God and Ruth and Those Mysterious Ways!

What do you say about Ruth?!  She’s so important that there is an entire book in the Bible devoted to telling her story!  Ruth rocks!  She is yet another example of how God uses the most unlikely people, in the most extraordinary way!  First off, she’s a woman.  Second, she’s a Moabite.  Third, she is a widow.  None of these are helpful in the male dominated, Old Testament, society but, the combination of the three, spells disaster!  A female outsider, in a Jewish community, with no husband, does not make for a recipe for success in the natural.  But we’re not talking about the natural, we’re talking about God, and this story is yet another reminder that He doesn’t look at things the same way that we do!

Let’s start at the beginning, shall we?  The story starts off by telling us about Elimelech and Naomi, and their two sons, who live in Bethlehem during the time of the Judges.  They live in Bethlehem but, at the time, there was widespread famine in the land.  So, they pack up with their sons in tow, and head out of town, in search of a place that actually has food.  They end up in Moab.  Here’s what you need to keep in mind-if you go back in the Old Testament, you will see that Moab and Israel were not the best of buds over the years!  Far from it! They actually attacked each other numerous times during their history.  Yet, the Moabites welcome the family and the two sons end up marrying Moabite women.  Again, this should be a red flag, because marrying outside of the faith was not something that was supposed to be done!

Long story short, Elimelech dies, the sons die, and Naomi is left with nothing but two Moabite in-laws.  So, she decides to go back to Bethlehem.  Hopefully, someone there from her family will, at the very least, take her in and give her a place to live.  Orpah and Ruth go with her, at least part of the way.  Somewhere along the way, Naomi realizes that she can’t offer anything to them, and she realizes that it would be best for them to go home to their own families.  If they do that, they stand a fighting chance!  They could remarry and have a chance at a new life filled with hope!  At first, both of the women tell her no.  Naomi tries a second time to reason with them and, at that point, Orpah decides to turn around, but Ruth stays.  So Naomi tries for a third time to change Ruth’s mind, but here’s what Ruth says in chapter one starting at verse 16 (Wesley Study Bible):

“Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you!  Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.  Where you die, I will die-there will I be buried.  May the Lord do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!”

Now that’s a spunky girl!  Here’s the really interesting thing to remember-there were no guarantees for Ruth!  I am reminded of that other gutsy and courageous woman by the name of Rahab-remember her?  Both women were willing to sacrifice themselves in order to protect and take care of those they loved!  And both women, although they did not fully understand who God was, still chose to follow, without any promises or guarantees that things would work out for them personally!  No matter, how you slice it or dice it, giving up everything that you know takes some serious courage!

Naomi and Ruth make it to Bethlehem, which causes a serious stir about town.  In verse 19 it says that the only thing the women of Bethlehem said was “is this Naomi?”  There’s a subtle understatement!  Uh-uh!  You better believe that there was some serious gossiping going on!  Oh, I’m sure, they were pleasant enough to her face, but you know they had to be thinking that she was being punished.  Not only did her family leave Bethlehem, but her sons married Moabite women for goodness sakes!  No wonder they all died!  And here she comes, slinking back into town, looking for help?!  Not only that but she brought one of those Moabite women with her, can you believe it???!!!  Doesn’t get more juicy scandal than that!  As my gramma would say, there was a whole lotta tongue wagging going on!

God works in mysterious ways though!  I can picture Him up in heaven just shaking his head, and thinking “ladies, you are in for one big shocker of a surprise by the time I’m through!”  Be grateful that God does have a sense of humor and a larger view!

The story continues on, Naomi and Ruth have shown up, just in time, for the harvest and Ruth suggests that she go out in the fields to glean.  I think at this point, Naomi figured they had nothing to lose, so she tells Ruth to go and give it her best shot.

Wonder of wonders, where does Ruth end up working?  In a field owned by a rich guy, by the name of Boaz, who just happens to be a relative of Naomi’s, on her husband’s side of the family!  Out of all the fields in Bethlehem she just happens to pick the right one?  Gee, does that smack of the subtle hand of God?  Hmm…I wonder….  Oh, but it gets better!  Boaz just happens to come out of Bethlehem to the field, at that time, and he just happens to notice this stranger gleaning behind his servants.  He asks his head servant about her, and the servant tells him that she is the Moabite, who came back with Naomi. She asked permission to glean, and she’s been hard at work ever since she got there!  Boaz now chooses to do something that he was not expected, or required, to do. Not only does he go to Ruth and tell her to stay with his reaping crew through the harvest, he also tells his servants to pull extra out of the standing stock so she has more to glean.  Understand, Boaz is not the kinsman redeemer, he is not first in line!  It is not his responsibility to take care of Naomi even though she is a relative.  But here is the glaring ,obvious, point that should not be missed-the kinsman redeemer is obviously NOT taking care of Naomi, because, if he was, Ruth would not be out in the field gleaning after the harvesters!  Boaz can not take care of Ruth and Naomi directly, but he CAN take care of them indirectly, by making sure that Ruth is under his protection, working in his fields, following his servants AND he makes certain that Ruth is able to glean enough for Naomi and Ruth to eat!  Boaz is doing what the kinsman redeemer should have been doing in the first place!

Ruth goes back to Naomi, after a successful day of gleaning, and Naomi is astounded by how much Ruth has been able to gather!  So she asks Ruth “where did you go? Where did you work?  Who took notice of you?”  So, Ruth tells her about her encounter with Boaz and what he said and how kind he was to her.  Oh, to have been a fly on the wall when Naomi put two and two together!  I bet her entire face lit up!  “Blessed be he by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Naomi tells Ruth.  Naomi may have been the grieving, bitter widow, but she’s no fool!  She knew full well who the kinsmen redeemer was and she understood that he had no desire to fill that role.  Boaz, on the other hand, would fulfill that role if given the opportunity!  The question then became, how to make it happen?

Naomi came up with a daring, risky plan to let Boaz know, that she was willing to let him fulfill the role of kinsman redeemer.  If it worked, not only would she and Ruth be taken care of, but her husband’s family line would live on.  She sent Ruth to the threshing floor, under the cover of darkness and instructed her to wait until Boaz had laid down for the night.  She then told Ruth to go, uncover his feet, lay down, and wait.  If Ruth was caught, it would be absolutely scandalous, but if it worked, Boaz would not rest until he took care of the matter!  Boaz discovered Ruth at his feet about midnight.  Ruth made her request “spread your cloak over your servant for you are next-of-kin.”  Boaz responded exactly the way Naomi thought he would!  In chapter 3, starting at verse 10 he says:

“May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter; this last instance of your loyalty is better than the first; you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich.  And now, my daughter, do not be afraid, I will do for you all that you ask, for all the assembly of my people know that you are a worthy woman.  But now, though it is true that I am a near kinsman, there is another kinsmen more closely related than I.  Remain this night, and in the morning, if he will act as next-of-kin for you, good; let him do it.  If he is not willing to act as next-of-kin for you, then, as the Lord lives, I will act as next-of-kin for you.”  

Sure enough, the next morning, he sent Ruth back to Naomi with six measures of Barley and got her out of there before she could be discovered.  Then, he went to the town square and waited for the closer relative to pass by.  In the presence of the elders he asked the kinsman redeemer if he wanted to buy Naomi’s field? At first he said yes.  Boaz reminded him that it meant he would have to marry Ruth and, he decided, that he didn’t want to “damage his inheritance.”  He passed the right of redemption on to Boaz!

Boaz married Ruth, and they had a son named Obed.  And Ruth, the outsider, is remembered as being greater than seven sons to Naomi!    She also had a very famous great-grandson by the name of David, son of Jesse, who went on to become King.  Further down the line of genealogy, came a young man, by the name of Jesus-King of Kings and Lord of Lords!  One more interesting little factoid for you-Boaz, is the son of Salmon, who was married to Rahab, that other outsider who risked her life at Jericho! One outsider, marries the son of an outsider, which produces the lineage that brings about the Savior of the world! How cool is that?!

If you had any doubt, let this story be a reminder, that God does work in mysterious, wonderful, ways!

Encourage Courage! Take Courage!

Have you ever run across something that was so eye-opening, so radical and revolutionary that you will never look at a certain thing in the same way again?  Hold on to your hats!  This is gonna blow you away!

Let’s start with Webster’s definition of three very ordinary words-courage, fear, encourage

Courage-the capacity to meet danger without giving way to fear

Fear-the instinctive emotion aroused by impending or seeming danger, pain or evil

Encourage-to give courage or confidence to

Let me expand the definition of encourage-to give the capacity to meet danger without giving way to the instinctive emotion aroused by impending or seeming danger, pain or evil.

Now let’s take a look at a familiar story in Matthew 14, where Jesus walks on water.  Even a person with a passing encounter with Sunday School will be familiar with this story!  Jesus had sent the disciples on their way, by boat, while he went up to the mountain to pray.  It says that the boat was battered by waves and that in the early morning Jesus came walking towards them on the sea.  It also says that the disciples were terrified because they thought it was a ghost.  Here’s where it gets interesting, verse 27.  The NRSV Bible renders the translation like this:  “…‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”  The King James version says “Be of good cheer.”  For me, neither one of these translations invoke a sense of powerfulness.  What I hear in my head is that old song from the late 80’s early 90’s “don’t worry, be happy!”  Sweet, but not exactly powerful.

Leslie Weatherhead translated it differently.  In the Positive Affirmation for day 18 he translates it this way:  “Courage, it is I.”  I could never recall hearing it translated that way, so I did a little digging and the NIV Bible says this for verse, 27:  “Take courage!  It is I!”  What do I hear in my head?  Every musical track that has ever been used in a movie when the hero comes to the rescue!

Talk about a powerful image!  Here are the men, on this boat, waves literally crashing over the top of the boat while they are tossed around, pretty certain that they are not going to make it, when all of a sudden, here comes this figure, walking towards them, stomping waves like a child stomps an anthill!  They are terrified!  Then suddenly, this big strong voice shouts out to them “ TAKE COURAGE!  IT….IS…I!!!”  Wow!  That is powerful!

Then we go on to verse 28 where Peter says “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”  What does Jesus say?  “Come.”  We know the rest of the story, Peter does get out of the boat and does just fine until he gets distracted by the wind and then he becomes frightened again.  Down he goes, so he calls out to Jesus who grabs him by the hand and brings him back to the ship safely.  Jesus says to him “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Now, I want to throw out one more definition.  This word, has about a half page column in the dictionary but, I want to focus on the very first definition listed.

Take-to get possession of by using force or superior strength

When you think about this Bible story and what Jesus said, and the definitions of those key words, “take courage” is not a warm and fuzzy, comforting phrase.  It is a command!  Jesus is telling Peter to forcefully grab on to courage and not give way to fear!  This completely changes the dynamic of this story!  It also gives a new understanding to the question that Jesus asked Peter.  “Why did you doubt?”  Jesus is saying “you had it in your hands, why did you let go?!  Why did you let yourself get distracted?  Why did you give fear free reign again?”  

Think about how many people could use this type of message today!  Average, everyday people, just trying to get by in life.  They want to do something different, but they are afraid.  Their life boat is getting swamped by the waves of bill collectors, threat of house foreclosure, possibility of losing their job.  Their children are struggling in school.  They have a sick parent who needs assistance.  They are living at the mercy of the waves, just barely getting by.  They are baling as fast as they can but still the waves come!  They want to get a different job.  They want to go back to school.  They have an idea for a business but, oh Lord!  It’s just too risky!  They are barely holding on as it is!  What if they take the chance and fail?!  All the people they would let down!  All the things they might lose!  They are terrified, just like the Disciples in the boat!  Fear is a powerful thing!

Courage is equally as powerful if we can just take hold of it!  Look around you.  Is there someone you know who took a risk and against all odds succeeded?  Look at individuals in the military who go above and beyond the call of duty.  I guarantee that each one experienced fear, but they took hold of courage and did something extraordinary!  If you are fearful, look to others who inspire you and who have exhibited courage in their own life.   Or, maybe, you are the courageous one.  Can you be the person who reaches out to another individual and offer encouragement?  Can you help blaze the path?  In a society where fear runs rampant, when failure seems the only option, can you be that person who grabs on and doesn’t let go?

Imagine how different things could be if we made it a practice to encourage courage!  How much change would we see if we delivered this one simple message-take courage!  Even in a storm, we are never truly alone.  Encourage yourself, encourage others.  Imagine how different life could be if we all chose to “take courage!”

I will never look at the story of Jesus walking on water the same way again!  From now on, I will see it as a powerful story of how life can be if we stop living in our own private world of fear.  Take courage, Jesus said.  Take courage and believe!  Take hold of that powerful, awe inspiring message and boldly walk forward in courage today!

Yabut!

Yabut-my made up word of combining  yeah and but.  Most commonly used or whispered to sow discontent or uncertainty in the minds of the hearer.  Favorite tool used by “the accuser” “the deceiver” “the Satan”.

In the book of Job, “the Satan” makes an appearance again.  In chapter 1 there is a gathering of the heavenly beings who “present themselves before the Lord”  (Job1:6) and Satan shows up as well.  Then comes the interesting exchange between God and Satan starting at 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.”

Let’s be clear, God already knew what Satan had been up to.  He already knew he had been wandering around looking at what sorts of problems he could cause on earth.  Asking the question allows us to become aware of what Satan is up to because Satan has to answer, even if the answer is purposely vague.  He’s giving the impression that he has just been taking a hike, walking around but his nature is to sow discontent.  Satan was truthful in his answer as far as he went with the answer.  But as my Gramma used to say, “a half truth is not truth!”

Then God takes a different tact.  He brings up Job, a man that God describes as blameless and upright who fears the Lord and turns away from evil.  Satan responds with a yabut starting at verse 9:

“Does Job fear God for nothing?  Have you not put a fence around him and his house and all that he has, on every side?  You have blessed the work of his hand, and his possessions have increased in the land.  But stretch out your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.”

What is he saying here?  Like a whiney child, he is saying “yabut, that’s only because you have given him all this stuff and you protect him, but if you let me at him and let me take his stuff, I know your precious little human will turn on you and curse you to your face!”

How does God respond?  He agrees to the challenge but tells Satan that he can’t hurt Job.  So Satan orchestrates and manipulates the attacks on Job’s “stuff”,  livestock stolen, servants killed, children killed and he makes sure that he leaves one survivor from each event that can run and tell Job about what happened.  Satan fails though, because Job does not curse God.  He’s upset, he’s distraught but he doesn’t curse God.

So, in chapter 2, we get to listen in on the conversation between God and Satan, again.  God basically says “told ya!  You took all of his stuff but he still did not curse me.”  And Satan responds with his second yabut in Job 2, verse 4:

“Skin for skin!  All that people have they will give to save their lives.  But stretch out your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.”

Once again, God agrees to the challenge with one condition.  Satan is not allowed to kill Job.  We’re told that Satan inflicts “loathsome sores” on Job from his feet to his head.  Still, he doesn’t curse God.  When that doesn’t work, guess who shows up on the scene?  Jobs “friends”.  And we learn later on in the book that with friends like these, who needs enemies?  Satan couldn’t take him out directly so he goes the covert route by sending the “concerned friends” to come sit with Job.

The yabut pattern is nothing new for Satan.  We know that he used it in the Garden of Eden when talking with Eve.  If you go back to Genesis chapter 3, listen to how he starts the conversation:

“Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden?’ The woman said to the serpent ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’  But the serpent said to the woman ‘You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil..”

Yabut, did God really mean that?  Did he really tell you that you couldn’t have that?  Yabut you know if you eat of this tree, you won’t die, you’ll just have as much wisdom as God!  Look at the shiny object, Eve, you want it now don’cha?  The twist, the turn and the spurn!  The things that the yabut is made up of!

We also know that he tried this with Jesus in the desert.  Read the beginning of Luke, chapter 4 and you can see the yabut pattern yet again.  Yabut, if you really are the Son of God you can turn this stone into bread.  Yabut, if you will just join my side, I’ll give you the whole world.  Yabut, if you really are the Son of God you can jump off this building and the angels will save you.   And Satan took it up a notch by quoting what was written in scriptures.  When Satan failed with the direct assault it says that he left, waiting for a “more opportune time” to try attacking him once again.

Here is the most important thing to remember.  Satan still wanders the earth, he still attempts full frontal attacks, and if they fail, he will resort to the Yabuts.  A yabut could be self-doubt, it could be a word from a friend or family member, and usually they hit during times of severe stress.   A half truth is spoken, words and meaning are twisted and the outcome is meant for you to either reject or get angry, in other words to spurn!

Let’s say for example, you want to start a new career or business.  You have done your research, prayed about it, weighed the pros and cons of pursuing this particular path and you have decided to go ahead with it.  Maybe you lost your job due to downsizing or the poor economy and you think now is a good time to try something different.  You feel at peace with the decision.  One day, you are in a conversation with someone and you mention what you plan to do.  This person says “oh, I had another friend that tried that and they failed miserably.  Lost their home, their family and the dog.  Bad idea if you ask me!”  The yabut statement they are making is yabut, someone else already tried it and failed.  What makes you think that you can pull it off?

So, what was the full frontal attack?  Losing your job.  So what is the next line of attack?  The oh so subtle Yabuts.  New year, new century, different set of people, same pattern!  Yabuts can stop you in your tracks if you let them!

How deep is your faith?  How much do you trust God?  This is what Satan chooses to test.  He did it with Eve, he did it with Job and he did it with Jesus.  The pattern continues to this day.  That’s why it is so important to focus on your spiritual life, your faith walk, because there will be times of testing.

In Psalm 1, we are reminded to meditate on the law day and night.  The Wesley Study Bible notes say that the word meditate, as it is used in this Psalm, literally means “to mumble or utter its words under one’s breath.”

Deepen your faith by studying God’s word.  Meditate-have some verses of scripture deep inside of you.   At some point in time you will face a yabut moment.  Discern and respond.  Trust God.  Deepen your faith because that faith will carry you through when you need it the most!

What we See-What we Convey

Thoughts from Amos (The Message Paraphrase)-the "what we see" part:
Chapter 5:

"Justice is a lost cause. Evil is epidemic.  Decent people throw up their hands.  Protest and rebuke are useless, a waste of breath.  Seek good and not evil-and live!  You talk about God, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies, being your best friend.  Well, live like it, and maybe it will happen.  Hate evil and love good, then work it out in the public square."

"...I can't stand your religious meetings.  I'm fed up with your conferences and conventions.  I want nothing to do with your religion projects, your pretentious slogans and goals.  I'm sick of your fund-raising schemes, your public relations and image making.  I've had all I can take of your noisy ego-music.  When was the last time you sang to me?  Do you know what I want?  I want justice-oceans of it.  I want fairness-rivers of it.  That's what I want.  That's all I want." 

Chapter 6:

"Woe to those who live in luxury and expect everyone else to serve them!  Woe to those who live only for today, indifferent to the fate of others!  Woe to the playboys, the playgirls, who think life is a party held just for them!  Woe to those addicted to feeling good-life without pain!  Those obsessed with looking good-life without wrinkles!  They could not care less about their country going to ruin." 

Is it just me or does this sound an awful lot like what we see around us today?  Amos may have brought the message (rather reluctantly) but he was obedient-he said what had to be said.  But he also ended on a hopeful note.  There would be shaking and sifting but a faithful remnant would remain.  And that remnant would rebuild because God would bless them.  

I'm still reading in the Book of Acts and today I read about Paul and Barnabas in Antioch (chapter 13). They were invited to speak twice.  The second time some of the Jews became jealous because of the crowds and they contradicted what Paul was saying.  Long story short, this is the point where Paul told the Jews that they had rejected the message so now they would be going to preach to the Gentiles siting Isaiah 49:6 as the justification for doing so.  It goes on to say that when they Gentiles heard this "they were glad and praised the word of the Lord..."  The message that was conveyed?  There was hope for them too!  They could accept that Jesus was the Savior and they too could be saved.  They could be included as well!  I got thinking about this:  what would it feel like to be an outsider, wanting to be a part of this but being told that you couldn't be included because you didn't have the right qualifications.  What would it feel like to have someone come along and suddenly say "oh that's nonsense, you can be included too!"  Is the church today willing to convey that message-hope.  Or will we stand by and look at what we see and say "this is simply how it is."  What message are we willing to convey?  How far are we willing to go?

If Amos, even in the midst of delivering a very painful message, could still hold out a message of hope, shouldn't we be doing the same?  The message is not pleasant-we all need to repent.  But there is hope!  Jesus is Savior and he is available to all who are willing to believe.  No qualifications necessary other then a believing heart and a willingness to repent our old ways and follow a new way.  That message should be first and foremost today!  Our world needs it desperately!

You Continue to Ignore Me-Thoughts on Amos, Choices and Trust

In Amos, chapter 4 The Message paraphrase uses almost word for word the same sentence four times:

"you continue to ignore me".  

This chapter mentions famine, drought, disease, fire and earthquake-major catastrophes happening to the people.  In each instance, instead of turning to God, they chose to do their own thing.

Each of us make choices every day in one form or another.  Some choices are easy.  Others are a little more difficult.  The little nudges by the Spirit asking us to do things that we are not comfortable doing, they can be the hardest choices.   For me, they tend to be the choices I wrestle with the most.  It's not that I want to willingly ignore God.  It's tough to choose to get whacked!  I have a lack of understanding as to "why" and trust comes in to play.  Choosing to trust, can be a tough item for me personally!

At the end of the Gospel of John, Jesus asks Simon  three times "do you love me?" The Disciple Bible study notes say that Jesus did not call him Peter because "...he was no longer a rock.  He had reverted to predisciple behavior, so Jesus used his predisciple name to reclaim him."  Simon had a choice to make.  He already believed that Jesus was the Messiah.  He loved Jesus, no question.  His struggle was not with Jesus, his struggle was with himself!  Not only did he have to choose to follow but he also had to trust that God would give him the ability to carry out what was being asked of him.  He had a choice to make and we know that he chose to follow.  History tells us that he died a martyr.  How different would history be if he had chosen to ignore God?

I'm not perfect and I know it!  Sometimes I get it right, and sometimes I blow it!  The problem is not God, the problem is me!  I pray that God gives me the strength to make the right choices and not ignore what He is asking me to do.  It's not always easy but I have faith and hope in His power, not my own!  The holiness journey is about trusting God to lead the way.  And trust is something that I struggle with mightily at times!

Wesley understood this and in his sermon The End of Christ's Coming he put it this way:

"We know, weakness of understanding, and a thousand infirmities, will remain, while this corruptible body remains; but sin need not remain: This is that work of the devil, eminently so called, which the Son of God was manifested to destroy in this present life. He is able, he is willing, to destroy it now, in all that believe in him. Only be not straitened in your own bowels! Do not distrust his power, or his love! Put his promise to the proof! He hath spoken: And is he not ready likewise to perform Only "come boldly to the throne of grace," trusting in his mercy; and you shall find, "He saveth to the uttermost all those that come to God through him!"

Wise words of wisdom to apply to the choices we make every day!

Grief and Mourning

After the flash flooding hit my hometown, a good friend of mine posted that his parents had lost everything on the first floor.  An acquaintance posted in response "things can be replaced."  My friend replied "that's easy to say when it is not your things."  I was reminded of the comment when I watched an interview with a business owner who was in the middle of clean up and you could clearly see the anger and hear the frustration in their voice as they talked about the response.  My first thought was "wow, take it easy, you survived!"  Then I remembered my friends words.  It's easy to say that when it is not happening to you.  It's easy to say when you're not smelling the mold and dealing with mud and having to throw out items.  It wasn't so much the loss of the item that was upsetting to these individuals, it was more about the memories that the particular item evoked.  These folks needed time to grieve as the reality of their situation became starkly clear.  Yet the world was demanding that they move on and rebuild.

In contrast, we have September 11th coming upon us.  It has been 10 years since that awful day.  Memorial services are planned all around the country to mark the somber occasion.  We will grieve and we will mourn yet again.  Personally I do not have a problem with memorial services.  I do have a problem though with the media who started rebroadcasting the images all over the place again.  The follow up interviews, the "never before seen" footage, the "new and previously not revealed" stories and voice mails and answering machine messages.  When does the information cross the line from being helpful for healing to obsessive and counter productive?  How much is enough?  When does it become too much?

People experience loss all the time and we have sort of this ingrained rating system on how long we think someone should grieve.  You get a divorce, well get over it and get back out in the dating game, we tell our friends.  You lose a job or a business, well, get over it and find another or come up with a new idea.  If a child dies, or a spouse or a parent, we tell people how sorry we are for the loss and then in the same breath tell them how fortunate they were to have known this individual and how we are sure that they would want them to move on with their life.  My point here is that the loss is real and people need time to mourn and to grieve and we have a tendency to not give them the time they need!

On the other hand, sometimes we exploit grief.  And I'm sorry, but that is exactly what I think the media is doing this year with their wall to wall specials on 9/11.  It was awful, it was horrible, I will never forget it but I for one do not need to relive that day over and over again!  A memorial service where you gather to remember and to share hugs and stories is one thing.  Dicing, slicing and rehashing is another thing all together!  It is, in a way, like ripping the scab off a wound and poking and prodding around in the gaping hole and wondering why it won't heal.

Jesus, in his wonderful Beatitudes sermon said "Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted."  Just exactly how much comfort are we giving to those who mourn?    Perhaps it's time to start giving people the room they need to mourn and grieve in their own way without interference.  Maybe it is time to just hold their hand and give them a little comfort.  Let's give people the room to heal.

As for me, I have learned the fine art of turning the television, radio and news feeds off.  If enough of us choose to do that maybe the media will finally get the message.  I can only hope....

What does it Mean? The Problem with Cushy Christianity

Once again my daily Bible reading and Disciple Bible study converge!  Let's start with a verse from Proverbs 19 (The Message paraphrase):

"We humans keep brainstorming options and plans, but God's purpose prevails."

Now let's jump over to Mark chapter 11 where Jesus cleanses the temple.  You know the story-Jesus walks in and starts tipping over tables and driving out the sellers and money changers and says in verse 17 (NRSV):

"My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations.  But you have made it a den of robbers." 

The notes on this verse say that Jesus wasn't opposed to the temple, he was opposed to what it had become.  People looked to the temple to keep them in right standing with God-to cleanse them.  But people were not living out that righteousness in their daily lives.  Salvation had become cheap.  It had no meaning.  The temple had become a building for buying and selling rather than a place of meaning!

Well, that's how a lot of people view churches today.  They are not opposed to religion, rather they find that church has no meaning to them.  There is no depth, there is no "why does this matter"?  If you look at the studies that have been done, a good majority believe in God and they say that they are spiritual but they have no faith affiliation.  Church, in their minds, involves marrying and burying and baptising your children so gramma will get off your case!   We know that churches are getting better at greeting people at the front door but we lose them out the side door.  We wonder why and then we start making "plans" in order to "fix" the problem!

Christianity is growing by leaps and bounds around the world in places that you wouldn't expect.  Africa, Asia, South America-these are areas where faith is flourishing despite the obstacles that these individuals face on a daily basis.  There are some places around the world where being a Christian will get you killed if your faith is discovered!  These are not easy places to practice your faith, these are hard places and yet faith flourishes!  Many of these places do not have church buildings.  They do not have Bibles.  They don't have big budgets or "special programs".  What do they have?  They have faith with depth and meaning!  They understand sacrifice and taking risks and they choose to follow.  Cushy Christianity doesn't apply!

So if I had to put my finger on one thing in America that would explain our faith problem I would have to say it is Cushy Christianity.  Grace is cheap and it comes with no strings attached and no sacrifices to be made.  Instead of asking God what his plan is, we create our own do it yourself plans to fix our problems.  We lack depth and we teach but we teach without meaning.  We don't ask our members to crack open a Bible and read the words for themselves and think about what it is saying.  We don't ask our members to pray daily.  Mission is something you do to feel good.  It's all just very comfortable.  It doesn't involve risk and it certainly doesn't express something meaningful.  In short, we are biblically and spiritually illiterate.

In the land of the free you would think that churches would be bursting at the seams.  Think about it-we have the freedom to worship anywhere we want without fear of reprisal!  Not only that, we can worship openly and publicly!  We can read our Bible in our home without fear of going to jail.  We can pray privately or publicly without fear of being charged with a crime!  We are blessed, yet we take it for granted!  We are free to do things that others only dream about!  It's time we start taking our faith walk a little more seriously.

If our church leaders want our churches to be taken more seriously then we need to start preaching and teaching more seriously.  We need to start answering the question, "what does it mean?"  Spiritual faith and discipleship will bloom when we start adding some depth to an individual's faith walk.  We are asking people to go out and make disciples yet we don't equip them with the tools to explain why making disciples is important!  What does this church believe?  Why does it believe this?  What scriptures back up this belief?  How can you use this in your everyday life?  This is the depth I am talking about.  These are the tools that show us that faith means something real.

As individuals we can choose to deepen our faith walk.  We can open our Bibles and read and study.  We can read about prayer and practice specific forms of prayer.  We can openly share with others.  We can choose to take greater risks.  We can participate in mission work.  We can go to church or join a small group of fellow believers in order to encourage and share our faith with others.  We have the freedom to do all of these things so we can choose to walk a path that is more meaningful instead of taking it for granted!  We do not have to choose Cushy Christianity!  We can become the change that we wish to see in our churches our homes and our communities.  We are blessed with the freedom to exercise our religion!  Let's stop taking that precious right for granted!

The thing that really made me aware of how much I take my religious freedom for granted was when I read about St. Ignatius and St. PolycarpPolycarp we read about how the leaders of the city came up to him as he was being brought in and begged him to recant his faith in Jesus Christ.  They liked him, they really didn't want to crucify him and basically they said "just recant publicly and then you can go do your own thing and this will be all over with."  He refused.  St. Ignatius told his fellow church members to stop trying to get him out of his date with the Lions because he knew he was going to a better place and he thanked God for thinking that he was worthy enough to meet this sort of fate in the name of Christ!  Even when faced with death they didn't deny their faith!  Could I say the same thing?  Could you say the same thing?  Their faith had meaning and depth and it saw them through to the end!

It's up to you to make a choice.  Cushy Christianity or faith with depth and meaning?  You have the freedom to choose!  Let's stop taking our freedom of religion for granted!

What Would Make Jesus Weep?

There's an interesting question in this week's Disciple Bible Study that is worth pondering this morning.  If Jesus went to a hilltop and looked down on your town or village, what would he see that would make him weep?  This particular question caught my eye today since I happen to have an Evangelism Team meeting this evening and this most definitely relates to the topic at hand!

In a nutshell, I can say without hesitation, that there is plenty to keep us busy!  That particular point became painfully clear at our last meeting as we discussed ideas on how to be more involved in the community.  The "sticky wicket" is choosing what to focus on.  What is most needed and how can the church community best fill that role?  The second question to ask is how do we match church members up with volunteer opportunities that match their gifts and passions?

Serving others is definitely part of the Wesleyan tradition.  So many ministries were started by early Methodists-schools, hospitals-even Wesley mentioned in his journal going to prisons to see to the needs of those  who were incarcerated.  Wesley viewed service to others as a natural part of Discipleship.  As you change inwardly, that change is reflected outwardly by serving others.  If you look at what Jesus did and who he went to and who he talked with there is example after example of service to others.  He taught, he fed, he healed and he confronted those in positions of authority.  Serving others is clearly considered a natural part of an individual's faith walk.    That need is alive and well today, but finding individuals who will do the work can be tough!  It's just so much easier to write a check!  Someone else will take care of the problem.  Our schedules are already so full how could we possibly make time to do something more?

Something more-isn't that the essence of our faith walk?  Are we not called to be the eyes that see, the ears that hear, the mouth that speaks, the hands that work, the feet that walk?  What compels us to help others and why is that so important?  Have we as a church explained this clearly enough?

In Second Corinthians 8, The Message paraphrase says this:

"The heart regulates the hands."

Inward compassion shows up through outward action.  What are you being asked to do?  How can you help?  Where can you use your gifts to serve?

Let's expand the initial question a bit.  If you were standing beside Jesus on a hillside looking down on your town, what would make you weep?  Answer that question and you will have taken your first step towards figuring out where you are called to serve.  The need is great yet the workers are few.  Take that next step on your faith journey and find a place to serve. 

May we all work to turn the tears of sorrow into tears of joy!  This, oh Lord, I pray.

Those Pesky Stumbling Blocks

Matthew 18:6-7 (NRSV) says this:

"If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea.  Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks!  Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling block comes!"

Prior to this Jesus had used children as the example of how one approaches the Kingdom of Heaven.  By parable and example before and after this section Jesus talks about religious leaders being more concerned with outward appearances than inward well being.  Or, about the slave who was forgiven his debt who in turn did not forgive the debt that was owed to him by another slave.  Stumbling blocks, child like faith, leadership, what is the common thread here?

Children today are treated very differently than they were even 200 years ago, let alone 2,000 years ago!  As soon as they could help out with chores that was exactly what they were expected to do!  Or as the notes in the Wesley Study Bible point out, they were treated like servants.  They were not in positions of authority, they were workers.  But I do think that there were some similarities to the children of today.  For small children everything is cool!  Bugs are cool.  Mud puddles are cool.  The weirder it is, the cooler it must be!  They approach everything with a sense of wonder and excitement.  They also have not figured out a sense of right and wrong, which means that they are teachable.  They don't approach others with any preconceived notions of who they are or where they are in the pecking order.  A child doesn't ask why someone is in a wheelchair because they are being cruel.  They ask because they really want to know why is that person in a wheelchair?  Judgements develop with age and life experience cruelty doesn't come in to play until they get a little bit older and base their reactions on the examples that they have seen from others around them. 

There are certain boundaries that we have to set for our children in order to keep them safe, like sticking your hand on a hot stove is bad because you might get burned or look both ways before you cross the street because getting hit by a car would be bad!  These are not stumbling blocks but rather appropriate boundaries that parents traditionally teach.  Jesus went head to head with the Pharisees not because he thought that boundaries or traditions were inappropriate.  He went head to head with the Pharisees because they were putting so many unnecessary rules on people that had nothing to do with God's Word.  They were going out of their way to set up stumbling blocks! 

Pharisees and Scribes were the leaders of the Jewish community.  Their job, their task was to teach and to lead by example.  Their job was to serve the people of the Jewish community.  As time went on they became less concerned with the servant role and more concerned with the status role and that is what they taught to others.  You're wealthy?  Here's where you fall in the pecking order.  You're blind?  You're low down on the list!  It's tradition, that's just the way it is and that's how it has always been done!  It's no wonder that Jesus could not perform many miracles in his hometown because they could not accept who he had become since they knew where he came from!  They were offended because he was stepping out beyond the established hierarchy pecking order.  He was not being what they thought he should be, he was not acting the way they thought he should act.  Nazareth?  Nothing good comes out of that place!  It's the wrong side of the tracks!  Tradition in this sense, became a stumbling block.

It makes me wonder what we have set up as stumbling blocks today in our modern society.  How do we hold others back because of the views we have been taught to hold?  Do we judge older adults as being less worthy to hire because we think they do not have the ability to contribute with the skills they have or have the ability to learn new skills?  Do we judge younger people as being less than trustworthy because they have tattoos and piercings so they must be "from the wrong side of the tracks?"  Do we choose not to hire someone with a past criminal record because we are convinced that they there is no way they could possibly change?  Do we close churches because their numbers don't fit our dashboard?  Do we end up accomplishing nothing because we are so entrenched in my way or the highway?  How many potential leaders and innovators have fallen through the cracks because they don't behave the way we believe they should?  How many have fallen by the wayside because of the stumbling blocks we have placed in front of them?

I don't think tradition is the problem.  I think it is how we use those traditions that lead to problems.  I'll give you a modern day example.  We tell our children that they can do anything they want to do.  That in itself is not a bad statement!  What we changed became the problem.  We started grading on "curves", we told them "everybody wins" and we made sure that competitions reflected that philosophy.  We taught them that success could be easy and failure was impossible.  Everyone and everything would work in their favor.  So when our children went out in to the real world and fell flat on their face they were completely unprepared for dealing with failure!  They couldn't understand that work was hard and sometimes tedious and that persistence was important!  We didn't do our children any favors by sugar coating the truth.  If anything, we prolonged the learning curve of life in the real world because they had to totally change their thinking!  In our quest to better "nurture" we created a whole new set of stumbling blocks!

We've done a similar thing in our churches.  Come as you are is good, but we've chosen to leave off the part about Discipleship and confronting things that we need to change in our lives in order to follow this path.  There are key components of a faith journey that we have chosen to either gloss over or just not mention because it might make someone uncomfortable.  Do we offer a method for daily Bible study?  Do we teach about prayer?  Do we teach about church tradition and why the church believes certain things?  Do we teach about humility and serving others being critical elements to an individual's faith walk?  And accountability?  It's not personal, it's numerical.  And we wonder why we flounder about without any clear purpose or sense  of direction!  We've created our own stumbling blocks.

No wonder Jesus warned us strongly about stumbling blocks!  He understood that we could take something meant for our good and twist it so badly that it becomes a stumbling block!  Jesus never said that following in his footsteps would be easy!  He didn't say that there would not be challenges or that the work would be easy.  He did provide us with a starting point-a child.  Approach the Kingdom with a child like heart of wonder and excitement.  Approach the Kingdom as a servant willing to do the work.  Approach the Kingdom without the customary baggage of judgement, pessimism or superiority.  Approach the kingdom as a child like servant and become the leader that God intended you to be! 

That's a fantastic message of hope!  That message is still alive and well today!  We simply have to choose to grab hold of it! Those pesky stumbling blocks will still be there but that doesn't mean that you have to let them stop you!  Hope remains!  Thank you Jesus for reminding us once again that hope remains!