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Posts Tagged ‘transformation’

What’s wrong with this picture?

Posted in Time Up to Pentecost, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 26, 2010| 1 Comment »

Paul is a little testy with the Corinthians in Chapter 4. He compares his lifestyle with theirs. It would be like comparing Mother Teresa’s lifestyle with mine. Indeed, what is wrong with this picture?

I Corinthians 4:8a, 9a
Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! . . . For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena.

I was uncomfortable reading Paul today. After all, he’s writing to me just as much as he’s writing to the Corinthians. Compared to the poor of the world, I am living a king’s life. Compared to the relative wealth in any third world country, I am still living like royalty. In Africa, the villager measures wealth by land and cattle and food to eat. In America, we measure wealth by extraneous “toys” like electronics, paper money, investments, cars, and multiple bathrooms in a house.

This is still my stumbling block. It always has been and until my life changes, it will continue to be a plank in my eye [Luke 6:42].

I am afraid to be poor again.

How many times have a I sat in a Bible study or small group and talked about our wealth? We nod our heads and agree it’s problematic, but then we all return to our three and four bedroom houses with two and a half baths and two cars sitting in the driveway. Minimum.

Or, to make ourselves feel better, we drag out the Biblical examples of the wealthy who were close to Jesus: Joseph of Arimathea (who gave up his tomb for Jesus) or Zacchaeus, the tax collector, who climbed a tree to see Jesus and entertained him that night (oh, wait, he gave a way huge portions of his accumulated wealth that day).

Honestly, there’s no getting around it. Our wealth is a type of sin. We can tithe 10%, 15%, or even 20% and still we are carefully holding and caring and multiplying the remainder.

Oh, we say it’s only the “love of money” that is sin [I Timothy 6:10]. So, I don’t “love” money? I just love what money can buy. I love it’s power so much I spend more than I earn and put myself in debt.

Paul says to imitate him. I can’t do it. There’s a reality check. No. I have to find my own balance between culture, commitment, and Christ. This is not the first century.

I have no real solution. But I do know that it’s here where the voice of God must enter my soul and bring revelation. It is here where grace must make her appearance. It is here where mercy must do battle with condemnation. It is here where potential change must be embraced within the loving arms of a Redeemer.

Just as Jesus accepted the prostitutes and beggars, he accepts me. And just as he transformed them, he can transform me. I don’t know what that will look like. I cannot know the true outcome of this picture. I can only trust the Artist.

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God-Given Differences

Posted in Time Up to Pentecost, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on April 25, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Some things are absolutely the same in all of us: the spirit-spark and the potential for union with God, our essential humanness. Upon that foundation, there are God-given differences, or gifts that drive our responses. It is here that uniqueness is born.

I Corinthians 4:7a
For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive?

My journey is a combination of essential human spirit, God’s gifts, and my interpreted embellishments. The combination of these three make me unique, but the first two, the Godly gifts, give me the ability to walk, run, or leap through life. My human spirit has the potential for anything. It is resilient and full of hope. It is like an ember of fire, ready to ignite.

God’s gifts are varied. Sometimes, the gifts enhance and sometimes the gifts limit. They are the things we cannot control. We were born to whom we were born. Those parents and families were enhancements or limitations. We came into the world with our skin (whatever color), our senses (whatever combination), our body, our country, our era, etc., all gifts from God, depending on the individual.

And so, as we live and grow, we respond to these gifts. Some of us are challenged to overcome poverty while others are challenged to overcome wealth (after all, “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God . . . ” [Matthew 19:24]). Some of us are challenged with poor health or disease while others are challenged with hard hearts and fear.

Each one has his or her own cross. Who am I to say that my cross is more difficult or easier than another. Some claim the wealthy have it easy, but then, don’t they still die and suffer like the rest of us? Others say those in good health glide through life, not knowing their hearts are broken by grief and betrayal.

The more I do on my own, the more difficult my life will be. The more I “kick against the goads” [Acts 26:14], the more challenging the journey. The more I denounce my circumstances, particularly the God-given ones, the less likely I’ll integrate them.

I cannot go back and change my past. But starting today, I can accept what was before and embrace a newly crafted future with God. This is part of the Redeemer contract. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” [II Corinthians 5:17]

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One Judge

Posted in Time Up to Pentecost, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 23, 2010| Leave a Comment »

There really isn’t much point in beating myself up for every mistake or worrying about the “judgments” of others when I screw up. There is only one judge that matters.

I Corinthians 4:3-4
I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me

The whole “judging” thing is my true Achilles heel. It’s a habit. It’s a trap. It’s a sin.

And to make matters worse, I turn the same eye inward. I am hard on myself too. No one escapes that voice.

But the answer is so simple. There is only one true Judge and that one knows the whole story. That One knows the reasons. That One knows the best help along the way. That One will intercede for me. That One is both judge and defender.

If I could really let go of judging others and myself, I believe I could love more freely. Love and “judging” cannot live together. Love accepts the now and holds hope in the heart for tomorrow.

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Deep Things of God

Posted in Time Up to Pentecost, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 18, 2010| Leave a Comment »

How do we know? Isn’t it highly presumptuous to imagine I can actually know the deeper things of God? The answer: I can’t know, except in one regard, the mystery of a Redeemer given for humankind . . . given for me.

I Corinthians 2:10
” . . . but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.”

So many mysteries in our world: some live while others die; some are weak while others are strong; some are rich while others are poor; and some are sensitized to the Spirit while others are not.

Why did it all make sense to me back in 1979? Why did words/ideas from the Bible suddenly jump out to me that day and speak to my inner being? I stepped over the line from unbelief to belief. At first it made no sense and the next day it did. My inner eye was opened. My mind was reset. My spirit found connection.

That place is the first step toward the deep things of God. That was my first mystery revealed. I couldn’t answer any of those other questions for anyone else. I only knew that moment was real for me. I encountered a real God: a real Spirit.

Where is reality? For my work, I just read a book that received the 2009 Printz Award for distinction in young adult literature called Going Bovine by Libba Bray. It’s not a particularly easy book to read nor is it particularly spiritual. But there is a current of thought through it about the world within. The boy is quite ill with Creuzfeld Jakob’s disease (Mad Cow disease) and is confined to a hospital bed and mostly unconscious. During that time, he lives through a great adventure, a quest. Was it real?

And so it is with the deep things of God. These things are also real and beyond our three dimensional understanding of time and space. We must let go to know. We must let go to live that bigger life within.

That which is redeemed is within.

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Secret Wisdom

Posted in Time Up to Pentecost, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on April 16, 2010| Leave a Comment »

If wisdom is indeed the application of knowledge and understanding, then what is secret wisdom? The answer was hidden for years and years, its revelation promised throughout scriptures. Paul is convinced that secret wisdom was manifested in a person: the Messiah.

I Corinthians 2:7
No, we [Paul and fellow apostles] speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.

And that’s point. That is always the point for Paul of Tarsus. He, the Pharisee of Pharisees, a scholar, a devotee of the law, he knew the promises. And in a moment, on the road to Damascus, that answer was revealed to him and he understood it all. From that day forth, with the same zeal he had used before to defend the law, he defended the truth and revelation of the long-awaited Messiah: Jesus of Nazareth.

In a way, faith comes to each of us the same way. Whether it’s someone’s story that reaches into our spirits or it’s the words of scripture (as in my case), or it’s a meaningful worship service, there is a moment when understanding and knowledge come together and wisdom manifests.

Wisdom comes by asking. So does the Christ.

And then the process begins of applying understanding and knowledge to our daily lives. It’s different then. It must be. It has to be. That secret wisdom reveals our previous bad choices. That secret wisdom is transformative.

I am re-reading the writings of Richard J. Foster and reacquainting myself with the organization that grew out of his writings and ministry: Renovare. I like their term “spiritual formation” and that’s what my own internal walk feels like these days. It is still the same: becoming more and more like Christ Jesus, but the “how” is becoming clear. It’s not just words, it’s truly a process, a recognition, a change. And with each internal change, the external manifestation flows out to touch others. This must be.

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What Is Not

Posted in Time Up to Pentecost, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on April 13, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Here it is: God takes the most lowly and insignificant thing/person and breaks apart the norm, the traditional, the comfort zones, and the “interpreted now.” He takes “what is not” and creates something new: from nothing–something.

I Corinthians 1:28
He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, . . .

There is a wonderful show on the History channel about the Shroud of Turn called the Real Face of Jesus. I recommend it. A scientific study has been going on for the last several years and only now are these results being made public. In the end, they still have no idea HOW the image manifested on the shroud. One theory is that it was created by a tremendous release of energy or light. Not too surprising for a believer to accept, more difficult for a team of scientists. They are faced with the power of “what was not” becoming something.

Healings are the same thing: bringing into our world something that was not: healthy body parts and organs.

This is all miracle stuff and the point is? Only God can make these things happen. Here’s our job, those called as witnesses, we are simply to look and acknowledge those moments when “what is not” is replaced by “what is.”

Sometimes these are physical transformations, but they can also be spiritual and mental transformations. Ask. Confess. Wait.

“And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.” [Romans 8:11]

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Roots of Righteousness

Posted in Christmas Through Epiphany, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 13, 2010| 3 Comments »

What is it about this word, “righteousness,” that makes me recoil? Surely it must be the other word: “self-righteous” that jumps up into my mind instead. But they are actually direct opposites.

Romans 1:17
For in the Gospel a righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith [disclosed through the way of faith that arouses to more faith]. As it is written, The man who through faith is just and upright shall live and shall live by faith. [Amplified]

The thesaurus is most revealing for the word righteousness: devotion, devoutness, godliness, holiness, piety, reverence, sacredness, saintliness, spirituality, worship, zeal. These synonyms make more sense when Paul says that righteousness is revealed and springs forth from faith.

Faith is the roots of the tree and righteousness the growth above ground. As the tree grows up, the roots grow down deeper into the soul. The entire tree grows stronger and healthier. Both the roots and the trunk are needed for a healthy tree. They strengthen each other.

I think the self-righteous are those who have no roots. They are only concerned with the trunk and the branches of their tree. They have the appearance of righteousness, but it’s really only form, a skeleton. With the first storm, this type of tree will fall.

Over and over again, the tree image keeps coming back to me as a word picture for my life. My maiden name, Berzins, means “little birch tree.” In years past, I have planted many trees as a testament and thanksgiving for “place.” I have prayed under certain trees near the Susquehanna and found peace there. I had God-inspired visions and warnings of my life as a tree that had moved away from the living water. I am deeply grieved when trees are cut down nonchalantly or broken by wind and lightning. I am grateful for the trees in the woods behind our home. They are sources of beauty all year round from buds in the spring to full foliage in the summer, autumn rainbows, and skeletons in winter outlined by the sun that sets behind them each day. Trees are symbols for many faiths and beliefs.

Today, the tree is my personal symbol for uniting my faith with my actions. Amen.

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