The Unselfish Prayer

[1] 

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.  I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.  Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him.  Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.  And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully.  Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.  Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.  Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.  Ephesians 3:14-21

When C.S. Lewis finally learned how to pray it was because his dying wife, Joy, needed a prayer warrior.  With her life hanging in the balance, Lewis’ spiritual advisor/pastor uttered one of those trite things we all say when we should be silent, God can change this.  

Lewis, in the throes of spiritual formation, brought on by the imminent death of his wife, looked at his spiritual mentor and solemnly replied, I pray because I can’t help myself.  I pray because I’m helpless.  I pray because the need flows out of me all the time – waking and sleeping.  It does not change God – it changes me.[2]

Unselfish prayer is something of a redundancy; prayer is, by nature humble, not selfishly arrogant.  If self is the primary target it is hardly prayer.  Paul’s example of his deep love for the church at Ephesus is our model of praying the most important of prayers – for spiritual understanding, strength and blessing on the lives of those who co-labor for the sake of Christ.  To borrow from C.S. Lewis, that is the kind of praying which changes us.

 My Mom always had a hard time saying no to her children.  As a pre-teen I begged my parents (starting wisely with Mom) to let me bring home a free German Shepherd puppy.  (Incidentally there is no such thing as a “free” puppy).  My profuse whining brought the dog home.  We named him Bosco (after my favorite chocolate syrup in milk).  He was the resident clown in our home, more entertaining than a circus.  The way he dragged our other small dog around by the tail and flirted with the cat’s patience nose to nose – you didn’t need a TV in our house; Bosco was ever ready to play.  He could make you laugh until you cried.

Unfortunately, in just months my dog got very sick.  I then turned to prayer, whining even more profusely to God than I had for Mom’s permission.  My prayers notwithstanding, the dog died.  To this day I do not know what caused this first pet of mine to die, nor do I understand the why of it all.  What I do recall are the tears and anguish that tore my insides apart for weeks; hardly a fascinating story for the success circuit of TV evangelism or prayer manuals! 

Six decades of remembering that first heartache of loss have taught me too many lessons to list here, but a couple stand above most:

1.     I was unprepared for the death of my grandparents which would take place shortly after my dog died.  There’s something of a growing up that takes place in the middle of grief over losing your dog. 

2.     Not all prayers offered are unselfish; I wanted Bosco to live because he made me happy.  Truth be told, I was praying for me, not him.

For You Today

Paul’s prayer for his Ephesian friends was written in jail, awaiting execution.  He didn’t pray for a puppy, or his release; his unselfish prayer was a Kingdom thing.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com      Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

[2] Shadowlands 1993 movie

Meeting With God

[i]

Friday, June 2, 2017

We have three Scripture passages in today’s reading.  The first is when Moses and the rest of the freed Israelite slaves reached Mt Sinai after escaping Egypt.  They met with God at the base of the mountain:

On the morning of the third day, thunder roared and lightning flashed, and a dense cloud came down on the mountain.  There was a long, loud blast from a ram’s horn, and all the people trembled.  Exodus 19:16^(NLT)

Next is from the Psalms; many years after the first meeting the people had transitioned from trembling at the sound of God’s thunder and lightning to rejoicing and trust:

We put our hope in the Lord.  He is our help and our shield.  In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.  Let your unfailing love surround us, Lord, for our hope is in you alone.  Psalm 33:20-22^(NLT)

The last Scripture helps us understand the transition from scared former slaves to rejoicing children of God:

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.  So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves.  Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children.  Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”  For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.  And since we are his children, we are his heirs.  In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory.  But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.  Romans 8:14-17^(NLT)

As new followers of this God with no name, the slaves, now-free, didn’t know what to expect when they met Him, up-close and personally-frightening!  After all, thunder and flashes of lightning?  Even my dog will run and hide under the bed when that happens!  The Exodus account was when they first came to understand…He’s a big God; there ought to be a little trembling when you have a meeting with Yahweh!

The Psalm reading came much later in Israel’s history, after much success (and failure) in trying to follow God.  They now had the understanding of what it means to be covenant people, God’s special chosen and loved ones.  They now prayed for all of Yahweh’s being to surround them and hold them close.  They now craved His presence and meeting with this thundering God now meant trusting and hope for the future.

And the fulfilment passage in Romans shows us the present and future for all who will desire to meet with God on God’s terms – we become children of His promises, heirs of the King, brothers and sisters of Jesus, and filled with His Holy Spirit.

We share in His glory; we also share in His sufferings.  But in meeting with Him in worship, fellowship, suffering or victory, the thunder no longer unnerves us, and the lightning is now our friend.  That is what it means to be led by the Spirit of God; we are no longer tossed and turned upside-down by anything. 

This is a process…new believers approach God fearful of what might happen.  Growing believers learn to trust and rejoice.  Mature believers learn to rest with “Abba” their Father.

For You Today

To be led by His Spirit is to trust in His goodness.  It is to rejoice no matter what happens today because you’re resting firmly in Abba’s embrace. 

So…ready for a day of rejoicing?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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NOTES

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 ^I Title image: By Axel Rouvin, via Wikimedia Commons

Battling the Dark

[i]

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian.  He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God.  There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush.  Moses stared in amazement.  Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up.  “This is amazing,” Moses said to himself.  “Why isn’t that bush burning up?  I must go see it.”  When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!”  “Here I am!” Moses replied.  “Do not come any closer,” the Lord warned.  “Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground.  Exodus 3:1-5^(NLT)

Moses was drawn to the fire of God like a moth to a bulb on a Savannah night.  Not so for my friend Paul, who told me a story about his youthful battle against the darkness.  As a young man Paul didn’t own a car, so after night-fall he was walking home along Little Beane Store Road.  It was so dark the only way he could be positive he was still following the road was to feel the rough places at the roadside under his bare feet.  At one point he fell because he’d stepped on something that felt slick and rope-like.  Fearing the worst he jumped up and stomped the unknown dark, slithering evil several times, and then ran home like the wind. 

In the morning Paul returned to the battlefield to see exactly what he’d killed.  When he got to the spot of the nighttime struggle he discovered his vanquished foe in the grass beside the road – one very mangled corn stalk!

Battling the unknown is a metaphor for coming to terms with the fear we have because of the darkness around and within us.  Paul’s youthful fear imagined a reptile laying in wait for him on that summer night.  Living in rural North Carolina with corn, greens, and food growing everywhere, the reality of snakes on the hunt for a meal became larger because of the eerie feeling you get walking alone in the dark.

Moses had his own battle with the darkness, coming to terms with the fact that he really wasn’t an Egyptian prince; that was just what people thought.  Moses had to contend with his real DNA – he was a Hebrew, and the God of the slaves was his God.  Talk about stepping on a snake in the dark.

But then the God of Abraham’s flock called to Moses from a bush that was on fire, but wouldn’t burn down.  Moses was drawn to the fire, curious and unafraid.  But that was before God spoke – this is holy ground, take off your shoes!  It is my firm belief that one sentence is where Moses developed his stutter!

To his credit, Moses didn’t run from God like my friend Paul ran from the snake.  (Had it been me that night, I’d still be running!)  But Moses’ encounter was with the light of a burning bush; that’s different than running from a snake in the night.  The real fight for Moses that day was not the light, but the darkness within.  Moses had to deal with the fear that this God who does everything in the light might consume him because of the darkness inside Moses.  After all, when light comes, darkness has to go!

That’s the real fear most people have when it comes to drawing near God.  After all, we know what fire does…it burns and provides light.  We humans are most-burnable and we have this darkness within that is comfortably entrenched.  We fear light, and we sense that we ought to, because we understand the difference between God and us:

This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.  1 John 1:5^(NLT)

This is why we venerate Moses; despite his own darkness he went towards the light.  And that is how to battle the dark!

For You Today

When, in your times of meditation on God’s Word, you stumble across something quite dark within yourself, don’t just do battle and run home; run to the light!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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NOTES

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[i] Title image: Gebhard Fugel [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Intentional Faith-Development

Today is the third week (of five) in our series on the practices that you can see flourishing in the life of healthy, fruitful followers of Jesus Christ.  We began with Radical Hospitality (welcoming others in Jesus’ name); last week was Extravagant Generosity (what to do with what God puts in your hands).  Today we are having a conversation about intentionally developing our faith. 

Intentional Faith Development

It will help to define what we mean by Intentional Faith Development. 

Define “Faith”

Faith has to do with your relationship to God, and the trust-level you have to let Him control things. 

Define “Development”

In Paul’s letter to the Roman church[1] Paul begged and pleaded with believers to watch their lifestyles – to make certain they were not being conformed to this world, meaning they were to live like Jesus lived, not like the people who crucified him; they should be transformed people. 

That word “conformed” shows up in Galatians, where Paul wrote that he was working as hard as he could with them, and on them, to see Christ formed in them.

This “conforming” to the image of Christ is growth, maturation in the faith, and of your faith.  The Greek word is telos (telos), meaning “mature” or functioning in the manner for which you were created.  A surgeon goes to school to become telos in surgery; his goal is to become proficient in his practice of healing.  In Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, Robert Schnase writes,

Vibrant, fruitful, growing congregations practice Intentional Faith Development. From the first generations of Christians to the earliest Methodists to the youngest generations of faithful members today, the followers of Jesus Christ mature by learning together in community. Churches that practice Intentional Faith Development offer high quality learning experiences that help people understand Scripture, faith, and life in the supportive nurturing of caring relationships. (Abingdon Press, 2007; p. 62)

Define “Intentional”

“Intentional” may be the most disturbing of the three words in today’s emphasis.  This word debunks the myth that growth occurs in the Christian journey by osmosis (where it seeps through your skin like poison-ivy); you just go to church, read your Bible a little, pay your tithe and stay away from bad habits, and, voilà, you’re a Christian; the Jesus gene takes over and you go to heaven. 

Generally speaking there is a parallel between the spiritual and physical life.  Jesus taught many truths by illustrating them with physical realities.  He said he was like a vine, we are the branches.  We are sheep, he is the shepherd. 

Intentional vs. Osmosis

This is also true with the idea that our faith (relationship with God) and development (Christ formed in us) will not happen unless intentionally tended by every Christian.  To clarify this principle, consider the following comparison of intentional parenting, as opposed to letting a child do whatever he wishes:

·        Intentional parents take their children for checkups, shots and make them brush their teeth.  “Osmosis” parents wait until the child is sick and weak.

·        Intentional parents involve themselves in their children’s education.  “Osmosis” parents raise ignorant children.

·        Intentional parents train their children in faith and community responsibilities.  “Osmosis” parents raise hellish, carnal children, because they don’t know better.

·        Intentional parents teach their children manners and how to respect others.  “Osmosis” parents raise self-centered, brutish, obnoxious children who assume there’s no one else in the universe but themselves.

In each of these, it is not the children who are at fault, but the parents who sit back waiting for the parenting osmosis thing to kick-in.  We all know that doesn’t happen!

So, how can you/we be intentional about spiritual growth?  When Paul addressed this issue, he spoke to the whole church, but he also lifted up the idea of Christ being formed in you.  So it is a personal issue which is before the whole congregation.  This is how we apply intentionality – it is personal AND corporate; it’s for the individual believer AND the community. 

This is why we covenant together, agreeing to support all the different functions, such as worship, Bible study, fellowship and prayer (Acts 2:42).   There are five components to this covenant:  We promise each other our prayers, presence, financial gifts, service and witness. 

Medium and Movement

But here we have to be careful not to confuse the medium of these activities with the movement that creates faith development.  Medium is what coveys you to a desired result; movement is the actual, measurable growth BECAUSE you participated in the medium.  Huh?  An illustration – My car brought me here this morning – it was the medium, and it moved me along US64 to US42.  The car got me here, but the goal was to be here, not to ride in the car!  The goal was to be with you all – to arrive at this destination.

Bible study, prayer meeting, fellowship times, mission service, giving and worship are like my car…they are not the goal of becoming a Christian; they are not the movement.  These are the media in which we participate in order to grow our faith so we become the kind of people God seeks as His children.

It’s a Journey

Let’s compare once more the difference between osmosis and intentionality:

Osmosis Faith-Development in the 21^st Century

When you opt for the quick, or the easy, undemanding, totally-in-my-comfort zone approach to discipleship, you might choose the new I-Phone app for confession.  Seriously!  This new app allows you to enter the booth via your hand-held I-Phone, confess your sins, press the “finish” icon, receive absolution and end your session cleansed (that is, if you do the assigned penance!).

This is not a joke to some people; it’s an option!  Without doing the hard work of facing your sins and dealing with them, we can opt for anonymous confession and absolution, without so much as getting off the couch! 

The same holds true for spiritual faith-development in terms of worship, missions, giving, witness and Bible study; it’s all on the Internet, just waiting for the click of your mouse to make you into a Super Saint!  You can even donate by Pay Pal!  Religion without the fuss, demands on your time, or all those irritating people…what a deal!

Intentionality

Intentionality in developing your faith requires a much more ancient app – personal involvement!  Incidentally, that’s always been God’s way, ever since he went looking for Adam and Eve in the Garden after they had sinned.  They wanted to hide; God wasn’t having any of it!  The same held true for their son, Cain.  God came to the first murderer and confronted him with the question, what have you done?  It was the same question God put to Cain’s parents; it’s the same question he holds before us.  God wants “up close and personal” – that’s why proxy doesn’t work in developing your faith.  Nobody else can do it for you, and if you wait for “osmosis” to kick-in, you’ll have a very long wait. 

Intentionality takes time and doesn’t avoid the steps that promote development of faith.  It’s a long….. (Life-long)…process!  Pastor Melissa Bailey-Kirk shared in a sermon something about steps that really sticks in my mind:

Twentieth century archaeologists uncovered some interesting things about the ancient Temple Mount in Jerusalem, one of which is the seemingly random design of the southern stairs.  It was by these stairs that weary travelers climbed several hundred feet from the valley to the actual Temple. The rise of the steps varies in some instances by several inches. The stretch or depth of the steps varies—in no discernible pattern—by several feet!                   

Now, some might conclude that the design engineers were either under the influence of mind-altering chemicals or incompetent. But not the ancient rabbis. They saw the random, sometimes treacherous state of the southern stairs as a powerful metaphor for Intentional Faith Development. They argued that the engineers were not “stoned” but were persons of faith who knew that to ascend the hill of the Lord hurriedly and without thought would be spiritually dangerous. Rather, those who would approach God must do so with intention, caution, and measured steps—paying attention and learning all along the way.[2]

All Along the Way

All along the way!  What a wonderful picture of how intentionality works.  Each step is considered part of the whole.  That is your life; that is your life being conformed to the image of Christ!

At our church we have the media – like my car was the medium to get me here.  What we’re involved in right now (worship) is part of the “all along the way” changing or transforming process.  There are mission efforts, relating to the schools, hospitals and prisons and homebound.  You can crochet prayer shawls and help with Youth.  There are various committees on which to serve.

All of this is part of the uneven, seemingly random set of steps to help us become persons of stronger faith.  It is intentional; it may seem like the results are osmosis-like, but God’s way is always step-by-step until Christ is formed in you!

Father, like the poet, we have many steps to go before we sleep.  Order those steps for us; keep us on the pathway of developing our faith.  LORD, in this moment place in our hearts the desire to take that next step.  Some here should be serving, studying or learning to pray, because that is THEIR next step.  Show each of us how to intentionally step-into finding that next piece of the journey along the way.  We pray in the Name of the Father, Because of the Son, Cooperating with the Spirit…Amen!

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[1] Romans 12:2

[2] Melissa Bailey-Kirk in a sermon, Imago Dei