I have been spending the last view days in Arizona; specifically in the Sedona, Flagstaff, and Grand Canyon areas. As we have traveled through these areas, I wonder again, how can anyone look at these beautiful scenes that we see in nature and not believe there is a creator?
While we were in Sedona we visited the Chapel of the Holy Cross. It is a Roman Catholic Chapel built in the Red Rocks. It is pictured to the right. The chapel overlooks one of the most magnificent views I have ever seen. As a pastor, I jokingly told my wife that If I pastored the Chapel of the Holy Cross I would not need to ever preach, I would just say, "Everyone look outside....Amen!"
Joking aside, nature preaches to the presence of a loving and holy God. I am more and more convinced of this as I travel the scenic routes of Arizona.
Mother Teresa tells a story in her book The Path of Love, one of which tells of a man she met while working in Australia. He was a poor and destitute man, but he did have a home. This home was small and extremely dirty, and it was easy to tell for her that he had not cleaned in years. She offered to clean his house for him, and he reluctantly let her. As she was cleaning she came across an old lamp covered with dirt and dust. As she cleaned it she found that it was beautiful underneath the grime. She cleaned the hidden treasure and asked the man, “why don’t you light this lamp?” He replied, “no one ever comes over to see me, there is no need to light the lamp.” Mother Teresa in her compassion asked, “if the sisters come over to see you would you light your lamp?” With joy he replied “yes”. The sister faithfully took hold of this challenge stopping by every night to see the lonely man. A few months later Mother Teresa got a message from one of those nuns, originating from this man. “Tell her thank you and that the light she lit in my life continues to shine today”. Mother Teresa finished her story by saying, “I thought it was a small thing, but we unfortunately neglect the small things in life too often” I wonder in my own life how many opportunities I had to pay attention to the “small stuff” and instead continued on. Whether it be spending that few minutes to talk with my neighbor rather than hurrying inside so I wouldn’t have to strike up a conversation, or inviting a friend from work over for dinner. When hearing of someone in need, what if I would have taken the time to consider how I could help, and acted on it? Could I have stopped and encouraged a co-worker that is having a bad day? I am convinced that God gives us opportunities every day to in small ways make a big impact on the lives of other people. These opportunities are not hidden from us, we choose to not see them. We convince ourselves we are too busy, or that it is really not needed. When what we should see is that these opportunities might seem small, but they have a huge influence on the lives of other people. I am challenging myself this month to allow God to show me the small things within my days that are opportunities to help someone’s “light shine”. Will you take up this challenge?
I was sitting in a coffee house just a few weeks ago, when a man beside me spoke up and began a conversation. He began talking about the state of affairs within the world, and how dismal it looked. He mentioned natural disasters, deaths, and other things that troubled his heart and he finished his statements by saying, “it is almost as if God is trying to tell us something”. Immediately I asked myself this question, “Is this the way people see God?” This man seemed to have seen these natural disasters and mass deaths as the work of God, punishing us, hurting us, destroying homes, businesses, and lives. Is this the picture of God that we want the world to hold to? Rather than grace they see vengeance, rather than love they see destruction. After the conversation was over I left with a renewed focus on the importance of the church and its role in showing others the true character of God; His amazing grace, his abundant love, and his patient mercy. I learned that day that there are many in this world that see God in this manner. Yet I was more shocked when talking to other Christians about this story to find that they agreed with this understanding of God as the source of all of this pain and suffering, as some sort of punishment or lesson. What do you believe? Come and eaves drop with me on another conversation. One that happened many years ago between God and the people of Israel. Through the prophet Jeremiah, God told the nation of Israel that he had good plans for them, “plans to prosper them and not to harm them…plans to bring them a hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11) This conversation allows us to peek into God’s nature and his purposes for us. God is not the author of pain and suffering, we are. God created the human race without pain, suffering, and destruction, yet we brought these things into this world by bringing the curse of sin into the world. In the garden of Eden, with a fatal bite, we told God we didn’t need him, and we got partially what we asked for. We sinned, and were disobedient, and because of that, we have these horrible consequences that we so wrongly try to attribute to God. God did not create this pain, we did. Yes, there are times when he allows for us to sleep in the bed that we made, and if he does act it is to save us from ourselves. All of us struggle with understanding a good God in this pain filled world, but keep this in mind. God is not the author of pain and suffering, but he does deliver us from it. What picture of God are we showing the world? Are helping feed their misunderstandings of God as a mean, hurtful deity? Or are we helping them see that he is the cure to the disease; the answer to the equation; the shelter in the storm?
I read of an interesting study done about buildings built within large cities. There was a group interested in the areas of these cities where the building seem to be uncared for. This group tested a theory and found some interesting results. They found that if a building had just one window out of it, it would become rundown much quicker than a building that didn’t. Just one window. Why is that? The reason is that the one broken window created a sense in the building’s tenants that their landlord didn’t care about his property, so they lost respect for their home. They began leaving trash in the halls, not reporting needed repairs, and even breaking other things within the building. Also, vandals in the neighborhood were more liable to break other windows and paint graffiti because they saw the broken window. A little thing like a broken window turned into a big thing as far as the upkeep of the building. I believe this applies to our spiritual life as well. If we knowingly allow for one area of our life to be run by what we know is sin, its affects don’t just stay put, but they spread. We trick ourselves into thinking, “well it is just a little thing that I struggle with”, when the little things always lead to something bigger. If the landlord would have just fixed the one window, the affects would have been so small. If we confess our sins when we commit them, the affects in our life will be small. If you have hurt someone, tell them your sorry. If you have been holding a grudge, apologize to God and to the person. If you have struggled with a secret sin, confess it to God, and to a brother for accountability. We should not allow for the “window” to stay broken for long, in danger of letting the whole building decay. God is not searching for perfect people, but he does desire for us to admit when we are wrong. Sin that stays unconfessed, affects all of our life. Trust that God will forgive you. Not only that, but He will give you the strength to overcome what seems impossible to overcome.
Have you heard that Microsoft is going to set up a chain of stores across America to rival the Apple stores. A representative of Microsoft said that the stores will be very similar to the Apple Stores besides the fact that when you ask a store worker for help they freeze. :)
I saw this article and thought it was interesting. RowanWilliams, the Archbishop of Cantebury, the leader of the Anglican Church (which many of you know that I am an Anglican trapped in a Wesleyan body) called his church to less activities and more prayer and contemplation. Read the article here. The point of the article is that he believes that too many churches are busy with activities and not busy with prayer and connection with God. Ouch. I immediately think of the American church. We are basically Chrisitan Activity organizations. We Christians live through our churches, their schedules, sports, clubs, services, organizations, schools, etc. How many times have we stopped to ask what we are doing to listen to God and his voice? Good word Rowan.
Well, it feels like Spring today in Indiana. I love when the weather begins to break. It reminds me that there was a reason for Winter. I have a friend that lives in Phoenix and he says they have 2 seasons, Heaven and Hell. Although I envy him through the Winter time, it is the beauty of Spring that I get to throw it back in his face. You see, if you don't go through Winter, you don't appreciate Spring. Spring reminds us that we need Winter.
That is the same in life. We have "wintertimes" where things seem bleek and endless, but it is in those times that we begin to be prepared for the "springtimes". It is because of those times that we are able to really appreciate the "springtimes". If you are walking through winter, don't give up, spring is coming. It is promised.
In honor of the greatest band of all time and the release of their new album, I will be posting some memories of U2 past. Here is one of my favorites from Rattle and Hum. Enjoy!
Brian McLaren on Evangelicals, Emergents, and Catholics
This is a pretty cool interview talking about what seems to be happening to bring the family of God together, regardless of tradition. Pretty Awesome!!!
At the beginning of Saint Paul’s letter to his beloved friend and colleague Titus, Paul greets Titus this way, “To Titus, my true son in our common faith.” This reminds me of one of the amazing characteristics of the Church of Jesus Christ; we are so diverse, yet we all have something in common. As I reflect on the universal church I am lead to visions of Christians of all types of people, cultures, nations, and languages, all unique in their own way, yet all a part of one body that transcends boundaries, oceans, and governments. You see, the church is a beautifully diverse group, reaching from one end of the globe to the next. From Catholics to Pentecostals, from Wesleyans to Baptists, we all have our differences, yet we all have something in common. Even within each of our local churches there are differences. In fact, outwardly one might wonder what we as a body of people have in common; being made up of so many different people, with different vocations, and different hobbies. Yet there is something in common that draws us together. Outwardly it would seem that Paul and Titus, two close friends and fellow workers, had little in common. Paul was Jewish, growing up within strict Jewish customs, and a Roman citizen. Although we don’t know too much about Titus, we do know that he was a gentile, and that he was Greek. What would a Jewish Roman Citizen have to do with a gentile Greek? An odd traveling pair, wouldn’t you say. Not if you look at the common thread that held them together. This thread is what Paul mentions in his greeting, Faith. A faith that celebrated their differences while holding them together around what was important, Jesus Christ. This is our common thread, our faith in Jesus Christ. It is what brings us together to worship; what drives us to care for each other, and what should lead us to care for and share life with those who don’t have this faith yet. In reality, it is the common thread of all humanity, although some have not found it yet, or don’t accept it. It is the common thread of all creation, that “God so loved the world, He sent his son…”. Because we are people of habit and comfort we sometimes get too caught up in the contrast of styles, personalities, and people, and don’t recognize the common thread that holds us together, and is the very reason we are here. As we celebrate and sometimes struggle with diversity, never forget that there is one common story to all of history; one common thread, God’s redeeming love, and one common purpose, to spread it to all we know.
The Picture ("needle and thread") was used with permission from the artist, Kathy Keler.
