Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Offer the World Jesus!

Our world has been rocked again with great tragedy. It does not make sense. Why? How could people be so filled?

Random acts of violence happen more than we ever wish. They happen more than we hear about. It seems that we are sensitive to them only when it rocks our world. It is then we begin to ask question. Many become theological. The questions sound like: "Why would God allow such things? Where is God? or Why would God do this?"

There are some people who think that all of the things that happen on this world are acts of God. I must confess that while this attitude seems to make life pretty much mapped out I find great difficulty in it. When a person commits suicide, God did it? Surely not! God was punishing this person? No! God was acting for good in the long run? This is not what biblical justice is about. What kind of a character would God be? When accidents happen in this world, God is at the hand? Absolutely not! Persons who keep this view usually see God mainly acting as a critical parent. Usually their own personal narratives have many critical parents in them.

It seems that God in the design of humanity gave us more than we sometimes want—free will. Free will is like all the rest of life's gifts. It can be used for good and creative purposes. Or it can be used for selfish purposes. A consequence of this freedom is illnesses that have been created by our world and our choices. Another consequence of this is evil. We allow evil to reign in our heart and minds. We make camp with bitterness and envy until our actions are so filled with things that are far from God's intention.

So while all this random act of violence happens, where is God? What is God doing? God is present. Although it seems that God is absent, God is not. God is there touching the hearts of those who hurt with God's eternal hope. God is present as John Wesley would say, "wooing us" to open our hearts and hands to the work of the Living Spirit. God is always inviting us to become hands of grace.

God is the one that is the source of random acts of kindness. God is the one that seeks to show us in our daily living how to live sacrificially and wholly given to extending compassion to others. God is the one who invites us to break camp with evil and bitterness and journey in grace and forgiveness. God is the one who take the streams of water that we have dammed up and creates living streams of rushing water that is fresh and capable of great power.

Many of us remember seeing a picture of Jesus standing at a door. The image of the human form of God is lit with the golden beam of a light that is shining in the dark. It seems as though it could be a front door of any home or cottage in the country side. The caption of the picture is "Behold, I stand at the door and knock." Many persons have looked at this painting and failed to notice one significant thing in the painting. The door is not a common door. The door that Jesus is knocking at has no handle. The handle for the door is only on the other side of the door.

When our world is rocked, invited Jesus in! The answer God gives during these difficult times is God's presence and compassion. We can offer the world random acts of God's love.

Pray for me as I pray for you.


 

Dr. M. Jack O'Dell

Lead Pastor, The Well UMC

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

God Is Looking For You

A telephone solicitor heard the voice of a young boy on the other end of the phone.

"Can I speak to your mom?"

"No, she is busy!"

"Can I speak to your dad?"

"No he is busy too!"

"What are mom and dad doing that keeps them so busy?"

"They are helping the firemen and the police here at the house."

"What are the fireman and police doing at your house?"

"Looking for me" said the little boy.

Have you ever realized how God is looking for you?

God searches out Adam and Eve in the garden. They have eaten the forbidden fruit after the conversation with the talking snake. They realize they are naked. I am not sure whether it is the nakedness or the fear of disobeying God (or both!) that leads them to hide from God. But God finds them.

Jesus tells three lost stories in the Gospel of Luke. There is the lost sheep where the shepherd loses one and leaves the ninety nine. Then there is the lost coin that a woman turns her house upside down to find. Finally there is the lost son that the Father runs to meet when the son comes to his senses. The Father gains the son that has come home only to lose the son that has been there all along.

We like to think that God has more to care about than each one of us. But it simply is not true. God will not rest until ALL of the world is found.

When my son, Noah was a little boy he loved to play hide and seek. When he was annoying his sisters, they loved to play hide and seek with him. But he was not good at the game. All you had to do is say, "Noah, where are you?" His little voice wherever he was would answer, "Over here!" If you did not find him in a short period of time, he would come out from his hiding place.

You may be in hiding. You may think God is not looking for you. But you are wrong. God is always searching for you. God is always wooing you back to where you should be. You can always be found by God.

Pray for me as I pray for you.


 

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Lie Down and Rest

There is that line in the 23rd Psalm, "He makes me lie down..."

I sent my son to the grocery store the other day. Sending my son to the grocery store used to be quite an adventure. You never knew what he would end up buying. You never knew how long it would take him to get there and back even if it was only five minutes away. You know there are a lot of ways one can go to the grocery store.

So Noah comes into the house after a short while and says, "Dad, come see if you can turn off your car." Now the thought of a car not being able to be turned off had never crossed my mind. The thought of my car not turning off sent fear throughout my whole body as I have zero mechanical skills. In fact, I have negative numbers when it comes to mechanical skills. But sure enough, the car would not turn off. You could even take the key out and it would continue running. So what do I do now?

Well, my first thought was to get it to a place that when it did stop running it would not be in the way or in a line of danger for me or anyone else. The second thought (which became my first thought quickly) was I need to get this to a mechanic. So I drove the car that would not start to the shop.

Some of us have the same problem that my car had. We do not know how to stop. Maybe it is that we do not know when to stop. Maybe it is the fact that we have such low self-esteem that if we were to stop, we would be of less value to the world. Sometimes it is the emotions that will not let us stop. Whatever it is, our motor—our mind, spirit, or body will not turn off.

It is an exhausting way to live life. We martyr ourselves daily making sure that the world around us knows that we are doing this. We blame anything and everything for anything and everything. Usually we end up crashing or at least driving through the world around us wreaking havoc in every direction.

The Psalmist says that God says, "Lie Down!" Not only are we to lie down but we are to lie down beside the still waters. Obviously God does not have insight into our troubled life. Or does God really have more insight than what we want to admit.

A good mechanic takes the car that will not stop and knows how to immediately turn the car off, disconnect the battery so it will not run down. Then the mechanic puts a new part in the ignition that recognizes the power of the key. Did you hear that last part—recognizes the power of the key?

God is the key to our life and our restfulness. You can trust God with the world, even your crazy world, and rest.

I served a troubled church one time. It troubled me greatly as well. Each day I would begin the drive home carrying too many burdens in too many places. Finally on the way home at a four way stop not far from my house, I had had enough. I could go no more. I asked God to help me in a way I had never done before. God invited me to rest. I heard God say to me that every day on my way home, at the four way stop, I could unload the burdens of the day and leave them there. I could go home and rest. I could go home and just enjoy being with my family. So that became a ritual. Some days I had to let some cars go around me at the four way stop as I was not through unloading the burdens. But each morning on the way back to work, I could pick up the previous days concerns at the four way stop. They seemed lighter because I was rested.

Rest. It is necessary. Let the power of the key (God's presence) turn off the motor that will not stop.

Pray for me as I pray for you

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Staying Married is Work!

And they lived happily ever after.

These are the words of a fairy tale. Fairy tales is a genre of literature that we all know are fantasy. This means the story is full of things that are not real. The reality of marriage is that it is hard work. Those who tell you otherwise are simply not being truthful.

The reason that marriage is hard work is that I am hard to live with. Yes, I know many of you are shaking your heads in disbelief. But it is true. It is true for you as well. Each one of us is difficult to live with. We have our own rough edges. We all have our moments in which we are less than beautiful. If you do not believe it, just look in the mirror early one morning.

Now having said all that let me tell you that it is worth all the work. There are days that romance fills the air. There are days that you stare into each other's world goo goo eyed. There are days when you are glad that you have held their hand and their heart. There are days that you are glad that you are glad someone else held your hand and your heart.

In today's world the statistics tell us that half of the marriages will fail. That number goes even higher for persons who live together before they are married or are in their second or third marriage. I think it is because of the work involved in staying married. We simply are not willing to give the relationship the time necessary. We are not willing to grow up.

The second reason marriages fail is infidelity. The other word for that is cheating. The biblical word for that is fornication.

A refined woman showed up at her drugstore one morning. "I need some cyanide." The druggist who was a dear friend of hers said, "What in the world do you need cyanide for?" She answered, "My husband has been unfaithful and I am going to kill him!" The druggist answered, "Now you know that I cannot give you such. It is against the law. I know it is a terrible thing, but you must think this through." The woman then pulled out a picture of her husband in bed with the druggist's wife. The druggist then said, "You didn't tell me you had a prescription!"

God's prescription for marriage is love, forgiveness, faithfulness, and yes—work. Give each other the time needed. Grow up as you grow in love and years. This week, I am fortunate to celebrate 25 years of marriage with my darling wife, Mandy. She has blessed me in so many ways. And yes, we have had to work at it but it is worth all the work!

And we have lived happily—most of the time.

Pray for me as I pray for you