Sometimes It's What You Need Not What You Want

Here’s an interesting couple of verses from Isaiah which I think warrant a closer look.  The Prophet says this in chapter 56, verses 6-7 (NRSV-Wesley Study Bible):

“And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, all who keep the Sabbath and do not profane it, and hold fast my covenant-these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”

First, anyone can join themselves to the Lord.  But there are conditions-ministry, service, Sabbath rest and holding fast to the covenant.  These are the individuals who will be brought to the holy mountain.  They will be joyful in the house of prayer.  Their offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on the altar.

In light of these verses, think about the ministry that Jesus did before he was crucified on the cross.  Did he minister?  Did he serve others?  Did he make time to rest?  Did he hold fast to the covenant promise? Yes.  What was the last thing that he did in Matthew?  He told the Disciples to “go and make disciples of all nations.”  Which they did, which is why you and I share in the Christian faith some 2000 years later.

Everyone is welcome to participate in God‘s plan, but there are conditions.  This is the reminder that I would like to put forth, especially in light of what happened at General Conference this year.  Many view GC as an epic fail.  There’s a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth going on, particularly in blog world!  Granted, I wasn’t there, I had to watch from the sidelines at home so I wasn’t caught up in the frenzy.  Still, I don’t see this as a fail.  I see this as a reminder that we are all human, we make mistakes and sometimes we lose our way.  God still works in the world today and the result of GC is that God intervened and kept the United Methodist Church from making a huge blunder in its ministry to the world! God has a plan and this was not it!  Plain and simple.

Plan UMC was ruled unconstitutional by the Judicial Council.  I have a feeling that Call to Action and Plan B would have met the same fate.  Guaranteed appointments were eliminated, but my understanding is that it is still up in the air, waiting for a ruling from the Judicial Council this fall.  It may also be ruled unconstitutional when it is all said and done.

My point about all of this?  We were barking up the wrong tree.  We focused on systems and procedures and numbers.  We focused on inclusion without condition.  We focused on our plan, our wants.  We wanted change for the wrong reasons.  We wanted change that would make us feel better and feel like we were in control and the reality is, the Holy Spirit is not going to be bridled by what we want!  We acted more like the folks at the tower of Babel, then we did like the believers present at Pentecost.  Some will find that disheartening, but I look at GC as a reminder that we desperately needed.  The Holy Spirit is alive and well in the world today and God’s plan will not be swayed!

Look at what God promised the exiles in Babylon in Jeremiah 29:11-14

“For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.  Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you.  When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.”

God has a plan and it wasn‘t “our plan.”  So where do we go from here?  How do we get beyond feeling like we are in exile or wandering in the wilderness?  We pray, we search, we get back to the basic covenant.  We minister to others, we serve others, we make disciples who can go out in to the world and do the same exact thing.  Jesus summed up the basic covenant “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.”   That’s our job, that is the basic plan.  It hasn’t changed in 2000 some odd years, regardless of what we may think!

Nothing has changed for a reason, because the things that we were looking to change, are not the things that need changing (at least they were not the number one priority).  Our hearts need to change.  That is an inward journey that can not be legislated!    The other changes will come, if they are necessary.  I believe they will become obvious once we find ourselves in line with God’s plan but we‘re not there yet!   This is not the end of the world, or the end of the church.  There is still work to be done, there is still a mission ahead of us.  Instead of lamenting the outcome, let’s focus instead on re-aligning our priorities with God’s priorities.  Since God knows His plan, let’s trust in the Lord and learn how to follow his path instead!   The reminder may have been painful, but I believe the reminder is just exactly what we needed!

 
 

Encouragement? Caution? All of the Above

In Matthew chapter 12, Jesus has been talking in parables, telling truths in story form.  At verse 43 he starts talking about evil spirits:

“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting place, but it finds none.  Then it says ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ When it comes, it finds it empty, swept, and put in order.  Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there; and the last state of that person is worse than the first.  So will it be also with this evil generation.”

Now, look at the exchange in Job, chapter 1, between the Lord and “the accuser” or Satan,  verse 7:

“The Lord said to Satan, ‘Where have you come from?’  Satan answered the Lord, ‘ From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”

Notice the similarity in the descriptions.  Satan wanders about looking for a place to land.  He goes to and fro until he finds a resting place.  There is a reason that I bring this up.

As you know, I have been exploring the art of meditation, an aspect of Christian Mysticism, and I have discovered that not all books are created equal!  There are some books that claim to be about Christian Mysticism and Spiritual insight and, quite frankly, they are not books that I would recommend for someone exploring this topic!

There was one book that I read online, that was recommended as the sort of  “7 steps to meditation and mysticism” and, at first, it’s suggestions seemed reasonable.  But as I read further, I discovered that the writer’s view of the source of evil, and mine, parted ways in a dramatic fashion!  In a nutshell, the writer believes that evil comes about by “wrong thought” and that there isn’t really evil in the world.   Bad things happen to people because they “think” it into being.  An individual is in a car accident, for example, because they attracted the negative situation by their thoughts.  A child is ill because a parent had negative thoughts of sickness that manifested in the child.  The solution is simply to “neutralize” the negative thought pattern and then you start attracting positive things into your life.  I wish I was kidding about this but I’m not!  This is the point where I strongly disagree with the writer, based on my study of scriptures.

The entire book of Job is based on refuting such arguments!  It states, right from the beginning, that Job was indeed a righteous man.  His friends make the argument that the calamities that have befallen Job, are the result of some “sin” that he has committed.  If you read the entire book, you know that God himself refutes this argument!  And if Jesus didn’t believe that evil was real then why did he bother sending the demons into the pigs in Mark chapter 5?   Why would John Wesley preach so strongly, a caution about evil, if he didn’t believe that it existed?  Evil is real, and it is a force that is separate from God!

Believing that evil is real does not imply a “dualism” within God, which is the argument that is made to explain the belief that evil is simply thought gone wrong.  Yes, God is good and what he created is good!  God did not create evil.  Evil simply exists.  And that is an important point to remember if one intends to attempt Christian Meditation!

It is no wonder that Morton Kelsey, in his book, “The Other Side of Silence” warns that meditation is not for everyone!  If an individual does not have a thorough grounding in scripture, they could easily open themselves up to more problems then they had before!  Mr. Kelsey says this on the topic on page 52:

“The idea that we have outgrown our need to turn to God for help in dealing with evil, or the idea, in fact that there is no such thing as cosmic evil, would be funny if it did not show such a tragic lack of understanding.”  

Or this comment on page 74:

  “As long as one believes that there is no evil and that spiritual reality is relatively benign, there is no particular reason for caution.  This is why our belief systems are so important.”  (emphasis mine)

I have been impressed by the fact that throughout his book, Mr. Kelsey has emphasized that Christian Meditation is meant to help you discover deeper truths that can be practiced and applied in the here and now.  It is meant to strengthen your faith and it is meant to be used in practical ways to help others!

He also strongly suggests that a person doesn’t “go it alone.”  Yes, meditation is an inward journey but, you need a firm anchor in the world.  A mentor, a prayer group, family, close friends that you can talk to, are all incredibly important!  In taking this journey inward, you may discover things about yourself that are shocking or disturbing and there is a real need to have a support network around you to help “bring you down to earth.”  (On a personal note, I am discovering just how true this is!  I am my own worst critic, and that trait is even more intense in meditation.  My family and friends are far more forgiving of my flaws, as is God, which can be hard to fathom!)

Now, you may read this and think “well that’s just crazy!  Don’t we want to encourage people to go deeper in their spiritual walk?”  Of course we do!  But, the fact remains, it is important to prepare for that journey first.  I’m reminded of what Isaiah says in chapter 28, starting at verse 24:

“Do those who plow for sowing plow continually?  Do they continually open and harrow their ground?  When they have leveled its surface, do they not scatter dill, sow cumin, and plant wheat in rows and barley in its proper place, and spelt as the border?  For they are well instructed; their God teaches them.” (Again, emphasis mine.)

It is important to plant, but FIRST they have to plow and harrow and level.  They have to be instructed well by God.  Otherwise, you can end up with weeds planted with the wheat (Matthew 13:24-30) and as the parable illustrates, it can cause a whole lot of problems!

So am I suggesting that Christian Meditation is a bad thing to try?  No.  What I am saying though is be certain that you are as prepared as you can be before you try!  Mr. Kelsey opens chapter 8 with this paragraph.  I am going to close with it as an important reminder.

“Meditation is not something one should do simply because others are doing it.  It can not be undertaken like an aesthetic exercise or merely for diversion.  Whether we expect it or not, in meditation we are opening the door to another aspect of reality, potentially just as rewarding and sometimes even more dangerous than the physical world.  Not many of us would turn a child loose in the physical world without teaching that child, as best we can, how to get around safely in it.”

Wise words indeed!