"Spiritual Disciplines." Sounds a bit like going to the principal's office or being pulled over by the police doesn't it? Christian spiritual disciplines are really practices that God uses to grow us more into the likeness of Jesus Christ. I've been wandering through the wilderness of some tough issues lately and today had this thought go through my head, "What you really need to do is read some good jokes." Those of you who know me realize that, at times, I am "joy challenged." I lean pretty far toward the serious side of things and could use as many opportunities to laugh as possible. So today, I logged on to the Prairie Home Companion website where they have a joke section. I took some time scrolling through the jokes. Some were good, and some were downright bad! All in all, though, a chuckle here and there brought me to a place with a brighter perspective on my day.
Ecclesiastes chapter 3 reads, "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven...a time to weep, and a time to laugh (NRSV)." When Sarah heard the angel tell her husband that she would have a son even though "it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women." she laughed, and her son was named Isaac which means "he laughs." Sarah said "God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me (Genesis 21: 5, NRSV)." Jesus says in Luke 6:21, "Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh." Apparently laughter is not just about being suprised or joyous, it is a sign of our hope and trust in the God who heals, restores, and saves. We might say that laughter in the face of impossible obstacles, even in the face of death, is a sign of our faith in our resurrected Lord for whom death was powerless to stop from giving his saving love!
The best funeral I've ever been to was filled with laughter. I knew the old man being eulogized, and I knew that he was tough and mean and, at times, narrow-minded, yet, the church sanctuary was packed with people. Maybe it's because he admitted his struggle to be kind, to express his caring side. Most likely, though, it was because he learned that humor could round even the hardest edges of his life. One Saturday evening he decided that he would gather all of the beer cans he could find and scatter them in the pastor's yard so that when the pastor came out to get the paper in the morning he would stumble all over them. Then the whole neighborhood would wonder just how much alcohol that pastor could handle! The pastor at the time, who also was doing the funeral, then recounted all of the pranks he used to "return fire" on his parishoner. The whole church was filled with laughter and tears, a great release of sadness, joy, wonder, and hope that God could take a tough person and file down his edges with laughter on his way toward loving like Jesus, on his way into the Kingdom beyond death.
Stressed? Worried? Weighted down? Read some jokes. it's a good spiritual discipline! By the way, what do you call a dog with no legs.........................................................................Don't bother because he won't come anyway!
Join us at our Sanford church or on facebook as we start our series on the "Abundance Of God" or check it out on video.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Suffering And The Way Of Christ
"...that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead (Phillipians 3: 10-11)."
One of my college psychology professors once stood up and told the class, "All upsets happen because of one simple fact; we aren't getting what we want." It's true from the time we are born until the time we die! These days there are many versions of "Christian" faith that teach Jesus is solver of all of our problems, the way to getting the life we want, and the way to our personal prosperity. I often wonder how those who hold these beliefs hold onto Jesus when he leads them into more problems than they had before or to the life he wants them to have or when he asks them to pick up their cross and follow him into sacrificial service.
Jesus has given me tremendous freedom and joy because he has forgiven my sins. He has also given me comfort and direction in times of struggle and joy in the awareness of his many gifts. But I am sometimes upset because he doesn't always give me what I want! Times like those remind me that he meant what he said, "He who loses his life for my sake will find it."
This all becomes very real when Jesus calls us, his followers, to go and serve an upset universe where relationships are broken, living things suffer, and things aren't the way they are supposed to be. It is upsetting. It is tempting for us to run away from the pain, but there, in the middle of it, is Jesus, beckoning us to share in his sufferings so that we may also share in the joy of his resurrection. Thankfully, suffering is not an end in and of itself in the graceful hands of Jesus. In his saving presence and through the power of his resurrection it becomes a sign that new life is being born. Suffering as a sign of death becomes a sign that new life is on the way.
Gracious and all powerful Jesus, teach us how to resist the temptation to run from suffering when you call us into it. Give us your power to engage it and your presence through which resurrection comes.
"It has never been either practical or useful to leave all things and follow Christ. And yet it is spiritually prudent (The Monastic Journey, Thomas Merton)."
One of my college psychology professors once stood up and told the class, "All upsets happen because of one simple fact; we aren't getting what we want." It's true from the time we are born until the time we die! These days there are many versions of "Christian" faith that teach Jesus is solver of all of our problems, the way to getting the life we want, and the way to our personal prosperity. I often wonder how those who hold these beliefs hold onto Jesus when he leads them into more problems than they had before or to the life he wants them to have or when he asks them to pick up their cross and follow him into sacrificial service.
Jesus has given me tremendous freedom and joy because he has forgiven my sins. He has also given me comfort and direction in times of struggle and joy in the awareness of his many gifts. But I am sometimes upset because he doesn't always give me what I want! Times like those remind me that he meant what he said, "He who loses his life for my sake will find it."
This all becomes very real when Jesus calls us, his followers, to go and serve an upset universe where relationships are broken, living things suffer, and things aren't the way they are supposed to be. It is upsetting. It is tempting for us to run away from the pain, but there, in the middle of it, is Jesus, beckoning us to share in his sufferings so that we may also share in the joy of his resurrection. Thankfully, suffering is not an end in and of itself in the graceful hands of Jesus. In his saving presence and through the power of his resurrection it becomes a sign that new life is being born. Suffering as a sign of death becomes a sign that new life is on the way.
Gracious and all powerful Jesus, teach us how to resist the temptation to run from suffering when you call us into it. Give us your power to engage it and your presence through which resurrection comes.
"It has never been either practical or useful to leave all things and follow Christ. And yet it is spiritually prudent (The Monastic Journey, Thomas Merton)."
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Side By Side
Who is alongside who? It's a simple question. It's a sharp question whose blade can cut through every outer layer of fashion and skin to reveal what is on the inside. It is another way of asking, "Who is in charge here?" which is yet another way of asking, "Who is God?" If I ask God to come alongside me, then I have set the direction; I have chosen the road; I have chosen the speed and means of travel. I am asking God to bless my efforts and be my companion while I do things my way.
But if it is God who calls me alongside him, then I must stop what I'm doing; I must go God's direction; I must go on God's road; I must go at God's speed. If God is God and I am not, then God must lead, and I must follow. I am God's companion. My work and my life must be a response to God's invitation and initiative.
"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matthew 11: 28-30)." There is the invitation to come alongside Jesus as he walks in the Kingdom quality of life. How is what I'm doing right now a response to Jesus' invitation to live side by side with Jesus?
But if it is God who calls me alongside him, then I must stop what I'm doing; I must go God's direction; I must go on God's road; I must go at God's speed. If God is God and I am not, then God must lead, and I must follow. I am God's companion. My work and my life must be a response to God's invitation and initiative.
"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matthew 11: 28-30)." There is the invitation to come alongside Jesus as he walks in the Kingdom quality of life. How is what I'm doing right now a response to Jesus' invitation to live side by side with Jesus?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)