But the love of our Lord God remains faithful forever and ever and ever to those who seek God. The Lord God's steadfast, righteous mercy holds good for the children's children of those who keep God's covenanting bond, who keep on remembering God's Words by doing them.
- Psalm 103.17-18
Advent is a time to hear to herald a message of good news for the world - a message of hope, joy, peace, and LOVE. During the Advent and Christmas season, we remember and experience afresh the love of God, come in human flesh in the person of King Jesus the Messiah.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness
and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace. (Luke 1.79)
God is the object of love. God is love and love comes from God. True love is defined in God’s terms. Humans do not set the standards. Godly love is unconditional, self-sacrificing, active, and thoughtful. And this God-love is most clearly revealed in Jesus the Messiah - in his life, death, resurrection, and exultation.
“In this the love of God was made known among us, that God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4.9-11).
In Jesus, God shows his extravagant love by gathering his rebellious people, by healing the sick and unclean, by accepting the unaccepted, by entering into fellowship with sinners. And God calls us to do the same!
As we dwell in the Holy Spirit of Christ, we are God’s healers. As we live into Jesus’ story, we increasingly love as Christ loves. We follow Jesus in loving God with our whole person. Love for God is the great and basic demand made by Jesus. Jesus calls us to love God first, and our neighbor second. And the demand here is that we submit to Christ’s lordship, basing our life on God, clinging to God with bold faith, and walking in the strength of God’s Spirit. This is our joy!
With this in mind, we return again to our Advent them of darkness and light. As we walk in the Light of God's love, we must always be prepared to face the darkness within us and outside of us. As we follow Jesus, we must be prepared to suffer for the sake of the gospel, to make huge sacrifices in our lives, and even to face persecution.
If we choose to follow Jesus and to love like him, it will cost us our lives (possibly unto death, as it has been for many Christian martyrs down through the ages).
This is not to say we should go looking for trouble. No. It is to say that when we follow Christ faithfully, persecution will come and find us! Spiritual warfare is an assumed fact in the life of the New Testament church, and it should be for us as well. If, that is, we are living a Spirit-filled life. Those with ears, let them hear what the Spirit is saying...
December 17, 2011
Advent Peace: Part II
O yes, shun evil and do what is good; seek shalom - pursue the fullness of peace!
Present with those who do what is just are the watchful eyes of Yahweh, God's ears attend to their cries.
Remembrance of those who do what is unjust: the face of the Lord God is turned to wipe it off from the face of the earth!
- Psalm 34.14-16
Throughout human history the mechanisms of war and human violence have been put forward as a means to an end. And in modern times, media outlets send out daily reminders of humanity’s willingness to fight and kill. We’re told that we must be willing to go to war if we want to see peace. It’s said that armed conflict is inevitable if we want to see true development work happen around the world.
Really? Is it true that we must have military solutions to the problems we face in the world?
The difficulty with this view is that war and violence often play a false role in history. They parade as the true way to liberate people from oppression and to bring a sense of security. But the hard truth to which the history of civilization attests is that violence begets the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, violence multiplies evil.
In the words of Martin Luther King Jr., “hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction.”
In contrast, God’s vision for peace centers on the Way of Jesus, which is marked by humility, compassion, mercy, self-sacrifice, non-violence, and peace.
God is love. And Jesus, God's only begotten Son, is the Prince of Peace. Peace (wholeness, well being, flourishing, the way of non-violence) is the divine gift offered to all people. For those who embrace God's peace, God promises to bless and keep them. God covenants to put wreaths of long-range promises and gentle love around the necks of his righteous people. No matter what our present circumstances, God always vindicates those who love and obey him. God is the protector of the poor, the defender of the defenseless, and the one who justifies those who are faithful to him.
But there will be no mercy for those who choose the way of exploitation, rebellion, and injustice. The mercy that ungodly people neglected to show others will not be shown to them. "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
(Romans 1.18).
God is just. Speaking of the Messiah, the prophet Isaiah says, "He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips she shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins" (Isaiah 11.3-5).
Thankfully, God is the Just Judge, who has dealt with sin in the body of Jesus and has won the victory over the grave through Jesus resurrection from the dead. Thus, God calls his people to follow the way of love, mercy, and peace.
But the implementation of God's love and peace involves much more than the end of armed conflict. God’s shalom centers on the redemptive acts of Jesus Christ and the redeeming work of the Holy Spirit. Shalom is the total restoration of life to what God intended it to be. Thus, true peace involves the human acts of making amends, peacemaking, restoration, and living in harmony. Shalom is a movement toward fullness and completeness and encapsulates a vision of wholeness for the individual, within societal relations, and for the whole of creation.
Consider the prophet Isaiah's words about the renewal of the earth...
God shall judge between the nations,
and shall decide disputes for many peoples;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore. (Isaiah 2.4)
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.
They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11.6-9)
Because our Creator God is the worker of shalom, we, his image bearing people, have peacemaking as our holy obligation. As those who have been recreated into the image and likeness of Jesus, it is our responsibility to “make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy” (Heb 12.14). Jesus says the peacemakers are blessed and they shall be called children of God (Matt 5.9). And Peace is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5.22).
In the power of the Holy Spirit, God summons all believers to follow Jesus as we choose love over power, the cross over control, peace over revolt. The vocation of every Christian is to be a peacemaker.
In the words of Henri Nouwen, “Nobody can be a Christian without being a peacemaker...What we are called to is a life of peacemaking in which all that we do, say, think, or dream is part of our concern to bring peace to our world. Just as Jesus’ command to love one another cannot be seen as a part-time obligation, but requires our total investment and dedication, so too Jesus’ call to peacemaking is unconditional, unlimited, and uncompromising” (Peacework, 16-17).
Present with those who do what is just are the watchful eyes of Yahweh, God's ears attend to their cries.
Remembrance of those who do what is unjust: the face of the Lord God is turned to wipe it off from the face of the earth!
- Psalm 34.14-16
Throughout human history the mechanisms of war and human violence have been put forward as a means to an end. And in modern times, media outlets send out daily reminders of humanity’s willingness to fight and kill. We’re told that we must be willing to go to war if we want to see peace. It’s said that armed conflict is inevitable if we want to see true development work happen around the world.
Really? Is it true that we must have military solutions to the problems we face in the world?
The difficulty with this view is that war and violence often play a false role in history. They parade as the true way to liberate people from oppression and to bring a sense of security. But the hard truth to which the history of civilization attests is that violence begets the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, violence multiplies evil.
In the words of Martin Luther King Jr., “hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction.”
In contrast, God’s vision for peace centers on the Way of Jesus, which is marked by humility, compassion, mercy, self-sacrifice, non-violence, and peace.
God is love. And Jesus, God's only begotten Son, is the Prince of Peace. Peace (wholeness, well being, flourishing, the way of non-violence) is the divine gift offered to all people. For those who embrace God's peace, God promises to bless and keep them. God covenants to put wreaths of long-range promises and gentle love around the necks of his righteous people. No matter what our present circumstances, God always vindicates those who love and obey him. God is the protector of the poor, the defender of the defenseless, and the one who justifies those who are faithful to him.
But there will be no mercy for those who choose the way of exploitation, rebellion, and injustice. The mercy that ungodly people neglected to show others will not be shown to them. "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
(Romans 1.18).
God is just. Speaking of the Messiah, the prophet Isaiah says, "He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips she shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins" (Isaiah 11.3-5).
Thankfully, God is the Just Judge, who has dealt with sin in the body of Jesus and has won the victory over the grave through Jesus resurrection from the dead. Thus, God calls his people to follow the way of love, mercy, and peace.
But the implementation of God's love and peace involves much more than the end of armed conflict. God’s shalom centers on the redemptive acts of Jesus Christ and the redeeming work of the Holy Spirit. Shalom is the total restoration of life to what God intended it to be. Thus, true peace involves the human acts of making amends, peacemaking, restoration, and living in harmony. Shalom is a movement toward fullness and completeness and encapsulates a vision of wholeness for the individual, within societal relations, and for the whole of creation.
Consider the prophet Isaiah's words about the renewal of the earth...
God shall judge between the nations,
and shall decide disputes for many peoples;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore. (Isaiah 2.4)
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.
They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11.6-9)
Because our Creator God is the worker of shalom, we, his image bearing people, have peacemaking as our holy obligation. As those who have been recreated into the image and likeness of Jesus, it is our responsibility to “make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy” (Heb 12.14). Jesus says the peacemakers are blessed and they shall be called children of God (Matt 5.9). And Peace is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5.22).
In the power of the Holy Spirit, God summons all believers to follow Jesus as we choose love over power, the cross over control, peace over revolt. The vocation of every Christian is to be a peacemaker.
In the words of Henri Nouwen, “Nobody can be a Christian without being a peacemaker...What we are called to is a life of peacemaking in which all that we do, say, think, or dream is part of our concern to bring peace to our world. Just as Jesus’ command to love one another cannot be seen as a part-time obligation, but requires our total investment and dedication, so too Jesus’ call to peacemaking is unconditional, unlimited, and uncompromising” (Peacework, 16-17).
December 12, 2011
Advent Peace: Part I
The Light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overpower it.
- John 1.5
Advent is a dark time. As we journey through it, we have the opportunity to face the darkness within us and outside of us. And we face it in hope. In hope of the glory of God, now revealed in the face of Jesus - the Light of the world. We face the darkness of our present experiences in the light of God's promise of a New Day, a day of justice and peace.
And yet...
The reality is, we live in an age of violence and war. We cannot hide from this reality. We live in a world where powerful policy and monetary relationships between legislators, national armed forces, and the industrial sector form a sort-of 'iron triangle' that forcefully oppresses and enslaves people around the world. This "military-industrial complex" (MIC) is an all pervasive reality in modern western civilization. The MIC has been defined as "an informal and changing coalition of groups with vested psychological, moral, and material interests in the continuous development and maintenance of high levels of weaponry, in preservation of colonial markets and in military-strategic conceptions of internal affairs" (Carroll W. Pursell, The military-industrial complex, Harper & Row Publishers, New York, 1972).
Please note, when I speak of the MIC, I am not simply throwing stones at the glass house of America. The highly profitable business of war-waging has been conducted with impunity by Canadian Liberal and Conservative governments for decades. About three-quarters of Canada’s military exports flow to the U.S. to help arm the iron fist of the American military.
Why do I say all of this? Because the net result of our cultures of violence result in untold devastation within the human and natural world.
Take, for example, the war in Iraq (which has, for a long time now, been conveniently pushed out of the imagination of many people in the western world!). There have been two scientifically rigorous cluster surveys conducted since the US-led invasion in March 2003. "The first, published in the prestigious British medical journal The Lancet, estimated that 100,000 excess Iraqi deaths had resulted from the invasion as of September 2004. The second survey, also published in The Lancet, updated that estimate through July 2006. Due to an escalating mortality rate, the researchers estimated that over 650,000 Iraqis had died who would not have died had the death rate remained at pre-invasion levels. Roughly 601,000 of those excess deaths were due to violence...As of January 2008, a poll from the British polling firm Opinion Research Business contributed to our understanding of the Iraqi death toll, confirming the likelihood that over a million have died with an estimate of 1.2 million deaths." (http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/deathcount/explanation)
Almost 9 years of war in Iraq; an estimated $1.2 trillion of American money spent on the war machine; billions of dollars in profits because of Canadian military exports; untold damage done to the natural environment; and an estimated one million Iraqi people (mostly civilians!) are dead. Approximately one million Iraqi human beings are dead because of an unjust war. This death toll most likely eclipses the number of deaths in the Rwandan genocide.
Yet, our so-called North American mainstream media has not cover the story for years. No connections are made in the mainstream media. We hear no substantive discussion or debate about this on the evening news in Canada or the US. Little to no public discourse. This is entirely shameful. Devilish. From the pit of hell. And we are all to blame! That's right, it's the responsibility of the citizenry to gather, discuss, apply pressure on our leaders. It is our responsibility to act and demand action.
Advent.
And so, we continue to journey through the season of Advent. A dark time. Literally, the darkest time of the year. And only when we take the time and effort to face the darkness within us and outside of us, are we graced with a Godly perspective on how the Light shines in the darkness, bringing hope and peace to the world.
Shalom. Peace.
God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in the Messiah, and through him to reconcile everything to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross - whether things on earth or things in heaven. Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds because of your evil actions. But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through his death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before him - if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard.
- Colossians 1.19-23
God’s purposes for the world’s redemption are fulfilled in the Messiah Jesus. By his coming in the flesh and the blood he shed on the cross, all of creation has been reconciled to God. Peace has been established in creation.
In Christ, God offers shalom to a world gone mad.
Creation is God and Christ’s good work. Nothing can change that. Not even the evils and idolatry of the military-industrial complex. The world, though spoiled by sin, still belongs to God. God has a good plan for his world and it will be accomplished. Christ’s redemption is the way the Lord of the cosmos has come to claim his rightful possession and to establish peace in it.
When we encounter the story of the Story of Jesus, we discover that in a world where humans try to establish peace by making war, God sends his Son to live a peaceable life, to die by the violence of the cross and under the weight of sin, and to rise in newness of life.
God has triumphed over the power of evil and reconciled his sin-spoiled creation through the violence of the cross. This is the deep paradox of the Christian faith.
Through the blood of Jesus’ cross, God exhausts the force of evil, God shares the suffering of humanity, God gives us life, and God establishes peace in the world.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you,” says Jesus (John 14.27). Peace is the divine gift offered to all people.
That's enough for now. More later...
- John 1.5
Advent is a dark time. As we journey through it, we have the opportunity to face the darkness within us and outside of us. And we face it in hope. In hope of the glory of God, now revealed in the face of Jesus - the Light of the world. We face the darkness of our present experiences in the light of God's promise of a New Day, a day of justice and peace.
And yet...
The reality is, we live in an age of violence and war. We cannot hide from this reality. We live in a world where powerful policy and monetary relationships between legislators, national armed forces, and the industrial sector form a sort-of 'iron triangle' that forcefully oppresses and enslaves people around the world. This "military-industrial complex" (MIC) is an all pervasive reality in modern western civilization. The MIC has been defined as "an informal and changing coalition of groups with vested psychological, moral, and material interests in the continuous development and maintenance of high levels of weaponry, in preservation of colonial markets and in military-strategic conceptions of internal affairs" (Carroll W. Pursell, The military-industrial complex, Harper & Row Publishers, New York, 1972).
Please note, when I speak of the MIC, I am not simply throwing stones at the glass house of America. The highly profitable business of war-waging has been conducted with impunity by Canadian Liberal and Conservative governments for decades. About three-quarters of Canada’s military exports flow to the U.S. to help arm the iron fist of the American military.
Why do I say all of this? Because the net result of our cultures of violence result in untold devastation within the human and natural world.
Take, for example, the war in Iraq (which has, for a long time now, been conveniently pushed out of the imagination of many people in the western world!). There have been two scientifically rigorous cluster surveys conducted since the US-led invasion in March 2003. "The first, published in the prestigious British medical journal The Lancet, estimated that 100,000 excess Iraqi deaths had resulted from the invasion as of September 2004. The second survey, also published in The Lancet, updated that estimate through July 2006. Due to an escalating mortality rate, the researchers estimated that over 650,000 Iraqis had died who would not have died had the death rate remained at pre-invasion levels. Roughly 601,000 of those excess deaths were due to violence...As of January 2008, a poll from the British polling firm Opinion Research Business contributed to our understanding of the Iraqi death toll, confirming the likelihood that over a million have died with an estimate of 1.2 million deaths." (http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/deathcount/explanation)
Almost 9 years of war in Iraq; an estimated $1.2 trillion of American money spent on the war machine; billions of dollars in profits because of Canadian military exports; untold damage done to the natural environment; and an estimated one million Iraqi people (mostly civilians!) are dead. Approximately one million Iraqi human beings are dead because of an unjust war. This death toll most likely eclipses the number of deaths in the Rwandan genocide.
Yet, our so-called North American mainstream media has not cover the story for years. No connections are made in the mainstream media. We hear no substantive discussion or debate about this on the evening news in Canada or the US. Little to no public discourse. This is entirely shameful. Devilish. From the pit of hell. And we are all to blame! That's right, it's the responsibility of the citizenry to gather, discuss, apply pressure on our leaders. It is our responsibility to act and demand action.
Advent.
And so, we continue to journey through the season of Advent. A dark time. Literally, the darkest time of the year. And only when we take the time and effort to face the darkness within us and outside of us, are we graced with a Godly perspective on how the Light shines in the darkness, bringing hope and peace to the world.
Shalom. Peace.
God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in the Messiah, and through him to reconcile everything to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross - whether things on earth or things in heaven. Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds because of your evil actions. But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through his death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before him - if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard.
- Colossians 1.19-23
God’s purposes for the world’s redemption are fulfilled in the Messiah Jesus. By his coming in the flesh and the blood he shed on the cross, all of creation has been reconciled to God. Peace has been established in creation.
In Christ, God offers shalom to a world gone mad.
Creation is God and Christ’s good work. Nothing can change that. Not even the evils and idolatry of the military-industrial complex. The world, though spoiled by sin, still belongs to God. God has a good plan for his world and it will be accomplished. Christ’s redemption is the way the Lord of the cosmos has come to claim his rightful possession and to establish peace in it.
When we encounter the story of the Story of Jesus, we discover that in a world where humans try to establish peace by making war, God sends his Son to live a peaceable life, to die by the violence of the cross and under the weight of sin, and to rise in newness of life.
God has triumphed over the power of evil and reconciled his sin-spoiled creation through the violence of the cross. This is the deep paradox of the Christian faith.
Through the blood of Jesus’ cross, God exhausts the force of evil, God shares the suffering of humanity, God gives us life, and God establishes peace in the world.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you,” says Jesus (John 14.27). Peace is the divine gift offered to all people.
That's enough for now. More later...
December 5, 2011
Advent 2: Joy
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all people. The Lord is near.
- Philippians 4.4-5
We live in troubled times. We hear stories in the news about extreme poverty, the aids crisis, and the world’s ecological crisis. We live in a world of growing isolation, frantic activity, desperate violence, and terrible injustice. And yet, we often (and paradoxically) find ourselves longing for intimacy and community, and longing to experience a sense of hope and joy. This type of tension-filled longing is what the season of Advent is all about.
In Advent, God does NOT call us to bury our heads in the sand and pretend that the world is a nice old place. No. This is a time to face the darkness and to pray that God will shine forth the Light of his loving grace. Standing firm, having shod our feet with the readiness of the gospel of peace, we face the darkness and sin within us and outside of us. We embrace our new identity in Christ: "now you are light in the Lord" (Ephesians 5.8). And so, we walk as children of Light, taking no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead exposing them (Ephesians 5.11). Beautiful!
In my reflection last week I talked about Christian hope. This week I’ll talk about joy - another major theme of Advent.
Advent is a time when we joyfully celebrate the coming of the Messiah Jesus. “Cry aloud and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 12.12).
Joyous celebration characterizes the infancy narratives in the Gospels. The angel of the Lord tells Zechariah that he “will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice” at the birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1.14). The angel Gabriel tells Mary that she will give birth to God’s Messiah and her response is one of joy, thanksgiving, and worship (Luke 1.46-49). The angel announces “good news of great joy…for all people” to the shepherds (Luke 2.10-11). And when the magi find the house where Mary and Jesus are staying they “rejoice exceedingly with great joy” and “fall to the ground and worship Jesus” (Matthew 2.9-11).
Although the world is full of evil and darkness, they will not win the day. In the face of evil, God reveals his saving grace in the Messiah Jesus and the Holy Spirit. And nothing short of joy and thankfulness characterizes our human experience when we encounter the living God!
Christ, the Light of God, has come into the world to dispel the darkness and to fill us with the joy and peace of the Holy Spirit. Joyful celebration is not distant admiration. Joy is an intense love for God and neighbor, made known through our acts of faithful service. The peaceable rule of God has come in Christ and it’s our responsibility to embody that rule in the strength of the Holy Spirit.
During Advent, and beyond, I pray that we will focus our attention on our call to joyfully embody God’s love in the world. In thousands of small and big ways, let us follow God in practical acts of love. And during these Advent days of waiting, let us joyfully savor every sign of God’s loving presence as we seek God’s peace in the world!
- Philippians 4.4-5
We live in troubled times. We hear stories in the news about extreme poverty, the aids crisis, and the world’s ecological crisis. We live in a world of growing isolation, frantic activity, desperate violence, and terrible injustice. And yet, we often (and paradoxically) find ourselves longing for intimacy and community, and longing to experience a sense of hope and joy. This type of tension-filled longing is what the season of Advent is all about.
In Advent, God does NOT call us to bury our heads in the sand and pretend that the world is a nice old place. No. This is a time to face the darkness and to pray that God will shine forth the Light of his loving grace. Standing firm, having shod our feet with the readiness of the gospel of peace, we face the darkness and sin within us and outside of us. We embrace our new identity in Christ: "now you are light in the Lord" (Ephesians 5.8). And so, we walk as children of Light, taking no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead exposing them (Ephesians 5.11). Beautiful!
In my reflection last week I talked about Christian hope. This week I’ll talk about joy - another major theme of Advent.
Advent is a time when we joyfully celebrate the coming of the Messiah Jesus. “Cry aloud and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 12.12).
Joyous celebration characterizes the infancy narratives in the Gospels. The angel of the Lord tells Zechariah that he “will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice” at the birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1.14). The angel Gabriel tells Mary that she will give birth to God’s Messiah and her response is one of joy, thanksgiving, and worship (Luke 1.46-49). The angel announces “good news of great joy…for all people” to the shepherds (Luke 2.10-11). And when the magi find the house where Mary and Jesus are staying they “rejoice exceedingly with great joy” and “fall to the ground and worship Jesus” (Matthew 2.9-11).
Although the world is full of evil and darkness, they will not win the day. In the face of evil, God reveals his saving grace in the Messiah Jesus and the Holy Spirit. And nothing short of joy and thankfulness characterizes our human experience when we encounter the living God!
Christ, the Light of God, has come into the world to dispel the darkness and to fill us with the joy and peace of the Holy Spirit. Joyful celebration is not distant admiration. Joy is an intense love for God and neighbor, made known through our acts of faithful service. The peaceable rule of God has come in Christ and it’s our responsibility to embody that rule in the strength of the Holy Spirit.
During Advent, and beyond, I pray that we will focus our attention on our call to joyfully embody God’s love in the world. In thousands of small and big ways, let us follow God in practical acts of love. And during these Advent days of waiting, let us joyfully savor every sign of God’s loving presence as we seek God’s peace in the world!
November 29, 2011
Advent 1: Hope
Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we now stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.
- Romans 5.1-2
This past Sunday was the first Sunday of Advent. Advent marks the start of the Christian year. The word Advent means “coming” or “arrival.” In this season, Christians all over the world celebrate the birth of the Messiah Jesus and look forward to Jesus’ coming again and the establishment of God’s new creation.
In this time we wait and hope for Christ’s indwelling presence through the Holy Spirit. We wait and hope for Christ’s light to break through the darkness of our world. We wait and hope for the revelation of Christ with us, Christ among us.
In the New Testament, hope is one of the defining marks of the believer. Despite the suffering that comes from living in a fallen world, we are certain that God will one day complete what he has started, both in our own lives and in the whole world. We believe that God has acted in the past, we believe that God is acting in the present, and we believe that God will act in the future. Those beliefs are at the heart of Christian hope.
In this light, we must always remember that Christian hope is something that is active, not passive. When I say that we wait and hope for Christ’s coming during the season of Advent, I don’t mean that God wants us to sit around looking bored. On the contrary! God’s Spirit is leading us to go into the world and embody the reality of his kingdom come. In all of life, we are to show people what it looks like for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. And we do this as the people of God. Not as a bunch of individual Christians. But, as one people, who are joined together in Christ, exulting in hope of the glory of God.
Hope for a renewed world, both now and to come; may this be our focus in both the meditation of our hearts and our outward action during this season of Advent.
- Romans 5.1-2
This past Sunday was the first Sunday of Advent. Advent marks the start of the Christian year. The word Advent means “coming” or “arrival.” In this season, Christians all over the world celebrate the birth of the Messiah Jesus and look forward to Jesus’ coming again and the establishment of God’s new creation.
In this time we wait and hope for Christ’s indwelling presence through the Holy Spirit. We wait and hope for Christ’s light to break through the darkness of our world. We wait and hope for the revelation of Christ with us, Christ among us.
In the New Testament, hope is one of the defining marks of the believer. Despite the suffering that comes from living in a fallen world, we are certain that God will one day complete what he has started, both in our own lives and in the whole world. We believe that God has acted in the past, we believe that God is acting in the present, and we believe that God will act in the future. Those beliefs are at the heart of Christian hope.
In this light, we must always remember that Christian hope is something that is active, not passive. When I say that we wait and hope for Christ’s coming during the season of Advent, I don’t mean that God wants us to sit around looking bored. On the contrary! God’s Spirit is leading us to go into the world and embody the reality of his kingdom come. In all of life, we are to show people what it looks like for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. And we do this as the people of God. Not as a bunch of individual Christians. But, as one people, who are joined together in Christ, exulting in hope of the glory of God.
Hope for a renewed world, both now and to come; may this be our focus in both the meditation of our hearts and our outward action during this season of Advent.
September 26, 2011
Factor #2: Pragmatism
In our day and age, the second primary factor that militates against the essential acts of Christ-centered faith, prayer, reflection, and contemplation is: pragmatism.
I continue to draw from the book The Shattered Lantern by Ronald Rolheiser. The English word “pragmatism” comes from the Greek pragma, meaning “business.” In the western mind, pragmatism is connected to concepts like: efficiency, practicality, progress, and sensibleness. It only follows from this that pragmatism is synonymous with much of western life.
As a philosophy, pragmatism is a way of life that assesses the truth of a matter in its practical efficacy or application. What is true is what works. The test for truth is directly related to whether an idea has some concrete utility or practical benefit. “Things are good if they work, and what works is good. The ideals of pragmatism lie at the very heart of the Western mind, undergird our technological society, are deeply enshrined in our educational systems, and are evident in our impatience with anything (or anybody) that is not practical, useful, and efficient” (The Shattered Lantern, 36).
From the time of childhood we are told to climb the ladder of success, gain approval, be the best, be efficient, and ultimately to dominate. And even worse, the status of being part of the so-called “elite” is the goal in much of our western culture. Too many forms of media and the example of parents and leaders reinforce this message throughout our adolescent years. All of us are deeply affected by this thoroughly pragmatic worldview.
This is hugely problematic. Ultimately it is cancer to the soul. As Jean Vanier notes, “Elitism is the sickness of us all. We all want to be on the winning team…The important thing is to become conscious of those forces in us and to work at being liberated from them and to discover that the worst enemy is inside our own hearts not outside!” A pragmatic worldview wreaks havoc on our lives and on the world. Our lives become completely out of joint when we live by the principles “what’s good is what works” and “you are only good if you work” and “you are only as good as the work you do.” When doing counts for everything and being counts for nothing, our lives become a chaotic mess. The true priorities of worship, relationships, family, and self-giving love go out the window. And as a society, we come to undervalue children and the weak, we institutionalize people with physical disabilities or mental illness, and we discard and disregard the elderly (or anyone who is an "unproductive" member of society).
In contrast, God calls us to be last. Jesus says, “The first shall be last and the last shall be first. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
Our being in God must always be our primary focus and point of reflection. Who we are in Jesus Christ is paramount. Regardless of our worldly status, our identity in Christ is all that matters. In Christ we are loved, accepted, adopted as God’s children, forgiven, redeemed, renewed by God’s Spirit, and recreated as God’s new humanity. What we do (or do not do!) should flow from the truly human identity we derive from our relationship with God, through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
Further, Jesus teaches us to look beyond our ego in order to address our insecurities and our fear of being devalued. In the face of our culture’s pragmatic, progress driven, and elitist mentality, Jesus says, “Climb down the ladder of success and meet me at the bottom. There you will discover the meaning of truth and goodness, which transcends your petty notions of efficiency and practicality. Realize that life is messy, and that I have come to clean you up, set you free, and set you on the right path. Acknowledge your brokenness, your poverty of spirit, your complete dependence on God for all things. Become like a child. Trust Me. Follow God. Then go, serve the poor, enjoy fellowship with the estranged, have compassion on the sick, and share people’s pain. Only then can you experience true fellowship and communion with God and neighbor. Only then will you inherit the kingdom of heaven!”
I continue to draw from the book The Shattered Lantern by Ronald Rolheiser. The English word “pragmatism” comes from the Greek pragma, meaning “business.” In the western mind, pragmatism is connected to concepts like: efficiency, practicality, progress, and sensibleness. It only follows from this that pragmatism is synonymous with much of western life.
As a philosophy, pragmatism is a way of life that assesses the truth of a matter in its practical efficacy or application. What is true is what works. The test for truth is directly related to whether an idea has some concrete utility or practical benefit. “Things are good if they work, and what works is good. The ideals of pragmatism lie at the very heart of the Western mind, undergird our technological society, are deeply enshrined in our educational systems, and are evident in our impatience with anything (or anybody) that is not practical, useful, and efficient” (The Shattered Lantern, 36).
From the time of childhood we are told to climb the ladder of success, gain approval, be the best, be efficient, and ultimately to dominate. And even worse, the status of being part of the so-called “elite” is the goal in much of our western culture. Too many forms of media and the example of parents and leaders reinforce this message throughout our adolescent years. All of us are deeply affected by this thoroughly pragmatic worldview.
This is hugely problematic. Ultimately it is cancer to the soul. As Jean Vanier notes, “Elitism is the sickness of us all. We all want to be on the winning team…The important thing is to become conscious of those forces in us and to work at being liberated from them and to discover that the worst enemy is inside our own hearts not outside!” A pragmatic worldview wreaks havoc on our lives and on the world. Our lives become completely out of joint when we live by the principles “what’s good is what works” and “you are only good if you work” and “you are only as good as the work you do.” When doing counts for everything and being counts for nothing, our lives become a chaotic mess. The true priorities of worship, relationships, family, and self-giving love go out the window. And as a society, we come to undervalue children and the weak, we institutionalize people with physical disabilities or mental illness, and we discard and disregard the elderly (or anyone who is an "unproductive" member of society).
In contrast, God calls us to be last. Jesus says, “The first shall be last and the last shall be first. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
Our being in God must always be our primary focus and point of reflection. Who we are in Jesus Christ is paramount. Regardless of our worldly status, our identity in Christ is all that matters. In Christ we are loved, accepted, adopted as God’s children, forgiven, redeemed, renewed by God’s Spirit, and recreated as God’s new humanity. What we do (or do not do!) should flow from the truly human identity we derive from our relationship with God, through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
Further, Jesus teaches us to look beyond our ego in order to address our insecurities and our fear of being devalued. In the face of our culture’s pragmatic, progress driven, and elitist mentality, Jesus says, “Climb down the ladder of success and meet me at the bottom. There you will discover the meaning of truth and goodness, which transcends your petty notions of efficiency and practicality. Realize that life is messy, and that I have come to clean you up, set you free, and set you on the right path. Acknowledge your brokenness, your poverty of spirit, your complete dependence on God for all things. Become like a child. Trust Me. Follow God. Then go, serve the poor, enjoy fellowship with the estranged, have compassion on the sick, and share people’s pain. Only then can you experience true fellowship and communion with God and neighbor. Only then will you inherit the kingdom of heaven!”
August 12, 2011
The Roots of Our Present Crisis of Faith
Factors militating against the essential acts of Christ-centered faith, prayer, reflection, and contemplation…
Factor #1: Narcissism
To a certain extent, we are by nature narcissistic. To ourselves we are real and our reality is paramount. However, our natural tendency for self-preoccupation has trapped us in a spiral of self-absorbed destruction.
Narcissism is an obsession with self. It is self-centeredness arising from failure to distinguish self from external objects. Our society is chalked full of people who are unhealthily obsessed with self. (Note: I do not excuse myself from this critical analysis of our society!) We see this unhealthy obsession with self in our “propensity for individualism and our corresponding inability to be healthily aware of and concerned about the reality beyond our private lives (The Shattered Lantern, 28).
We have a growing incapacity to recognize the reality of others. We are turned in on ourselves, obsessed with self-help and self-development. An idolatrous commitment to self-advancement, luxury, ambition, achieving, and comfort is ripping the heart out of us and leaving us incapable to genuinely attend to the needs of others.
Further, our society is increasingly obsessed with excessive privacy. The destructive privatization of every area of life is taking over. There is nothing inherently wrong with privacy. To some degree, we all need our privacy. What is at issue is excessiveness. “When this need is unchecked, meaningful social interaction diminishes and the opportunity to escape into a world of private projects, private dreams, and private fantasies increases. Narcissism grows stronger when there is not enough meaningful social interaction to draw us out of our selves and make us aware of the reality outside us. This movement towards greater privacy is both a symptom and a cause of narcissism” (The Shattered Lantern, 33).
It is no wonder that we have difficulty believing in and seeing the reality of God in our daily experience when we have difficulty perceiving any reality beyond ourselves. To see and experience God’s Empowering Presence in ordinary life is to see beyond ourselves, toward others, toward the larger world, and ultimately toward an Infinite horizon.
Factor #1: Narcissism
To a certain extent, we are by nature narcissistic. To ourselves we are real and our reality is paramount. However, our natural tendency for self-preoccupation has trapped us in a spiral of self-absorbed destruction.
Narcissism is an obsession with self. It is self-centeredness arising from failure to distinguish self from external objects. Our society is chalked full of people who are unhealthily obsessed with self. (Note: I do not excuse myself from this critical analysis of our society!) We see this unhealthy obsession with self in our “propensity for individualism and our corresponding inability to be healthily aware of and concerned about the reality beyond our private lives (The Shattered Lantern, 28).
We have a growing incapacity to recognize the reality of others. We are turned in on ourselves, obsessed with self-help and self-development. An idolatrous commitment to self-advancement, luxury, ambition, achieving, and comfort is ripping the heart out of us and leaving us incapable to genuinely attend to the needs of others.
Further, our society is increasingly obsessed with excessive privacy. The destructive privatization of every area of life is taking over. There is nothing inherently wrong with privacy. To some degree, we all need our privacy. What is at issue is excessiveness. “When this need is unchecked, meaningful social interaction diminishes and the opportunity to escape into a world of private projects, private dreams, and private fantasies increases. Narcissism grows stronger when there is not enough meaningful social interaction to draw us out of our selves and make us aware of the reality outside us. This movement towards greater privacy is both a symptom and a cause of narcissism” (The Shattered Lantern, 33).
It is no wonder that we have difficulty believing in and seeing the reality of God in our daily experience when we have difficulty perceiving any reality beyond ourselves. To see and experience God’s Empowering Presence in ordinary life is to see beyond ourselves, toward others, toward the larger world, and ultimately toward an Infinite horizon.
August 4, 2011
The Shattered Lantern
I'm reading an interesting book called The Shattered Lantern: Rediscovering a Felt Presence of God. This is a book about our rediscovery of the ancient practices of reflection, contemplation, and purity of heart. "Rediscovery" because there is a problem in the church today: practical atheism.
In The Shattered Lantern, Ronald Rolheiser addresses the concerning issue of atheism and disbelief within the church. To get at this, he uses Nietzsche's parable of the madman as a starting point. A "madman" lights a lantern and in bright daylight rushes into a crowded marketplace shouting: "I seek God! I seek God!" But the people in the marketplace ridicule him, yelling and laughing at him. So the madman turns on them and shouts, "God is dead, I tell you, we have killed him, you and I. All of us are his murderers. But how did we do this? How could we drink up the sea? Who gave us the sponge to wipe away the entire horizon? What was the holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives." Then he goes silent, smashes his lantern on the ground and says, "I have come too early. This deed is still too distant for people to see, and yet they have done this to themselves. They have killed God."
Practical atheism is not something that primarily exists outside the church. It is very much a phenomenon within the circle of "believers." In The Shattered Lantern, Rolheiser argues that we have killed God in that he is often absent from the ordinary consciousness and lives of believers, not alive enough alive or important enough. Why is this? Because there is something wrong with us. There is a fault in us, namely blindness.
Instead of experiencing God on a deep, intimate level, we often relate to God as a distant, detached creator. God is related to "as a religion, a church, a moral philosophy, a guide for private virtue, an imperative for justice, or a nostalgia for propriety...God, then, is more of a moral and intellectual principle than a person, and our commitment to this principle runs the gamut from fiery passion, by which people are willing to die for a cause, to a vague nostalgia, in which God and religion are given the same kind of status as the royal family in England" (pgs. 18-19).
Many Christians in Western culture today have an atrophied contemplative faculty, a muddied self-awareness. We are numb and blind to God's ever-presence. God is present to us, but we are not present to God. "The struggle to experience God is not so much one of God's presence or absence as it is one of the presence or absence of God in our awareness. God is always present, but we are not always present to God" (pg. 22).
Purity of heart and mind is the focal point of Christian spirituality. But our hearts and minds are often muddied by the cares of the world. Instead of being attentive to God in ordinary life, we are preoccupied with that which is carnal. For many of us, God is not compelling in our day-to-day experiences. We are restless, narcissistic, focused on self and our so-called pressing consumer "needs."
In this first decade of the 21st century, we are at the end of a long historical process that killed God (both knowingly and unknowingly). Our present crisis of a living and vibrant faith has deep roots that reach back hundreds of years into the middle ages. A seed was planted that has now come to full bloom...
In The Shattered Lantern, Ronald Rolheiser addresses the concerning issue of atheism and disbelief within the church. To get at this, he uses Nietzsche's parable of the madman as a starting point. A "madman" lights a lantern and in bright daylight rushes into a crowded marketplace shouting: "I seek God! I seek God!" But the people in the marketplace ridicule him, yelling and laughing at him. So the madman turns on them and shouts, "God is dead, I tell you, we have killed him, you and I. All of us are his murderers. But how did we do this? How could we drink up the sea? Who gave us the sponge to wipe away the entire horizon? What was the holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives." Then he goes silent, smashes his lantern on the ground and says, "I have come too early. This deed is still too distant for people to see, and yet they have done this to themselves. They have killed God."
Practical atheism is not something that primarily exists outside the church. It is very much a phenomenon within the circle of "believers." In The Shattered Lantern, Rolheiser argues that we have killed God in that he is often absent from the ordinary consciousness and lives of believers, not alive enough alive or important enough. Why is this? Because there is something wrong with us. There is a fault in us, namely blindness.
Instead of experiencing God on a deep, intimate level, we often relate to God as a distant, detached creator. God is related to "as a religion, a church, a moral philosophy, a guide for private virtue, an imperative for justice, or a nostalgia for propriety...God, then, is more of a moral and intellectual principle than a person, and our commitment to this principle runs the gamut from fiery passion, by which people are willing to die for a cause, to a vague nostalgia, in which God and religion are given the same kind of status as the royal family in England" (pgs. 18-19).
Many Christians in Western culture today have an atrophied contemplative faculty, a muddied self-awareness. We are numb and blind to God's ever-presence. God is present to us, but we are not present to God. "The struggle to experience God is not so much one of God's presence or absence as it is one of the presence or absence of God in our awareness. God is always present, but we are not always present to God" (pg. 22).
Purity of heart and mind is the focal point of Christian spirituality. But our hearts and minds are often muddied by the cares of the world. Instead of being attentive to God in ordinary life, we are preoccupied with that which is carnal. For many of us, God is not compelling in our day-to-day experiences. We are restless, narcissistic, focused on self and our so-called pressing consumer "needs."
In this first decade of the 21st century, we are at the end of a long historical process that killed God (both knowingly and unknowingly). Our present crisis of a living and vibrant faith has deep roots that reach back hundreds of years into the middle ages. A seed was planted that has now come to full bloom...
July 28, 2011
After a long break, I'm back...
After a long sabbatical from blog writing, I will be reflecting a lot for the next few weeks. I will be reflecting on things like culture, discipleship, education, peace, pacifism, war, and the disciplines of reflection/contemplation/prayer.
Here is a nice quote to get things going:
Naturally, the common people don't want war, but after all, it is the leaders of a country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag people along whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. THis is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to dander. It works the same in every country."
Hermann Goering,
Hitler's Reich-Marshall at the Nuremberg Trials after WWII
Here is a nice quote to get things going:
Naturally, the common people don't want war, but after all, it is the leaders of a country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag people along whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. THis is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to dander. It works the same in every country."
Hermann Goering,
Hitler's Reich-Marshall at the Nuremberg Trials after WWII
February 28, 2011
A Few Thoughts on Parables
All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables.
(Matthew 13.34)
Parables. What to do with Jesus' parables? So often, Jesus offers us riddles and dark sayings to chew on. Not facts or propositional statements, but parables.
Parables – short fictional narratives, cryptic stories about planting, harvest, mustard seeds, hidden leaven, hidden treasures, and costly pearls. These stories of Jesus invite us on an imaginative quest to seek, search, and learn more about God’s kingdom, God's reign. With whit and wisdom, Jesus uses parables to announce the coming of God’s kingdom. (As a brief reminder, “The kingdom of God/heaven” is the truth and message that Yahweh, the one true God, is King. And Jesus’ announcement of the kingdom focuses on how God establishes his rule through Jesus).
Isn't it interesting that Jesus most often tells stories that conceal, when speaking of God’s kingdom. Jesus’ parables leave us asking, “What’s he talking about, what does he mean?” And this was true for Jesus’ first disciples, as well. When Jesus told stories they asked, “What’s he saying? Why does he speak this way?” And this shouldn’t surprise us, because Jesus’ parables are not aimed at conveying information.
The aim of a parable is transformation. A parable helps “shape a heart that is willing to enter an ongoing, interactive, persistent relationship of trust in the teacher. It beckons the hearer to explore new territory. It helps form a heart that is humble enough to admit it doesn’t already understand and is thirsty enough to ask questions….a parable renders its hearers not as experts, not as know-it-alls, not as scholars…but as children” (Brian McLaren, The Secret Message of Jesus, 46).
And so, parables are theology in the truest sense of the word. Parables reveal the nature, plan, and rule of God, proclaiming what’s been “hidden from the foundation of the world." This, in turn, draws us into an intimate, loving encounter with God, through which new and unexpected ways of living are revealed to us. We are transformed through the renewing of our minds and hearts.
By way of analogy, Jesus’ parables are like a house, in which we’re invited to take up residence. They urge us to look on the world through the windows of our new residence, and allow our view of the world to be re-formed by God. Jesus calls us to see the world in a new way, with a willingness to sacrifice everything for God’s kingdom. That's what the parables are all about - laying it all on the line for God and his kingdom purposes.
(Matthew 13.34)
Parables. What to do with Jesus' parables? So often, Jesus offers us riddles and dark sayings to chew on. Not facts or propositional statements, but parables.
Parables – short fictional narratives, cryptic stories about planting, harvest, mustard seeds, hidden leaven, hidden treasures, and costly pearls. These stories of Jesus invite us on an imaginative quest to seek, search, and learn more about God’s kingdom, God's reign. With whit and wisdom, Jesus uses parables to announce the coming of God’s kingdom. (As a brief reminder, “The kingdom of God/heaven” is the truth and message that Yahweh, the one true God, is King. And Jesus’ announcement of the kingdom focuses on how God establishes his rule through Jesus).
Isn't it interesting that Jesus most often tells stories that conceal, when speaking of God’s kingdom. Jesus’ parables leave us asking, “What’s he talking about, what does he mean?” And this was true for Jesus’ first disciples, as well. When Jesus told stories they asked, “What’s he saying? Why does he speak this way?” And this shouldn’t surprise us, because Jesus’ parables are not aimed at conveying information.
The aim of a parable is transformation. A parable helps “shape a heart that is willing to enter an ongoing, interactive, persistent relationship of trust in the teacher. It beckons the hearer to explore new territory. It helps form a heart that is humble enough to admit it doesn’t already understand and is thirsty enough to ask questions….a parable renders its hearers not as experts, not as know-it-alls, not as scholars…but as children” (Brian McLaren, The Secret Message of Jesus, 46).
And so, parables are theology in the truest sense of the word. Parables reveal the nature, plan, and rule of God, proclaiming what’s been “hidden from the foundation of the world." This, in turn, draws us into an intimate, loving encounter with God, through which new and unexpected ways of living are revealed to us. We are transformed through the renewing of our minds and hearts.
By way of analogy, Jesus’ parables are like a house, in which we’re invited to take up residence. They urge us to look on the world through the windows of our new residence, and allow our view of the world to be re-formed by God. Jesus calls us to see the world in a new way, with a willingness to sacrifice everything for God’s kingdom. That's what the parables are all about - laying it all on the line for God and his kingdom purposes.
January 6, 2011
A Franciscan Benediction (for the New Year)
May God bless you with discomfort
at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships;
so that you may live deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger
at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people;
so that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.
May God bless you with tears
to shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and war;
so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and
to turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless you with enough foolishness
to believe that you can make a difference in the world;
so that you can do what others claim cannot be done:
to bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.
Amen
at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships;
so that you may live deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger
at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people;
so that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.
May God bless you with tears
to shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and war;
so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and
to turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless you with enough foolishness
to believe that you can make a difference in the world;
so that you can do what others claim cannot be done:
to bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.
Amen
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