DAILY BYTE
The last misconception is that you must never, ever be mad at God. Many people feel that it is never ok, under any circumstances, to be upset with God. Phillip Yancey describes how his publishers tried to get him to change the title of his book “Disappointed with God,” to “Overcoming Disappointment with God,” because they felt people would be upset and threatened by the first title.
Again, this is in stark contrast with much of what you find in the Bible, most particularly the Psalms. Some of the Psalms are up 3500 years old, but if you compare them to other religious literature of the time (i.e. literature concerned with other cultures and gods), you find that the ancient Israelites were unique in the ways that they would challenge, admonish and express doubt or disappointment in God.
Just one example is today’s focus reading, Psalm 22.1-2, which you might remember was quoted by Jesus when he was on the cross.
The Hasidic Tales includes the story of Dovid Din of Jerusalem, who was approached by a man suffering through a crisis of belief. Whatever reply Rabbi Dovid attempted was angrily dismissed by this man. So Dovid Din restrained himself, and simply listened to the man rant and rave.
Finally, he said to him, “Why are you so angry at God?” This question stunned the man, as up to this point he had said nothing at all about God. The man grew very quiet and then said to Dovid Din, “All my life I have been so afraid to express my anger to God that I have always directed my anger at people who are connected with God. But until this moment I did not understand this.”
Then Dovid Din led the man to a quiet space on the Wailing Wall. There he told him to express all the anger he felt toward God. Then, for more than an hour, the man struck the wall with his hands and screamed his anger. After that he began to cry and cry, until little by little, those cries became sobs that turned into prayers.
And that is how Rabbi Dovid Din taught him to pray.
And this is how the Psalms with teach us to pray, to have faith, to live and to be. For the Psalms help remind us that profound change happens always IN the presence of God. Over and over they attest to the reality that when we open our minds and hearts fully to the God who made us, then we open ourselves to the possibility of being transformed beyond imagining.
For as Jesus reminds us this is what God wants most from his followers. And so may this be you ... may you be free to be simply and honestly yourself.
For you will find it is enough.
PRAYER
Once again O Lord, help me to be simply and honestly myself and to bring every dark corner of my heart - every emotion, every fear, every doubt out into the light of your love. In Jesus name. Amen.
READING
Psalm 22: 1-2 (NRSV)
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest.
Friday 25 September 2009
With My Tears I Melt My Mattress
DAILY BYTE
Today we will focus on the second misconception mentioned by Davis which is: That there is no place for despair or fear (or grief) in the Christian life.
Recently, a friend of mine told me that he had left the church he had been attending for many years, because they wouldn’t let him properly grieve his wife’s miscarriage. They kept insisting that he should ‘overcome’ and ‘claim his victory,’ but the problem was that he was just not ready for that. He needed time and space to properly cry and mourn a devastating event, and only then would he be able to move on.
The point here really is the same for anger - that to pretend our moments of grief, failure, sadness and depression are not there because we worry that to experience them is to lack faith is actually just fake, hollow and unreal. Faith in Jesus does not mean we live in bulletproof bubbles that life’s difficulties just bounce off. Faith is not just for good, happy and victorious moments, but also for moments when life goes pear-shaped and we are swamped by forces beyond our control.
The story of my friend reminds us that sometimes Christians seem to feel that there is no room in our faith for despair or fear. This is seen in many modern worship songs, where the majority of them express only feelings of joy and love. But what about the other darker sides of life?
In stark contrast to this, Eugene Peterson estimates that about 70% of all Psalms in Scripture are actually laments. They are expressions of sadness, grief or downright doubt and disbelief in God and his plans to make this world a better place – like today’s focus reading which questions God’s presence and with deeply moving groans testifies that the Psalmist weeps so much every night that he ‘melts’ his mattress..
What is most fascinating about these Psalms of Lament is that they begin with tears but almost always end with thanksgiving. Yet they make this move without ever telling us that the external situation has changed for the better! In this way, they remind us that the peace and comfort of God’s presence can be found even amidst the worst of life’s troubles, and that we can praise God for that. But before we can do that with honestly and with integrity, we first have to move through the reality of our hurt and pain - we have to grieve and lament and doubt.
Again, just like with anger, the direction of these emotions is vitally important. Rather than turning them inwardly to our own personal detriment, or puking them up without thought or care onto innocent bystanders, we express them to God as openly and honestly as we can – we direct them upwards. It is by trusting these emotions to God and working through them with him, that we find potential healing and transformation.
PRAY AS YOU GO
O God, I bring before you my grief, hurt, pain and doubt. Help me to remember that I can trust you even with the very worst of these emotions and that I am not failing you when I struggle with them. Help me to trust you now and always in this. Amen.
FOCUS READING
Psalm 6:3-7
Be gracious to me, Lord, for I am languishing. Heal me Lord, for my bones are rattled. And you, Lord – how long? Turn, Lord, deliver my being! Save me for the sake of your covenant loyalty! For in death there is no remembrance of you. In Sheol, who gives thanks to you? I am exhausted with my groaning. I make my bed swim every night; with my tears I melt my mattress.
Today we will focus on the second misconception mentioned by Davis which is: That there is no place for despair or fear (or grief) in the Christian life.
Recently, a friend of mine told me that he had left the church he had been attending for many years, because they wouldn’t let him properly grieve his wife’s miscarriage. They kept insisting that he should ‘overcome’ and ‘claim his victory,’ but the problem was that he was just not ready for that. He needed time and space to properly cry and mourn a devastating event, and only then would he be able to move on.
The point here really is the same for anger - that to pretend our moments of grief, failure, sadness and depression are not there because we worry that to experience them is to lack faith is actually just fake, hollow and unreal. Faith in Jesus does not mean we live in bulletproof bubbles that life’s difficulties just bounce off. Faith is not just for good, happy and victorious moments, but also for moments when life goes pear-shaped and we are swamped by forces beyond our control.
The story of my friend reminds us that sometimes Christians seem to feel that there is no room in our faith for despair or fear. This is seen in many modern worship songs, where the majority of them express only feelings of joy and love. But what about the other darker sides of life?
In stark contrast to this, Eugene Peterson estimates that about 70% of all Psalms in Scripture are actually laments. They are expressions of sadness, grief or downright doubt and disbelief in God and his plans to make this world a better place – like today’s focus reading which questions God’s presence and with deeply moving groans testifies that the Psalmist weeps so much every night that he ‘melts’ his mattress..
What is most fascinating about these Psalms of Lament is that they begin with tears but almost always end with thanksgiving. Yet they make this move without ever telling us that the external situation has changed for the better! In this way, they remind us that the peace and comfort of God’s presence can be found even amidst the worst of life’s troubles, and that we can praise God for that. But before we can do that with honestly and with integrity, we first have to move through the reality of our hurt and pain - we have to grieve and lament and doubt.
Again, just like with anger, the direction of these emotions is vitally important. Rather than turning them inwardly to our own personal detriment, or puking them up without thought or care onto innocent bystanders, we express them to God as openly and honestly as we can – we direct them upwards. It is by trusting these emotions to God and working through them with him, that we find potential healing and transformation.
PRAY AS YOU GO
O God, I bring before you my grief, hurt, pain and doubt. Help me to remember that I can trust you even with the very worst of these emotions and that I am not failing you when I struggle with them. Help me to trust you now and always in this. Amen.
FOCUS READING
Psalm 6:3-7
Be gracious to me, Lord, for I am languishing. Heal me Lord, for my bones are rattled. And you, Lord – how long? Turn, Lord, deliver my being! Save me for the sake of your covenant loyalty! For in death there is no remembrance of you. In Sheol, who gives thanks to you? I am exhausted with my groaning. I make my bed swim every night; with my tears I melt my mattress.
Dissolving Snails
DAILY BYTE
Let’s begin with the first misconception mentioned yesterday, that ‘God does not have any use for our anger.’
There is so much in life to get angry about, including cruelty, injustice, disappointments, suffering, thoughtlessness, human arrogance and selfishness. The list could go on and on.
We all encounter situations where we grow angry, but many of us worry that such emotions are hugely inappropriate for a Jesus follower. So we bottle it up until eventually we can take it no more and explode (or implode). Sometimes we even turn our anger inwardly and use it as a hammer to batter ourselves into spiritual shape. Then our faith, in essence, becomes angry and there is probably nothing more dangerous in this world than an angry religious person.
But anger happens! It is a normal human emotion, and in itself is not sinful. For example, most of us can remember the incident where Jesus became very angry as he cleansed the Temple (see John 2. 13-17). Blocking and bottling our anger – pretending that it isn’t there by ignoring it – means that we are just not being true to ourselves.
Perhaps God would rather have us deal with our anger differently and to learn to express this very normal human emotion in a way that is both healthy and proactive. In this the Psalms can be an excellent guide. Psalm 58, for example, (see today’s focus reading), quite literally smokes and steams at the seams as it calls on God to dissolve enemies like snails on a hot road.
Although we may find these words embarrassing because they express a violence that is not consistent with the Jesus way, we need to remember the movement of the Psalms. Remember that they are prayers moving from us to God, not the other way around. So they are in no way revelations of a violent and hateful God, but rather they reflect something of the violence, hatred and fear that does exist within many human hearts.
Ellen Davis reminds us of two important considerations when it comes to angry Psalms like this, (known as Cursing Psalms). Firstly, that the Psalmist is always empty handed. Note that the Psalmist is never intent on carrying out this violence for themselves, but rather asks God to do it.
Secondly, Davis points out that expressing our rage to God is a healthy way of finding healing and of being able to move beyond blind rage. She tells the story of being betrayed by a friend in seminary, and being left incredibly hurt and angry. One of her professors advised her to shout out some of these Cursing Psalms in chapel at night (or other times when she was alone). Davis records that after a few nights of doing this, her own loud rantings began to sound a little different in her ears, and that she began to detect notes of self-righteousness and pettiness in them.
The Psalms remind us that God can handle our anger and disappointment – that he would rather have us be real about these emotions than live in pointless denial. The lesson of the Psalms is to direct this anger to God rather than puking it up all over others, and then to allow God to slowly transform us. God redirects our anger by helping us to begin being creatively involved in changing what angers us rather than contributing further to cycles of violence and hatred.
PRAY AS YOU GO
O Great God of love, there are many examples of injustice and uncaring in this world that should make us angry. Lead us in a way of ‘holy’ anger - to bring our emotions before you in a way that helps us become creatively involved in changing what is wrong rather than further contributing to it. Amen
FOCUS READING
Psalm 58: 6-8a (NRSV)
O God, break the teeth in their mouths; tear out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD! Let them vanish like water that runs away; like grass let them be trodden down and wither. Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime; like the untimely birth that never sees the sun.
Let’s begin with the first misconception mentioned yesterday, that ‘God does not have any use for our anger.’
There is so much in life to get angry about, including cruelty, injustice, disappointments, suffering, thoughtlessness, human arrogance and selfishness. The list could go on and on.
We all encounter situations where we grow angry, but many of us worry that such emotions are hugely inappropriate for a Jesus follower. So we bottle it up until eventually we can take it no more and explode (or implode). Sometimes we even turn our anger inwardly and use it as a hammer to batter ourselves into spiritual shape. Then our faith, in essence, becomes angry and there is probably nothing more dangerous in this world than an angry religious person.
But anger happens! It is a normal human emotion, and in itself is not sinful. For example, most of us can remember the incident where Jesus became very angry as he cleansed the Temple (see John 2. 13-17). Blocking and bottling our anger – pretending that it isn’t there by ignoring it – means that we are just not being true to ourselves.
Perhaps God would rather have us deal with our anger differently and to learn to express this very normal human emotion in a way that is both healthy and proactive. In this the Psalms can be an excellent guide. Psalm 58, for example, (see today’s focus reading), quite literally smokes and steams at the seams as it calls on God to dissolve enemies like snails on a hot road.
Although we may find these words embarrassing because they express a violence that is not consistent with the Jesus way, we need to remember the movement of the Psalms. Remember that they are prayers moving from us to God, not the other way around. So they are in no way revelations of a violent and hateful God, but rather they reflect something of the violence, hatred and fear that does exist within many human hearts.
Ellen Davis reminds us of two important considerations when it comes to angry Psalms like this, (known as Cursing Psalms). Firstly, that the Psalmist is always empty handed. Note that the Psalmist is never intent on carrying out this violence for themselves, but rather asks God to do it.
Secondly, Davis points out that expressing our rage to God is a healthy way of finding healing and of being able to move beyond blind rage. She tells the story of being betrayed by a friend in seminary, and being left incredibly hurt and angry. One of her professors advised her to shout out some of these Cursing Psalms in chapel at night (or other times when she was alone). Davis records that after a few nights of doing this, her own loud rantings began to sound a little different in her ears, and that she began to detect notes of self-righteousness and pettiness in them.
The Psalms remind us that God can handle our anger and disappointment – that he would rather have us be real about these emotions than live in pointless denial. The lesson of the Psalms is to direct this anger to God rather than puking it up all over others, and then to allow God to slowly transform us. God redirects our anger by helping us to begin being creatively involved in changing what angers us rather than contributing further to cycles of violence and hatred.
PRAY AS YOU GO
O Great God of love, there are many examples of injustice and uncaring in this world that should make us angry. Lead us in a way of ‘holy’ anger - to bring our emotions before you in a way that helps us become creatively involved in changing what is wrong rather than further contributing to it. Amen
FOCUS READING
Psalm 58: 6-8a (NRSV)
O God, break the teeth in their mouths; tear out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD! Let them vanish like water that runs away; like grass let them be trodden down and wither. Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime; like the untimely birth that never sees the sun.
The Gift of the Psalms
DAILY BYTE
The Psalms are a tremendous gift to us because they continually remind us of the importance of being real.
The Psalm’s are prayers that are filled with raw anger, grief and frightened doubts all crazily mixed up with wild praises and statements of joyful trust. There are parts of the Psalms that are so raw and real, that frankly they embarrass us. We leave out large chunks of them in our church readings because we find them so unsettling.
Yet, perhaps this is precisely the value of the Psalms. For remember they are prayers that point not to the nature of God, but the reality of human souls, and in so doing they expose those areas we lack reality and integrity.
The biblical scholar, Professor Ellen Davis, in writing on the Psalms said the following: “you cannot have an intimate relationship with someone to whom you cannot speak honestly – that is, someone to whom we cannot show our ugly side, or those large clay feet of ours.”
Honest, unguarded speaking is essential to the health of any close relationship, including, of course, our relationship with God. As Jesus reminded us in yesterday’s focus reading, God is looking for those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in worship.
Ellen Davis points out that we seem to have three major misconceptions in life which prevent us from expressing ourselves fully to God. These are as follows:
“1. God does not have any use for our anger.
2. There is no place for despair or fear in the Christian life.
3. You must never, ever be mad at God.”
It is largely because of misconceptions like these that many of us do not feel, think, move and PRAY more honestly and thus more deeply before God.
Over the next three days, we will be looking more closely at each of these misconceptions in turn as a means of resisting their effect on our own spirituality.
PRAY AS YOU GO
God of Truth, thank you for the honest witness of the Psalms – help me journey to a more intimate relationship with you as I seek to be more simply and honestly myself before you. Amen.
FOCUS VERSE
Psalm 51. 6 NRSV
You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
The Psalms are a tremendous gift to us because they continually remind us of the importance of being real.
The Psalm’s are prayers that are filled with raw anger, grief and frightened doubts all crazily mixed up with wild praises and statements of joyful trust. There are parts of the Psalms that are so raw and real, that frankly they embarrass us. We leave out large chunks of them in our church readings because we find them so unsettling.
Yet, perhaps this is precisely the value of the Psalms. For remember they are prayers that point not to the nature of God, but the reality of human souls, and in so doing they expose those areas we lack reality and integrity.
The biblical scholar, Professor Ellen Davis, in writing on the Psalms said the following: “you cannot have an intimate relationship with someone to whom you cannot speak honestly – that is, someone to whom we cannot show our ugly side, or those large clay feet of ours.”
Honest, unguarded speaking is essential to the health of any close relationship, including, of course, our relationship with God. As Jesus reminded us in yesterday’s focus reading, God is looking for those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in worship.
Ellen Davis points out that we seem to have three major misconceptions in life which prevent us from expressing ourselves fully to God. These are as follows:
“1. God does not have any use for our anger.
2. There is no place for despair or fear in the Christian life.
3. You must never, ever be mad at God.”
It is largely because of misconceptions like these that many of us do not feel, think, move and PRAY more honestly and thus more deeply before God.
Over the next three days, we will be looking more closely at each of these misconceptions in turn as a means of resisting their effect on our own spirituality.
PRAY AS YOU GO
God of Truth, thank you for the honest witness of the Psalms – help me journey to a more intimate relationship with you as I seek to be more simply and honestly myself before you. Amen.
FOCUS VERSE
Psalm 51. 6 NRSV
You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
Karl Marx and Religion
DAILY BYTE
Karl Marx is fixed in most people’s minds for his famous quote that “religion is the opiate of the masses”. Basically, Marx was saying that religion creates illusory fantasies for people, especially, he believed, the poor: That the economic realities of the poor prevent them from finding true happiness in this life, and so religion plays the role of convincing them this was ok because they would be assured of happiness in another life to come.
So like opium, religion only serves to dull and drug people. And of course we should not forget that an opiate drug fails to actually heal an injury, it merely helps one to forget the pain and suffering. Similarly, Marx (and let it be said many, many others), believe religion does not fix the underlying causes of people’s suffering, instead it only helps people forget why they are suffering and gets them to look forward to an imaginary future when all pain would cease.
Frankly, Marx has a valid point.
Religion, with Christianity among them, HAS often done this. Throughout the history of the church, we have a times taught a version of Christianity that is very pie-in-the-sky, and tending to be escapist, unreal and irrelevant. BUT (and this is a very big but), this is NOT the faith the Bible teaches! No, the faith that Jesus lived, died for and lived for again is meant to awaken us to life as it really is – to sharpen our senses, to help us feel more not less, to love more, to be more.
The faith Jesus brought is meant to resurrect us.
There is nothing more alive and real than God! Jesus, for example, when he walked on earth became hungry, thirsty, angry, tearful, afraid and sad. We may want to use religion to escape life’s tougher realities, but Jesus knew nothing of that.
We may want to use religion to hide behind, as a way of pretending that our own uglier realities are not really there, but the faith the Bible reveals knows nothing of that. For the danger is when we allow our faith to become all pie-in-the-sky, then it becomes nothing more than hollow sentimentality, pious masquerades and dangerous falsities.
And we become less real in the process.
In what ways might Christ be challenging you to be more real about your faith? In what ways might your faith be awakening you to more of life?
PRAY AS YOU GO
God of Life, I ask that you would resurrect me daily. Awaken me to my life as it really is, expose me where I am being false and deceitful. Help to live both freely and fully in the grace of your healing truth. Amen.
FOCUS READING
John 4: 23-24 (MSG)
It's who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That's the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.
Karl Marx is fixed in most people’s minds for his famous quote that “religion is the opiate of the masses”. Basically, Marx was saying that religion creates illusory fantasies for people, especially, he believed, the poor: That the economic realities of the poor prevent them from finding true happiness in this life, and so religion plays the role of convincing them this was ok because they would be assured of happiness in another life to come.
So like opium, religion only serves to dull and drug people. And of course we should not forget that an opiate drug fails to actually heal an injury, it merely helps one to forget the pain and suffering. Similarly, Marx (and let it be said many, many others), believe religion does not fix the underlying causes of people’s suffering, instead it only helps people forget why they are suffering and gets them to look forward to an imaginary future when all pain would cease.
Frankly, Marx has a valid point.
Religion, with Christianity among them, HAS often done this. Throughout the history of the church, we have a times taught a version of Christianity that is very pie-in-the-sky, and tending to be escapist, unreal and irrelevant. BUT (and this is a very big but), this is NOT the faith the Bible teaches! No, the faith that Jesus lived, died for and lived for again is meant to awaken us to life as it really is – to sharpen our senses, to help us feel more not less, to love more, to be more.
The faith Jesus brought is meant to resurrect us.
There is nothing more alive and real than God! Jesus, for example, when he walked on earth became hungry, thirsty, angry, tearful, afraid and sad. We may want to use religion to escape life’s tougher realities, but Jesus knew nothing of that.
We may want to use religion to hide behind, as a way of pretending that our own uglier realities are not really there, but the faith the Bible reveals knows nothing of that. For the danger is when we allow our faith to become all pie-in-the-sky, then it becomes nothing more than hollow sentimentality, pious masquerades and dangerous falsities.
And we become less real in the process.
In what ways might Christ be challenging you to be more real about your faith? In what ways might your faith be awakening you to more of life?
PRAY AS YOU GO
God of Life, I ask that you would resurrect me daily. Awaken me to my life as it really is, expose me where I am being false and deceitful. Help to live both freely and fully in the grace of your healing truth. Amen.
FOCUS READING
John 4: 23-24 (MSG)
It's who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That's the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.
Friday 18 September 2009
The Mary and Martha in all of us
DAILY BYTE
Mary and Martha were sisters living in the same house; they were part of the same household which meant a great deal more than it does in our overly individualistic society today. In so many ways both are part of the same essential spiritual experience.
Mary and Martha live within each one of us. Martha was busy, active, worried and distracted, and as a result tended to be more than a little self-preoccupied. This contributed to her feeling somewhat of a victim and becoming resentful of her sister Mary, who felt free to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen in contemplation – Mary, who in this situation was more open and receptive.
In this sense, the two sisters are not simply two different personalities; rather they represent two different dimensions of each of us. My life gets out of balance all the time. I get busy, stressed, harried, harassed, worried and frazzled; and it’s like God reminds me then, “But you are missing the ONE thing – harmony – the busier you are the MORE you need to take the time out to listen to me and to allow me to direct the course of your day.”
So perhaps we all need less pie charts, lists, and organisational flow diagrams, and maybe we just need more of the ONE thing – to spend more time listening to God.
Listen carefully and you may begin to hear it too – the beat and rhythm of God’s heart, God’s love and God’s purpose in this world. Yes, it beats also in your world, and may you seek to live in harmony with that.
PRAYER
O Lord I hand over to you all my worries and concerns, trusting in your guidance and care. Help me to live in closer harmony with the beat of your purpose and will in this world. Amen.
READING
Luke 10: 38-42
Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”
Mary and Martha were sisters living in the same house; they were part of the same household which meant a great deal more than it does in our overly individualistic society today. In so many ways both are part of the same essential spiritual experience.
Mary and Martha live within each one of us. Martha was busy, active, worried and distracted, and as a result tended to be more than a little self-preoccupied. This contributed to her feeling somewhat of a victim and becoming resentful of her sister Mary, who felt free to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen in contemplation – Mary, who in this situation was more open and receptive.
In this sense, the two sisters are not simply two different personalities; rather they represent two different dimensions of each of us. My life gets out of balance all the time. I get busy, stressed, harried, harassed, worried and frazzled; and it’s like God reminds me then, “But you are missing the ONE thing – harmony – the busier you are the MORE you need to take the time out to listen to me and to allow me to direct the course of your day.”
So perhaps we all need less pie charts, lists, and organisational flow diagrams, and maybe we just need more of the ONE thing – to spend more time listening to God.
Listen carefully and you may begin to hear it too – the beat and rhythm of God’s heart, God’s love and God’s purpose in this world. Yes, it beats also in your world, and may you seek to live in harmony with that.
PRAYER
O Lord I hand over to you all my worries and concerns, trusting in your guidance and care. Help me to live in closer harmony with the beat of your purpose and will in this world. Amen.
READING
Luke 10: 38-42
Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”
The One Thing
DAILY BYTE
At the risk of oversimplifying the Mary and Martha story, what is the one thing that Mary is doing that Martha is not? What is the ‘one thing’ that we have to figure out about this story?
Well, at its core this is a story about listening. Yes, listening! That is the one thing Mary was doing that Martha was not ... listening. On Tuesday, we spoke about how the central idea to holding together all the many demands of our busy lifestyles was not balance but harmony. Well, you don’t need to be a musician to know that you cannot harmonise unless you carefully listen!
The one thing! It’s not reading self-help books or listening to CD’s on time management (although they certainly can help). Instead, the most important thing we can do is found our lives upon a discipline of careful listening to God, because that listening is what brings our hearts and lives INTO balance. It harmonises us with the beat and rhythm of God’s purposes in this world.
In other words, when we listen carefully to God on a daily basis, we find where he most wants us to be – where God most wants us to expend our energy and presence. God may be constantly changing our priorities according to his greater work, and surely the most balanced way to be is to carefully listen to where exactly God may be desiring us to focus. For a certain season, God may want us to direct as much time as possible towards our families, or our work, or just to take more time off.
This way of life acknowledges that God is not himself contained in just one section of our lives, but rather that God directs and affects every part of who we are.
If listening carefully to God’s direction becomes a part of our daily rhythms, we will find ourselves living in harmony with the beat of God in our lives.
PRAY AS YOU GO
O God, help me to create the space in my life to listen more carefully to you. Speak to me, Almighty God, and direct my paths. Amen.
FOCUS READING
Deuteronomy 6 : 4-9
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
At the risk of oversimplifying the Mary and Martha story, what is the one thing that Mary is doing that Martha is not? What is the ‘one thing’ that we have to figure out about this story?
Well, at its core this is a story about listening. Yes, listening! That is the one thing Mary was doing that Martha was not ... listening. On Tuesday, we spoke about how the central idea to holding together all the many demands of our busy lifestyles was not balance but harmony. Well, you don’t need to be a musician to know that you cannot harmonise unless you carefully listen!
The one thing! It’s not reading self-help books or listening to CD’s on time management (although they certainly can help). Instead, the most important thing we can do is found our lives upon a discipline of careful listening to God, because that listening is what brings our hearts and lives INTO balance. It harmonises us with the beat and rhythm of God’s purposes in this world.
In other words, when we listen carefully to God on a daily basis, we find where he most wants us to be – where God most wants us to expend our energy and presence. God may be constantly changing our priorities according to his greater work, and surely the most balanced way to be is to carefully listen to where exactly God may be desiring us to focus. For a certain season, God may want us to direct as much time as possible towards our families, or our work, or just to take more time off.
This way of life acknowledges that God is not himself contained in just one section of our lives, but rather that God directs and affects every part of who we are.
If listening carefully to God’s direction becomes a part of our daily rhythms, we will find ourselves living in harmony with the beat of God in our lives.
PRAY AS YOU GO
O God, help me to create the space in my life to listen more carefully to you. Speak to me, Almighty God, and direct my paths. Amen.
FOCUS READING
Deuteronomy 6 : 4-9
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
Harmony
DAILY BYTE
I absolutely love the story of Mary and Martha. I know it is often pulled out and dusted off whenever it comes to a sermon on balance, but would like to contend that this story proposes a far greater truth to us than just balance.
Scripture proposes a way of life that is far deeper and less dependent on a multitude of circumstance being frantically juggled as we attempt to keep them in line with our plans. As a matter of fact, the way of life Scripture proposes to us transcends balance – in other words, it includes balance but is also MORE than it.
What the story of Mary and Martha proposes to us is actually harmony. Allow me to explain:
The story takes place in a normal, average home – because isn’t the home almost always the place where a lack of balance is most keenly felt? Jesus had arrived with his disciples, meaning that there were a minimum of 13 people, probably more, around for dinner. According to the strict hospitality code of the day, great honour would be lost to the household if their guests were not properly wined and dined.
Which is exactly what Martha set about doing, and if we look at our traditional notions of balance, (remember the pie chart from yesterday), Martha was probably the most balanced person in the whole story! She was diligently fulfilling the different sections of her life, she was getting the work done, and she probably was planning at the appropriate time to settle down and listen to what Jesus had to say. Everything in its proper place and time after all.
Clearly, however, Martha was missing out on something important. So what was it? Well, Martha feels bitter that she is the only one working hard, and so she goes to Jesus with this complaint and he replies, “Martha, Martha...” (the double repetition is typical of a mild rebuke), “you are worried and distracted about many things, there is need of only one thing ...”
It strikes me that finding out what Jesus means by that ONE THING is really important.
In the movie ‘City Slickers,’ a group of successful city men in the midst of mid-life crises, go on a holiday cattle drive – a real cowboy experience. Curley is the grizzled old cowboy who when conversing with the main character, Mitch, says the following:
“You city folks. You spend 50 weeks a year getting knots in your rope and you think two weeks here will work them all out. You just don’t get it. All that’s important in life is that one thing.”
Mitch queries, “What thing?”
To which Curley replies, “That’s what you have to figure out.”
We will be looking more carefully at this mysterious ‘one thing’ tomorrow. In the mean time pray the following prayer.
PRAY AS YOU GO
O Great God of love, I want to bring to you everything in my life that confuses and distracts me from what is truly important. Help to keep my eyes firmly focused upon you in all things. Amen
FOCUS READING
Hebrews 12 : 2-3
Let us fix our eyes up Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
I absolutely love the story of Mary and Martha. I know it is often pulled out and dusted off whenever it comes to a sermon on balance, but would like to contend that this story proposes a far greater truth to us than just balance.
Scripture proposes a way of life that is far deeper and less dependent on a multitude of circumstance being frantically juggled as we attempt to keep them in line with our plans. As a matter of fact, the way of life Scripture proposes to us transcends balance – in other words, it includes balance but is also MORE than it.
What the story of Mary and Martha proposes to us is actually harmony. Allow me to explain:
The story takes place in a normal, average home – because isn’t the home almost always the place where a lack of balance is most keenly felt? Jesus had arrived with his disciples, meaning that there were a minimum of 13 people, probably more, around for dinner. According to the strict hospitality code of the day, great honour would be lost to the household if their guests were not properly wined and dined.
Which is exactly what Martha set about doing, and if we look at our traditional notions of balance, (remember the pie chart from yesterday), Martha was probably the most balanced person in the whole story! She was diligently fulfilling the different sections of her life, she was getting the work done, and she probably was planning at the appropriate time to settle down and listen to what Jesus had to say. Everything in its proper place and time after all.
Clearly, however, Martha was missing out on something important. So what was it? Well, Martha feels bitter that she is the only one working hard, and so she goes to Jesus with this complaint and he replies, “Martha, Martha...” (the double repetition is typical of a mild rebuke), “you are worried and distracted about many things, there is need of only one thing ...”
It strikes me that finding out what Jesus means by that ONE THING is really important.
In the movie ‘City Slickers,’ a group of successful city men in the midst of mid-life crises, go on a holiday cattle drive – a real cowboy experience. Curley is the grizzled old cowboy who when conversing with the main character, Mitch, says the following:
“You city folks. You spend 50 weeks a year getting knots in your rope and you think two weeks here will work them all out. You just don’t get it. All that’s important in life is that one thing.”
Mitch queries, “What thing?”
To which Curley replies, “That’s what you have to figure out.”
We will be looking more carefully at this mysterious ‘one thing’ tomorrow. In the mean time pray the following prayer.
PRAY AS YOU GO
O Great God of love, I want to bring to you everything in my life that confuses and distracts me from what is truly important. Help to keep my eyes firmly focused upon you in all things. Amen
FOCUS READING
Hebrews 12 : 2-3
Let us fix our eyes up Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Balance Problems
DAILY BYTE
John Ortberg has the following to say regarding the topic of balance:
“’Balance’ tends to carry with it the notion that we are trying to make our lives more manageable, more convenient, more pleasant. After all, we ultimately decide for ourselves what balance looks like. At a deeper level, the paradigm of balance simply doesn’t capture the sense of compelling urgency worthy of human devotion. It is largely a middle-class pursuit.
The quest for balance lacks the notion that life is to be given to something bigger than ourselves. It lacks the call to sacrifice and self-denial – the wild, risky, costly, adventurous abandon of following Jesus. Ask hungry children in Somalia if they want to help you achieve balance, and you will discover that they were hoping for something more from you. And I believe that, deep down, you are probably hoping for something more from yourself.
So is God. Jesus never said, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves, take up their cross and lead a balanced life.’ He said to follow him. He wants us to do what he would do if he were in our place.”
So perhaps the answer to our culture’s incredible busyness is NOT balance. It does need to be made very clear, however, that neither is unbalanced living the answer.
There used to be a saying among hyperactive preachers: “I’d rather flame out than rust out.” The problem with this is that either way, they’re out. Once we’re out, it doesn’t matter much how we got there.
So what is the answer? Is there another angle to all of this, a transcending truth? Well, we are given some key insights into the struggles of balance and imbalance in the story of Mary and Martha (see focus verse). Read through these verses carefully, and jot down any insights you have as we will be wrestling with this Scripture for the rest of this week.
PRAY AS YOU GO
Lord God, open the eyes of my heart to this passage of Scripture. Help me to see beyond the obvious, and may the grace-filled truths of this story inspire me to follow you more closely. Amen.
FOCUS VERSE
Luke 10: 38-42
Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”
John Ortberg has the following to say regarding the topic of balance:
“’Balance’ tends to carry with it the notion that we are trying to make our lives more manageable, more convenient, more pleasant. After all, we ultimately decide for ourselves what balance looks like. At a deeper level, the paradigm of balance simply doesn’t capture the sense of compelling urgency worthy of human devotion. It is largely a middle-class pursuit.
The quest for balance lacks the notion that life is to be given to something bigger than ourselves. It lacks the call to sacrifice and self-denial – the wild, risky, costly, adventurous abandon of following Jesus. Ask hungry children in Somalia if they want to help you achieve balance, and you will discover that they were hoping for something more from you. And I believe that, deep down, you are probably hoping for something more from yourself.
So is God. Jesus never said, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves, take up their cross and lead a balanced life.’ He said to follow him. He wants us to do what he would do if he were in our place.”
So perhaps the answer to our culture’s incredible busyness is NOT balance. It does need to be made very clear, however, that neither is unbalanced living the answer.
There used to be a saying among hyperactive preachers: “I’d rather flame out than rust out.” The problem with this is that either way, they’re out. Once we’re out, it doesn’t matter much how we got there.
So what is the answer? Is there another angle to all of this, a transcending truth? Well, we are given some key insights into the struggles of balance and imbalance in the story of Mary and Martha (see focus verse). Read through these verses carefully, and jot down any insights you have as we will be wrestling with this Scripture for the rest of this week.
PRAY AS YOU GO
Lord God, open the eyes of my heart to this passage of Scripture. Help me to see beyond the obvious, and may the grace-filled truths of this story inspire me to follow you more closely. Amen.
FOCUS VERSE
Luke 10: 38-42
Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”
A Balancing Act
DAILY BYTE
Have you ever noticed how hard it is to achieve a balanced lifestyle? First up, you have to ensure that you get enough sleep – that’s about 8 hours of your day gone straight away. Then you have to fit in good hygiene, sensible eating and a natty dressy sense, all on top of work or studies and the many other daily commitments we seem to have.
But I haven’t even finished yet because then we still need to fit in some exercise, although I’ve always loved Winston Churchill’s comment that the only exercise he ever got was serving as a pallbearer for all his friends who died while exercising.
The point is that life can be so relentlessly demanding and busy that it is easy to lose all sense of perspective. Balance seems impossible. Recently, a journalist wrote an article on this, and interviewed experts in various different fields such as physical fitness, vocational life, relationships, sleep and so on.
All of these experts were asked to list how much time a person needs to devote in their particular area to just get by ... not to be a master in it, but the bare minimum. How much time do we actually need to sleep? What time should we be devoting to our career? How much exercise do we need to sustain these busy lifestyles?
Well, the journalist totaled all those amounts, and they added up to 40 hours per day! Experts tell us that is the minimum amount of time we need to spend just to get by! This is why life sometimes seems like one big balancing act – an act that we never quite get right.
Which is why the business of finding life balance is actually big business! Motivational speakers, lifestyle mentors and time management consultants all make lots of money telling us how to achieve balance in our busy, busy lives. (And you know they have balance because they can afford to hire good help!)
But is a balanced lifestyle actually the key to a better life that we all seem to think it is? In fact, biblically speaking, balance is not actually an adequate goal to devote our lives to.
This is because the quest for balance can contribute to a tendency to compartmentalise our faith. Often a balanced life is pictured as a pie chart with live divided into 7 or 8 slices, with one labeled ‘financial,’ another ‘vocational,’ and so on, with one of those slices being reserved for ‘spiritual.’
This kind of thinking encourages us to see matters like finances or work as ‘non-spiritual’ activities. It blinds us to the fact that God is intensely interested in every moment and activity. It limits and restricts God.
This is why we will spend the rest of this week investigating the topic of balance from a faith perspective. We will be considering whether Scripture offers us another perspective in terms of managing our daily stress and busyness.
PRAY AS YOU GO
Gracious God, I ask that you would guide me into a clearer understanding of what it means to be ‘balanced’ by you. I ask that you would speak to me, guide me and shape me. Amen.
FOCUS READING
Psalm 118 : 8 NRSV
It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in mortals.
Have you ever noticed how hard it is to achieve a balanced lifestyle? First up, you have to ensure that you get enough sleep – that’s about 8 hours of your day gone straight away. Then you have to fit in good hygiene, sensible eating and a natty dressy sense, all on top of work or studies and the many other daily commitments we seem to have.
But I haven’t even finished yet because then we still need to fit in some exercise, although I’ve always loved Winston Churchill’s comment that the only exercise he ever got was serving as a pallbearer for all his friends who died while exercising.
The point is that life can be so relentlessly demanding and busy that it is easy to lose all sense of perspective. Balance seems impossible. Recently, a journalist wrote an article on this, and interviewed experts in various different fields such as physical fitness, vocational life, relationships, sleep and so on.
All of these experts were asked to list how much time a person needs to devote in their particular area to just get by ... not to be a master in it, but the bare minimum. How much time do we actually need to sleep? What time should we be devoting to our career? How much exercise do we need to sustain these busy lifestyles?
Well, the journalist totaled all those amounts, and they added up to 40 hours per day! Experts tell us that is the minimum amount of time we need to spend just to get by! This is why life sometimes seems like one big balancing act – an act that we never quite get right.
Which is why the business of finding life balance is actually big business! Motivational speakers, lifestyle mentors and time management consultants all make lots of money telling us how to achieve balance in our busy, busy lives. (And you know they have balance because they can afford to hire good help!)
But is a balanced lifestyle actually the key to a better life that we all seem to think it is? In fact, biblically speaking, balance is not actually an adequate goal to devote our lives to.
This is because the quest for balance can contribute to a tendency to compartmentalise our faith. Often a balanced life is pictured as a pie chart with live divided into 7 or 8 slices, with one labeled ‘financial,’ another ‘vocational,’ and so on, with one of those slices being reserved for ‘spiritual.’
This kind of thinking encourages us to see matters like finances or work as ‘non-spiritual’ activities. It blinds us to the fact that God is intensely interested in every moment and activity. It limits and restricts God.
This is why we will spend the rest of this week investigating the topic of balance from a faith perspective. We will be considering whether Scripture offers us another perspective in terms of managing our daily stress and busyness.
PRAY AS YOU GO
Gracious God, I ask that you would guide me into a clearer understanding of what it means to be ‘balanced’ by you. I ask that you would speak to me, guide me and shape me. Amen.
FOCUS READING
Psalm 118 : 8 NRSV
It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in mortals.
The Act of Binding
DAILY BYTE
At the end of this long week, you might be asking the vital question: Does God’s mercy and love mean that we have permission to relax while evil and hatred and violence exist within us and around us?
Well, the British philosopher and statesman, Edmund Burke, said (pardon the gendered language): “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
No - the parable in Matthew 13 does not call for passivity. It calls for a very active attention to: growth. It says, if you want to play your part in God’s kingdom, you must struggle to grow in the face of very difficult challenges. Why is it that when we’re children, we itch to grow up, but when we’ve finally grown up, we get skittish about breaking out of our comfort zones and growing some more?
Growing requires us to persevere through storms and droughts and floods, accepting the sun and rain and manure. Soaking it up with our bodies and our roots so that we can be strengthened to look inside of ourselves and around ourselves and instead of judging and rejecting the evil and hurt we find there, asking God, how can you transform this for your glory? And, how can I be a part of that transformation?
I think perhaps the greatest miracle in this parable, beyond even the abundant grace and loving hope that God shows in nurturing all of our growth is that at end of the parable, when we assume that the weeds get burned, it doesn’t actually say they are burned.
It says they are bound to be burned. In the Greek, the same word for bind means to beg for or “pray.”
These strangling, poisoning weeds that have grown up alongside the good are at the end gathered up and bound in prayer.
Maybe it is a prayer begging God for creativity for how those weeds might be transformed, redeemed, and used for God’s glory. Perhaps, as the preacher Barbara Brown Taylor suggests, the weeds are turned into bricks to fuel the fire to bake the wheat bread.
Perhaps, this is where the real call to gospel action lies for us within this parable. We are called to grow through actively praying.
Prayer may seem like it accomplishes nothing because we rarely get to see the results – and we don’t see the results in this parable – we never find out what really happens to the weeds. But, it seems we are called to bind all the evil in the world and in ourselves up in prayer, asking God to transform it, redeem it, and help it to contribute to our growth, as we strive to become more like Jesus.
So, as we continue to confront the Saddam Husseins of the world and within ourselves, we ask this question: Are we releasing judgment to God and instead, are we - are you - binding every evil within yourself and in the world up in prayer?
FOCUS TEXT
Matthew 13:30 (NRSV)
‘Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'"
PRAY AS YOU GO
Binding God, You constantly draw us to yourself, holding us close and desiring growth and life for us. Help us to pray, binding the whole world - even the darkest corners of our own souls - up in Your loving embrace. Transform every evil around us and within us so that we will flourish and bring Your life to the world. We pray this in the name of Jesus, who taught us how to pray. Amen.
At the end of this long week, you might be asking the vital question: Does God’s mercy and love mean that we have permission to relax while evil and hatred and violence exist within us and around us?
Well, the British philosopher and statesman, Edmund Burke, said (pardon the gendered language): “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
No - the parable in Matthew 13 does not call for passivity. It calls for a very active attention to: growth. It says, if you want to play your part in God’s kingdom, you must struggle to grow in the face of very difficult challenges. Why is it that when we’re children, we itch to grow up, but when we’ve finally grown up, we get skittish about breaking out of our comfort zones and growing some more?
Growing requires us to persevere through storms and droughts and floods, accepting the sun and rain and manure. Soaking it up with our bodies and our roots so that we can be strengthened to look inside of ourselves and around ourselves and instead of judging and rejecting the evil and hurt we find there, asking God, how can you transform this for your glory? And, how can I be a part of that transformation?
I think perhaps the greatest miracle in this parable, beyond even the abundant grace and loving hope that God shows in nurturing all of our growth is that at end of the parable, when we assume that the weeds get burned, it doesn’t actually say they are burned.
It says they are bound to be burned. In the Greek, the same word for bind means to beg for or “pray.”
These strangling, poisoning weeds that have grown up alongside the good are at the end gathered up and bound in prayer.
Maybe it is a prayer begging God for creativity for how those weeds might be transformed, redeemed, and used for God’s glory. Perhaps, as the preacher Barbara Brown Taylor suggests, the weeds are turned into bricks to fuel the fire to bake the wheat bread.
Perhaps, this is where the real call to gospel action lies for us within this parable. We are called to grow through actively praying.
Prayer may seem like it accomplishes nothing because we rarely get to see the results – and we don’t see the results in this parable – we never find out what really happens to the weeds. But, it seems we are called to bind all the evil in the world and in ourselves up in prayer, asking God to transform it, redeem it, and help it to contribute to our growth, as we strive to become more like Jesus.
So, as we continue to confront the Saddam Husseins of the world and within ourselves, we ask this question: Are we releasing judgment to God and instead, are we - are you - binding every evil within yourself and in the world up in prayer?
FOCUS TEXT
Matthew 13:30 (NRSV)
‘Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'"
PRAY AS YOU GO
Binding God, You constantly draw us to yourself, holding us close and desiring growth and life for us. Help us to pray, binding the whole world - even the darkest corners of our own souls - up in Your loving embrace. Transform every evil around us and within us so that we will flourish and bring Your life to the world. We pray this in the name of Jesus, who taught us how to pray. Amen.
Thursday 17 September 2009
The Garden
DAILY BYTE
We’ve heard this week in the story of Saddam Hussein that wheat can look decidedly like weeds, just as weeds can look decidedly like wheat, depending on your perspective.
Weeds and wheat are mixed together in one field.
It can be distressing when it seems we can’t trust what our eyes see about others. One commentator named Herbert Lockyer says, “Many who are not the Lord’s yet resemble those who are: they go to church, pray, read the Bible like Christians, but are, alas, Christless.” But this distressed attitude makes me look around wondering which person looks good on the outside, but is, in fact, Christless…? It sews seeds of doubt and fear about who people are and who they claim to be, and it doesn’t inspire many great feelings of wanting to unite with these people who could actually be, well, Christian impostors!
This may be the interpretation some churches use, but I don’t believe cultivating such fear is the intention of the Gospel. I believe there is another intention imbedded in Jesus’ parables. When my mother was preparing for her fifty-fifth birthday, she was very ill and unable to go outside for walks in the gardens that she had spent years cultivating. So, while she was resting, I would go out and photograph pictures of all the flowers in the gardens and fields. As a gift, I created a booklet of scriptures about the earth and these photographs of all the plants she loved so much. And when I proudly presented it to her on her birthday, she flipped through, looked up at me and said with the voice of a true gardener, “You do realize that some of these plants are weeds…”
I smiled – because the truth was, I really couldn’t tell which ones were and which ones weren’t. I simply said that yes – I suppose some of them are, but they were growing in the field, and aren’t they beautiful?
Although God ultimately judges us – all of us – inside and out – this parable seems to tell us that God’s judgment is not a judgment founded on fear, but a judgment founded on deep love and care for us.
God allows the good and the bad to grow within each one of us, and he looks at it and says – you are beautiful children of God – and you’re so worth keeping that I can’t afford to lose one single one of you, no matter who you are or what you’ve done.
So, to recap the interpretation of the parable in Matthew 13 this week: We should not judge good people from evil ones – in fact – we cannot judge them because good and evil exist alongside each other within every one of us – and God, miraculously, loves us all the same.
Where do you see beauty within yourself? Within others?
FOCUS TEXT
James 2:12-13 (NRSV)
So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.
PRAY AS YOU GO
Loving God,
You judge our lives, looking on them with the deepest love the world has ever known. Help us to feel the depth of that love so that we will be able to share mercy and kindness with others. You see each one of us as a priceless, unique treasure. Train our eyesight so that we will see such beauty in one another. Amen.
We’ve heard this week in the story of Saddam Hussein that wheat can look decidedly like weeds, just as weeds can look decidedly like wheat, depending on your perspective.
Weeds and wheat are mixed together in one field.
It can be distressing when it seems we can’t trust what our eyes see about others. One commentator named Herbert Lockyer says, “Many who are not the Lord’s yet resemble those who are: they go to church, pray, read the Bible like Christians, but are, alas, Christless.” But this distressed attitude makes me look around wondering which person looks good on the outside, but is, in fact, Christless…? It sews seeds of doubt and fear about who people are and who they claim to be, and it doesn’t inspire many great feelings of wanting to unite with these people who could actually be, well, Christian impostors!
This may be the interpretation some churches use, but I don’t believe cultivating such fear is the intention of the Gospel. I believe there is another intention imbedded in Jesus’ parables. When my mother was preparing for her fifty-fifth birthday, she was very ill and unable to go outside for walks in the gardens that she had spent years cultivating. So, while she was resting, I would go out and photograph pictures of all the flowers in the gardens and fields. As a gift, I created a booklet of scriptures about the earth and these photographs of all the plants she loved so much. And when I proudly presented it to her on her birthday, she flipped through, looked up at me and said with the voice of a true gardener, “You do realize that some of these plants are weeds…”
I smiled – because the truth was, I really couldn’t tell which ones were and which ones weren’t. I simply said that yes – I suppose some of them are, but they were growing in the field, and aren’t they beautiful?
Although God ultimately judges us – all of us – inside and out – this parable seems to tell us that God’s judgment is not a judgment founded on fear, but a judgment founded on deep love and care for us.
God allows the good and the bad to grow within each one of us, and he looks at it and says – you are beautiful children of God – and you’re so worth keeping that I can’t afford to lose one single one of you, no matter who you are or what you’ve done.
So, to recap the interpretation of the parable in Matthew 13 this week: We should not judge good people from evil ones – in fact – we cannot judge them because good and evil exist alongside each other within every one of us – and God, miraculously, loves us all the same.
Where do you see beauty within yourself? Within others?
FOCUS TEXT
James 2:12-13 (NRSV)
So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.
PRAY AS YOU GO
Loving God,
You judge our lives, looking on them with the deepest love the world has ever known. Help us to feel the depth of that love so that we will be able to share mercy and kindness with others. You see each one of us as a priceless, unique treasure. Train our eyesight so that we will see such beauty in one another. Amen.
Wednesday 16 September 2009
Weeding
DAILY BYTE
The parable in Matthew 13 calls us this week not to judge who is evil, target them, and root them out, but it is for the good to live with the bad. This is a much more difficult challenge than trying to pinpoint evil and rid the world of it. The master says, if you weeded out the weeds from the wheat, you would uproot the wheat along with it. Somehow the good and the bad live entwined with one another, and that’s how it will stay, as it grows – until – it’s harvest time.
And there is a harvest time. There is a time when someone other than us – the story calls them reapers – experts purely at gathering in grain – decide what is wheat and what is weed. But, this is not ours to judge. That job is thankfully given to someone else. Because as this parable makes clear, if it were our job to judge weed from wheat, we would inevitably fail. Our eyesight is not that good. Our judgment is not so wise.
On Monday, I told you about a monster of a man. Today, hear another story about a man. His father disappeared six months before he was born in a small town to a family of shepherds. His brother died of cancer, and as a baby, he was shipped off to live with extended family until his mother remarried. His new stepfather abused him until he fled to live with his uncle at the age of 10, having been given no proper schooling. Under his uncle’s wing, he became involved in the cause his uncle believed in. He taught secondary school, married, and had five children but had to flee his country. After returning to his homeland and getting further involved in politics, his efforts in creating a modernized public health system were awarded by the United Nations. He also succeeded in diversifying the economy and mechanizing agriculture.
If you were told to choose between this man and the man we heard about at the beginning of the week – if one could be saved and the other one burned, which one would you save? This one, right? He has a family, has suffered and grieved deaths of loved ones. He experienced abuse, and yet he persevered to go on, working positively to help others build a nation. You’d choose him over the murderer and warmonger, right?
There’s only one problem. They are the same person. Both are Saddam Hussein. Both the terrorizing dictator who became for the world the embodiment of evil and also the abused child. The murderer and warmonger and the cultivator of Iraqi health and agriculture. You may be thinking – those good things about him can’t possibly be true – where do you have to scrounge to dig up such nonsense? But, sadly, it was easy. I am in no way condoning the ways he acted to destroy and harm many people. I had simply never looked for anything good in him before.
One who can seem so clearly evil – so definitely a weed that needs to be exterminated – upon hearing more of his story, can become much more complex and more difficult to identify. Perhaps there was wheat growing within him, as well.
Of course, this complexity is not confined to major world figures. The mix of weeds and wheat is alive in each one of us, if we can only confront it.
And so, this parable calls us to realize not only that we should not judge because that task is comfortingly left to another - but that we cannot - because in order to judge righteously, you must know the ins and outs of each molecule, every fiber, every bend from the wind that is found both in plants and in fellow human beings, and while we can try to learn one another’s stories (and we are called to try), we do not have eyes to see everything.
The weed that is described in this parable is a specific weed that looks virtually identical to wheat, especially when the plant is young. So, while it is risky to let the weeds grow because you don’t know how they will eventually affect the crop, it is also dangerous to try to choose between them because inevitably, you would weed out some of the wheat, as well.
Where do you see both weeds and wheat within yourself? How is God cultivating the good within you? How might you begin to look for the good in places and people that at first glance seem so clearly evil?
FOCUS READING
Matthew 13:28b-30a (NRSV)
The slaves said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them?' But he replied, 'No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest...
The parable in Matthew 13 calls us this week not to judge who is evil, target them, and root them out, but it is for the good to live with the bad. This is a much more difficult challenge than trying to pinpoint evil and rid the world of it. The master says, if you weeded out the weeds from the wheat, you would uproot the wheat along with it. Somehow the good and the bad live entwined with one another, and that’s how it will stay, as it grows – until – it’s harvest time.
And there is a harvest time. There is a time when someone other than us – the story calls them reapers – experts purely at gathering in grain – decide what is wheat and what is weed. But, this is not ours to judge. That job is thankfully given to someone else. Because as this parable makes clear, if it were our job to judge weed from wheat, we would inevitably fail. Our eyesight is not that good. Our judgment is not so wise.
On Monday, I told you about a monster of a man. Today, hear another story about a man. His father disappeared six months before he was born in a small town to a family of shepherds. His brother died of cancer, and as a baby, he was shipped off to live with extended family until his mother remarried. His new stepfather abused him until he fled to live with his uncle at the age of 10, having been given no proper schooling. Under his uncle’s wing, he became involved in the cause his uncle believed in. He taught secondary school, married, and had five children but had to flee his country. After returning to his homeland and getting further involved in politics, his efforts in creating a modernized public health system were awarded by the United Nations. He also succeeded in diversifying the economy and mechanizing agriculture.
If you were told to choose between this man and the man we heard about at the beginning of the week – if one could be saved and the other one burned, which one would you save? This one, right? He has a family, has suffered and grieved deaths of loved ones. He experienced abuse, and yet he persevered to go on, working positively to help others build a nation. You’d choose him over the murderer and warmonger, right?
There’s only one problem. They are the same person. Both are Saddam Hussein. Both the terrorizing dictator who became for the world the embodiment of evil and also the abused child. The murderer and warmonger and the cultivator of Iraqi health and agriculture. You may be thinking – those good things about him can’t possibly be true – where do you have to scrounge to dig up such nonsense? But, sadly, it was easy. I am in no way condoning the ways he acted to destroy and harm many people. I had simply never looked for anything good in him before.
One who can seem so clearly evil – so definitely a weed that needs to be exterminated – upon hearing more of his story, can become much more complex and more difficult to identify. Perhaps there was wheat growing within him, as well.
Of course, this complexity is not confined to major world figures. The mix of weeds and wheat is alive in each one of us, if we can only confront it.
And so, this parable calls us to realize not only that we should not judge because that task is comfortingly left to another - but that we cannot - because in order to judge righteously, you must know the ins and outs of each molecule, every fiber, every bend from the wind that is found both in plants and in fellow human beings, and while we can try to learn one another’s stories (and we are called to try), we do not have eyes to see everything.
The weed that is described in this parable is a specific weed that looks virtually identical to wheat, especially when the plant is young. So, while it is risky to let the weeds grow because you don’t know how they will eventually affect the crop, it is also dangerous to try to choose between them because inevitably, you would weed out some of the wheat, as well.
Where do you see both weeds and wheat within yourself? How is God cultivating the good within you? How might you begin to look for the good in places and people that at first glance seem so clearly evil?
FOCUS READING
Matthew 13:28b-30a (NRSV)
The slaves said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them?' But he replied, 'No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest...
Tuesday 15 September 2009
Getting Rid of Evil?
DAILY BYTE
It is our human tendency to want to root out evil. To live separate from it, to destroy it. Scholars writing about the Gospel of Matthew say that those writing and reading this were probably grappling with the same problem we are – how do we live as pure, faithful people of God when there is evil all around us?
Perhaps we should shut ourselves away, avoiding confronting evil. Perhaps we should ban evil things and people, or exterminate them. If we return to the parable for this week in Matthew 13, this is what the slaves wanted to do. They ask the master if they should go gather up the weeds! This seems like the logical thing to do. I spent most of my childhood weeding gardens, and if you have ever gardened or farmed, you know that if you don’t pay attention, plants get choked by weeds, and they cannot grow properly.
The specific weed that the Gospel is talking about is not just any weed – it is a weed that is known for choking off the roots of plants around it. And not only that, but if it is harvested along with the grain there is a danger that it will poison the flour. So, the slaves give the sensible response! Get rid of it. With glee we skip to the end of the parable and find that those nasty, choking weeds will justly be burned!
We use this as a gospel call, a holy war, a justification for our judgment of who should be saved and who should be damned. When we hear about ‘evil’ people, we say, now there’s someone who is beyond hope, someone who deserves a fate of burning in hell, and then we pick up the parable for today, we skim it and start rejoicing inside because it says there’s wheat, and then there are weeds. The wheat will get gathered up, and the weeds will be burned. In the end, some people will get what they deserve, and so we think we are justified in our contempt of them. Our hatred of weedy people becomes righteous.
The Gospel of Matthew interprets this parable just a few verses later, talking about those weeds being thrown into the furnace of fire with weeping and gnashing of teeth. Good gracious. Thank goodness I’m saved and not like those people because facing the fiery pits is really not what I hope for or expect when I die...
But, if we try to let the parables speak for themselves, there is an issue with the interpretation in Matthew. Because before the burning fire, the landowner allows the weeds to grow amongst the wheat. He allows the good to live with the bad, waiting for a time when the reapers would come and harvest.
The gospel parable seems to call us to something more complex than being easily satisfied that some people will be saved and some will be burned based on whether, or not, they’re evil.
How are good and evil coexisting in your life right now? How are you growing through it?
FOCUS READING
Matthew 13:26-29a (NRSV)
So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?' He answered, 'An enemy has done this.' The slaves said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them?' But he replied, 'No...’
It is our human tendency to want to root out evil. To live separate from it, to destroy it. Scholars writing about the Gospel of Matthew say that those writing and reading this were probably grappling with the same problem we are – how do we live as pure, faithful people of God when there is evil all around us?
Perhaps we should shut ourselves away, avoiding confronting evil. Perhaps we should ban evil things and people, or exterminate them. If we return to the parable for this week in Matthew 13, this is what the slaves wanted to do. They ask the master if they should go gather up the weeds! This seems like the logical thing to do. I spent most of my childhood weeding gardens, and if you have ever gardened or farmed, you know that if you don’t pay attention, plants get choked by weeds, and they cannot grow properly.
The specific weed that the Gospel is talking about is not just any weed – it is a weed that is known for choking off the roots of plants around it. And not only that, but if it is harvested along with the grain there is a danger that it will poison the flour. So, the slaves give the sensible response! Get rid of it. With glee we skip to the end of the parable and find that those nasty, choking weeds will justly be burned!
We use this as a gospel call, a holy war, a justification for our judgment of who should be saved and who should be damned. When we hear about ‘evil’ people, we say, now there’s someone who is beyond hope, someone who deserves a fate of burning in hell, and then we pick up the parable for today, we skim it and start rejoicing inside because it says there’s wheat, and then there are weeds. The wheat will get gathered up, and the weeds will be burned. In the end, some people will get what they deserve, and so we think we are justified in our contempt of them. Our hatred of weedy people becomes righteous.
The Gospel of Matthew interprets this parable just a few verses later, talking about those weeds being thrown into the furnace of fire with weeping and gnashing of teeth. Good gracious. Thank goodness I’m saved and not like those people because facing the fiery pits is really not what I hope for or expect when I die...
But, if we try to let the parables speak for themselves, there is an issue with the interpretation in Matthew. Because before the burning fire, the landowner allows the weeds to grow amongst the wheat. He allows the good to live with the bad, waiting for a time when the reapers would come and harvest.
The gospel parable seems to call us to something more complex than being easily satisfied that some people will be saved and some will be burned based on whether, or not, they’re evil.
How are good and evil coexisting in your life right now? How are you growing through it?
FOCUS READING
Matthew 13:26-29a (NRSV)
So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?' He answered, 'An enemy has done this.' The slaves said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them?' But he replied, 'No...’
Friday 11 September 2009
The Kingdom of Heaven
DAILY BYTE
In his play, The Tempest, Shakespeare wrote: “Hell is empty, and all the devils are here.” So, this week, as we launch into a confusing parable, I’ll tell you a little about a man who I think you would agree has been one of the devils in the world’s midst. He was involved in an assassination attempt of his country’s leader. He was directly responsible for the execution of over 22 people. His stranglehold on power meant that he ran and operated a security force that sought out, tortured, and executed anyone who opposed him. He oversaw a war that left over one million people dead and others severely injured, and he was eventually indicted for crimes against humanity, including the murder of 148 people and the torture of women and children.
Of course such a man is a monster.
But people like this exist in the world – and have – for as long as history can remember. And so, we ask the eternal question: why does such evil exist, and where does it come from?
Read today a part of a parable from the Gospel of Matthew that is often used to answer such questions: "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away” (NRSV).
If we look at the parable, we see that an enemy comes in the night and sews weeds among the wheat, and we think – ah!! Satan sneaks in and plants evil all around us when we can’t see Him. Often, this is the church’s response to evil. However, when we look at the text, we run into a problem. The word the Gospel of Matthew uses here is not the word we traditionally use for Satan – ho satan, and it’s not the word we translate as devil – ho diabolos. Instead, it’s the word for enemy we find earlier in Matthew Chapter 5 – where it says, “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
Love your enemies. It doesn’t say who they are or what they’re called – it simply says to love them because they exist and because they, too, are children of God.
And so, in this parable, we find that someone has planted the right seed, and someone else, an enemy whom we are supposed to love, has planted weeds.
How might this change the way you look at other people in God’s kingdom? How might you respond to people you consider to be monsters, evildoers, or enemies, if they live alongside you, and you are called to love them?
How might this change the world so that it looks more like the beautiful kingdom of heaven that God desires for us?
FOCUS READING
Matthew 13:24-26 (NIV)
Jesus told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
In his play, The Tempest, Shakespeare wrote: “Hell is empty, and all the devils are here.” So, this week, as we launch into a confusing parable, I’ll tell you a little about a man who I think you would agree has been one of the devils in the world’s midst. He was involved in an assassination attempt of his country’s leader. He was directly responsible for the execution of over 22 people. His stranglehold on power meant that he ran and operated a security force that sought out, tortured, and executed anyone who opposed him. He oversaw a war that left over one million people dead and others severely injured, and he was eventually indicted for crimes against humanity, including the murder of 148 people and the torture of women and children.
Of course such a man is a monster.
But people like this exist in the world – and have – for as long as history can remember. And so, we ask the eternal question: why does such evil exist, and where does it come from?
Read today a part of a parable from the Gospel of Matthew that is often used to answer such questions: "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away” (NRSV).
If we look at the parable, we see that an enemy comes in the night and sews weeds among the wheat, and we think – ah!! Satan sneaks in and plants evil all around us when we can’t see Him. Often, this is the church’s response to evil. However, when we look at the text, we run into a problem. The word the Gospel of Matthew uses here is not the word we traditionally use for Satan – ho satan, and it’s not the word we translate as devil – ho diabolos. Instead, it’s the word for enemy we find earlier in Matthew Chapter 5 – where it says, “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
Love your enemies. It doesn’t say who they are or what they’re called – it simply says to love them because they exist and because they, too, are children of God.
And so, in this parable, we find that someone has planted the right seed, and someone else, an enemy whom we are supposed to love, has planted weeds.
How might this change the way you look at other people in God’s kingdom? How might you respond to people you consider to be monsters, evildoers, or enemies, if they live alongside you, and you are called to love them?
How might this change the world so that it looks more like the beautiful kingdom of heaven that God desires for us?
FOCUS READING
Matthew 13:24-26 (NIV)
Jesus told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
Friday 4 September 2009
The Last Laugh
DAILY BYTE
Sarah’s laugh, founded as it was upon suspicion and despair, did not have the last laugh.
A couple of chapters later in Genesis, Sarah does indeed give birth to a child which she names Isaac or ‘Yitzak’ which means ... (wait for it) ... ‘he laughs’!
God was incarnated in a human moment yet again! Sarah’s laughter was transformed from suspicion to holy joy because she saw that there were indeed angels in every tree and that God was in every moment, and his promises could be relied upon despite the evil that is prevalent.
‘But wait,’ I hear you thinking, ‘it was easy enough for Sarah to be joyous when her prayers had been answered.’
Did you know, though, that from the time the first promise was made to Abraham and Sarah, she waited about 25 years before she first heard the shrill sound of her own infant’s cry?
What about those then, who right now, are living within the scope of those 25 years? Who are living in the barrenness of seemingly unanswered prayers and living in lands filled with immediate pain and despair?
This story teaches us that living in wonder and hope, the RIGHT kind of wonder and hope, will ALWAYS give birth to new life within us – just like it did for Sarah. This life may surprise us, it may not be exactly as we prayed for, it may not be quite what we expected, but we WILL give birth to life.
That is the promise of God – we will know life. That’s what we need to open our eyes and hearts to.
I remember when I was little and saw some street clowns performing on a busy city street. A big crowd had gathered around them, and I was too short to see what was going on. My father hoisted me up onto his shoulders so that I could see the clowns in action.
It’s like divine promises put us up on God’s shoulders, so that we can see past the barriers of our living.
That promise is no matter how dark events can become, no matter how much evil seems present, no matter how much barrenness seems to dominate – that nothing is too hard or wonderful for God.
Hope will not disappoint and there will always be God-life poured into every situation. So don’t give up, don’t despair, and certainly don’t narrow your eyes with suspicion – rather open them wide because God is alive and on the move through the world!
PRAY AS YOU GO
God of Hope and Wonder, we pray that as we live in hope and trust that you would give birth to new life within us. Help us to be open to that life and what it may mean for us. Even if we are living within Sarah’s 25 year period of seemingly unanswered prayers, help us not to lose faith but to stand upon your shoulders. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
FOCUS READING
Genesis 21 : 1-7 MSG
GOD visited Sarah exactly as he said he would; GOD did to Sarah what he promised: Sarah became pregnant and gave Abraham a son in his old age, and at the very time God had set. Abraham named him Isaac. When his son was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him just as God had commanded. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born. Sarah said, “God has blessed me with laughter and all who get the news will laugh with me!” She also said, “Whoever would have suggested to Abraham that Sarah would one day nurse a baby! Yet here I am! I've given the old man a son!”
Sarah’s laugh, founded as it was upon suspicion and despair, did not have the last laugh.
A couple of chapters later in Genesis, Sarah does indeed give birth to a child which she names Isaac or ‘Yitzak’ which means ... (wait for it) ... ‘he laughs’!
God was incarnated in a human moment yet again! Sarah’s laughter was transformed from suspicion to holy joy because she saw that there were indeed angels in every tree and that God was in every moment, and his promises could be relied upon despite the evil that is prevalent.
‘But wait,’ I hear you thinking, ‘it was easy enough for Sarah to be joyous when her prayers had been answered.’
Did you know, though, that from the time the first promise was made to Abraham and Sarah, she waited about 25 years before she first heard the shrill sound of her own infant’s cry?
What about those then, who right now, are living within the scope of those 25 years? Who are living in the barrenness of seemingly unanswered prayers and living in lands filled with immediate pain and despair?
This story teaches us that living in wonder and hope, the RIGHT kind of wonder and hope, will ALWAYS give birth to new life within us – just like it did for Sarah. This life may surprise us, it may not be exactly as we prayed for, it may not be quite what we expected, but we WILL give birth to life.
That is the promise of God – we will know life. That’s what we need to open our eyes and hearts to.
I remember when I was little and saw some street clowns performing on a busy city street. A big crowd had gathered around them, and I was too short to see what was going on. My father hoisted me up onto his shoulders so that I could see the clowns in action.
It’s like divine promises put us up on God’s shoulders, so that we can see past the barriers of our living.
That promise is no matter how dark events can become, no matter how much evil seems present, no matter how much barrenness seems to dominate – that nothing is too hard or wonderful for God.
Hope will not disappoint and there will always be God-life poured into every situation. So don’t give up, don’t despair, and certainly don’t narrow your eyes with suspicion – rather open them wide because God is alive and on the move through the world!
PRAY AS YOU GO
God of Hope and Wonder, we pray that as we live in hope and trust that you would give birth to new life within us. Help us to be open to that life and what it may mean for us. Even if we are living within Sarah’s 25 year period of seemingly unanswered prayers, help us not to lose faith but to stand upon your shoulders. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
FOCUS READING
Genesis 21 : 1-7 MSG
GOD visited Sarah exactly as he said he would; GOD did to Sarah what he promised: Sarah became pregnant and gave Abraham a son in his old age, and at the very time God had set. Abraham named him Isaac. When his son was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him just as God had commanded. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born. Sarah said, “God has blessed me with laughter and all who get the news will laugh with me!” She also said, “Whoever would have suggested to Abraham that Sarah would one day nurse a baby! Yet here I am! I've given the old man a son!”
The RIGHT Kind of Joy
DAILY BYTE
I find Christians like Dietrich Boenhoffer and Alexander Solzhenitsyn fascinating, because they managed to find the ‘second naiveté’ we discussed yesterday, even in the midst of prisons and concentration camps.
Under brutal regimes and tremendous suffering they decided not to allow those experiences to narrow their eyes, but instead chose to widen them in wonder. They used their Incarnational Imaginations! When you learn to live with a sense of wonder rather than suspicion, it is my conviction that you will then learn what true joy is.
Dietrich Boenhoffer was part of a group of German people who refused to swear allegiance to Hitler during the dark times of World War 2. A period of history I would guess that was much darker than the present struggles we face.
This refusal landed Boenhoffer in prison and eventually got him hung just before the war ended. In 1942 he wrote the following words to a group of friends:
“Dear Brethren, in order to awaken you to the RIGHT kind of joy in serious times, we must first list those who been killed since I last wrote.”
The right kind of joy?! That statement fascinates me. The RIGHT kind of wonder, the right way to view and interpret the world around us.
Boenhoffer went onto explain what he meant:
“The kind of joy that I am talking about is not something that is artificially worked up, conjured up or is demanded of us, but it is a gift freely given. Joy dwells in God. Joy is a part of God and comes from Him, possessing spirit, soul and body. Once His joy has grasped a person it grows and carries them away, it throws open closed doors.”
In these days, we need the right kind of joy more than ever. Not the kind of joy that we have to manufacture for ourselves, but the kind of joy that comes from God and which we find by tapping into him and which throws open closed doors and widens eyes previously narrowed in suspicion.
This final quote from Boenhoffer powerfully sums up everything that we have been discussing so far this week:
“The joy of God has been through the poverty of the manger, and the affliction of the cross, therefore it is indestructible, irrefutable. It does not deny affliction when it is there, but it finds in the very midst of distress that God is there. It looks death in the face, and it is just there that it finds life.”
PRAY AS YOU GO
O’ God, joy is a fundamental part of your nature and character, it is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Thank-you that we don’t have to artificially work up joy, but find it just by throwing open the doors of our lives to you. We ask that you will fill us with the right kind of joy for these serious times. Amen.
FOCUS READING
Romans 5:1-2 (The Message)
By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us ...set us right with him, make us fit for him ...we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that's not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God's grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.
I find Christians like Dietrich Boenhoffer and Alexander Solzhenitsyn fascinating, because they managed to find the ‘second naiveté’ we discussed yesterday, even in the midst of prisons and concentration camps.
Under brutal regimes and tremendous suffering they decided not to allow those experiences to narrow their eyes, but instead chose to widen them in wonder. They used their Incarnational Imaginations! When you learn to live with a sense of wonder rather than suspicion, it is my conviction that you will then learn what true joy is.
Dietrich Boenhoffer was part of a group of German people who refused to swear allegiance to Hitler during the dark times of World War 2. A period of history I would guess that was much darker than the present struggles we face.
This refusal landed Boenhoffer in prison and eventually got him hung just before the war ended. In 1942 he wrote the following words to a group of friends:
“Dear Brethren, in order to awaken you to the RIGHT kind of joy in serious times, we must first list those who been killed since I last wrote.”
The right kind of joy?! That statement fascinates me. The RIGHT kind of wonder, the right way to view and interpret the world around us.
Boenhoffer went onto explain what he meant:
“The kind of joy that I am talking about is not something that is artificially worked up, conjured up or is demanded of us, but it is a gift freely given. Joy dwells in God. Joy is a part of God and comes from Him, possessing spirit, soul and body. Once His joy has grasped a person it grows and carries them away, it throws open closed doors.”
In these days, we need the right kind of joy more than ever. Not the kind of joy that we have to manufacture for ourselves, but the kind of joy that comes from God and which we find by tapping into him and which throws open closed doors and widens eyes previously narrowed in suspicion.
This final quote from Boenhoffer powerfully sums up everything that we have been discussing so far this week:
“The joy of God has been through the poverty of the manger, and the affliction of the cross, therefore it is indestructible, irrefutable. It does not deny affliction when it is there, but it finds in the very midst of distress that God is there. It looks death in the face, and it is just there that it finds life.”
PRAY AS YOU GO
O’ God, joy is a fundamental part of your nature and character, it is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Thank-you that we don’t have to artificially work up joy, but find it just by throwing open the doors of our lives to you. We ask that you will fill us with the right kind of joy for these serious times. Amen.
FOCUS READING
Romans 5:1-2 (The Message)
By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us ...set us right with him, make us fit for him ...we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that's not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God's grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.
A Hermeneutics of Wonder
DAILY BYTE
“I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah will have a child.”
Sarah, now an old woman, hears this incredible statement and laughs to herself. Her laughter exposes her hopelessness, it reveals that she can’t help but interpret all of life now through a veil of misgiving.
“Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?”
This riposte to her laughter overwhelms her laughter and rocks the wariness of her worldview. This question demands an answer – of Sarah, but also of us.
If we answer yes to this question, then the world is shut down, the universe is closed, and God is no longer God: benevolent, maybe; kindly and concerned, perhaps; but as powerless as we are in the face of evil. God becomes static, stuck on a throne somewhere but not really involved and present.
For you see, if we live with a hermeneutics of suspicion then what we are really doing is lacking in Incarnational Imagination! In Incarnational Envisioning. This type of envisioning is core to the Gospel – the belief that God became, no, that God becomes flesh and blood and moves into the neighbourhood of our lives (See John 1 in the Message translation).
Jesus is Immanuel – God WITH us. This world is as Dallas Willard describes – ‘God bathed and God permeated.’ We seem to have no problem in seeing demons behind every bush and evil at every turn and this always manages to make headlines and find the front pages of our newspapers, as well as our minds and hearts.
But instead of looking for demons behind bushes, perhaps we should spend more time gazing at the angels living in the trees.
As Richard Rohr says, “We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.” If you want to spend your life looking for evil in everything you surely will find it, but there is just as much goodness and truth and beauty in this world. There are angels in every tree and perhaps it is time that we started opening our eyes to that as well.
For what if instead of living with a hermeneutics of suspicion, we started to read and interpret our experiences with a sense of wonder? If we answered the question posed to Sarah – ‘Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?’ – by saying an emphatic ‘No,’ then we and the world we live in are in God’s hands and the possibilities are endless. God is radically free to keep his promises despite the odds against them.
If living with a hermeneutics of suspicion, with narrowed eyes correspondingly narrows our worlds down, then it is equally true to say that living with a hermeneutics of wonder, with our eyes opened wide in Incarnational Envisioning, seeing angels in every tree and endless God-possibilities around every corner, then surely our worlds will be opened as wide as the heavens as well?
This is not denying the existence of evil, hurt or hardship. It is just not allowing them to control the way we view the world.
As Paul Ricouer says we need to live with a ‘second naiveté’ – a seasoned and weathered determination to view God’s world with childlike delight despite the difficulties that certainly do exist.
PRAY AS YOU GO
Gracious God, may you help us to live with this type of ‘second naiveté’ – to be able to Incarnationally Envision you in every possibility and in every challenge. Amen.
FOCUS READING
Genesis 18 : 14a NRSV
“Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?”
“I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah will have a child.”
Sarah, now an old woman, hears this incredible statement and laughs to herself. Her laughter exposes her hopelessness, it reveals that she can’t help but interpret all of life now through a veil of misgiving.
“Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?”
This riposte to her laughter overwhelms her laughter and rocks the wariness of her worldview. This question demands an answer – of Sarah, but also of us.
If we answer yes to this question, then the world is shut down, the universe is closed, and God is no longer God: benevolent, maybe; kindly and concerned, perhaps; but as powerless as we are in the face of evil. God becomes static, stuck on a throne somewhere but not really involved and present.
For you see, if we live with a hermeneutics of suspicion then what we are really doing is lacking in Incarnational Imagination! In Incarnational Envisioning. This type of envisioning is core to the Gospel – the belief that God became, no, that God becomes flesh and blood and moves into the neighbourhood of our lives (See John 1 in the Message translation).
Jesus is Immanuel – God WITH us. This world is as Dallas Willard describes – ‘God bathed and God permeated.’ We seem to have no problem in seeing demons behind every bush and evil at every turn and this always manages to make headlines and find the front pages of our newspapers, as well as our minds and hearts.
But instead of looking for demons behind bushes, perhaps we should spend more time gazing at the angels living in the trees.
As Richard Rohr says, “We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.” If you want to spend your life looking for evil in everything you surely will find it, but there is just as much goodness and truth and beauty in this world. There are angels in every tree and perhaps it is time that we started opening our eyes to that as well.
For what if instead of living with a hermeneutics of suspicion, we started to read and interpret our experiences with a sense of wonder? If we answered the question posed to Sarah – ‘Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?’ – by saying an emphatic ‘No,’ then we and the world we live in are in God’s hands and the possibilities are endless. God is radically free to keep his promises despite the odds against them.
If living with a hermeneutics of suspicion, with narrowed eyes correspondingly narrows our worlds down, then it is equally true to say that living with a hermeneutics of wonder, with our eyes opened wide in Incarnational Envisioning, seeing angels in every tree and endless God-possibilities around every corner, then surely our worlds will be opened as wide as the heavens as well?
This is not denying the existence of evil, hurt or hardship. It is just not allowing them to control the way we view the world.
As Paul Ricouer says we need to live with a ‘second naiveté’ – a seasoned and weathered determination to view God’s world with childlike delight despite the difficulties that certainly do exist.
PRAY AS YOU GO
Gracious God, may you help us to live with this type of ‘second naiveté’ – to be able to Incarnationally Envision you in every possibility and in every challenge. Amen.
FOCUS READING
Genesis 18 : 14a NRSV
“Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?”
Sarah Laughed!
DAILY BYTE
Really, it is no wonder that Sarah laughed. She had lived with her barrenness until she was old and gray, and so the promise of a child must have seemed ridiculous. Evil and death are so prominent in our world, and sometimes God’s promises seem so far away that they are just about impossible.
The hard experiences we face in life teach us to read and interpret our experiences with some degree of suspicion. We all know that children aren’t born like that.
In South Africa today, we are struggling not to interpret all our experiences with a great deal of scepticism. “How could it possible get worse?” people are asking each other with rising interest rates, crime rates, and food prices. Then of course we are also struggling with the effects of xenophobia, morally fudged leadership, seemingly shaky infrastructures and the implosion of our neighbour Zimbabwe.
There is a lot of pain and hurt happening causing much frustration and also creating a hermeneutics of suspicion throughout our land. Like when Eskom stopped load-shedding, the rumour that went around was because the major power dealers all had shares in generator companies and now that their stocks had soared through the roof, they could stop the load shedding!
A hermeneutics of suspicion indeed.
The problem with living like this is, as Eugene Peterson once said: “If we narrow our eyes in suspicion, then the world is correspondingly narrowed down around us.”
If we read and interpret all of our experiences with suspicion, then our worlds will shrink down around us, as will our faith, and probably our souls along with it.
For as Peterson writes elsewhere: “The moment that we allow evil to control our imaginations, dictate the way we think, and shape our responses, we at the same time become incapable of seeing the good and the true and the beautiful.”
Is this true for you?
PRAY AS YOU GO
Loving Lord, I ask that you would point out to me exactly how and where I may have been living with this hermeneutics of suspicion. Show me the areas of life that I need to bring to you for healing and renewal. Amen.
FOCUS VERSE
Genesis 18 : 11-15 NRSV
Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have grown old, my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?” ” The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son.” But Sarah denied, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. He said, “Oh yes, you did laugh.”
Really, it is no wonder that Sarah laughed. She had lived with her barrenness until she was old and gray, and so the promise of a child must have seemed ridiculous. Evil and death are so prominent in our world, and sometimes God’s promises seem so far away that they are just about impossible.
The hard experiences we face in life teach us to read and interpret our experiences with some degree of suspicion. We all know that children aren’t born like that.
In South Africa today, we are struggling not to interpret all our experiences with a great deal of scepticism. “How could it possible get worse?” people are asking each other with rising interest rates, crime rates, and food prices. Then of course we are also struggling with the effects of xenophobia, morally fudged leadership, seemingly shaky infrastructures and the implosion of our neighbour Zimbabwe.
There is a lot of pain and hurt happening causing much frustration and also creating a hermeneutics of suspicion throughout our land. Like when Eskom stopped load-shedding, the rumour that went around was because the major power dealers all had shares in generator companies and now that their stocks had soared through the roof, they could stop the load shedding!
A hermeneutics of suspicion indeed.
The problem with living like this is, as Eugene Peterson once said: “If we narrow our eyes in suspicion, then the world is correspondingly narrowed down around us.”
If we read and interpret all of our experiences with suspicion, then our worlds will shrink down around us, as will our faith, and probably our souls along with it.
For as Peterson writes elsewhere: “The moment that we allow evil to control our imaginations, dictate the way we think, and shape our responses, we at the same time become incapable of seeing the good and the true and the beautiful.”
Is this true for you?
PRAY AS YOU GO
Loving Lord, I ask that you would point out to me exactly how and where I may have been living with this hermeneutics of suspicion. Show me the areas of life that I need to bring to you for healing and renewal. Amen.
FOCUS VERSE
Genesis 18 : 11-15 NRSV
Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have grown old, my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?” ” The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son.” But Sarah denied, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. He said, “Oh yes, you did laugh.”
A Hermeneutics of Suspicion
DAILY BYTE
It’s about a decade now since I completed my last Biblical studies course at University. One of the ways that we were taught to read the Bible back then was with what is called a ‘Hermeneutics of Suspicion.’
Hermeneutics is a fancy way of describing how we read and interpret the Bible, and the basic idea behind a ‘Hermeneutics of Suspicion is that we were taught to have a healthy suspicion over everything that we read, especially if it claims any authority (like the Bible).
So we had to examine and cross-examine the text in an attempt to find any hidden agendas the author/s may have had in order to expose them. This is all well and good, and can be a very helpful way of reading the Bible but it is certainly not the best way. To grow in faith, we need to read with a sense of wonder and hope not suspicion.
Have you ever noticed though, that some people learn to read or interpret ALL of life with a ‘Hermeneutics of Suspicion’? Sometimes life’s hard experiences teach us to view everything with wariness that it just might kick us in the teeth.
This could well have been how Sarah learnt to live. Sarah (of Abraham and Sarah fame) lived in an age where society moulded their women to believe their entire self-worth, and very reason for being, was found in their ability to bear children, most specifically male heirs. Sarah had spent her life-time being unable to do so, probably struggling with her barrenness until it touched her very soul.
In today’s focus reading, a divine messenger promises children to Abraham and Sarah (this was not the first time this promise had been made to them). Only it seemed ridiculous to hear these promises when your womb was the wrong side of 90. And so Sarah laughed – a laugh of cynical suspicion borne out of a life-time of pain and hurt, of unanswered prayers and of battling the slow creep of despair.
Sarah’s laugh really sums up her own battle with a hermeneutics of suspicion. A battle that many of us probably share in, especially in today’s social climate.
This is why we will spend the rest of this week learning from Sarah’s story, in the hope that it will inspire the rest of us to learn to view life with something a great deal better than suspicion.
PRAY AS YOU GO
God of Life and Grace, we ask that you would use this week to open our hearts and minds to new ways of reading and interpreting our experiences. Help us to learn to see through your eyes. Amen.
FOCUS READING
Genesis 18 : 10-12 NRSV
They said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There in the tent.” Then one said, I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have grown old, my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?”
It’s about a decade now since I completed my last Biblical studies course at University. One of the ways that we were taught to read the Bible back then was with what is called a ‘Hermeneutics of Suspicion.’
Hermeneutics is a fancy way of describing how we read and interpret the Bible, and the basic idea behind a ‘Hermeneutics of Suspicion is that we were taught to have a healthy suspicion over everything that we read, especially if it claims any authority (like the Bible).
So we had to examine and cross-examine the text in an attempt to find any hidden agendas the author/s may have had in order to expose them. This is all well and good, and can be a very helpful way of reading the Bible but it is certainly not the best way. To grow in faith, we need to read with a sense of wonder and hope not suspicion.
Have you ever noticed though, that some people learn to read or interpret ALL of life with a ‘Hermeneutics of Suspicion’? Sometimes life’s hard experiences teach us to view everything with wariness that it just might kick us in the teeth.
This could well have been how Sarah learnt to live. Sarah (of Abraham and Sarah fame) lived in an age where society moulded their women to believe their entire self-worth, and very reason for being, was found in their ability to bear children, most specifically male heirs. Sarah had spent her life-time being unable to do so, probably struggling with her barrenness until it touched her very soul.
In today’s focus reading, a divine messenger promises children to Abraham and Sarah (this was not the first time this promise had been made to them). Only it seemed ridiculous to hear these promises when your womb was the wrong side of 90. And so Sarah laughed – a laugh of cynical suspicion borne out of a life-time of pain and hurt, of unanswered prayers and of battling the slow creep of despair.
Sarah’s laugh really sums up her own battle with a hermeneutics of suspicion. A battle that many of us probably share in, especially in today’s social climate.
This is why we will spend the rest of this week learning from Sarah’s story, in the hope that it will inspire the rest of us to learn to view life with something a great deal better than suspicion.
PRAY AS YOU GO
God of Life and Grace, we ask that you would use this week to open our hearts and minds to new ways of reading and interpreting our experiences. Help us to learn to see through your eyes. Amen.
FOCUS READING
Genesis 18 : 10-12 NRSV
They said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There in the tent.” Then one said, I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have grown old, my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?”
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