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Religious

The Full Development of Faith

“I want to do your will, my God.”
Psalm 40:8
     Spring training, 2015 will find Giancarlo Stanton suited-up as a Miami Marlin. Signed to a thirteen year, $325 million  dollar contract – more money than any other American athlete in a single contract – Stanton was not easily convinced that this was the right move in his career. The contract offered Stanton was unprecedented in both length and value. If money alone was the determining factor, it was a clear decision. It wasn’t. Ben Reiter writes in the current issue of Sport’s Illustrated that Stanton is “driven by something else: a desire to wring everything he could out of his gifted body. So he has pushed himself to become an all-around force.”i  Naturally, that personal drive could be pursued with any MLB franchise. Where Stanton played baseball would be driven by something higher than the pursuit of personal wealth.
     A life that reaches for something higher than personal gain is rare and spacious. Here, in this Psalm, the one who writes declares that they desire to do God’s will. This marks a mature stage in discipleship. Listen to many prayers today and what is heard is a plea that God honors the will of the individual. These are not the prayers of a life fully consecrated to God. To address God at all in prayer indicates the presence of a faith journey. But such a journey is not complete until there is absent any desire except God’s will.
     Prayers of those new to the faith naturally begin with requests for oneself. This is not altogether a bad thing. Prayer itself indicates the presence of trust in a God who is concerned and desires our good. Even the prayer taught us by our Lord – the Lord’s Prayer – includes a personal request, “Give us the bread we need for today.” (Matthew 6:11 Common English Bible) After faith begins to experience growth there is noticed some constraint and reluctance in making personal requests known to God. The growing faith becomes inclined to know God and God’s will.
     It is here, in this simple prayer of the Psalmist, “I want to do your will, my God,” that faith reaches full development. What at first was constrained has come at length to be natural. The heart is fixed on nothing less than pleasing God. The bent of life is God-ward where the best of everything abides. It is here that we become what we were created to be – more fully human and less self-centered. And the responsive service of our life to others is broadened.
     Joy,
______________________________
i Ben Reiter, “Miami Masterpiece.” Sports Illustrated. March 2, 2015, pages 46-53.

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Religious

"I Am the Lord" (Isaiah 45:5 CEB)

“I am the Lord, and there is no other; beside me there is no God.”
Isaiah 45:5 (Common English Bible)
     Each morning I receive from the New York Times an electronic “briefing”of the day’s top news stories. Conflict in the Ukraine, violent faith extremism in the Middle East and political tensions here at home seem to dominate the conversation of the citizens of this great nation. Any of these headline events could, at any moment, change the course of the lives of all of us. Few would question that, as a nation, we are unsettled. Yet, in the midst of all this, there remains a people who are prepared to stand and say, with conviction, “I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.”
     Perhaps the present unease of our nation calls for a closer look at such a belief – a belief in a God who remains present and in control of all creation. Simply, what does the full weight of that profession of faith really mean? Though statistics show that a sizable majority of the U.S. population believe in God many somehow give the impression of taking much more seriously the temporary centers of power – political, economic, and scientific – than the active presence and work of an almighty God. We talk and behave as if there are other powers that are really in control of our future.
     This is not new. The prophet Isaiah – as well as each of the Bible writers – knew well how much there is in our world that calls into question the active presence and care of a loving God. Yet, it is into such a world, where nations threaten one another, accidents happen and where hardship and difficulty fall upon both the just and the unjust, that these same writers bring to us a word from God. The day when Scripture was penned is not unlike our day; people where alarmed and fearful of what might happen to them.
     Into such uncertainty one might ask if there is proof of God. There is not. Nor can the absence of God be proved. What remains is an examination of any anecdotal evidence that may be found. In my ministry I have listened to those with devastating illness, those who have lost a loved one and others who have experienced significant economic loss who all speak of the common strength found in their trust of a living God. It was this faith that sustained them in difficulty. Perhaps all of this is anecdotal, as I have mentioned, but it is enough for me to join each of them in declaring the words of Isaiah, “I am the Lord, and there is no other; beside me there is no God.”

Joy,
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Religious

The Lord\’s Blessing

“The Lord’s blessing makes a person rich, and no trouble is added to it.”
Proverbs 10:22 (Common English Bible)
     Woven into our common speech today is the language of the church. Perhaps the most clear example – and most often used – is the greeting, “Merry Christmas!” These words roll freely off the lips of all sorts of people at Christmas; merchants at the close of a sale, service providers at the completion of some job, and strangers passing one another on the street. Even Santa Claus is heard using this expression of the Christian Church! The difficulty is that such phrases become depleted of their richness from the causal way in which they are spoken. 
     Another example is the expression, “The Lord bless you,” or more simply, “God bless.” This is freely used today, often with little understanding of what is precisely meant. Here is an expression that has passed through the doors of the church into the traffic of secular life. You hear it used tenderly, sincerely, with deep hopefulness or even as a parting word. One television comedian’s weekly sign off, “Good night and may God bless” became familiar to his viewers. The question remains for many, what is meant by these words?
     Simply, these words, drawn from this passage in Proverbs, mean a benefit, a gift, or a happiness and completeness conferred on us by God. Whether he knew it or not, the comedian who signed-off his weekly variety show with, “God bless” was saying, “I hope God gives to you what is required today for your joy and happiness.” What a most pleasant thing to say to another! 
     Naturally, this is far more rich than saying, “Good luck”. The words, “God bless” sparkle with a depth and power and meaning that wishing someone, “Good luck” can never accomplish. Perhaps this is because nothing is being left to chance. The phrase, “God bless” preserves God. God is in the words. Though this phrase may have fallen into casual use, the aroma of the faith remains. Next time you use the words, “God bless” understand that what you have done is placed that person into the hands – and heart – of God where untold riches are found and there is no trouble. 

Joy,
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Religious

Pelicans

 “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us.”
Romans 5:6 (Common English Bible)
      Florida has two pelicans, the Brown Pelican who is present year round and the White Pelican who is a “snowbird” and only arrives in the winter. An exciting bird to watch, the pelican has a very large bill with a rather large pouch used to gather food. Most days they can be seen from the beaches of South Florida diving from great heights, crashing into the water and emerging seconds later with a satisfying meal of fish. I have sat on Delray Beach and counted as many as fourteen flying together along the shoreline overhead. For me, watching pelicans in flight is a most satisfying experience!

     The early Christian Church often used images of the pelican as a symbol of caring and self-sacrifice. This was because of a misunderstood practice of pelicans as they cared for their young. While feeding her babies a mother pelican often presses her bill onto her chest in order to fully empty the pouch. The early church thought that the mother was wounding herself – providing her own blood from her chest – when no other food was available. The Dalmation pelican has a blood-red pouch in early breeding season and this may have contributed to this misperception. As a result, the pelican came to symbolize the death of Jesus that we might have forgiveness and life.

     Here in this sentence from Romans, Paul speaks to God’s character and achievement, in particular, Jesus sacrificing himself – accepting wounds on his own body – for a people who were utterly helpless because of their sins. Christ’s own suffering and death on a cross shows God’s gracious, surprising love for us. The careful reader will notice that God’s love is not conditional. God doesn’t ask anything in return before dying for us. What is abundantly clear is that it was at that point “we were utterly helpless” that God did what was necessary for us. For anyone who inquires of the character of God, that is what God is like. God loves us first.

     The self-wounding pelican for her young is a legend. More careful observation has taught us much about pelicans. Yet, this legend provides hope, encouragement and strength for me. Each time I am on the beach enjoying a beautiful day I look for pelicans in flight overhead. When I see one – or many – I am reminded of the legend. And that legend is all I need to hear the words again in my heart, “Christ came at just the right time”for me.

Joy,

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Religious

Flags on the Beach

“But if you do warn the righteous not to sin, and they don’t sin,
 they will be declared righteous.
Their lives will be preserved because they heeded the warning,
and you will save your life.”
Ezekiel 3:21 (Common English Bible)
     The sky is clear and the temperature is optimal for a day at the beach. You grab your sunscreen, a chair and a good book and look forward to a day in the sun, sand and surf. After making your way along the path that has been cleared through the sea grapes and other natural coastal fauna, you arrive on the beach and discover that flags have been prominently placed on or near lifeguard stations. Someone has been given the responsibility for flying the correct flag for each day’s swimming conditions. Though there may be some regional differences, the flag warning system is used by coastal communities worldwide to alert beach goers of potential water hazards.
     On Delray Beach there are ordinarily four color flags. Green flags are the most welcomed. They are flown when the day is clear and the water is calm. A green flag is an all clear sign – safe to swim and enjoy the day. Yellow flags means that ocean conditions are not optimal but not life-threatening. There may be a high surf or dangerous current and caution is advised. A purple flag indicates that dangerous marine life is in the water or on the shore. This flag may be flown with other flags and suggests extreme caution. Red flags are the most serious. Usually, a red flag is used to discourage swimming by all but very strong swimmers.
     Ezekiel is given “flag duty” by God for the people of Israel. He must shoulder the responsibility of placing warning flags in their midst alerting them of God’s presence and claim upon their lives. Whether the people paid attention to the flags or not was not Ezekiel’s concern, only that he got the word out. If the people were wise and heeded the warnings, they would live. Otherwise, they would perish. It is a considerable responsibility to discern the day’s conditions and carefully raise the appropriate flag.
     As members of a faith community we have a similar responsibility. That responsibility is not necessarily to walk around announcing dire warnings. Rather, it is a responsibility to make a positive investment in the lives of others. As Ezekiel, God calls us to take an interest in the common welfare of others, to pour ourselves into their lives in such a manner that they see God and God’s care for them. By our genuine interest in others, we deliver ourselves from an inward focus that only results in selfishness, meanness and, ultimately fear of loss. It is how we will save our own lives.
Joy
Categories
Religious

Faith That Makes A Difference

“‘The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!’”

Luke 17:5 (Common English Bible)

     This is a plea that has become increasingly uncommon today, “Lord, increase our faith!” Though it is unfair to claim to know the heart and soul of people we pass on the street there seems to be indicators that faith – or the pursuit of it – has fallen in recent years. Some ninety-percent of Christian churches in the United States today have stagnated or are in decline. One magazine, The Christian Century, recently said that, on average, nine churches close their doors for good each day. There simply seems to be little passionate quest for faith in the living God.

     Certainly these statistics are discouraging. Yet, careful attention to the words of our Lord seems to suggest that Jesus saw this current spiritual condition coming, “But when the Human One comes, will he find faithfulness on earth?” (Luke 18:8 CEB) Throughout the teaching and action of Jesus Christ this is the key word that defines and shapes his work; faith. In every encounter with women and men, whether they were sick or well, resistant or receptive, hostile or  gracious, faith was the issue. When the ministry of the disciples produced fruit Jesus commended their faith. When it did not, Jesus asked, “Where is your faith?” (Luke 8:25 CEB)

     It may be well that we pay closer attention to what Jesus actually asks. Jesus never asks that upon his return if he will find a flourishing church with attractive facilities and robust programing. The question is “faith.” Will Jesus find people whose hearts are moved with compassion and a deep longing to know God? Will Jesus encounter a movement of persons actively seeking to harness both energies and gifts for ministry to advance a new community of people defined by common concern and welfare? Jesus isn’t looking for massive church buildings. Jesus is looking for a massive engagement in what God is doing in the world.

     Here, in Luke’s Gospel, the apostles do not ask for faith. What they ask is that Jesus increase their faith; increase their capacity for doing what it is that God has already placed on their hearts. The subject isn’t the absence of faith. The subject is “equipping” them for doing more with the faith already present. Perhaps the present sad state of churches today is not the lack of faith. Perhaps, just perhaps, it is that churches are failing to adequately equip people for their God-sized desire to be a part of something larger than their own small lives.

Joy,

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Religious

Lack All Sense of Right and Wrong

“They are people who lack all sense of right and wrong.”
Ephesians 4:19 (Common English Bible)
     Imagine that most unfortunate condition! To be incapable of discerning what is right from what is wrong. It is a moral condition; a result when the capital of noble awareness and aspirations begins to shrink and a person is brought into a state of spiritual bankruptcy. The ability to distinguish between right and wrong is less mental discernment as it is a moral sense. It is the spiritual palate which tests and discriminates the moral qualities of thoughts and actions. Indeed, Job, from the pages of the Old Testament, used this very figure of speech when he asked, “Can my mouth not recognize disaster?”  (Job 6:30 CEB) Job knew wrong by its taste. He detected and found it distasteful, as the physical palate detects and rejects food that has spoiled.
     A fine palate can lose its power of discernment. Particularly when the body is ill, the power of taste is often diminished or lost altogether. Certain medications used to treat physical symptoms can also result in the loss of taste. The person finds that all foods taste similar or there is no taste at all. Such people find they are incompetent to appreciate the delicate flavors once enjoyed of excellent cuisine. So let that same person neglect their spiritual condition and there is a similar result of the moral palate. Good and bad, right and wrong become mingled into a common insensitivity.
     Attention to God is the oxygen of a vital, life-giving faith. Neglect the spiritual palate and the soul becomes drowsy. Then it becomes numb. After some time any feeling of God is suffocated. Unable to distinguish one value from another, such people are driven by impulse. The dangerous result is that people turn themselves over to doing whatever feels good and to practicing every sort of corruption along with greed. Sin does it. Prayerlessness does it. Neglecting to regularly read God’s Word and to meditate on it does it. God eventually seems absent.
     The glory of our Savior is that he has defeated death – the physical kind. Placed in a tomb for three days, Jesus rose again and drew fresh breath into his lungs. Similarly, Jesus can fill our spiritual lungs with new breath and vitalize our spiritual nature. Jesus can restore a faith that has withered from neglect and restore sensitivity to our spiritual palate. A person who has lost all moral discernment can – by turning again to God – recover all sense of right and wrong and know the pulse, and taste, of life as God intends.
Joy,
Categories
Religious

Unconquerable Faith

“Didn’t we throw three men, bound, into the fire?
Look! I see four men, unbound, walking around inside the fire, and they aren’t hurt!
And the fourth one looks like one of the gods.”
Daniel 3:24, 25 (selected portions)
     Three Hebrew men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, are cast into a burning, fiery furnace at the command of Nebuchadnezzar, a dictator. Stalwart nonconformists, these men refused to bow to pressure that they worship at the pleasure of the king, refused to worship an idol raised in the town center for the people’s devotion. They stood up for their faith in the face of terrific pressure. There was a strength of character present in them that would not permit them to bend or bow to the pressure of the empire. Why? Because they had a robust faith. It is this faith that provided strength and stamina when they faced capital punishment. They drew on superhuman resources.
     Nebuchadnezzar is astonished to look into the furnace and see not the three he ordered placed there but four, “Didn’t we throw three men into the fire? “Look! I see four men, unbound, walking around inside the fire, and they aren’t hurt! And the fourth one looks like one of the gods!” This must rank as one of the best short stories in all the world’s literature.
     This story is a superb parable for today. It’s meaning is that life demands courage – often a courage that is uncommon except for the presence of the Holy. Safety may be a desired commodity but is something that life, with sin and death in it, does not offer. And playing it safe in life’s hard decisions only reveals a life that has not been strengthened by reliance upon another power – power borne from a relationship with God. Ultimate strength and security is spiritual, the deep understanding that we are not alone, that God is with us as an abiding presence. 
     A detail that should not be missed in this story is that there are three men, not one. They were to one another a church, a community of faith. A robust faith as theirs is often present in a community that shares testimony of God’s mighty acts and provides powerful support for one another. It is the strength we derive from our membership in the church. When doubts assail us and our own convictions fade, when the light in our own souls fails, we look to the community of the church to encourage us, to remind us of God’s presence and to strengthen us. It is the church that ultimately provides an unconquerable faith to face the tumult and hardships each one of us must face.  

Joy,
Categories
Religious

The Struggle to Believe

“I have faith; help my lack of faith!”
Mark 9:24 (Common English Bible)
     Many who sincerely want to believe in God find believing to be difficult. Faith rarely comes easily. The only way it does come is when we accept where we are on our faith journey and go on from there. Longing to be someplace else along the journey accomplishes nothing, apart from frustration.
     At the beginning of a new year we cannot say I wish I was fifteen pounds less before beginning a New Year’s resolution of a healthier lifestyle. Eating better, exercising more and getting more rest must begin where you are. That is what the unidentified man in this story from Mark’s Gospel teaches us; we must begin where we are, “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.” He begins from where he is. Within him is a mixture of belief and unbelief. He owns that when he speaks to Jesus.
     Each day we may know a little more of God. We can never know all of God. But instead of being occupied with what we don’t know we can say, “help me with my unbelief.” The man in our story approaches Jesus with both belief and unbelief. Rather than dwelling upon what he doesn’t know – or being troubled by what he doesn’t understand – he seeks Jesus’ help. There is present enough faith to seek more of Jesus. This is a more helpful approach to faith than those who claim they will not believe until they understand fully.
     The Christian faith is not established upon right beliefs, right doctrine, or on how much someone believes. The Christian faith is personal, centered upon the person of Jesus. Here, this man in Mark’s story instructs us that often we approach faith incorrectly. Rather than trying to understand all the mystery that is God, this man seeks out the person of Jesus; he seeks a relationship. To concentrate on what you don’t understand will destroy whatever faith you have. Accepting God’s love in the person of Jesus and making your love for him tangible in each day of life results in a faith that will grow from more to more.
Joy,
Categories
Religious

I Will Follow You

“I will follow you, Lord, but first…”
Luke 9:61 (Common English Bible)
      There are great powers at work in the world today and each one seeks to lay claim to our hopes, dreams, and desires. One originates in the early pages of the Bible, the power of mistrust sown by Satan into the hearts of Adam and Eve. This is a power that generates fear that we are alone and defenseless. Permitted to claim the hearts of women and men, this power happily stirs selfishness and meanness. People mobilize resources to protect themselves from harm and from thief.  Scarcity of the good things of life is feared crushing generosity.
     Another is seen in those religious leaders who are determined to foist upon anyone and everyone their own particular view of living obediently and righteously. We meet them in the pages of the Bible as the Pharisees and Sadducees. Today they are experienced in the fist and sword of religious extremists around the world. Infidel, meaning unbeliever, is the favored description given to those who refuse to believe as they believe. Its use is more than a descriptor of one who doesn’t believe; often it is used to declare hatred.   
     A third power may be called an invitation; the invitation that comes down from heaven. This power also lays constant claim upon men and women. Yet, unlike the first two mentioned above, this power does not manipulate or coerce. It is embodied in a person, the person of Jesus and moves toward us with empathy, concern and love. It does not impose but always calls to us to a place where our burdens may be shouldered by almighty God. It is a power that seeks not to control but to give release from the struggles of guilt, shame and despair. True, it is a power that demands all we are and have, not for God’s sake but, rather, to set us free from the weight of concern and worry. This power calls us to find our ultimate treasure in living for something greater than us.
     Jesus issues the invitation. It is an invitation to follow him and trust in his care and love. Each day the invitation is fresh and waits our response. If the answer is, “but first…” it may be that we are held captive to another power. Such an answer is to offer only a fraction of our devotion. It is an indication that our life is off-center and there is soul work to be done. Christ never seeks only a part of us – or a delay to give ourselves completely. Christ’s invitation is a call to a passion, an enthusiasm, and a consuming zeal that directs all of our energy and desires to live in such a way the world calls us mad. But it is a call that leads to an experience of such love that our lives are changed and we discover all our fears and worry has been scattered.

Joy,