On Trials

"When we push the trial away, it is God we lose."

So said I in another place, reaching like all others to gain understanding in this life.

James, the venerable shepherd of Jerusalem, said memorably: "When you try to make sense of your trials, put them in the category of joy!"

He faced the human condition head on, one full of real trials. Some light, some heavy, some forever, some passing, some crushing. All cause for joy.

Nuts? No, James explained. Trials develop patience -- the ability to stay the course no matter what. And when you do that -- when you stay in and press forward, in time, in time, you will be perfect and entire, lacking nothing. Who doesn't want that?

It is the perennial question of value and delayed gratification; of short-term loss for long term gain, of quality more than ease. Of waiting, staying the course, believing.

So often we miss James' promise that difficulties are the gateway to joy because they develop in us the ability to stay the course. With that ability we can know real joy and purpose. Without it, we always quit and know little more than more trouble.

So I know again it is true. When we chafe and squirm and complain and blame and try to run we only prolong the trial. And we lose what God wants to do through the trial.

Trials teach patience, and patience makes it possible for us to 'stay in the chair' and, in time, become "perfect and entire, lacking nothing."

I'd like to be that way. Lord, help me to stay the course.

Monday Preacher Blues

A bit of free verse on the pains that go with preaching.

You say so much,

too much;

Not long-winded, 

Just too much.

Sometimes one word is too much.

"Every word", Jesus said,

"Really matters;"

An admonition

of gravity.

So I feel the weight

drag my soul

and wish them back,

all those words.

Did I really have to say all that,

get into my groove and speak my mind?

"Speak only the Word," people say.

Of course. Why not Scripture alone

on teleprompter?

No, 'preaching is the Word

expressed through personality',

said one Phillips Brooks.

I want the words back,

the laying life on the pulpit,

the groans and truth;

sincere, pure, naked.

It's Monday morning and

preachers resign.

I know why:

words weigh a ton.

Words draw you out,

flat in the street;

vulnerable, wasted,

empty, drained.

I have none left,

except to pray:

"Lord, will you release me

from this?"

Grace is real for

I hold steady 

to Him who holds me.

Joy comes in the morning.

Just not this one.

Practicing Dying and Resurrection

"We practice our death by giving up our will to live on our own terms. Only in that relinquishment or renunciation are we able to practice resurrection.”

So said the late, inimitable Eugene Peterson.

The "spiritual disciplines", as we call them, help us live as Christ teaches. We learn to do in secret so we can be free of thirst for human approval; we pray all the time so we are healthy, resilient and ready when the unexpected crush comes our way. Disciplines prepare.

Is giving up our will a discipline that prepares us to die? I reckon so. Yet, death is not the end. Peterson reminds us of resurrection and if I can know the truth at all I know it now: I scarcely know what this means.

But I have hope. Hope that dying with Christ means we rise with Him.

So now, the morning not yet past, I rise and go to prayer, praying for grace to die so I may live in Christ. If this be purely religious sentiment we are most miserable. I dare to believe it is real and will be demonstrated this day in my living, breathing, doing.

That is all.

"Take no thought for tomorrow..."

“Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.”

We make plans, we project ourselves in to tomorrow, we envision things accomplished. What exactly are we to make of this Proverb? It is certainly accurate. No one knows the next moment with certainty, and the further one projects, the less certainty there is.

Surely the Proverb is echoed in the words of our Lord, who said, “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” And Paul, who said, “Be anxious for nothing.” And Jesus again (paraphrased): “Why worry about the various needs of life. See the lillies and the birds. God cares for them. You are worth more than them.”

Here we have speciesism and it is good! We matter to God more than non-human things.

The lesson, though, is not to worry.

We do not know what a day will bring. We simply can't know, and it does no good to fret and trouble over what may be and “what if”.

So as I make plans for an important project tomorrow that is time-sensitive and long-overdue, I remember. Yes, I may have a wreck, yes things can go wrong – they often do! But I do not mire down in those possibilities either. I make plans, trust for the kind grace of God to order my steps, and do my best. Not in a hurry but going somewhere.

I'm not boasting about what I will do, but I am looking forward to the possibilities!

Yes, I know...

...FB is where it's at and only the best blogs get much traffic. I write here because...well, because it is hidden somewhat and only the occasional passer-by or spam bot stops in.

Twitter has its game, too, but from what little I see I'm glad I never went there. These tech-driven formats lead us about by the nose. As "to someone with a hammer, everything looks like a nail" so now days "to someone with access to social media, everything needs to be spoken".

No. It doesn't. And so I give myself a pass by saying what needn't be said where it won't be read much.

Of course there are many needs for speaking, not least the need to muse, or to think something out. This speaks to the meaning of essay, which I liken to pushing a rope. You are going somewhere with an essay, but you don't know where exactly. The best essays begin with a thought or shadowy question, poke around the various related ideas, then push and test to tease out any real insight that will help the writer believe the inquiry matters.

This is far from a good essay, but it is doing some of what essays do. I followed one thought with the next, letting order be random, and wind up saying something that helps me, at least. What did I say? Let me look....

I said blog commentary is intrinsically self-oriented and so is essay writing. It comes from within, not trying to prove anything but the need for free discussion of life. And in that discussion real joy is found.

That's all I have. It is free, and worth it! :)

Ministry Remnants: Sermon Preparation

Most churches have a sermon on Sunday morning, an effort by the Pastor to speak from Scripture in a way that helps the understanding, guides the actions and inspires the lives of church-folk. This message serves the vital role of helping all in attendance give attention to thought and spirit for a designated time each week.

How does a preacher prepare for this?

Prayer.

After this, pondering. One great preacher whose name escapes me said, "I have to brood. I must have time uninterrupted to think deeply about the subject at hand so thoughts and feelings will develop into the shape and substance of something I can offer my people."

The best book I have read on the subject was by one H. Grady Davis called Design for Preaching. I need to read it again. And of course E. M Bounds and Dennis Kinlaw join a host of others who have written helpfully on the question.

I find preparation takes several steps:

• pray
• ponder and brood
• study
• develop notes
• shape thoughts into an order that aids presentation

Getting from brooding to organized notes is difficult, but the most difficult is this: arriving at a thesis statement that says in one sentence the whole thrust of the message. When one has that clear all else is secondary; until that is clear, all else is muddled.

Enough for now. Sermon preparation awaits me.

Ministry Remnants

I've been reading and pondering the story of Jonah. This morning I shared from the first two chapters and then a consideration of the question: "Why does God send the belly of the whale?"

I suggested 4 reasons:

• Due to our stubborness
• To bless us
• To bless others
• To bring about closeness with us

There is more, always more. Is the belly of the whale really a good thing? Does God send it? Of course in Jonah's case he sent it to deliver him from the drink and then, in turn, to break his stubbornness. Then the above effects could come to pass. "For the carnal mind is enmity against God." But when Jonah repented a way was open for peace with God. He went through the belly just as Christ did to atone for the world. Jonah's suffering helped him get there for himself; Christ's suffering did it for the world.

I am tempted to give up the question. Is the belly really necessary? Must we suffer to be reconciled? Certainly we must die to ourselves and certainly we are not eager to do so. Suffering takes us there. "Yet he learned obedience by the things that he suffered."

Even the path of dying to self is suffering. No good thing comes without it. Suffering is a given no matter what. When we accept that instead of rage against it or try to avoid it, the world is open to us. This is being real.

Jesus shows the way. This is why the cross is glorious. We beat the suffering of life by bearing it gladly, dying to self which insatiably seeks pampering and the easy life. It is the only way, and I am a beginner. Maybe we all are.

Take up your cross, follow the Master. I once wrote that with aplomb as a young, eager college student. I now write it in hopes I will receive the grace to live such a way in peace. I hope you will, too.