Somewhere along the way, we started to believe that "church people" are quiet, passive and only interested in "Jesus, meek and mild". We follow passively. we speak softly. We hide our uniqueness (aka weirdness)so we present a very bland exterior and over time, we develop this fakeness about us that outsiders can sniff out in a second.
Oh, we never MEAN to do this, but the pressure to conform is significant and few can resist it for very long.
Maybe that's why the Apostle Peter has always fascinated me. He was loud, overly confident, maybe a bit coarse or blunt, quick to speak and slow to think...the sort of person that makes us "nice church people" blush...am i right?
This passage jumped out at me today for a different reason that it has up until now...
here:
"They (the women) left the tomb and broke the news of all this to the Eleven and the rest. mary magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James and the other women with them kept telling these things to the apostles,but the apostles didn't believe a word of it, thought they were making it all up.
But Peter jumped to his feet and ran to the tomb. He stooped to look in and saw a few grave clothes, that's all. He walked away puzzled, shaking his head." Luke 24:9-12 (the message)
Up until now, i have been astounded by the poor opinion the men had of the women's integrity. From what i have learned, women were not considered reliable generally (or apparently here either) and were especially not allowed to testify in court, not to mention other limitations which we now find incomprehensible. But it was the reality of the day, so we'd best not "rise up" and misinterpret that aspect, i think. (although i admit the sheer number of women involved here would make one stop and wonder..)
The other aspect of this that generally strikes me is that Jesus ARRANGED (yes, on purpose) that it would be women to be the first to hear the resurrection news- straight from the angels themselves. Which is remarkable as he grew up in the same patriarchal society as the rest of the disciples had. I'm not sure what profound meaning that has for us, but that's a discussion for another time.
However, on reading this passage today, i was struck by 2 different things. The passivity of the Eleven in hearing such outlandish news. Isn't it easy to believe we have a handle on what God would or would not do? That we can anticipate what actions our Lord would take in any circumstances. Yet, it says "my ways are not your ways. my thoughts are not your thoughts." (ok, in the Bible somewhere. i suck at this part!) But maybe its hard to imagine trusting Someone so unpredictable. We might be made fools of for easily believing something that sounds ridiculous. (Oh Lord, save us from our own egos!!)
So there they sit. the Eleven- Christ's chosen inner circle of guys...listening to these women claim that Jesus overcame death and left the tomb. (ok, i have to admit that they didn't have the Holy Spirit's presence in them yet, as we do now. So let's cut them a BIT of slack...)
The second thing is this:
Suddenly, Peter "jumped to his feet". The quick-thinking apostle realizes that there is a simple way to find out for certain if its true. Off he dashes to the tomb!! And John is on his heels all the way.
y'know...while i like to see myself as a bold person, i can hazard a guess that i'd be one of those "lumps" sitting back with the group...content in my neatly-constructed idea of who God is....wondering why the two (peter and john) had dashed out. I'm far too content with my $2 worth of God (as the old parable-type saying goes) to risk much, to go out on the proverbial limb in faith.
Just the same, i can't help but like Peter's boldness here. He's no hesitator. He regularly acts before thinking...and this is no exception. But there is a certain hunger to see Jesus again that prompts it, i am guessing. (or perhaps the longing to apologize to Christ for his 3 denials...) We don't know that part.
I guess i want to remind myself that acting boldly isn't always bad. Also, that acting timidly isn't good very often, at all!! We are called to a bold faith, to a risk-taking life of dynamic obedience. And I just don't see how we can do this while being "nice, mild church people"?!!
So toss a dash of boldness into the recipe of your day today. Go out on a limb in faith...pray boldly and directly- no mamby-pamby prayers.
I can't wait to hear what happens!!
out...
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Friday, February 17, 2012
a terrific quote by Eugene Peterson
Recently, while reading his book "Living the Resurrection" i came across this quote:
"Holy Scripture rescues us from out-of-breath stutters of distracted and amnesiac journalists who think they are keeping us in touch with what is important."
nicely put, sir.
While its hard to get the true meaning of this quote out of the context of the chapter he was writing- generally speaking, he is talking about living with the awareness of transformation at every turn in life. Living with a vibrant sense of what is important. This quote made me laugh out loud! It so aptly summarizes my feelings about the nightly news broadcasts. On the few occasions i have watched part of the broadcast, i catch myself commentating or just laughing at their behaviour. Now i realize, it is important to know about the "birth pangs" that our planet and its people are going through. It just seems that the level of importance of this awareness has grown out of proportion to the greater reality of God-awareness!
Let me explain- to an ant, the daily crumb count on a kitchen floor is of tantamount importance. However, the family living in that kitchen scarcely notice that fact, unless someone walks barefoot through the room! (ok, this belies my housekeeping tendencies haha) Perspective.
please do not misunderstand - i am not saying we are ants. Nor that God is uninterested in our day to day reality. Not at all. Just that the intense seriousness of the fear-based reporting does not give an accurate measure of life's important factors. They rarely speak about acts of exceptional love, or sacrificial service. Certainly this would uplift the viewers more than hearing the gory details of yet another murder. The good of the people is not the priority. Selling airtime to advertisers and keeping the market-share of viewers is!
So as we step back from the broadcasters for a moment (perhaps consider a fast from it?) do we regain some perspective on what God identifies as important?
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and your neighbour as yourself." Begin there.
What might be the outcome of meditating on that perspective?
Cheers!
"Holy Scripture rescues us from out-of-breath stutters of distracted and amnesiac journalists who think they are keeping us in touch with what is important."
nicely put, sir.
While its hard to get the true meaning of this quote out of the context of the chapter he was writing- generally speaking, he is talking about living with the awareness of transformation at every turn in life. Living with a vibrant sense of what is important. This quote made me laugh out loud! It so aptly summarizes my feelings about the nightly news broadcasts. On the few occasions i have watched part of the broadcast, i catch myself commentating or just laughing at their behaviour. Now i realize, it is important to know about the "birth pangs" that our planet and its people are going through. It just seems that the level of importance of this awareness has grown out of proportion to the greater reality of God-awareness!
Let me explain- to an ant, the daily crumb count on a kitchen floor is of tantamount importance. However, the family living in that kitchen scarcely notice that fact, unless someone walks barefoot through the room! (ok, this belies my housekeeping tendencies haha) Perspective.
please do not misunderstand - i am not saying we are ants. Nor that God is uninterested in our day to day reality. Not at all. Just that the intense seriousness of the fear-based reporting does not give an accurate measure of life's important factors. They rarely speak about acts of exceptional love, or sacrificial service. Certainly this would uplift the viewers more than hearing the gory details of yet another murder. The good of the people is not the priority. Selling airtime to advertisers and keeping the market-share of viewers is!
So as we step back from the broadcasters for a moment (perhaps consider a fast from it?) do we regain some perspective on what God identifies as important?
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and your neighbour as yourself." Begin there.
What might be the outcome of meditating on that perspective?
Cheers!
Thursday, February 16, 2012
fresh moments...
While lying awake one night, trying to get comfortable I realized that I was beginning to worry about loved ones back home. I was on vacation you see. And so I began, as is my usual practise, to pray for those who came to mind. But for some reason, I kept going in circles with my prayers and was not feeling better from doing so.
Suddenly I became aware of an image of Jesus in my mind’s eye. (some might call this a vision, but I have no idea about such things. I can only tell you how I experienced it). Jesus was dressed very plainly as a shepherd and had a little lamb wrapped around his neck/on his shoulders.
I realized that I was supposed to pray for my loved ones and once finished place them on Jesus’ shoulders, along with the lamb already there; seemed sensible so I began. After my prayers for the first person were done, I raised my physical arms to place them on his shoulders. After lowering my arms, I prayed for the next person, and so on. When I was done praying, he said. “Ok, now you climb up too.” I hadn’t expected that, but I was eager to comply as his expression was so gentle and his manner so warm and inviting.
I turned onto my side in bed to approximate the position the lamb was in and went on to sleep soundly until morning.
I was struck by the gentleness of our Lord. He didn’t recommend I practise praying so I’d get better at it. He did not shame or scold me in any way. Instead he was warm, gentle and inviting. (I can understand why children flocked to him!!) He did not chatter constantly but spoke only a few words. So much of his meaning was relayed by his expression and gestures.
In the morning, I thought further on what had happened. It seemed the most natural thing in the world for the Lord to have done this for me. It was like a child sitting on a bus with their parent- nothing could seem more normal. I wondered why we create such a sensation about the notion of visions, and other manifestations that the Lord chooses to share with us. Why wouldn’t he want to interact with his beloved children? What could be more natural?
Another aspect that began to dawn on me was that as I finished praying and placing my loved ones on his shoulders, I had to step away and release them from my grasp. We cannot fully “give” our concerns for others to our Lord unless we are willing to let go and entrust that he indeed cares as much or more about them than we do!! So both the actions of placing them and releasing them were important- something I hadn’t considered before.
Lord, we realize that those with power in this world often use it to intimidate those beneath them. You are nothing like that and it is hard for us to fathom your ways and your character. Please forgive us when we are reluctant to hand you our burdens. You long to bring us rest and relief and to carry them for us. Teach us in your gentle fashion to trust you more.
“Come to me all who are weary and heavy burdened and I will give you rest.” Matt 11:28
Suddenly I became aware of an image of Jesus in my mind’s eye. (some might call this a vision, but I have no idea about such things. I can only tell you how I experienced it). Jesus was dressed very plainly as a shepherd and had a little lamb wrapped around his neck/on his shoulders.
I realized that I was supposed to pray for my loved ones and once finished place them on Jesus’ shoulders, along with the lamb already there; seemed sensible so I began. After my prayers for the first person were done, I raised my physical arms to place them on his shoulders. After lowering my arms, I prayed for the next person, and so on. When I was done praying, he said. “Ok, now you climb up too.” I hadn’t expected that, but I was eager to comply as his expression was so gentle and his manner so warm and inviting.
I turned onto my side in bed to approximate the position the lamb was in and went on to sleep soundly until morning.
I was struck by the gentleness of our Lord. He didn’t recommend I practise praying so I’d get better at it. He did not shame or scold me in any way. Instead he was warm, gentle and inviting. (I can understand why children flocked to him!!) He did not chatter constantly but spoke only a few words. So much of his meaning was relayed by his expression and gestures.
In the morning, I thought further on what had happened. It seemed the most natural thing in the world for the Lord to have done this for me. It was like a child sitting on a bus with their parent- nothing could seem more normal. I wondered why we create such a sensation about the notion of visions, and other manifestations that the Lord chooses to share with us. Why wouldn’t he want to interact with his beloved children? What could be more natural?
Another aspect that began to dawn on me was that as I finished praying and placing my loved ones on his shoulders, I had to step away and release them from my grasp. We cannot fully “give” our concerns for others to our Lord unless we are willing to let go and entrust that he indeed cares as much or more about them than we do!! So both the actions of placing them and releasing them were important- something I hadn’t considered before.
Lord, we realize that those with power in this world often use it to intimidate those beneath them. You are nothing like that and it is hard for us to fathom your ways and your character. Please forgive us when we are reluctant to hand you our burdens. You long to bring us rest and relief and to carry them for us. Teach us in your gentle fashion to trust you more.
“Come to me all who are weary and heavy burdened and I will give you rest.” Matt 11:28
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