I’ve been praying a new prayer of late- well, maybe not new so much as just sharpening the focus of me relationship with God.
I find myself asking, “Father, please fill me with your Holy Spirit just now so that I can see Jesus, and be Jesus where you can use me. Amen.”
I want to be able to see Jesus in people that I meet; see Him in the faces of His people and their fellowship; see him in the need of those who do not know Him and be reminded that Jesus said ‘If you do unto the least of these, you do it unto Me.”
And though it certainly seems audacious, I want to be Jesus—that is let HIM look through my eyes and smile through my face—give me the kindness that is really HIM. I’m no Mother Teresa and have no illusions, but I am a Christian and I want Jesus to live in me.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Assurance of Salvation: Soul Rest
Exodus 33:14 My Presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.Hebrews 4:9-11 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people ofGod; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work,just as God did from His. Let us, therefore, make every effort toenter that rest . . . ENTERING GOD'S 'REST'
My grandson, Ben, is 'going down the tubes.' He is a Bruins fan!Last week, through the kindness of one of his uncles, he saw his veryfirst B's game at the (Boston) Garden.
Now Boston at night is no place for a little boy of five-going-on-six. And if you have ever attended a sporting event inBoston Garden you know it is not the place for the timid or thedelicate. Ben began his night by spontaneously praying for a parkingspace. His dad was foolish enough to drive into Boston. They foundone immediately! It cost $9.00!
Once inside and seated, Ben introduced himself, more or less, toall the people in his section. He felt right at home. He shared hispopcorn. He made a number of new friends.
About the middle of the second period Ben had had enough hockeyso he lay down in his seat and put his head in his dad's lap and hisfeet in the lap of the lady on the other side. She was not at alloffended, according to the report I got. But for some reason daddecided it was time to go home, and Ben never woke up when he was putinto bed that night.
It is wonderful to have such a simple trust, and not have thattrust violated! I admit that Ben and hockey are a far cry from Mosesand the text. But there is a parallel here: see if you can see it.I'll give you a hint: It has to do with trust!
Moses is a BIG (important) man! Moses is SMART, too! Moseshas accomplished the impossible as he has obeyed God.
But now Moses is daunted! He has begun a great task. Hedoesn't see how in the world he can complete it!
So Moses prays! He says, "Lord, please show me HOW!"(Doesn't that make sense?) But God answers, "First I need to show you WHO!!" And thenGod spoke about a place "near to Me," - a place near God!
God's reply to Moses' prayer for guidance says two things thatWE can take as our own. It says first, "My PRESENCE shall go withyou!" When you are seeking to do my will, you are NOT simply 'on yourown.'
And then God said "I- my Presence with you- will give you REST!"
When we are conscious that God is near, and all is right between "us"there comes an inner assurance! Again and again we need to go intothat assurance! Again and again we need to find the "place near toMe!"
Then God instructed Moses, and there was a special time whenMoses beheld something of the power and wonder and glory of God in amarvelous way, in the cleft of a rock.
One question we ask when we read of great mountain-peakexperiences of assurance such as Moses had is, was this a one- timesort of thing, or did he then have/ can I have this assurance and restall the time?
It WAS a time of great reassurance! Certainly the uniqueexperience of God's Presence passed, but Moses could never doubt thatGod had given him assurance. Maybe that is one of the purposes whatthe holiness people have always called the "second work of grace." ItIS important that we have those times of consecration and glory inresponse to our cry to God for His Presence!
General Superintendent Lee M. Haines of the Wesleyan Church in atheology conference in February, 1992, Kansas City said that he callsthat special time "an intensifying moment of sanctifica tion."
Instead of being just a one-time "blessing," for Moses, thisone-on-one walk with God became a way of life: in times of crisis,Moses went to God in private. God gave record in Holy Writ that evenin those Old Testament times He spoke with Moses face-to-face!
But you and I are tempted to say, that was Moses-- and none ofus is Moses! Is there such a place near to God for EVERYONE? Is THATwhat Hebrews 4 is saying? Can we live "by the Presence?"
Robert Coles is a Harvard teacher. Robert Coles is also anauthor. He is a psychiatrist specializing in what makes children tick.
Robert Coles came to faith-- or was profoundly changed-- byseeing the reality of the "rest of God's PRESENCE" in children offaith, particularly in one six-year-old girl named Ruby.
Ruby had tremendous occasion for stress. She was the only blackchild in an elementary school in 1960 in New Orleans at the time whenfederal law said there must be integration. All the white childrenthen were removed from the school by angry parents, so Ruby was theonly child in the school. And twice every day hundreds of angrypeople met Ruby at the door of the school to taunt and swear at her--six years old! In Travels with Charlie, John Steinbeck described Ruby,although he did not at that time know who she was or anything aboutwhat was going on in her insides. His description of the terribleanger expressed and poured out on the delicate little black child ispowerful and almost nauseating.
Robert Coles was also in New Orleans in 1960, on personalbusiness. He was fascinated with the stressful situation; he hadstudied children in stress here in Boston. He asked for and received permission to interview Ruby and her family during the most stressful time in their lives. To his amazement he found that Ruby and her family were sustained and upheld by a very real and profound peace. He came, almost grudgingly, to realize that the peace was genuine!
Here is some verbatim dialogue Robert Coles recorded in1960. Ruby's teacher had told Robert Coles that morning that Ruby hadspoken to the people who were shouting at her. He was very interested:
I asked her, "Ruby, how was your day today?"
She said, "It was okay."
"I was talking to your teacher today and she told me that she asked you about something when you came into school early thismorning."
"I don't remember," Ruby said.
"Your teacher told me she saw you talking to people in thestreet."
"Oh, yes. I told her I wasn't talking to them. I was just sayinga prayer for them." "Ruby, you pray for the people there?"
"Oh, yes."
"Really?"
"Yes."
I said, "Why do you do that?"
"Because they need praying for," she answered.
"Do they?"
"Oh, yes."
"Ruby, why do you think they need you to pray for them?"
"Because I should."
"Why?"
"Because I should."
Then [Coles continues] Ruby's mother came into the room. She had heard this line of inquiry and she said, "We tell Ruby that it'simportant that she pray for the people." She said that Ruby had thepeople on a list and prayed for them at night.
I said, "Ruby, you pray for them at night, too?"
"Oh, yes."
"Why do you do that?"
"Well, because they need praying for."
Mrs. Bridges told me Ruby had been told, in Sunday School, to pray for the people. I later found that the minister in their Baptist church also prayed for the people.
Publicly.
Every Sunday.
I said to Mrs. Bridges, and then to her husband later, "You knowit strikes me that that is a lot to ask of Ruby. I mean, given what she's going through."
And they looked at me, very confused.
"We're not asking her to pray for them because we want to hurt her or anything," said Mrs. Bridges, "but we think that we all have to pray for people like that, and we think Ruby should, too."
And then she looked at me and said, "Don't you think they need praying for?"
"Yes, I agree with you there, " I said. "But I still think it'sa little much to ask Ruby to pray for them."
But Robert Coles marvelled that he, a trained child Psychiatrist, could not pick up any devastating symptoms of tension int he Bridges home. And he went on to say how Ruby Bridges and her'inexplicable prayers' had caused him to think of how he had neglected the connection between the study of justice and ethics and fairness and the humble practice of living by the words of Jesus.1
To be honest, I don't know if I could have the simple, profound faith of the Bridges family. But the promise of our text is very direct and clear. Let's look at it again:
There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from
his own work, just as God did from His.
Let us,
therefore, make every effort to enter that rest .
Hebrews 4:9-11 It is NOT a "rest from work" or a promise of an easy lifewithout trials and even, finally, physical death. But it is the sameanswer that Moses got when he asked God for a crash course in"migration management principles."
Remember? God's reply to Moses'prayer for guidance said two things that WE can take as our own:
MyPRESENCE shall go with you! When you are seeking to do my will, you are NOT simply 'on your own.'
And God also promised (My PRESENCE)
- I - WILL GIVE YOU REST!When we are conscious that God is near, and all is right between "us"there comes an inner assurance! Again and again we need to go intothat assurance! Again and again we need to find the "place near toMe!"
Like Ben at the hockey game, we know that if we go to sleepbefore the game is over, we will wake up in the morning where webelong!
1 Christianity Today, August 9, 1985
My grandson, Ben, is 'going down the tubes.' He is a Bruins fan!Last week, through the kindness of one of his uncles, he saw his veryfirst B's game at the (Boston) Garden.
Now Boston at night is no place for a little boy of five-going-on-six. And if you have ever attended a sporting event inBoston Garden you know it is not the place for the timid or thedelicate. Ben began his night by spontaneously praying for a parkingspace. His dad was foolish enough to drive into Boston. They foundone immediately! It cost $9.00!
Once inside and seated, Ben introduced himself, more or less, toall the people in his section. He felt right at home. He shared hispopcorn. He made a number of new friends.
About the middle of the second period Ben had had enough hockeyso he lay down in his seat and put his head in his dad's lap and hisfeet in the lap of the lady on the other side. She was not at alloffended, according to the report I got. But for some reason daddecided it was time to go home, and Ben never woke up when he was putinto bed that night.
It is wonderful to have such a simple trust, and not have thattrust violated! I admit that Ben and hockey are a far cry from Mosesand the text. But there is a parallel here: see if you can see it.I'll give you a hint: It has to do with trust!
Moses is a BIG (important) man! Moses is SMART, too! Moseshas accomplished the impossible as he has obeyed God.
But now Moses is daunted! He has begun a great task. Hedoesn't see how in the world he can complete it!
So Moses prays! He says, "Lord, please show me HOW!"(Doesn't that make sense?) But God answers, "First I need to show you WHO!!" And thenGod spoke about a place "near to Me," - a place near God!
God's reply to Moses' prayer for guidance says two things thatWE can take as our own. It says first, "My PRESENCE shall go withyou!" When you are seeking to do my will, you are NOT simply 'on yourown.'
And then God said "I- my Presence with you- will give you REST!"
When we are conscious that God is near, and all is right between "us"there comes an inner assurance! Again and again we need to go intothat assurance! Again and again we need to find the "place near toMe!"
Then God instructed Moses, and there was a special time whenMoses beheld something of the power and wonder and glory of God in amarvelous way, in the cleft of a rock.
One question we ask when we read of great mountain-peakexperiences of assurance such as Moses had is, was this a one- timesort of thing, or did he then have/ can I have this assurance and restall the time?
It WAS a time of great reassurance! Certainly the uniqueexperience of God's Presence passed, but Moses could never doubt thatGod had given him assurance. Maybe that is one of the purposes whatthe holiness people have always called the "second work of grace." ItIS important that we have those times of consecration and glory inresponse to our cry to God for His Presence!
General Superintendent Lee M. Haines of the Wesleyan Church in atheology conference in February, 1992, Kansas City said that he callsthat special time "an intensifying moment of sanctifica tion."
Instead of being just a one-time "blessing," for Moses, thisone-on-one walk with God became a way of life: in times of crisis,Moses went to God in private. God gave record in Holy Writ that evenin those Old Testament times He spoke with Moses face-to-face!
But you and I are tempted to say, that was Moses-- and none ofus is Moses! Is there such a place near to God for EVERYONE? Is THATwhat Hebrews 4 is saying? Can we live "by the Presence?"
Robert Coles is a Harvard teacher. Robert Coles is also anauthor. He is a psychiatrist specializing in what makes children tick.
Robert Coles came to faith-- or was profoundly changed-- byseeing the reality of the "rest of God's PRESENCE" in children offaith, particularly in one six-year-old girl named Ruby.
Ruby had tremendous occasion for stress. She was the only blackchild in an elementary school in 1960 in New Orleans at the time whenfederal law said there must be integration. All the white childrenthen were removed from the school by angry parents, so Ruby was theonly child in the school. And twice every day hundreds of angrypeople met Ruby at the door of the school to taunt and swear at her--six years old! In Travels with Charlie, John Steinbeck described Ruby,although he did not at that time know who she was or anything aboutwhat was going on in her insides. His description of the terribleanger expressed and poured out on the delicate little black child ispowerful and almost nauseating.
Robert Coles was also in New Orleans in 1960, on personalbusiness. He was fascinated with the stressful situation; he hadstudied children in stress here in Boston. He asked for and received permission to interview Ruby and her family during the most stressful time in their lives. To his amazement he found that Ruby and her family were sustained and upheld by a very real and profound peace. He came, almost grudgingly, to realize that the peace was genuine!
Here is some verbatim dialogue Robert Coles recorded in1960. Ruby's teacher had told Robert Coles that morning that Ruby hadspoken to the people who were shouting at her. He was very interested:
I asked her, "Ruby, how was your day today?"
She said, "It was okay."
"I was talking to your teacher today and she told me that she asked you about something when you came into school early thismorning."
"I don't remember," Ruby said.
"Your teacher told me she saw you talking to people in thestreet."
"Oh, yes. I told her I wasn't talking to them. I was just sayinga prayer for them." "Ruby, you pray for the people there?"
"Oh, yes."
"Really?"
"Yes."
I said, "Why do you do that?"
"Because they need praying for," she answered.
"Do they?"
"Oh, yes."
"Ruby, why do you think they need you to pray for them?"
"Because I should."
"Why?"
"Because I should."
Then [Coles continues] Ruby's mother came into the room. She had heard this line of inquiry and she said, "We tell Ruby that it'simportant that she pray for the people." She said that Ruby had thepeople on a list and prayed for them at night.
I said, "Ruby, you pray for them at night, too?"
"Oh, yes."
"Why do you do that?"
"Well, because they need praying for."
Mrs. Bridges told me Ruby had been told, in Sunday School, to pray for the people. I later found that the minister in their Baptist church also prayed for the people.
Publicly.
Every Sunday.
I said to Mrs. Bridges, and then to her husband later, "You knowit strikes me that that is a lot to ask of Ruby. I mean, given what she's going through."
And they looked at me, very confused.
"We're not asking her to pray for them because we want to hurt her or anything," said Mrs. Bridges, "but we think that we all have to pray for people like that, and we think Ruby should, too."
And then she looked at me and said, "Don't you think they need praying for?"
"Yes, I agree with you there, " I said. "But I still think it'sa little much to ask Ruby to pray for them."
But Robert Coles marvelled that he, a trained child Psychiatrist, could not pick up any devastating symptoms of tension int he Bridges home. And he went on to say how Ruby Bridges and her'inexplicable prayers' had caused him to think of how he had neglected the connection between the study of justice and ethics and fairness and the humble practice of living by the words of Jesus.1
To be honest, I don't know if I could have the simple, profound faith of the Bridges family. But the promise of our text is very direct and clear. Let's look at it again:
There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from
his own work, just as God did from His.
Let us,
therefore, make every effort to enter that rest .
Hebrews 4:9-11 It is NOT a "rest from work" or a promise of an easy lifewithout trials and even, finally, physical death. But it is the sameanswer that Moses got when he asked God for a crash course in"migration management principles."
Remember? God's reply to Moses'prayer for guidance said two things that WE can take as our own:
MyPRESENCE shall go with you! When you are seeking to do my will, you are NOT simply 'on your own.'
And God also promised (My PRESENCE)
- I - WILL GIVE YOU REST!When we are conscious that God is near, and all is right between "us"there comes an inner assurance! Again and again we need to go intothat assurance! Again and again we need to find the "place near toMe!"
Like Ben at the hockey game, we know that if we go to sleepbefore the game is over, we will wake up in the morning where webelong!
1 Christianity Today, August 9, 1985
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Drawing Near to God in Lent
GOD'S CALL IS TO MORE THAN WE ARE OF OURSELVES.
Jeremiah is just one in a long line of people God has called-- right down to this very moment-- that said to God, "But LORD! I am only . . . ." In a way that is a standard, and even GOOD reaction! HUMILITY is a virtue that opens the doors of prayer! When we are so cock-sure that we are the ones! we are disqualified! GOD'S WORD TO JEREMIAH WAS: DO NOT SAY 'I AM ONLY . . .'
But more, these lessons reminds us that GOD LISTENS WHEN WE VOICE OUR DOUBTS.
It is not a sin to have an honest dialogue with God. There is a difference between doubt and unbelief! God doesn't ask us to believe the absurd or obviously untrue-- he does ask us to trust Him!
GOD'S CALL IS GOD'S ASSURANCE OF GOD'S PRESENCE
WHERE FAITH COMES IN IS DARING TO GIVE OUR ALL AND TRUSTING GOD WILL MAKE THE DIFFERENCE . . . and if He has called, God WILL! The story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 is in all four Gospels, and we know it was a miracle that took five loaves and two fish and fed the multitude. But only John told us where the five and two came from: a lad-- "only a boy" -- had enough for himself and maybe his little sister. But he gave his all to Andrew, who in turn brought them to Jesus-- and the rest is history ! [Maybe I need to remind some of us to bring our five loaves and two fish to Faith Promise yet!]
GOD IS WORKING ON US . . . to make us into a community of love and fellowship that will make a difference right here in our world, where we live!
PRAYER
Oh, Father, help us to 'step back into grace', and let You make us into the kind of loving community that You can use to let You change our world in our generation. This we ask in the name of your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen
Jeremiah is just one in a long line of people God has called-- right down to this very moment-- that said to God, "But LORD! I am only . . . ." In a way that is a standard, and even GOOD reaction! HUMILITY is a virtue that opens the doors of prayer! When we are so cock-sure that we are the ones! we are disqualified! GOD'S WORD TO JEREMIAH WAS: DO NOT SAY 'I AM ONLY . . .'
But more, these lessons reminds us that GOD LISTENS WHEN WE VOICE OUR DOUBTS.
It is not a sin to have an honest dialogue with God. There is a difference between doubt and unbelief! God doesn't ask us to believe the absurd or obviously untrue-- he does ask us to trust Him!
GOD'S CALL IS GOD'S ASSURANCE OF GOD'S PRESENCE
WHERE FAITH COMES IN IS DARING TO GIVE OUR ALL AND TRUSTING GOD WILL MAKE THE DIFFERENCE . . . and if He has called, God WILL! The story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 is in all four Gospels, and we know it was a miracle that took five loaves and two fish and fed the multitude. But only John told us where the five and two came from: a lad-- "only a boy" -- had enough for himself and maybe his little sister. But he gave his all to Andrew, who in turn brought them to Jesus-- and the rest is history ! [Maybe I need to remind some of us to bring our five loaves and two fish to Faith Promise yet!]
GOD IS WORKING ON US . . . to make us into a community of love and fellowship that will make a difference right here in our world, where we live!
PRAYER
Oh, Father, help us to 'step back into grace', and let You make us into the kind of loving community that You can use to let You change our world in our generation. This we ask in the name of your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Thank You
Any who have commented-- I don't know how to personally get back to you on e-mail, but I thank you this way.
Russell
Russell
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
The JOY of Being Clean
THE JOY OF BEING CLEAN
Mark 1:41 I will: be thou clean.
We Americans are obsessed with physical cleanness. Not all of us, maybe. But it is hard to imagine how a great part of the world lives and in fact, how we used to live before we had the kind of plumbing we have today. I know I'm really old, but can you remember when we took baths once a week? When we might wear the same shirt and pants to school over and over again? Some cultures even today seem to enjoy various kinds of odors we would just as soon not talk about. Some even think some odors are attractive. In our own country perfume used to do more than just be an accessory: it was a cover-up. But we all know there isn't really any substitute for being clean!
I used to wash my face to come to the supper table. Sometimes I just got the front sort of wiped off. My mother had a way of looking behind my ears. (And she also had a disgusting way of looking me over before we went into church and if she saw a spot she'd take her handkerchief and touch it to her tongue- spit on it- and then wipe my face hard! Ouch! Yuck)! As I said, there is no substitute for being really clean.
TO BE IN GOD'S PRESENCE IS TO SEE HOW MUCH WE REALLY NEED TO BE MADE CLEAN -
(Whenever in the Bible people meet God there is usually a sense of shame or fear.) The prophet Isaiah was a very good man. A priest. But as he started to really draw near to God he said, "Woe is me! I am in big trouble! I have a dirty mouth! I live with people who have dirty mouths! I have seen God now what am I ever going to do?"
THERE ARE TIMES WHEN ONLY BEING REALLY CLEAN WILL CUT IT
The Old testament lesson today is a fascinating story about a truly important, even great man but one day he looked at his arm while he was bathing and saw a strange sore. He asked his doctor about it. The doctor called another doctor. Then they just shook their heads. "You're unclean!" they said. "You have leprosy!" Naaman was going to die!
Naaman's boss was upset. Everyone in Damascus where he lived was upset; at least the one's who knew it. They kept it a secret as long as they could because leprosy was like AIDS today: incurable, and bad bad news. Then, through a strange coincidence, (the Lord seems to use a lot of these), a slave girl from Israel gave her mistress, (who was Naaman's wife) a tiny ray of hope. "There's a man of God in Samaria, Israel, who could help the General," she said.
That began a chain of events that finally led to a really impressive caravan pulling up in front of the man of God's house in Samaria. How they finally got there is a fun part of the story. (Maybe I'll tell you.)
Naaman was willing to pay any price. He came prepared. "Would you like to be a millionaire?" he was waiting to say to Elisha. But Elisha didn't even show. He sent Gehazi his servant to the door with instructions. "You're unclean. OK, go wash seven times in the River Jordan on your way home. That will do the trick. Goodbye." Very strange treatment for a VIP by the prophet.
And believe me, Naaman did NOT like it!
"Let's get out of here!" he said.
No price could pay for it! It couldn't be bought. But at the same time nothing but submission and obedience could receive it. Naaman's servants talked some sense into him. They pulled up by the river and off came the jacket with the five stars. Off came the sandals and all the rest. Down into the shallow Jordan walked the general. He dipped, and dipped, and dipped again and again. Seven times. Six times nothing. Seventh time miracle! No more unclean! Grateful, Naaman headed back to the prophet's house to give him his zillion dollars reward.
NOW the prophet came down, smiling. "Nope, I don't want any money. This is God's miracle. Just be grateful."
"I am! I am!" It is wonderful when you have been unclean to realize I am clean! I am clean! What a luxury to have a clean heart! Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart!"
The Old Testament seems to discriminate against anything unclean. There were unclean foods. There were unclean animals. There were a thousand ways to get unclean. One reason, and in my mind, the reason for this is the fact that God is HOLY. We need to see that fact as well as the true fact that God is love.
Only God is holy in a pure, underived, absolute sense. So everything that belongs to God, or approaches God, or wants to have to do with God has to be clean.
And there is our Catch 22. We have to be clean to come to God, and we can't come to God unless we are clean and yet we can't make ourselves clean. When Isaiah saw God he immediately felt he was unclean.
That is where the message of grace comes in. Our unclean-ness does NOT keep us from asking God for help. For forgiveness. For inner cleansing. Isaiah was made clean as soon as he cried "Woe is me!" God cares when we want to come to Him. And God makes a way where we could never make the way ourselves. Naaman was willing to pay, but he could never have enough to buy clean-ness.
The leper that came to Jesus cried for help, and said, "If you wanted to you could-" In both cases their cry for cleanness was heard. What a luxury it is to have God not only save us and grant us his forgiveness for sin, but to fill us with his Spirit, and make us clean on the inside! The Holy Spirit will do that for us. And we can be filled with God's Spirit just for the asking.
But maybe first we need to see how much we need the cleansing. Maybe Naaman can teach us a lesson. He did not look for the cheap way. And when he found out it took humbling, and obedience, and washing he repented and relented and the miracle took place.
Our hearts can be made pure. Not just a cover-up. But a cleansing- an on-going cleansing. Not some sort of absolute perfection, but a freedom from the power and filth of sin.
"Lord, if you will, you can make me clean!"
"I will! Be clean!"
Prayer
Mark 1:41 I will: be thou clean.
We Americans are obsessed with physical cleanness. Not all of us, maybe. But it is hard to imagine how a great part of the world lives and in fact, how we used to live before we had the kind of plumbing we have today. I know I'm really old, but can you remember when we took baths once a week? When we might wear the same shirt and pants to school over and over again? Some cultures even today seem to enjoy various kinds of odors we would just as soon not talk about. Some even think some odors are attractive. In our own country perfume used to do more than just be an accessory: it was a cover-up. But we all know there isn't really any substitute for being clean!
I used to wash my face to come to the supper table. Sometimes I just got the front sort of wiped off. My mother had a way of looking behind my ears. (And she also had a disgusting way of looking me over before we went into church and if she saw a spot she'd take her handkerchief and touch it to her tongue- spit on it- and then wipe my face hard! Ouch! Yuck)! As I said, there is no substitute for being really clean.
TO BE IN GOD'S PRESENCE IS TO SEE HOW MUCH WE REALLY NEED TO BE MADE CLEAN -
(Whenever in the Bible people meet God there is usually a sense of shame or fear.) The prophet Isaiah was a very good man. A priest. But as he started to really draw near to God he said, "Woe is me! I am in big trouble! I have a dirty mouth! I live with people who have dirty mouths! I have seen God now what am I ever going to do?"
THERE ARE TIMES WHEN ONLY BEING REALLY CLEAN WILL CUT IT
The Old testament lesson today is a fascinating story about a truly important, even great man but one day he looked at his arm while he was bathing and saw a strange sore. He asked his doctor about it. The doctor called another doctor. Then they just shook their heads. "You're unclean!" they said. "You have leprosy!" Naaman was going to die!
Naaman's boss was upset. Everyone in Damascus where he lived was upset; at least the one's who knew it. They kept it a secret as long as they could because leprosy was like AIDS today: incurable, and bad bad news. Then, through a strange coincidence, (the Lord seems to use a lot of these), a slave girl from Israel gave her mistress, (who was Naaman's wife) a tiny ray of hope. "There's a man of God in Samaria, Israel, who could help the General," she said.
That began a chain of events that finally led to a really impressive caravan pulling up in front of the man of God's house in Samaria. How they finally got there is a fun part of the story. (Maybe I'll tell you.)
Naaman was willing to pay any price. He came prepared. "Would you like to be a millionaire?" he was waiting to say to Elisha. But Elisha didn't even show. He sent Gehazi his servant to the door with instructions. "You're unclean. OK, go wash seven times in the River Jordan on your way home. That will do the trick. Goodbye." Very strange treatment for a VIP by the prophet.
And believe me, Naaman did NOT like it!
"Let's get out of here!" he said.
No price could pay for it! It couldn't be bought. But at the same time nothing but submission and obedience could receive it. Naaman's servants talked some sense into him. They pulled up by the river and off came the jacket with the five stars. Off came the sandals and all the rest. Down into the shallow Jordan walked the general. He dipped, and dipped, and dipped again and again. Seven times. Six times nothing. Seventh time miracle! No more unclean! Grateful, Naaman headed back to the prophet's house to give him his zillion dollars reward.
NOW the prophet came down, smiling. "Nope, I don't want any money. This is God's miracle. Just be grateful."
"I am! I am!" It is wonderful when you have been unclean to realize I am clean! I am clean! What a luxury to have a clean heart! Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart!"
The Old Testament seems to discriminate against anything unclean. There were unclean foods. There were unclean animals. There were a thousand ways to get unclean. One reason, and in my mind, the reason for this is the fact that God is HOLY. We need to see that fact as well as the true fact that God is love.
Only God is holy in a pure, underived, absolute sense. So everything that belongs to God, or approaches God, or wants to have to do with God has to be clean.
And there is our Catch 22. We have to be clean to come to God, and we can't come to God unless we are clean and yet we can't make ourselves clean. When Isaiah saw God he immediately felt he was unclean.
That is where the message of grace comes in. Our unclean-ness does NOT keep us from asking God for help. For forgiveness. For inner cleansing. Isaiah was made clean as soon as he cried "Woe is me!" God cares when we want to come to Him. And God makes a way where we could never make the way ourselves. Naaman was willing to pay, but he could never have enough to buy clean-ness.
The leper that came to Jesus cried for help, and said, "If you wanted to you could-" In both cases their cry for cleanness was heard. What a luxury it is to have God not only save us and grant us his forgiveness for sin, but to fill us with his Spirit, and make us clean on the inside! The Holy Spirit will do that for us. And we can be filled with God's Spirit just for the asking.
But maybe first we need to see how much we need the cleansing. Maybe Naaman can teach us a lesson. He did not look for the cheap way. And when he found out it took humbling, and obedience, and washing he repented and relented and the miracle took place.
Our hearts can be made pure. Not just a cover-up. But a cleansing- an on-going cleansing. Not some sort of absolute perfection, but a freedom from the power and filth of sin.
"Lord, if you will, you can make me clean!"
"I will! Be clean!"
Prayer
Friday, February 1, 2008
Praying Friends, Luxury or Necessity?
Looking back on happy days in the pastorate, one thing stands out as tremendously helpful and a source of help and blessing: REGULAR PRAYER WITH OTHERS
These regular prayers took various forms across the years, but they consistently served as a means of grace and growth in grace.
One regular time of prayer across the last twenty-plus years was with everyone who was on staff at the church. Secretaries, custodians, ministers- those who possibly could were expected to meet first thing Tuesday mornings for scripture lessons and prayer. After prayer we could discuss programs and challenges if we needed to- debrief on Sundays past and plan for Sundays coming-- but THE FIRST AND MOST IMPORTANT ORDER OF BUSINESS WAS TO PRAY FOR EACH OTHER, TO SHARE CONCERNS, AND PRAY.
Another regular time of prayer was with a few men in the church who had expressed a desire to draw closer to God. I did NOT lead this group, even though initially I guess it was me who got it together. EARLY on Wednesday mornings we would meet, sometimes at the parsonage, but in later years, usually at the home of one of the other men in the group. We would read the lectionary passages for the week. We would share concerns. AND WE WOULD PRAY FOR EACH OTHER, EVERY ONE OF US WOULD PRAY FOR EACH OTHER. That group is still going strong, and I've been retired nearly nine years-- I miss it a lot!
One other group was made up of ministers who had a heart for God. I would say "evangelical" but across the years there were Episcopal, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, American Baptist, Finnish Congregational, and others who were drawn by a desire to draw closer to God through His Word and prayer. We would meet in a home on Friday at noon and for an hour eat a brown bag lunch and laugh and talk. The for a second hour we would continue a Bible study where we left off the week before- the exact format varied- and then we would PRAY FOR EACH OTHER. The usual procedure was to go 'round the group and each one express any needs or requests, then WE WOULD PRAY AROUND, EACH ESPECIALLY REMEMBERING THE ONE ON HIS RIGHT. I cannot tell you how rich this fellowship became, nor how many wonderful, wonderful blessings spun out of this simple time of prayer across the years. One time or other each one of the group would come burdened beyond words, and find God's touch in the intercession ofn the others. We will be brothers forever-- literally!
I find myself praying these days for a group or two like these. Helen and I pray together every single day, and that is precious to both of us-- ma veritable life-line. But I miss that fellowship of men seeking to draw closer to God-- to become 'men of God!'
These regular prayers took various forms across the years, but they consistently served as a means of grace and growth in grace.
One regular time of prayer across the last twenty-plus years was with everyone who was on staff at the church. Secretaries, custodians, ministers- those who possibly could were expected to meet first thing Tuesday mornings for scripture lessons and prayer. After prayer we could discuss programs and challenges if we needed to- debrief on Sundays past and plan for Sundays coming-- but THE FIRST AND MOST IMPORTANT ORDER OF BUSINESS WAS TO PRAY FOR EACH OTHER, TO SHARE CONCERNS, AND PRAY.
Another regular time of prayer was with a few men in the church who had expressed a desire to draw closer to God. I did NOT lead this group, even though initially I guess it was me who got it together. EARLY on Wednesday mornings we would meet, sometimes at the parsonage, but in later years, usually at the home of one of the other men in the group. We would read the lectionary passages for the week. We would share concerns. AND WE WOULD PRAY FOR EACH OTHER, EVERY ONE OF US WOULD PRAY FOR EACH OTHER. That group is still going strong, and I've been retired nearly nine years-- I miss it a lot!
One other group was made up of ministers who had a heart for God. I would say "evangelical" but across the years there were Episcopal, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, American Baptist, Finnish Congregational, and others who were drawn by a desire to draw closer to God through His Word and prayer. We would meet in a home on Friday at noon and for an hour eat a brown bag lunch and laugh and talk. The for a second hour we would continue a Bible study where we left off the week before- the exact format varied- and then we would PRAY FOR EACH OTHER. The usual procedure was to go 'round the group and each one express any needs or requests, then WE WOULD PRAY AROUND, EACH ESPECIALLY REMEMBERING THE ONE ON HIS RIGHT. I cannot tell you how rich this fellowship became, nor how many wonderful, wonderful blessings spun out of this simple time of prayer across the years. One time or other each one of the group would come burdened beyond words, and find God's touch in the intercession ofn the others. We will be brothers forever-- literally!
I find myself praying these days for a group or two like these. Helen and I pray together every single day, and that is precious to both of us-- ma veritable life-line. But I miss that fellowship of men seeking to draw closer to God-- to become 'men of God!'
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
