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Being and Doing

Shutterstock_42810049 I love it when people take the prophet Micah's words seriously. In chapter six of his book in the Hebrew Bible, Micah reveals the traits that God is looking to be demonstrated by a man or a woman…His criteria indicate whether or not their heart is in alignment with His.


He has showed you, O man, what is good.
       And what does the LORD require of you?
       To act justly and to love mercy
       and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)

There is a two-fold path in that thought. First there is a doing act, yes? God says it is good when we act justly. There are actions of justice that God loves to see us perform in His name, and in His Spirit. To engage in helping humanity…to make a difference in the lives of people…to act in a way that is compassionate and just, or right.

This right action has a source. The source is love. He continues and notes that the person who makes God smile also loves mercy. Isn't that an interesting way to put ity? To, "love mercy?" Why didn't God say through Micah that we should also act merciful,, or show mercy? That would seem to fit with the first thought of acting justly. Yet, He notes that we should move towards mercy, but we move to mercy through the conduit of love. 

When we are bitten by love, there is nothing that we won't do for the focus of that love. Men and women have been scaling mountains and doing some of the strangest things since the beginning of time in the name of love. Love is the pinnacle of our emotions, it is the highest action in the human arsenal.

There have been wars fought and won over love…The greatest sacrifice the world has ever experienced was done for you in Christ out of God's great love.

I sense that God knows that if we came to a place where we actually loved mercy, not merely for our own sake, but towards others, this world would be a radically different place. Micah didn't note that we are to only love mercy for some issues or towards some people…that would be easy. Rather Micah is revealing that we are called to have an orientation of love that is demonstrated in mercy…not just showing mercy…but having a heart that loves it, is committed to it…has been transformed and can act in no other way. 

Micah quickly notes that not only are we to have a A heart that loves mercy, but there is another orientation enable action involved…to walk humbly with God. Here he says that God loves a heart that understands the power of humility…a heart that is honest about itself, no pretense, no hiding, complete honesty. That takes an incredible amount of trust that God is good and can be trusted with your flaws, deficiencies, sins and brokenness. That takes a heart that believes that God is for you and will not become the critical parent always asking you to perform or to do better…Here, Micah reveals that the better only comes from a place of total-being with God.

Brother Lawrence, who was a monk in the Carmelite order in France in the 1600's. He wrote a series of letters that have become a classic read called "The Practice of the Presence of God.Somehow, Brother Lawrence was able to authentically examine his heart, life and motives, find the darkness that resided there, yet be able to find the love and grace and mercy of God in His presence.

Most people hide from shame or guilt when they realize that they are not performing well or as they should. Rather than bring those flaws into the light or presence of God or others, they run from the love that they need, and slowly the guilt and shame harden their emotions and they are unable to give or receive love.

Read as brother Lawrence moves between an honest assessment of his heart and the loving presence of God:

"I consider myself as the most miserable of all human beings, covered with sores, foul, and guilty of crimes against my King; moved not sincere remorse I confess all my sins to him. I ask him pardon and abandon myself into his hands so he can do with me as he pleases. Far from chastising me, this King, full of goodness and mercy, lovingly embraces me, seats me at his table, waits on me himself, gives me they keys to his treasures, and treats me in all things as his favorite; he converses with me and takes delight in my countless ways…Although I beg him to fashion me according to his heart, I see myself still weaker and miserable, yet even more caressed by God."

What I see in operation in the church today is a missionality that is separated from the centeredness of being in love with and loved by Christ. We are seeing a large "Doing" movement which is good, but still not what God is looking for. A "Doing" church or person, is merely acting religiously instead of being a living sacrament of an incarnational person.

If we are to move deeper into the kingdom of God, the movement is predicated upon a true relationship of love and not an intellectual to-do list.

In order to love mercy and walk humbly with God, we need to experience a radical transformation of our heart…the Good News is that that is exactly what Christ came to do…a total transformation of your heart so that we could begin to not only do good actions…but have those actions flow from a place of being totally loved and accepted by God. God's unconditional love results is a gift of mercy…when we experience mercy, we begin to love mercy and desire that the world experiences the same liberating and healing presence of God.

Being and Doing; both are necessary, but the doing must flow from the being. When that happens we will all finally experience real love, and when you have tasted that, there is no going back.

Dei Gratia

Monty

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Can You Drink the Cup? -1

The_cup_cu Sharing something to drink is an invitation to intimacy…

Their request bobbed upon the surface. James and John, the sons of thunder, each wanted to sit on the right and left of Jesus when he was seated in his kingly position, but they didn't understand the full force of the conversation that they had started. Beneath the surface there was an invitation to experience the depths of God that would require faith, hope and love.

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Mark 10:35-40 (NIV) 35Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. "Teacher," they said, "we want you to do for us whatever we ask."  36"What do you want me to do for you?" he asked.  37They replied, "Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory."  38"You
don't know what you are asking," Jesus said. "Can you drink the cup I
drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?"  39"We
can," they answered. Jesus said to them, "You will drink the cup I
drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 40but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared."

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I wonder, was Jesus holding a cup while this conversation was happening? As He  swirled the contents of they cup, perhaps James and John thought, "sure, no problem, that's easy…in fact I'll have a sip right now!" But Jesus meant a different cup.

They also knew all about Jesus' baptism by John in the Jordan river, and they too had experienced John's ministry…however, Jesus was talking about a completely different cup, and a wholly different baptism.

The cup was a cup of sacrifice, agony and selflessness predicated by Divine love and compassion.This cup would cost everything. This cup was a humble cup that didn't focus on position, status or power, but on love. This cup was bitter to the tongue, but had a sweet after-taste.

The baptism wasn't about water, but about the abiding presence and indwelling of the Trinity by the power and agency of the Holy Spirit. The only way a person can drink a selfless sacrificial cup is through the abiding presence in our hearts of the One who drank it first, Jesus. The Holy Spirit multiplies the resurrected and ascended Christ into every heart who trusts and believes that Jesus is the Christ by faith…this is the baptism of the Holy Spirit into the life and family of God.

It was true, they would drink sacrificial cups, giving their lives in the mission of their Lord, and they would be filled and baptized into the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost…but who sits to the right and the left of Jesus, well, that belongs to the Father and the Spirit.

When we share a drink together, when we share a cup together, there is so much more going on than meets the eye. To drink together is to enter into each others story. It is intimate, relational and beautiful. In  Henry Nouwen's book "Can You Drink This Cup" he states:

"In whatever country or culture we find ourselves, having a drink together is a sign of friendship, intimacy, and peace. Being thirsty is often not the main reason to drink. We drink to "break the   ice," to enter into a conversation, to show good intention, to express friendship and goodwill, to  set the stage for a romantic moment, to be open, vulnerable, accessible. It is no surprise that people who are angry at us, or who come to accuse or harass us, won't accept a drink from us. They would rather say: "I will come straight to the point of my being here." Refusing a drink is avoiding  intimacy." p. 80

Can you drink the cup? This is a choice that has been extended to us by the hands of grace. Yes, we can drink the cup, the question is -will we drink the cup? Refusing the drink is to avoid intimacy, accepting the drink expands the God-conversation.

In another very powerful way Jesus drank the bitter cup, so that we could drink the sweet cup of life. This reminds me that when life is hard, when it seems that the cup is beyond bitter, even then, there is the potential for sweetness if we allow Jesus to enter in.

I see this in the story of the bitter water at Marah in Exodus 15. As the Children of Israel crossed the Red Sea and began their journey, the first drinking spot the came to had water that was bitter (Marah means bitter). As the complained about the bad drinking water, God had a remedy:

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 Exodus 15:22-25

"22 Then Moses led Israel
from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days
they traveled in the desert without finding water. 23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah. ) 24 So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What are we to drink?"  25
Then Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of
wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet."

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When the drink was bitter, God showed Moses that there was a piece of wood that when added to the bad water source transformed it into sweet, good drinking water.

This is a picture of Calvary, of the Cross of Christ. Are you experiencing a bad drink, a bitter cup? Then, apply the wood of Jesus sacrifice, by accepting His sacrifice for you, and then even the bitterest of drinks have hope and light and life! Nothing is beyond the redemption of Christ's love.

Nouwen also says:

"We have to drink our cup slowly, tasting every mouthful-all the way to the bottom. Living a  complete life is drinking our cup until it is empty, trusting that God will fill it with everlasting life." p. 93

The cup is a celebration of what it means to be human…to be fully alive…may you drink to abundance this Easter.

Dei Gratia

Pastor Monty

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This Christmas…

Christmas-tree

I came across a Christmas card this year that I truly like. Instead of the traditional scenes, verses, or holiday metaphors, it was simply words. Words crafted into a set of actions that transform the one who would invest the time and heart to actually live them out. Take a moment out of your busy Christmas schedule and breathe deeply…ask God to speak to you, then slowly read through the Christmas message.

Merry Christmas,

Monty

This Christmas…

mend a quarrel…seek out a forgotten friend…write a love letter…share some treasure…give a soft answer…encourage youth…keep a promise…find the time…forgive an enemy…listen…apologize if you were wrong…think first of someone else…be kind and gentle…laugh a little…laugh a little more…express your gratitude…gladden the heart of a child…take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth…speak your love…speak it again…speak it still once again.

~anonymous

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God In The Doorway…

As Christmas is approaching, I find myself indulging in a story that always re-centers my soul, and reminds me that the scenarios my mind creates often need adjusting! Each year I re-read God In The Doorway, which is found in Annie Dillard's book, Teaching A Stone To Talk." Sit back, and absorb 🙂

MC

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Teaching A Stone To Talk
God In The Doorway

One
cold Christmas Eve I was up unnaturally late because we had all gone
out to dinner-my parents, my baby sister, and I. We had come home to a
warm living room, and Christmas Eve. Our stockings drooped from the
mantle; beside them, a special table bore a bottle of ginger ale and a
plate of cookies.

I had taken off my fancy winter coat and was
standing on the heat register to bake my shoe soles and warm my bare
legs. There was a commotion at the front door; it opened, and cold
winter blew around my dress.

Everyone was calling me. “Look who’s
here! Look who’s here!” I looked. It was Santa Claus. Whom I
never-ever-wanted to meet. Santa Claus was looming in the doorway and
looking around for me. My mother’s voice was thrilled: “Look who’s
here!” I ran upstairs.

Like everyone in his right mind, I feared
Santa Claus, thinking he was God. I was still thoughtless and brute,
reactive. I knew right from wrong, but had barely tested the
possibility of shaping my own behavior, and then only from fear, and
not yet from love. Santa Claus was an old man whom you never saw, but
who nevertheless saw you; he knew when you’d been bad or good. He knew
when you’d been bad or good! And I had been bad.

My mother called
and called, enthusiastic, pleading; I wouldn’t come down. My father
encouraged me; my sister howled. I wouldn’t come down, but I could bend
over the stairwell and see: Santa Claus stood in the doorway with night
over his shoulder, letting in all the cold air of the sky; Santa Claus
stood in the doorway monstrous and bright, powerless, ringing a loud
bell and repeating Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas. I never came down.
I don’t know who ate the cookies.

For so many years now I have
known that this Santa Claus was actually a rigged-up Miss White, who
lived across the street, that I confuse the dramatis personae in my
mind, making Santa Claus, God, and Miss White an awesome, vulnerable
trinity. This is really a story about Miss White.

Miss White was
old; she lived alone in the big house across the street. She liked
having me around; she plied me with cookies, taught me things about the
world, and tried to interest me in finger painting, in which she
herself took great pleasure. She would set up easels in her kitchen,
tack enormous slick soaking papers to their frames, and paint
undulating undersea scenes: horizontal smears of color sparked by
occasional vertical streaks which were understood to be fixed kelp. I
liked her. She meant no harm on earth, and yet half a year after her
failed visit as Santa Claus, I ran from her again.

That day, a
day of the following summer, Miss White and I knelt in her yard while
she showed me a magnifying glass. It was a large, strong hand lens. She
lifted my hand and, holding it very still, focused a dab of sunshine on
my palm. The glowing crescent wobbled, spread, and finally contracted
to a point. It burned; I was burned; I ripped my hand away and ran home
crying. Miss White called after me, sorry, explaining, but I didn’t
look back.

Even now I wonder: if I meet God, will he take and
hold my bare hand in his, and focus his eye on my palm, and kindle that
spot and let me burn?

But no. It is I who misunderstood
everything and let everybody down. Miss White, God, I am sorry I ran
from you. I am still running, running from that knowledge, that eye,
that love from which there is no refuge. For you meant only love, and
love, and I felt only fear, and pain. So once in Israel love came to us
incarnate, stood in the doorway between two worlds, and we were all
afraid.

*Taken from…"Teaching a Stone to Talk" by Annie Dillard