Be Still and Know

During the early years of my adult spiritual life the most difficult lesson for me to learn came from Psalm 46:10: “Be still and know that I am God” and it still gives me trouble. My mind is always generating thoughts that distract me from my quiet listening time in Prayer.

In the formative years of my spiritual life my prayers were all one sided. I told God what I wanted and said Amen. I wondered why my prayers were never answered. My problem, and it was MY problem, was that I was not paying attention when God was trying to answer.

I was a member of Hyde Park Christian church and was asked to teach the Jr. High boys Sunday school class. One series of lessons was on prayer and I was ill equipped to teach it. I met with the pastor and he gave me some books including a small one called: “Prayer A Conversation With God” and I went home to read. I taught the class using that little book. It said that prayer is a conversation and conversations are two way sharing. What a concept!

The last chapter was entitled: “Before you say amen, shut up and listen.”  That chapter changed my prayer life and the rest of my life. My call from God to the ministry came from my listening for that still small voice. The most difficult part for me was that being still in my head and truly listening. It was worth the discipline to finally have my prayers answered and develop a relationship with God during a two way conversation.

The Imperative Verb

"Follow Me!"

Have you ever, thought how often the first thing Jesus said to a person began with an imperative verb? A challenge to act was his way. So he spoke these words to Peter and Andrew to come and follow him. Take some action was his request to the servants at the marriage feast to fill the water pots, to the woman at the well to give him a drink, and the lame man to take up his bed and walk.

So many times Jesus said, "Follow Me!"

Even today, when we honestly come face to face with Jesus the Christ, he calls us to follow him. It is not just to believe but to follow. As we take action on his commands our insights of faith and our qualities of Christian character begin to grow. But these things only come after we commit to walk after him and take that first step on faith.

So many people clearly hear the call to follow Jesus. They believe in him but then hold back when it comes to actually following and taking action. They make excuses, often to themselves as much as to the Lord.

The Christian life will be a transforming experience for any person who determines to answer Christ's call to follow him and then take action to actually do it. The power of the Christian life is in the daily walk with Jesus. It will include acts of kindness and love along with the basic and simple act of good daily devotion, prayer, and humble obedience.

Jesus calls all of us to take Action. But so many people make excuses for not saying yes to Jesus. They want to put off the decision until the very last thing. Like  Emperor Constantine – the first Christian Roman Emperor who had a priest follow him around with orders to baptize him if he was about to die. Are you putting off taking the action that Jesus asked you to take?

BESOTTED

1.                         Besotted

As a sailor I knew the word “Besotted” to mean drunk past the point of self control. This besotted was the drunken sailor that had to be carried back aboard the ship and dumped in his rack. Sometimes the same word can mean two very different things and yet be connected.

Some years ago I began reading a series of science fiction books and in more than one of them the author referred to man who was totally besotted with love for a young woman. In looking up the word besotted I discovered that an alternate meaning was indeed “Strongly Infatuated.” A word like this having a second meaning was very interesting and I began to ponder its use. The author was clearly intending the word to mean much more than strongly infatuated and more like love beyond self control.

The idea of being drunk with love was appealing to me for I am besotted in that manner with my darling wife. I become more besotted with each passing year and it is a kind of intoxication for me. When she get home from work each day the whole house become alive with the light of her love and presence and I fall deeper in love with her. Yes I am totally besotted.

A True Beginning

How did we start our Lenten journey? By renewing the by-now-flagging New Year’s resolution, or adopting a self-improvement regimen? Maybe we chose to add some practice that we can endure for this 40 day period.  If so, we already may be dragging ourselves down the road, stumbling along, looking for markers to guide the way. Have we lost our way just as we got started?

Have you ever studied the blueprint a piece of property? You might have noticed a mark labeled ‘true point of beginning’. It is a surveying term that indicates the spot to which all other markings on that blueprint refer.  To read any dimension of the survey, you return to the ‘true point of beginning’ to get your bearings.

Psalm 143 is a prayer of King David that describes a true point of beginning for his life—and it might be one for ours, too.  As the prayers opens, David is in trouble. He had lost his bearings and feels overwhelmed by the pressures and demands—the ‘enemies’. He feels trapped and knows he is sinking fast.

So David stops and surveys his predicament. He is honest in his analysis of where he is and how he got there. And then David looks for the true point of beginning for his life:  his relationship with God. If he can find that point and re-orient himself—body, mind, and soul—he can find the right path, the right way to go.

David knows he needs more than a compass to point the way north so he can head out again.  Instead, he is looking for his place in the universe, and confesses that it is his dependence on and connection with God that will define his path.  Verse 10 is the marker that can keep him on the right way:  “Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God.”

A contemporary translation uses a phrasing that can be an orienting prayer: “Teach me how to live to please You”. It is a prayer to say through out the day—in a meeting, faced with a decision, in traffic, at home, when tired or angry, considering choices, in a difficult discussion, confronting a tough problem.

This prayer can re-connect us to two truths:  

1. Our true point of beginning is God. 

2. Only God’s opinion of us matters.  

By Any Other Name

Depending on which brand of Christian community you belong to you might use one of three words to describe one of the things we do in worship. Those words are; Eucharist, Communion, and Lord’s Supper. They are all describing the same thing but lifting up different aspects of our common meal.

“Eucharist” – This is a Greek word that simply means “thanksgiving” and refers to Jesus giving thanks during the institution of the meal as a sacred remembrance. In using this word we also share in our giving thanks to God for the greatest gift of Grace in the person of Jesus the Christ.

“Communion” – This word is a description of the Christian Community sharing a common meal of bread and wine as the body and blood of Jesus. It also is a description of sacred conversation between worshipers with God and each other. In Communion we focus on the divine presence in the meal.

“The Lord’s Supper” – In these words we recognize that Jesus is the owner of the table and the meal. While the physical table, bread and wine are provided by the congregation they belong to Christ and so do we.

These three theological expressions of the same event that is suppose to bring us together have often divided the church and even started wars and that to me is a great sadness. My prayer is that in this sacred meal all Christians may come together some day and give thanks in communion at the table of the Lord.

What Matters Today

There are things in life we cannot alter. We can try but it only leads to frustration. Mother Nature brings storms and violent actions that damage our living space and we can not stop that from happening. War happens and people we love die and we can not change that. Other people do things that cause us grief and we must deal with the fall out in our lives.

 

Things have happened in the past that affect us but they are beyond our repair. Until we recognize the reality of the past as it was and everyone in it as they were, the past will control us. If we let it all stand as history and simply let it be we can find peace with in us. Then we can create a peaceful now and a peaceful future. If we learn from the past we can keep from repeating the mistakes of the past and grow as a person and as a society.

 It is how we live out this day that affects our lives and the lives of those around us. Each choice in the now matters in our future so each point of change is under our control for that moment. So let us live each day to the fullest, loving God and loving others in each action we take. This is what matters today.

LENT 2013

It seems like it is way too soon but Wednesday February 13th marks the beginning of  the Church Season called "Lent" a time for preparing our selves for the events of Holy Week and the celebration of Resurrection Sunday. You will not find the word "lent" in the Bible nor is it a required observance in the Protestant tradition. It is however an opportunity for spiritual reflection and renewal.

This year my Lenten reflection is taking on a more personal and I hope a deeper spiritual journey. At all times it is my desire to faithfully fulfill God's call as my first priority. Every day I am spending additional time in listening prayers, times of silence and spiritual openness to the Holy Spirit. I ask that you also spend some time this Lent, listening for God's direction. Let Lent 2013 be a season of spiritual growth for you and the Christian Church you attend.