Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Jesus Offers Us Living Water.

Are you publicly traded?
Every once in a while, I will be preaching and a phrase comes to my mind that really speaks to the scripture in a way I never expected. I choose to believe it is the work of the Spirit. This past Sunday, the text was the woman at the Well. Jesus meets this woman who is now in her fifth man relationship. She is alone. She is isolated. She has been publicly traded.

Now many folks who find themselves publicly traded like to play the victim card. Someone else has caused this to happen in my life. Someone else is to blame. The "pitty pot" reigns in their life. People can only do to you what you allow them to. So get off the pot!


Public trading of our soul happens more than we like to admit. We allow ourselves to be publicly traded by our response to the jokes people tell. The denigrating generalizations of people should not be funny. But hey, everyone else is laughing. What harm does it do? Plenty is the answer.


We compromise ourselves in work situations. Your boss may want you to publicly trade yourself often. Or your company may not really care about your values in life. So we abandon our integrity for the sake of a paycheck. It costs us more than we think.


Years ago, a colleague tells the story of his family eating out at a buffet. The time came for them to checkout. The person checking them out announced how many adults and children they were being charged. The assumption was made that his youngest daughter was under the age for adults and would be charged as a child. Whereupon the youngest daughter proudly announced, "No, dad, I am older than that! I should be charged as much as you!" As he thought about that moment later on, the colleague was ashamed. He was willing to publicly trade his integrity in front of his daughter for $1.50.


The woman met Jesus. Jesus knew of her thirsts in life. He offers her living water in which she can change the direction of her life. Jesus offers her a new life. He offers her what the world had taken away from her.


The scriptures tell us that the woman brought others to Jesus. You see, she knew many who were thirsting as well.


Thirsty? Try the water that Jesus gives you. You will never thirst again.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

God Incidents Give Old Words New Meaning

John Baillie has a book entitled, A Diary of Private Prayer. I began using this book when I was in seminary years ago. It has held me in the palm of God's hands during the good times and the bad times. When folks ask me about a resource to help their prayer life, this is first on my list. The book has a morning and evening prayer for each day of the month. My wife, Mandy, bought her own copy of the book so when we are apart from one another we are together in prayer.



Different phrases of the prayers speak to me at different times in my journey. This morning as I was praying, I read this phrase, " Let the consciousness of holy fellowship follow me whithersoever I go, cheering me in my loneliness, protecting me in company, strengthening me against temptation, and encouraging me to all just and charitable deeds."


Mandy, my wife, woke up this morning at 3:30 a.m. Like most husbands, if the wife is up, I am usually up too. Our dog, Lisa, got up and looked at us with this crazy dog look saying, "What are you old folks doing up this early?" We had not been up five minutes when our phone rang. It was a dear friend of the family calling to tell me that my mom was at the Emergency Room with chest pains.


Now some folks would call this a coincidence. I know it is not. It is a God incident.


The fellowship of God, along with the church triumphant (those who have died in the faith) and the companionship of fellow sojourners in faith get me through the days that begin in the night. It is the God that is pro active in life that blesses my life in so many ways.


I do think that maybe there is a host of heavenly bodies who have been the task by God to be the cheerleaders. They do not need to pom poms or outfits to gather attention. They have God and God power. They encourage us all in the days and nights that we seem oh too lonely. It reminds me of James Taylor's song, "Do me wrong, do me right. Call me names but hold me tight.....just don't let me be lonely tonight!" In the darkness of my soul, the holy company of God's folks cheer me on.


The whole company of God continues to be present in my journey---for protection and strength. God knows preachers need protection and strength. The truth of the matter is we ALL need protection and strength especially when we do the right thing. Have you noticed that the right thing is most of the time a little more difficult? The protection and strength that God gives is not like the world's protection. Instead God walks through the valleys and through the darkness. The protection and strength is not in how life turns out, but in knowing God's presence and direction in all of life.


Some label all they want to do the will of God. It is as if God approves all of what is happening in their life--all their decisions. Let me discourage this temptation. The will of God is rarely known in a short stint of prayer. It is rarely known in a day of prayer. The will of God is known rather slowly with justice for others and charity for others more than ourselves. So God invites us to the long journey.


Maybe during holy season, words that we have read or said will take on new meaning as we experience God incidents. This is my prayer.


Oh, mom is having a heart cath--say a prayer for her!


Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Does Prayer Make a Difference?

The continuing tragedy in Japan gives me great sorrow. It is hard to comprehend. It is hard to know what one should do. It is difficult to know what one can do. Human tragedy and sorrow brings us back to a question that many have asked. Does praying really make a difference?

The cynic will shout a resounding 'No". They see it as a just a mental exercise to soothe the guilt pangs of life. Or it is a projection of inner wishes longing to have power over the universe. It is a waste of human time and effort in a cultural myth that is no longer relevant. Strange how strong the argument can sound until something in life happens and then the first words out of their mouth are "O God!"

There is something within humanity that seeks God during life's joys or sorrows. God has been called many names but God seems to answer all of God's children when they call. The answer is to be in relationship. The solution is relationship. The relationship with God is the strength or answer that God gives. God says " I am with you. You are not alone."

During the great tragedies of life, prayer is one answer for us. As we hold these children of God in prayer, we are asked to open ourselves to their pain, their sorrow, their loss and be affected by it. Our hearts are made tender towards the loss of life. Our hearts are filled with compassion as they wonder about what tomorrow holds. Our words in prayer are to remind the world that we are not alone.

Each Sunday during our worship service, we have a time of intercessory prayers. We hold particular situations of life before the throne of the Almighty. I ask the congregation to say the name of a person. I remind myself and others that I do not have to understand how intercessory prayer works in order to practice it. I just need to practice it. God will do the rest.
One of the problems we have in this is that we want the answer. No, usually we want OUR answer. Human beings do not do well with problems that remain unresolved. The tendency is to view something that is unresolved as our failure to do the right thing. God answers life's problems differently that we do. The answer God give is presence.
One of the most powerful scriptures for me is found in John 14 where God assures us that God will not leave us as an orphan. We always have a loving parent. We always have a home to go home to no matter what life does to us. What peace this can give us if we believe it!
During this time of great sufferings, practice praying for those you hear about or see. If you are not sure what to say, ask God to be present with those who are hurting. Just say the words, "God be present" or "Lord Jesus, come!" Open yourself to their world. Make a monetary offering to help through your church.
Prayer does make a difference. Believe me, it does.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Make the Journey.

"From ashes you came, to ashes you will return" are the words many heard as the cross was made on their forehead. Not very good news. In fact, if you just leave it there, it is downright despondent.
I remember a well meaning mom greeting her son's new friend with the words, "Come here and let me clean off your forehead. You have dirt on it." If it had been her son, she would have just wet her fingers and wiped it off. It would have been bad news if the little boy had not been so agile. The good news was he escaped her hands quickly and quietly.
In seminary there was a preacher with us that we used to call "Good news" followed by his last name. It was not an appropriate title for him because he was always the bearer of bad news. If there was a dark side to be seen, he saw it. He claimed that he just did not have a sense of humor. We were going to see Animal House and one of the guys made a bet with him. If he could go through the whole movie without laughing, he would be treated to a steak dinner. "Good news" was already ordering the steak. He did well until the horse had the heart attack in the dean's office. He lost the bet when the chain saw was cranked up. (Sorry if you missed the movie--it was funny!)
Lent is not one of the favorite seasons for many. You have to give up something you like. You have all these "extra" services to attend. As one of my heathen friend said, "it just seems like a whole lotta work getting ready for the big show--Easter. Just have the big show and be done with it." I think he missed the point of the journey.
Journeys teach us much about life as well as about who we are. We become who we are as we make the journey. Show me a person without a journey and I will show you someone waiting to be discovered. If you do not believe me, take a journey with some good friends. You will discover how good a friend they really are.
The season of Lent (the forty days before Easter not counting Sundays) is a journey. It is a journey for Jesus of Nazareth to the cross. Through the cross and through the tomb, Jesus shows us the joy of Easter. Easter comes only after Good Friday.
The world will tell you to take the short cut. The world will tell you do not worry about the ashes. Some well meaning Christians will tell you not to worry about the journey. I want to encourage you to seriously consider the time of preparation. Seriously consider the time of soul searching and sacrifice. Spend the time necessary in the disciplines of faith. Easter will take on new meaning.
And for goodness sake, I hope you did not try to wipe the dirty foreheads of those you met this week. Geez--you ought to know better or maybe you do not because you have not made the journey.
The journey of Lent can change your life. Make the journey.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Spend time in the Waiting Room of Your Soul

I have a difficult time in waiting rooms. My Kindle has made it easier.

They have even changed the name from waiting room to waiting areas. I guess it to relieve the anxiety of being "roomed". Technology has made waiting bearable. Now if you look around as people wait, they are teching. As a little boy, I remember that the waiting rooms had the children's magazines that my family could never afford.

It seems that there are longer waiting times in certain areas of life. At one point in my life, there was a doctor that I visited that each office visit required a minimum of an hour waiting. It really bothered me. It bothered me so much that one time when the doctor came to my office to visit, he waited for 30 minutes. I know it was a mean thing to do. But when he finally came in to speak to me, he said something about having to wait. When I told him of my experience at his office, he laughed. It seemed that the waiting time at his office was shorter after that.
I have never been a camp out kind of waiter. You see these folks during the holidays camping outside a store to be able to buy a certain product. Or when a celebrity is coming to town, to buy the front row seats, they camp out. The computer has pretty much trumped out these guys. Don't tell them though. I think they want to camp out and wait.
Ruth Haley Barton in her book, Sacred Rhythms, has a phrase that captured my attention. She speaks of "the waiting room of the soul". As I read those words, I stopped to think. Does my soul have a waiting room? And if my soul does have a waiting room, am I hurrying through it or even spending any time in it?
Fast track faith is what we want--or at least what I want. Okay God, what ever you are going to do--get her done! I need to move on to the next phase or next project. I laugh when I think of the "list to do" that I have recited to God as if God would be hurried by my list. You might say that I want to have the baby without the time of pregnancy. My motto to those living through pregnancy is "life will eventually arrive!" The waiting is so inconvenient and hard to do.
I think God has intent about waiting. The waiting room of the soul is where transformation happens. It is where we put aside the hurried life and all its trappings. In the waiting room of the soul, God invites us to create an intimacy. In the waiting room of the soul, each individual yields to God's purpose and God's plan. It is the holy space where we become holy.
Maybe there is a waiting room where we need to spend more time, not less. Be still. Wait for the Lord.