Walking in the penumbra of faith

Almost a century ago the famous British writer G. K. Chesterton remarked on a problem that he saw in British culture that is amazingly apropos to our culture and time. He observed that many of the most popular critics of Christianity were caught in a twilight zone between Christian faith and total unbelief. He suggested that they were resentful of this zone that they found themselves trapped in. I think his thought aptly sums up where increasingly large numbers of Americans find themselves in the first decade of the twenty-first century.

They cannot get out of the penumbra of Christian controversy. They cannot be Christians and they cannot leave off being anti-Christians. Their whole atmosphere is the atmosphere of a reaction: sulks, perversity, petty criticism. They still live in the shadow of faith and have lost the light of faith. . . . The worst judge of all is the man not most ready with his judgments: the ill-educated Christian turning gradually into the ill-tempered agnostic (G. K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man, New York: Image, 13).

http://www.battlefortruth.org/avms.asp?avstartid=232

Well, don't get to use 'penumbra' very often, do we? Shadowlands, Twighlight… penumbra: the edge of darkness. Ever journeyed there? What if… the light is the illusion and the bus signs are right:

O.K., that sorts that out. Now, what? Shall we read Camus, Sartre, listen to Sid Vicious and other savants? Cheer up! You are a matter/energy with the illusion of personhood living a purposeless life pregnant with a point of total termination. No celebration, no realization, just quick formatted carbon. You are, but you one day will not be. So cheer up and enjoy your life!

Solomon tried to live in the enchanting penumbra. He said it didn't work, even if with access to the pleasures of legions of women, wealth, music, productivity, indulgences of frivolity or anything else under the sun. I've tried it, though nowhere near as gustily as Sol. But I couldn't stand to live through peripheral vision. I couldn't help but rubber-neck at the colossal agony of desire for meaning that plagues humanity in spite of the comforting slogans like "There is probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life (before it ends in pathetic resistance to the delusion of significance)". Not cheered.

So what do I do with the questions of those who do not see any 'light' to the idea that God loves  you and the rest of the confused world you live in? Do I shout through a grin of optimism? I guess I still have a bit of the need to wander in the penumbra. Job spoke from his fog with this discomforting little spiel:

Job 23:1-24:25 Then Job answered and said: (2) "Today also my complaint is bitter; my hand is heavy on account of my groaning. (3) Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat! (4) I would lay my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments. (5) I would know what he would answer me and understand what he would say to me. (6)
Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power? No; he would pay attention to me. (7) There an upright man could argue with him, and I would be acquitted forever by my judge. (8) "Behold, I go forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I do not perceive him; (9) on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him; he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him. (10) But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold. (11) My foot has held fast to his steps; I have kept his way and have not turned aside. (12) I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food. (13) But he is unchangeable, and who can turn him back? What he desires, that he does. (14) For he will complete what he appoints for me, and many such things are in his mind. (15) Therefore I am terrified at his presence; when I consider, I am in dread of him. (16)God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me; (17) yet I am not silenced because of the darkness, nor because thick darkness covers my face.
(24:1) "Why are not times of judgment kept by the Almighty, and why do those who know him never see his days? (2) Some move landmarks; they seize flocks and pasture them. (3) They drive away the donkey of the fatherless; they take the widow's ox for a pledge. (4) They thrust the poor off the road; the poor of the earth all hide themselves. (5) Behold, like wild donkeys in the desert the poor go out to their toil, seeking game; the wasteland yields food for their children. (6) They gather their fodder in the field, and they glean the vineyard of the wicked man. (7) They lie all night naked, without clothing, and have no covering in the cold. (8) They are wet with the rain of the mountains and cling to the rock for lack of shelter. (9) (There are those who snatch the fatherless child from the breast, and they take a pledge against the poor.) (10) They go about naked, without clothing; hungry, they carry the sheaves; (11) among the olive rows of the wicked they make oil; they tread the winepresses, but suffer thirst. (12) From out of the city the dying groan, and the soul of the wounded cries for help; yet God charges no one with wrong. (13)
"There are those who rebel against the light, who are not acquainted with its ways, and do not stay in its paths. (14) The murderer rises before it is light, that he may kill the poor and needy, and in the night he is like a thief. (15) The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight, saying, 'No eye will see me'; and he veils his face. (16) In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves up; they do not know the light. (17) For deep darkness is morning to all of them; for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.
(18) "You say, 'Swift are they on the face of the waters; their portion is cursed in the land; no treader turns toward their vineyards. (19) Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters; so does Sheol those who have sinned. (20) The womb forgets them; the worm finds them sweet; they are no longer remembered, so wickedness is broken like a tree.' (21) "They wrong the barren, childless woman, and do no good to the widow. (22) Yet God prolongs the life of the mighty by his power; they rise up when they despair of life. (23) He gives them security, and they are supported, and his eyes are upon their ways. (24) They are exalted a little while, and then are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like the heads of grain. (25)
If it is not so, who will prove me a liar and show that there is nothing in what I say?" 

Job was right. God did pay attention to him. He told Job to stand like a man and proceeded to challenge Job's basis of questioning the sum of all things. It didn't go so well for Job. But it ended interestingly:

(7) After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite: "My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.

Life really is overwhelming when looked at square on, trying to make sense of hope and despair, good and evil, what is and what only appears to be. We cannot presume to reduce it all to simple clarity, nor can we be justified in our dismissals. We have a Creator and he is not totally hidden. In fear we realize that we cannot be forced by certitude but must step up and make a soulful decision for the light we almost see.

Some practice with the Sermon on the Mount 1

The Sermon on the Mount is useful for living a blessed life

Define blessed:

 

What is the image of blessed in Psalm 1?

What is the source for the fresh, fruitful and prospering life described in Psalm 1?

What 3 chapters in Matthew contain the Sermon on the Mount?

What does Jesus repeat 8 times at the beginning of his talk (Mt 5:3-10)

The first blessed (Mt 5:3) has something in common with the last blessed (Mt 5:10). What is it?

"the kingdom of heaven" is also called "the kingdom of _______"

What does the Kingdom of heaven mean (now and in the future)? Consider these verses:

Matthew 3:1-2 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, (2) "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

 

Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

 

Matthew 5:3
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 

Matthew 5:10
"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 

Matthew 6:33
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

 

Matthew 7:21
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

 

Hint: the future includes what we normally think of as 'heaven', the good place with God after this life. What is the idea of 'theirs is the kingdom of heaven" for living here and now?

A simple outline of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7

!!!!You can be blessed!!!!5:3-10

Blessed: Righteous – Kingdom of God 5:11-20

  Blessed: Peacemakers – sons of God 5:21-26

     Blessed: Pure in heart – see God 5:27-37

        Blessed: Merciful – receive mercy 5:38-47 

Central point = grow up to be who God intended you to be when he made you in his image 5:48

Central practice = don't try to look right, actually seek right from God. 6:1

        Blessed: Hunger and Thirst for righteousness – satisfied

     Blessed: Meek – inherit the earth 6:5-15

   Blessed: Mourn – comforted 6:15-18

Blessed: Poor in Spirit – Kingdom of Heaven 6:19-24

• Physically: Don't be anxious about food, clothes etc., seek 1^st God's Kingdom and righteousness. Pursue stuff from a position of being aligned with God, not separately. 6:25-34

• Relationally: Don't rush about trying to fix others. Ask God to fix you and you will know better and better how to show appropriate love to others. 7:1-14

• Spiritually: Don't fall for spiritual image(looking good), take the time to find the way to spiritual substance. 7:15-27
  

Consider the lilies of the field

Matthew 6:31-34 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' (32) For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. (33) But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (34) "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

I heard that the latest reading of Nostradamus is that it all ends in 2012. NASA also has a report of a possible big solar event in 2012 that would wipe out electrical grids leading to chaos. There are no lack of anxious ideas about what will happen to the world economy. Tensions in the wider world, tensions in the person world… Focus… must not be anxious… must focus… on what?! 

Jesus says we are to focus on our value to God. Worry doesn't work. God has chosen, for reasons we can't yet grasp, to be glorified by redeeming people. He knows our needs and he cares. Our focus should therefore be on him. God as King, the ruler and provider, and us as trusting followers of him, seeking to learn and apply his wisdom, that is our best hope.

Will that solve everything? Not if we mean an untroubled life. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. The promise is that we will be wise and responsible if we make God the starting point of our approach to life. Wisely being the kind of person inclined toward God and his provision, wisely freed from useless obsession with problems beyond the power of our worrying.

Seek 1^st : Kingdom of God, God in charge here and now, which essentially means calibrating who we are and do according to his ought-ness (righteousness).

Then: the stuff will be there, good and bad, enough to live out the purposes God has for us.

Hill Day

Wednesday has the slang title of 'hump day'. For this extended exercise of telling the Biblical story in five acts Monday to Friday, it is 'hill day'.

The story starts simple in a garden, goes blustery and frightening because of the fall, is stunningly surprising on a hill of death and then resurrected ascension, is expectant but groaning hope and finally we are almost full circle, but now in a garden city shaped by the wisdom of trials and travail.

The hill is Golgotha, where the battle of good and evil found focus in the son of man dying the death of humanity's rebellion. Evil rejoicing in destruction and ruin as Jesus is mocked, abused and killed. Humanity, represented by the son of man, Jesus, cried out "Why have you forsaken me?". The separation and ruin intended seemed complete and emphatic. The resurrection did not play out the same way. Starting quietly, a woman in a garden heard the good news and told a man. Hope and restoration with God, over and against the curse of suffering and death was evident. The implications percolated among the disciples. Jesus went to a hill, commissioned his apprentices, then ascended and had them wait. The power came. They were then the restored representation of God on earth, the body of the second Adam, declaring the announcement of a new authority: Jesus is Lord.

The story has a lot still unfolding, but the hill to die on has occurred. Now the battle to live out the victory is on.

Matthew 5:14  "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.

Matthew 28:16-20 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. (17) And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. (18) And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.(19)Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,(20)teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

The tormented and the tunes

1 Samuel 16:12-23 And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the LORD said, "Arise, anoint him, for this is he." (13) Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.

(14) Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the LORD tormented him. (15) And Saul's servants said to him, "Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. (16) Let our lord now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will be well." (17) So Saul said to his servants, "Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me." (18) One of the young men answered, "Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the LORD is with him."

(19) Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, "Send me David your son, who is with the sheep." (20) And Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David his son to Saul. (21) And David came to Saul and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. (22) And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, "Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight." (23) And whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.

The spiritual and the physical are related in ways which are not easy to sort out. Damage the brain and you will see someone's spirit affected; their will, their demeanor, their abilities. But it also appears that willful choices from our spirit, what we choose to think and do, change the physical composition of the brain. We are physical and spiritual.

For Saul, his rationalizing subtle rebellion against God left him unprepared for the sudden departure of the Spirit of the LORD. When it happened, he was more than empty. A different spirit came and tormented him. Why did his servants think to get a musician? What does that have to do with mental/spiritual torment?

Harvard Gazette: Your inner ear contains a spiral sheet that the sounds of music pluck like a guitar string. This plucking triggers the firing of brain cells that make up the hearing parts of your brain. At the highest station, the auditory cortex, just above your ears, these firing cells generate the conscious experience of music. Different patterns of firing excite other ensembles of cells, and these associate the sound of music with feelings, thoughts, and past experiences.

That's a sketch of how the brain listens to music -- just a short ditty to outline the complex symphony of activity that governs our perception of everything from Bach to U2. It's also a lot more than was known until recently.

Well, the i-pod may in fact be a good coping mechanism. But, like Saul, it only provides episodic relief. David, though he obviously treasures music as well, goes deeper in his quest to deal with depression and torment:

Psalms 13:1-6 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? (2) How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? (3) Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, (4) lest my enemy say, "I have prevailed over him," lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken. (5) But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. (6) I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me.

Confess our need and ask of God with trust. God help us.

He Spoke

I've been doing some reading on the origins of the universe. I wish I had studied physics. There are interesting perspectives which seem just beyond my grasp. What does stand out, however, is the idea that something is eternal and the source of everything around us. Here's a bit from William Lane Craig:

With respect to the alternative of Eternal Inflation, it was suggested by some theorists during the 1980s that perhaps the inflationary expansion of the universe was not confined to a brief period early in the history of the universe but is eternal in the past, each inflating region being the product of a prior inflating region. Although such models were hotly debated, something of a watershed appears to have been reached in 2003, when three leading cosmologists, Arvin Borde, Alan Guth, and Alexander Vilenkin, were able to prove that any universe which has, on average, been expanding throughout its history cannot be infinite in the past but must have a past space-time boundary.

What makes their proof so powerful is that it holds regardless of the physical description of the universe prior to the Planck time. Because we can't yet provide a physical description of the very early universe, this brief moment has been fertile ground for speculations. (One scientist has compared it to the regions on ancient maps labeled "Here there be dragons!"—it can be filled with all sorts of fantasies.) But the Borde-Guth-Vilenkin theorem is independent of any physical description of that moment. Their theorem implies that even if our universe is just a tiny part of a so-called "multiverse" composed of many universes, the multiverse must have an absolute beginning.

Vilenkin is blunt about the implications:

It is said that an argument is what convinces reasonable men and a proof is what it takes to convince even an unreasonable man. With the proof now in place, cosmologists can no longer hide behind the possibility of a past-eternal universe. There is no escape, they have to face the problem of a cosmic beginning (Many Worlds in One [New York: Hill and Wang, 2006], p.176).

The universe began and expanded such that we now are here looking back and wondering at the scope and are awed. What shall we do?

Psalms 33:1-9 Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright. (2) Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings! (3) Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts. (4) For the word of the LORD is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness. (5) He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD. (6) By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host. (7) He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap; he puts the deeps in storehouses. (8) Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! (9)
For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.

Blessed Hope

Titus 2:11-15 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, (12) training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, (13) waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, (14) who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. (15) Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

This week's reflection has been: God made good, it all went sad, Christ provided the comfort we needed and change became possible.

Now we have work to do. We have to articulate our rejection of meaningless despair and the unreliable satisfaction of lunged indulgences. There is a reason to get up, get focused and get to work: Jesus is the future.

He is coming back to follow through on why he saved us. He saved us to not be out of control and mucked up, he wants us sorted and unified and on task. We were created by the creator to rule over a good creation. Our excursus has been bizarre, and the fog is still there, but now we are on course to rule over renewed creation. The character we develop and deploy here and now will have carry over to then and here. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven… including through me!

Yeah, a quart of Chunky Monkey should do the trick…

Desire is good. It comes from God. But what about wisdom on how to fulfill desire? Not so simple. Humanity fell for the serpentine lies of seeking fulfillment outside of God. Millennia later, we've gotten pretty entrenched in the habit of seeking fulfillment without healthy regard for God and what he says. The result? Broken hearts because of broken dreams. Even worse can be the devastation which accompanies getting what you treasure only to discover that it does not satisfy the desires of your heart because you treasured poorly. So why is desire good?

Desire is good because it tells us we have needs. Our body tells us we need food so we don't forget to eat and just starve. Too many of us don't listen well, though. We know that it feels good to satisfy hunger with food, so when we feel generally unfulfilled, we eat. We have desires for a mate; a true companion to share life physically, socially, spiritually. So we get interested in people like we should be we don't listen carefully. The result? Inappropriate feeding of appropriate desires makes us ill. There is only one helpful way forward: learn to listen to desires AND God's plan for satisfying those desires wisely such that we end up with real satisfaction.

This starts with acknowledging that we are not our own master.

Matthew 6:24 "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Money provides me with options. If I want food and I have money I can get whatever kind of food in whatever amounts I want. That seems to be an obvious good, except for the fact that money doesn't create our desires and does not give us wisdom on how to appropriately satisfy those desires. That is why we find ourselves back in the serpentine world of advice from others pursuing their own desires telling us what to desire. Consumerism, the belief that the market provides satisfaction for my desires, has been the most potent devotionally system I have witnessed. But it does not work. We always want more and different and we are always puzzled why it is not enough (though we don't like to admit that our consumption isn't deeply satisfying; we tend to boast about how 'awesome' the stuff we consume is).

The issue here is clarity of vision; of knowing what really is valuable in the quest to appropriately satisfy desire.

Matthew 6:22-23 "The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, (23) but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

The 'eye' is our window on the world. It is how we perceive what is available out there to meet the needs inside of us. If our 'eye' is bad, that means we do not accurately perceive things as they are. We seek what 'appears' to be good but choose poorly. Jesus' argument is that if the things considered 'light' (good, valuable, etc.) are actually not good but bad, then how dark are the things we perceive as dark? When a world that has dropped its shame about the adrenaline rush of sex and of violence says that a film is too dark and perverted, how bad must it be? The inability to perceive what is truly worth treasuring, truly valuable, is why we are so often frustrated with ourselves, others and God.

So what is valuable? We need to realize that we are spiritual beings with a spiritual destiny even as we live in a physical world. When we make spiritual satisfaction our initial/primary value, from which we then pursue physical satisfaction, then we have the hope of genuine and secure satisfaction.

Matthew 6:19-21 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, (20) but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. (21) For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The issue is the impermanence and unreliability of physical treasure. Our craving is to live as spiritual beings. Physical stuff will never get us there. Rather, when we realize that we were created in the image of God and our essential self is spiritual first, physical second, then we can lay a sequence out that actually has a hope. By treasuring God as our creator who actually knows what will satisfy us, we reject tempting alternatives to God's provision and focus on what he directs with confidence. The confidence is that God's way is the only real hope at having lasting satisfaction for our desires.

• God made us as physical and spiritual
  
• The spiritual aspect of us is the part which chooses
  
• The physical just tells us about desirable options
  
• By making our spirit listen to God first and our body second, we have our best chance of being genuinely satisfied

Comforted by God through Christ’s redemption

Monday: God and his righteousness is our treasure

Tuesday: we mourn about unrighteousness and suffering, but we have hope of comfort.

Wednesday: God our father provides our comfort through Christ our redeemer

Isaiah 40:1-3 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. (2) Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins. (3) A voice cries: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Matthew 3:1-3 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, (2) "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (3) For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.'"

What comfort? Jesus, God with us. With us in our sufferings, and on the cross, he was with us in our sin:

2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

The righteousness Jesus said is necessary for us to experience God in charge here and now (the Kingdom of heaven at hand) was actually provided by Jesus. 

1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,

Because we have righteousness in Christ (by trusting in who he is and what he did), we are now free to grow up in righteousness. The point of the sermon on the mount is that grown up righteousness is where the blessed life with God is most fully experienced. That is a comfort, even as we struggle toward that maturity through spiritual disciplines and general afflictions from life.

2 Corinthians 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, (4) who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. (5) For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.

SO SAD... mT 5:4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Matthew 6:16-18 "And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.(17)But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,(18)that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Why mourn? It is good to mourn because life is sad. That's why. 

The weekly story (again) is creation is good but the creation separated from God is not good (it's fallen; rotten). So life is this crazy queasiness of going from exhilaration to nausea and staggering through numb phases in between (for most everyone). I hear there are people who maintain their health, their finances, their relationships, their accomplishments, their spirituality etc. such that they are always soaring like eagles; always. I've also heard of Yetis.

The Bible records life in good ways, but it includes sad, sad, sad stuff. Genesis: God made everything oh so good, including man, but then it is sad. Man is alone (which makes him lonely (which is sad) (which is not good)). Then there is the fall of humanity to the deceit of the spiritually already fallen serpent. We don't have the details of the serpent's story, but apparently it had already gone sad (he is bent on warring with the only self-existent omni-everything being; how sad). Humanity falls, turns against one another, work gets hard, relationships messy, kids fighting with one another, and so on. That's just the genesis of sadness. It cranks up to ultra sad in Jeremiah's lament for besieged Jerusalem:

Lamentations 2:11 My eyes are spent with weeping; my stomach churns; my bile is poured out to the ground because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, because infants and babies faint in the streets of the city.

Lamentations 4:10 The hands of compassionate women have boiled their own children; they became their food during the destruction of the daughter of my people.

That's sad.

And, no disrespect to Jabez (hard to be disrespectful in that there is practically nothing known about him except he was ambitious) but how about THE PRAYER OF JOB:

Job 30:19-31 God has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes. (20) I cry to you for help and you do not answer me; I stand, and you only look at me. (21) You have turned cruel to me; with the might of your hand you persecute me. (22) You lift me up on the wind; you make me ride on it, and you toss me about in the roar of the storm. (23) For I know that you will bring me to death and to the house appointed for all living. (24) "Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand, and in his disaster cry for help? (25) Did not I weep for him whose day was hard? Was not my soul grieved for the needy? (26) But when I hoped for good, evil came, and when I waited for light, darkness came. (27) My inward parts are in turmoil and never still; days of affliction come to meet me. (28) I go about darkened, but not by the sun; I stand up in the assembly and cry for help. (29) I am a brother of jackals and a companion of ostriches.(30) My skin turns black and falls from me, and my bones burn with heat. (31) My lyre is turned to mourning, and my pipe to the voice of those who weep.

That's pretty sad, huh?

What about Jesus and sadness?

Isaiah 53:3-4 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. (4) Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

John 11:35 Jesus wept.

 (he was sad)

So where's the blessing? It is in hope. Evil is real and IF…. Again… IF we deal with the pain and sorrow in our hearts and in this world by going to God we can find real comfort (instead of delusion or just being medicated).

Grieve, not for show, but because the desire for unhindered goodness in me and around me isn't there like it should be. Oh God, I'm so sad. Bless me with your comfort I pray.

MT 6:1-24 is a quick description of how someone grows in real righteousness

Matthew 6:1-24
"Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

This is the primary principle in making legitimate progress in growing in righteousness instead of a false progress which is really just self-righteousness.

(2)"Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. (3)But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,(4)so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Giving is to make a difference for those who receive. The motivation is not to be seen giving, rather, it is because we are hungering and thirsting for righteousness and want to make contribute toward what is right. The blessing promised is that our desire for righteousness, when we are motivated rightly, will be satisfied.

(5)"And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.(6)But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (7)"And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. (8) Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 

(9)Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. (10) Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. (11) Give us this day our daily bread, (12) and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. (13) And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. (14) For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, (15) but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Prayer is actively relying on God for what we need. What we pray in public is only as meaningful as what we pray in private. If we pray to be seen, then being seen is our reward. However, if we are meek enough to know that we really need God, then talking to God all alone will show that. There is no reward for talking to God alone except what God provides. That is as much the key to spiritual growth as anything. Once we actually trust in God enough to talk to him about what we need, everything becomes possible. That is the sign of a truly hopeful life. The people who are meek enough to talk to God because they actually believe God is their hope will inherit the earth God created people to rule under his leadership.

 

(16) "And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. (17)But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, (18) that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Fasting, suspending normal things like eating, is a way of grieving over something not being right. The abuse of this is to appear extraordinarily spiritual and dedicated. Jesus' advice is that there is a place to mourn over our spiritual condition, but it is undermined when we do it to people (for show) instead of to God. If the real purpose is to cry out to God, then being discrete won't throw him off. Rather, it makes it clear that your mourning is for Him to comfort, and he promises he will.

(19) "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, (20) but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. (21) For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (22) "The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, (23) but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! (24) "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

How we treasure sets the course for everything else. If what we treasure is worldly wealth, then we will employ whatever strategies and tactics are necessary to get us there. Inevitably we end up rationalizing our choices, so much so that we can't see reality for what it is. Jesus says it all starts with who is our master. If God is our King, and we want to serve in his kingdom, then we will treasure what we know matters in the Kingdom.

Summary of the Sermon on the Mount so far (Mt 5:1-6:24):

Life can be blessed.

A blessed life is a righteous life.

A righteous life is one where a person becomes committed to seeking peace with others, integrity within themselves and unflinching mercy in a harsh world.

Righteousness comes from God and we should be careful not to replace God with trying to look religious.

By treasuring God and his kingdom, we grieve over our shortcomings (and are comforted). We meekly call out to God in prayer (and subsequently are promised success in life). We intentionally give because our appetite is for righteousness , not self-righteousness (and we will be satisfied).

A righteous life is a blessed life

At the end of my life, looking back, what would be the best case scenario? A life of... indulgence? avoidance? mediocrity? What about righteousness?
If by righteousness the idea is:

Psalms 1:3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

Then, yes. I would like that. In Psalm 1 the one described like a tree lives a blessed life because he rejects shallowness and invests deeply in what God reveals about life and how to live it. Jesus takes the idea and contrasts it to what many of us fear when we hear the word "righteous".

Matthew 5:20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

What I don't want now, or in the future looking back, is a life of being self-righteousness. That would be a vision of a delusion and manipulation, of religious oddness expressed in complex rationalizations. That is not a good life. But what is the alternative?
Jesus goes on in Matthew 5:21-48 to give a picture of righteousness I would love to look back on at the end of my life. It is a description of someone who stops using contemptuous aggression or avoidance with people. Instead, a righteous life is getting practical about finding ways to make peace with people as much as is up to you. Blessed are the peacemakers, that is what God does, and so do the children of God. (MT 5:21-26)
Righteousness is also described as having a heart that is pure, not mixed. In regard to desire, commitments and promises we don't try to appear one way and leave room in our hearts for another way. Our hearts and our actions are consistent, unmixed. How blessed to be pure in heart, to be able to see God for who he is because there is no complex maze of rationalization and pretense. (MT 27-37)
Ultimately moving beyond contempt with other people and actually having an internal congruency leads us to live out some amazing righteousness. This is not a law to live up to, this is a vision of what trusting Christ's wisdom will bring about. It is a description of who we can become. When people are hostile to us we will no longer be obligated to join them in their angry ways of thinking and acting. We will have an inner strength to stick to our commitment to justice and mercy in humility before God. We won't be paranoid about others getting an advantage over us because we will have adjusted our treasures in such a way that we no longer live in fear. We will be free to be generous because it is right, not because of some lesser reason. It is blessed to be merciful because that is where God rules: in the giving of mercy. I want that. I want to be like my Creator in the best sense I can as his creation. I want the healthy, mature version of righteousness. That would be blessed at the end of my life. That would be a blessed way to live now. (MT 38-48)

dark day bright dawn

Monday mentioned how encouraging light is; sunshine is good (even though we can't take it in too directly). Tuesday mentioned how dark our hearts can be when we rebel against good. The goal in observing the obvious is to be aware of how real and significant goodness and evil are in our world and in us. Today the reflection is on what happens when evil/darkness confronts goodness/light. That, in one regard, is the story of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.

Luke 23:44-47 It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, (45) while the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. (46) Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!" And having said this he breathed his last. (47) Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, "Certainly this man was innocent!"

The weight of evil fell in darkness over Jesus. 

John 1:4-5 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. (5) The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

The power of life and light won. What does it mean? Personally it means my sins are paid for and there is life after guilt. But the illusion we fall into too often is thinking we live in vertical columns reaching up and down between us and God. We are interlocked with the world in which we live in ways we can barely even begin to think about (at least that is the sense I have of things right now). The creator participating in creation such that the rebellion of creation is crushed and the intent of creation is reset… that is the broader theme that is essential to the passion. My participation in the larger story is a witness to that story. I confess that Jesus is in fact LORD and that reality, including reflections on good/evil light/dark are ultimately directed back to him.

The darkened hearts of hollow men and kingdoms

Job 24:13-17  "There are those who rebel against the light, who are not acquainted with its ways, and do not stay in its paths.  (14)  The murderer rises before it is light, that he may kill the poor and needy, and in the night he is like a thief.  (15)  The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight, saying, 'No eye will see me'; and he veils his face.  (16)  In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves up; they do not know the light.  (17)  For deep darkness is morning to all of them; for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.

The goodness of light is a reminder of hope.  We need it as a reminder.  Hope is not always so insistent.  A good creation has defied its creator and worshipped itself.  But the glory of the creation is not from the creation, it is from the creator.  The heart of man and the world he inhabits must be changed. Separated from the creator, our glory is hollow and our visions of hope spastic.  All is not well.

Is it like this

In death's other kingdom
Waking alone
At the hour when we are
Trembling with tenderness
Lips that would kiss
Form prayers to broken stone.

Between the idea

And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow

For Thine is the Kingdom

Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow

Life is very long

Between the desire
And the spasm
Between the potency
And the existence
Between the essence
And the descent
Falls the Shadow

For Thine is the Kingdom

an excerpt from

t.s. elliot

The Hollow Men

parabolicly seeing

Matthew 13:34-35 All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. (35) This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: "I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world."

The sun is good. Ask anyone in London. But how to take it in? We can't stare directly at it. We could be safe and study it through roundabout means, but something of the glory is lost. Essentially we have to look just to the side of the sun to take in its glory. The sun is good!

Tell all the Truth but tell it slant---

Success in Circuit lies

Too bright for our infirm Delight

The Truth's superb surprise

As Lightning to the Children eased

With explanation kind

The Truth must dazzle gradually

Or every man be blind---


                              Emily Dickinson

Not ok yet; but one day

Isaiah 11:6-9 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. (7) The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. (8) The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. (9) 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.

This is hopeful; very pleasant imagery. Before and after this bit is a lot about killing the wicked. Fact is, we're not o.k.. We do not glide into a harmonious alternative ending. Hope is real, but against our practiced delusions, that hope involves judgment. Our world, personal, global, spiritual… it's not ready. Now we have hints of a health to come, but there is evil which must be dealt with. Can't be avoided.

So what is the story fed back into this bright and crisp morning? The goodness is from God, the queasiness is from separation from God, the hope of Christ is the focused hope of today and the memory of advances in the past are my hope that I might live better than not today… and finally… this will not last forever. The wrong I fear (in and beyond me) will not last. Judgment will come and that which is hidden in Christ will rise out of the tomb to undying life. It is too wispy to hold but too hopeful not to reach for. The story is unfolding and I am not above it; I am in it.

Righteous?

THURSDAY MARCH 5 gathering at 110 St. John's TW7 6PG

The first beatitude explained has a few questions for us to consider before we go forward:

1. Do we want to align with God even if it means we get out of synch with those who are not aligned with God.  Is it worth it?
   
2. If it really is possible to be of one nature (character), not mixed but consistent.  Do we want that?
   
3. If we do have consistency of character are we willing to let that be useful to others, not just ourselves?
   
4. Are we willing to trust Jesus and work out his plan for living such that we really do experience God in charge here and now (the Kingdom of Heaven)?

Matthew 5:10"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

This is the last of 8 beatitudes. It is now the first to be explained by Jesus. He will continue this pattern explaining each cryptic 'blessed' in order from last to first.

Blessed = in a good way, well off

Righteous = the way it/one should be

Kingdom of Heaven = God in charge

Matthew 5:11-12 "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

The blessedness is not because of suffering persecution, it is because of being identified with Jesus. The deal is that humanity is supposed to live in relationship with God and to carry out God's wisdom. God's will is more important than ours the way a King's will is more important than a subject in the kingdom. For a healthy subject in a healthy kingdom, there is no conflict here. The subject trusts the king and realizes that the king's will is the best chance for good.

But for those who have rebelled against the king, a royalist is a target. Prophets in the past have been mistreated and killed because they told the truth without spin and rationalizing. Jesus gets persecuted to death for speaking the truth about the Kingdom of God. When Jesus says to "rejoice and be glad" the key is "on my account". The idea is that if you are treating like him because of him, it must mean that you really do trust him and really are loyal to him. It shows that you are meaningfully part of the Kingdom of heaven.

So, this should provide answer our original question #1

Do we want to align with God even if it means we get out of synch with those who are not aligned with God.  Is it worth it?

Being aligned with God through Jesus is good because it is right and because God will make sure that it works out in the end.

Next is the question of character. #2: Is it really possible to be of one nature (character), not mixed but consistent?  Do we want that?

Salt is used as the example.

Mat 5:13 "You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.

Pure salt is good. Salt that had things dipped into it and became mixed is not good. Godly character is good unless it is mixed up with ungodly character. The blessed life is not about just barely being 'good enough' or 'religious enough. The blessed life is being in relationship with God in such a way that we actually invest clearly and consistently in being loyal to who he is and what he says. It is good to have unmixed, godly character.

 An old strategy to have godly character is to avoid ungodly temptations. Go hide. But that doesn't work. Jesus illustrates with light from oil lamps:

Matthew 5:14-16 "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

This answers our question #3: If we do have consistency of character are we willing to let that be useful to others, not just ourselves?

Even if we do have consistent, unmixed, godly character… it is useless if it is hidden away. The point of having God's character is to fulfill our purposes in this world, which involve being useful. Godliness in a cave, literally or figuratively as in hiding in a religious ghetto, is pointless. God's restoration is not about making us useful. That requires our character to be transformed and then deployed.

Finally we get to the answer to question #4: Are we willing to trust Jesus and work out his plan for living such that we really do experience God in charge here and now (the Kingdom of Heaven)?

Matthew 5:17-20 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.  For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.  Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

The experience of living loyally before God, in the Kingdom of Heaven, is actually about hearing, obeying and promoting what God promotes. To say God is theoretically right is not helpful. To say Gold is a safe investment in economic crisis might be insightful, but it isn't much good if you just say it but don't invest in it. The investment God calls us to is himself. When we call upon him, renouncing our personal rebellion against him, we can be forgiven and brought into the family of God. The cross is Jesus dying the death of a traitor on behalf of our sedition. The resurrection shows that the Kingdom of life surpasses death. Loyalty to Christ as King is saying he is right and actually meaning it. How do we know we have meant it? We will obey with confidence that his will, his wisdom, his kingdom, is right and good.

What does that look like? The rest of Matthew chapter 5 will show how the change can meaningful take place.