1 May 2013 - root access

1 May 2013 - root access

Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit,
because without me you can do nothing.

The great temptation that we all face is to try to do things without him.  Often they are not the right things.  We can be like raspberry bushes trying to grow bananas or lilies trying to produce rose petals.  These efforts are particularly futile.

But even if we are trying to be exactly what we are created to be we can't do it without the source of our life.  We are like dry kindling on the ground trying to grow into trees by wishing it.  We need the life-giving green sap that comes from the vine.

Our efforts on our own do not bear fruit.  However, they are often sufficiently distracting to be a problem.  We get so fixated on our plans and our ideas about how great our plans are that we don't even really notice that our life is drying up.  But unless we stay connected to vine our life is assuredly drying up.  Without the vine we have no access to soil or moisture and we have no roots.

Now the good news.

He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit,
and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.

It's true, this is some tough good news.  But it is good!  We tend to be happy about these branches of distraction which waste our lives.  But they are hurting us.  So even if it hurts for a time to have them removed it is a grace and a mercy.  We experience this when the LORD prevents us from finding fulfillment in the things on which we waste our efforts.  These might be things which are otherwise good when they are not a distraction.  They may have even been legitimate pleasures which the LORD wanted us to enjoy earlier in our lives.  Perhaps now he is calling us more fully to have our joy in him alone.

Our God only does any of this because there is a greater joy we can find in him if we aren't distracted by the passing things of this world.

I rejoiced because they said to me,
“We will go up to the house of the LORD.”

When we are following him and putting him first we may still have to discern whether things which were once useful to us are still important.

But some from the party of the Pharisees who had become believers
stood up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them
and direct them to observe the Mosaic law.”

We may or may not be called to leave these things aside.  The important thing is for Jesus to so rule in our lives so that he can tell us whether or not they are part of his plan for us.

The Apostles and the presbyters met together to see about this matter.

He is calling us all to live together in his presence in the heavenly Jerusalem.  There are various temporal goods which are directed toward that end, and these he encourages.  If we remember our destination and proceed there with joy we won't turn aside along the way.  We won't waste our effort trying to grow branches which aren't ours to grow or to make alive dry wood without soil or moisture or roots.

Jerusalem, built as a city
with compact unity.
To it the tribes go up,
the tribes of the LORD.
According to the decree for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the LORD.

I can't find either of my two favorite versions of this psalm or a taizé rendition, but this one seems cool.

30 April 2013 - priorities set in stone

30 April 2013 - priorities set in stone

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives do I give it to you.

Worldly peace is always short lived and yet we put so much energy into trying to preserve it.  We work so hard for comfort which is impermanent.  We give so much for pleasures which are transient.  Think back over the past week.  What did we invest in the lasting things of the kingdom and what did we invest in chasing pleasures and running from suffering?  There isn't anything wrong with entertainment or health or the myriad other things we seek.  But they ultimately can't satisfy us.  We need to be thankful for our temporal blessings but to be sure our hearts are set on higher things.

Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,
and let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them discourse of the glory of your kingdom
and speak of your might.

How else can we even make sense of people like Paul?  After being stoned he immediately heads back into the city to continue the good work of proclaiming the good news.  The softer stones of discomfort easily keep us from the work of the kingdom, but not Paul.

They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city,
supposing that he was dead.
But when the disciples gathered around him,
he got up and entered the city. 

Paul can now use himself as an example of kingdom-centered living to build up his brothers.

They strengthened the spirits of the disciples

It is vital that they not only let God use them in this way but that they allow it to be an example to the whole community.

And when they arrived, they called the Church together
and reported what God had done with them
and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.

Jesus is able to work with power in people who put the kingdom first.  He wants to work with power in us.  Let us heed the example of Paul and Barnabas so that our lives to may become examples of the power of the risen Christ.

29 April 2013 - know relationship

29 April 2013 - know relationship

Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”

Love is how we come to know God.  This may seem counterintuitive.  Why can't he just blast knowledge of himself to the whole world so that everyone can know him?

“Master, then what happened that you will reveal yourself to us
and not to the world?”

The relationship which God wants with us is one which can't be based on knowledge alone.  We can know all sorts of things and yet have no real relationship with them.  We can even know all sorts of details about historical personages and yet not have a relationship with them.

“Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.

Love, and therefore relationship, is first and foremost a matter of the will.  Putting oneself at the service of the other and wanting to be conformed to the other are fundamental.   Knowledge of the other can exist without any of this and so it isn't necessarily helpful.  Even the demons believe, James tells us.

Whoever does not love me does not keep my words;

Jesus really does want to reveal himself to the whole world.  He wants to be in relationship with all people and to pour out his love upon us all.  But he won't settle for disinterested knowledge.  Without love at its base this knowledge quickly degenerates into exploitative use of the one who is known.

This is how God can entrust the power of kingdom to human beings such as Paul and Barnabas.  If all they had of God was knowledge and he bestowed on them his power it would be easy for them to exploit it to make their own names great.  But they do not.

We are of the same nature as you, human beings. 
We proclaim to you good news
that you should turn from these idols to the living God,
who made heaven and earth and sea and all that is in them.

This relationship which they have with the LORD is based on love.  It reveals to the world something more than its philosophies and superstitions to which by which it is otherwise quick to categorize its entire experience as do the people at Lystra.

“The gods have come down to us in human form.” 

Philosophies and religions apart from relationship are idols.  They are precisely something one can have knowledge of but not with which one can have true relationship.

Our God is in heaven;
whatever he wills, he does.
Their idols are silver and gold,
the handiwork of men.

It is loving relationship which enables one to say "[n]ot to us, O Lord, but to your name give the glory."

He is preparing his people for the revelation of who he is.  But this knowledge, like the knowledge of a husband and wife, can only happen in the context of love.  And the Holy Spirit is the love between the Father and the Son.  We share in this love by observing the commandments and keeping the word of Jesus.  And in sharing in this love we experience the true revelation of the face of God!

The Advocate, the Holy Spirit 
whom the Father will send in my name– 
he will teach you everything

So let us bless his name from our hearts.

May you be blessed by the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.

28 April 2013 - a whole new world

28 April 2013 - a whole new world

“It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships
to enter the kingdom of God.”

It is necessary but it is so worthwhile.  No one escapes suffering in this life even if he wants to.  A new world is at hand.  These sufferings are preparing us for it.  Ultimately they only last for the blink of an eye from the perspective of eternity.

The former heaven and the former earth had passed away,
and the sea was no more.
I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem,
coming down out of heaven from God,

The glory of the world to come is made manifest in the midst of our sufferings just as it is for Jesus even on the very cross itself.

“Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.

But even Jesus endures the cross for the joy which is set before him (cf Heb 12:2).  The revelation of God's glory begins in suffering because it reveals to this world that there is something beyond the focus on self which can only try to run from and minimize suffering.  It it ends in the joy set before us all.

He will wipe every tear from their eyes,
and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain,
for the old order has passed away.”

Free from all tears we will join with the psalmist in exultant praise.

I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.

So how can we make known such a great but difficult truth?  

This is how all will know that you are my disciples,

if you have love for one another.”

Suffering can only be endured with love.  Our love and suffering can lift up others amidst their own pains.  And when we are still selfish and don't love as we ought let us turn to Jesus who is the only one with the power to do any of this in us.

“Behold, I make all things new.”

2013 April 27 - revealing word

2013 April 27 - revealing word

From now on you do know him and have seen him.” 
Philip said to Jesus, 
“Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” 

It is a dark sort of knowing.  That is how Philip can turn and ask Jesus for the very thing that Jesus just said was the case.  We need to trust Jesus even when he tells us mysteries that we will never fully grasp.

Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? 

Yes, LORD, we believe, but we don't fully understand.

Fortunately the LORD is always working in us to reveal himself more and more.  We may never fully understand it, but Jesus is telling us about his unity with the Father for a reason.  One of the consequences of this unity which Jesus wants us to understand is that he shares the power of the Father and bestows it on his disciples when they ask for anything as long as they ask in his name.  He is the word of the Father and when that word is spoken by his disciples it always has power.

Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes in me will do the works that I do,
and will do greater ones than these,
because I am going to the Father. 

And whatever you ask in my name, I will do,
so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 

This is amazing.  We are right to be taken aback by it and to wonder at it.  But it is also necessary for the great mission he has for us.

For so the Lord has commanded us,

I have made you a light to the Gentiles,
that you may be an instrument of salvation
to the ends of the earth.”

In order to steward the "word of salvation" which we have been entrusted we need to understand that it comes from the Father and is therefore utterly unique from all human words.  His word contains his power.  When it is proclaimed he himself acts to reveal himself.

The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. 

The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. 

The words are words of salvation for the whole world.  Let us give thanks with the psalmist.

All the ends of the earth have seen

the salvation by our God.

Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;

break into song; sing praise.

2013 April 26 - way beyond ourselves

2013 April 26 - way beyond ourselves

“Master, we do not know where you are going;
how can we know the way?” 

We don't know exactly where he is going.  Eye has not seen and ear has not heard what God has prepared for those who love him.  We can't even see what is over the next rise in this temporal world in which we live.  But we need not see it.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. 

Jesus is here with us now if we open our hearts to him.  We don't have to climb the next mountain to find him.  He is here and we are not lost because he himself is our way. But he is also there, in the future, preparing a place for us.  He transcends time itself but he is always motivated by his love us.  He is there preparing a place for us but not simple for the sake of a place.  It isn't for abstract pearly gates and streets of gold amid the clouds. The place matters, not because it is in heaven, but because it is in the Father's house.  It is a place where we our spirit can abide with the Father even while we await the resurrection of our bodies.  We cannot come to the Father on our own.  We quickly get lost and give up.  We set our hearts on this temporary world and try to make it our home.  Only Jesus can get us safely to the Father's house.

No one comes to the Father except through me.”

If we set ourselves on anything but Jesus we quickly turn aside.  The "place" he really brings us is into his unique relationship with the Father.  There is no way to find it on our own but he delights to share it with us.

what God promised our fathers
he has brought to fulfillment for us, their children, by raising up Jesus,
as it is written in the second psalm,
You are my Son; this day I have begotten you.”

Jesus allows us to become sons and daughters of the Father by sharing in his resurrection.  He wants us to know the love of a Father who never wavers in his love for us, who never acts selfishly or in irritation with us.  Everything he does he does for us.

Jesus is the "word of salvation" which the Father speaks to us.  Let us not only hear this word.  Let us reecho it throughout the earth.  Let us join with Paul, saying that "[w]e ourselves are proclaiming this good news to you" that all may "with trembling rejoice."

And, since there is a song relevant to my bad pun:

25 April 2013 - cast, removed

25 April 2013 - cast, removed

So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God,
that he may exalt you in due time.
Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you.

Here we see part of why humility is so good.  We must become too small to carry our problems on our own.  Humility means knowing that without God we can do nothing.  The world thinks being powerful is great.  It values being effective and having everything under control.  Humility knows this is an illusion.  It recognizes that by worry we cannot add one hour to our lives (cf. Mat 6:27).  The more the world tries to carry on its own apart from God the greater the burden that eventually drags it down.  Humility does not need to have the source of success within itself and so it casts each and every care upon Jesus.  We are able to do this when we recognize that he cares for us.  It is this care which moves us from despair in our own resources to confidence in him.

Humility is also the secret to seeing our suffering transformed.

The God of all grace
who called you to his eternal glory through Christ Jesus
will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you
after you have suffered a little.

Note that our part is to suffer a little.  It is God who will restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish us.  We don't have to struggle  It is the difference between trying to heal ourselves and trusting in the divine physician.  If we trust him, suffering will not move us because we know that he is doing everything for our good.

Humility is the sine qua non of evangelization.  No matter how clever or well reasoned our efforts we have absolutely no power to convert others.  Jesus does want to use us but he wants our obedience much more than our skillfulness.  The Holy Spirit has all the power he needs to make his own case if we aren't too busy with our own ideas to let him do so.

But they went forth and preached everywhere,
while the Lord worked with them
and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.

Without humility we eventually turn out to be preaching ourselves and not Jesus (cf 2 Cor 4:2-5).  We are more interested in pride based on our cleverness than on spreading the gospel.  This can infect both our corporal and spiritual works of mercy. At times when we are tempted to rely on ourselves let us take the time to revel in the utter uniqueness and greatness of our God.  We can't expect to be motivated by it if we don't take the time to behold it.

For who in the skies can rank with the LORD?
Who is like the LORD among the sons of God?

Ultimately, we want know and share the joy that comes from knowing the LORD and walking in his presence.

Blessed the people who know the joyful shout;
in the light of your countenance, O LORD, they walk.

Let our aim be to walk in the light of his face and to shout with joy to his name together with all mankind.  The LORD lives in the praises of us people (cf Psalm 22:3). Let us all forever sing his goodness.