Marvelous or Ho-Hum?

After thinking about Sunday’s sermon on the “marvelous faith” of the centurion, I looked up some of the other “marvelous” thoughts in the Bible:

• Job 5:9- “[God] does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number.”
• Psalm 98:1- “Oh sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done marvelous things! His right hand and His holy arm have worked salvation for Him.”
• Luke 4:22- “And all spoke well of Him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from His mouth. And they said, ‘Is not this Joseph’s son?’”
• Matthew 8:27- “And the men marveled, saying, ‘What sort of man is this, that even the winds and sea obey Him?’”

Nearly every reference in Scripture to something “marvelous” is about what God has done or is doing, and about half refer specifically to things Jesus did while on earth. That made me wonder—what marvelous things have I seen recently? All too often my observations of the world and events around me are either half-hearted or cynical. As one character on M*A*S*H asked, “What was the last thing you approved of, besides your birth?”

Looking at our sinful society, broken families, and wounded churches, it’s easy to become cynical and focus only on everything that is going wrong and to lose sight of what God is doing all around us. I’ve been rereading The Genesee Diary by Henri Nouwen, about the months that he spent living in a Trappist monastery in New York. One of the brothers there was alive with joy as he talked about the amazing rain, birds, trees, flowers, and everything he saw around him. He was enraptured by the glory of God revealed in everyday experiences. I have to say I’m not there yet. Most of us are probably too caught up in making it through another day and feel we don’t have time to stop and smell the roses or to thank God for life itself.

Besides the seemingly small things of nature (if you can call a sunrise small), and the bigger things of what God is doing in our churches and families, there are many marvelous claims in Scripture that should make us exclaim God’s greatness. One in particular has been on my mind lately: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). Not only are we chosen by God, but we are also called into service, made holy in Christ, and we belong to God. And the reason for that is so that we can proclaim who God is, how great He is, and what He has done for us and made available to others. That’s a pretty staggering thought if you dwell on it awhile!

You would think we would be amazed on a daily basis, and yet we aren’t. There are probably several reasons for this, but I think the primary reason is that we take it all for granted. As a toddler, every dandelion was a new thrill. As a new Christian, every new idea in Scripture was an astounding discovery. But after awhile the thrill wears off. We’ve seen it before, heard it before, and maybe even preached it before. There’s nothing new or exciting to catch our attention. I suspect this is a cause for some preachers to spend more time speaking on current events than they do on Scripture.

As the Bible frequently repeats, we need to have “eyes that see and ears that hear.” We need to take a fresh look at the world in general and a fresh look at Scripture in particular. The God of the universe communicated His Word to men to be recorded for our benefit. He sent His own Son to be the Word incarnate and to make a way for us to know Him intimately. Creation speaks the glory of the Lord. As Paul said in Romans 1:20, we are without excuse if we don’t see what God has done.

May we lift up our heads, open our eyes, and marvel at the works of the Lord! And then “Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all the peoples!” (Psalm 96:3).

Have We Forgotten?

The movie The Lion King is an interesting allegory for life. As I’m sure you remember, Scar arranges for the death of Mufasa, and then convinces Simba that it is his fault and that he should run away rather than facing the penalty. We’ve been deceived by our own sin or the sins of others, and we run from God and hide because of shame and guilt (like Adam and Eve). We do our best to forget the past and move on with life. We may even be living the good life (like the prodigal son) at least for a time. But eventually God breaks through our defenses and finds us where we’re hiding (not that we can ever really hide from God).

One scene from the movie comes to my mind fairly often. Simba, out in the wilderness and far from home, has a vision of his father. King Mufasa says to him, “You have forgotten who you are and so have forgotten me.” How often does God say the same thing to us? We’re children of the King of kings, heirs of the kingdom, and yet we’re living in the wilderness like orphans. Forgetful wilderness living has several characteristics we could focus on. I’ll highlight just a few.

1) Lack of obedience. It was sin that caused Adam and Eve to hide from God in the garden, and sin begets sin. If you’re hiding from God out of fear, what is the likelihood that you’re seeking to do His will? How can you even seek His will if you don’t want to seek Him? The two go hand in hand. James writes, “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like” (1:23-24). I suspect many churches are full of people who hear the Word regularly but are not inclined to seek the Lord. They may be doing the “basics” of the Christian life, but they don’t care to be in intimate relationship with the Father, perhaps out of fear of judgment, or fear that God will rock them out of their comfortable little boat.

2) Lack of growth. The Apostle Peter explains, “For whoever lacks these qualities [faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, affection, love] is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins” (2 Peter 1:5-9). Paul David Tripp writes, “They have lost sight of their identity in Christ, so they do not realize the resources that are theirs. Because of this, they fail to live with hope, faith, and courage” (Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands, 262). Though we have a Father who forgives us readily (1 John 1:9), it’s easy to forget that we are forgiven. Memories of the past bring up the same feelings of guilt and shame, and we get stuck in the mire all over again. When that happens, the opportunities for growth are limited. It’s kind of like the student who gets so torn up by the test he failed that he doesn’t pay attention to the new material being taught. We can’t live in the past, but some of us certainly try to.

3) Lack of joy. When Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden, they lost the intimate communion they had with the Father. Work became toil. Life wasn’t the same joyful, carefree existence they’d had before. When the prodigal son left home, he may have had some fun times until the money ran out, but pretty soon he was yearning for what he’d left behind. Whether you’re consumed with shameful memories or yearning for the “good ol’ days” (or both), you aren’t enjoying the blessings that are available for today.

Having wandered through some wilderness experiences (hopefully not for 40 years like the Israelites), I’d share a few recommendations:

1) Remember who God is. As our Creator, Redeemer, and Father, He knows us better than we know ourselves, and He loves us anyway.

2) Remember who you are in Christ. We are forgiven, loved, chosen, adopted, heirs, and children of God. We can “approach the throne of grace with confidence” (Heb. 4:12) because of what Jesus did for us by dying on the cross.

3) Forget the past and move forward in obedience. As the writer of Hebrews put it, “Let us lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1-2). And in Paul’s words, “Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13-14). This kind of forgetfulness is the result of having the right focus. Only when we’re focused on God can the past fall away and stop tripping us up. Focusing on Christ also enables us to discern the truth and avoid future deception so that we may “be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil” (Romans 16:19). As soon as we take our eyes off of Christ and focus on self or others we’re likely to veer off the right path.

It would be nice if once you became a Christian the road was straight and smooth, with guardrails to keep you going the right direction. But instead we go over mountains, through deserts, and maybe even under oceans. Some of the obstacles are of our own making when we wander off the road. Some are created by the enemy to divert our attention. But all are allowed by the Father as means to bring us to greater reliance on Him. Lord, let us fix our eyes on You today and every day!

Purposeful Living

I shared the following quote by Dominique Voillaume on Facebook recently, and I have continued to think about it:
“If God wants it to, my life will be useful through my word and witness. If He wants it to, my life will bear fruit through my prayers and sacrifices. But the usefulness of my life is His concern, not mine. It would be indecent of me to worry about that. 

But the fact is that I do worry about that more often than not. Perhaps it goes back to the subconscious assumption that I have to “earn my keep,” never mind the fact that God chose me to be part of His family before I ever did anything for Him. The truth is that He’s made me a member of His Body and has given me a specific function whether I feel like I’m useful or not. All too often I find myself wondering what my purpose is and if I’m being useful or even usable. So I took a look at what Scripture says about God’s purpose for us. Here are a few verses (italics added):

• Romans 8:28-29: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers.”
• Ephesians 1:5, 10-12: “He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, …as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth. In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of His glory.”
• Ephesians 3:10-11: “…so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that He has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
• 2 Timothy 1:9-11: “…who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of His own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher.”

From these examples we can see several purposes God has given us as believers: 1) To become like Jesus, 2) To give Him praise and glory, 3) To bring others into unity with Him, 4) To share His wisdom with the world, and 5) To serve Him with the specific gifts and abilities we have been given. (All of these can be summarized into the top two commandments—love God and love people.)

I think we tend to jump to number five and overlook the first two. God calls us first and foremost into relationship with Him for our own salvation and growth into maturity in the likeness of Christ. God never said, “I’ll save Dawn because I know she is key to saving Sally, Susie and Sam.” It’s not a numbers game. He doesn’t need us to do anything for Him, though our work will be a result of the Spirit’s work in and through us. So the question I ask myself is how much time and attention do I give to my own spiritual growth? I know I go through cycles of apathy, interest, dedication, and frustration. I’ve read that pastors spend so much time preparing for what they are going to preach and teach others that they tend to neglect their own development (though we have to remember that we’re in this together and what benefits the Body can also benefit the pastor and vice versa). I need to continually seek those devotional aids and opportunities that will strengthen my faith, hope and love.

The second question that comes to mind is how much attention I give to opportunities to praise and worship God? As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, worship is our response to what God has done, and is not necessarily dependent on set times and places. At the same time, I often need those established times to remind me to set aside all my busyness and remember who God is. If giving God praise and glory is one of my primary purposes in life, I need to look for opportunities both to thank God for what He has done and is doing and to share that with others.

I’ve recently gone through some steps in identifying my specific roles in the Body, though I still tend to question at times whether I’m fulfilling God’s purpose for me. So I have to go back to Voillaume’s quote and remind myself that God is the one who makes me both usable and useful. The question is whether I trust Him enough to let Him do His work and believe that “He is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me” (2 Timothy 1:12) and that “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). Some days that’s easier said than believed.

As Brennan Manning wrote in The Signature of Jesus, “If I ask myself, ‘What am I doing walking around this planet? Why do I exist?’ as a disciple of Jesus I must answer, ‘For the sake of Christ.’”

Fellow Ragamuffins

I’ll admit it—I hear voices. I have conversations in my head, sometimes with real people and sometimes imaginary. This week I was imagining sitting next to Brennan Manning on an airplane. That scenario is an impossibility since this messenger of Love passed away last month, which I just learned today. I was blessed to hear Brennan speak at Bethel College in 1993, and was moved by his description of a God who loves us unconditionally. In a few brief quotes from The Ragamuffin Gospel:

• “You may be insecure, inadequate, mistaken, or potbellied. Death, panic, depression, and disillusionment may be near you. But you are not just that. You are accepted. Never confuse your perception of yourself with the mystery that you really are accepted.” (25)
• “To believe deeply, as Jesus did, that God is present and at work in human life is to understand that I am a beloved child of this father and hence, free to trust… To trust Abba, both in prayer and life, is to stand in childlike openness before a mystery of gracious love and acceptance.” (74)
• “How difficult it is to be honest, to accept that I am unacceptable, to renounce self-justification, to give up the pretense that my prayers, spiritual insight, tithing, and successes in ministry have made me pleasing to God! No antecedent beauty enamors me in his eyes. I am lovable only because he loves me.” (83)
• “We should be astonished at the goodness of God, stunned that he should bother to call us by name, our mouths wide open at his love, bewildered that at this very moment we are standing on holy ground.” (102)

I could go on for pages with quotes. But to get back to my imaginary conversation with Brennan—after the introductions (“Hi, I’m Dawn. I’m a great sinner loved by a greater Savior.”), the question that comes to mind is, “How can we forget? How is it that we can encounter God and then forget about His grace?” I’m sure I’m not the only one and probably not even in the minority. Somehow we get sidetracked and forget that God loved us long before we did anything for Him. We start trying to earn the love that He has freely bestowed on us. As I was rereading The Ragamuffin Gospel today, I found Brennan’s response:

“At some point in each of our lives, we were deeply touched by a profound encounter with Jesus Christ… We were deeply moved for a few hours, days, or weeks, and eventually returned to the routine occupations of our daily existence… Slowly we got caught up in the demands of ministry or career and the distractions our busy world offers. We began to treat Jesus like the old friend from Brooklyn whom we dearly loved in years past but have gradually lost track of… It is possible we may never love anyone as much as we loved him, but even the memory has grown dim… Just as the failure to be attentive dissolves confidence and communion in a human relationship, so inattention to the Holy unravels the fabric of the divine relationship… We settle in and settle down to lives of comfortable piety and well-fed virtue. We grow complacent and lead practical lives. Our feeble attempts at prayer are filled with stilted phrases addressed to an impassive deity. Even times of worship become trivialized… The forgiveness of God is gratuitous liberation from guilt. Paradoxically, the conviction of personal sinfulness becomes the occasion of encounter with the merciful love of the redeeming God… In his brokenness, the repentant prodigal knew an intimacy with the father that his sinless, self-righteous brother would never know.” (185-188)

What I hear Brennan saying to me and to all of us is this—it doesn’t matter how you forgot, or how far away you wandered. What’s important is that when you do remember, you go running back to the arms of the Father. He has been watching and waiting for you, and He keeps sending you little reminders of His love until you do remember. We have this misguided belief that the Christian life is a constant upward spiral toward perfection, conveniently forgetting that even the disciples kept falling off the path even while they had God incarnate walking beside them! One thing I will often remember (when I’m not busy forgetting) is God’s voice speaking through Brennan saying, “I expect more failure from you than you expect from yourself.”

So in his own words, “On the last day when Jesus calls me by name, ‘Come, Brennan, blessed of my Father,’ it will not be because Abba is just, but because his name is mercy.” Lord, thank You for blessing us with a ragamuffin to remind us of Your amazing love and grace!

Worship Distractions

I think we’d all agree that there are things that can distract us from the experience of worship. Thinking specifically of Sunday mornings, we may get distracted by crying babies, technical difficulties, music styles, worries from the week past or the week to come, etc. When we speak of worship leaders, we are usually referring to the musical worship, and we may judge the music to be not “worshipful” enough or just not our style, and we label anyone who is “different.”

But something new occurred to me this week. Though we may say that the music “distracted me from worship,” have you ever had times when worship distracted you from the music? That’s what happened to me Sunday. As we opened the service with prayer, my prayer was “Fill my emptiness.” Then during the music the phrase “fill my life again” came up in one of the songs “coincidentally.” In that moment, I was aware of nothing but God’s filling presence and power. That phrase could have occurred in any of a hundred different songs or Scriptures, and the style of music had nothing to do with my worship. For at least a brief moment, worship distracted me from the music and everything else.

I wonder what it would take for us to realize that as the true definition of worship? Worship is not a programmed set of events or a specific time of the week. Worship is our response to God’s invitation to know Him, love Him, and experience His presence in our lives each and every day. Worship—focusing on God—should distract us from our problems, priorities, and preferences. If any of those things are distracting us from “worshiping,” our focus is on the wrong person (either ourselves or others).

It’s understandable that we get distracted. After all, we are fallen people living in a fallen world. And when we come together for corporate worship, it is good to try to minimize the distractions as much as we are able. But even the best of human actions can’t guarantee that we will become fully aware of God’s presence for that period of time. It’s not that God isn’t there (since we know He is everywhere), or that we are not pleasing to Him (because He loves us more than we know). The biggest problem is that we are trying to look through a glass that is clouded by doubt, fear, misconceptions, self-centeredness, and every other form of sin. Once in awhile God clears a little spot in the glass and we get a glimpse of His glory. It may happen in a worship service or in the beauty of nature, while listening to the radio in rush hour traffic or holding a newborn baby, while singing, praying, reading, serving, or simply being still.

My challenge for myself (and anyone who wants to join me) is to make every effort to focus my attention on the One who is worthy of all worship, and to let go of all that would distract me from Him. That may require some changes in priorities and practices. I need to spend more time in prayer and less time watching TV. I need to read more books that remind me of who God is and fewer books that are only vaguely entertaining. I need to stop judging those who are different from me and start seeking the One who calls us all His children. I need to prepare my heart and mind for worship by confessing my sin and remembering His love and forgiveness. And I need to pray for myself and others who are assembling for worship that we will be led to seek His face. (Another “coincidence”—as I finished writing this the radio in the office was playing Matt Redman’s “Heart of Worship. See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-Zp586pvZg )

 

“Sing to the Lord, bless His name; tell of His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all the peoples! For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, He is to be feared above all gods…Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; tremble before Him, all the earth!” (Psalm 96:2-4,9).