"Hope that is deferred makes the heart sick..." Prov 13
"The spirit of a man will endure his sickness,
but as for a broken spirit who can bear it?" Prov 18
Fatalism is giving up, it's a crushed spirit. It's the logical outcome to crushed hopes. It's learned helplessness: an experiment some sadist did with dogs years ago where they electrified the cage, not enough to kill, just enough to hurt, and watched to see what happened. At first the dog tries to fight and flee but eventually it figures out there is nothing it can do, so it just lies down. To my mind a Christian, a Bible believing follower of Christ is actually more susceptible to it, not less than a pagan. Pagans can surely have it, the human heart is a hope factory. We want, we desire but time and resources often mean we have to put off what we want, work for it, wait for it and despite what Disney tells us, dreams don't often come true nor when they do are they all we thought they'd be. But a Christian has promises! A Christian has the Bible and the Bible is chock full of wonderful things we hope for. A Christian has REASONS to hope! Proofs! A God who can do all things! Who has plans for us to prosper us and not harm, to give us a future and a hope! We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us! Let's go win the world for Christ! Go Team!
But time and resources... we live a little, we see disappointments, honeymoons become work-a-day, seasons pass, seasons come and nothing much seems to change under the sun. We learn other verses, we learn that in this life we will have affliction, we learn that those whom God loves, he also chastens, we learn that the Potter has every right to do with the clay what He wants. Despite all our prayers: she leaves; he never comes home; we lose the house; the child dies; the verdict does come back, 'cancer'; that friend rejects Jesus..and us; we hear of wars and rumors of wars and atrocities and sexual bondage; and oh by the way, we never seem to get a handle on that sin either do we and we begin to wonder...
But no, we're too good of Christians to wonder that! We keep getting up and doing our duty. We keep on keeping on. The son becomes a soldier. The soldier becomes a servant. The servant becomes a slave. We go to church. We tithe. We go to Bible study and fellowship and read the word and can even debate it. We pay our taxes. We take care of our families. We endeavor to live quiet lives. We sing the songs...
But why does that one make us cry? Why when our coworker is really, truly suffering apart from Christ do we say, "I wish there was something I could do to help, something I could say."? Why do some verses in the Bible make us angry? Heck, we're angry all the time! Why is that? And we begin to wonder....
But no, there's stuff to do. Work, work, work. Come home tired enough to crash on the couch and lose ourselves in some binge-watching, ballgame, a good book, porn...or run, run, run, this kid has to go there, that kid has to go here, whose kid is that? Crap! We have more kids? Why the heck did we have so many kids? Work called, gotta go, go, go, the guys called, i need some time with them, play some golf, have a beer and b***h about our lives, our wives, our work, and talk about the old days, before, when we were young and life looked big and amazing and we had such...
hope.
(to be continued)
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 25, 2018
Saturday, November 04, 2017
Plow some ground
Parallels. Associations. This post will begin where it ends. Asking the question, what is the work involved in seeking Yahweh now? When we read the Bible (we do read the Bible, right?) do we just walk over it, picking what we want out of it when we feel the need or do we put our necks into the traces and pull and dig the plow deeper, break it, sweat over it, grunt and groan with the Master trying to understand it?
i don't know which one i do. Probably depends on the day and my tiredness. But here is a passage i read this morning and the raw excerpt from my journal on it. If it edifies, use it; if not, leave it alone. Nothing to see here. Move along, move along....
"Ephraim was a trained heifer,
that loved to thresh grain,
and I myself spared
the fairness of her neck;
I will make Ephraim break the ground,
Judah will plow,
Jacob must till for himself.
Sow for yourselves righteousness;
reap loyal love.
Break up for yourself fallow ground;
it is time to seek Yahweh
so he will come and rain
righteousness upon you.
You have plowed wickedness,
you have reaped injustice,
you have eaten the fruit of lies,
because you have trusted in your strength,
in the multitude of your warriors." Hosea 10
Threshing grain for a cow is easy work. You merely walk around on it. And if you’re not muzzled, you can even eat when you want to. Pick from what you are threshing. A joy to work. Easy work. Work, yes, but rewarding and peaceful. Not so plowing. The ground is hard and full of rocks and there is nothing to eat. The yoke is hard upon the neck and your straining which the whip and the goad keep you at, is back breaking and exhausting. You go to the stall spent, sweating and heaving and aching and there is no immediate reward which would matter to an ox.
Adam worked for his meals in the garden. He chose and picked them. But it grew on its own. It was there to be had. The work was pleasant. The reward instant. The joy present. He was cast out and the ground was cursed and no more would it yield for him. No more would he dig with his hand and plant with his foot. No more would the birds leave his scattered seed upon the surface. No more would the weeds keep their place and obey their boundaries. No more would the mist come in the morning faithful and gentle and kind and refresh the land. Now the rains came when they willed and they were hard and the mud was as much impediment as useful. Work is work now. And there is little joy in it.
The passage draws a parallel from working the ground to working the heart. Is it harder to believe now? Is it harder not to sin now? Is it harder to obey? Is it more work to serve Yahweh than it was before?
Saturday, April 15, 2017
What is the church in the time between? Working, watching and waiting...
What is the church in the time between?
"“A little while and you will see me no more, and again a little while and you will see me. So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he is saying to us, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going away to the Father’?” So they kept on saying, “What is this that he is saying, ‘A little while’? We do not understand what he is speaking about!”
Jesus knew that they were wanting to ask him, and he said to them, “Are you deliberating with one another about this—that I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? Truly, truly I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will change to joy. A woman, when she gives birth, experiences pain because her hour has come. But when her child is born, she no longer remembers the affliction, on account of the joy that a human being has been born into the world. So you also are experiencing sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy from you." John 16
“You must be prepared for action and your lamps burning. And you, be like people who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that when he comes back and knocks, they can open the door for him immediately. Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he returns! Truly I say to you that he will dress himself for service and have them recline at the table and will come by and serve them. Even if he should come back in the second or in the third watch of the night and find them like this, blessed are they! But understand this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not think he will come.”
And Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us, or also for everyone?” And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful wise manager whom the master will put in charge over his servants to give them their food allowance at the right time? Blessed is that slave whom his master will find so doing when he comes back. Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions." Luke 12
"“A little while and you will see me no more, and again a little while and you will see me. So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he is saying to us, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going away to the Father’?” So they kept on saying, “What is this that he is saying, ‘A little while’? We do not understand what he is speaking about!”
Jesus knew that they were wanting to ask him, and he said to them, “Are you deliberating with one another about this—that I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? Truly, truly I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will change to joy. A woman, when she gives birth, experiences pain because her hour has come. But when her child is born, she no longer remembers the affliction, on account of the joy that a human being has been born into the world. So you also are experiencing sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy from you." John 16
“You must be prepared for action and your lamps burning. And you, be like people who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that when he comes back and knocks, they can open the door for him immediately. Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he returns! Truly I say to you that he will dress himself for service and have them recline at the table and will come by and serve them. Even if he should come back in the second or in the third watch of the night and find them like this, blessed are they! But understand this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not think he will come.”
And Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us, or also for everyone?” And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful wise manager whom the master will put in charge over his servants to give them their food allowance at the right time? Blessed is that slave whom his master will find so doing when he comes back. Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions." Luke 12
Sunday, March 26, 2017
What is the church? Faithful servants.
What is the church? And what can we liken it to in Genesis 39?
"Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, a court official of Pharaoh, commander of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the hand of the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. And Yahweh was with Joseph, and he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. And his master observed that Yahweh was with him, and everything that was in his hand to do Yahweh made successful. And Joseph found favor in his eyes and he served him. Then he appointed him over his house and all that he owned he put into his hand. And it happened that from the time he appointed him over his house and over all that he had, Yahweh blessed the house of the Egyptian on account of Joseph. And the blessing of Yahweh was upon all that he had in the house and in the field. And he left all that he had in the hand of Joseph, and he did not worry about anything except the food that he ate."
"And Joseph’s master took him and put him into prison, the place that the king’s prisoners were confined. And he was there in prison. And Yahweh was with Joseph, and showed loyal love to him, and gave him favor in the eyes of the chief of the prison. And the chief of the prison put all the prisoners that were in the prison into the hand of Joseph. And everything that was done there, he was the one who did it. The chief of the prison did not worry about anything in his hand, since Yahweh was with him. And whatever he did Yahweh made it successful."
Wherever the church is, whether God blessed it with the choice of careers and mission fields in which to serve or whether God is testing her with less than ideal circumstances and even suffering, one thing should mark those who know Yahweh and are known and loved by Him:
The church should endeavor to be the most loyal, the most beneficial, the most honest, the most worthy servant we can be there for as long as we are there. Employers, employees, co-workers and customers should all be able to stand on the last day and praise God for how we treated them.
"Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ, not while being watched, as people pleasers, but as slaves of Christ doing the will of God from the heart, serving with goodwill as to the Lord and not to people, because you know that each one of you, whatever good he should do, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free. And masters, do the same things to them, giving up threats, knowing that both their Lord and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with him." Ephesians 6
For the church should not motivated by money, the praise of men, worldly ambition or laziness. The church are those chosen to serve in the same love they have been served.
"So when he had washed their feet and taken his outer clothing and reclined at table again, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done for you? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you speak correctly, for I am. If then I—your Lord and Teacher—wash your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that just as I have done for you, you also do. Truly, truly I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you understand these things, you are blessed if you do them." John 13
"Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, a court official of Pharaoh, commander of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the hand of the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. And Yahweh was with Joseph, and he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. And his master observed that Yahweh was with him, and everything that was in his hand to do Yahweh made successful. And Joseph found favor in his eyes and he served him. Then he appointed him over his house and all that he owned he put into his hand. And it happened that from the time he appointed him over his house and over all that he had, Yahweh blessed the house of the Egyptian on account of Joseph. And the blessing of Yahweh was upon all that he had in the house and in the field. And he left all that he had in the hand of Joseph, and he did not worry about anything except the food that he ate."
"And Joseph’s master took him and put him into prison, the place that the king’s prisoners were confined. And he was there in prison. And Yahweh was with Joseph, and showed loyal love to him, and gave him favor in the eyes of the chief of the prison. And the chief of the prison put all the prisoners that were in the prison into the hand of Joseph. And everything that was done there, he was the one who did it. The chief of the prison did not worry about anything in his hand, since Yahweh was with him. And whatever he did Yahweh made it successful."
Wherever the church is, whether God blessed it with the choice of careers and mission fields in which to serve or whether God is testing her with less than ideal circumstances and even suffering, one thing should mark those who know Yahweh and are known and loved by Him:
The church should endeavor to be the most loyal, the most beneficial, the most honest, the most worthy servant we can be there for as long as we are there. Employers, employees, co-workers and customers should all be able to stand on the last day and praise God for how we treated them.
"Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ, not while being watched, as people pleasers, but as slaves of Christ doing the will of God from the heart, serving with goodwill as to the Lord and not to people, because you know that each one of you, whatever good he should do, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free. And masters, do the same things to them, giving up threats, knowing that both their Lord and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with him." Ephesians 6
For the church should not motivated by money, the praise of men, worldly ambition or laziness. The church are those chosen to serve in the same love they have been served.
"So when he had washed their feet and taken his outer clothing and reclined at table again, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done for you? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you speak correctly, for I am. If then I—your Lord and Teacher—wash your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that just as I have done for you, you also do. Truly, truly I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you understand these things, you are blessed if you do them." John 13
Saturday, February 04, 2017
Faith, it's what's for dinner. (i swear i've used that title a half dozen times.)
"In the meanwhile the disciples were asking him, saying, “Rabbi, eat something!” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.”" John 4
Why didn't Jesus eat? The woman was gone. It would be a while before the rest of the villagers came. Doesn't seem to be anything going on, what would be the logical reason for refusing food at that point? i don't get the impression 1st century peasants in the Middle East ate anywhere near as much as we Americans peasants do twenty centuries later. Maybe i'm wrong but while wandering on the dusty road by foot, i'm guessing they didn't eat three squares a day. So anytime food was offered i'm gonna guess they didn't pass. "No thanks, man, I had a sticky bun and a sardine three days ago, i'm stuffed." So why does Jesus take a rain check on the food he sent the twelve into town to get in the first place? He seemed to see what was coming. Crowds. Two days of preaching. Why would he want to weaken his body?
"So the disciples began to say to one another, “No one brought him anything to eat, did they?” Jesus said to them, “My food is that I do the will of the one who sent me and complete his work." John 4
i'm not saying i know, but the only reason i can think of is because he didn't necessarily see what was coming. He is God but as a man, it seems his foreknowledge was not always perfect. The Spirit showed him and told him some things but not everything. We don't know when. We don't know how. He was in communion with God, yes, but he still got off by himself to pray. He used the same channels you and i use to speak with the Father. To listen to the Father. To be in communion with His Father. He prayed.
And he fasted. He had just pulled the pin on a grenade and sent it back into town in the form of a woman in the joyous shock of having possibly just met the Messiah of God! Like the messengers He chose to send news of His resurrection, Jesus chooses this woman to be the herald to her own people. Now, it seems to me, he is fasting and praying upon the outcome. That God would be exalted by the good news spreading and changing more hearts than just this one. That the harvest would produce fruit. He's no longer alone but that doesn't mean he can't discipline his body, submit it to his eagerness to the work. Every pang of his stomach only serves to sharpen his vision as he gazes down the road and prays for the ears about to hear. After a long day of walking in the heat, food may make him drowsy. He wants his wit for the work, both the work of praying and the hoped for work of receiving the hopeful. For this time, he did not have to send someone healed of a physical disease. The crowds, if they came, would come seeking the cure for the spiritual, not the bodily ailments. They would come perhaps just to see and hear a prophet, but to hear the words of God. They wouldn't be dragging along everyone afflicted with everything from leprosy to restless leg syndrome. They would come seeking God.
But i wonder too. Is that all? Did angels minister to him as they did to Elijah? i don't know. Maybe they did or maybe the joy that comes from being exactly who God made you to be, doing exactly what He made you to do completely cancels out, at least temporarily, all other needs and considerations. Can we be so filled with the Spirit that we are full? Can it be that actually loving God and obeying him can drive out the sins we cling to? The idols we find so hard to throw away? The fragile identities we cultivate so carefully? The identities and comforts and treasures of this world we so hunger and thirst for?
"Blessed are the ones who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
because they will be satisfied." Matt 5
Why didn't Jesus eat? The woman was gone. It would be a while before the rest of the villagers came. Doesn't seem to be anything going on, what would be the logical reason for refusing food at that point? i don't get the impression 1st century peasants in the Middle East ate anywhere near as much as we Americans peasants do twenty centuries later. Maybe i'm wrong but while wandering on the dusty road by foot, i'm guessing they didn't eat three squares a day. So anytime food was offered i'm gonna guess they didn't pass. "No thanks, man, I had a sticky bun and a sardine three days ago, i'm stuffed." So why does Jesus take a rain check on the food he sent the twelve into town to get in the first place? He seemed to see what was coming. Crowds. Two days of preaching. Why would he want to weaken his body?
"So the disciples began to say to one another, “No one brought him anything to eat, did they?” Jesus said to them, “My food is that I do the will of the one who sent me and complete his work." John 4
i'm not saying i know, but the only reason i can think of is because he didn't necessarily see what was coming. He is God but as a man, it seems his foreknowledge was not always perfect. The Spirit showed him and told him some things but not everything. We don't know when. We don't know how. He was in communion with God, yes, but he still got off by himself to pray. He used the same channels you and i use to speak with the Father. To listen to the Father. To be in communion with His Father. He prayed.
And he fasted. He had just pulled the pin on a grenade and sent it back into town in the form of a woman in the joyous shock of having possibly just met the Messiah of God! Like the messengers He chose to send news of His resurrection, Jesus chooses this woman to be the herald to her own people. Now, it seems to me, he is fasting and praying upon the outcome. That God would be exalted by the good news spreading and changing more hearts than just this one. That the harvest would produce fruit. He's no longer alone but that doesn't mean he can't discipline his body, submit it to his eagerness to the work. Every pang of his stomach only serves to sharpen his vision as he gazes down the road and prays for the ears about to hear. After a long day of walking in the heat, food may make him drowsy. He wants his wit for the work, both the work of praying and the hoped for work of receiving the hopeful. For this time, he did not have to send someone healed of a physical disease. The crowds, if they came, would come seeking the cure for the spiritual, not the bodily ailments. They would come perhaps just to see and hear a prophet, but to hear the words of God. They wouldn't be dragging along everyone afflicted with everything from leprosy to restless leg syndrome. They would come seeking God.
But i wonder too. Is that all? Did angels minister to him as they did to Elijah? i don't know. Maybe they did or maybe the joy that comes from being exactly who God made you to be, doing exactly what He made you to do completely cancels out, at least temporarily, all other needs and considerations. Can we be so filled with the Spirit that we are full? Can it be that actually loving God and obeying him can drive out the sins we cling to? The idols we find so hard to throw away? The fragile identities we cultivate so carefully? The identities and comforts and treasures of this world we so hunger and thirst for?
"Blessed are the ones who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
because they will be satisfied." Matt 5
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Vocational hazard
"What do you think about vocation, Seamus?"
"Ah do-on't."
"You don't wonder what your true calling is?"
"Ah'm doin' it."
"You were called to clean septic tanks?"
"Look," he poked the rancid air between his finger and my chest, "'Callin'' is what you lazy, starry-eyed dreamers want to do instead o' work. Ye make up words like, 'vocation' to legitimize it."
"You can't poss--"
"Fook ye, get a job."
"A vocation is a job, it.."
"Not if no one pays you for it, it ain't."
"Dude, sometimes you have to strive for something, like olympic athletes or artists or.."
"Oy aye, and everyone loves those wankers, 'cept for the one payin' their room n' board!"
"Didn't you dream about being something when you were a kid?"
"Oh aye."
"What?"
"Ah dreamt a cleaning shite holes. And here ah am!"
"You're a miserable bastard, Seamus."
"Vocational hazard, mate."
"Ah do-on't."
"You don't wonder what your true calling is?"
"Ah'm doin' it."
"You were called to clean septic tanks?"
"Look," he poked the rancid air between his finger and my chest, "'Callin'' is what you lazy, starry-eyed dreamers want to do instead o' work. Ye make up words like, 'vocation' to legitimize it."
"You can't poss--"
"Fook ye, get a job."
"A vocation is a job, it.."
"Not if no one pays you for it, it ain't."
"Dude, sometimes you have to strive for something, like olympic athletes or artists or.."
"Oy aye, and everyone loves those wankers, 'cept for the one payin' their room n' board!"
"Didn't you dream about being something when you were a kid?"
"Oh aye."
"What?"
"Ah dreamt a cleaning shite holes. And here ah am!"
"You're a miserable bastard, Seamus."
"Vocational hazard, mate."
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Extreme makeover, soul edition
If you've read this or this or even that... on second thought, don't read that. That's depressing as Christmas in Tehran. But if you were already one of the six or seven saps who subjected their sorry psyches to that or this or this then you don't only deserve, desire and demand indemnity but the theme of this thank-you is gonna thump you in the thalamus like a theatric thaumaturge. So buckle up space cadets it's time to go plaid! For everyone else, i am endeavoring to make these posts more than just a quick and quickly forgotten laugh. In all seriousness, you should receive something for your investment of time and so i promise to impart what wisdom has been imparted to me. So buckle up space cadets it's time to go plaid!
i thank God that he sent me here to the Pickyernose mountains to work on this ramshackle shack.
We will pause a moment to allow the saps time to say, "Whut?" and then we'll pause for a moment longer so they may say, "Did he just say what I thought he said??" Everyone caught up? We will continue.
Yes, i said it. i even wrote it. Cuz it's true. i have been brought to the place where i can finally say, this has been a good thing. How can this be? How did this happen? The answer to that cannot be told with anything less than a six pack of Guinness, a campfire and an entire evening but i shall endeavor to sum it up like this...
Renovation. Whilst i was isolated and alone, trying and mostly failing to make something beautiful and new of this poor, dilapidated, neglected, excuse of a house here in the Pennslobovian Northeast, God has been quietly making something beautiful and new of my poor, dilapidated, neglected, excuse of a life. He lifted me up and set me level again where i had gone askew. He has been peeling back the siding and exposing the rot and rodents. He has been pulling out the broken, useless plumbing and fitting me with a working faith that taps into the Living Water and quickly confesses out the crap. He has replaced the dingy paneling with His white righteousness so that i look around my soul now and see Him reflecting off of every surface in the glorious light of His new fixtures.
What can i give you dear reader other than a pick-up truck load of colorful metaphors, amorous analogies and starry eyed similes? The Truth. The main thing that changed, the central focus of all this renovation has been direct, constant and total immersion in His Word. In my case, having no form of entertainment or distraction outside of an ipod and a laptop, i have filled my life with sermons and from them, i have been broken, exposed, healed and learned to start praying more, read the Word more and even to keep a journal. i've come from attacking the Word to get answers to my life and my questions, from study for selfish purposes and to learn about me and my plight, to a place where i study to learn about Him! To my surprise, the more i learn, the more i want to learn! The slaking of my thirst for God has only produced more thirst! i now know the temptation of the monastery. To set oneself apart from the world and live only to study and meditate on the Truth and beauty of the Gospel is an intoxicating drug. But to do that would be to totally betray and ignore everything i'm learning. This joy was meant to be shared. Just as the Old Testament was symbol and story to point to Jesus, the church, Christ's body is here on earth now to be symbol and story pointing not only back to Him and what He's done but ahead to what He's going to do!
And that's where the trial now lays. The roles of refuge and furnace have reversed. Where once i came here in spite and with one foot aimed towards home, i now turn towards my home and my joy is tempered with fear. Fear that i won't measure up, that i'll fall back into my old patterns, that i'll be tempted to give up, that it will be too hard to bring this simple faith to a world so entrenched in rebellion that it calls the Creator a pretender. How will i keep this fragile candle lit in a world that loves darkness?
Turns out you can find the answer to that question in the Word too.
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