Joy and Sorrow (from Tuesday)

Psalm 30:5 Portrayals of Christians in the media often frustrate me. Whether it on the news or in a drama or sitcom, Christian characters rarely look like the people I work and worship with at Oak Ridge. As life-issues have become more complex and global awareness of atrocity and societal breakdown has grown, Christians have too few strong and competent voices on the national and international stage. And, we are portrayed as either withdrawing into our comfortable cocoons or boldly addressing topics far removed from general concerns. But that is not how you act. How do you stay engaged in another's pain? How do you find strength to become a child-advocate with CASA? How do you serve lunch to hungry neighbors at Center of Hope? How do you love on a friend or relative as they suffer and die of cancer? How do you keep joy and sorrow as two sides of the same coin?

A Joyful Noise (from Thursday)

Psalm 95:2 At the end of last night's devotional Nouwen prayed, "Every prayer we pray, heavenly Father, is a sign of our love, our hope and our trust in you. " This devotional presented a new and transformative perspective for me. Even my requests, which sometimes seem petty or selfish, express a confidence in God the Father. Fathers provide. Children trust in the Father's ability to provide, yes, but also in his desire to provide. Your comment on the blog could be a blessing today. In fact the more comments the bigger the blessing. What are you thankful for today? Remember, it could be something God has already given or something you are trusting him to provide. Wow... What are you trusting God to provide?

Forgiveness (from Tuesday)

Matthew 18:21 The NRSV translation may surprise you here. Peter asks, "...if another member of the church sins against me..." The Greek word aldephos, normally translated "brother" is used in Matthew 18 Testament to show kinship among a group of like minded believers. (see verses 15-18) This connotation interests me. Webster's online dictionary tells us that the word "forgive" comes from the two Anglo-Saxon words that mean to give wholly. It seems to mean that when someone has wronged me, I give them pardon without holding anything back to bring up later. If I "forgive" someone multiple times and then say, "This time was the straw that broke the camel's back" then I have been keeping a "straw's worth" of offense each time. Jesus says that's not the way to do it. We are to give our pardon wholly, every time a fellow believer offends us. Let's count straws. What small offenses do you find difficult to pardon wholly?

From Sin to Salvation (from Sunday)

Exodus 20:2 The verse for today repeats at least ten times in the Pentateuch. Up to the present devout Jews remind themselves that God brought them out of Egypt and that he is their God. What a pleasant surprise to read this devotional in connection with yesterday's sermon! We journey to the Promised Land together. Use the comment space today to confess the reasons why we too often "go it alone" or make practical suggestions for how to share the journey with a brother or sister of faith.

Waiting with Open Arms (from Saturday)

Luke 15 All of Luke 15 will pop-up from the link above. Perhaps we need a reminder of just how Jesus emphasized this thought. God wants us desperately. Like a Shepherd searches with determination for a wandering sheep. Like a widow wants a coin back from her wedding dowry. Like a Father longs for a son. Share a story from your life where you frantically searched for something lost to you. How does it affect your thoughts about how God longs for you?

When Love Disappoints - (from Friday)

Genesis 37:23-24 Michael Card wrote these lines in a song: Why did it have to be a friend who chose to betray the Lord? And, why did he have to use a kiss? That's not what a kiss is for. Only a friend can betray a friend, a stranger has nothing to gain. And only a friend comes close enough, to ever cause so much pain. Lent reminds us that Jesus' passion enters our human experience most deeply. Wounded by friends and threatened by strangers he prayed, "Father forgive..." What obstacles make us hesitate to love unconditionally, give unselfishly, and care unflinchingly? Choose one of these pathways to explore in your comments: Unconditional love rewards selfishness in others. Unselfish giving keeps others from seeing the need to give. Unflinching care blinds others to the pain they cause.

Trust in the God of Life - (Thurs reading)

Jeremiah 17:7-8 I hope you relate to Nouwen's story about the trapeze artists and the "catcher" being the hero. Seems to me, the "flyer" has pretty heroic trust. Was trust in the Father, the difference between Judas and Peter? Is it an expression of trust when our kids confess to us? Do we hide our secrets because we distrust? Our devotional only quotes part of Jeremiah 17:7. Click the link above and read both 7 and 8. Then come back and comment about trusting God through the drought.

From Wednesday's Reading (March 11)

Matthew 20:26-27 Don't miss the tension Nouwen created in our reading last night. The theme of the devotional focused on our frustrated search for happiness or fulfillment. But, the Scripture offered at the beginning teaches us to make service the purpose of our lives. This tension remains. Jeremiah called our efforts to meet our own needs sin. (Jeremiah 2:13) The people reject God, the spring of living water in favor of self-made, broken cisterns. In the sight of the God of all creation we scramble about trying to make ourselves happy. Our loving Father, knowing exactly what we need and eager to give it, waits. In our hands we find nothing but sand. He holds the water we are truly thirsting after. Make a mental list right now. What are the things you chase after to become happy or fulfilled? Now, respond to this blog with a practical suggestion for slowing down and accepting gifts from God.

People in Little Boxes

Luke 6:37 As children we learn about the world in broad categories. Parents chuckle quietly when their daughter points at a horse and says "doggie!" She's close. It has fur and walks on four legs. Growing up brings the ability to differentiate. We develop numerous smaller categories for filing away concepts. It is an efficient if sometimes inaccurate way of interacting with the world. The inaccuracy sometimes brings trouble. We've all known a person who allows their friends only one mistake. Cross them once, blurt out something in the heat of the moment, or embarrass them in front of others just one time, and they write you off. They pull open the file drawer labeled "People In My Life" and pluck you out of the friends file to permanently stuff you into "Enemies". The more dynamic our filing system, the less we judge. If we work at updating and maintaining our files we can see that people change, that someone's mistake shouldn't define their character or our relationship to them. Sure, we should limit how much a selfish person should injure us. But didn't Jesus demonstrate an amazing vulnerability to difficult people? He opens his arms to each of us. Perhaps our greatest work this Lent season is dropping our guard and walking straight into those arms.

Hopeful Prayer of Petition

Psalm 95:2 The Southern culture breeds into our genetic makeup the necessity of the phrase, "thank you." Saying "thank you" communicates a certain degree of humility and some recognition of the value or worthiness of the giver. If a person seems truly thankful, they extend the generosity of others. "Mommy can I have this. Mommy can I have that. I really, really want this or that. Daddy, please, please, ple-e-e-e-ase." Those phrases wear us out. They decrease our willingness to give to our children. But when a child who comes to us in a quiet moment and thanks us for a gift given in the past with a story about its meaningfulness to them, we not only want to give more we want to give well. God gives better than we ever will. However, Jesus reminds us that the Heavenly Father gives as a good human father gives. (Matt. 7:7-11) In last night's devotional, Nouwen reminds us that asking isn't necessarily selfish. It can also be a thanksgiving, and an expression of thanks for our Giving God. Why be afraid to ask?

The Joy of My Salvation

Psalm 51:12 My apologies for the skipped days this week. We will work harder on this for the rest of Lent. You can keep us encouraged by commenting below. Last night a young man from our church called me. I asked, "How's it going?" "Just tryin' to live in the joy of my salvation today... that's what today's Lent devotional was about." Wow. Just a few days ago there was no joy in his salvation. Henri Nouwen didn't fix him. The Holy Spirit will do all the fixing. But the timing of it all astounded me. Is your salvation new every morning? Are you more focused on the economic crisis than God's active involvement in this world? Do we believe that the sparrows are really oblivious to the rise and fall of the DOW? Can we learn from the lilies of the field? If seeking first the Kingdom means learning to live under God's rule, then Lent is a marvelous exercise for us. Give us willing spirits, Father!

Monday, March 2

A Spiritual Paradox, Psalm 25:4 How do you explain the word "paradox" to your children. When something seems it shouldn't be true, but you suddenly realize its true, that's a paradox. The clearest example of this in my life experience comes from the outdoor activity rappelling: walking down a wall while using a rope to keep from falling. Intuitively we try to walk like we're climbing down a ladder. But when we do that our feet slip off the wall and we smack our face against it. If we trust the rope and lean far back, so that our body is almost perpendicular to the wall, our feet press against it and stay where we want them. Our spiritual walk is very similar. Feeling far from God, may actually mean the Holy Spirit is right with us, reminding us of our need for him. When we feel the weight of our sin, most likely we are nearest to confession and forgiveness. What did Nouwen say? "We were innocent before we started feeling guilty; we were in the light before we entered into the darkness; we were at home before we started to search for a home." Lent is about coming home again. Today's devotional offers an important thought to believers of all ages. What is our personal vocation? What has God designed me to do in this world. Just asking that question is important.