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Archive for the ‘Advent’ Category

Citizenship

Posted in Advent, tagged , , , on December 21, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Many take their American citizenship for granted. And although a U.S. citizenship used to carry more weight around the world than it does today, there are still tremendous freedoms that come with it. But there is still another citizenship.

Acts 22:29b
The commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains.

In Paul’s time, a Roman citizen had the authority to call on the power of Caesar to intervene if he was being mistreated or maligned. As citizens of heaven, we have the same authority. We can call on the “King of Heaven.” But we have to believe in this government of God. We have to believe the ruler of heaven and earth is responsive. We have to participate as true citizens.

As American citizens, we agree to pay taxes, follow laws, protect our land, and preserve our constitution. The same is true for our citizenship in heaven… we must agree to do the same.

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What Shall I Do?

Posted in Advent, tagged , , , , , , , , , on December 20, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Why can’t I remember to ask this question before I hurdle into action after my own great idea or solution? Answer: Because I don’t want to hear another answer…. or worse, I can’t really hear God’s answer. So, I cover uncertainty with bravado and a battle cry, “This way! Follow me.”

Acts 22:10
And I [Paul] asked, “What shall I do, Lord?” And the Lord answered me, “Get up and go into Damascus, and there it will be told you all that it is destined and appointed for you to do.” [Amplified]

Paul was knocked off his horse by a bright light and a voice who identified himself as Jesus of Nazareth, the very person Paul had hated and whose followers he was persecuting, jailing and condemning to death. And yet, Paul had the guts to ask, “What I shall I do?” (I think there was an unspoken “now” at the end of that question). Paul probably expected he would be killed for his massacre of Jesus’s followers. Blinded by the light, Paul arrived in Damascus and did not eat or drink for three days. [Acts 9:9] He was at the Lord’s mercy.

But God did the opposite of what anyone would have expected. Paul was anointed instead, to be a witness to the reality of Jesus as the Messiah and eventually that witness was predominately directed to the gentiles, the most despised people group by the Jews.

Paul didn’t really know he’d end up with the gentiles. When he started telling his story, he taught among his own people. He went to the synagogues and Jewish prayer places. But when his witness was rejected there, he turned to the other people who embraced his message. His ministry evolved and he allowed it to evolve.

God is full of grace and mercy. He doesn’t drag us along kicking and screaming.

Jeff, my old friend, and I used to always joke that we would “never” go to Africa or anywhere else where poverty and hardships were the norm. No way. We liked our creature comforts far too much. In fact, whenever people started talking about their fabulous experiences in various third world countries or impoverished areas, we would look at each other, pretend to wave a flag, and hum the “Stars and Stripes Forever.”

But, what happened? Jeff ended up in the ghetto of London ministering to the homeless and prostitutes for over a year and my family ended up working with two orphanages in Namibia and Zambia in Africa. And all was done with a joyful heart. It all happened at the right time and the right place.

This is the message for me today: my job is to ask. God honors the asking. God is a good communicator. If I honestly want to hear … if I am willing to hear… then God’s “voice” is clear.

Something is evolving. I can feel it in my heart but I don’t know what it might be. I can only ask: “Oh God, what shall I do now?”

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Gamaliel’s Yoke

Posted in Advent, tagged , , , , , , , , , on December 19, 2009| Leave a Comment »

The Rabbi’s yoke is the set of interpretations of the law that a rabbi has and passes to his students. Paul was zealous because his teacher taught him to be. How many of us are still operating out of ingrained lessons and prejudices?

Acts 22:3b
“…Under Gamaliel I [Paul] was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you [the crowd in Jerusalem] are today.”

My mother, an immigrant, was fervent about equal rights. When we first arrived in this country (1951), we lived in North Carolina. My father, already over 60, was forced to carry heavy railroad ties alone because the supervisor assumed he wouldn’t want to work with a negro [that’s the polite term]. We moved to Indianapolis within the year. There we lived in the inner city where we experienced a different form of prejudice against us because we were “foreigners.” In the end, although our family was poor and fiscally conservative, we remained socially liberal.

But others are taught from an early age to distrust, fear and even hate. Children are brainwashed to believe the worst and they quickly mouth the name-calling and rants they hear in the home. This learned hatred is particularly vitriolic in the case of skin color, sexuality, and religious practices. In some middle eastern countries, this yoke (set of beliefs) has escalated to the point of sacrificial suicide to kill and destroy “infidels.”

In order to take on a new yoke, one must take off the old one. “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” [Matthew 6:24a]

It is so difficult to let go of something we have believed our whole lives. Instead, the old yoke is perpetuated from one generation to another. We teach our children what we were taught, either directly or indirectly.

But Jesus says his yoke is easy and his burden is light. [Matthew 11:30] And yet, some people still try to make the yoke of Jesus heavy and burdensome. They manipulate His yoke to be more like the yoke they have known before.

Jesus’s yoke is like no other yoke. There is freedom. There is love. There is a lightness of being. There is trust. There is hope. There is Spirit.

Paul was thrown to the ground and blinded in order to get his attention. What about us? What must God do to reveal the yoke of Jesus to us? I think I am still trying to wear more than one yoke. Show me, O God, the yokes of my past that weigh me down.

I only want to carry one yoke: the yoke of Christ Jesus.

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Egyptian Terrorist

Posted in Advent, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 17, 2009| Leave a Comment »

The Roman commander may have saved Paul from the savage crowd but he still mistook him for an Egyptian terrorist! How could that be? Is it possible the commander saw what he wanted to see and not what was actually there?

Acts 21:38
“Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the desert some time ago?” [Commander arresting Paul]

Expectations are powerful and can lead us astray easily.

There was little to no evidence for the commander to suspect Paul to be a terrorist. I doubt Paul looked like an Egyptian, nor was he fighting off the crowd, nor did he have followers who were armed and dangerous. The only evidence was the crowd’s reaction to Paul. The commander may have assumed the situation was political. He could not imagine the riot was about differences in religious views. Or, that it was about who could be “in” and who was “out?” Or, who could be a follower and who could not? Or, who should be circumcised and who should not?

To the traditional Jews, it was bad enough that Paul was preaching/teaching about this Jesus as the Messiah, but now word had spread that Paul had embraced the gentiles and was opening the faith to them. He had crossed a line they could tolerate.

One of my favorite musicals is Fiddler on the Roof. Tevye, the father, is faced with constant change as his daughters come of age to marry. The first one challenges the tradition that marriages are arranged and she marries out of love. Tevya begrudgingly complies. His second daughter falls in love with a zealot who is ultimately arrested and sent to Siberia. She decides to follow her love and Tevye, again, allows her to go, but with deep misgivings. But, when the the youngest daughter falls in love with a gentile, it is a line that Tevye cannot and will not cross. She is cast out and “dead to him.” In the end, the Russian pogrom disrupts their entire village. As Tevye’s family members are dispersed and may never see each other again, Tevye relents and speaks a small “God be with you” to his beloved daughter and her gentile husband.

Tevye had expectations. We all do… for our lives and for our children. Sometimes we expect the best and sometimes we expect the worst. Instead, I believe we must be willing to lay aside our expectations. Everyone’s journey is different. We can hope for the best, but we must accept the truth of what is happening in the present as well.

Another set of expectations rise up when we meet people who are different from ourselves. They may be from another country, speak a different language, or just live in a different neighborhood. Their skin may be of a different color. They may practice a different set of religious values or family structure. If we lay down our expectations, we may be surprised by what we discover: a beating heart, a yearning soul, a bright mind.

Keep my heart open today Lord. Help me to seek the heart of others and to see past our differences. Check my spirit when I start thinking that someone might be an “Egyptian terrorist” based on superficial circumstances or appearances.

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Outward Signs vs the Crowd

Posted in Advent, tagged , , , , , , on December 16, 2009| Leave a Comment »

The Jerusalem “elders” asked Paul to go through a purification rite to show “everyone” that he was still following the laws of Moses. But it didn’t work. Paul couldn’t change the crowd’s view of him. Am I just one more of the crowd?

Acts 21:27
When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him,…

It didn’t work in Paul’s time and it doesn’t work much better in our time. This power of the crowd is described several times in scriptures and generally, the outcome is always bad. The crowd that responded to Paul’s presence in the temple dragged him out of the temple, locked the doors, and started beating him to death [vs 27-32]. His “outward sign” was futile.

It only takes one or two folks to stir things up. Just look at the crazy email messages that are sent to hundreds and hundreds of people. The “shocking” and more outrageous ones are the most viral and travel the fastest. Some of these messages live on for years and years. This is a virtual version of crowd. Or how about gossip? It’s another example of crowd behavior. In my daughter’s high school, she has suffered tremendously from gossip about her character that has yet to abate, even after a full year. It is next to impossible to fight character bashing by crowd.

Crowd will not be swayed by outward signs once people have jumped on the bashing bandwagon. The ride is too easy. The encouragement to continue too tempting. The camaraderie too inviting.

I would love to say I have never done this! Unfortunately, I have climbed aboard several crowd bandwagons and done my own good share of complaining, jeering, gossiping, and backbiting. I am thoroughly ashamed and ask God to forgive me.

When Jesus faced the “character-bashers,” he was either silent or he asked pointed questions to reveal their heart motives.

I hear the Spirit ask me, “Do the words you speak carry light and life?” and “Do you know the heart of the one you judge?” and “Why are you repeating what you have heard?”

It’s time. It’s time to step away from the crowd.

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Dead Man Walking

Posted in Advent, tagged , , , , , , , , , on December 15, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Paul knew he was headed for his last days when he trudged on to Jerusalem in the face of dire prophecies and fears. And yet, this knowledge gave him a kind of courage. This road led him toward freedom… within. He had everything to gain.

Acts 21:13
Then Paul answered [the Caesarean believers], “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

I still fear death. I love God. I love Christ and I believe it all, the stories, the miracles, and the resurrection, but I fear what is unknowable all the same. I still hesitate in the face of the opinions of others. I still flinch at the body language that speaks so loudly of disapproval or contempt or derision. I still fear pain. And I fear loss most of all.

And yet, in reality, we are all dead people walking… all will die at some point. Some will die of disease, some from catastrophic accident, some from violence, and some from old age.

How many stories have been written about the last days of a person’s life? The important things become quite clear. Usually, those end times are built around meaningful relationships, honesty and love. There is a transparency like no other time.

Lord, help me to really see today…. to really engage with those around me. Help me keep the moments full. Help me to be authentic and my heart accessible to others. Remind me of the value of today.

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A Restraining Spirit

Posted in Advent, tagged , , , , , on December 14, 2009| Leave a Comment »

That Paul, once he was in a groove, it was tough to get him to listen to anyone else. He was single minded. How often have I allowed my single mindedness to prevent me from hearing sound counsel or trust that “waiting” is part of the plan?

Acts 21:4b-5a
Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. But when our time was up, we left and continued on our way.

When is our struggle to reach a goal simply an attack from enemy lines and when is that struggle the restraining pressure of the Holy Spirit? I’m not sure I always know the difference. This is particularly difficult when the original goal seemed compelled by God in the first place. Did God change? Probably not…

But, isn’t it possible that the methods or the path I am taking to accomplish my goal may have strayed from a better plan?

When Mike and I decided to adopt our teenage daughter, Lily, we felt sure and confident that this was God’s will for both her life and for ours. But as the weeks stretched into months and one obstacle after another kept daunting our efforts, I began to doubt the entire process. Had I missed God? Why would God have this girl languish in an orphanage for two years while we were stumbling over bureaucratic red tape? I went into overdrive: there’s more than one way to skin a cat. Since our agency’s authorization to operate in St. Petersburg was still on hold, I found a Russian lawyer who would handle our adoption privately. This would process would be very tricky and expensive, but I would not be blocked. About two months later, the agency got their paperwork and we decided to continue with them.

Here’s the end of the story: at the court hearing, the new director of the orphanage turned out to be the crux to our successful adoption hearing. He spoke fearlessly before the judge who had been of dead against our adoption. He was our champion. This man had only been the director of Lily’s orphanage for about a month. The previous director was much too political to fight the judge (he was on a trajectory to bigger things). I believe our long wait was necessary to insure all of the pieces were in place, particularly this new director.

So, what is the moral of this story? God is sovereign. If God restrains me, then I must adjust my personal time schedule to God’s timing. This is particularly true when circumstances are completely out of our control.

In my case, it wasn’t the obstacles but my attitude toward the obstacles that was the problem. If God wanted to stop me and the adoption, that could have been easily done. In the same way, God could have stopped Paul from going to Jerusalem. I still think Paul was pushing the process a little because of his nature. But, in the end, God is God. And even if I (or Paul) blow it or force an issue, God is there to pick up the pieces. It’s just easier on everyone if we pay attention along the way.

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