On Being Thankful

I Thess 5:18 says, "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." Along with many places in the Bible, it says to be thankful all the time, in all circumstances. In theory this makes sense and is consistent with what we know about God and our relationship with him. If he loves us, is all powerful and is trustworthy, then we should always be able to be thankful. In practice, though, sometimes that is easier to do than others. When those times happen, I find it harder to thank him FOR the circumstances. In my humanity, I don't like some of the circumstances in which I find myself. What I never forget, though, is that God walks with us through the difficulties and he will make flowers out of whatever manure I am in right now. Life is messy but God is faithful. Even while I am struggling through a situation, God is trustworthy and for that I can always give thanks.

Be a Drink Offering

Paul told Timothy (in 2 Timothy 4:6) that he was being poured out like a drink offering. The first time we see it in the Bible was in Genesis 35 when Jacob is honoring God right after God promises Jacob that the promise he had given Jacob's father and grandfather would be handed down through him - that "a nation and a community of nations will come from you." Jacob builds a stone pillar and he pours out a drink offering on it.

In the Jewish tradition, a drink offering was wine that was offered to God as part of a sacrifice in the temple. They would take wine and instead of drinking it, pour it out onto the ground around the altar. I can imagine a someone seeing the wine being prepared and then poured out onto the ground thinking either the wine was bad or someone was crazy.

When we use our logic alone, it would make sense that we use the wine as it is generally used, to drink. But God works outside this world and asks us things that might not make sense - doesn't fit the mold. He asks us to take something that is not particularly special and make it special, only because he says it is special. And the wine wasn't a 'special' wine. They didn't use just the right wine with the right bouquet like a "Jerusalem Claret 0025" - they used plain table wine.

God asks us to be offerings - sacrifices - poured out for Him. Not used as we think we should, but as God asks. It won't make logical sense from the world's viewpoint - it might not even make sense from our viewpoint. But God can take the ordinary and make it extraordinary if only we let Him.

Holiness

WE, as Christians, often try to live a good life, honoring to God - we try to separate ourselves from anything that isn't about God - set apart from sin or from a focus on this world. Since "being set apart for God" is the definition of holiness, we are trying to be holy. Not trying to be a saint or totally faultless, but trying to live a life worthy of being called a Christian. This seems like a worthy goal in life but it is the wrong goal. Anytime our focus is on ourselves, even for what looks like a good reason, our focus is in the wrong place.

We tend to follow our eyes (ask any coach for baseball or tennis). If our focus is on us, then we become most important. But God doesn't love us more because we are holy, we become holy because God is in our lives. The personal holiness comes with our deepening relationship with God. It is an effect of it, rather than the cause of it. If our focus is on God, then he is most important. And who do you want to be the center of your life?

Servants and Witnesses

On the road to Damascus, Jesus talked with Paul through a vision. In that vision, Paul was told he was appointed "as a servant and as a witness" (Acts 26:16). Paul was one of the giants in the early church but his instructions were the same as ours - be a servant and then witness about God's work in our lives.

Too often I get confused as to my role here on this earth. I see the verse about bearing fruit (John 15)and then go out to decide what kind of fruit that should be. But we aren't called to figure this out. We are called to be a servant and a witness. The branch of the tree does not decide what kind of fruit to bear - that was decided from the time the seed was made, by the Creator. All too often I forget that. I get caught up in deciding if my fruit is as good as someone else's fruit. I look at what others are doing and think that my work isn't as good. Mostly I see myself as just a nut. I'm not sure why this is a difficult concept for me - that as long as my focus is on God, I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing. How simple but how easy it is for me to forget it.

Aren't you glad God loves us no matter what?

Don't Be Surprised By Troubles

Peter says, "Don't be surprised by the fiery troubles that are coming in order to test you. don't feel as though something strange is happening to you, but be happy as you share Christ's sufferings." Peter's imagery reminds us that fiery troubles will come, and they have a purpose. Isaiah says that God "has tested you in the furnace of suffering." David says in Psalms that God tested him like silver. Peter says that we shouldn't become upset or think it's strange when we experience this fire. We are tested by fire, just as as precious metal is refined by fire.

When we go through this suffering, though, God doesn't abandon us - he strengthens us. Martin Luther says, "The gospel is a powerful Word, but it cannot do its work without trials. No one will discover its power unless he experiences it. The gospel can only show its power where there is a cross and where there is suffering."

The Catholic Church has a long tradition about suffering - one that includes the concept that one cannot truly experience God's presence unless they have suffered significantly. I understand that is one of their tests for sainthood. But nobody in this culture is likely to ask to be in pain or have difficulties - most often I hear prayers that God take them away.

So it becomes an interesting conundrum - do we pray against the pain, asking God to take it away? Or do we thank Him for it because we know we grow through His walking beside us as we go through it? What do you think?

Faith - The Bridge Over Troubled Waters

Near where I live is a lovely river that runs through town. In the spring the waters run fast and present quite a spectacle. There is a foot bridge that suspends you just a few feet above a narrow waterfall. Unable to hear anything but the sound of the water, I inch out onto the swinging, narrow walkway to become immersed in the sounds, sights, smells and spray of the water. It is as close to the violence nature can create as I ever want to be.

Nearby is another bridge. I have driven over that bridge maybe once a week for the last 20 years. It is a major road through the town. There are high walls that make it difficult to even see the river. Most of the time I drive over that bridge focused on something else - usually which lane I need to find on the other side and don't even think about the fact that I was on a bridge and there is a torrent below me. Several years it was well into summer before I realized that I had missed the whole see-the-beautiful-waterfall spectacle of the spring.

Our faith - the knowledge that God loves us, knows what we need and will care for us - is sometimes like that first bridge. We are intimately aware of the power of the troubled waters of our lives and how God is providing a way over them. We may get a little wet, but will emerge unscathed despite the power of the situation. Fortunately, though, most of our "bridge" experiences become more like the second variety - we sail over them oblivious to the torrent below us - focused on where God is leading us. We learn to trust Him no matter the amount of water in the river. Our faith is being sure of what we hope for - what God has promised - and He will provide.

Why We Pray

We can't wait to pray until we feel worthy to pray. Martin Luther said, "Prayer must not be based on or depend on your personal worthiness or the quality of the prayer itself but on the unchanging truth of God's promise. If the prayer is based on itself, or on anything else besides God's promise, then it's a false prayer that deceives you. We become worthy to pray when we risk everything on God's faithfulness alone." We are only able to pray because God bridged the gap between him and us, not because we have earned the right to pray.

Just as we can't wait to pray until we feel worthy, we also can't base our desire to pray on whether or not we feel God is listening, or if we think He will answer it. God always listens, regardless of how we feel. I have heard people say that their prayers 'hit the ceiling and bounced right back down' which reflects their attitude rather than God's aptitude. And, while some people seem to have a special direct line to God in their prayers, God listens to all of us equally. There are some folks I call when I need Serious Praying done, but that doesn't mean any of us have an excuse to not pray. God hears us all and responds to all of us. He loves us! He has given us promises - which He always keeps!

Prayer is sharing our thoughts, desires, feelings, and fears with our Father who loves us fully and without reservation. There isn't anything better than that.