Spiritual Poverty

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:3)

Most of us Christian folk think ourselves to be much holier than we are. We point the finger at others, not realizing that the very things we see and despise in them reside in us. Yet others see it. And we wonder why we are labeled hypocrites. If we could just resist pointing out the wrong in others and trying to right the wrong in others, maybe we'd see the wrong, or as Jesus says, the plank in our own eyes. If we are to confront, we should do so gently and lovingly.

In no way should we expect unbelievers to act like Christians or believe what Christians believe. When they do or say things we wouldn't...that should come as no surprise. Show them Christ and let him Christianize them.

But O the day when we realize that we too are very much like those we perceive to be less mature than we are! Perhaps that is the day when spiritual poverty (humility, sense of weakness and reality--sober and accurate judgment of ourselves) will begin to reign in our lives.

Have you noticed that we thoroughly resist others when they point out our sins and shortcomings though they may be dead on?

Then again, once we do realize who we really are, we are tempted to fall into despair. But we need not. Let us see ourselves for who we are and beg for God's grace. In him, in our weakness, we are strongest. He is gracious to those who are humble. He resists the proud, not the humble.

We need Jesus desperately, Immanuel, God with us. We need the God who comes and is coming.

O Jesus, Son of the living God, have mercy on me a sinner. Amen.

Prepare For The God Who Comes - An Advent Meditation.

Luke 3:1-6

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert. He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: "A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all mankind will see God's salvation.' "

Originally posted December 6, 2009.

Prepare the Way for the Lord!

In ancient times, inhabitants of cities built wide, straight, smooth roads when kings were coming into the city. The king had to have a special entrance. Craig Barnes tells us that:

One of the most exciting archeological digs going on in Israel is in Beit Shean which is uncovering a great Roman City. If you go there today you can see the main entrance into the city which is a wide, straight, even road, with magnificent columns on either side. That city is located at the juncture of the Jezreel and Jericho valleys. John the Baptist must have been by it all the time. Anyone traveling from Galilee to Jerusalem would have seen it. Everyone knew that a long straight road was what you made when a king was coming.[1]

The Romans spent a lot of time building good roads so that they could expand their empire. Roads were used as trade routes, for foot travel, and to move armies from place to place. And as I said earlier, the best roads were built to welcome the royal entourage. It is said that at the height of the Roman Empire, there were 53,000 miles of good road.[2] Of course the roads fell into disrepair when the empire crumbled. But some of those ancient roads are still used today, although they’ve been paved and repaved over and over again.

During Advent, we wait in joyful expectation preparing for the God who comes, for the God who is always coming as Carlo Carretto so beautifully put it. We need God to come because we are inclined toward destruction. Left to ourselves we make straight paths crooked and smooth places rough. We throw booby traps onto the road, make pot-holes or manholes that people fall into and can’t climb out of. Left to ourselves, we cut paths that depart from the way, the truth, and life without even knowing it, ending up God-knows-where. Left to ourselves, we become destroyers of the road and destroyers of all who pass by—robbing them, beating them up and even killing them. We pollute. We corrupt. We devalue the valuable and value the worthless. So you see, we desperately need the God who comes and is always coming and will eventually come to redeem all things.

I love my husband and daughter infinitely, but at times I say and do things that can destroy, things that mar the beauty of our marriage and family. I cringe as I think about a time when words that I meant for good, had an evil effect in the church, on a friend, because I didn’t think more about how to say them. And you know, as Coldplay sings, sometimes I wonder if I am part of the cure or part of the disease, the destruction. So you see, I desperately need the God who comes, who is coming.

John the Baptist has been considered by some to be the last Old Testament prophet. Although he wasn’t the Messiah, he paved the way for Jesus the Messiah. He was filling religious valleys and excavating spiritual hills and mountains. But his road construction didn’t just affect and threaten the gospel-less religious institutions, his message paved socio-political and economic roads that some didn’t want paved. He both intrigued and threatened Herod in the political establishment. However, neither Herod nor his wife would allow John the Baptist to build inroads. So eventually he lost his head, beheaded on the road to Zion. Sometimes that happens when you make ready the pathways for the Lord. And God will reward those who sacrifice their lives to pave the way for his coming.

John the Baptist still speaks. He speaks to us in the words of Isaiah the prophet in Luke chapter three and calls us to prepare the way for the Lord, to make straight paths for him so that every valley is filled in, and every mountain and hill is made low. Then the crooked roads will become straight and the rough ways smooth. But we’re going to have a hard go of it, a hard time making straight paths for others if we are all crooked inside. And all of us are crooked in some way.

It is said that the phrase, “I am stumped” comes from back in the day when tree stumps were left on wagon trails.[3] Apparently, when the trees weren’t completely taken out, when stumps were left, sometimes wagons got hung up on a stump, thus the phrase, “I’m stumped.”[4] Are we stumping Christ, stumping others or are we currently stumped?

This Advent, Christ is knocking at the door of our hearts asking if he can come in to make the rough places in us smooth. Are we going to be hospitable to God? Are we going to allow him to get to work and fill in the valleys and bring low the hills and mountains in our souls so that we can do the same in the world? We must. For as Saint Teresa of Avila says (as quoted in A Guide To Prayer For Ministers and Other Servants):

Christ has
No body on earth but yours;
No hands but yours;
No feet but yours;
Yours are the eyes
Through which is to look out
Christ’s compassion on the world;
Yours are the feet
With which he is to go about
Doing good;
Yours are the hands
With which he is to bless now.[5]

Missing His Coming

We know Christ came, is coming and will come again, but we need to remind ourselves that it is possible to miss his coming. Many who looked forward to his coming, missed it because he came unexpectedly. Most of the educated religious people of his day missed it. And today, we can miss him because we’re too busy. Too busy paving our own roads while claiming to be doing his work. Notice that the word of God came to John the Baptist in the desert. The desert wilderness was a place where people went to hear God.[6] Sometimes God sends us into the wilderness to get us away from our busy lives, so that we can hear him. Sometimes, we have to pack up and head there ourselves if we are to hear him. What I mean is, we have to have silence and solitude to hear God. It could be in our rooms or in a park in the city. But we have to make time to hear him speak.

Why? Because our incessant busyness puts us in grave danger of missing Christ when he comes. We want to advance ourselves, sometimes in the church or in Christian institutions. So we miss him as we play church or play at Christianity. It is a very real danger. In Matthew 25, at the end of the age, when Jesus rewards those who were hospitable to him, who noticed him when he came, he says, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”[7] We can’t say, Oh Jesus, I wanted to, but I was too busy doing things (or paving my own roads) to welcome you when you came. He’ll tell us to depart, that we never knew him. May that never be for anyone here. May we not miss Jesus when he comes.

I close with a poem written by monk John L’Hereux reprinted in the book, Monk Habits For Everyday People by Dennis Okholm:

Christ came into my room
and stood there
and I was bored to death.
I had work to do.
I wouldn’t have minded
If he’d been crippled
Or something—I do well
With cripples—but he
Just stood there, all face,
And with that d—ned guitar.
I didn’t ask him to sit down:
He’d have stayed all day.
(Let’s be honest. You can
Be crucified just so often;
Then you’ve had it. I mean
You’re useless; no good
To God, let alone
Anybody else.) So I said
To him after a while—
Well, what’s up? What do you want?
And he laughed, stupid,
Said he was just passing by
And thought he’d say hello.
Great, I said, hello.
So he left.
And I was so d—ned mad
I couldn’t even listen
To the radio. I went
And got some coffee.
The trouble with Christ is
He always comes at the wrong time.[8]

Christ is coming this Advent, may we be prepared for his coming and pave the way for him to come into the lives and institutions and the world so that all humankind will see his salvation. Amen.

________________________________________________________
[1] Found online at: http://www.natpresch.org/sermon.php?d=1997-12-14%200000
[2] Found online at: http://www.triplenine.org/articles/roadbuilding.asp
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ruben P. Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide To Prayer For Ministers And Other Servants, (Nashville: Upper Room Books, 1983), 22.
[6] Found online at: http://www.natpresch.org/sermon.php?d=1997-12-14%200000
[7] Matthew 25:34-37 NIV.
[8] Dennis Okholm, Monk Habits For Everyday People: Benedictine Spirituality for Protestants, (Grand Rapids, Brazos Press, 2007), 88.

All This Jesus Talk . . .

"Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly." James 3:1

"Not many of you should become teachers" or seek to become teachers Saint James says. And I think to myself, "Am I seeking to become a teacher?" Not in the strictest sense. However, by writing and talking and living in the situations I do, I find myself in a tutorial position. And then at times I become self-conscious and tremble with a real fear. I see how far short of the glory of God I fall--how far short I fall of the very things I speak about (see Romans 3:23).

Should I not speak of such things then? For I do have the sneaking suspicion that I am going to fall under the category of those who will be judged more strictly. But then I think of all of us Christians who talk an awful lot and read an awful lot about Jesus, about his ways, about the Church, about our heavenly father.

We mistake our talk for a life lived (We're full of God-talk but quite God-less). In a sense, God cares not how much we talk about him. What he cares about is if our life is consistent with how we talk. And of course we need his grace for our life to match our words. But if our words far out pace the life of Christ in us, creating a large gap, we better rethink what we actually believe. Because we live what we actually believe, not what we think we believe.

I do tremble. And I pray, "God have mercy on me a sinner." My worst nightmare is to make God look bad because of how I live in my everyday common life. I do not want to misrepresent him in the mundane, even in the unseen--in my thoughts.

God have mercy on me a sinner. This day. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Fully Present? Living Incarnationally? CT Post

Here is something I wrote recently that was posted yesterday. This article highlights the question: What does it mean to live incarnationally, to be fully present to one another? Are you fully present to those around you? That is something I must ponder.

http://blog.christianitytoday.com/women/2010/12/virtual_flirting_comes_to_chri.html

God Doesn't Fly Off The Handle

"The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love." Psalm 103:8

Earlier this evening my daughter was being naughty. She wasn't listening. I was becoming frustrated, but trying to be patient. I was thinking about whether or not I should fight this or that battle with her (she is supremely strong-willed so every little thing can turn into a battle when she is on a roll) or whether I should chalk up some of her misbehavior to being tired. I wasn't really sure what to do.

 
And in the moment, in the midst of all this, I had the thought, "I am sure glad that God doesn't fly off the handle. I am glad God is patient and kind with me." The thought fueled my own patience; I wanted to be an icon of God even if she doesn't know that was my purpose.
 
Do we view God as someone who flies off the handle? Do we think him cruel--just waiting to pour out his wrath upon us at our very least trespass?
 
God does judge. Yes, he does. But he is patient and kind and makes a fair and righteous judgment. He delights in kindness, justice, and righteousness on the earth.
 
This is what the LORD says:

“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom
or the strong boast of their strength
or the rich boast of their riches,
but let the one who boasts boast about this:

that they have the understanding to know me,
that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,”
declares the LORD.

Remembering about how good God is to me,  how patient, and how kind he is...and how much he loves me, enables me to be more patient with my daughter and others close to me. Hopefully, it will allow her and others to be patient with me. God doesn't fly off the handle even if that is what we do.

Cold creeping in . . .

There is a cold advisory tonight for the region I live in:

...VERY COLD WIND CHILL...
UNSEASONABLY COLD TEMPERATURES COMBINED WITH WINDS OF 10 TO 20
MILES AN HOUR WILL RESULT IN LOW WIND CHILL READINGS THROUGH THE
NIGHT AND INTO THE MORNING. THE COLDEST WIND CHILL WILL RANGE FROM
AROUND ZERO TO 8 BELOW ZERO. PEOPLE VENTURING OUTDOORS SHOULD TAKE
APPROPRIATE PRECAUTIONS AGAINST THE COLD.

And I think of all the homeless people or those that don't have the wherewithal to heat their homes. Sometimes the warmest place for children is in school. The warmest place for an adult may be a convenience store, a grocery store, library, or restaurant. A snow day is so hard for some children because they go home to cold dwellings and no food.

Lets pray for them and for those in such need no matter where we live. And perhaps the Lord would now have us do something in one way or another. Are we doing what we can? We must now and throughout our lives.

Sometimes we think we have little to be thankful for when really we have so much.

May the God of peace and love protect you and be your refuge.
Blessings!

A Contemporary Testimony

All spheres of life --
family and friendship,
work and worship,
school and state,
play and art --
bear the wounds of our rebellion.

Sin is present everywhere--
in pride of race,
arrogance of nations,
abuse of the weak and helpless,
disregard for water, air, and soil,
destruction of living creatures,
slavery, murder, terror, war,
worship of false gods,
the  mistreatment of our bodies,
and our frantic efforts to escape reality.

We become victims of our own sin.

In all our striving to excuse ourselves,

we stand condemned

before the God of truth.

But our world,

broken and scarred,

still belongs to God,

who holds it together and gives us hope.

Contemporary Testimony from the Christian Reformed Church 16,17