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Archive for the ‘Ordinary Time’ Category

Path of Joy

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 26, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Acts 2:28; Psalm 16:11
You have made known to me the ways of life; You will enrapture me [diffusing my soul with joy] with and in Your presence. [Amplified]

David spoke as Jesus and Peter speaks for both. In either case, the path of life is laid out before them and in it there is promised joy. The trick is staying on the path.

If I had to pick words that typify my life, I cannot say that “joy” would be one of them. I cannot blame anyone but myself for this. I have strayed from the path of life many times. Of course, these course corrections are only evident in hindsight. At the time of choice, there is only that, my choice. I’m not sitting there thinking, “oh, I’m getting off this path of joy and striking out on my own.” No, I’m thinking I’m still on the right path for me.

Please don’t misunderstand me. The path of life… the path of joy… is not without struggle and even pain. The path is best known for our abandon to God’s way, a divine destiny. I’m not sure we are even aware of the true path, not really. Just calling oneself a Christian does not necessarily mean we are on the path of joy either.

Am I in God’s presence? Am I engaging God in my life? Am I including God in my decisions? Am I sharing my way with others? Am I really interested in experiencing joy?

Joy is not “happy.” Joy is contentment and conscious companionship with God in Christ.

I have always wondered what it means to pray without ceasing… today, I wonder, isn’t it really just Christ consciousness without ceasing? God is with me. Christ is in me. I am not alone. In this place, there is joy.

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Pick Your Last Days

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 25, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Acts 2:14, 16b-17
Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say…. this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel [2:28-29]: ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams….”

When, exactly, are the Last Days? Good luck with that. Theologians and other Christian writers have written volumes about this phenomenon while the Pentecostals and Charismatics have been waving the Last Days banner since the turn of the 19th century. People have been talking about the Last Days for a long time. Is it possible that we’re still in the Last Days? Have the last 2000 years been the Last Days?

In his post-Holy Spirit filling in Acts 2, Peter certainly implied that the Last Days were beginning that day. He saw the outpouring of power and the speaking in tongues (other languages) that day as a sure sign of Joel’s prophecy being fulfilled.

Here are the choices I see: either we are still in the Last Days… or the Last Days haven’t really started yet… or we’re on the other side of the Last Days. Pick your camp!

I think the disciples and newly committed Christ followers in Peter’s time, believed the Last Days were right then and that it was indeed … a matter of days or weeks, at best, before Christ would return and the world would end as they knew it. They lived and died as martyrs because of their commitment to this idea. They lived fully and without compromise.

But, in the same way that Nineveh was spared when Jonah finally did what he was supposed to do, e.g. warn Nineveh’s residents of coming destruction if they didn’t change… so has the world has been spared… for now. We are still here.

But are we paying attention to the Joels and Jonahs of our own age? Are we reading the signs of warning? Are we taking seriously that we may be on borrowed time?

There are still men and women today prophesying… seeing visions… and dreaming dreams. Their words speak of spiritual deserts, economic chaos, environmental collapse, human suffering at the hands of evil, starvation and traumatic illness.

Not everyone can be a prophet or a watchman on the wall, but we can be listeners. We can change our own small world. We can love our neighbor and love our environment. We can pray for change. We can pray for healing.

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Leader Followers

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , on September 24, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Acts 1:20
“For,” said Peter, “it is written in the book of Psalms, ” ‘May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,’ and,” ‘May another take his place of leadership.’

And then they prayed, cast lots, and replaced Judas Iscariot (one of the twelve who had betrayed Jesus) with Matthias.

Only after Jesus resurrected did the disciples begin to realize they were no longer just followers of Jesus, they were now the de facto leaders of those who had been following Jesus throughout his ministry (upwards to 120 people were gathered that day alone). Jesus had not just selected them to be his close friends and students, they were being trained for the ongoing task of bringing his kingdom to Earth.

Jesus spent a lot of time showing them what it means to be a leader. It is not about having the seats next to Jesus or sitting in the place of honor at table [Luke 22:24-30]. A leader must first learn how to follow and how to serve before he can effectively lead.

In recent years, the idea of Servant Leadership has become a business buzz phrase and espouses the same principles. Another phrase, Leader Follower, is very similar. Jesus had both of these ideas down pat.

I think I am doing pretty well with these concepts until my feelings are tromped because I haven’t been acknowledged for a job well done or when one of my good ideas is adopted by the organization without recognition. Then, I am smacked in the face by the personal myth I have created about myself. I am no better than the Zebedee brothers hoping to find favor above the others [Matthew 20:20-28]. But Jesus chided them saying they did not realize what it meant to be his kind of leader… there must be a willingness to sacrifice, to let go, to be misunderstood, to be unappreciated, to be faithful to truth, to be humble, and to trust God through it all. This is the cup of leadership. This is the cup of followership.

Guide me this day to lead with humility and follow with promise.

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Akeldama

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on September 23, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Acts 1:19
And all the residents of Jerusalem became acquainted with the facts [about Judas], so that they called the piece of land in their own dialect–Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.

The Field of Blood was also called the Potter’s Field because some believed it to be the same place that Jeremiah visited the potter. “So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.” [Jeremiah 18:3-4]

Akeldama was used as a burial ground for “foreigners,” for strangers, and for betrayers. This is one of the hardest truths in the Bible for me: some people are destined for evil, some are destined to be buried in the Field of Blood, some are destined to be a marred pot.

God integrates evil into our lives and from these experiences, we grow, we change, we adapt, and we learn. These are the hard lessons of life. But what of the one who is the tool of evil?

Is there a moment in that life when he/she has a choice? Can this destiny be aborted by faith? Can the one turn and cry out for mercy? Or is the the mercy extended only after the fact? Is it forgiveness that brings a destiny of evil around to hope?

I don’t know the answers.

From my few years working with a potter’s wheel, I know a pot can be re-fashioned with the same clay… but only up to a point. Eventually, the clay becomes hard, unwieldy and unusable. Usually, a potter will not throw out the clay until it’s hopeless.

Keep me pliable today. Give me mindfulness toward those who struggle with their destinies, that they might turn before Akeldama becomes an unavoidable fate.

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He’s Really Coming Back?

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , on September 22, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Acts 1:11
Men of Galilee,” they [men in white] said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

When I was in high school I had to take a city bus to school, which was about 2.5 miles from my home. Each morning I would walk about 5 blocks to the bus stop and wait for a bus. I remember a mission church there at the corner that had a marquis (which in mind was the weirdest thing ever) and on it, in bold letters, was written: “Jesus is Coming Soon!”

I wasn’t much of a Christian back then. I attended a Latvian church with my family, but it was all ritual and hypocrites as far as I was concerned. But one thing I was pretty sure of, Jesus had already come and these folks were sorely deluded.

I never got this “coming back” message. There just wasn’t that much emphasis on the idea and certainly, people weren’t living their lives as though they really believed Jesus would return. Of course, it didn’t help that my mother was getting caught up in all kinds weirdness back then and started reading all the Erich Von Daniken books (she was pretty sure Jesus was an alien and would come back in a starship).

It’s been over 2,000 years… is he really coming back? But that is the promise. According to scripture, his coming back is at the end of this age. Well meaning people have been predicting his return ever since he left. In modern times, it was during the second World War (Hitler being the anti-Christ), then later, the turn of the century (Y2K), or now things are really heating up with the 2012 phenomenon. Is one date any more reliable than another?

But the actual coming, no matter how dramatic or not, is a little late in the process. Once he does return, whether today, tomorrow or in the next turn of the century, the real issue will be what we have done with the time. [Matthew 25]

People don’t really feel an urgency of life until they (or their loved ones) are truly facing illness and death. Then, it’s clear: time is precious, life is to be lived, and people are to be loved fully.

We adults accuse teenagers of having their heads in the sand about the future, but are we much better? We don’t really believe it will happen to us. We don’t really believe that turning point could happen today.

What would I do differently today if I believed it was my last day? Carpe Diem.

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Power in the Waiting

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 21, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Acts 1:4-5
On one occasion, while he [Jesus] was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Waiting is not the easiest thing to do. In fact, I think it’s one of the hardest. In this case, I doubt the disciples had any clue what it would mean to be “baptized with the Holy Spirit.” But they understood waiting and they understood this command to wait would test their trust and their faith. I always wonder if they all waited or did some fall away?

People usually use a period of waiting to fantasize about the end results (and generally, the result they themselves want). They begin imagining what the end of waiting will be like without living fully within the waiting period itself. I have come to believe that waiting is an active time. Waiting is a time of introspection and evaluation. Waiting itself is productive within.

Looking back over my life, I can see how many mistakes could have been avoided just by exercising a little waiting. But I have always been in a such a hurry for the next experience. As I grow older, I have been getting a little better at waiting, just because I have been forced to practice. And slowly, I see its merits and enter this time more willingly.

There is a popular phrase used by many Christians: “I am waiting on God…” Sometimes, it feels like they are in an outer office waiting for an appointment with a busy God who’ll fit them in when possible. They are passing the time, reading magazines, watching TV, or listening to their ipods. There is no relationship with the One on the other side of the door. While others simply use the phrase as a way to avoid making any decision at all. If one waits long enough, a decision is usually made for you. This method is rather passive aggressive in my book.

Waiting on God has no value in my mind unless it comes with contemplative study, prayer and worship.

This is true for the individual as well as a group. But I have very little experience with group waiting. I’m still working on the first hurdle. But that’s coming. Group waiting is even more difficult because the everyone needs to let go of their personal agendas and allow the best result for the group as a whole emerge: more patience, love, sacrifice, and trust.

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Tasks for the Wealthy

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , on September 19, 2009| Leave a Comment »

John 19:38-39
And after this, Joseph of Arimathea–a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews–asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate granted him permission. So he came and took away His body. And Nicodemus also, who first had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, [weighing] about a hundred pounds.

In the end, it was the rich guys with the connections who removed Jesus from the cross, wrapped him in burial cloth, and laid him in a new tomb. This could not have been done by the poor disciples who followed Jesus daily. You see, there were disciples among the rich… they just didn’t quite “get” what they should do or how to follow.

I know the feeling of helplessness when colleagues or friends become seriously ill (or even their family members). I want to “do” something, but I’m never quite sure what I should or can do that will make a difference. So often, just being there is enough for the ill or grieving. But surely, there is something else? Some years ago a friend of ours died after a short but horrific battle with lung cancer. All of the typical things were done for the family like food and visitation and sympathy. But another friend was amazing. She offered to come in once a week to organize all of the medical bills. What a precious gift of time and knowledge.

This is what Joseph and Nicodemus did. They had failed Jesus in so many ways, but when something concrete and quite within their realm of expense and ability, they acted. And what they did made a huge difference.

Compared to the rest of the world, Americans are predominately Josephs and Nicodemus’s. We are straining to go through the “eye of the needle.” [Matthew 19:24] But there are times when we can take what we have and what we know and move the kingdom closer. Giving of our bounty, sharing our knowledge, and donating our time does have value. And until we have the courage to shed our accouterments to serve and live among the poor, we have other tasks laid before us.

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