Entries Tagged 'Spiritual Reflection' ↓

A second thing struck me while listening to Mark on the road yesterday (read about the first thing in my last post). Also in Mark 10, there’s a story about Jesus healing a blind man, Bartimaeus (Mark 10.46-52).

The phrase that especially caught my attention was Jesus’ statement upon hearing the blind man begging for Jesus’ help:

Tell him to come here.

Think about it. Jesus instructs some people to tell a blind man to come to him. What’s up with that? The least Jesus could do is go to this man who’s calling for his help, right? But no, Jesus makes the blind man to come to him.

As I thought about it, other similar incidents came to mind …

When Jesus (finally!) arrived at the village where Mary and Martha (some of his best friends who are grieving the loss of their brother Lazarus), Jesus doesn’t even go to their home. In fact, Jesus stops outside the village and waits for Martha, and later Mary, to come to him.

On another occasion, Jesus and three of his closest disciples, Peter, James, and John, descended from a mountain retreat. When they arrived at the foot of the mountain they found a crowd of people gathered with the rest of Jesus’ disciples, who were unable to cast a demon out of a boy. Jesus said, “Bring the boy to me.”

So, what’s the deal? Is Jesus insensitive? Or is something else at play here?

I think Jesus is intentional. Jesus is willing to meet us, but there’s just something about taking that first step!

We’ve got to come to Jesus, the one who says, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11.28).

Joleen and I are splitting shifts this week between caring for, and spending time with, Ethan and working on our dissertations (defenses are just over three weeks away).

I took yesterday afternoon and went to use the Wi-Fi Internet access at Wegmans. On the road to and from State College I listened to the last several chapters of Mark on CD.

One phrase from Jesus particularly grabbed my attention:

… it is very hard to enter the Kingdom of God.

This line comes from the story of the rich man (Mark 10.17-31). In it, Jesus explains the man’s inability to follow — the guy’s possessions (or, more accurately, the things that possessed the guy) prevented him from surrendering his life to God.

Why is it hard to enter the kingdom of God?

On the one hand, I think some of us have a tendency to want to lower the bar, to make it as easy as we can for others to cross the line of faith and join us on the journey. The last thing we want to do is make it hard for people to follow God. But Jesus never seems to lower the bar.

Others of us, like the Pharisees, want to take matters into our own hands by creating rules that tend squeeze the God-life out of people. Jesus certainly had harsh words for such people. While Pharisees may create “religious people” (people who rely on a human made system for salvation) they do not form Christ-followers (people who’ve completely surrendered to God).

The real challenge is avoiding both of these extremes. It’s not about earning God’s approval. It’s not about following a set of rules. It’s not about reciting the sinner’s prayer. It’s not really even simply about believing in God.

It’s more than any of those things. It’s about giving your whole heart to God.

And there’s nothing more difficult than that!

The topic of my devotional reading yesterday was about remembering God’s grace in my life and being humbled in the midst of that thought.

Sometimes I revolt at such words, thinking they are close to self-debasement, but this devotional does not read like that to me today. I know I owe everything to God. I think of his blessings upon me with the wonderful marriage I have and now the blessing of this child and I am overwhelmed with a sense of God’s goodness.

Recently, I was thinking that when we get ourselves in trouble with God is when we think we deserve things. But none of us deserve anything. God doesn’t owe us anything!

God doesn’t guarantee any couple a child. There are the Bible greats who suffered the pain and the social stigma of the day of being childless. We don’t deserve anything. We aren’t guaranteed anything. We should not take anything for granted!

“God doesn’t owe us anything!”

We should not take relationships for granted. We should not take our relationship with God for granted. But so many times we do. That’s what leads to an inattentiveness to the relationship – no time in the Word or in prayer, not going to church, not serving others.

Sometimes we don’t serve others because we think we are the ones who deserve to be served. Maybe we don’t go to church because we expect God to be there when we need him.

Too often, we expect God to act as our God even if we don’t act like we are his people. God is faithful, but there are responsibilities that come with being his people. We get out of the relationship what we put into it, to a certain degree. But, because of God’s grace, we always get more, much more, than we deserve!

Life in places other than the mountaintop.

The FOCs (Followers of Christ), the youth group of the Manor Hill United Methodist Church that I serve, joined other area youth for a hike at Trough Creek State Park.

We ended up in three groups: those who did the mountain at a good pace, those who did the mountain at a slower pace, those who did not do the mountain.

I was part of the middle group. As we made the ascent, some hikers began to ask, “How much further is it?” My first response was, “What goes up must come down” – a disguised way of saying that we weren’t even halfway done! A discussion followed that hinted that the hike down would be more pleasurable. We made it to the top and what wonderful views! The path followed the mountaintop briefly, giving beautiful views of Raystown Lake below.

But soon, the descent began. I caught a brief comment, “I think I liked climbing up the mountain better than going down.”A long time ago, Amy Grant recorded a song entitled “Mountain Top.” It talks about how she’d love to live on a mountaintop, just fellowshipping with the Lord, feeling her spirit soar. The song continues …

But I’ve got to come downFrom the mountain topTo the people in the valley below;They’ll never knowThat they can goTo the mountain of the Lord.

The song goes on to define what true worship is …

…worship is … all that we say and everything that we do;It’s letting God’s Spirit live through you.

It’d be cool to hang out on the mountaintops with God all the time. It’d be nice to always be with and work with like-minded people, who share our beliefs. But God calls us to different places, to different people. God calls us to love people who are not like us. Will we answer the call to be true worshipers, who reflect God in the everyday moments of life?Please take a moment and read Matthew 17.1-13 and John 4.20-24.

The writings of early church theologians (like Augustine, Gregory of Nyssa, and John Chrysostom) pointed to the fact that God played a practical joke on the devil by raising Jesus from the dead. Three days Jesus lay in the tomb. Three days the devil celebrated. But on the morning of the third day, God had the last laugh! Jesus conquered death. Jesus conquered sin. Jesus was alive again, bringing new life and laughter to all.

“Risus paschalis - the Easter laugh,” the early theologians called it.The Greeks in the early centuries of Christianity began an old Easter custom called, “Holy Humor Sunday.”

Holy Humor Sunday was a celebration of Jesus’ resurrection on the Sunday after Easter. For centuries in Eastern Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant countries, the week following Easter Sunday, including “Bright Sunday” (the Sunday after Easter), was observed by the faithful as “days of joy and laughter” with parties and picnics to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection. Churchgoers and pastors played practical jokes on each other, drenched each other with water, told jokes, sang, and danced.

Sounds like a great way for Christians to rediscover the joy of our salvation!

See The Joyful Noiseletter for more info.

I recently wrote this piece for the Manor Hill Charge newsletter for Lent …

Jesus’ Ministry
Jesus ministered to the crowds and then he drew the Twelve aside to teach them more. He taught them who he was. He taught them about the kingdom. He took them deeper than he did the crowd. The Twelve (the Core) wrestled with the things that perplexed thecrowd. He mentored and trained them, sending them out in twos to doministry. They came back and talked about that ministry.

How did it go?
Where did you have trouble? Where do you need to grow? How can I help you?

The Twelve were under a rigorous training routine – one thatinvolved every moment of their lives. The Twelve lived and ate withJesus. They traveled with Jesus. They listened to Jesus; they questioned Jesus; they struggled to understand Jesus. When Jesus’ teachings became too difficult and other disciples turned away, the Twelve remained.

The Twelve were not perfect. Peter denied knowing Jesus three times. Peter turned to the sword, as Jesus responded with healing andsubmission. One didn’t make it; Judas worked against Jesus.

Who are you in this story? Do you want to be one of the Twelve, at the core of God’s Church and it’s ministry, his loving action in the world? Are you in the crowd? Is God asking too much of you and so you chooseto remain in the crowd? Or have you turned away from his demands, hisvoice, his teaching?

As we travel the Lenten journey together, where will you find yourself? Will you draw closer to the One who requires much … even your all? Will you be obedient even when you don’t understand his commands? Will you follow him to the cross?