Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘hope’

A Miracle Gone Wrong

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , on November 13, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Acts 14:10b-11
…”Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk. When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!”

Miracles are tricky things. In Lystra, the people who witnessed a crippled man healed at the word of Paul, completely mistook this show of power and called both Paul and Barnabas gods (Hermes & Zeus respectively). They responded to that event, that miracle, within the context of their own culture.

We are no different. We often take what we don’t understand and integrate it into what we do understand. We do all we can to make sense of it. It is very difficult to absorb something so outside the norm and make it fit our world.

Jesus could have done many more miracles than he did. But how would people understand them? Even today, we try to attach formulas to miracle working: oil anointing, laying on of hands, prayer, fasting, and commands, just to name a few. We are trying to recreate the circumstances in which we hope healing can take place.

But here’s the truth: it’s not about the words, the actions, or even the faith. It’s the relationship we have with Jesus, with God, that sets the stage for miracles. It’s our ability to “hear” the Spirit… feel the Spirit… know the Spirit is ready for us to broker a miracle. God chooses. God says, indicates, reveals: this one but not this one is to be healed. This circumstance, but not this one, is to be changed. This mountain, but not this one, is to be moved.

Jesus knew that miracles could overshadow the message. He chose carefully. Each miracle had an intent and a message. This overshadowing was the case for Paul and Barnabas in Lystra. Paul knew the man could be healed… but perhaps Paul missed the timing or the method. Paul was not Jesus. Paul was fallible just as we are fallible.

We all want miracles in our lives. It might be for the healing of a loved one, ourselves, or a transformation of a situation. I pray each day that God would heal my daughter of fibromyalgia. It is a debilitating and chronic pain condition that is overwhelming for a teenager. And yet, I know, with each day that she is not given a miracle of healing, there will be another day, a moment, when that miracle will come for her… it may not look like the miracle that either of us expect, but it will come. Miracles cannot be dictated… not in their timing or their effects.

I have said before and will say again, miracles are not private. Miracles happen for the person, yes, but also for the witnesses and bystanders. As believers, we must trust God’s timing. And when the miracle comes, give praise and acknowledgment where it is due.

Read Full Post »

Who is at my door?

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 31, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Acts 10:17, 20
While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate….”So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I [God] have sent them.”

The servants of the centurion, Cornelius, were the last people that Peter would expect to see at the door of the house where he was staying in Joppa. He hadn’t even processed the meaning of the vision he had with the great sheet coming down out of heaven filled with “unclean” foods for a Jew. In the vision, he heard plainly from the Holy Spirit, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” [vs 15] And not just once did he see and hear, but three times. And right on the heels of the vision, the gentiles come a-calling.

So, who is at my door? Who is the most unexpected guest? Certainly, if a Muslim terrorist came to my door and asked to hear about Jesus, I would be shocked. How could this be? Or what about a primitive from some tribe in a third world country or a homeless man or woman? A gay man or woman? A transvestite? How did they even know to come to me? How did they even hear about Jesus at all? And who am I to do anything else but invite them in?

God touches who God touches and it may surprise us along the way. I don’t think we should assume anything. It is God who changes a heart and it is only after the heart becomes soft that a person’s choices can change.

I think we need to stop creating cookie-cutter Christians and stop looking through the peephole before we open the door. Our job is simple: open the door and tell our story.

Read Full Post »

Visions are Out of the Box

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , on October 30, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Acts 10:2b-3a
…he [Cornelius] gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision.

Visions don’t just happen. Prayer, meditation and service to God are all part of the process. But one also has to be open to seeing a vision. Why? Because visions are usually “out of the box.”

I have not had a vision in a long time. And I think the block is my being closed off from the extraordinary.

The entire book of Revelation is a series of visions. John did his best to describe what he was seeing, but really, his descriptions are limited to his knowledge of the world. The “monster-like” creatures he saw could have been modern machinery. We’ll never know unless God chooses our generation to be the end of the age.

Cornelius had a smaller vision. He was simply asked to fetch Peter to his home. But was this insignificant? Not really. A Jew did not enter the home of a gentile. End of story. By sending his servants, Cornelius was operating out of nothing but sheer obedience. He also trusted his vision!

I once had a vision of Jesus walking along one side of a river and me walking on the opposite side. I wanted desperately to get across to the other side but the river was rushing and too deep. He was calm and patient and unworried. I was frazzled and calling to him to help me cross. Finally, he pointed ahead and sure enough, there was a bridge. I distinctly remembering hearing him say, there is always bridge if you look for it.

Cornelius and Peter had a river between them. And fortunately for all of us in subsequent generations, they found a bridge as well.

Visions are an important part of our devotional lives.

I realized today that I have not been open to having visions. Although I am walking with the Lord in a more meaningful way than ever before, I am still walking on my side of the river.

Lord, open my heart and mind to seeing visions and dreaming dreams that I might better understand your kingdom.

Read Full Post »

Asking God to Forgive

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

Acts 7:59-60a
While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”

Interesting that Stephen does not say, “I forgive them,” but asked, as Jesus did, that the Lord God forgive them. There is a fine line difference and it’s worth noting, I think.

I’m guessing Stephen never held anything against them in the first place. From the get-go, he was able to keep their “issues” separate from his own. But to pray to God and ask Him to forgive one’s adversaries is proof of a higher concern: that their actions would not block them from eternal things.

Hmm. I’m a long way from this place, this higher level of forgiveness. I’m still struggling with the one on one type. Maybe I should try this God forgiveness first. Would looking at the difficult relationships in my life through the eternal eyes of God give me new personal perspective? Perhaps the little irritations would be less irritating. Perhaps the memories would be less vivid. Perhaps the patterns would finally break.

Have I secretly hoped that God would take on my banner of revenge? Romans 12:19 does say that God will avenge. Have I been playing a game of extending personal forgiveness while hoping all the while that my magnanimity would heap burning coals on the heads of my “enemies?”

Oh, secret heart, look what peeling away some layers has revealed. Forgive me… and yes, forgive them… the list is long, but you know them all… my friends, my colleagues, my staff, my neighbors, my family, my customers, my classmates, my church, my students, my politicians, my leaders, my relatives, my strangers… who am I to say that my feelings, my pain, my fears, and my disappointments must be avenged? Who am I to say?

Read Full Post »

Between Two Worlds

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on October 15, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Acts 7:22, 25
Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action… Moses thought that his own people [Israelites] would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not.

I know what it means to be between two worlds… or more. I am a first generation American. My parents arrived in this country in 1951 and, as most immigrants do, they looked for a community of Latvians. They ended up in Indianapolis, Indiana where over 2500 Latvians had settled. Over the years, the Latvians built a community center and had various civic and religious organizations. But, when my father died, we were somewhat ostracized from that community and I never understood why and until much later in life.

You see, my mother is only half Latvian and half German. Her mother was German (as well as her step-mother), and in the end, her sympathies and traditions were more rooted in Germany. She had even “re-patrioted” to Germany before the war, a common practice by anyone with any German heritage. My parents actually met in Germany where my father was a prisoner of war and my mother worked as a translator because she was tri-lingual (German, Latvian & English).

In the end, within that Latvian community in Indianapolis, her Germanic roots and her widow status caused many a cold shoulder. As a result, we gravitated to the American society.

But that was not a smooth assimilation either. We were still foreigners. English was actually my second language as we primarily spoke Latvian in the home until after my father’s death. We were definitely different. My mother had a heavy accent and she had some eccentric ideas to say the least.

We lived between those two worlds, trying to juggle them. We attended events and made friends in both worlds, but we never felt truly a part. My brother and I finally chose one community over the other: we chose to become as American as possible and for many years, we both cast off our Latvian heritage.

My daughter, recently adopted from Russia as a teenager, is going through similar struggles. She doesn’t really fit into either world. Her Russian friends (and extended biological family) see her as a traitor of sorts for moving to this country and her American high school is less than embracing, mocking her accent and loopholes in cultural and language norms (by students as well as teachers). Her pain is palpable.

Moses was raised as an Egyptian… but he was an Israelite. He thought he would be embraced by the Israelites when he discovered his lineage and his background. They did not. His solution was to run away. He went to Midian and raised a family there. His solution was to cast aside both cultures and start over. I can understand that mindset.

We all know the story. God called Moses back to lead his people. God had prepared Moses for this task, specifically by placing one foot in each culture.

Someday, my daughter will discover the power of living and surviving the challenges of two cultures.

For myself, I have been more like Moses and I escaped into a different third world: the Christian world… a culture, up until recent years, all its own. But, like Moses, I feel God calling me back to integration.

I cannot run from the pain of my past. It is all part of who I am and who God wants me to become. All of the choices, the mistakes, as well as the victories and successes, are part of today. Those experiences made my today.

I choose wholeness for myself today… for my daughter… and for anyone who has struggled with any separation within.

Read Full Post »

Courage to Speak

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , on October 3, 2009| 1 Comment »

Acts 4:13
When they [Sanhedrin] saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

There are many types of courage and there are many ways to gain courage. Just because one has courage does not mean one does not have fear or uncertainties. Courage is moving through uncertainty, moving on despite the fear. Courage is believing that something else is more important than self-preservation.

Courage comes easier with practice. This is one reason group wilderness experiences, ropes courses, and other challenge building exercises have become so popular. They build an individual’s tolerance for fear and a history of success in the face of fear.

Of course, what requires courage for one person is not the same for another. I enjoy speaking in front of a group unlike many of my friends and colleagues. I can probably say that much of that “courage” comes from my theater background. But, there is also a confidence that comes with a group setting because I rarely have a sense of disapproval from a group. However, put me in a one on one situation where I can read a person’s body language, their expressions, and can observe their dismay or disagreement, I freeze up. It takes great courage for me to say something to an individual that I suspect will cause disagreement or anger or disappointment.

Basically, I want people to like me. Don’t we all? And so often, I have chosen silence in the name of keeping the peace or maintaining a friendly connection. But, in the end, this is giving people a false impression. It’s a lie.

It is my hope that I may grow in courage to be more transparent and authentic… to speak my heart, to speak from love, but honestly… to speak of my faith and why I follow the Christ. That’s all. One does not have to be “schooled” in theology to talk about the power of change and faith.

Read Full Post »

Really Looking

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 29, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Acts 3:3-4
When he [the crippled beggar] saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!”

Eye contact. It’s a lost art. But really, it’s one of the most important connections.

When I was in acting school and took stage combat, it was the first thing we learned. One cannot engage in combat without looking, really looking, in the eyes of the opponent. In stage combat, it’s a team effort. The one striking and the one being struck must see each other and agree on the moment.

Last night, at a rehearsal, my stage partner was supposed to give me a kiss. He missed my lips and it landed on my chin… basically because I didn’t look at him, nor he at me. We were not in sync.

I think the great healing that Peter did at the Gate Beautiful outside the temple courts was similar. The cripple was in a begging habit, calling out, asking for help, but without looking at the actual people going in or coming out. He was throwing out his need like buckshot and hoping his plea would somehow land on the heart of someone.

But healings are specific. Peter demanded the man really look at him. I believe the healing happened in that moment. The “get up and walk part” was after the fact. When they really looked at each other, the crippled man’s authentic need was passed to Peter and in exchange, Peter released the power of the Holy Spirit.

Healing love, concern, hope, trust, assurance, and confidence are among the many things that are passed through the eyes. Not that there isn’t power in other connections (like touch), but the eyes are a unique window to the soul.

Today, open my eyes to see Jesus. Today, open my eyes to see need. Today, open my eyes to give of the Spirit.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »