Tuesday, March 27, 2012

You Are The One!


In the Gospel of John, there is an interesting passage where the Greeks come seeking Jesus. They approach the disciple Philip and say, "Sir We would like to see Jesus." So Philip goes to Andrew. Andrew then goes to John. Then apparently Jesus speaks to the Greeks. Some scholars insist this progression of persons is a way in which the Gospel writer elevates the importance of John. John's Gospel is in a sense given authority by showing John's closeness to Jesus. The early Christians needed to know that the gospel story is told by someone who is really close to Jesus, not just an acquaintance. I want to invite you to see this passage in another light.
If a friend came to you and said, "I want to see Jesus!" or even better "I need to see Jesus!" would you have to go get someone else? And would the person that you went to, would they have to go get someone else?
Recently I was in a store needing what is known at customer assistance. I cannot remember the particulars but I remember the process all too well. I started out with the guy on the floor. He informed me that he was going to have to go get someone else. So I waited and waited. Finally he passed by again and I asked, "What about the person you told me to wait for to help me?" He looked at me and then remembered. "Wait, I will go get them." So I waited.
So the second person comes to me and I tell this person the particulars. "Wait right here, I'll be back." She lied. She fell into that black hole of abyss. I am sure that there is some black hole in life where all those folks who are coming to help or serve you just can't get out of. There are times when I arrive at a restaurant and want to warn my server of this hole. So I waited.
The original person wanders by—and I mean wanders. So I give him another shot. "Can you help me find someone who can help me?" He said that three word sentence that started with a four letter word, "Wait right here." Isn't it interesting that people do not notice that you have not moved? So I wait. No, to be honest, I waited for a bit longer then I wandered.
I wander up to the place where it looks like people of authority would hang out. There I ask for the manager who happens to be the one I ask. As I tell him of my last forty five minutes of waiting it becomes apparent to me that he is not really interested in my story or in my dilemma. I come to the conclusion that the service style of this particular establishment is a learned behavior from the top down. I leave the store disappointed and have not returned to that place again. I probably will never find enough reason to go back.
I wonder if this is the experience many have in their search for Jesus. Persons earnestly seeking the presence of a living relationship with God ask someone who seems to know Jesus. Then instead of earnestly sharing the gospel for one reason or another, we pass. You need someone else to share. Wait. Let me go get a preacher or someone with more knowledge or experience.
Listen to these very important words---You are the one! God has placed you in this person's life to share the good news. Prepare yourself for the moment. When the moment comes, give them Jesus. Let them see Jesus in your words and your life. You are the one.
There is a story of a man who is somewhere between life and death. He gets the opportunity for a heavenly discussion. "What is your plan to reach my dear friend with the Gospel?" God answers, "You are my plan! I have destined you to share the good news." Fearful of his humanity and limitations, he asks, "and if I fail what is your plan then." And the answer given is "You are my only plan!"
You are the one whom God has destined for some to see Jesus!
Pray for me as I pray for you.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Do You Believe in Healing?

Healing is a mystery of the faith.

Mysteries are by nature sought to be solved.  There is something about the human spirit that seeks to answer the questions that are unanswerable.   It just seems that there should be a clear cut answer to all of life.

I have a good friend that continues to search for the "Bigfoot" in parts of Louisiana and Texas. He will walk the densest forests by mule and take pictures of where he thinks this mysterious being has been.  He has never seen the being, but seeks to solve the mystery.

There are definitely times of healing in our world.  A doctor will use the most accurate machines to diagnose the disease.  Pictures are taken of its evidence.  The doctor can tell you how big it is, where it is located--almost every detail one can imagine.  Days, weeks, or months will pass.  The doctor will look again or even begin the procedure to remove the disease and it is nowhere to be found.  It has mysteriously disappeared.  The Great Physician has been at work!  There are no scientific explanations.

In the Bible, it is interesting to look at the healing that Jesus of Nazareth performs and ask "whose faith heals?"  There are times that Jesus is moved by his own love of people and he heals.  Then there is the faith of the four friends lowering down their sick friend through the roof.  Jesus sees their faith and heals. What difference would it make in your prayer life if you believed that your prayers might unleash the healing grace of God in a friend's life? The woman who touches the hem of Jesus' robe and is healed.  It is her faith--the one who is ill that works the miracle.  It is a mystery how God works.

Then there are the times when healing is seen through a different lens.  The healing of God is when a loved one is released from the pain of this life.  Some would argue that to think of such as a healing is absurd.  However healing is by definition "to be made well or whole."  And this is what we proclaim in the Christian faith.  When life ends, one is made whole through the grace of Jesus Christ.

When my sister, Karen, died after years of suffering with the disease of Lupus we believe that she was healed.  The disease had done all it could do to her body, but her spirit would not be defeated.  Why she was not healed from the disease remains a mystery.  However, the confidence of our faith in the redeeming grace of God is no mystery to us.

So what are we to do?  We are to believe in the mystery of healing.  We pray earnestly for healing.  We know that God does not leave God's children.  When healing comes, we rejoice.  When life ends, we rejoice.  The answer is believing in all the mystery of God, unknown in this life, but fully revealed in the life to come!

Pray for me as I pray for you.


Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Answer The Call


In the Bible God calls.
God calls out for Adam and Eve when they are hiding. God calls Abram to a new way of living out life in a new place. The call of Moses centers around a burning bush that moves Moses to take his shoes off. Jonah is called to deliver a message to those whom he despised. Jesus of Nazareth begins his ministry with the call to fishermen to lay down their nets. Jesus invites a tax collector to move from behind the desk and follow. The theme of calling is apparent in the Biblical tradition.
But what about today? Is God still calling? And if God is indeed calling, is God calling you?
My freshman year in high school, I attended an event in my hometown for youth. I used the word, "attended" loosely. The focus of the event was on hunger. The last thing I ever wanted to experience was hunger. After being let out at the church where the event was to be held, a friend of mine and I decided that we would sneak off and go back to his house which was within walking distance. Just to show our rebellion, instead of fasting for the day, we pigged out. Isn't it funny how rebellious God's children will be.
At the end of the day, we made it back to the event for the closing worship service. During that service there was a time to kneel at the altar and pray. This practice has been a part of my life as long as I can remember. Each Sunday evening at First UMC in Minden, there was a time of altar prayer. The lights would be dimmed. Music would be offered as people were offered the chance to kneel in prayer to end the Sabbath day. The light behind the cross was the only light in the room besides the altar candles. For some reason this time always found me.
As I knelt to pray on this day, I began to feel the presence of God in a most powerful way. God was speaking to me about being a part of ministry. I did not understand all of what it meant but I knew it to be a "calling" of sort. As a young man raised in the church, I knew you could ask God for proof. Sometimes God answers more clearly to those in doubt. So I did. I asked God to give me a sign of what I was feeling. At that point, an older youth whom I had admired from a distance, put his hand on my shoulder and said, "I am here to pray with you." Interestingly enough, this guy would not remember this prayer. Later in our journey we would attend seminary together and I would serve on his ministry staff.
So I answered the call. Or I should say I began to answer the call. You see, I believe that callings are a journey that God invites us to join. This journey of ministry for me has been one of great joy as well as one of great sorrow. There are days that ministry is a great place to be. There are times when ministry is a very lonely place to be. But I am never alone.
A colleague told the story of visiting a nursing home. There was a particular lady there that so enjoyed his visit. However, she was difficult to get away from. Being in a hurry and knowing that she was deaf, he told the lady that her phone was ringing in her room. He did not want to hurt her feelings. So she hurried back to answer the phone thinking it was ringing. When he was almost out of her sight, he heard her voice hollering at him, "Preacher, the phone call is for you!!"
Is God calling you? More importantly are you willing to journey with God in that call. Each one of us has a unique ministry before us. All I can say is "Answer the call. It is for you!"
Pray for me as I Pray for you.

 

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Visit the Room Called Remember


 

Psalm 119 is the longest Psalm of the Old Testament. It is a song of memory. The Psalm serves as a reminder of what God has done. In remembering what God has done, you know what God will do. The Psalmist remembers the presence of God through the experience of "law" which translates into the sense of order. God's presence seems to make sense out of life. All of life's good things are framed by this concept of law.

As a youth growing up in First UMC, Minden there was a time when life seemed to take a turn for the best. Life and the best of life was "framed" by a concept of mission. For several years, our youth group did the theme park trips. They were fun but were soon and very soon over. Then Coach Carlisle came as our summer youth director. He convinced us that life was better framed by the concept of service. Instead of the artificial theme parks, we took a mission trip and helped small Indian churches in Oklahoma rebuild their physical plants. I took this philosophy with me when I began working with youth in my churches. Our youth at one of my churches spent a week in Mobile AL doing a Vacation Bible School for inner city kids. One evening we visited an African American United Methodist Church service where I experienced remembering in prayer.

At one point in the service, a group of men helped an elderly African American pastor to the podium to pray—and pray he did! His prayer was a room of remembering. This pastor prayed of deliverance –past, present, and future. It was obvious that he and the Lord were on a first name basis. In all my years of ministry I confess that it was one of the most powerful prayer experiences I have had. Why? Because he remembered and shared that memory in a prayer.

Frederick Beuchner has a book entitled, "A Room Called Remember." In this book, he invites us into the room of memory where we can experience joy and sorrow. In Remember, you can find a key to open the future and a place to calm the soul. For when God created humanity, God gave us the wonderful gift of memory. God invites us to use this gift to know God's presence and God's power—God's order of life and life everlasting.

I believe each of us should remember. The room called Remember is not to entomb life, but to give life! We remember not to preserve the past or to ignore the future. We remember to treasure and to trust. Life then takes on a new "frame".

Pray for me as I pray for you.