Needing Grace

Sometimes a sermon just isn’t big enough.  Yesterday I preached about forgiveness.  That’s what I saw as the overwhelming theme in Genesis 45 where Joseph tells his brothers that he’s NOT angry about them selling him into slavery years before.  They have trouble believing him, and years later he has to tell them again that they are forgiven, and he says, “You meant it for evil but God used it for good” (Genesis 50:20).  I also talked about the forgiveness equations we find in Jesus’ words in Matthew.  Jesus tells Peter we are to forgive 70x7 times, which is hyperbole for an infinite number (Matthew 18:21), and he also teaches the disciples about prayer, saying that we need to forgive others as we ourselves are forgiven (Matthew 6:12-15).

I found a cool blog about 70x7 with lots of cool stories about forgiveness.  Check it out! 490 words.  Be sure to read why they chose this name.
I also talked about how we need to accept forgiveness.  This can be difficult if we think something is too big or too small to be forgiven, and that’s the problem Joseph’s brothers were having.  But I think I didn’t talk enough about how hard it is to give forgiveness sometimes.  And how with both sides of the equation—accepting and giving forgiveness—the whole thing starts with prayer.

And I wish I had been able to share this insight I found in one of the online commentaries, because it was an emotional day for some.  I hope for good reasons, feeling God's blessings, but even those blessings can be hard when they are stretching and growing us, or when we are feeling overwhelmed with our need and/or by God's grace.

“It is okay for us to be emotional about those moments in life when our situation overwhelms us. Joseph had been living with memories of violence done to him, mixed with his own feelings of sadness, anger, and homesickness. Joseph did not seek revenge, even though his authority would have allowed him to do so. He dreamed of forgiveness and reconciliation, and made it happen. Picture the worst that anyone has ever done to you. Now imagine extending forgiveness by telling that person that God was in the details, working through them to use you for his glory. How much more freeing would that be than simply holding their actions against them forever? That would be beyond forgiveness. That would be grace.”[1]

Grace.  It’s huge because it’s what the Gospel is all about.  Jesus didn’t come to rub our sin in, but to rub it out (John 3:17).  Easy to say, but not always so easy in the execution.  So I’m praying today for all those who are finding grace to be difficult, either in the giving or the accepting.  And I’m reminded once again how much this song is true.

May God bless your seeking him today and every day with the bountiful beauty of grace freely given and received.

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[1] From Ministry Matters Sermon Starters http://www.ministrymatters.com/all/entry/1445/sermon-starter-dreams-come-true

 

A Time for Wrestling and A Time for Peace

Jacob Wrestling with the Angel by Leon Bonnat

The sermon last Sunday was based on the story of Jacob wrestling with God in Genesis 32.  Jacob refuses to let go until he gets a blessing.  He wrestles for a blessing.  Which stands in stark contrast to the first sentence of the JesusCalling reading for today:  “Sit quietly in My Presence while I bless you.”  In both cases the idea is that we receive from God.  And yet I think I often miss the blessing because I am too busy giving—giving God my list of requests, my list of issues.  Maybe that’s what’s happening in this story:

A journalist was assigned to the Jerusalem bureau of his newspaper. He gets an apartment overlooking the Wailing Wall. After several weeks he realizes that whenever he looks at the wall he sees an old Jewish man praying vigorously.

The journalist wondered whether there was a publishable story here. He goes down to the wall, introduces himself and says: "You come every day to the wall. What are you praying for?"

The old man replies: "What am I praying for? In the morning I pray for world peace, then I pray for the brotherhood of man. I go home, have a glass of tea, and I come back to the wall to pray for the eradication of illness and disease from the earth."

The journalist is taken by the old man's sincerity and persistence. "You mean you have been coming to the wall to pray every day for these things?"

The old man nods.

"How long have you been coming to the wall to pray for these things?"

The old man becomes reflective and then replies: "How long? Maybe twenty, twenty-five years."

The amazed journalist finally asks: "How does it feel to come and pray every day for over 20 years for these things?"

"How does it feel?" the old man replies. "It feels like I'm talking to a wall."[1]

Sometimes it does feel like that, but we have to keep on asking anyway.  Jesus encourages us to keep on asking in his story about the persistent widow. (Luke 18)  And I admire the diligence of the man in the story above.  20 years is a long time.

I just wonder if sometimes those lists of requests get in the way.  The chorus of this song has been running in my head for hours https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vzMyIzkyD4 .  “Jesus I don’t want anything coming between us.”   I wonder how much what comes between me and Jesus is myself…me.

I think there is a time for both—a time for wrestling, and a time for being still. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)  How do we know what time it is?  I guess we have to trust the Holy Spirit to guide us on that one.  And remember that underlying all of time is the fact that it all comes from God.  Which is why being still for me is kind of like what happened with Job at the end of all his questioning—he was reminded that God is God and Job is not. (Job 42)

May there always be time to be still and know that he is God.

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[1] From http://www.v1fun.com/pages/clean_jokes.htm (accessed August 2, 2014)

 

Ishmael and Prayer

“And the angel also said, “You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael (which means ‘God hears’), for the Lord has heard your cry of distress.” (Genesis 16:11)

“Do not be afraid! God has heard the boy crying…” (Genesis 21:17)

There are many ways to dig into the story of Hagar and Ishmael, but the part that leapt out at me this week is that Ishmael’s name means God hears.  We do see that in action in this story.  God takes care of Hagar out in the desert twice.  God hears.  And so we pray.

The idea that God hears isn’t restricted to just this story.  Throughout the Bible, we see God responding, and the psalms echo the expectation of a response.

1.       God sends Moses to rescue Israel from slavery in Egypt and says, “I have heard their cries.” (Ex. 3, 6)

2.       Throughout their wandering in the desert, God hears the Israelites’ complaints and responds.

3.       In the book of Samuel we read about Hannah who cried out to God and God heard her cries and gave her a son. (1 Sam. 1)

4.       King Hezekiah trusts that God has heard the words of the King of Assyria who mocked God, and asks God to rescue them.  God heard and they were saved.  (2 Kings 19-20)

5.       Many of the psalms include the words “God hears”

a.       “God keeps an eye on his friends, his ears pick up every moan and groan.” (Psalm 34:15)  

b.      “I love the Lord for he heard my voice.” (Psalm 116:1)

6.       John’s first letter ends with the assurance that God hears us. (1 John 5:14)

Prayer isn’t just a crisis intervention request line, though.  Jesus taught us to pray “give us this day our daily bread,” words that indicate a regular ongoing pattern of prayer.  There are many ways to pray, an infinite number, actually!  Here are some ideas for prayer in the midst of the mundane.  The words of the prayer could be as simple as, “God, bless this person/these people today.”

1.       Driving

a.       If you are on a two-lane road, pray for the people in the cars you pass, and in the car in front of or behind you. 

b.      On a freeway, pray for the people in cars around you, or say a blanket prayer for all those on the road with you.

c.       Pray for the people in the houses and/or businesses you pass.

d.      Ask God to keep you safe and to keep you from causing any other driver to be unsafe.

2.       Shopping

a.       Pray for the people you pass in the store aisles.

b.      Pray for the people waiting in line with you.

c.       Pray for the people who are helping you (cashiers, stockers, etc.)

3.       Eating

a.       Pray for the person serving you.

b.      Pray for the people making the food.

c.       Pray for the people at the tables around you.

4.       Computing

a.       Pray for the people you are reading about on social media sites.

b.      Pray for the people to whom you are sending email.

The possibilities are endless.  How do you pray throughout your day?  Please share your ideas!

Did God Really Say…

I started a new read-through of the Bible this week and today I’m in Genesis 3.  Sometimes I read on a schedule, but this time I’m reading until something stops me, and I didn’t get very far today before I got stopped by Satan’s memorable words, “Did God really say…”  That’s where the trouble got started.  Questioning God.  The Life Application Study Bible notes for this passage suggest that what Satan is prompting Eve to doubt is God’s goodness.  A few months ago I preached about God’s goodness.  The focus text was from Exodus 33-34 in which Moses makes a bold request of God:  “Show me your glory.” (Ex. 33:14)  God does what Moses asks, and what I found remarkable is that what God shows when he shows Moses his glory is his goodness.  God said, “I will cause my goodness to pass in front of you.”  God’s goodness is the essence of his glory.  It’s why we say God is good all the time.  And so it’s no wonder that God’s goodness would be a great thing for Satan to encourage us to doubt.  And how true it is that in the midst of trouble we do indeed doubt God’s goodness.  I used to frequently say about whether God would answer my prayers, “I know he can fix this, I just don’t know if he will.”

Doubt happens just as surely as trouble happens.  Pretending it doesn’t happen only makes it worse.  The problem is not the doubt.  The problem is how we respond to it.  Doubt is a problem only if we let ourselves hang out in it and don’t ask God to help us resolve it.  God can do far more than we can ask or imagine, but I think we don’t always give him the chance.  We get comfortable with our doubts.  And trusting can mean walking onto some shaky ground, especially when we get outside the safety of empirical data and reason.

We see another problem with our response to doubt in Eve’s response to the serpent.  She continued the conversation with the wrong person.  She didn’t ask God, she listened only to the serpent.  We tend to do the same thing.  We talk to the wrong people, and we get all kinds of answers to our questions.  Talking about things is good, but somewhere in the process we need to talk to God.  We need to pray and ask God to show us the answers we seek.  And we need to read what the Bible has to say.  Sometimes easier said than done, but God promises us that if we seek with all our hearts we will find him (Jeremiah 29:13).

Life is full of struggles.  In the face of great trouble, God’s goodness can seem inadequate.  In the midst of controversy and dissention and setbacks, God’s goodness can seem distant.  In the realization of our own deficiencies, God’s goodness might seem insufficient.

Paul gives us reassurance:  “But my God will supply all your needs according to his glorious riches in Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 4:19)

Did God really say he would?  Yes, he did.  And to prove he meant it, he sent us Jesus.

 

 

New Beginnings

My pastor friend has a 12-day prayer group in Facebook that I’m following.  Today she greeted us with this post:  Happy 2014! Genesis 2:3 "and God rested from all the creating he had done." How do we allow for rest?

This one struck a chord with me today because I struggle with this.  I have a hard time staying off the merry-go-round of second guessing myself--am I doing enough, am I studying enough, am I praying enough, am I meeting expectations enough, is my house clean enough.  Of course the answer is always no and it probably always will be no.  There’s always more that can be done.  My church treasurer told me when we were filling out the Board of Pensions enrollment document, "Full time nothing.  You're 24/7."   True in so many ways, because I don't think I ever stop thinking about the next sermon, the next whatever, or praying about the people in the church.

So how do I allow for rest?  Maybe it’s those five to ten minutes at the end of the day when I play the silly word game on my Kindle until I get sleepy. At the core, though, I think rest is trust.  What C.S. Lewis says is true:  "Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had yet been done."[1]   And every day is a new beginning and a new opportunity to trust God to guide me through the day, and to trust that whatever happens in this day is just what needs to happen, whether it fit my plan or anyone else's plan or not. 

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[1] C.S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer