aSacredRebel

Hold fast

“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens. “‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you. Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ (Revelation 3:7-13 ESV)

God has opened the door to our future, and it is a door no one can shut.

Has a door ever shut on you? They always say when one door closes another opens. I wonder though if that door that closes was never door we were intended to go through. The above writing to the church in Philadelphia says that God opens the door and it can never be shut. We need to discern what door we are to go through and then hold fast to what we have been given. Because the support and faith we have been given is enough to get us through and God will set our enemies on the edge and keep them from controlling us. The little power we have is enough, so hold fast and know that the door to your future has been opened and God is waiting for you on the other side.

save me…

But you, O Lord my Lord, act on my behalf for your name’s sake; because your steadfast love is good, deliver me. For I am poor and needy, and my heart is pierced within me. I am gone like a shadow at evening; I am shaken off like a locust. My knees are weak through fasting; my body has become gaunt. I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they shake their heads. Help me, O Lord my God! Save me according to your steadfast love. Let them know that this is your hand; you, O Lord, have done it. Let them curse, but you will bless. Let my assailants be put to shame; may your servant be glad. May my accusers be clothed with dishonor; may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a mantle. With my mouth I will give great thanks to the Lord; I will praise him in the midst of the throng. For he stands at the right hand of the needy, to save them from those who would condemn them to death. (Psalm 109:21-31, NRSV)

Have you ever felt like life is caving in on you? Like someone is coming up behind you and trying to erase your life and make everything harder than it has to be?

What do you do when you are at the end of your rope? Where do you turn when the rope is fraying and starting to unravel?

The Psalmist here tells us that we can turn to God, our Lord. He will take care of us and remove the eraser and give us the life He has intended for us! Just call out to the Lord and trust that He will save you according to His steadfast mercy!

Up or In?

I was talking with someone yesterday about my call story and how I became a pastor. I ran in the beginning as most of my clergy friends did. We think God really isn’t calling us to be a pastor, we know who we were and where we had been and what we had done, so how could God call me.

I ran at first, but God kept after me…

And I said, “And finally I gave up.”

And the person I was talking to asked, “Gave up or gave in?”

I responded, “Gave in because I have not given up…” I have been looking for a congregation for sometime now to lead and guide. God has been with me through this process and I am not without call, but looking for the full time position with a congregation as their spiritual guide/leader.

But I have been thinking about this conversation, and I wonder if gave up is not the right answer.

When I decided to follow where I felt God was leading me, I did give up. I gave up control over my life and said I will follow where you are leading me. I gave up a nice job making good money doing computer support to move my family 8 hours north and go into debt by borrowing money to go to school for 4 more years. I was also entering a profession not known for the money those in it make. I was not doing it for the money though, because I had given up. I gave up control or what control I thought I had on my life.

So I wonder what your thoughts are?

Is there a difference between giving up and giving in?

Is giving in merely trying to maintain and allowing something to happen?

Is giving up a bad thing? (please see my post on the dip)

a certain point of view…

Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.” When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day.” But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?” When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing. (Luke 13:10-17, NRSV)

My question after reading this text is the woman has been ill now for 18 years, what is another 12 hours going to hurt? Why didn’t Jesus just wait?

Well there is a lot to be seen from this, one is the point of view in which you see the text. Which got me thinking about Star Wars. In particular this scene from Return of the Jedi:

in this scene Luke confronts OB1 about what he told him about his father. He said that his father was murdered by Darth Vader, not that Darth Vader was his father. But the spin that OB1 puts on it is the truth from a certain point of view… And think about it. What do you hold true? I believe that Jesus is the messiah the chosen one of God foretold in the Hebrew Scriptures and therefore the truth I believe is based in that point of view. Things we believe are based on the point of view we view them from.

This is true of the leader of the synagogue where Jesus heals on the sabbath. You see the Israelites have the sabbath commandments which they see as a huge weight lifted off their shoulders. The laws were not given to them until after they were freed from the slavery of Egypt. So to tell a people who had always been told when to work and what to do, without a day off, that now they have to take a day with no work, this was not a commandment that is heard as a burden, but is a freeing weight removing wonderful announcement. They are free and get to rest! They will do whatever they need to to keep this commandment and help everyone else see the need fro it. Thus when Jesus sees this woman that is ill and knows the whole body is ailing because of this, He suspends the law of the sabbath to uphold the law of love. HE heals and brings back right relationships, and thus makes the body well. But the leader can’t see this because the law he holds dear has been compromised.

We all have a law that we will do whatever it takes to make sure it does not get compromised. We all have that thing we get uptight and very nervous when someone or something gets close to breaking it. One of my things is Christmas music during Advent. Worship in Advent is to be expecting and waiting for the coming Christ child, but if we are singing songs that proclaim He was already born, then we are not expecting it, it has happened. I try to keep the expectation. And I struggle with that…

But I wonder what your law is, and what it would take to give up your point of view and use Jesus’ point of view instead…

Lord of the Sabbath

On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” And Jesus answered them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?” And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” (Luke 6:1-5 ESV)

We read this and say, “what is wrong with picking grain and eating when one is hungry?”

Well, first off, who’s field is it! Do you have permission to be picking this grain? Are you breaking another commandment? But none of these are what the Pharisees are worried about. What they are up in arms about is the next part. They are upset because the disciples rubbed the grain in their hands. They did work on the Sabbath. And work is not allowed on the day of rest.

Now if a person is hungry and no food is prepared does not one have the ability to prepare food? Remember though where the Pharisees are coming from. The Israelites were slaves for many years in Egypt where they were told when to work, they probably didn’t get a day off. So a law that demands they take a day of no work sounds really good and something we will uphold. If you we a slave and forced to work all the time, someone telling you to take a day of rest is not a command you will have trouble with, and will fight to keep it!

But we have to remember that the Sabbath was created for man. “And Jesus said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.'” (Mark 2:27 ESV) The Sabbath is a day of rest for us. And we all should rest but if something more important in the grand scheme of relationships is needed then that trumps the Sabbath.

So remember that Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath and follow His lead!

Bless the Lord

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. (Psalm 103:1-8 ESV)

I read this psalm this morning and I was transported to Lutheran Camp Chrysalis in Kerrville, TX…

I heard the song leader screaming, “Bless the Lord! Oh my soul!”

That is a wonderful camp song that comes from this psalm. And here are the words:

Bless the Lord (Bless the Lord)
Oh my soul (my soul)
And all that is within me
Bless His holy holy holy holy name

For He has done great things hallelujah
He has done great things hallelujah
He has done great things
Bless His holy holy holy holy name

This psalm is one to cling to when we feel like our sins are to great, for God is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and will forgive our sins when we call out to Him. So bless the Lord by calling on Him and laying your life at His feet and allow His great things to cover you!

the dip by Seth Godin

A little book that teaches you when to quit!

What a wonderful concept because we are told over and over again that we should not quit.

I mean really we have all seen the picture of the frog in the birds mouth with it’s hands on the birds neck with the line “Never Quit!” Is that really good advice? Seth Godin tells us it is not in this easy read that imparts knowledge we already knows but backs up the knowledge with stories of those who actually quit and never looked back.

Godin helps us to focus our energy where we can make a difference and know when we have to push through the pain, or know when it is time to step away.

This is a must read for everyone to help them see their fullest potential as a person, be that in business or just to be the best of who they are!

Godin gives us nuggets of wisdom to help us see our true potential, find the thing we are personally, or our business is, best at and bring it to the next level of changing the world.

Discipline

Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as children “My child, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, or lose heart when you are punished by him; for the Lord disciplines those whom he loves, and chastises every child whom he accepts.” Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children; for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline? If you do not have that discipline in which all children share, then you are illegitimate and not his children. Moreover, we had human parents to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not be even more willing to be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share his holiness. Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and through it many become defiled. See to it that no one becomes like Esau, an immoral and godless person, who sold his birthright for a single meal. You know that later, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, even though he sought the blessing with tears. (Hebrews 12:3-17, NRSV)

How many of you as parents have disciplined a child? Have you made them endure a time of cleaning or waiting?

How many of us our enduring a time in our lives where it feels like nothing s going our way and we could not feel closer to the Lord? Maybe we are being prepared for our good…

Remember that God can make all things work together for His good, and He is your parent who wants the best for you.

Endure those times of discipline knowing it is for your good. Or better than endure, enjoy those times and relish how this is making you more like Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith!

House of prayer?

Then he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling things there; and he said, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer’; but you have made it a den of robbers.” Every day he was teaching in the temple. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people kept looking for a way to kill him; but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were spellbound by what they heard. (Luke 19:45-48, NRSV)

For the Chief Priest, scribes and the leaders of he people did not listen to to the scripture Jesus quoted did they?

He said that His Father’s House was to be a house of prayer, and they had made it a den of robbers. Was this because they were selling the necessary wares for those who needed to worship? No it is because he exchange rate for the temple money was not good for the people and he prices they were paying were not good for the people. And who set up the systems of exchange and pricing?

What do we do in our buildings where we worship? Is it all prayer and worship? Or do we discuss how to make money and about the things that are wrong with society and the people we welcome and don’t welcome? If we do anything beyond praying we are not doing what Jesus and the Hebrew Scriptures told us to do.

So would Jesus drive you out of the temple?

what do we worship…

‘Our ancestors had the tent of testimony in the wilderness, as God directed when he spoke to Moses, ordering him to make it according to the pattern he had seen. Our ancestors in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our ancestors. And it was there until the time of David, who found favor with God and asked that he might find a dwelling-place for the house of Jacob. But it was Solomon who built a house for him. Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet says, “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? Did not my hand make all these things?” ‘You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are for ever opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers. You are the ones that received the law as ordained by angels, and yet you have not kept it.’ (Acts 7.44-53, NRSV)

What can be made for God that God did not make? He has made the heavens and the earth and all that is around us He has made. So why do we toil over building the right buildings?

What are we really worshiping?

The above window is beautiful and a wonderful rendition of an understanding of the good shepherd, but if this window and the building around it become the center of our attention we are no better than the stiff necked uncircumcised people of heart and ear who had the law handed to them by the angels, but fail to keep it. The law is not about being in the right, it is about right relationships and being there with and for each other. The law is not meant to keep people away, but to show us how we are to live together for the furthering of God’s kingdom.

So do you worship the building you worship in, or do you love and worship God? Because there is nothing you can make that will impress the creator of the universe!