our lives be miserable, or worship God with all we have. When we worship God in everything we do, this leads to the second greatest commandment, which is to love everyone who we come in contact with as ourselves. Our interaction with God will change us, and this means that how we see and interact with people will change to. It is seeing someone not as a pawn in some game, but as a child of the Creator of the universe.
The fourth truth is: to be Teachable. Nobody likes a know it all, and the chances of anyone knowing everything is slim to none. Being teachable requires a lot of humility, patience and putting into practice what one has learned. It also requires critical thinking, being able to discern actions and thoughts to see if they have merit our are a bunch of trash. It also is about finding someone who is worth while to learn from because we become the sum of who we spend the most time with and we let speak into our lives.
Winning is more than drunken tirades on the internet while trying to find tiger blood. In life there is scoreboard and its called eternity and it is for a really long time. To paraphrase what Jesus said, what good is winning here on earth if we loose out on the ultimate walk off, which is spending eternity in the presence and in relationship with the Creator of the Universe. The only way this is possible is if we accept Christ free gift of salvation and we live for God
Our culture has two very distinct and polar opposites views of what being a winner is. The first one is that you are a winner for just showing up and participating. It is geared to make you feel warm and fuzzy and everyone gets a trophy just for showing up. The other view is summed up in the quote above. If you didn’t win, you came in last place. It is about doing whatever it takes to win and this mentality breeds the idea of it isn’t illegal unless you get caught, and even then it still might not be wrong. I think there is a third version of what it means to be a winner and it can be found in Deuteronomy 6. Deuteronomy is Moses farewell letter to the nation of Israel, and he is reminding them of several truths in this chapter.
The first truth is: that we need to Hear. Hearing is more than listening so one can respond to what is being said, but it is also dwelling and understanding what is being said. When we are listening to respond, we often make quick judgements, assumptions that are not always correct while sticking our foot in our mouths. Moses urges us to hear to understand because what he has to say is really important and life changing. There probably is a reason why the good Lord gave us two ears and one mouth. Its so we can listen more and speak when needed. Listening also means we hear and process through the tough stuff and that we don't make excuses and we own up to things that need to be owned up to. This allows us to hold on to Truth and to throw out the garbage that comes our way.
The second truth is: there is one God. No matter what our culture tries to tell us, there is only one God and that non of us are Him. God is the Creator of all things and we are apart of His creation. As hard as people try to play God and believe that they can do whatever they want, this is just simply impossible, because it will send all of creation into chaos. In all reality, God is the ultimate judge and jury, and at the end of the day, every person will be held accountable for what they said and done along with their attitudes.
The third truth is: keep it Simple. There is the KISS method of doing life, and it is keep it simple stupid. We trend to mess things up and God knows this, so He gave us a very simple rule and that is that we are to love Him with all we have. This means that God is the center of our lives and everything else will fall into place. It wont always be easy, but we do have a choice. Do we worship ourselves and watch our lives be miserable, or worship God with all we have. When we worship God in everything we do, this leads to the second greatest commandment, which is to love everyone who we come in contact with as ourselves. Our interaction with God will change us, and this means that how we see and interact with people will change to. It is seeing someone not as a pawn in some game, but as a child of the Creator of the universe.
The fourth truth is: to be Teachable. Nobody likes a know it all, and the chances of anyone knowing everything is slim to none. Being teachable requires a lot of humility, patience and putting into practice what one has learned. It also requires critical thinking, being able to discern actions and thoughts to see if they have merit our are a bunch of trash. It also is about finding someone who is worth while to learn from because we become the sum of who we spend the most time with and we let speak into our lives.
Winning is more than drunken tirades on the internet while trying to find tiger blood. In life there is scoreboard and its called eternity and it is for a really long time. To paraphrase what Jesus said, what good is winning here on earth if we loose out on the ultimate walk off, which is spending eternity in the presence and in relationship with the Creator of the Universe. The only way this is possible is if we accept Christ free gift of salvation and we live for God
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