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Posts Tagged ‘trust’

Opposition Can Be Good

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , on November 14, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Acts 13:50b, 52
…They [the opposition] stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region…And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

Sometimes we mistake opposition for failure. After all, in this case, the opposition managed to expel both Paul and Barnabas from their city. And later, they even followed the two apostles to Lystra and stirred up that crowd so much that they stoned Paul and left him for dead. But none of these things deterred the apostles. They either “shook the dust from their feet” or waited on God to heal them and moved on.

How often do we cave to opposition in our own worlds? If I look back, I realize how many times I have given up my ideas or projects under opposition. I kept looking for a blessing, a success, as the signal that God wanted me to continue. If I wasn’t successful then I became too discouraged to continue. And so, there are plays unfinished, performances never executed, work undone, blogs left idle, ideas left hanging, people lost, children untouched, jobs never started.

Lord, forgive me for running from the opposition… the challenges of life, the struggles, the confidence in You. Give me courage to hold fast and move forward. May wisdom be my sister in all things.

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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.

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Really Full or Ready to Empty?

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 8, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Acts 13:9-10a
Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, “You are a child of the devil…”

This incident happened on the initial leg of Paul’s first missionary journey in Cyprus. Apparently, it is on this journey that Saul changes his name to Paul, which historians surmise he did to be more accessible to the Greeks. And it is here that he and Barnabas encounter a sorcerer named Elymas who opposed them when they sought to speak to the proconsul that Elymas had been serving up until then.

But what is of greater interest to me is this phrase about Paul being “filled with the Holy Spirit.” As far as I can tell, this particular phrase, or ones similar to it, are only mentioned a dozen times in the New Testament. And yet, this is a phrase that many contemporary Christians (particularly Charismatics and Pentecostals) bandy about as a frequent experience marked with outward expressions like tongues, laughing, shaking, and the like. Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying these expressions of the Spirit are not authentic, I’m just not sure they represent being “filled” as in filled to overflowing.

I think that true fullness would, by its very nature, pour out on others. Most of the “filled” examples in scripture are followed with a time of emptying by speaking and prophesying, literally speaking for God. Anything else is probably less than full. I just think we have diminished the impact of what it means to experience the Holy Spirit in this way.

I have used the phrase myself. But now, I think I have been merely touched by Holy Spirit. Whatever experience I had was just a breath of the Spirit compared to being filled. There is so much more. If a person is actually filled to overflowing, something happens… something changes. Power is exercised and by its very nature, it is according to the direction of God for the sake of another. Someone else is changed, not so much the person who is filled.

I am ashamed to say but I believe I have sought these “infillings” for myself and not for others at all. Oh, it sounds so pious, to seek the Holy Spirit and to go deeper into the things of God. But really, isn’t the whole point of my faith supposed to be to touch others?

So many traditional church folks are afraid of the “postmodern” movement because it is so inclusive and yet, there is one thing the emergents and postmoderns have over a lot of the other Christians… they “get” the “relationship” message. They are loving and serving others as a natural outpouring of their faith and their walk “in the way of Jesus.” They are living with and serving the poor and the unlovely. They are not trying to get more filled… they are trying to empty. They are pouring themselves out for others.

Clearly, I am still holding on too tightly to what I have. I am afraid to empty myself because I don’t really trust God to keep me filled. Forgive me.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

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And the Guards were Executed

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , on November 5, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Acts 12:18
After Herod had a thorough search made for him [Peter] and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed.

These four guys were the extras. You know, as in one of those huge lavish movies, there are tons of extras. They are nameless and virtually faceless. They have some small task and that is all. They get their one minute of screen time and that’s it.

These four guards are no different. This was their time and in the end, they are memorialized … they are to be remembered that they lost their lives in exchange for Peter’s freedom.

If I allowed free reign to my imagination, I could create entire families and scenarios for these guys. They had lives that were lived outside the prison walls of Herod’s fortress. Perhaps one was older, whose children were grown or another was a new recruit, given a special assignment.

What happened when they discovered Peter was missing? There were two on each side of Peter and two outside the locked cell door. The angel of light came, opened Peter’s shackles, told him to rise and dress and they walked out the door What were the guards doing? Surely they were not asleep. Were they mesmerized? Were they put into an unnatural trance? It was not until morning that the alarm sounded. What were they doing? Did they know sooner? Did they know that there death would come the next day?

I can’t help but consider that these guards, like the guards at Golgotha, may have come to a realization. This was a miracle and it was worked on behalf of a follower of Christ. Perhaps they became believers and died, not as executed guards, but as martyrs. Who knows? Perhaps their testimony at the cross examination to the miracle of Peter’s release was Herod’s last opportunity to accept Christ. Herod did not change.

What role will we play when it is our time? Can we trust God with our last moments… with our lives… with our deaths?

These men had a testimony. And their stories probably flew through Herod’s soldiers and servants. These guards were good, reliable men. And all four were witnesses to a miracle. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, their deaths did make a difference.

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Prayers and Angels

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , on November 4, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Acts 12:5, 7a, 10b
So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him…. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell…. When they [Peter & the angel] had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.

How did the believers pray for Peter? Did they pray for his miraculous release by an angel? I don’t think so. They knew that miracles could happen, they had seen a boodle of them. But I’m guessing they prayed for some miracle at the public trial. They imagined him getting an opportunity to speak and people would be filled with the Holy Spirit etc. And how was Peter, himself, praying? Was he asking for wisdom or just courage in the face of death? Either way, the angel bit was a total surprise.

Since God doesn’t make mistakes, apparently, the best thing for Peter and the followers who were praying for him was to cut Peter loose. Peter was officially a fugitive from that point forward. And Luke does not speak of Peter again in Acts until several chapters later. Peter is no longer in public ministry. His work is behind the scenes.

Over the years, there has been a lot of teaching about prayer and how it should be as specific as possible. I’m starting to really doubt the wisdom of this type of prayer. Who am I to know what is the best solution to a difficult situation? God is so creative. If I can trust God with the resolution, chances are it will be a better end that I could ever imagine.

The angel that helped Peter only stuck around as long as angel-help was needed. The angel unshackled Peter, led him out of the prison, past several guards, though a locked gate, then out and down a street. When the angel disappeared Peter was on his own again to make the next decision. Angels do the heavy lifting.

I believe persistence in prayer may not be to call down my ideas of a solution, but to faithfully place that loved one or that difficulty in the light of God’s presence. Then, angels can come or minds can be changed or hearts can be broken…. whatever is best for that moment in time.

One of my favorite scenes in the Lion King (I know, I know, it’s a kid’s movie) is when the Mufasa and Rafiki dedicate Simba and hold him up in the air. This feeling of dedication and letting go is how I imagine prayer to be…. for my current issues, my family, my friends, and all those I have promised to pray for… may we all experience the wonder of angels as God moves our mountains.

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A Hindering Reputation

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , on October 28, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Acts 9:26
When he came to Jerusalem, he [Saul] tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple.

Reputation is a tricky phenomenon. A good, strong reputation can be destroyed quickly while a bad reputation is almost impossible to reverse. Once a good reputation is ruined, it is even more difficult to recover from it.

Ten years ago, I remember an employee review where my supervisor indicated that I needed to be more tactful with co-workers and colleagues. I knew this was an important concern and although it was hard to accept, I took the criticism seriously and worked at changing that behavior. Unfortunately, despite all of my efforts, the person who gave me this criticism continues to refer to this trait of mine as a “given” to this day. In that person’s eyes, I am abrupt and tactless and nothing I do changes her mind about me.

My teen daughter suffered a far worse judgment when a boy began passing around lies about her in school. These misrepresentations were repeated over and over again and although she has not dated the young man for over three years, the “reputation” has persisted.

I’m sure we can all tell a story or two of how our action or inaction has caused a flurry of stories which built into a controversial or suspect reputation.

When I accepted the “way of Jesus” in my late twenties, everyone who knew me was shocked. My reputation precluded my being a candidate for becoming a follower of Jesus. Many people did not think it was authentic. Even my family accused me of fad-following.

Saul has been known as a persecutor of believers. He had disciples arrested, tortured, and eventually killed by the authorities. His first reputation was a huge hindrance to sharing his new-found faith after his conversation experience.

But Saul soldiered on. He eventually discovered his own niche in the story of Jesus. And slowly, over many years, his reputation changed.

Instead of trying to change his reputation through words, he let his actions speak for themselves. He accepted his past and even included it into his teaching. He became an example of the transforming power that the Messiah can have on a life.

It’s impossible to “make” someone trust you. Trust is built over time and consistency of actions.

I cannot change another person’s view of me. I can be authentic and steadfast. And I can trust the faithfulness of God to change the opinions of others over time.

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On the Way–Together

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

…if he [Saul] found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

Saul started out as a great persecutor of the followers of Jesus. He considered them a threat to the traditions and laws of Israel. They were undermining the faith. How were they doing this? How would he recognize these disciples?

Back then, what did a Christian follower look like? How did a Christian follower behave? How would Saul have identified those followers in his time?

The question is no different today. Am I on the Way? For years, it’s been a pop question: “Is there enough evidence to convict you as a Christian?” I think there’s even a song that asks the question. Funny, after 2000 years, we’re still asking who’s on the way.

Certainly, it would not have been an Ichthus symbol on a bumper or Christian music blaring from a car radio or a creche in the front yard. It would not have been a well-worn bible or marching on Washington for some worthy cause or wearing a cross or crucifix.

By the time Saul was on his rampage, the believers had gone underground. They were meeting together in secret. This was one of the foremost clues: they met together often. They chose to be together because of what they had in common. They broke bread together and everyone shared in what was available. None went hungry.

What else did they do when they met together? They shared stories about Jesus. They sang. They worshiped. They waited. They prayed. They encouraged one another. It was a simple life.

Were people healed? Were there miracles? We don’t really know. But the implication is that those on the way, that is living as Jesus lived, were doing the same things He did.

In the end, Saul probably found out about followers because of a snitch. He was told where they would be meeting together. They would be collected and arrested as a group, not so much as individuals.

To be on the way is to be together with others on the same path. I have struggled with this concept my entire Christian life. Going to “church” on Sunday morning isn’t the same thing. That has become a “passive” experience. There is no sense of journey at all. It’s the small group, the cell, that can operate with true mutuality. It’s the place where we can be authentic, transparent, and united on the way. It’s where we can struggle together over the questions of faith, trust, and disappointment.

If I am not in fellowship with a group on the Way, then, no, there is very little evidence that I am a follower of Christ. An isolated follower will elude detection for a long, long time. And so I have done.

God forgive me.

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