Are you good at looking out for the needs and causes of others? Do you prefer that people pray for another person and not you?    Do you notice how often you wait to speak up; wait to be recognized?      Have you conquered the mountain we call meekness? Are you the best at being humble?   Are you like me in not truly understanding what it means to be meek; to be humble?   We all need to toss our notions out and take the truth to heart.

When considering the idea of meekness, of humility, a good place to begin is with the man the bible calls the meekest man of all; Moses.  In the book of Numbers, chapter 12 verse 3 we read the following:  “Now the man Moses was meek more than all the people who were on the face of the earth.”   This is an amazing statement relating this superlative to this man. Consider then the man, Moses.  From scripture we learn he was an Israelite, of the clan of Levi.  Having been condemned by Egyptian policy even before his birth, he was rescued from death by a princess of Egypt and raised as royalty in the palace of the Egyptian pharaoh.  Moses knew his origins and yet lived apart from them as a young man.  He was raised to be powerful, to be catered to, to be honored and obeyed.  All his needs were met; he was educated, privileged, loved and wanted.  Even having all this, his conscience stirred him upon seeing injustice, and he did what some powerful people do; he became what judge, jury and executioner.   Nevertheless even his exalted status in Egypt could not rescue him from the will of pharaoh or of the law, so he fled.  Moses the son of a princess became a fugitive living out in a desert with nomadic shepherds.  He married, not a princess, but the daughter of a shepherd/priest.  From being a privileged person of royalty, he landed a job as a shepherd; a job that led nowhere, with nobodies surrounding him and certainly none of the comforts and wealth he previously knew. 

Enter the plan of God-to meet this man face to face and to assign him a new job; shepherding the people of Israel out of Egypt into the Promised Land.  It is at this point that meekness or humility begins to be birthed.  For we find Moses afraid to look at God.  Moses is not brazen or demanding, even though his curiosity led him to check out the sight of a burning bush.  When God tells Moses that he is to lead the people out of Egypt, Moses asks “Who am I that I should do this…”  It is in the response of God that we all can find the truth about the power of humility.  God answers Moses’ question with His promise; “I will be with you.”   God is not asking Moses to plan, fund, design or execute this exodus.  He is not giving Moses a task to prove his worth, or to earn a place in the Scripture Hall of Fame.  God calls Moses to follow as God leads His people out of captivity.  Moses is the servant of the Lord, the representative of God to the people.  He is the one who will speak to God for them and speak to the people for God.  And it is in that place where Moses will show that humility knows the power of God, it knows the leading of God and it knows the wisdom of God.

  Ephesians 1:19-20  “ and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might ²⁰ that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,”

Moses learned, as we all must, that humility is not disparaging ourselves, but rather obeying God.  It is not harping on how sinful we are, rather it is be stunned at the grace God showers on us.  To put God first is to allow all for Him, all through Him, all because of Him.  Moses learned this through time spent with God; time spent talking, pleading and sometimes arguing.  But Moses came to know God, to know His voice, His will, His heart, realizing that God was there with Him.  Moses knew God, and he knew God had given him a people to lead, to shepherd, to the Promised Land.  Moses did not have to defend his position, fund his position, figure out his position.  God did all that.  Moses simply needed to obey, to follow God.  In that obedience, humility was able to exist.

What of us?  How do we define humility?  Is it putting ourselves last, feeling guilty for being needy, for asking for help from God?  We are all in need of checking our definition of humility against the biblical definition. God does not have to divide His time between me and others, nor does He have to ration out answers to prayers to those who are worse off than me.  His attention is not needed elsewhere in the world; therefore He will not be busy when I pray. We often assign human constraints to God, but He is not less favorable to me because I am less needy.  He is not in need of a rest from me.  He is never tired of me, never willing to give up on me.  I can never fall beyond the reach of His grace and love.

 This way of thinking is actually idolatrous since it makes God out to be different that He has shown us. It is self centered, not God centered, self defined, not God defined.  This is the lesson Moses learned and the one we all must learn as well. 
In the power of God with us, we can do mighty acts, courageous acts, and remain as meek individuals, knowing it is always the power of God, the plan of God and the love of God that work through us.  To be meek is not to be self centered; it is to be God centered.  To be meek is not to be a door mat, it is to be a God directed, strong, vocal servant speaking and doing that to which God had called us.

We are all told to seek humility; Zephaniah 2:3 “Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands.  See righteousness, seek humility.”  As we seek God, we will learn humility for what it is; a long, obedient walk with God leading the way.

Not a Clue...

Have you ever been totally wrong about something?   Like those times when you are preparing to meet someone from a place where you have never been.  You begin wondering how you will communicate or whether the person will like you. It  can seem daunting and exciting  all at once.  But then, once you meet all those worries and concerns are pushed aside.  You had totally misread the situation because you really had nothing on which to base your fears and preparations.  Or perhaps as a child, you were caught doing something you had been told not to do.  Waiting for dad to get home and the discipline to begin, you plan all the ways to avoid it, or cope with it, only to learn that the discipline is easy; merciful. You were not prepared for it to unfold in the way it did, but you are definitely happy it did. 

             Totally wrong; it is something we cannot avoid as humans.  Often our foresight is shortsighted.  Our visions of what is going to happen are not really visions of the future but wishful thinking.   The idea that we can be totally wrong is not a comforting one, but it is true.  “The best laid plans,” as people say….

Totally wrong is the label I give to Eve’s assessment of attaining the knowledge of good and evil.  No matter how beautiful that fruit looked to her, no matter how wonderful the idea of being wise was, Eve’s assessment and Adam’s agreement were totally wrong.  Totally.   Think about this from our vantage point.  We know good and evil; we know murder and rescue, thievery and charity, hatred and love.  Adam and Eve knew nothing of murder, let alone death.  They had no concept of robbery, private property, ownership and certainly had not even known of hatred.  These were unknowns to them, more than that, these concepts-actions-were things that did not exist for them.  They couldn’t be known.  God, in His wise mercy, had not allowed them to be aware of these things even as a possibility.   The idea that grew in Eve’s mind, that she needed to know good and evil, that what was being denied her was something marvelous, was totally wrong.  Recall what happened the moment the first two humans turned from God.  As God had warned them, they began to die.  First to die was the confidence between Adam and Eve of love and acceptance.  They realized they were naked and they felt shame and so they covered themselves.  The knowledge of the good they had lost was piled on the knowledge of the evil of the human heart to judge another, to demean, hurt and shame another.  Second to die was the sweet friendship with the Creator as the two sinners hid themselves, like naughty children hiding under a bed.  The new knowledge of evil about rebellion and fear of deserved punishment for treasonous behavior was clear to them now.

More learning about the knowledge of evil follows at a stunning rate.  They learn all about self preservation at the expense of a spouse, they learn about weeds and dry, arid soil, about pain and separation and sorrow and banishment, of hard, fruitless work, of regret.  In a matter of minutes, the two of them became fully aware and knowledgeable about concepts, ideas and actions which they had never even dreamed was possible.   It was beyond imagining for them.  They had been transferred to an unknown place, by their own choice.  What was before totally unknown to them, was now home to them, and all their descendants.

Now as the doomed descendants of our knowledgeable foremother and forefather, we have also had the opportunity to choose.  We have the choice to choose to be redeemed or not; to be reunited with God or not.  For those of us who choose to be redeemed we have been given a promise, the promise of Heaven.  But I fear many of us are taking the old way of being Totally Wrong in our assessment of what Heaven really is.   Mainly because Scripture is not extravagant in descriptions of what it means to be in Heaven, we have created our own heavenly landscape.  Some characterizations have us sitting on clouds playing harps for eternity. It is a continual worship service, filled with music and singing say others.  BORING say some.   Then for many heaven is a great golf course or a perfect fishing spot.  For others, heaven is a place of eternal youth and lots of puppies and kittens.  No matter what Scripture tells us, we often want it our way, filled with what appeals to us.  

            When thinking about heaven remember how Totally Wrong Eve and Adam were in their ideas about the knowledge (THEY HAD NO IDEA ABOUT) of good and evil.  Recall too the words of 1Corinthians 2:9 " but just as it is written, "Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all the God has prepared for those who love Him."

         Read that again;  eye has not seen, ear has not heard, and it is not even in the heart, this is what God has prepared for all who are redeemed.  The idea of a perfect fishing spot, eternal youth, harps and clouds, all these we have seen or heard of or at least imagined.  But Heaven is beyond our imagining.  It cannot be adequately described by us.  We may have some pictures, a beautiful bride, a city of gold, fruit trees and thrones, but these are descriptions for what is yet unseen and unimagined by us. 

        We look forward to this amazing, eternal existence, in the presence of God.  We do anticipate its beauty, but let us not limit it to our experiences or our imaginations.

Let us, like innocent, joyful children, be astonished, awed and merry when we finally see all that God had prepared for us.

Narrow - A Christmas Reflection

 

Do you ever think what the first garden must have been like.  Consider that the One who had made all plant life; all the types and species, all the fruit and vegetables, all the flowers and trees, designed and planted a garden.   Each plant placed for maximum beauty and function.  Were there grassy lawns surrounded by Poplar trees?  Perhaps a gravel path trailed through a mass of daisies and bee balm leading to a Koi Pond.  Was the sound of the nearby river audible?  The riot of color from the throng of flowers placed in beds of fine soil and massed on distant hillocks would delight the eyes and fill the air with sweet scents.  The trees would have been impressive.  Tall cedars, even taller fir trees and rounder fruit trees. Add into this the fruiting plants, nut trees and vegetables. There were pears and pomegranates, Kiwi and figs, apples and cherries, and masses of berries; black, blue, red; all growing, placed in perfect proportion, in perfect placement.  The eye would travel over the low vines growing along the ground with the delicate purple flowers peaking out.  It would lift to the lower plants; wide leaved hosta, tiger grass, to the roses of a wild array of every color filling the sight with a prism of color.  The garden, east of somewhere we don’t know, was in Eden. Neither its size nor topography is known. But there it was in all is splendor and beauty, home to two people.  It was their place to work, to tend and since weeds were a thing of the future, the work may have been to tend each plant to help it reach its best, its fullest potential.  Everything they needed was there, food, work, friendship and love.  A morning of tending this beautiful place, and afternoons strolling in the garden with the Creator, that was their schedule.    The garden was full, exuberant, and wide and open to them. Everything was there for them, save one tree, one fruit.  There was nothing lacking, nothing missing, they had no need for anything, they had paradise.  Yet that one fruit which they did not need they took and in an instant the wide exuberance began to contract as a funnel winds toward the narrow end.  The garden behind them as the gate slammed shut and only a narrow, dry way ahead of them as they walked away.  Away from the riot of colors, away from the sweet smells at every turn, away from the abundance of fruits and vegetables, they walked.  Now new a schedule that required sweaty, hard, frustrating work in order just to eat was the outline of their day.  Now friendship and love were replaced with a mixture of blame and apologies, of love and hate.  The wideness of the garden became a narrow tunnel through life hemming in the couple and their children and their children.  Narrowing through the ages, an ever tighter squeeze, until it reached another garden, Gethsemane.  Since it is an urban garden, Gethsemane is different from Eden.  It is a garden of olive trees mainly and grassy areas, with paths to walk. It is spare and dry. 

   It was a place for people to go to get relief from city life, from heat and noise.  And it is the place Jesus went when the narrowing of history was at its apex.  Here He was faced not with many choices and only one prohibition, as they were in Eden but with one choice having given up the choice to be powerful, to be ruler, to be wealthy and famous and loved.  Here He wrestled with the one choice to do what was asked of Him, being finally only by Himself, with no companion, no helper, no one to go along with Him.  The narrow way, once He made the choice to obey, lead Him up a hill, into the darkness of death, down a hill and into a closed tomb.  Although it is more accurate to say that the narrow way, the long funnel of time, lead through a tomb, out into the sunlight in a new morning, a wide morning, an exuberant morning.  From a bountifully wide garden to a blasted field through a stone cave, He leads all who will to the exuberant paradise, the new garden where joy is the air to breathe and love is the common language.  Life is no longer narrow, dull of color and frustrating for there is joy set before us and hope as sure as the sunrise.  And that is why I celebrate Christmas.

So This is Christmas

So this is Christmas? 

Beginning after Halloween, the United States leaps directly into Christmas.  Anticipation is amped up, hopes are raised, the mighty machinery of dream come true fulfillment is fired up. Is it because we celebrate the birth of the King, the long awaited Savior of humanity?  Not really; but instead we celebrate the achievement of a year in the black for the economy of the United States.  The best and greatest item on the wish list of the USA is an economy in the black with a stellar net profit. 

Black Friday is the first day of Advent in this lead up to Christmas.  Coming on the literal heels of a day of national thanksgiving, the day of unparalleled spending sets the stage for the coming Christmas celebration.   The population forgoes a night tucked into a comfortable bed for the thrill of the hunt for a bargain; the excitement of the chase for the perfect gift; the satisfaction of enduring the lines and humanity all in search of the best gift for the lowest price.  Vans piled high with bags of gifts and sleepy, crabby people head home late on Friday afternoon, having completed the first day of advent.  

How did the religious celebration of the birth of the King get usurped to become the engine that drives the economy?  The first recorded celebration of the birth of Christ on December 25 was in the year 336 during the reign of the Roman Emperor, Constantine.  Soon after, Pope Julius made the December date official as the day to celebrate the birth of Jesus.   Celebrations of the day were varied according to the country and epoch.  Early on the celebrations were raucous and lively, more akin to Mardi gras.  After attending Mass, the poor of the town would go to the homes of the rich and demand food.  Generally, the demands would be met.  Roles of the wealthy and the worker were exchanged for a day and chaotic celebrating was common.   Christmas celebrations have been alternately outlawed and then instituted to insure the general peace in society.  This had nothing to do with the actual reason for celebrating; the birth of the long waited king, but rather of serving the social mood.

  Our celebration of Christmas derives largely from the 1700-1800’s and the literature of Washington Irving and Charles Dickens.  During this time in society, childhood came to be more valued and the care of the poor by the more fortunate was seen to be a good thing.  Growing from this, the American family began to see Christmas as a time of peace and nostalgia.  Celebrations included gift giving as the value of children increased.  Spoiling a child became a good thing to do at Christmas.  Food for celebration and gifts for giving all had to be bought and paid for.  As a society and culture we began to save money to insure a good Christmas.  After all, we would need to have money to spend on all that was needed for the grand celebration.

So here we are, at the mercy of advertisers, culture and the economy, directing us to buy more, buy larger, buy earlier, and buy a lot!  What has become of the celebration of the King?

In some cultures, the birth of a new ruler, a king or queen, is great cause for celebration.  It means the continuation of a rule of government, an assurance of protection and peace. 

The people acclaim the new ruler with the loyalty born out of the assurance that the ruler will protect them.  It is an exchange of promises, unspoken perhaps, but certain.

For the Christian, the birth of the King is more than an unspoken promise to protect.  It is the news that the rescue is immanent.  The rescuer on the way, in fact, He has arrived.  The promise is being played out in the here and now.  But why is the birth of the King also seen as the onset of the rescue you ask.  Why does a new king have to rescue His loyal people?  The new King has to rescue His people precisely because they are not loyal.  In truth, His people are rebels and traitors.  The King has been born to rule, but His people have long ago abandoned Him and His kingdom.   In more than figurative ways, His people have gone over to the side of the enemy, taking up the cause of the foe and casting their lot with him.  While the talk from the other side sounded good and reasonable at first, soon it became apparent that it was all a lie and here the people of the coming king were caught.  In the camp of the enemy, traitors to the king and his kingdom, with no way home, they were trapped.  How could they ever make up for this rebellion?  How could they ever get home?  The short, hard answer was there is nothing they could do.  Their backs were up against a wall, they were trapped, with out hope of ever going home, ever going back to the kingdom.  They had vague inklings of a planned rescue, but no idea how it could happen.  To be saved from this fate brought on by evil of their own, sounded wonderful, but impossible.  But with God, all things are possible. 

A savior, the rescuer, and a king, in the same person, promised long ago, has arrived.  A door in the wall, way out of the trap, a way home has been born.  And not only is the rescuer here to rescue, but He is also here to rule in a truthful and good manner.  This is the king that Christmas celebrates. A king who is right always; a king who is generous and forgiving; a king who rules with wisdom and grace, this is the rescuer/king. 

When seen as the celebration of the rescuing King, Christmas is much more than gifts and money spent.  It is a celebration of our freedom from death and our own sin.  It becomes a commemoration of the rescue and the homecoming we can now have.  It is a day to rejoice once more as we recall that it has all really happened in time and at a real place here in our world.  The truth has come to affect our release from the lie we believed.  The darkness has been lit up with the brightness of the Light who came into the world to shine on any who hate the darkness.  It truly is a day to celebrate and so we do. 
Let us celebrate the reality of what Christmas is; the promise has been kept, the rescue is complete, the King is born.

Fully Alive

 I remember the long summer evenings I enjoyed as a child.  The warm breezes, the freedom of being outdoors with friends, running, riding bikes, playing Hide and Seek, with no worries about the next day, no worries about anything at all! 

I particularly remember the long evenings in Michigan, running around with friends as we went from one home to another, playing baseball or tag.  The evening was filled with fun, talk and joy.  The memories are full of hanging out in the fort we had all built from scrap lumber.   Located in the back yard, we would hang out there for hours on end, dreaming up more projects to build.  The sun would drop down in the sky and dusk would settle over us, yet we still remained.  Always playing and looking forward to the next fort to build, the next game to play.  Only when my dad would whistle his distinctive whistle would I know it was time to go home for the night.  That whistle of his could be heard for blocks and was the call for me and my siblings to come in.  If we were in the neighborhood, we could hear it.  No excuses. 

Once I heard the call to go home, I still tried to stretch the moments.  Clearly, I was not ready to head home and go to bed for the night.  But no matter how I tried, once the second whistle came, goodbyes were said and home I went. 

The time I spent with my friends, playing and talking and planning lasted right up until the time I left to go home. I squeezed every moment I could out of those summer evenings.  In contrast, there are times I hear of others who stop playing, stop talking and stop planning long before the call to go home is sounded.  Maybe you know someone who has stopped early.  Maybe you are one who has just dropped out, if so, I have a question for you; why do we stop living, because we know we are also dying?  

 We don’t know for sure the time any one of us will be called home. And, although we may know the time is getting near, why do we come to a standstill?  We stop talking, stop playing and stop planning, stop thinking, in effect we stop living.  The marvelous truth is that while we are still here, God is still using us. Until the call comes we are to be about His work.  So why give up, sit down, shut the door and close the blinds?  The life He has given us is truly His gift to us so play with it, use it, and enjoy it.  The time will come to hand the gift back to Him, but hand it back fully used, worn out, scraped, dented and with an empty tank.  When He calls us home, present to Him a life fully lived for Him, for His purposes through His power. 
There is no playground, hospital room, military barracks, college dorm, house or apartment that cannot be a place of living for Him and enjoying His power and grace.

So, I say again, Live up to the moment you hear the whistle, live joyously, fully and gracefully.

Because I Could Not Stop for Death

Another person in our church is dying.  Another family will be without a mother, a husband will lose his soul mate.  The sadness is overwhelming at times.  I prayed for healing and it did not come.  The family prayed for healing and yet there she lies, dying.

In thinking this over, I realized a couple of things.  My sadness is true and real, but the core issue is the loss here of this person; the loss to her family to her friends and to her church.  My sadness is appropriate, but not the center.  When in this sorrow, the focus must be, as in all things, heavenward.  If my sorrow becomes the focus, then any hope of ministry to the family and friends becomes self serving. Sorrow that finds comfort from Heaven can then give the same comfort. For each of us then weeping and sorrow are good when death is the issue, for they express the feelings and give place to the insult that death is to us all.  They must move heavenward though, in order to find peace.  

Which leads to my second realization; we are all acting as though death is a new thing, as though we are the first to experience it and we really should not have to die. 

Listen to any local news program and notice how death is generally one of the lead stories.  Death always makes the news.  Why is that?  Death has been a part of earthly existence since nearly the beginning of time.  Death is not a surprise.  Everyone we know that is no longer on this earth has died.  None of us have any relatives from, say 1700, who are living.  No, all of them have died.   But still, death always takes us by surprise.

Maybe we resist death and fight it because it truly is foreign to us. Maybe we are surprised by it because we were never meant to die, but to live.  We are surprised when death finds us. 

“Because I could not stop for death-

  he kindly stopped for me-“         Emily Dickinson

How then to live as those who must die, but are ultimately meant to live?  A question worth pondering…..

Of Clouds and Cops

When God was leading His people in the desert, teaching them about Himself and proving His love and care in that leading, He made sure His presence was visible to them.

The pillar of cloud, hovering above the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle, was the evidence of that presence.  As the sign of His presence, the pillar of cloud would direct the travels of the people, His people.  If the cloud lifted it was time to move on.  If the cloud stopped, it was time to stop and if the cloud remained, it was time to remain.

The pillar of cloud also had the appearance of a pillar of fire in the night time, so was at all times visible.  At all times God was with them.  The people had evidence.  They could see the pillar, day or night.  There could be no doubt that God was there with them. 

I try to imagine what it must have been like; to know that the God Who had done great and amazing miracles in order to free me was within my sight.  His promised presence was right there, in the center of the camp.  I would have had to fight to miss the evidence of His presence.  How would I act with Him right there?  Well how do any of us act when we see a police car following behind us on a road?  We make sure our speed is within the limits, we use our turn signals and we don’t pick up our phones!  We tow the line, not wanting to get a ticket!  The threat of being found out, of receiving a ticket, convinces us to act within the law. 

Having also been in trouble in traffic, it was comforting to me to know that the police were arriving to help.  The police not only “encourage” all to drive within the law, but are available to help when trouble arises. 

So with the people of God, seeing His visible presence, I would think they would be wise in their actions and quick to seek Him out for help.  He was right there.

But no!  In true form, so familiar to me, instead of being quick to ask for His help, they are quick to complain.  Instead of praying to this visible God, they complain among themselves.   After all, the food was a bit monotonous, even if it was miraculous.  How shallow we are, truly.  The people have a visible presence of the God Who is leading them, Who has rescued them, Who has preformed miracles in their sight and they complain because they remember the good, tasty food of their Egyptian Captivity.  How tasty sin is! How utterly foolish we are.  Only we can see miracles as bland stuff.  Only we can call deliverance boring and tedious. 

This is a wake up call to us to see with clear vision the work of God and the love of God right in front of our eyes.  To see it and to rely on that presence; to understand what His presence means all to us.  Pray to see the miracles and not be bored, to see redemption and instead of yawning, to rejoice.