Falling Into Winter

The seasons are changing; fall is beginning to fade into winter. As each leaf has turned from green to yellow, red, or orange and now, they fade to brown and loose their hold from their lofty home and float towards the earth. Sometimes the earthly seasons can offer an honest reflection for the seasons of our souls. Right now mine looks much like the weather outside and I feel as if I am falling into winter; hard days have turned into weeks and now weeks look like months. While winter may be on the horizon for me, it also means spring is just around the bend. But first the winter snows must come to bring water to the earth so it may become green again in spring. This is a promise from the Lord.

The prophet Isaiah writes:

The rain and snow come down from the heavens
and stay on the ground to water the earth.
They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer
and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word.
I send it out, and it always produces fruit.
It will accomplish all I want it to and it will prosper everywhere I send it.
You will live in joy and peace.
The mountains and hills will burst into song and the trees of the field will clap their hands!
Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow.
Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up.
These events will bring great honor to the Lord’s name they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.

Friends, what season are you in?

Imago Dei... A picture of God

Have you ever wondered if there was something that makes us significant? I do. Often it comes when I am feeling less than significant. There have been things in my life that help remind me that I am in fact significant, mostly I am reminded by my friends. There have been other things as well, pieces of art, songs, or even nature that have taken on special meaning to me and remind me of our significance. However there is one thing that is deeper than all of these. There is an ancient truth that teaches us of our significance. God tells us in Genesis 2:7 that he breathed the breath of life into man and then the man became a living being. God did not do this for any other part of creation other than man. The scripture hints that this breath God breathed into us was more than just air, but it was the very spirit of God. He created in you and me a picture of himself. What else could make us more beautiful or significant?

Honestly Human

Today I was driving back from a camping trip in Wisconsin. It was a quite trip home, my wife was sleeping in the passenger seat and the cool fall air was refreshing, leaving me plenty of opportunity to think. Some where in between thoughts I began to wonder if I really believed, what I claimed to believe in. Have you ever felt like that? As if you know deep in your heart there is something right and true, but wondering if that is what you are seeking? If you’re like me, we’re not the only ones who have doubted. John the Baptist had his moment of doubt as well, and he was the guy who was sent to prepare the way for Jesus. There also was Thomas, a man who spent nearly three years with Jesus, and yet still doubted that Jesus had risen from the dead. These guys knew Jesus personally, and they still had their moments of doubt. I don’t know why I doubt from time to time. So if you’re like me or John or Thomas, I thank God for you. I also thank God for his grace so even in my doubting he still loves and rescues me. This I do know for sure, his love and grace are big enough to rescue even the deepest of doubters…some days that doubter is me.

“My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed. Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.” –John 20:29&29

Glorious Rain

The rain and snow come down from the heavens
and stay on the ground to water the earth.
They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for
the farmer and bread for the hungry.
It is the same with my word.
I send it out, and it always produces fruit.
It will accomplish all I want it to,
and it will prosper everywhere I send it.
You will live in joy and peace.
The mountains and hills will burst into song,
and the trees of the field will clap their hands!
Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow.
Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up.
These events will bring great honor to the Lord’s name;
they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love. –Isaiah 55:10-13

We have all experienced rainy or snowy days. Sometimes they bring great joy and other times we just can’t wait for the sun to come back out and warm up our hearts and our days. Yet God is in the rain and the snow, they are gifts to us that make our world green and beautiful. The rain and the snow are reminders of God’s faithfulness; with out them we would surely parish. Sometimes we look to see God in big things like getting an A on that big test, or getting into the college of our dreams, maybe it is trying to buy your first house, saving your marriage, or hoping for healing of a loved one; these things are important to God. God is faithful in all things, just as the rain makes the earth green so his word brings joy and peace everywhere he sends it. The next time you hear and feel the rain or snow remember, you are hearing and feeling the faithfulness of God.

The Human Connection...

There is something simple, familiar, and comforting about the human voice. This last week I was reading down by Lake Michigan (the Ojibwa call her “great water”) and a man named Michael approached me and began a conversation. He was an older fellow from Latvia, and an interesting one at that. I’m glad I met him. As we sat there and chatted, we talked about our lives, our families, and what brought us to Chicago. When we talk we share our lives and give a picture of our real self. There are connections and lasting impressions that are made. Our words carry a lot of weight and show some one who we really are. We live in a world that has a strong idea of what a Christian is, Michael sure did. They see Christians as defensive, judgmental, and unwilling to listen. Christ wasn’t any of these things and we are not supposed to be either. Let our words be kind and our ears listen to their story so they may see the love and value we have for each other not judgment and defensiveness. After all we share a deeper connection than just our voices, we are all created in the image of God. I’m not sure if Michael is a follower of Jesus Christ. What I do know is, that I do not know what is in the heart of a man, only Christ does. I hope that in our conversation he knew I valued everything he said and some how Christ was glorified in that.

com·pas·sion

Jesus found himself walking along a bumpy road at times. In Matthew 14 he finds out that one of his best friends has died. The text reads, “As soon as Jesus heard the news, he left in a boat to a remote area to be alone.” Jesus was deeply hurt (the same hurt we feel, he felt as well) and he did what most of us do in those times, try to be alone. What is remarkable though is this:

“But the crowds heard where he was headed and followed on foot from many towns. Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.”

Jesus didn’t get to be alone or to just disappear for a while. Being met by a crowd (about 10,000 people) on the shore he had compassion for them; he valued them. He knew what their pain felt like; he was feeling it at that very moment too. He knows what our pain feels like and he cares so very deeply for us. He sees value in each and every one of us and he has compassion for us every new day. Do we see each other like that? Do we really care that much to put ourselves aside and help anyone in any way possible? This week despite my struggles and in my pain I’m going to try to care for others and see the value in every one, just as Christ does; because he values me, even when I’m not all that valuable. Will you try with me?

Tailspun

Somewhere in the hub-bub and buzz of this week I went into a tailspin. Maybe it was due to the whirlwind of the ER visit, resulting doctors visits, and the phone calls created by me sticking my finger into a bicycle crank at work. We all have these weeks when for some reason or another we get sucked up into life’s busyness where we just can’t seem to stop the spinning.

This week I was consumed by my work and worrying about my finger. However, it could have been anything else to send me spinning: a break up, moving, failing a test, a job lost, death of a loved one, or illness. These are only a few things that can send us spinning; some are our faults and others not so much. All I know is that I still find myself spinning, yet when I am honest about my life and myself with Christ my spinning slows down and even stops. He wants to stop our spinning; he wants us to be real. All because of his deep love for us, and his gentle heart. In Christ we will find rest for our souls.

Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
–Jesus of Nazareth

Thoughts from the heart.

What does our heart contain? Is it a litmus for making tough decisions, a reservoir for courage and vigor, or a beautiful chest for our emotions? What if our hearts contained a picture that expressed exactly who we are and everyone could tell? How would we feel being that exposed, that naked, and that undone? How would you feel when the God of the universe saw your picture…?

How many colors or layers do we use to try and spruce up, touch up, or cover up the true picture of our heart with? I know myself my pallet is full of colors to hide who I truly am. I cannot be exposed to the world; I cannot allow others to see the picture my heart truly paints. Christ confronts this very thought when he states,

“A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad. You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart.” -Matt. 12:33-37

Christ is talking to the religious leaders of his day here, men whose pallet runs just as colorful as mine. They were very good at the touch up. However Christ says you will be known, your picture will be seen, it will flow from your lips and you cannot stop it. These are powerful words spoken with absolute accuracy and sobering reality. The prophet Isaiah was a man who had the picture of his heart revealed to him before the one and only sovereign God. Isaiah stands before God in heaven (Isa. 6:1-7) and what we learn is that Isaiah is absolutely devastated by what he realizes to be the picture of his heart. It says,

“Then I said, ‘It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people of filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.’”

Isaiah knows what is truly in his heart (it flowed from his lips and they were filthy) and his despair is doubled by the knowledge of what is in his people’s hearts. He knows that he cannot stand and live before the Lord of Heaven’s Armies with such a heart and unclean lips. The Prophet Isaiah is just like me; my heart is filled with jealousy, pride, lust, and hate. We see and know what our picture looks like every day. The hardest part is having our picture exposed. It can be crushing when our friends see it, but it is devastating when the Lord sees it. He sees my painting every moment of every day and yet he restores me just as he did Isaiah and he paints a new picture of my heart, one that rescues me from the shortcomings of my own artwork.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a loyal spirit within me.”

-Psalm 51:10

A great hope found in greater love

I Celebrate the Church by Ann Weems, revised

I celebrate the church of Jesus Christ, where two or three or
thousands can gather together in the Lord's name, and touch
this world with the amazing good news that God is real and
that through Christ his love reaches out to all people.

I hear God's voice in the vision of men and women who call us to
a better way, a higher hope. For God works miracles in common
clay pots, Changing caterpillars to butterflies and water to wine,
Changing seeds to oak trees and night to day,
Changing winter to spring time,
Changing lives from ordinary to abundant.

We as God's celebrants move through this world together
listening for God's music, responding to God's word,
Praising God with clapping hands and moving feet,
Praising God with justice and mercy and humility,
Praising God with changed lives.