tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120945862024-03-12T22:44:08.326-05:00Mark ThisMeditations and Musings from Pastor Mark H. CrumplerMark Crumplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08542307372187764718noreply@blogger.comBlogger632125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12094586.post-22622036183471980682016-05-27T13:21:00.001-05:002016-05-27T13:21:13.511-05:00There Are Days
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I have told you these
things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble.
But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></i><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
There are days you’d do over again if you could; days when
you didn’t get it quite right, when the distance between who you want to be and
you are is as wide as a galaxy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
There are days when you slacked off and simply got it done
because you were tired and wanted to go home; you told yourself that no one
would know the difference and your best efforts could wait for another day, the
next task.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
There are days when you wake up having barely slept,
regretting the night before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sun
went down on your wrath and rises on your shame.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
There are days when you thought you’d made progress only to
discover that you haven’t; an old memory stokes a fresh grief that feels like
it will never go away. You’re stuck. There are days you have to try hard not to
cry and days when you couldn’t cry if you wanted to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
There are days you swear you’ll quit, you’ll walk if it
happens again and if something around that place doesn’t change; on that same
day you remember you really can’t do that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
There are days that seem to bring nothing but trouble and
heartache. We want nothing more than to get through them, and then forget them
if we can.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Red Letter
Reassurance<o:p></o:p></b></div>
On days like that we need some red letter reassurance –
words of Jesus that give us a place to take a stand and hold our ground. We
need a promise that’s bigger that our problems. Almost any of the red letter
words can put steel in our souls, but few pack a punch equal to the words of
Jesus found in John 16:33. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
A little context: There’s a section of John’s gospel that is
often spoken of as Jesus’s farewell discourse. This material begins in John 13
when Jesus washes the feet of his disciples. This act of humble service is
followed by a fairly lengthy mix of dialogue and monologue in which Jesus is
trying to prepare his closest friends for his impending suffering and death,
hinting at the resurrection but trying not to overload them with more than they
can handle. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Near the end of this farewell discourse Jesus summarizes by
saying, “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this
world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John
16:33).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Peace in Trouble<o:p></o:p></b></div>
In these few brief sentences a couple of things are certain.
<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
First, Jesus wills our peace and his words make that peace
possible. He spoke to his disciples for the purpose of imparting peace to them.
The red letter words are not meant to confuse us or fill our minds with
information. The words of Jesus are meant to change us. They make it possible
for us to live at peace. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
At the same time Jesus is very clear – the peace we yearn
for will not be found in this world. This world is broken and to live in it is
to know trouble and affliction. Jesus doesn’t dance around this truth. It’s not
a question of ‘if’ trouble will come, but ‘when’ and ‘how.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
The red letter reassurance reminds us that while trouble may
be certain, it will not triumph. Jesus has overcome the world. The death and
resurrection of Jesus is God’s declaration that suffering, in all its
manifestations, will not have the last word on your life. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
So yes, there are days you’d never want to live through
again. Today may be such a day for you. Take your stand on the red letter
reassurance that a different day is coming. Let that promise give you peace.
Jesus wants you to have it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Prayer: <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Gracious God, every one of our days comes to us as a
gift.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We do not always receive them that
way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are days we’d gladly forget, when
troubles threaten us and weakness gets the best of us. In every such day you
walk with us. Your words give us peace, even in our affliction. Great is your
faithfulness and we give you thanks in Jesus’s name. Amen.</span>Mark Crumplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08542307372187764718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12094586.post-79044318604074800372016-03-01T05:00:00.000-05:002016-03-01T05:00:13.817-05:00Telling Time
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">. . . but why do
you not know how to interpret the present time (Luke 12:56)</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">“I
am the town clock-winder for Island Pond, Vermont.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">So
wrote Garret Keizer in his fine memoir, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A
Dresser of Sycamore Trees</i>. In his book Keizer reflects on his life as an
Episcopal lay-pastor in a rural New England town. As the church’s solo pastor
one of his duties was to climb into the steeple twice every week to wind the
clock. This involved cranking two large spools of cable – one for the face of
the clock and one for the bell that marked the hour. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Far
from resenting such a mundane task, Keizer seems to delight in the insights he
gleans from being the town’s clock-winder. One of his observations resonated
with me as a very helpful picture of what we mean when we speak of a
post-Christian world. He rescues the phrase from the academicians when he
writes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The public keeping of time has passed from
the church and possibly the municipal building to the branch bank. In most towns
of any size that is the place to look for a digital display of the right time .
. . It was logical for a church to tell people the time when one of the things
they needed to know time for was when to pray, and when church feasts and holy
days colored the calendar. Equally logical is it that a bank should tell the
hours to a populace for whom time is not liturgical but financial, who inhabit
a fiscal year broken into quarters and the maturation periods of certificates
of deposit (p. 86).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">When Time Is Money<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Keizer
seems to be saying that when the church steeple rang the hour it declared that
time was sacred. The digital display in front of the bank declares that time is
money.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Of
greater significance than how we tell time is the shifting locus of authority
in our world. Whether the hour is displayed at a bank or city hall or on a cell
phone, the church has lost its voice in the ordering of the day, perhaps in the
ordering of life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">I’ll
go one step further with Keizer’s insight. Not only does the church no longer
have voice in the ordering of time, the church’s organizational life now finds
itself smothered in competition for the hours that belong to its own members. A
persistent and insidious barrier to meaningful spiritual growth is the
busy-ness of life, what John Ortberg has named ‘hurry sickness.’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hurried
people risk being shallow people. Depth, and this includes spiritual depth,
requires an investment of time, and time that’s invested is also carefully and
deliberately managed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Earlier
today I heard the carillon bells in the steeple of the church where I serve
ring the noon hour. I love hearing that sound from my office or from within our
sanctuary. I can’t help but wonder if the hundreds of cars blistering the
asphalt on Roswell Road heard what I heard. I’m doubtful. The hearing requires
some measure of stillness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Holy Offering
of Time<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">This
is not to suggest that the only activities of the day that have spiritual
significance are activities that happen inside a church building. Rather, what
Keizer invites us to ponder is the way that faith is squeezed and choked in the
post-Christian world’s use of time. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
question for all of us is not about how much time you spend at church – but how
the church’s message shapes what you do with time. Any and every moment of the
day can be a way of pursuing a closer walk with Jesus. This is because Jesus
cares about all of your time, not just an hour or two on Sunday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">We’ll
spend a couple of days this week thinking about intentional faith development,
what is sometimes spoken of as spiritual formation. How do you go about
creating habits and practices that cause you to become more like Jesus? One
answer to the question simply has to do with how we steward the gift of time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">So
think through your plans for this day. How might you take your schedule and
make it a holy offering unto the Lord?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Prayer:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Gracious
God, “my times are in your hand” (Ps. 31:15). And not only my times but my time
– the hours and minutes of this day that you’ve placed before me. Order my
steps, making every minute yours, lived thankfully and for your glory through
Christ our Lord. Amen. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
Mark Crumplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08542307372187764718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12094586.post-76660830111003739772016-02-09T11:33:00.005-05:002016-02-09T11:33:56.642-05:00Where Does Envy Come From?
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">So Cain was very
angry and his face was downcast (Genesis 4:5).<o:p></o:p></i><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Saint
Thomas Aquinas defined envy as “sorrow at another’s good.” <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">We
experience that sorrow in different ways. Someone else’s blessing may feel like
your curse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their gain feels like you’ve
been deprived.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their gladness galls you
and their celebrating sends you into a tailspin of self-pity. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">At
its root, that sorrow – the bitter gnawing we name envy – grows in the soil of
comparison. We look at the life we have and we compare it to the life someone
else has. Most often we’re comparing ourselves with the life we think they
have. Either way, the flower of that kind of comparing is envy. Envy isn’t the
original sin, but it makes its debut very early in the biblical story. We’ve
been struggling with this for a long time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">An Age-Old
Struggle<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Both
Cain and Abel presented offerings to God, but “the Lord looked with favor on Abel
and his offering” (Gen. 4:5). Why him? Cain asked the same question. It ate at
him, making him sad and angry at the same time. Cain’s sorrow at his brother’s
good drove him to kill his brother. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">And
then there’s the story of Joseph. Joseph’s eleven brothers felt sorrow over
Joseph’s good. The story in Genesis 37 never uses the word ‘envy’ but it
repeatedly uses the word ‘hate.’ That’s how their sorrow felt. They hated
Joseph. They were jealous of him. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">As
we read the story we’re hardly surprised that this is so. For one thing, what
we see in Joseph is less than flattering. He is introduced to us as a
tattle-tale, a brat. On top of that, he insists on sharing his
self-aggrandizing dreams with his family.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Furthermore,
all of the things that typically evoke envy are present in the story. We often
envy someone’s possessions and Joseph was the only brother with a tailor-made
multi-colored robe. We often envy someone’s rank or position and Joseph clearly
has a special place in Jacob’s affections. Jacob loved Joseph more than any of
his sons (Gen. 37:3). We may also envy someone’s talents or gifts. Obnoxious
though he was, Joseph had a gift for dreams and what they meant. Joseph seems
to have had all the good, so we’re not surprised at the brothers’ sorrow. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">But
here’s the problem. While envy may be sorrow <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">directed at</i> another’s good, that sorrow is not really <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">caused</i> by another’s good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">“I Shouldn’t Feel
This Way” (but I do)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jesus
made it perfectly clear that envy, along with a menu of other evils, has its
origin in the human heart. To be more specific, my envy can never be blamed on
someone else. My sorrow, be it anger or self-pity, is not created by someone
else’s good. Rather, my envy comes from my own heart. Indeed, the human heart
is the primary residence of all sin.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">This
means that pornography does not make a person lust. Food does not make a person
a glutton. Money does not make a person greedy. And the windfall of blessing
that comes to my neighbor does not make me envy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
corrosive acid that is envy will not be abated by something external to you.
The remedy for what ails us is not to be found in a different turn of events or
new set of circumstances. And what’s more, you can tell yourself “I shouldn’t
feel this way,” but you still will. Envy can’t be cured by earnest efforts at
doing or being a better person. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">What
we need is a new heart. The Hebrew prophets anticipated a time when God would
make a ‘new covenant’ with us, writing his law on our heart. That new covenant
became a reality in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Envy is put to death
at the cross of Jesus. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Do
you feel sorrow at another’s good today? Stop looking at them and look to
Jesus, the only one able to change what we cannot change. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Prayer: <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Merciful
God, change my heart. Forgive the sorrow I’ve carried because of someone else’s
good. Grant me the grace that replaces sorrow with joy. I would leave my envy
at the foot of the cross today, receiving the gift of new life through Jesus,
in whose name I pray. Amen.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
Mark Crumplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08542307372187764718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12094586.post-61071744162374663522015-11-26T06:41:00.001-05:002015-11-26T06:47:14.991-05:00Touch Hands: A Thanksgiving Poem<strong><span style="color: #285685; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">
</span></strong><br />
Thanks to Dr. John Roark for sharing this poem. I can't verify authorship. A nearly identical poem is attributed to James Patrick Erdman. <br />
<br />
<strong>Touch Hands</strong><br />
As years go on and heads turn gray<br />
how fast the guests do go.<br />
Touch hands, touch hands with those who stay - <br />
young hands to old, strong hands to weak - <br />
around the Thanksgiving board touch hands.<br />
<br />
The False forget, the foe forgive, for every guest will go<br />
and every fire burn low, and cabin empty stand.<br />
Forgive, forget - for who may say Thanksgiving Day<br />
will ever come again for friend or foe alike.<br />
Touch hands!<br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: #285685; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">
</span></div>
Mark Crumplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08542307372187764718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12094586.post-61151186321760690422015-11-24T13:57:00.000-05:002015-11-24T13:57:32.668-05:00"How Can Something I'm So Bad At Be God's Will for My Life?"
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><blockquote class="tr_bq">
Rejoice always, pray
without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God
in Christ Jesus for you (1 Thess. 5:16-18).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></blockquote>
</i></div>
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Full
disclosure: The words above that make up the title of this reflection are
borrowed. Shamelessly ripped off.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt;">They
come from one of my favorite books on prayer, a volume by David Hansen titled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Long Wandering Prayer: An Invitation to Walk
with God.</i> By far the most memorable words of the book – or at least the
words that somehow lodged in my memory – are the words that that I borrowed and
placed at the top of this page. This is title six of the book. “How can
something I’m so bad at be God’s will for my life?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Great
question. I’ve never said it quite that way but I’ve wondered the same thing.
Maybe you have too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Are We There Yet?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Let’s
get specific. Hansen is talking about prayer. The Bible instructs us to “pray
without ceasing,” but that doesn’t come naturally to many of us. I don’t always
feel competent or confident in my praying. Why then does God will that I do
this? It seems like there would be a closer connection between God’s will and
my skill. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hang
on - there’s more. The short verse that tells us to pray without ceasing is
followed immediately by another short verse that tells us to give thanks. “Give
thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Turns
out I’m not any better at always giving thanks than I am at ceaseless praying. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt;">This
week marks the more-or-less official launch of the Holiday season. On Thursday
we will celebrate a day of ‘Thanksgiving.’ For some ‘Thanksgiving’ is little
more than a synonym for ‘food and football.’ For others, the day is an occasion
to genuinely express gratitude. And then there are those for whom the day poses
a difficult challenge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
scripture says to give thanks in all circumstances – but maybe you’re just not
there right now. At some level the next 48 hours loom hard and painful because your
reservoir of gratitude is bone dry. You know that the Bible says to be
thankful; you tell yourself you should be thankful. But for whatever reason,
thankfulness seems elusive this year. So how can something you’re so bad at be
God’s will for your life? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt;">If
you’re just not there yet, how can you get to gratitude? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Thinking Hard and Thanking
Well<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Some
time ago I did a memorial service for a man whom I did not know, not an
uncommon thing for pastors to do. When I asked his daughter to tell me about
her Dad she handed to me a ten page type written document. Years before his
death her Dad had written a brief history of the most significant moments of
his life, beginning with his birth in the late 1930s. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
year by year synopsis contained not one word of religious language, but as I
read it God’s grace and mercy kept showing up in his story, laced through the
years. Did he see it or recognize it or know what to name it? Did he know where
and who it came from? I believe so. But whether he ever named it grace or not –
that’s exactly what it was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt;">You
don’t have to type a ten page document, but maybe we get to gratitude by
thinking hard about our life and discerning the gifts that we cannot explain or
take credit for (can we take credit for anything?). We make a mistake if we
expect thanksgiving to well up within us naturally, a geyser of positive emotion
and good will. You may feel like you’re bad at giving thanks. But we don’t give
thanks because we’re good at it. We give thanks because God is good to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Thanking
well just might require thinking hard about your life, sighting and naming evidences
of grace. Can you see them in your story this week?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Prayer:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Apart from your grace, O
God, our hearts are not inclined to gratitude. To give thanks in all things, we
need the help of your Spirit, opening our eyes to mercies that come to us with
each new day. Help us to see them, and make us thankful, we ask in Jesus’s
name. Amen. </span>Mark Crumplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08542307372187764718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12094586.post-52723711384861006052015-11-17T21:39:00.000-05:002015-11-17T21:39:02.157-05:00The Myth of a Safe Distance
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Then the Lord
said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people . . . and I have come
down to deliver them (Exodus 3:7-8) <o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Last
month during a two week pilgrimage in the Holy Land, our itinerary took us to a
site referred to in the New Testament as Caesarea Philippi. Today the site is
called ‘Banias.’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Traveling
to Caesarea Philippi takes you into the mountainous region of extreme northern
Israel called the Golan Heights. On this day our guide and driver navigated a
narrow road that led to a scenic overlook, allowing us an expansive view into
Syria. This place is designed for tourists, complete with a gift shop and refreshment
vendors. Signs marking the Syrian border were only a few yards away from where
we stood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">What
we saw from that mountain belied everything I had been hearing in the news
about Syria. The day was bright and warm, the skies were clear, and the view
that stretched out in front of us appeared calm, even inviting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
view was beautiful. Until we heard the explosions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Our Desire for
Distance<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Initially
I wasn’t sure I had heard what I thought I had heard. But soon the sounds came
again, and then again, and on the far horizon a plume of smoke was rising. This
otherwise picturesque scene was marred by the sights and sounds of war. What
had previously been only a brief news report was now very real to us. We were
looking at a ravaged land. What Americans regard as a horrific anomaly happens
every day in Syria. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">I’ll
never forget the sights and sounds of those explosions. And I’ll never forget
my reaction to what I heard and saw. I wasn’t afraid. None of us were directly
threatened by what was happening. Some of our group spoke with UN observers there
who were watching with stoic and objectified interest. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">More
than fear I felt a sadness, quickly followed by a strong desire to leave. I
just wanted to get away from that place. I wanted to get back to the calm
waters of the Sea of Galilee, the comfort of my hotel room, and ultimately back
home. I wanted to put as much distance between myself and Syria as I possibly
could.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Of
course, millions of Syrians are trying to do the very same thing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Enemy of
Justice<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Distance
can take a variety of forms. The most obvious is literal physical distance.
Damascus and Atlanta are separated by a large ocean and more than six thousand
miles. I can hear about what’s happening there, feel concern and sympathy,
while also feeling removed and grateful that it isn’t happening here. Distance
can also be emotional. You can be right in the middle of something and yet be
disconnected, aloof. You’re there, but you’re not present.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
Hebrew prophets admonished God’s people for failing to do justice. Distance
doesn’t look like hostile disregard for others, but it allows us to be aware
without being impacted. For this reason, distance is the enemy of justice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
attacks in Paris over the weekend disturb us not only for the tragic loss of
life involved, but for the loss of our imagined distance from the reach of threat
and danger. There are awful things happening in this world, and we want all the
distance from them that we can get. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">But
to truly do justice requires getting close, getting involved, getting in the
mess of our unjust world. That’s not to say you need to go to Syria. There’s
plenty of mess right where you live. Our God is not a distant God. God sees the
plight of his people and hears their cries. God may not act as speedily as we
wish – but neither will he remain aloof and removed from this world. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Distance
is the enemy of justice. How will you walk with God through this day, drawing
near to what is broken, bringing wholeness, doing justice? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Prayer:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Merciful
and just God, you draw near to those in affliction and those who walk with you
must do the same. We confess that we prefer a safe distance that lets us feel
concern without getting involved. Grant us the courage we need to draw near to
our broken world, bringing the wholeness and justice that comes through Jesus
Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
Mark Crumplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08542307372187764718noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12094586.post-83663003920984964972015-11-05T08:14:00.000-05:002015-11-05T08:15:00.000-05:00Living with Expectancy<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, "There
is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so
many?" Jesus said, “Have the people sit down” . . . (John 6:8-9) </i></blockquote>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">
</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i><br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Consider
this question and respond on a scale of 1-10: As you begin this day (or
continue to move through it, depending on when you read this), how would you
rate your level of expectancy?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Read
the question one more time. Slowly. Note that you are not being asked about
your level of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">excitement </i>about your
day. Excitement and expectancy are not the same thing. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Excitement
is a pleasure response to what the day holds for us. When we see good things
ahead, we’re excited about the day. When the calendar has us engaging with
people we really enjoy or doing things that bring us deep satisfaction, we
sense within ourselves an eagerness to engage what’s in front of us. The
pleasures we see and the energy we feel, we name excitement. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Some
of you are looking at your day, and the last thing you feel right now is
excitement. Boredom, possibly. Dread, hopefully not. But excitement? Hardly. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Have the People
Sit Down”<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Expectancy
is a cousin to excitement, but not an identical twin. They share a common sense
of ‘looking forward’ to something, but being expectant doesn’t require being
excited. Expectancy grows in mystery, in the unknown or unclear spaces of what
you’re dealing with. Being expectant means you know that something is about to
happen – you just don’t know exactly what it is. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">This
week we’ve been thinking about how Jesus fed an enormous crowd of people with a
boy’s sack lunch – five barley loaves and two fish to be precise. Jesus had
presented his disciples with the problem of how these people would be fed,
where they would get enough bread to go around. John allows us an insider take
on the story. Jesus is asking a question, but he already knows what he will do
(Jn. 6:6). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Once
this meager meal has been placed in Jesus’ hands, he gives a word of
instruction to his disciples. “Have the people sit down.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">This
is the expectant moment. Philip and Andrew and the others have no idea what
Jesus is about to do. The problem they face has not gone away. The crowd in
front of them is still large. The only food they have on hand is still
worthless to make a difference. But in all of this there is Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">More than We
Imagine<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">To
live our days with expectancy means this: our problems don’t go away, but Jesus
is with us. And while we don’t know exactly what Jesus will do, we know he will
do something. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">As
the disciples urged people to sit down, spread a cloak or a blanket and get
comfortable, Jesus offered a prayer of thanksgiving and began passing the
bread. And he kept passing it. He kept on for a long while. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">He
kept passing bread until everyone was fed – not only fed but full. They didn’t
get a quick snack. They received a meal and they had as much as they wanted (6:11-12).
When Philip and Andrew were seating the multitude, they had no idea that Jesus
would do what he did. To borrow words from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians,
Jesus did “more than they could ask or imagine” (Eph. 3:20). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">That’s
what Jesus does. And that’s why you can live this day expectantly, whether
you’re excited about your day or not. Place your life in his hands and watch
for what he will do. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Prayer:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Just like the small
lunch that was entrusted to your hands, Lord Jesus, I give to you all that this
day holds and all that concerns me. You know what you will do, and that truth
alone is enough for me. I will wait and watch expectantly, knowing that you are
good and what you do is good. Amen. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>Mark Crumplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08542307372187764718noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12094586.post-6111426014194494522015-11-02T09:02:00.003-05:002015-11-02T09:02:39.605-05:00Claiming Exemptions
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Here is a boy with
five small barley loaves and two small fish (John 6:9) <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
For years I claimed an exemption – and I’m not talking about
my income taxes. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Claiming this exemption wasn’t something that required me to
fill out a form. I was never asked to present proper documentation. I never had
to report it to anyone in anyway. I simply claimed it. I claimed it every week
when I sat in church and didn’t give. I claimed it every year when an
opportunity came to make a commitment as to what I would give in the coming
year and I chose not to participate. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
It’s remarkably easy to claim spiritual exemptions. We do it
all the time. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Just Getting By?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
The scriptures tell us to praise God, to come into his
presence with singing, to be careful lest we neglect the habit of gathering
with other followers of Jesus. But we claim a worship exemption. We gladly
gather with others to worship as long as our weekend plans allow it. But once
the guests or the game or the get-away is planned we’re exempt, right?<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Scripture tells us to pray without ceasing, to pray at all
times in the Spirit, to give thanks in all things, to go into our closet and
pray to our God. But when the meeting is scheduled for early morning and we
haven’t had enough sleep or we need to get in our work-out because the
afternoon and evening hours are booked, we claim a prayer exemption. We know
prayer is important, but when life gets a little crazy we’re exempt, right?<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
And then there’s the giving exemption. I’ll speak for
myself. I claimed this exemption for one very simple reason: I didn’t have any
money. Throughout college and most of seminary, the jobs I had were part-time
jobs. In seminary I worked part-time at a bookstore for a few years and then I
had a weekend pastorate that paid my rent and bought food. It’s not like I was
blowing a wad every week at the Mall. I was just getting by.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
And when you’re just getting by, you’re exempt, right? <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Cheating Ourselves<o:p></o:p></b></div>
Not according to Paul. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians he
was addressing a congregation that included slaves who really had no income at
all. The NIV language that says “according to your income” isn’t very accurate.
Better to say “as God has prospered you.” Paul includes everyone in his call
for an offering. No exemptions. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
The two most famous offerings given in the Bible came from
marginalized people who didn’t have much. There’s the widow who gave two small
coins, all she had to live on. And then there’s the boy who gave his bag lunch:
five loaves and two fish. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
The story of the boy’s lunch is familiar to many: Jesus is
teaching, a crowd of thousands is gathered. In John’s version of the story,
Jesus tests his closest followers by presenting them with a challenging
circumstance: “Where are we to buy bread so that these people may eat?” The
disciples scouted the crowd and came up with a boy and his lunch. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
This boy gave what he had. It wasn’t much. Jesus took the
gift and fed a multitude. Big miracles happen with small gifts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe we need to ponder this story before we
claim a giving exemption. Jesus blesses people through the gifts of other people.
Jesus didn’t magically produce food for the crowd. He took a gift of food – and
a small gift at that – and used it feed many. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
When we claim an exemption, God
is not deprived of what we have. Rather we are deprived of the chance to be
involved in the miracle of what God is doing in this world. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
In the end, claiming a giving exemption saves us very little
and costs us a great deal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Prayer:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">I want to be a part of what you are doing in this
world, O God. I want to be in on the miracle – and yet I hold myself back. I
find ways to rationalize my fear. I quickly defend my lack of obedience. I want
to stop claiming exemptions and making excuses. Make me bold to offer what I
can. Use it as you will to the glory of your name. Amen. </span>Mark Crumplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08542307372187764718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12094586.post-17509387037907914152015-08-25T09:33:00.000-05:002015-08-25T09:33:11.919-05:00When Life is 'All Rehearsal'<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> . . . <i>you
have abandoned the love you had at first (Revelation 2:4)<o:p></o:p></i></span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">“If
there’s no joy in it, it’s just no good.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">With
those words Stephen King concluded a story about his son Owen, told in King’s
book <i>On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.</i>
When Owen was about seven years old he discovered Bruce Springsteen’s E Street
Band and became particularly captivated by the saxophone skills of Clarence
Clemons. Owen decided he wanted to play the sax – just like Clarence. Eager to
encourage his interest in music and hopeful that their son harbored a talent
for the saxophone, King and his wife secured an instrument and signed Owen up for
lessons.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Less
than a year later King and his wife agreed that it was time to discontinue the
lessons. Owen agreed too. In fact, he seemed relieved to be done with that
brief musical experiment. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">King
explains that he knew the gig was up “not because Owen stopped practicing, but
because he only practiced during the periods that his teacher had for him.” As
soon as the thirty-minute practice assignment ended, the sax went back in the
case and stayed there until the next assigned period. King says he never saw
his son simply get caught up in the saxophone, trying something new, lingering
with the instrument for the sheer joy of it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">“There
was never any real play-time. It was all rehearsal.” King adds, “That’s no good
– if there’s no joy in it, it’s no good.” (pp. 149-150). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">A Heart Problem<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">There’s
something about life that tends gradually and imperceptibly toward becoming “all
rehearsal.” Which is to say, there are endeavors that we begin with zeal and
enthusiasm only to one day discover we’re continuing with just enough energy to
get by. We do what’s expected – and then the sax goes back in the case, if you
will. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">This
kind of thing happens professionally, launching a career with dreams and vision
only to later settle in to the demands of earning a paycheck. The tendency
toward ‘rehearsal’ happens in marriages – and good marriages at that. Two
people spend their best hours shoulder to shoulder, taking on the world, rarely
pausing to linger face to face. They’re doing what needs to be done. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">And
the same thing happens often and easily to the life of faith. Exhibit ‘A’ in
the New Testament is the church in Ephesus as described in Revelation 2:1-5. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">There
was much to admire in the Ephesian church. They were hard working and
courageous, persevering in a difficult context, doing good things in the city.
They took doctrine seriously and didn’t have much patience for posers – teachers
who claimed to be apostles but were fakes. Their minds were keen to detecting
false teaching. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Their
actions were good and worthy, their doctrine was sound. But something was
missing. They had a heart problem – abandoning the love they had at first while
working hard and guarding truth. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Stephen
King is right. That’s no good. If there’s no joy (or love) in it, it’s just no
good. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Don’t Settle<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">If
this sounds like your faith life – doing what needs to be done, meeting
expectations, giving your best efforts to good things and believing the right
things, but all without love or joy at the center of it – if this is you, there
are a couple of things you need to know. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">First,
you are in good company. What you are experiencing is as old the New Testament
church. The slow and inexorable loss of joy in God has plagued God’s people for
a very long time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Second,
you don’t have to resign yourself to living that way as if ‘all rehearsal’ is
the norm and joy is a fleeting, short-lived anomaly. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">So
how do you reclaim the love you had at first? What does it take to wake up
every day and walk with God joyfully? These are important questions because in
the Bible love and joy are not merely encouraged, they are commanded. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">You
can reclaim that love you had at first. This week we’ll be thinking about
how. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Prayer:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Gracious
God, we want our lives to be more than getting by, more than ‘all rehearsal.’
We want to live this day and every day with the love and joy we had at first.
Show us how to reclaim it – and then live it in this city, we ask in Jesus’s
name. Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Mark Crumplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08542307372187764718noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12094586.post-4807651066687441782015-07-20T05:30:00.000-05:002015-07-20T05:30:01.924-05:00Hard to Hide
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
He looked this way and
that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand
(Exodus 2:11-15). </blockquote>
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
He thought he was safe there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
In Midian Moses had found the kind of obscurity that allowed
an outlaw to live a normal life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
he had embarked on his career as a shepherd, married the daughter of the local
priest, and started a family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His son’s
name might have reflected something about how Moses regarded life in Midian:
Gershon means “I have become an alien in a foreign land.” </div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Every time the boy was introduced, people heard, “I don’t
belong here.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that might have been
exactly how Moses felt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Illusion of
Distance</b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Moses wasn’t sure where he belonged. For most of his life he
had been cocooned in Egyptian royalty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His aristocratic upbringing hadn’t prepared him well for life in Midian
– but that unfortunate incident in which he murdered an Egyptian task-master
changed everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moses was a wanted
man back in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region>
and Midian seemed as good a place as any to settle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
What Midian offered Moses was distance: Distance from one of
the biggest mistakes he had ever made; distance from his past; distance from
his failure; distance from threat and shame.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In Midian Moses thought he was safe.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
How strange then that in the far side of the desert, in a
remote and hardscrabble place, God shattered Moses’ illusion of safety and
obscurity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Near <st1:placetype w:st="on">Mt.</st1:placetype>
<st1:placename w:st="on">Horeb</st1:placename> – a word that means “desolate” –
God shrunk the distance that Moses had tried to put between himself and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region>, between
the man he used to be and the man he had actually become. God found Moses in
that barren, distant place. There God spoke words that would change Moses’s plans
and redefine his identity and force him from hiding.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">God Finds Us<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
The story of Moses’s early life is full of failed attempts
at hiding. Moses’s mother tried to hide him among the reeds in the river when
he was a baby. That didn’t work. Pharaoh’s daughter found the baby. Later, as a
young man. Moses killed and Egyptian and tried to hide him in the sand. That
didn’t work either. The deed was known among the Hebrews. Forced to Midian as a
fugitive, Moses tried to hide among the flocks in a backwater place. Again,
nice try – but even in that place after forty years, Moses was found. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Try as we might, it’s hard to hide from God. God did not put
you on this earth to hide. And the work it takes to conceal and cover up is not
worthy of your life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
God has a way of finding us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A colossal lapse of judgment may ruin your plans, but it doesn’t
disqualify you from being a part of what God has planned for you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In those moments when you’re no longer sure
who you are, God knows you right down to your fingerprints.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you’re busy getting distance from
something that’s in your past, God is getting you ready for something yet to
come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
There’s no place you can be or go to that will put you
beyond God’s reach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you’re not
giving God a second thought, God finds you and speaks purpose and direction
into your life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The challenge of
everyday is simply being ready to hear.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Prayer</b>: </div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Where can I go
from your Spirit?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where can I flee from
your presence?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I go up the heavens
you are there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I make my bed in the depths
you are there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I rise on the wings of
the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will
guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.” Amen. (Psalm 139:7-10)</span>Mark Crumplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08542307372187764718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12094586.post-14134458259380223852015-07-17T05:00:00.000-05:002015-07-17T05:00:07.469-05:00Break Up Your Fallow Ground
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><blockquote class="tr_bq">
He who has ears to
hear, let him hear (Mark 4:9). </blockquote>
</i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
can’t remember the last time I used the word “fallow.” </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Since
the most natural context for the word is agricultural, and since I don’t work
the land for a living, I’m not sure I’ve ever used the word at all. Not that my
daily activities preclude incorporating the word “fallow” here and there. It
just sounds odd, out of place. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
attend a fair amount of meetings, most of which are spoken of with other
adjectives. Meetings are said to be productive, informative, boring, long - the
list goes on. Never have I left a meeting and said, “That was a fallow
meeting.” No, fallow belongs most comfortably to the earth. It is a truly dirty
word. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Fallow
ground is ground that holds promise. The earth has been plowed but not seeded.
The dirt is prepared but nothing has been planted. The potential for growth and
life is present, but nothing has been sown there. And so it is with our heart. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">A Nagging Question
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
parable of the sower, or the soils if you prefer, is the only parable that
Jesus explains. For Jesus to follow his story with a small group seminar on
what the story means is very helpful. Jesus unpacks the images, showing us how
each soil reflects something about how people receive the proclamation of the
Kingdom. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">As
helpful as Jesus’s explanation is, it leaves me unsettled. The story seems to
suggest that some people will never understand. Mathematically speaking, only
one-fourth of those who hear will bear fruit or manifest evidence that God’s
word is actively making a difference in their life. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">That
Jesus quotes Isaiah 6:9-10 doesn’t make things any simpler. Some folks see but
never truly see. They hear but never understand. And that’s that. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">So
will the other three-fourths of people who hear the gospel, the good news, just
never get it? Can a resistant hard-packed heart become fertile ground for the
word of God? This question nags at me. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Work and
Miracle of Hearing </span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">If
Paul was right in telling us that we were all once dead in our trespasses and
sins, lifeless and unresponsive until God in mercy made us alive, then the
answer to that nagging questions has to be ‘yes’ (Eph. 2:1-10). Every heart was
once hard-packed, unyielding as concrete. That God’s word ever brought forth
life in us is a miracle. A work of Grace. A valley of dry bones standing up in
ranks like warriors (Ezek. 37). </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Through
the prophet Hosea God urged his people to “break up your fallow ground.”
Prepare yourselves and sow what is good and right in order to reap a harvest
that is good and right. How are we to do this? How do we get to work cultivating
the soil of the heart?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Three Things to Do</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">First,
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">get
honest</i></b> about the condition of your own heart as it is today. Are you
resistant or hostile to God’s word? Are you open, but not deeply rooted,
withering in the slightest adversity or affliction? Is your heart crowded with
anxieties and desires for other things, drawn to world rather than the word?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Second,
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">get
serious</i></b> about engaging God’s word. Open your Bible and read it. Engage
the word in community through a small group or a class. Engage the word in
worship as it is proclaimed week by week. Make a plan, set aside time, and get
after it. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Finally,
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">get
started</i></b> by asking God to do what only God can do. Begin with a simple
prayer: “God, give me ears to hear whatever you want to say to me through your
word.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Heed
the prophet. “Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord,
that he may come and rain righteousness upon you” (Hosea 10:12). You can’t
bring forth life by your own efforts. You cannot make it rain. But you can
prepare the ground.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Prayer:</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Grant to us, O God,
the miracle of hearing. Bless your word and let it find good soil in our hearts
and lives. And make us ready to do the work of preparing the ground, expectant
and eager for you to speak life into us through Jesus our Lord, in whose name
we pray. Amen.</span>Mark Crumplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08542307372187764718noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12094586.post-618457484800694362015-06-04T06:38:00.000-05:002015-06-04T06:38:04.276-05:00The Alabaster Jar
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><blockquote class="tr_bq">
. . . she broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head (Mark 14:3-9)</blockquote>
</span></i><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></blockquote>
</div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">As
far as I know I’ve never seen an alabaster jar. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">True,
I probably wouldn’t know alabaster from aluminum, but I’m pretty sure my house is
an alabaster free zone. As the gospel of Mark tells the story of Jesus’s
anointing in Bethany, Mark provides a detail not found in John’s narrative: the
alabaster jar.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Both
stories mention the pure nard – an ointment made from a plant found primarily in
India and thus quite expensive. John says there was a pound of it, roughly 12
ounces of perfume. Enough to fill a soft drink can. But only Mark mentions the
alabaster jar. James Brooks, a New Testament scholar, describes the ‘jar’ as a
flask with a long thin neck, no handles. This was no common or ordinary vessel.
Both container and contents were quite valuable.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">And
this is what Mary broke. There’s no hint of a screw top or flip lid that
allowed for a dainty squeeze of ointment like a dab in the hand. Mary broke
this alabaster jar, and once broken the contents had to be used entirely.
Poured out. Nothing stored away for future use. Nothing held back. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
can’t find any alabaster jars in my house. But my life is full of them. Unlike
Mary, I am reluctant to shatter them and pour out what they hold or represent
to me. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Our Treasures
Exposed</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
biblical text tells us nothing about the alabaster jar beyond the valuable
perfume within it. Our imaginations provide details omitted by the gospel
writers. Perhaps this jar was kept on a shelf, maybe in a drawer, maybe in a
box hidden beneath the bed. Was it a family heirloom? Was it a gift with a
fascinating backstory? </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
Bible doesn’t tell us, and we should be cautious in speculating where the text is
silent. We know nothing about the alabaster jar except this: once Mary broke
it, it was empty. Once emptied, there was nothing left to keep. One treasure
was sacrificed for a greater treasure. And this gave rise to the criticism from
Judas. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mary
treasured Jesus. Judas treasured, well . . . treasures. Money. The value of a
dollar.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Devotion
to Jesus will redefine what we treasure in this life. And quite often it will
expose what we truly treasure in this life. I think that’s what this story does
to me. It reveals how my heart clutches at certain things, unwilling to let
them go, to pour them out for the sake of a yet greater treasure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jars Carefully
Guarded</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Perhaps
in every human soul there’s a shelf or drawer that holds carefully protected
alabaster jars. These are things that we regard as the source of our joy and
security. We hold them tightly and tuck them away. Maybe we put them on display
for others to see. In doing this we forget that these things came to us as a
gift and we hold them back from the giver. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">What
does it mean to let Jesus have your career? </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">What
would it mean to trust Jesus with the well-being of your family? </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">What
would it mean to relinquish your dating life (or lack of the same)?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">What
would it mean to open your hands and release your claim on your plans for your
future? </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">You
can probably come up with plenty of Judas-like rebuttals and reasons for why
the questions I just asked are stupid questions. But don’t reason yourself out
of the point of the matter – knowing Jesus as the highest treasure of your
life. Your deepest devotion. Your greatest good. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Name
the thing you treasure and bring it before a greater treasure. And then pour it
out. Like the fragrance that filled the room of that house in Bethany, the
impact of your surrendered and devoted life can go far and do much. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Don’t
leave that boxed up and hidden away</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Prayer: </span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Gracious God, we are
prone to clutch our lives tightly, even though all good things come from you.
Teach us to live yielded and surrendered to you, bringing our treasures to you
as our highest treasure. We pour this day out before you asking you to work in
us and through us according to your will, through Christ our Lord. Amen. </span>Mark Crumplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08542307372187764718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12094586.post-75060140938923158412015-05-13T09:25:00.002-05:002015-05-17T15:30:46.670-05:00Before You Walk Away<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">But he did not
answer her a word . . . (Matt. 15:23). </i></blockquote>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">
</i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">My
crisis of faith, if you can call it that, was a quiet one. An inward and
well-behaved rebellion.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
am the son of a Baptist preacher. Better said, I am the son of a Baptist
preacher-evangelist. He began preaching early in his life, learning his craft
in tent revivals. Even as a pastor in carpeted sanctuaries the evangelist was
present. He preached to call people to decision, to bring people to Jesus.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
heard such sermons of his from the first weeks of my life. Early in my eighth
year, the call to</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">decision
came to me in a direct and compelling kind of way. Not long after, my Dad
placed one strong hand on my back and gently held a handkerchief over my face
as he lowered me into the waters of baptism. “Buried with him in his death . .
. raised to walk in newness of life.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">My
crisis of faith had to do with that newness of life part. About ten years or so
after my baptism, that newness of life didn’t feel so new. I wasn’t sure if
such a thing had ever been true of me at all.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">A Nagging
Suspicion</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">A
nagging suspicion was growing in the shadowed corners of my heart and mind. I
knew the story of Jesus like I knew the freckles on my arms. I knew the church
world just as well. And as I grew a bit bored with all of these familiarities
it occurred to me that the only reason any of it meant anything to me at all
was simply an accident of birth. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">My
first birth, landing me in a Baptist parsonage, had shaped my life far more
than the new birth and the newness of life that I stepped into when I walked
out of the baptistery. That’s what I thought. I had real questions as to
whether I was or ever had been a Christian at all. Such was the quiet crisis of
faith.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">There’s
no space to tell about what came after that. That was more than 30 years ago.
I’m still hanging around the church, teaching, writing stuff like this, being a
pastor. I love it. Let’s just say that by the grace of God I muddled through. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">But
I’m convinced that there’s nothing special or unique about my story. I’m
equally convinced that there are plenty of others who don’t muddle through. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hold Your Ground</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Plenty
of people grow up in a church with devout parents. They go to Sunday school and
VBS. They do the youth group thing complete with summer camps and spiritual
mountain top moments. And then something happens. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Maybe
they just go to college. Maybe they take a class in Bible from someone with a
Ph.D in religion but little regard for faith. Or maybe it’s more serious than
that. They get into the world. They lose a job or can’t find one to begin with.
Their marriage ends badly. They get sick. Still worse, their child gets
sick.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Whatever
it is, the Sunday school faith of cute songs and crayons proves inadequate. The
faith of their childhood looks childish. They may not despise it, but they drop
it. They walk away. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">A
woman came to Jesus with a sick daughter. She came pleading for mercy, pleading
for her child. And Jesus was silent. He didn’t answer. He didn’t act. He did
nothing to encourage her. In fact, he made things difficult. And she stayed.
She held her ground. She pressed her case. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
silence of Jesus is often an invitation, an invitation to discover more of who
he is and what he is like, an invitation to more grace or possibly a miracle. Why
not trade your childhood faith for a mature resolve to follow Jesus? </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Stay
put. Press your case. Hold your ground. Don’t walk away. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Prayer:</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">For
the very first gift of your grace that drew us close to you, O God, we give you
thanks. For those through whom it came to us, we praise you. Now grant us grace
to persevere, to grow to maturity, to hold our ground in your silences trusting
that you will our good. We ask this in Jesus’s name. Amen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
Mark Crumplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08542307372187764718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12094586.post-58223315849920871222015-04-22T10:18:00.004-05:002015-04-22T10:18:56.545-05:00Found and Known
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><blockquote class="tr_bq">
After this there
was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem (John 5:1). </blockquote>
</i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">When
I was a child Easter meant something other than ‘new life.’ Easter meant ‘new
clothes.’ </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">For
whatever reason, the week or days before Easter was a time for my mom to take
us shopping for clothes, church clothes to be precise. The shopping expedition
for school clothes came at the end of summer. Easter was the season for
worship-wear, stiff and scratchy fabrics and sometimes hard-soled boring shoes.
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
guess this was one way I knew that Easter was a big deal. “He is risen . . .
and I have a new suit.” </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">What a Depressing
Place</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Easter
Sunday may the closest thing we have to what John calls “a feast of the Jews.” On
Easter Sunday the crowds swell, the parking lot is full, the music is big,
there’s a special offering, and after the worship there is feasting with
family.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">So
it was with feast days in Jerusalem. The population of the city exploded with
pilgrims who had come for worship and celebration. Special offerings and
sacrifices were made. And there was food. Food and family. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
John 5 we are told that Jesus had gone up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews.
What is missing here is any mention of exactly which feast it was. Leviticus 23
designates the feasts which Israel was to observe, but John shows no interest
in telling us which of these was being celebrated in Jerusalem when Jesus went
to the pool of Bethesda. From the time of the Church Fathers opinions have
ranged from Pentecost to Purim to Passover. Calvin explores the options in his
commentary on John and then concludes “I will not dispute the matter.” I’ll go
with Calvin on this one. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">What
John is very clear about is the pool: it is located near the sheep gate; in
Aramaic it is called ‘Bethesda.’ John provides architectural detail in
mentioning the five roofed colonnades. And he tells us about the people who
gathered there. This was where ‘a multitude of invalids’ congregated – blind,
lame, paralyzed. What a depressing and disgusting place.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">And
yet, in the midst of this city, pulsating with crowds and the sounds and
rhythms of worship and celebration, this is where Jesus went.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Will We Do the
Same?</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
our church we have no special seating section for the broken among us. There’s
no pew, no balcony, marked ‘invalids.’ But every week, in each and every
gathering, they are among us. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Indeed,
there really are no entirely whole and put-together people in any worship
gathering. We all bring something that’s injured, something that isn’t working
right, something that hurts. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">But
in our gatherings – at Easter and Christmas and any ordinary Sunday – we do a
good job of concealing those wounds. We do it with clothes and smiles. We do it
with quiet anonymity in a large crowd of worshipers.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">What
we conceal, Jesus sees. In the midst of the ‘feast,’ the throng of people and
the sounds of worship and celebration, Jesus finds his way to the ones who
aren’t celebrating. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
question is whether we will do the same. That might be hard, not unlike playing
“Where’s Waldo,’ looking for someone who wants to be made well. And it also
means that we ourselves have experienced the grace that Jesus gives.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Walking
with Jesus will take us to the pool where broken multitudes spend their days.
For those who have been found and known and made well, there’s just no getting
around it. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Prayer:</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
our worst moments, O God, you find us. You know who we are and you seek us out,
offering us grace and wholeness. Grant that we would walk with you this day in
the same way, seeking those whom you are seeking through Christ our Lord. Amen.</span></div>
Mark Crumplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08542307372187764718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12094586.post-62267180847730771382015-04-20T15:33:00.003-05:002015-04-20T15:35:44.644-05:00What Will Make Us Well? <br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Sir, I have no
one to put me in the pool when the water is stirred up . . .” (John 5:7).</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">When
my kids were small they couldn’t get enough of the pool. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">We
were there all the time. I would get home from work and the begging would begin
and off we’d go. Weather was irrelevant. What felt to me like cloudy and cool
in late spring was still good pool weather as far as my kids were concerned.
They didn’t think twice about plunging in even if the frigid water made their
teeth chatter. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">No
more. My kids enjoy the pool often enough these days, but now it’s a social
thing. It’s all about who’s going to be there. No friends, no pool. And showing
up with Dad is not cool. I spend far less time pool-side these days. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">But
like the man by the pool of Bethesda, I know what it is to sit by the pool
waiting on something to happen that will make me well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Not-Valid Ones</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">This
week we’ll walk with Jesus to Jerusalem, to the pool of Bethesda. In John’s
story the pool was a gathering place for all kinds of afflicted people. The ESV
Bible says that the place was occupied by a “multitude of invalids.” </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">That
particular English word suggests something more than ‘sick’ or ‘crippled.’ They
were the not-valid ones – and this is a widespread illness, even now. Far too
many people live with a sense of being ‘not valid,’ and they are waiting for
something to validate them – something that will say they matter, they are
worthy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">John
tells us that when the waters of the pool were stirred or agitated, the first
person to get into the pool would be healed. There is a tradition that says an
angel would come and stir the waters. Some scholars have suggested that underground
springs caused the bubbling effect. Either way, people believed that healing
was in the pool. The afflicted who gathered there waited and hoped, yearning
for the wholeness that could come from those waters.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Nothing Else
Needed</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
this sense, we all know what it is to sit by the pool. Some of us have been
there longer than others. The pool is whatever we’re waiting on that will
validate us. The pool is whatever we are looking to for a sense of wholeness.
The pool, we believe, will make everything OK. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">That
pool might be a new job or a new house. It might be a promotion or a deal that
closes. Sometimes the pool is a husband or wife . . .<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>or perhaps a different husband or wife. For
many the pool is a big break or a sought after breakthrough, a final payment or
the last treatment. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
John’s story Jesus shows up and basically says, “Forget about the pool.” He
ignores it – the bubbling water and the race to get there first – all of it.
Wholeness is found in Jesus. He doesn’t come to help anyone get to the pool. He
brings healing directly to us and he does it by speaking. The presence of Jesus
is powerful and he grants healing by his word. Jesus doesn’t show to give us
some help in getting to what will make us well. He is sufficient for our
healing, nothing else needed. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">But
first, a question: “Do you want to be well?” That question sits silently behind
all of our reflections this week. Today let’s focus on this: Where is your
‘pool?’ And how long will you sit there? </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Prayer:</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">We have spent far too
much time, O God, sitting by ‘pools’ that we believed would make us well. Find
us in those places, we pray, and make us whole by the power of your word and
the gift of your presence in our lives. Call our attention away from what cannot
heal. Turn our eyes toward your Son, in whose name we pray. Amen.</span>Mark Crumplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08542307372187764718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12094586.post-59381093808620474642015-04-09T10:03:00.004-05:002015-04-09T10:03:42.860-05:00Our Heavy Steps
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">That very day two
of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem
. . . Jesus himself drew near and went with them (Luke 24:13-15). </span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">No
one knows for sure where Emmaus is. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">You
could catch a plane this afternoon and fly to Tel-Aviv, rent a car and make the
short drive to Jerusalem, but that’s about as close as you’d get to Emmaus.
Luke tells us that this village was about seven miles from Jerusalem, but he
didn’t see fit to provide us with anything we could search for on a GPS.
Scholars have offered some possibilities in their studied attempts to identify
Emmaus. But guesses are the best we can do. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">We
don’t know where Emmaus is, and yet we’ve been there. Emmaus is the direction
our lives take when we live our days disappointed and let down. Emmaus is where
we go when hope is fragile or abandoned altogether. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
Emmaus road is marked by footprints pressed deep in the dirt. It is the way of
the heavy step. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">A Familiar and Forlorn
Way</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">You
may be walking the Emmaus road today. Obviously, that’s not meant as a
geographical statement. The roads you’ll be on today may be the same roads that
you’re on every day – getting to work or to the grocery store or to the carpool
line. You’ve know those roads well. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">But
today you traverse those roads with a heavy step. You’re carrying with you the
weight of disappointment. Hopes and expectations that just days ago were on the
threshold of becoming reality have vanished, for whatever reason. In their
place are confusion, questions, despondency. And so you travel familiar roads
that now seem strange. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">That’s
what Luke describes for us when he tells about Cleopas and another unnamed
follower of Jesus making their way back to Emmaus soon after the crucifixion of
Jesus. They had gone to Jerusalem to celebrate the story of God’s deliverance.
They had gone their anticipating that a new deliverance was in the works and
that Jesus would be the one to accomplish it. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">None
of that happened. The celebrations went south. Jesus was executed. “We had
hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel” (24:21). Those hopes were now
trashed. Time to go back to Emmaus. They walked a well-known road, this time
with a heavy step and forlorn faces. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">And
then Jesus drew near and walked with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">What Might Have
Been</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Our
disappointments have a way of clouding our vision. The more frequent they are,
thickening like a cataract on the soul, the harder it is for us to see that
Jesus is walking with us. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">This
seems especially so when our hopes are closely connected to what we believe
about God and God’s ways with us. Maybe there’s something you’ve prayed about
for a long time. Maybe there’s someone you’ve prayed for year after year. And
maybe, for some reason, you’re hope is gone. Your prayers now seem wasted, even
foolish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
Mark 5 a man named Jairus begged Jesus to come and heal his little girl. Jesus
agreed to go with him – but on the way there two servants intercepted them and
broke the news to Jairus. Your daughter is dead. And then they added this line:
“Why bother the teacher any further?” (Mk. 5:35) </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">But
Jesus invited Jairus to finish the walk. To stay with him. No doubt, Jairus
walked with a heavy step – but at the end of that walk he saw a miracle. On the
Emmaus road two disciples walked with heavy steps, not knowing who walked with
them. At the end of that walk their eyes were opened.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">And
you - when your way is weighed-down, heavy with regrets or hurts over what
might have been, you do not walk alone. Jesus draws near and walks with you.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Don’t
let your disappointments define your journey today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Prayer: </span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Give your grace, O
God, to all who walk in a fog of despondency today. Sustain them in the
heaviness of their walk. And give them eyes to see again the reality of
resurrection, we ask in Jesus’s name. Amen. </span>Mark Crumplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08542307372187764718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12094586.post-7020984980172818672015-03-25T20:25:00.000-05:002015-03-25T20:28:06.987-05:00Mind the Gap<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">But be doers of
the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves (James 1:22).</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">If
you’ve ever been to London you know what this means: Mind the Gap. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
phrase strikes me as uniquely British, probably because that’s the only place
I’ve ever seen or heard it. Our closest equivalent may be the far less
interesting ‘watch your step.’ Brits may be just as bored or unfazed by ‘mind
the gap.’ But there’s something about the way British people speak. It’s more
than the accent; it’s the distinctive turn of phrase that to someone like me is
perfectly intelligible yet entirely unfamiliar and strange.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">My
family recently spent a few days in London. The underground rail system or
‘tube’ is where you are most likely to be told to mind the gap. A voice
announces it over a public address system. The words are painted on the
concrete platform. The ‘gap’ is the space between the train and the platform.
To ‘mind’ it simply means to pay attention. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">To
ignore the gap can be dangerous. And what’s true of London’s underground is
true of your life. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Big Idea</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
central message, or ‘big idea,’ of the book of James could perhaps be
summarized with the words ‘mind the gap.’ James sees how easily a gaps emerge
between things that are claimed and professed and things that are actually
lived and done. James has a pastoral heart, but he isn’t shy about being direct
and confrontational as he writes. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">J</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">ames
tells us to mind the gap between the way we treat those who are wealthy and well
dressed, and those who look shabby, smell bad, and own nothing (2:1-4). </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">James
tells us to mind the gap between the way we can use words to pray and praise
God on Sunday, and then curse in traffic on Monday (3:9-12). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">James
tells us to mind the gap between the way we attend classes and listen to
teachers without ever allowing what we hear to change our lives (1:22-25).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">James
tells us to mind the gap between our grand plans for the future and the
tentative reality of our lives. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow
(4:13-15). </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Find the Gap</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Our
lives are full of gaps. There are things that don’t line up, places where
there’s a disconnect between who we are or who we want to be, and the way we
actually live from day to day. Some of these things are obvious and glaring.
Others are quite subtle. Before we can mind the gap we might need to take a
good look at our lives and find the gap. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">We
know the Christian message is good news, but we rarely share it. We cherish our
families but we’re too often angry and irritable when we’re at home. We know
God can do more than we can ask or imagine, but we never pray. We believe
everything we have is a gift, but we cling to it as if we deserved or earned
it. We claim that God is in control, but still we lay awake at night with
worry. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Gaps
abound. But so does grace. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">There’s
a difference between minding the gap and mending the gap. Minding the gap is
what you do. Mending the gap is what God does by the power of his Spirit
graciously given to you. Maybe you mind the gap by finding the gap, and then
asking God to help you with it. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">What
gaps do you need to mind today?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Prayer:</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Only you, O God, can
truly make us whole and mend the broken places in our life. Make us mindful of
the ways in which our living and believing don’t line up. By your grace, help
us to live with integrity, doing what we hear, acting on the truths we know. We
ask this in Jesus’s name. Amen. </span>Mark Crumplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08542307372187764718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12094586.post-58792752215372215812015-02-19T16:01:00.000-05:002015-02-19T16:01:00.818-05:00Where the Storm Leads You
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><blockquote class="tr_bq">
“The Lord gave and
the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></blockquote>
</i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">You
won’t find the phrase ‘spiritual warfare’ in the book of Job. But you see it in
every chapter, start to finish.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
accuser, Satan, unleashed a quiver full of flaming arrows at Job. With one
crushing loss after another Satan reduced Job to heap of grief and anguish. In
English you’ll likely notice three verbs of lament as Job absorbs the reality
of what has happened to him and his family: He tore his robes, he shaved head,
he fell on the ground (1:20). He looks to us like a defeated man. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">And
then in the lowest moment of his life Job worshiped God. He blessed the name of
the Lord.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">How Is This
Possible?</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">To
bless the Lord’s name means to praise, to honor, to hold up as worthy. It has
been said that God’s ‘name’ is his ‘fame’ and when we bless the name we extol
God’s reputation. We affirm that God is good. That’s what Job did in his storm,
in his loss and grief and confusion. He blessed the name of the Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">This
is stunning. How is it possible for anyone to really do that? How is it
possible for you to do that? </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
clue is in Job’s conviction that all of life – absolutely everything – comes by
grace. The Lord gives as he wills and he gives freely. He is right and just in
taking the same way. Something in us resists this. We may even resent it.
That’s why we find it hard to bless the name. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">If
we trade grace for a life built on what we earn or what we deserve we’ll rarely
bless the name. Every good thing that comes our way will be because we worked
hard or did right. We earned it or deserve it. Hard working well-behaved people
rarely bless the name. Too much self gets in the way.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">But
when we live by grace, life is different. It’s all a gift. We bless the name
when we receive (thanksgiving) and we can bless the name when we lose the same
(trust).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">When it’s All Said
and Done</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Of
course Job had other things to say. He had questions and he voiced them. He was
hurting and he cursed the day of his birth. He had friends who said things to
him that he couldn’t accept and he pushed back. He wrangled with God in the
storm. You can do that and still bless the name. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">But
when it was all said and done, Job worshiped God. The book of Job ends in
worship. After all Job’s questions God has a few questions for Job. Those
questions leave Job repentant, silent before God and the mystery of God’s ways.
There is a sense in which the book of Job ends where it began. Job worships
God.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">As
you reflect on the struggles and storms you’ve lived through, maybe you can
cling to this basic truth: Storms come to us to lead us to worship. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Such
a journey may not happen quickly or follow a straight line. We may have to wait
a long time to see the connection between whatever storm we’ve lived through
and the goodness of God in it. But if we’ll deal with God – in doubts and
questions and cries for help – eventually we’ll come to a place of worship. Eugene
Peterson is right in saying that “all prayer pursued far enough, becomes
praise.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">“The
Lord gives.” How has this been true in your life? Give God thanks for his
gifts.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">“And
the Lord takes away.” Trust him with your storm. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Blessed
be the name of the Lord.” Every anguished prayer eventually becomes praise; the
storm can lead you to worship. How will you bless His name today?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Prayer:</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Blessed Be
Your Name</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In the land
that is plentiful</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Where Your
streams of abundance flow</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Blessed be
Your name</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Blessed Be
Your name</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When I'm
found in the desert place</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Though I
walk through the wilderness</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Blessed Be
Your name</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Every
blessing You pour out</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I'll turn
back to praise</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When the
darkness closes in, Lord</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Still I will
say</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Blessed be
the name of the Lord.”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Amen</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">(Matt
Redman, “Blessed be the Name”)</span></div>
Mark Crumplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08542307372187764718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12094586.post-66478844388958530792015-02-13T09:18:00.002-05:002015-02-13T09:22:34.347-05:00Uncle Screwtape<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Put on the whole
armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil
(Ephesians 6:11). </i></blockquote>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">
</i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
a letter to his brother dated 20 July 1940, C. S. Lewis shared the spark of an
idea for a future book. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">According
to Lewis biographer Allister McGrath, the occasion for Lewis’s brainstorming
was a dull sermon at Holy Trinity Church. Lewis explained the moment like
this:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Before the service was over—one could wish
these things came more seasonably—I was struck by an idea for a book which I
think might be both useful and entertaining. It would be called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">As One Devil to Another</i>, and would
consist of letters from an elderly retired devil to a young devil who has just
started work on his first “patient.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Fame and Scorn</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
letters began to appear in a weekly church magazine called “The Guardian” in
May </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">1941.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They attracted the interest of a publisher
and came out as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Screwtape Letters</i>
in </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">February
1942. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Lewis
said he “had never written anything more easily” and yet he also remarked later
on that he was “never very fond” of the book – a statement that caused some
consternation for his friend and colleague J.R.R. Tolkien, to whom the book was
dedicated. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Most
of us associate Lewis with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mere
Christianity, </i>a work that was not published until 1952. A decade earlier it
was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Screwtape </i>that launched Lewis to
fame in the United States - “a popularity for which he was ill prepared,”
according to McGrath.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
1943 Oliver Chase Quick (Regius Professor of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Divinity, Oxford) wrote a letter to William
Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury, urging that Lewis be recognized by being
awarded an Oxford Doctorate of Divinity. At the same time, oddly enough, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Screwtape</i> was earning Lewis scorn among
the academic fraternity at Oxford. They regarded <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Screwtape</i> as a lightweight piece of Christian writing identified
openly with a teaching fellow of Magdalen College. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
some ways this grievous sin, repeated with other popular writings that
followed, stained Lewis’s entire tenure at Oxford. What was held in derision by
the elites at Oxford remains a treasure among so many Christians. It is
noteworthy that today we cannot name a single one of Lewis’s detractors, and
the book they despised is still in print. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">True Then, True
Now</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Maybe
one of the reasons <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Screwtape</i> has
endured is simply that it tells something we know to be true about our lives
but usually fail to see. Blogger Andy Naselli took every chapter of the book
and summarized the devil’s ‘scheme’ in one sentence. Here’s a sampling of Uncle
Screwtape’s strategies:</span></div>
<br />
<ul>
<li><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Make him
disillusioned with the church by highlighting people he self-righteously thinks
are strange or hypocritical.</span></div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Don’t
underestimate the power of ‘very small sins’ because the safest road to hell is
a gradual one.</span></div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Make him live in
the future rather than the present.</span></div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Keep him from any
serious intent to pray.</span></div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Annoy him with
daily ‘pin-pricks’ from his mother.</span></div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Encourage him to
be a church-hopper. </span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Defeat his courage
and make him a coward.</span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Things haven’t changed much. What Lewis saw and imaginatively described in 1942 remains true of us today. Maybe one of the most interesting pieces of counsel is Screwrtape’s advice that Wormwood carefully guard the life of his patient so that he lives long and grows old. The Reason? “Because real worldliness takes time,” writes Screwtape. </span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is a sobering insight. As long as we live we are engaged in spiritual warfare. Our adversary is relentless. So pay close attention to your life. How might Screwtape coach Wormwood if you were the ‘patient?’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Prayer: </span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Merciful God, we are
in continual need of your grace, making us aware of the schemes of our adversary.
Since the enemy is relentless, give us your power that we might not grow weary
or lazy in the struggles that erode our faith. Open our eyes to his ways and
our hearts to your strength, we ask in Jesus’s name. Amen. </span>Mark Crumplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08542307372187764718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12094586.post-15108118215142505772015-02-05T09:50:00.002-05:002015-02-05T09:50:25.443-05:00Schemes
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><blockquote class="tr_bq">
Put on the whole
armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil
(Eph. 6:11). </blockquote>
</i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Rommel
. . . I read your book.” </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">So
said George C. Scott playing the role of General George Patton in the 1970
academy award winning film <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Patton</i>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The historicity of the statement has been
challenged and it may be that Francis Ford Coppola took some liberties with his
script. However, in 1937 German Field Marshall Erwin Rommel did publish a work
titled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Infantry Attacks</i>. A planned
sequel on tank tactics was never completed. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
the movie, Patton’s units are engaged with Rommel’s forces. Patton stands
viewing the battle through field-glasses. Out-maneuvering his opponent, Patton
utters the movie’s oft-quoted line: “Rommel . . . I read your book.” The actual
line is somewhat more colorful than that, but you get the idea.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Victory
belongs not only to the well-equipped, but also to the well-studied.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The ‘Wiles’ of the
Devil</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
Ephesians 6:11 Paul states plainly his reason for urging his readers (us) to
put on the whole armor of God. We are to equip ourselves for battle so that we
“may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
word ‘schemes’ is a rendering of the Greek word <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">methodia </i>from which we obviously derive the English ‘method.’ The
King James Version translates Ephesians 6:11 with the more devious word
‘wiles.’ The basic thought behind all of these words is craft and cunning. The
devil works with deceit and trickery. A strong defense requires more than the
right gear and the right weapons. We must understand with our minds how the
enemy works. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">To
speak of the devils ‘wiles’ or ‘schemes’ assumes that our adversary works
deliberately and with intent. We are inclined to think of evil as an
abstraction. We treat it as a large and vague ‘force’ of some kind, drawing us or
luring us away from what is good and right and true. This isn’t entirely wrong
– but there’s more going on. Our adversary’s schemes are tailor-made. His
attacks are not abstract, they are personal. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Maybe
we need to know our own weaknesses if we want to stand against the devil’s
wiles</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Study Up</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
details of how the devil’s schemes work on us will vary from person to person.
But there are some common maneuvers that our enemy is fond of using, and they
work effectively on most of us, even if in different ways. Paul urges us to
stay alert (6:18). Here are a couple of things to watch for. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">First,
beware your own fatigue. When we are weary and worn out we are easily annoyed
with other people. We have no patience. We are not disposed to grace. Also, in
our fatigue we turn to other comforts, anything we lightly name a guilty
pleasure. Some of these may be harmless, but many are not. And besides, we find
our comfort in something other than God. The ‘wiley’ one wins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Also,
stay on top of your own busyness and distraction. Busyness and distraction keep
us from prayer and dull our interest in God’s word. Paul names the word and
prayer as our primary weapons, so to be busy and distracted means to be
defenseless. The adversary will gladly tolerate a regular church-attender who lives
a prayer-less life the other six days of the week. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Unlike
Patton, we do not read the enemy’s book. We read God’s book to understand
ourselves and the devil’s schemes. But there is a book by an imaginative
Christian thinker that focused on the wiles of the devil. Tomorrow we’ll take a
look at the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Screwtape Letters. </i></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">For
today, stay alert. How have you detected the adversary’s schemes in your life?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Prayer:</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><em>So often, Lord God,
we dismiss the ‘wiles of the devil’ as silliness. Wake us up to the reality of our
enemy and the malicious intent of his schemes. Make us wise, always alert to
whatever pulls us from you. And give us strength to stand firm in the power of
Christ, through whom we pray. Amen.</em> </span>Mark Crumplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08542307372187764718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12094586.post-81399487401105282015-02-03T09:07:00.004-05:002015-02-03T09:07:57.566-05:00Equipped but Not Ready
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><blockquote class="tr_bq">
Therefore take up
the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day . . .
(Eph. 6:13). </blockquote>
</i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Being
equipped and being ready are not the same thing.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">How
many sets of golf clubs are tucked away in the corner of a closet, acquired
with enthusiasm and the best of intentions, now neglected because there’s just
never enough time? How many tents and backpacks are up in the attic or shelved
in the garage, still waiting for the hike of a lifetime that just never quite
came together. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Buying
clubs is one thing. Becoming a golfer is quite another. Being outfitted for the
trail is one thing. Becoming an outdoorsman is quite another. And yet, how can
we ever become what we aspire to be unless we are equipped?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Drum Kit</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">For
me it was a set of drums. I was in the eighth grade. A couple of years earlier
I had decided to give band a try, having never really found my place in the
world of sports. My instrument of choice: a snare drum. As it happened, I
enjoyed hitting a drum. I decided I would probably enjoy hitting an entire
assemblage of drums. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">This
was the era of Paul McCartney and Wings, and Bachman-Turner Overdrive. Those
drummers sounded very cool. Of course, to play like that would require a drum
kit. The solitary snare just wouldn’t do. And so, for my birthday my parents
presented me with my first set of drums. I was equipped. But I was no drummer,
at least not yet. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
had no idea what to do with multiple drums. I was awkward and stiff. What’s
more, I had no context for actually using a drum set. I put the drums in my
room, listened to the radio and tried to mimic what I heard. Years would pass
before I played with enough competence to accompany other musicians. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Desert Road</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
difference between being equipped and being ready shows up in the Bible in the
book of Exodus. After ten plagues that display God’s power, Pharaoh relents and
allows Moses to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. Exodus 13 tells the
story this way.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-language: HE;">When Pharaoh let the
people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country,
though that was shorter. For God said, "If they face war, they might
change their minds and return to Egypt." <sup>18</sup> So God led the
people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out
of Egypt armed for battle. (Ex. 13:17-18)</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-language: HE;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-language: HE;">There was a well-traveled trade route that would have
taken the Israelites to their intended destination. It was the shortest, most
obvious way to get from point ‘a’ to point ‘b’. But it traversed some dangerous
territory. While the road seemed best, the way fraught with obstacles.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-language: HE;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-language: HE;">God did not lead the people in that direction. They would
too soon face war and in the fight they would become fearful and discouraged
and decide it was best to go back to Egypt. And yet we are told that “the
Israelites went up out of Egypt armed for battle.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-language: HE;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-language: HE;">They were armed, but not yet ready for the fight. It
would take some time in the wilderness to get ready for what was ahead. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-language: HE;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-language: HE;">Test the Armor </span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-language: HE;">The whole armor of God is available to you today, every
piece of it. You are equipped. But there may be some battles for which you are
not yet ready. God may have you in a difficult place, a wilderness place, but
his purposes there are to train you for what Paul calls “the evil day.” </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-language: HE;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Spiritual
Warfare sounds large, ominous and cataclysmic. And it can be. But there are
small ways today that God may be getting you ready, preparing you for things
you cannot see and may not expect. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Not
every day is an “evil day” – but Paul tells us that such days will come. And
when they come, God will give you what you need to stand firm. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">So
test the armor of God in the place where you are right now. Test it in
seemingly small ways, knowing that God goes before you and behind you, always
at work in barren and hard places to get you ready for what lies ahead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Prayer: </span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Merciful God, use
whatever this day brings to build our faith, to teach us to trust, to move us
to prayer. And in all things prepare us for the time when we will need to stand
firm in struggles we do not yet see. We will follow you faithfully as you lead
us, through Jesus our Lord, in whose name we pray. Amen. </span>Mark Crumplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08542307372187764718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12094586.post-58155242900929006592015-01-30T08:57:00.001-05:002015-01-30T08:57:20.273-05:00On the Mat
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">For we wrestle not
against flesh and blood . . . (Eph. 6:12)</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Throughout
middle school and early High School I watched and cheered as my son
participated in a sport that I didn’t understand. At all. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Wrestling
is not for the faint of heart, neither the student competitors nor their
parents. For one thing a wrestler steps onto a mat alone. Yes, there’s a team,
guys wearing the same colors from the same school. But when it’s really time to
play there is no team. Just a wrestler and his opponent. When one of those
happens to be your kid you can feel something happening inside your skin. Your
stomach knots up and maybe your temples throb. This could go on for minutes. It
could be over in seconds. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Another
factor that makes wrestling tough on the average parent spectator who never
donned a singlet is simply the scoring. Crossing a goal line or throwing a ball
through a basket are easily grasped ways of winning. With wrestling, things are
not quite as clear. Beyond basics such as a ‘take-down,’ ‘reversal,’ and ‘pin’
I never really understood what was going on. The competitors looked like a
tangled writhing mess. Over time I came to understand that there was much more
going on than my untrained eye could sort out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Done
right, every move on the mat is designed to seize an advantage and exploit a
weakness.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mixing Metaphors</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Paul’s
coaching in Ephesians 6 is designed to encourage us to fight spiritual battles.
Paul wants us to understand that these battles are real and the opponent we
face is deliberate in his tactics. His every move is calculated to seize an
advantage over you and exploit your weaknesses. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
the course of his admonition Paul mixes his metaphors. Most of his language is
militaristic. He tells us to put on armor. He speaks of shields and
breastplates and swords and helmets. We might say that he spends most of his
time talking to us about our gear and our weapons. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">But
at verse 12 Paul switches to a different word picture, mixing his metaphors to make
sure we know what we’re getting into. The NIV Bible gives a rather weak
translation with “our struggle is not against flesh and blood.” A better
rendering is found in the ESV’s “we wrestle not against flesh and blood.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Paul
uses a Greek word from the world of athletics. He wants us to know that we are
wrestling, grappling with our adversary in close combat. John Calvin’s
commentary on Ephesians 6:12 includes a footnote that cites Plutarch’s
explanation that </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Wrestling was the most artful and subtle
of the ancient games, and the name of it was derived from a word which means to
throw a man down by deceit and craft. And it is certain that persons who
understand this exercise have many fetches, and turns, and changes of posture
which they make use of . . . <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to trip up
their adversary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">In Your Face</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">As
strange as wrestling may seem to the uninitiated spectator, a suit of Roman
armor is even more alien to us. Thankfully Paul blended a picture from sport
with his guiding image of a soldier. If nothing else, the truth that “we
wrestle not against flesh and blood” tells us that this fight is close and that
the opponent is deliberate in his moves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Don’t
miss the implications of this. You are wrestling today, not flying a drone. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
fight is close up, even in your face. Spiritual battles are neither abstract
nor distant. They don’t happen to someone else while you stand afar. And your
adversary is working with the details of your life to get a hold of you, to
immobilize you, to throw you down. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">By
God’s grace every move has a counter-move. You are not defenseless. Maybe
you’ve never set foot on a mat. But you are a wrestler. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Where
are the vulnerable places in your life? What will you do to engage the
adversary?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Prayer:</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><em>Grant us wisdom, O
God, to see and to know how our opponent moves against us. And make us ready to
engage the fight, staying on our feet and standing firm by the gift of your mighty
strength, through Jesus our Lord. Amen.</em> </span>Mark Crumplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08542307372187764718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12094586.post-48829228222684757702015-01-28T06:00:00.000-05:002015-01-28T06:00:06.551-05:00Things Unseen
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">For our struggle
is not against flesh and blood . . . (Eph. 6:12)</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Spiritual
warfare. If we’re honest we might admit that there’s something about the phrase
that we don’t like.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Maybe
it’s the word ‘warfare.’ These days anything that blends religion with war talk
offends our sensibilities. That’s no surprise. We’re living in a day when the
ravages of militant religion are regularly displayed on social media and cable
news channels. People who mix faith and fighting are dangerous people. We want
nothing to do it. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">For
generations they hymn <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Onward Christian
Soldiers</i> was sung with gusto in American churches. In recent years that
hymn has fallen from favor, the militarism prompting its removal from a number
of hymnals. The hymn was written in 1864 specifically for use as a processional
for a children’s Sunday school program in Yorkshire, England. But marching
children conjured pictures of Hitler Youth. We have little interest now in teaching
children to march. Farewell beloved hymn. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Know Your Enemy</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">We’ll
have plenty of opportunity to talk about ‘warfare’ in the days ahead. For
today, instead of jumping straight to the noun ‘warfare,’ we’re going to linger
with the adjective ‘spiritual.’ We are thinking these days about a particular <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kind</i> of conflict. If we don’t understand
this, if we fail to grasp the nature of the fight, then there won’t be a fight
at all. We’ve lost right from the start. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
his letter to the Ephesians Paul is very clear as to the nature of what we’re
up against. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-language: HE;">For our struggle is
not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil
in the heavenly realms (Eph. 6:12). </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">We
don’t have time here to sort out all the language of that verse, but don’t miss
the opening phrase. We are not fighting flesh and blood. The most formidable
enemy of your faith is not a human enemy – neither your boss nor your ex,
neither Hollywood nor the media, neither Republicans nor Democrats. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">John
Calvin commented on the text by saying “Let us remember this when the injurious
treatment of others provokes us to revenge. Our natural disposition would lead
us to direct all our exertions against the men themselves; but . . . the men
who annoy us are nothing more than darts thrown by the hand of Satan.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Game Over</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">One
of the most insidious things about spiritual warfare is that the fight often
comes to us in familiar and plain wrapping. We fail to identify the enemy. We
live blind to the spiritual nature of the conflicts that eat us alive. We live
our days angry about politics, worried about our children or about money,
guilt-ridden with past failures. </span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Having
failed to see the enemy, we lose the fight. We don’t know joy. We forfeit our
peace. We carry shame. Game over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">C.
S. Lewis said that one of the devil’s most effective strategies is simply
getting us not to believe that he exists at all. American Christians are
particularly vulnerable to this strategy. So early on, get honest about this:
Do you know the nature of the fight you’re in as you seek to live a life of
faith? There are unseen realities around you, what Paul called “spiritual
forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Do you believe this?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">As
you look at this day, what are you up against? What do you see – and what might
be unseen in the struggles you’re facing?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Prayer:</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><em>Gracious God, help us
to see beyond the obvious in the things that confront us and threaten us today.
Keep us from living fearful and angry lives and make us equal to the struggle
that threatens our walk with you and out witness in the world, we ask in
Jesus’s name. Amen.</em><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>Mark Crumplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08542307372187764718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12094586.post-89832952855332071432015-01-27T10:23:00.000-05:002015-01-27T10:23:26.945-05:00You Have an Adversary
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Put on the full
armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil
(Ephesians 6:11).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i></div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Pastor
Erwin McManus, in a sermon titled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Seizing
Your Divine Moment</i>, shares the following story about his son Aaron.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">One
summer Aaron went to a youth camp. He was just a little guy and I was kind of
glad because it was a church camp. I figured he wasn’t going to hear all those
ghost stories, because ghost stories can really cause a kid to have nightmares.
But unfortunately, since it was a Christian camp and they don’t tell ghost
stories . . . they told demon and Satan stories instead. And so when Aaron got
home he was terrified. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Dad, don’t turn off the light!” he said
before going to bed. “Daddy, could you stay here with me? Daddy, I’m afraid.
They told all these stories about demons . . . “Daddy, Daddy, would you pray
for me that I would be safe?” </span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I
could feel it. I could feel warm-blanket Christianity beginning to wrap around
him, a life of safety, safety, safety. I said, “Aaron, I will not pray for you
to be safe. I will pray that God will make you dangerous, so dangerous that
demons will flee when you enter the room.” </span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And
he goes, “All right. But pray I would be really, really dangerous, Daddy.” </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Spiritual ‘Snuggie’</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
know too well the lure of “warm-blanket Christianity.” The phrase reminds me of
those TV commercials for something called a “Snuggie” – basically a blanket
with sleeves so you can literally slip it on and wear it around your house.</span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">When
we slip on our spiritual “Snuggie” our prayers become a means of increasing our
comforts. We want good health for ourselves and those we love; we want adequate
income and meaningful friendships; we want to be shielded from what can harm
us; we want the American dream and everything that comes with it, and we appeal
to God to help us attain it. </span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Such
prayers are not intentionally greedy or fearful. After all, a much-loved Psalm
tells us that the Lord, our good shepherd, will lead us to green pastures and
still waters. His rod and staff will comfort us (Psalm 23:1-4). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Prayers
that seek solace are not bad prayers. But neither are they complete. God wants
to make us dangerous and not merely safe. God promises to give us courage, not
just comfort. God will fill us with his power in addition to his peace. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Clever and
Relentless</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">1
Peter 5:8 tells us that we have an enemy. There is a personal presence at work
in the world, actively seeking to diminish and ultimately destroy your faith in
God and your life as a follower of Jesus. Peter likens this adversary to a
lion, prowling and hungry, eager to devour you. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">For
the next three weeks we’re going to be thinking about “spiritual warfare” –
what is it, how do we know we’re in it, and how do we engage it rather than
hide from it. This topic may be a familiar one to some of you. Others of you
may come from traditions that regard such matters as belonging to the
pew-jumpers and Bible-thumpers. </span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Regardless
of what you call it, this is true of every person who seeks to live a life of
faith: you have an adversary. This adversary is clever and relentless. And the
point of struggle or conflict that occupies your thoughts today has a spiritual
dimension – whether you know it or not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">What
will it mean for you to put on the full armor of God and to ready yourself for
a fight? How will you seek something more than safety, living dangerously as
you follow Jesus through this day?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Prayer:</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><em>Too
often, O God, I ask for what will make me comfortable and keep me safe. Today
I’m asking you to make me dangerous – a threat to the presence of evil in this
world and the brokenness it brings about. Use me today as means of blessing.
Empower me to carry your light into places that are dark. Make me bold to live
as one called to engage the adversary, and give me what I need for the fight, I
pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.</em><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
Mark Crumplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08542307372187764718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12094586.post-57459706706747551542014-12-12T17:33:00.000-05:002014-12-12T17:33:04.808-05:00Things Treasured<blockquote class="tr_bq">
And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart (Luke 2:51)</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
Every heart treasures something. <br />
<br />
What we treasure may truly be good and valuable and worthy of being treasured. Just as often we treasure things in our heart that we would do well to get rid of. <br />
<br />
<strong>Closets and Wallets </strong><br />
About a month ago my wife decided it was time to go through our closet and see what we needed to unload. We both knew that we had things hanging up in the closet that we hadn’t touched in years. Embarrassing, but true. I was stunned at what we gathered to be given away. How and why had we managed to hold on to these things for so long? Nothing about that chore was fun, but once we were finished it was very freeing. <br />
<br />
But there other things we treasure that have real value, even if only to us. A certain credit card company ran an ad campaign not long ago with the tag-line “What’s in your wallet?” That’s a good question. What I treasure in my wallet may say something about my heart. <br />
<br />
Of course, most wallets hold monetary treasures, but there are other more meaningful treasures too. In my wallet I have pictures of my family, my health insurance card, my driver’s license that serves as my official picture ID, a library card, a card from the Presbyterian Church that says I am a minister of word and sacrament in good standing (not useful in airports), my Skymiles # (which is useful in airports but which I’ve never memorized). I guess there are things that I keep or ‘treasure’ in my wallet go beyond purchasing power and say something about who I am. <br />
<br />
<strong>Three Words </strong> <br />
In the opening chapters of his gospel account, Luke uses three different words to tell us how Mary gradually made her way to an understanding of who her son was. As we noted earlier this week, even after Gabriel’s announcement to Mary, she didn’t have Jesus all figured out. At his birth and as he grew, Mary would see things and hear things with which she had to grapple. <br />
<br />
When the shepherds arrived just after Jesus’s birth they told what the Angels had said to them about the infant Jesus. Mary ‘treasured’ and ‘pondered’ these things in her heart. When the boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem, found three days later by his parents, Mary treasured in her heart her son’s words about being in his Father’s house. <br />
<br />
In these stories Luke uses three Greek words: Pondered, treasured, kept. The three words are very close in meaning, sharing a similar sense. Mary grappled with words and events by thinking, holding close, remembering and cherishing them. <br />
<br />
<strong>Our Treasure</strong><br />
We do this too. We treasure things in our heart, pondering with the mind, remembering and cherishing and holding close. What we treasure in the heart may reveal who we are, or they may shape us into who we become. What we ponder and treasure may draw us closer to Jesus. What we ponder and treasure may be an obstacle to knowing who Jesus is and why he came.<br />
<br />
A heart can treasure things that are not good and worthy. We can keep resentments and bitterness. We can hold on to painful memories and mistakes we’ve made. We can dwell on our regrets and hurts. None of these do us a bit of good, but we keep them nevertheless. <br />
<br />
We can keep a different kind of treasure. Pondering and treasuring the gift of God’s grace to us has a way of shaping who we are, making us merciful and gracious. As we dwell on the words Jesus spoke and the life he lived, we begin to become like him. As we cherish and treasure his blessings to us, we become grateful people. <br />
<br />
At Christmas we will sing “Let every heart prepare him room.” Maybe you can start preparing him room today. <br />
<br />
What’s in your heart? What are you treasuring? <br />
<br />
<strong>Prayer: </strong> <br />
We ask, O God, that our hearts would treasure and dwell on those things that draw us closer to you. Where we have held on to things that are not worthy, cleanse our hearts by your Spirit. Make us ready for you and cause us to treasure who you are, we ask in the name of your Son. Amen. <br />
<br />
Mark Crumplerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08542307372187764718noreply@blogger.com0