There is Something About Prayer

This blog attempts to dig deep. Sometimes it succeeds and many times it fails. Whether it is a heady post dealing with the Kingdom of God, a soul searching during Lent, or a Christological exploration of Advent; the desire is that it exist as a means to consider a different perspective when thinking about God.

But why is it so important that we consider how we think of God? You may say, "God is God. It makes no difference what I think of him."

If that is the way you believe then consider the following: Through the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus, God broke into our present world with His future reality.

Why would we deny ourselves the opportunity to participate with a God that promises the opportunity to particpate with Him. I don't even know if that made any sense.

But there are a host of ways to participate in the life of God and we seem to neglect the most obvious.

Prayer.

I know. Prayer = Work. And we have focused enough energies on work, haven't we?

We must begin to look at prayer as being a major element in the mission of the church and the Kingdom of God. Maybe it is here that we can find our motivation.

We all have to admit that there is something about prayer! It says that we are less important than we think we are and I believe we all need a good dose of that. It says that there is something beyond, someone stronger, something transcendent, someone who knows the future.

We know all of this because of the way in which God broke into our world. I used to think that you had to be at the top of a cliff or in a sacred place or standing in awe at God's beautiful creation. But then I found out that it has little to do with context and has everything to do with understanding that I have been invited to enjoy the same extraordinary relationship that Jesus enjoyed with his Father. "....and your Father, to my God and to your God." This is what Jesus said.

And then I read somewhere that if we choose to simply try to bring ourselves into harmony with the created order as it is as present then we are actually embracing DEATH; not only nature red in tooth and claw but also the cosmos running down in the cold night of entropy." OUCH MAN!!! This world is out of joint!

Thy Kingdom come...on earth as it is in heaven. God has met us all in a unique way through the life, death, and resurrection. It all started with this tiny little boy born in Bethlehem. And now that he has gone his way into our hearts, wouldn't it be ridiculous if we chose to ignore him through lack of prayer.

Going Against the Stream

The following article was written by William Willimon in 1984. The words are, of course, a bit dated but my hope is that they will cause everyone to consider their hearts this Advent season.

The other day someone told me about a friend who had been asked to preach in the church of one of the famous television preachers whom millions watch every Sunday. On the way from the airport, the guest received these instructions: “People worship with us in order to feel good about themselves. Therefore, don’t mention the cross in your sermon. And don’t dwell too much on sin. And don’t mention the John Birch Society.”

Television does set certain limits on today’s successful preacher, doesn’t it? So does the spirit of the age. There is a new optimism abroad in the United States. Commentators agree: We Americans have decided to think better of ourselves. The flag-waving, athletic-financial success of the Olympics got us rolling. Last month, we overwhelmingly rejected the one whose opponent labeled him “Minnesota Fritz and the Temple of Gloom.” No one was in the mood for bad news. Everybody smiling, red-and-white balloons cascading, we have enjoyed a veritable orgy of self-affirmation. A man in Georgia being interviewed by CBS on election day: “I think there’s a new spirit in this country. You don’t see nobody stepping on our flag these days. People are just pleased to be Americans. They’re tired of all the talk about problems. They want to hear about what’s right and good.”

Therefore, pity the preacher this Advent. Sunday after Sunday, it’s Isaiah and John the Baptist. Not the Isaiah who sings so well in Handel’s Messiah, but the Isaiah of chapters 63 to 64, who laments the fate of the Jewish exiles in Babylon. It is the raging plaint of a homeless people in a Babylonian death camp. They cry:
Thy holy people possessed thy sanctuary a little while; our adversaries have trodden it down.We have all become like one who is unclean and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast delivered us into the hand of our iniquities [Isa. 63:18, 64:6-7].

But we, 2,000 years later, have escaped the death camps so that we might celebrate Christmas. We are moving, have been moving since the first opportunity in late October, bedecked with tinsel, behind a fat, smiling, bewhiskered old man, toward cheer. Eggnogging our way to bliss. We are better off than we were four years ago and, presumably, we shall be even better off four years from now.

Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la.

And here’s the poor old church. Out of step as usual. Unable to catch the spirit of the times, swimming against the contemporary stream, the church is all gloom and doom. Isaiah 63 to 64 this December is the theological equivalent of the Nehru jacket. The world wants Christmas jingles and the church sings a lament! The world has visions of sugar plums dancing in its head and the church sees only angry Jews standing by the fence, wailing toward heaven:
thou art our Father, though Abraham does not know usand Israel does not acknowledge us [63:16].

We Americans are doing better, better and better. And the old church had better get in step or it shall be left behind as our joyous parade of happy, successful, progressive, positive people moves upward, upward and ever onward.

A few years ago we watched one of those annual Christmas specials that appear on television about this time of year. Smiling singers cavorted in a winter wonderland (in Hollywood), then everyone gathered by the tree as the happy couple, stars of the show, held each other’s hands, looked into one another’s eyes, and sang, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.’’
Scarcely a month later, their marriage was over amid bitter public recriminations and charges in court of abuse. Yes, we said, come to think of it, there was something a bit phony, a bit contrived in their yuletide joy.
Like this not-so-happy TV couple, there is something a bit contrived in our wave of national self-affirmation. If we’re doing so well, why do we drink so much at parties? If we are so happy, why must we so forcefully reassure ourselves and silence those who disagree? If we’re so happy, why must we talk about it so much? Ponder the annual office Christmas party. There is something forced, rather compulsive in our holiday merriment.

A kind of optimistic numbness sets in, in which honesty is impossible and a realistic assessment of our situation is blocked by the royal theology of success. True prophets bring about social change by simply helping people to weep for what they know they have lost, to exchange their national anthems for laments.

“The Christian faith is a thing of unspeakable joy,” says C. S. Lewis. “But it does not begin with joy, but rather in despair. And it is no good trying to reach the joy without first going through the despair.”

The Advent prophet meets us on our cheerful way up and inserts a cold, despairing word into our seeming optimism.

We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one that calls upon thy name,for thou hast hid thy face from us, and has delivered us into the hand of our iniquities [64:6-7].

Scarcely had the election ended before the inevitable truth-telling began. Yes, we do indeed have a deficit problem. Yes, despite certain promises, there will be new taxes, and new cuts. Reality intrudes itself.

Let us not be too harsh on the royal theology which we created. In our own lives, in our yuletide overspending, overdrinking, overhoping, overgetting and overgiving we act out a sad seasonal ritual: oh, that a new video recorder or a new car might fill the emptiness. Yet, we know that in the cold gray of January the bills come, the radio evicts Bing Crosby and we find that, alas, the “Peace on Earth and Good Will” of the TV Christmas specials barely lasted until New Year’s.

We are out somewhere, back against the wall, in some padded, comfortable, tinseled cell. Even though the guards outside have smiling, amiable faces, we are still their prisoner. Exiles, far from home.

The hope for us, says the church in Advent, is that we are out of hope, and we know it. We know, in our better moments, where our quest for self-affirmation has left us. Now, lost in the cosmos, victims of the monstrous technological toys we have created, we wander. America, with our bombs and bombers, our deficits for defense, our cheese and wheat stockpiled before the scandal of the poor and hungry shivering in the cold again this Christmas -- our ancestors wouldn’t know us.

The Advent prophet leads a sad litany made all the more sad because it is reality: “All our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. . . . our Iniquities, like the wind, take us away. . . . thou hast hid thy face from us” (64:7-7).
That’s why the church generally refrains from singing Christmas carols during Advent. That’s why purple, the color of penitence, adorns our altar and the neck of your preacher. We dare not rush to greet the Redeemer prematurely until we pause here, in darkened church, to admit that we do need redemption. Nothing within us can save us. No thing can save us. We’ve tried that before. No president, no bomb, no new car, no bottle, no white Christmas can save.
No! to all false consolation, we say. No! to the empty, contrived merriment of a terminal world. Our hope must be in someone out there who comes to us. We find our way only because One comes, takes our hand and leads us home.

No thank you, we shall wait here, in yearning and silence, in darkness and penitence, for that One.

“In our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?” (64:5).
Wait. Wait and see what is to be born among us. God grant us the honesty and the patience to wait long enough to find some real salvation.

Space...Time...Matter: Renewing It and Claiming It

Space, time, and matter....we can't escape it.

The real world is where things happen. Communities deal with crime, city councils gather, PTA meetings take place, families gather around dinner tables, individuals visit the doctor and dentist, and kids go to school. In other parts of the world hunger is common, wars continue, anarchy is a way of life, and the innocent aren't protected.

We can't escape space, time, and matter. And neither should we try.

The resurrection of Christ has taught us many striking things about ourselves and our world. One truth among many is that God intervenes in this world while using his people to bring around transformation.

It is much easier to concentrate on simply 'saving souls.' As a result, many would say that the focus is only on justice and social issues. But I think the church is finally discovering that it can't be schizophrenic for any longer.

So if the church is the primary avenue in which God will bring about his new creation, then what exactly is the church's mission. N.T. Wright puts it like this, "The mission of the church is nothing more or less than the outworking, in the power of the Spirit, of Jesus' bodily resurrection and thus the anticipation of the time when God will fill the earth with his glory, transform the old heavens and earth into the new, and raise his children from the dead to populate and rule over the redeemed world he has made."

The global church must become organized. We must begin to work together. We must begin to claim in advance space, time, and matter. We must begin invest in it and in the people who make up this world.

If we do not claim this space, time, and matter and do not become involved in it's renewal then we will simply claim it and use it only for the passing of time and only for our individual benefit.

So what can the church do? Well, I sincerely believe that a church can find it's ONE cause, mission, or purpose. Once the church determines its primary mission or "what it is known for" then a church can place most of its resources into making a difference. A church would not do this for a warm, fuzzy feeling. Rather, the church can feel guilt-free as it understands it's unique role in the Kingdom of God. Imagine if other local churches took on the effort.

A city could be changed.

So where is God leading your particular church? Where is God leading our church? Is it racial reconciliation, is it urban ministry to teens, is it ministry to the handicapped, is it a childcare for HIV infected children, is it playtime for children of single moms, is it a tutoring program for inner city kids, is it providing shelter, is it a place for the arts, is it a place for cleaning up the city, is it the environment, is it action in city government, is counseling services, or is it hospital care or even the hospital waiting room?

God's hope, through the actions of his Son Jesus, is the renewal of all things! The amazing moment of the resurrection has ushered in this future realization. We must claim this hope that is ours in the gospel and it must guide the manner in which the mission of the church is shaped and reflected.

The Peaceful Trasfer of Power

No matter your political views, we have a lot in which to be thankful. We take for granted the fact that each four to eight years, we have a peaceful transfer of power in this country. We need not be as anxious. Power will be given over to another leader along with encouragement and prayer. No bloodshed, no violent takeover, no voter fraud, no coup; just a bitter loss for one side and a joyous day for the other. Let us thank God for the peace that does exist here and pray for a new day of peace across the world.

The Turning Point

Looking back...looking ahead...and considering where we are in this Kingdom of God thing, it would do us all good to remind ourselves that we have turned the corner. I think we forget this. And what would this turning point be: the resurrection of Jesus.

Some of you may be thinking...it's not Easter so why write on the resurrection? Well, when you think about it, it's the resurrection that gives us our private hope in life and more importantly it provides the mission of the church.

We have been taught one primary thing about the resurrection and it always seems to get stuck on the significance of what it means for our own eternal life. This is all true. I often tell people that because Jesus was raised...I will be raised. This is so true.

But the gospel of Mark has a different sort of emphasis. He, the first gospel writer, is telling his readers that "Jesus has been raised so it would be in your best interest to go and see him for your own eyes. You can find him in Galilee. He told you this would happen and all that he said about himself and the coming Kingdom of God has been found true. God's Kingdom has now been established on earth as it is in heaven. So go! You'll find out for yourself that this is less about you and more about the mission that is ahead."

And Matthew...well he expanded on what Mark said and put it something like this. "So now you are convinced that Jesus was raised in full body and was fully restored. What do you think this means for everyone? If he was a mere spirit raised from the dead then you would have no real hope or at least you would never be certain of all the things in which he spoke. There is a great purpose ahead. And it's not going to revolve around you own private spiritualilty. Again, if Jesus was raised as spirit, then you may have a case. But Jesus was raised in restored flesh, bones, and blood. And now the person of Jesus is enthroned as the Lord of heaven and earth. The future Kingdom that you have read about so much is now here. That's right...it is here among all of you. And the way in which you are being called to participate in it is to put it into practice by pledging your allegiance to him and seeking the welfare of others. God is with us is now Jesus with us and it will be so until the transforming work in this world has been completed. The resurrection is a far cry from a sentimental happy ending to a bad day. Rather, it is the turning point for everything else. Now go and reread the Hebrew scriptures and you'll see that it all makes sense. There you will find a beautiful story of suffering and vindication...of exile and restoration...and a further vindication of not only Israel but of the entire world. I urge to complete the ongoing dangerous and difficult task of being followers of Christ our Lord. See...we have turned the corner...this is a new world that must be seen in a new light."

May we as believers see ourselves as people on a mission to transform the world!

A Sense That It All Makes Sense

Say the word "evangelism" to several Christians in a room and you will receive a host of different reactions. Some feel that evangelism is a gift while others shiver at the mere mention of the word. No matter how the word makes us feel, undoubtebly conditioned by our past experiences with the church, I believe that the Church's growth and survival depend on it. I'm certain that my own negative reaction concerning evangelism is most likely stirred up from past images of loud revival preachers, salvation tracks scattered on the pavement, and overly aggressive believers.

My belief is that most...not all...have walked away from negative presentations believing that God is bigger than what was presented. I remember being forced to pray a prayer with 65 young people in Ecuador. Every single one of the young people were interested in what I had to say. After all, I appeared as the educated, wealthy American. As you might expect, all of the boys and girls raised there hand to accept Christ as their "personal" Lord and Savior. Had I done any good or had I continued the tradition of conveying God as small and safe...capable of being manipulated?

I'm not sure that the typical presentation of the gospel by committed Christians makes sense in our culture. The gospel of Jesus is presented as the quick ticket out of this world. Meanwhile, the world is crying out for something greater. They know there has to be a plan and it cannot merely exist to prepare ourselves for the next. Just try to tell the average non-Christian artist or musician that God doesn't care about this world...that God only wants to deliver you safely into heaven when they die. Most would never buy into the idea of it because to them...this world is important and often beautiful.

The gospel must be presented in such a way that the culture can relate to it. Of course, this has to be done without being clever or appearing as a technique. Here are a few thoughts.

First, the church must seek justice for those who are weak and poor. Forget about the fear of encouraging hand-me-outs to those in need. Let's help people. It is our Christian duty. It is what the church is about. The social gospel didn't work years ago and neither should Christians organizations attempt to revive it. However, working FOR the kingdom of God mean that we must work for the justice of others. The church must embrace justic toward other and become comfortable with the word; make it synonomous with Christianity.

Second, the church must celebrate community and creation. Christianity was never meant to be so private. Never let the words, "your personal Lord and Savior" come across our lips again! Coffee and doughuts, popcorn and pizza, dinner and a movie; whatever it takes. We must be together because we want to be together. Celebrate what has been given to us while working for those who are without.

Maybe then people will see what can happen when the gospel takes root. People will then discover that it really does make sense. And when people gain a sense that it all makes sense...then they will discover that it is actually tranforming the way that they think and feel about most everything. Jesus can become this kind of reality to people. And the only way to express it is through learning about God in the Bible and gathering with other believers. I believe that most people out there with a mere inkling of God-consiousness will be surprised to hear that God has a plan for the world; that he is working in history and wants them to be a part of something good and eternal.

Opening Celebrations and the Myth of Progress

I have to admit that the 2008 Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremony was impressive. The fireworks, the movements, the images, the symbolism all came together to dazzle the mind and make a Super Bowl half-time show look like like low budget concert.

Only a state run government could put on such a show. Maybe this is why it also bothered me.

If the Olympics ever return to the United States, there will be no way to upstage what we witnessed on Friday night. We would never be able to come up with enough sponsors to fund such an operation. So I mentioned to my son that he would never see anything quite like that again.

One could be tempted to believe, especially with all of the symbolism of harmony and unity, that we are finally experiencing progress in the world. Beijing was motivated to erase certain events from the past and seek redemption by looking forward into the future. And these two images seem to compete with each other through every dazzling act. If it was not hundreds of people in straight lines it was a choreographed image of a happy circle.

Although very impressed, I am reminded that true progress in this world is actually a myth. Sounds depressing and it makes me out to be a pessimist, but I nevertheless believe it is unfortunately true.

Ehhemmm...let me once again quote N.T. Wright. "The relentless progressivist politicians feel obliged to offer us projects that have to be dressed up with the relentlessly postmodernist techniques of spin and hype; in the absence of real hope, and all that is left is feelings. Persuasion will not work because we're never going to believe it. What we appear to need, and therefore what people give us, is entertainment. "

"This Utopian dream is in fact a parody of the Christian vision; that the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the world will come together to produce a vision of history moving forward toward its goal, a goal that will emerge from within rather than being a new gift from elsewhere. All we really need is education and hard work."

The real problem with the myth of progress is that it cannot deal with evil. As the Olympics carry on (and I watch), we are also aware of the new crisis in Georgia and the old crisis in Dar fur.

Let me also say this...I completely understand that the Olympics are about an idea. No one actually believes that when the closing ceremony arrive, all things will be peaceful.

But as a Christian I must examine the world as a world that ultimately will find it's renewal through the actions of God. What the creator God has done in Jesus Christ and through his resurrection is what HE intends to do for the entire cosmos.

Life After Life After Death

Where are our departed Christian loved ones anyway? I find it startling that we don't search the Scriptures for more of a definitive answer. We all speak of heaven but admittedly know little about it. We are unable to break free of the Hollywood version of what eternal life...or what heaven...is all about. Every once in a while we may read a Pauline passage that refers to the journey as involving two places...not just one destination of paradise. Are we all going to join the Christian departed in a state of sleepy unconsciousness until Jesus takes us home? Or does a middle state exist at all? Most of us were taught at a very young age that when a believer dies, he is instantly joined with Christ in eternity...no questions asked. Just the thought of a restful stop along the way is a painful sound to our Protestant ears.

For all of you that grew up as a Southern Baptist, you will be able to relate to the following conclusions concerning heaven.

1. It is a fuzzy place.

2. If you accept Christ you are in...even if you only half-heartily meant it in the first place.

3. Christ will be at the top of the stairway ready to give you a hug for believing in him rather than other religious leaders who teach that you must work for it.

4. This world matters but not really because it is going to be burned up one day.

5. Flesh is evil and enjoying the flesh is evil unless enjoyed through Christian marriage. Funny how marriage makes the flesh un-evil.

6. Because the flesh is evil...your soul is going to heaven to be with either a soul Jesus or a Jesus in bodily form. Who can really be sure of such things?

7. If there is a middle place along the journey to blissful paradise, it is only a type of sleep until God burns up the non-believers in true apocalyptic fashion. Duck!

8. Jesus will then be ready to take you to heaven where your ancestors and friends are already doing cartwheels. You will be instantly happy that you chose the Protestant Jesus over the Catholic Jesus or any other errant version preached from the church down the street.

9. You will be pleased to find that Jesus is tall, thin, and blue-eyed with sandy-blond hair.

10. Heaven will be a combination of everything you wanted to do but couldn't do on earth and a continuous, joyful praise to God. Although you won't admit it, your enthusiasm comes from the idea of playing ping-pong wherever you want and flying around anywhere you want.

I admit that I am being very sarcastic but there truly is part of me that resents not being told the truth as a child.

But here is what I have come to believe.

There is a middle place. It is not called purgatory. We do not have to work our way out of this middle place but we will remain in restful happiness until Jesus returns as Judge. (Even the most liberal among us must admit that judgement will have to come to those who took up the direction of evil and played it out in areas such as Rwanda and Dar fur)

Let's go ahead and call THIS place heaven...and refer to life after life...after death as the new creation. We'll keep our bodies but they will be made perfect. And this is why the hungry child matters. This is why the abused wife matters to us. We will be saved in our bodies and it will done in community. We will all enter the New Jerusalem together.

N.T. Wright adds that "it is on earth that things matter, not somewhere else." And maybe that is why Jesus spoke so seldom about future life (Gehenna or heaven).

It's time that the Christian church take up the language of eternity that will connect us to the world around us.

Thomas' Aha! Moment

N.T. Wright, one of my favorite New Testament writers, shares a parable from the Easter Oratorio. He writes that Thomas, like any good historian, wants to see and touch. He wants to remain in the protective realm of what he understands to be true and possible. So Jesus meets his request and presents himself to his sight and invites him to touch. But Thomas does not take Jesus up on his offer (which completetely goes against the image above) and comes to a place where he transends the type of knowing in which he is accustom and passes into a higher and richer one. So in the parable below, the image of the Red Sea is used to portray the doubt that Thomas faced and his transendent acceptance of what God can really do.

The sea is too deep
The heaven's too high
I cannot swim
I cannot fly;
I must stay here
I must stay here
Here where I know
How I can know
Here where I know
What I can know.

Jesus then reappears and invites Thomas to see and touch. Suddenly the new, giddying possibility appears before him:

The sea has parted. Pharaoh's hosts-
Despair, and doubt, and fear, and pride-
No longer frighten us. We must
Cross over to the other side.
The heaven bows down. With wounded hands
Our exiled God, our Lord of shame
Before us, living, breathing, stands;
The Word is near, and calls our name.
New knowing for the doubting mind,
New seeing out of blindness grows;
New trusting may the sceptic find
New hope through that which faith now knows.

And with that, Thomas takes a deep breath and brings history and faith together in a rush. "My Lord," he says, "and my God."

Heaven...vague and fuzzy optimism?

Jesus was raised from the dead. There is a certain promise made in this great God-event. The promise is that because Jesus was raised....I will be raised. But for some reason the Christian church, and many of its leaders, find it convenient to dilute this doctrine in order to pave a way for a feathery interpretation of eternity. In fact, our idea of heaven and hell has been madly shaped by our culture and we toy around with one of the most important and life-changing verses in the Bible; "On earth as it is in heaven."

I am guilty, even though I should know better, of perceiving death as a great enemy. Most of us feel this way because we don't understand what will happen to us one day and it is natural to fear the unknown. I see my children getting older and my hair getting thinner and I just can't stand it. And I imagine we all fall victim to believing that "heaven" can't be as good as this world because we will only praise a jealous God. Further, we won't be able to experience the tangibles that make this life so meaningful. These are our culturally driven ideas that invade our senses and really have nothing to do with the New Testament teachings of Jesus.

Imagine if the global church redefined its position on eternity and declared it no longer to be "heavenly" or "fuzzy" or a place where only your soul goes when the body dies. No wonder we struggle in areas of justice. If only our souls go to heaven, then the health of the mortal body is of no real importance; all will be worked out in the end. But that same verse keeps creeping back up on me, "on earth as it is in heaven."

Did you know that when the English churches began to preach about this feathery place where only your soul retreats, that social justice concerns began to be less important. It didn't take long for the American evangelical churches to preach only about repentance and salvation. This left little room for talk about what the Christian church should do about injustice, hunger, violence, abuse, civil rights, equality, and poverty. I do see the church catching up and finally realizing this great mistake; but we have a long way to go. I think change will come as soon as the majority of churches take on the old, forgotten doctrine of "the resurrection of the dead." Our society is ready for such talk. Society is screaming at the church to tell them something else besides the salvation of the soul. There is very little in the New Testament about the soul and heaven. However, there is a ton of passages that deal with how to actively live our lives as Christians during the here and now. Our faith should be practiced in community and it should exist for people outside the church.

So, if we begin to reexamine our view of heaven then we may begin to realize that Jesus taught about a New Jerusalem; a new creation and a new earth. And there lies our connection to the world around us...to all living things. We should care about the welfare of others and of ourselves because our bodies do matter. Jesus was raised in bodily form and we will be raised in bodily form. That should be our hope and now all of a sudden, eternity seems real and perfect, not fuzzy and only optimistic thinking.

A Season for the Spirit: The Death of God-With-Us

Examine the painting above. I'm not quite sure what to with it because we are so far removed from the ancient interpretation of what took place on the dark Saturday before the resurrection. Here we have Jesus busting through a door, stepping on the devil, and liberating all the individuals that have been held captive. And of course, Jesus keeps his boring expression on his face like Indiana Jones keeps his hat on his head.

But...there is quite a bit of truth in the painting; that is, depending on how we take the strange bit of creed that has Jesus descending into Hell. I'm not quite sure what happened on the second day. I know that Jesus died. As Martin Smith states, "the death of God-with-us." Jesus was not just sleeping and let us keep in mind the disciples anticipated nothing. Holy Saturday was silent.

Scripture tell us that by joining all the dead in their suffering, Jesus gave them access to new community of love that would spring into life with his resurrection. Ultimately, we cannot avoid the meaning of the Christ-event that proved that no one is beyond the reach of redemption. It is my opinion that when a believer takes this truth on, then it should dictate his perspective on war, the death penalty, revenge, love, forgiveness, and indifference. This entire joining the dead stuff is really strange and difficult to comprehend.

So the painter above and the writers of Scripture (1 Peter 3:18) describe a mythic image of "strangely moving power. Christ through his own death joins the dead (hear this now...even the dead) but as the herald of their liberation." In some way, our salvation will completed as a community. This will forever remain a mystery to me.

The death and resurrection possess life-giving power. We need not only think of Christ descending into Hell as a one time event. Because the death and resurrection prove that no present hell is too far out of reach for the life-giving power of God. Whether WWII, Iraq, or violence in Memphis TN; people can experience a hell in which love seems miles away. But there is no place in the world, in me, in you, or in death that God's love cannot reach.

A Season for the Spirit: Numbered with the Transgressors

It is Good Friday. All of us have mixed feelings about it. We call it Good Friday because of what we know to be true. However, we also know that it was everything but good. I often wonder if this term was created because it is so difficult for believers to accept the violence and unconditional love expressed by the event. This was a violent baptism... yet believers are bent on "building up our false selves on the principle that we are right and good enough." To call it a bad Friday would create in us a sense of solidarity with all people (stealers, beggers, and murderers) and would force us to understand the magnitude of the love spilled out at Calvary. To refer to it as Good Friday makes us smile.

This may seem a bit radical, and maybe Martin Smith would disagree, but Good Friday creates all kinds of mixed emotions for me. We celebrate it by a joyous term and then read the Scriptures with all kinds of dread and sadness. We say "It is finished!" and then we proceed with the next day's Easter Egg Hunts. I ate at IHOP with my family because we wanted to do something different for Good Friday. Yet in a few minutes I am going to walk into our chapel with a service that ends in the slamming of the Bible and the blowing out of a candle. Mixed feelings.

Jesus also experienced mixed emotions about the coming hours. He felt an overbearing dread of what was to come but also yearned in agony for the good it would ulitimately do. "...and what stress I am under until it is completed!"

Dread and yearning. In his death he would "show the magnitude of his identification with us in our alienation."

He was numbered with the transgressors. Just a number. Solidarity with everyone; not just the moral, ethical, or elite. "For each Good Friday to be good the Spirit must take us by the hand and reestablish our contract with that inmost core of recalcitrant evil, enmity, and impotence where we are sisters and brothers of the most depraved and lost. That is where Christ is, clasping them with his pierced hands."

I lied to someone today. A begger, outside of the restaraunt mentioned above, asked me for money. I said no. Actually I tried to clean it up a bit and told him that I didn't have anything but plastic. But I had plenty of one dollar bills in my wallet. So after I started up my van, I sat there and realized what I had done on this Good Friday. I saw my equal in God's eyes and immediately rejected a moment of solidarity with him. I did give him $2 as I exited the parking lot. He was a good man and thankful. And then I felt the pride as my children watched me do a good deed. But I question whether I truly meant anything by this at all. Was it guilt? Would I have done this on any other week other than Holy Week? I don't have the answer. But I do know this; that God will not be pleased until the meaning of the cross is evident in every action I take toward others. He will not quit until I live a solidarity with all human beings. For the Christ-event did not take place to make me into a moral person or a better person; the cross took place so that I could fully identify my true alienation from him. Jesus on the cross took place so that I could see my solidarity with beggers and notice how far removed from God if I am left to my own ways.

And Jesus asks us to take up our cross...daily. What does this mean in my relation to a begger hunched down below the windows of the restaraunt so that he won't be noticed? "I take up the cross and follow Jesus whenever I acknowledge my oneness with the guilty, whenever I stop pretending that they are an alien class. I put my cross down and hide among the moral crowd whenever I gloat over the sins of others; whenever I thank God that I am not as other men are."

"In prayer, I must practice being numbered among the many...the transgressors...and must start to care for this company where I belong."

She cut all the morbid stories out of the newspaper-the accounts of women who had been raped and criminals who had escaped and children who had been burned and of train wrecks and plane crashes and the divorces of movie stars. She took these to the woods and dug a hole and buried them and then she fell on the ground over them....She groaned "Jesus, Jesus"...her legs and arms spread out as if she were trying to wrap them round the earth.
- Flannery O'Connor, Greenleaf

A Season for the Spirit: If I Do Not Wash You...

What reluctance we all have when it comes to being humbly served by Jesus the servant! What revulsion we possess at the mere thought of Jesus uncovering our filthy feet and washing them! Smith reminds us that this revulsion is an unveiling of our resistance we will bring to Calvary where the one who took the form of a servant, humbled himself to death on a cross.

"'The foot-washing throws light on how the cross judges us. Will we accept absolute and unconditional love and allow it to envelope us? After the washing, Judas was disgusted with him and ran out into the night to betray Jesus. The mystery of damnation is the possibility deep in the heart of every human being of totally repudiating the embrace of divine Love in the final "No."'

"The mystery of salvation is the possibility in the heart of every human being of overcoming our dread of unconditional love and consenting with a yielding 'Yes' to its victory over our shame and the healing of our alienation."

God alone can do what needs to be done. God alone can overcome the separation, demolish the barrier, fill in the lack, annihilate the debt. "While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly."

Christ is who gives us our personhood. I think that is part of the Christian gospel that is most neglected. Christ makes us into who we are meant to be...he gives us our identity born from above. Again, he gives us our personhood. So I find it interesting that somewhere along the discovery we choose to go it alone. We reject the one who gives us our meaning, purpose, and personhood and "make a fateful bargain to rid ourselves of the hope of being loved absolutely." We are hell-bent on earning our love and not being loved unless we deserve it. We forget that Jesus the servant took a knee and humbly washed his disciples feet. One ran out. Others stayed. And Jesus spoke some pretty strong words with no sentimentality attached. He said, "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me."

What do these words mean to you? Do you and I run away from the truth of being unconditionally loved by Jesus the Servant? We have accepted the love of God on a cross but we often remain mired in a stubborn reluctance. May we all, on this Maundy Thursday, look toward the cross of tomorrow and accept the divine love that is present.

A Season for the Spirit: The Disciple Whom Jesus Loved

Jesus needed companionship. The Scriptures are very clear, in my opinion, that Jesus took comfort in the company of his disciples. This typically doesn't cause any controversy. However, the Gospels also clearly show that Jesus had a favorite. And that interpretation may make people either very uncomfortable or angry.

I'm sure there are people in both camps (conservative and liberal) who are offended at the notion that Jesus had a favorite disciple. A conservative MAY believe there is little room for a Jesus needing anything at all, especially a close friend. On the other hand, a liberal MAY take issue with the idea of Jesus not regarding everyone as equals. I understand these generalizations are not exactly necessary but the point is this; that we become distressed to think of Jesus needing the intimacy of a particular friendship. The word 'intimate' is enough for some of us to think we are all sliding down a slippery slope in which we can never return.

"But does Jesus needing an intimate relationship with a friend show him to be too vulnerable for our liking."

But Jesus' favorite disciple, who goes nameless, is recorded as lying close to Jesus' breast. Ignoring the centuries and customs, I have to say that Jesus must have been an extremely likeable person. And maybe this quality is what we often fail to capture. The last thing I want to do is to make Jesus into my 'buddy' or 'pal' but it is worth noting that this particular disciple was very fond of Jesus. Are you feeling uneasy yet?

This is personal...this is physical...and the minute we try to dilute the meaning or ignore it is when we are taken back the slow-paced passage of the last supper in which we are all asked to participate with Jesus in something both sad and...intimate.

Even the leaning over to Jesus' breast sounds like an uncomfortable position. We all stand a bit puzzled at the beloved disciple. Maybe this is why we relate so well to him. Who among us doesn't feeled puzzled most of the time about how we should feel and what we should be doing with the living Christ. We know that our minds can't fully grasp who he is. He seems to move in the shadows behind us rather than revealing himself in the daylight. He accompanies us through dark times but rarely saves us from them. We depend on the spiritual elite to convince us that he really is there and really is alive. We learn the hard way that our doubt in him is something that can lead us to a deeper relationship.

We all relate to the awkwardness of the disciple placing his head on Jesus. What should be our approach? What should be our attitude toward his kindness and mercy? We know he is compassionate but at times it this truth behaves like mere words on a page.

Peter was just as puzzled. He didn't understand how this particular disciple's life would unfold following the resurrection. So what did Jesus tell his beloved disciple?

He told him to remain (abide).

"Maybe he goes unnamed so that we can better accept the he bears witness to an intimacy that is meant for each of us. His closeness is a sign of a closeness that is meant for me and you."

We are called to live and we are called to pray...close to the heart of Jesus. And this is not mere affection. The disciple could hear the pounding heart of the one who anticipated arrest, torture, and death.

"To live close to the heart of Jesus would mean living in contact with the joy and agony of Christ. in prayer, if we would just allow ourself to be loved instead of talking so much we would enter into the joy of Christ. And the simplicity of that would allow us to enter into the pain of God.

A Season for the Spirit: The Doubters

Warning! You are about to read some of the most meaningful words on faith and doubt that you will ever read. Most, if not all words, can be credited to Martin L. Smith.

Only one requirement is necessary in order to understand. You must in some way believe that we possess an inner society of selves or at least be grappling with this possibility.

With practice we discover that there are a number of doubters within us, and they are all different.

Sometimes in the climate of prayer we discover that certain doubts are like angels, agents of the Spirit of truth who is struggling to strip away from us superstitious and immature beliefs.

Doubts about doctrines and moral rules may be the only way the Spirit of truth can get us to move from accepting Christianity at secondhand, to appropriating it for ourselves in the light of our own experience and questions. The Spirit can work better with us even if our faith is stripped right down for a time, than if we are cocooned in a complacent religiosity that we are not prepared to have disturbed.

One of our doubters seems more dangerous. His voice asks us to admit that the very existence of a loving God is implausible. He points out the Holocaust, the devastation of the exploding AIDS crisis, the blood-soaked history of the churches, and asks how long we are going to persist in the venerable fiction that God is love.

But if we give room even to this doubter in our prayers we might find ourselves led back to the foot of the cross to hear the agonized cry of Jesus, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

It is not true that there is obviously a God. It is not true that God is obviously loving. The radical doubter may be a kind of very austere prophet within us whom the Spirit of truth uses to make us face the extent of God's own hiddenness and silence.

I am grateful to my atheist friends; they have taught me not to cheat

There are other doubters in our inner society whom we need to bring to Jesus in prayer so that he can confront them. They mock our hopes, pour cold water on our trust in God, and tell us to stay with what common sense says is safe and sure. These he needs to challenge and disturb.

They are the sick and indigent parts of our self, the survivors of past disappointments and abandonment's, who draw on the inner fund of hopelessness that is part of our fallen human nature. When we hear them we must be urgent in bringing them to Jesus and specifically ask for healing.

- Martin L. Smith

A Season for the Spirit: The Slow Corrosion of Self Doubt

There is no doubt about it. As a minister I primarily preach and teach the Jesus of demands. For some of this I make no apology. I believe that Jesus does make demands on our lives. He never forces his person and teachings on us but there are demands that God, working through his living son, makes upon our lives.

However, does anyone really pause to reflect on the Christ of affirmation? I used to hear about a man who used to pass out small paintings of a laughing Jesus. To me, this was just a creative way to make sure that Jesus remains our "buddy" or friend instead of the Jesus of service and demand.

But maybe there is a middle ground. There has to be a middle ground because we see evidence of service and gratitude in Scripture. Martin L. Smith likes for people to experience God through the gift of imagination. He encourages people to stop and imagine Jesus approaching them on a beach. Jesus has a different expression on his face; different than the usual solemn expression in which we often characterize him. In this scene, participants are encouraged to imagine Jesus with an expression of gratitude. As he approaches, "his intention is to thank you for all that you do for him." How would this make you feel? What does Christ say?

It truly is a strange feeling isn't it? Jesus, my savior, thanking me for all I do as a follower. Jesus, thanking me for using my gifts that were given to me by the Holy Spirit.

Many will be tempted to reject this idea. To open the possibility of being thanked by Christ is to welcome pride. The way to stay humble is to reject praise from others and from God. Christ must be put in his rightful place.

"I am just an ordinary church-goer," you might tell yourself. Or you may deflect any kind of praise, minimize what you do, and be quick to detect flaws. I tend to just change the conversation or dilute any appreciation so as to not come across as 'one of those kind of ministers.' In my own humble reaction there is pride. But if this continues in all of us then we can become guilty of the corrosion of self-doubt; and it is a slow process. Trust me. It creeps up and it will never loudly announce its presence.

So what is the solution? Allow Christ to thank you. Allow others to thank you. Accept the gratitude of others all the while knowing that they are God's gifts...not yours. Only then can we sincerely compliment others and allow our return compliments to be sincere.

"True humility comes from allowing our own gifts to be properly affirmed."

"It is only when we really accept God's appreciation of us and know ourselves to be gifted through the Holy Spirit that we can communicate to others the same blessing."

"For how can we give what we do not allow ourselves to receive?"

A Season for the Spirit: Congratulations to the Poor!

"Congratulations to the poor!" proclaimed Jesus in what we call the Beatitudes, a pious term which helps us muffle the impact. - Martin L. Smith

But is Jesus saying congratulations to the people we often criticize with words such as "lazy,"unambitious," "uneducated," because they have accepted their terrible destiny and only dream of heaven?

Not exactly. If we keep reading in the Beatitudes we discover that Jesus is referring to the poor as "blessed" because they "thirst for righteousness." They want wrongs to be righted and this is the way God's righteousness works. His justice set wrongs right. The hungry and poor among us desire change, a word that our current presidential nominees have already worn out, and they yearn for a type of justice that gives them a respectable life with a respectable future.

I come up with excuses to NOT be as involved as I should be. My excuses are often, "I cannot speak to their environment. Let someone else who truly knows do it. That way, it is more sincere." Another is, "I need more money in my pocket too. I have expensive children and energy prices are on the line." And then I become frustrated at the politicians that are going to try to take more of my money away from me. "Let me become a bit more settled and then I will give." And then I go to Starbucks for my grande mocha latte.

All of this is true. Life is expensive and my priority should be my families future and a consistent giving to my church...the people I know very well.

But we all know the answer is not pocket change. It's not even found through handsome donations to individuals in need. I am committed to giving my pocket change to those who ask but we all know and realize that this will not create the necessary component to alter the life of poor people in each city.

The answer is CHANGE. (again, not the change in our pockets)

Poverty is more systematic than we wish to admit.
Wealth itself depends on a dissociation with the poor. And I have found that politics often distort the true nature of the wealthy in our country. Rich people are not mean and evil. They are usually nice and giving. But the separation between rich and poor exist.

"The problems are systematic, vast, the changes necessary so revolutionary, the resistances so colossal...while I analyze and cultivate my pious hopelessness I can keep my hand over my wallet. Sometimes, though I would not dare to say it out loud, I reckon that poverty is actually the human condition and will never change. Therefore, the claims of the poor must be resisted. With such falsehoods I struggle against the Spirit to keep out of solidarity with the poor."

If God is calling each of us to have solidarity with the poor, then we must allow the Spirit to make known the poverty within us. We have to allow the Spirit to speak the Beatitudes to the poor within us. We must internalize our dependence on God. We need him. We need change. Each of us within.

Jesus prime concern was that we discover this unique need for our own "daily bread" and "deliverance from evil." So let us not be fearful of praying for ourselves. Isn't it amazing that even when we pray for others. we are many times doing this so that we will not have to pray for ourselves? And if we do not pray for ourselves, we deny the Spirit an opportunity to show us how needy we are. Each of us within.

Only then can we promote change in our communities. Let us not condemn our needy self to silence. If we do this then we will forever disassociate ourselves from the poor around us and things will never change.

A Season for the Spirit: Exclusion and Embrace

Smith entitled his Tuesday March 4th devotional, "I Can Live with Mystery and the Unknown." The title captured my interest because I often need a good dose of the mystery of God. Or maybe a better way to put it that if I am to see Christ in others, then I need to learn to accept and love the mystery of them also.

Smith writes, "Fear of what we do not understand prevents us from being in community with them." It is interesting that the more America becomes complex and diverse, the less we see of true community. We divide up our churches by the color of our skin, we section off neighborhoods by religion and race, and exclude others from interacting with our families. And for many, doing just the opposite would be foolish.

But such is the "foolishness of God." Common-sense tells us to stick to our old ways and old habits. Common-sense tells us to build walls for protection. But to do so is like building a fortress in the desert. The fortress is strong, thick, and practical...but it is also isolated from the uniqueness of life in others. Faith is not common-sense and common-sense is not faith!

I have found that when we exclude others from ourselves and our churches, it is often based on fear (and the Bible is used as a shield). We must allow the Holy Spirit to "grapple" with this fear and finally strangers may let go and enter into relationships with one another.

Knowledge never leads to freedom. And Smith reminds us that, "people think that the Spirit, in leading us to truth, is going to fill our heads with all sorts of knowledge. Nothing could be further from the truth." Truth comes by unlearning bit by bit the prejudices we have against one another. We believe we have knowledge of others but this is groundless without entering into the life of others that we may not understand. Instead of accepting the mystery of another, we reject it; and thus we reject the mystery of God in them. We only pretend to know the inner parts of others and we must surrender the tendency of pretending to know about others what we do not know.

We quickly label others when we fear this type of understanding. But I, along with Smith, have murmured to myself at times, "if only people knew." Their is always a context in a life. Each life has a past and with it comes complicated issues, secrets, regrets, joys, abuses, mistakes, hate, love, bad advice, politics, and hurts. And when we discount all that is there and exclude others we have chosen to exclude God.

Carl Jung says, "True understanding seems to me to be one which does not understand, yet lives and works."

Holy Spirit, the more I contemplate your life in my heart, and Christ whom you make present within me, the more presumptuous my so-called self-knowledge seems. I am as much a mystery as you are! The more I revere the mystery of your life in me, the more prepared I will be to treat others, too, as bearers of mystery, and be in communion with them."
-Martin L. Smith

A Season for the Spirit: Howdy Partner!

The movie "Parenthood" contains some of the most memorable scenes in movie history. It is rarely mentioned as being one of the all time classics. However, the film creatively covers most of life's dilemmas of what it means to live in community. Steve Martin plays a father who experiences parental struggles, marital conflicts, disapproval with relatives, frustration with his past, and the continuous need to be productive so that everyone will be pleased.

The plot sounds terribly depressing but it is infused with a great deal of humor and meaningful dialogue. I will never forget his quote following an argument with his wife. "My whole life is have-to." He apparently had his own idealistic perspective of what being a father and husband would look like. He was disappointed at the reality of it all. He was even more disappointed with his own efforts that had ended in failure. Was there anyone to notice how committed he was? Would there be any approval from others?

Until he let it all out. "Howdy Partner!" When the clown showed up drunk and the hired cowboy couldn't make it to his son's birthday party (if my memory is correct), Martin dresses up like a cowboy and saves the day. I remember thinking, "that is the dad I want to be one day."

"Addiction would not be too strong of a word to describe the need of many of us to be constantly productive and active. We have been brought up to assume that busying ourselves incessantly in fulfilling people's wants and needs will guarantee their approval. And stopping will set off shrill voices inside of us that will not desist until we start working again."

Basing our value upon whether or not we are satisfying other's interpretation of what it means to be human is a tragic way to live.

Now comes the well-known story of Martha, Mary, and Jesus. Martha, distracted with busy service, becomes agitated because Mary has discovered the magnetic quality of Jesus. Mary has done nothing to deserve this satisfaction and Mary resents it. Her identity as a hostess is not being fed by others and, therefore, she feels less of a person. This is a modern compulsion of everyday life, isn't it? We do what we do so that others will show their pleasure.

The story ends abruptly with the words of Jesus challenging her to quit what she is doing. Does the anxiety of letting go build to more anxiety in your life? Probably so. I imagine Martha would say the same. Yet by simply sitting and letting go of the "have-to" of life, just for a moment, she allows herself to experience a meaningful moment with Jesus. She did not have to entirely give up on being a perfect hostess. However, she did realize a valuable lesson. Martha realized through a later parable that she too can be a "student and confidante of Jesus."

May we all take time, especially during the Lenten season, to stop and deepen our knowledge of the kingdom of God in the company of Jesus.

A Season for the Spirit: Our Alienated Adulthood vs. The Child of Glory

Martin L. Smith maintains that within our hearts there exists a "society of the self." Who can deny this now? The Holy Spirit wants us to reconcile this society under the mercy, grace, and leadership of Christ. During this life-long experience we are guaranteed to witness selves that we were not aware of and hear voices that we had previously silenced. The wounded child in us must be brought to life...and the child of glory can then rejoice in a Spirit of playfulness and wonder.

If the Holy Spirit is reconciling what is in our complicated heart, then how could we ever believe that this could be a boring, lifeless experience. Yet we proceed through life afraid of playfulness and bound in alienated adulthood. Yet, if we allow God to demonstrate his youthfulness...yes, youthfulness...then we can once again be born again by the Creator.

Do you remember the day that you, as a child, once realized that the adult world was filled with awful terror, dishonesty, and unavoidable boredom? I can't place my finger on it but, whether it be the local news or a church dispute, I one day realized that adults were wonderful at screwing up things. Smith writes, "There can be a massacre of the innocents in the heart; there has to be whenever the powers that be there choose the way of greed, senseless hedonism, mediocre agnosticism, or deadly seriousness religion."

And another question. Have you ever been unable to experience the wonderful creation of God...right in front of you...but it just seems to be an impossible task? Maybe this has happened during a vacation where you just can't seem to soak in the awe of what is in front of you. Maybe you have felt disconnected at the sight of a beautiful new-born although you know that you should be amazed at the sight of an innocent, vulnerable child. If you can relate to these experiences in some manner, then there is a good chance that your heart has sold itself out to adulthood and the "authority of the child" has been denied.

"Where the authority of the child (within your heart) is denied there will inevitably be spiritual sickness." Smith rightly proclaims that churches these days do not dare mention that they represent the abundance of life that Jesus came to bring. This is because the abundance of life is simply not there. The impression of life maybe...but true abundant life hardly. We are deadly serious about our worship, there is no time for play, some churches hollow with triviality, most filled with petty relationships, and again all filled with boredom.

So what are we to do? More programs? More fellowships? More obligations? More guilt?

NO!

It begins first with each Christian individual. Each must realize the primacy of imagination and play. Each must let the air out of his/her own adult pomposity (I need to look the word up also). Each must appreciate the surroundings and appreciate the uniqueness of others. Each much have their imaginations rekindled by God. Each must love the child within and permit its power that results in dreaming and feeling.

Creation is wonder and the Creator is glorious. We must allow wonder to penetrate our hearts so that we can enjoy the glory through praise. We must each repent of the sin of familiarity which leads to boredom.

Today, let us all implore the Spirit to open our child's inner eye to see the mystery and beauty and intense significance of the ordinary things of life.

Or as a former professor once told his class, "All you have to do is be awake!" May God awaken the inner child of glory within us.

A Season for the Spirit: The Wounded Child

I admit it! Just mention the inner child to me and you will see me roll my eyes in frustration. I am an adult and their are responsibilities in which to tend. Any discussion about someone's inner child is a crutch or a weak excuse to avoid the inevitible reality that life is difficult. I have learned throughout the years that the last thing I must do is become vulnerable. Why? Because there will always be people out there who will take advangage of the vulnerable.

Although I can never imagine myself adopting the language in social circles, Jesus DID tell his people that we all must become as little children. And then adds a stern warning that, as Smith reminds us, is never captured on stained glass windows or "children's corner" at church.

Jesus tells them that if they do not, it may become an obstacle if they wish to enter into the Kingdom of God.

OK, maybe I should consider this idea in my prayer life!

When you think about it...it makes sense. Children do not build the obstacles that adults do because, at least the innocent among them, desire relationships and trust. I was watching Nightline late last night and I was overjoyed to see N.T. Wright speaking of what he believed was an accurate Biblical image of heaven. He claims that the idea of heaven has been manipulated over the centuries as a response to the alternative....Hell. His studies have resulted in a conclusion that will bother most evangelical Christians; especially the evangelicals among us who base every ounce of energy on their own future arrival in heaven or leading others to this ambigious place we know little about.

Heaven, to Wright, is more like a holding place (a real place) but it is only temporary due the promise from Christ that he will make all things new again and create a new earth (that is like heaven.) This is what should motivate us to do good works, fight for justice, and work towards things like the freedom of children and modern day slaves. With this Biblical imagery, we now have a connection to the world around us because it is this world that will one day be made anew. All tears will one day be wiped away and the horrors that take place behind closed doors in our own neighborhoods involving children will one day cease to take place.

None of us can literally become like children again. None of us would want that. But we can allow Christ to bring to life the child that is within us. "Truly, I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven."

So if we were to catch a glimpse of this recreated new world, what would it look like? One image that comes to mind for me is one where all of us would not only identify each other in some way but also possess the heart of a child. It would be a place where equality is universally accepted, where relationships are pure and innocent, where everything is shared, and God is big (not so mysterious) and loving.

So what about all of us who have a 'wounded' child within us? We can let God heal the wounds that are there and realize that prayer is not always "serious adult business." We must allow ourselves to be embraced and in order for that to happen we must become vulnerable to God. We must become like children.

"Take away from me my fear of a child's vulnerability. Help me recognize that I am also a wounded child; otherwise I may bar myself from the kingdom."
Martin L. Smith

A Season for the Spirit: Every Carbon Atom in My Body was Formed in a Star when 3 Helium Nuclei Collided in One Spot in Less than a Millionth of a Sec

Origen said that we have within us the sun and the moon and also the stars. It is literally true. "Every constituent of our bodies has had a million other lives in the seas, in plants, in animals."

To most, the idea that we are so connected to creation is going to seem heretical. Why? Because we have been unfortunately taught by over zealous churches and secular agendas that our bodies stand as enemies of God. We have been born into sin, sexuality is something to never discuss in church, we are unique to the rest of the created order and therefore stand at odds with it, the heart is evil, and we have dominion over fallen creation.

But what if we internalized the reality that our heart, when converted to mercy will, "burn for all creation, for humankind, for birds and animals and demons and for every creature" we realize that we can never truly love God's world without first loving the world that is summed up in our own body.

The most important thing that I have learned in this study is that God is reconciling the many things within my heart. The heart is filled with unfathomable depths and it part of God's creation. Therefore, God seeks to reconcile all of creation and thus reconcile the many fears, passageways, chambers, reception rooms, hidden closets, and trap doors that are within our complicated heart.

And this is not about the gratification of the senses of our body. This provides no ultimate healing for any of us. But neither are we to stand in front of the mirror with suspicion of our senses and that they are enemy territory for God. Rather, we must "examine the way we fail to use our bodies and powers of touch to bless and help others through tenderness. It risks venturing into precarious areas, like my fear of sickness and death. It turns us outward to the world, and gets me to ask for grace day by day to delight in my senses and use them to stay alert, connected, and appreciative."

May our bodies through worship, service, and the sacraments result in being deeply integrated into the one, true holy one Jesus Christ.

A Season for the Spirit: Finding the Treasure Within Us

One of life's primary struggles is arguing with our own self-understanding of who we are. Christ tells through experience and the New Testament writers speak of our true identity in Christ; but we choose to recreate ourselves by our past, by our desired personalities, and our image of ourselves.

But there is a true center. "And unless we come to acknowledge and believe in this true center, we will continue to imagine that our public personalities or our image of ourselves is the whole truth of who we are."

I still recall a professor of mine reminding us all that the primary message that people need to hear is one of identity. Christ makes us into who we are because he is dwelling in the center of who we are. The other stuff that we place around it are obstacles meant to cover up fear of life and fear of death.

But this is only half of it. Again, many of us resort to the distorted belief that the centered life is reserved for the spiritual elite. But the "new being is not dangled in front of our eyes as some elusive goal to which we one day might attain if we struggle hard enough. It is already ours through the undeserved gift of Christ's indwelling."

Thomas Merton explained it by saying, "all we need is to experience what we already possess." "You start where you are and deepen what you already have and you realize that you are already there."


"Give me the simplicity to believe that the name of Jesus pronounced with love and adoration is more powerful than all my schemes for changing myself for the better."
- Martin L. Smith

A Season for the Spirit: Societies of the Self

"Spirit of love, if I am to express the hospitality of God to all sorts of very different people, to people who seem very alien from me, then I need to learn to listen to each one of them very attentively. But how can I pretend to listen carefully to the different people I encounter if I refuse to listen to the different voices within my heart? What chance is there of loving and respecting others if I refuse to meet and listen to the many sides of myself? How can I be a reconciler if I shut my ears to the unreconciled conflicts within myself and pretend that I have already arrived at peace?"
-Martin L. Smith

Many of us fear the inner question of "Who am I?" because we are uncertain of what will be revealed at the end of the journey. In addition, the question sounds 'soft' and this conflicts with what we have been taught concering salvation, discipleship, and evangelism. We are a do-it-alone country living in a individualistic culture and to ask "Who am I?" admits something that is undeniable but also very peculiar; that we have another self (or even many selves).

This type of introspection is dangerous and questionable. For instance, if one day my 18 year old son begins to ask the question of "Who am I?" I will probably become concerned. My fear is that he would then skip college, set off toward the west, and grow facial hair while "just wanting to find himself." I can only hope that he has the spiritual maturity to ask the question in light of the Spirit dwelling in him. Because every person will ask this question and express it in some unique manner.

But if "all things are there" it can only be a healthy practice to ask the question and allow the Spirit to unify all of these "worlds," "selves," "microcosms;" how ever you would like to put it. You see the impossibility of reconciling all of our selves on our own!

Smith sees the self as a kind of society. I add that society needs government.
Smith writes that there are at least two selves, the asker and the recipient. I add that opposing people often need a mediator to arrive at truth.
Smith believes that there is a courageous self and a timid self. I add that, in community, a protector must make sure that one does not dominate the other.
Smith sees many selves in our past. I add that encouragers in life are needed so that we can make reconcilation, even forget, our previous mistakes.
Smith writes that there exists a diverse cast of characters within our hearts. I add that it takes a director to make everything work as it should.

"The Holy Spirit dwells in our heart and is no stranger to the diversity and conflict there." "The Spirit of God desires to bring the selves of the self into a unity around the center of the indwelling Christ." He unifies, he governs, he mediates, he protects, he encourages, and he directs.

A Season for the Spirit: All Things Are There!

"You yourself are even another little world and have within you the sun and the moon and also the stars." - early Christian quote by Origen

To simply pause and think about the Spirit of God in us will often create an image that the human person is a miniature world. Martin L. Smith has a reproduction of a scroll by beside his bed that contains the words, "Self revealed: all things in heaven and earth exist in oneself."

There is so much there! So much within us! But there exists a great temptation to believe that we are simply a number to God. To even imagine our heart having many rooms of unfathonable depths is risky. For to believe it is admit that we ourselves may not be aware of all that is there.
What will we do if we discover by the Spirit's exploration that there exists 'reception rooms,' 'offices,' and 'passages?' How must we pray if in our heart lies death and life and righteousness and wickedness? If we left it there then it would be daunting and scary. But if we consider the fact that the king of the palace is Christ, then we may be more open to let him have access to our miniature world. The heart is small but in it dwells 'dragons' and 'lions' but it is also where Christ rests. "All things are there."

"You are God's world in miniature," writes Smith.

"We do not get tiny bits of his attention and care because God is wholly present and wholly available."

So how do these profound statements work into our normal routine of daily life. We do have responsibilities in which to tend! Well, Christ has asked each of us to slow it down, rest in him, and meet him in solitude. And during this Lenten season we all have the joy of knowing that we do not go about it alone. You join others in moments of solitude each day. We are doing what Christ has asked us to do and it is only there that we can allow him to take us into the 'wilderness' of our soul. We must find time to be alone so that truth can be revealed.

If this is done then we cannot avoid the questions of "Is God there for me?" or "Is God's attention absorbed by the vast world?" Should we bother God then?

But it is when we are alone that we can be assured that "the father who knows us in secret, secretely sees the whole world in each one of us and loves it, and cares for everything about us and in us."

A Season for the Spirit: No Room for Self-loathing

Spirit of God, have I ever felt true compunction? Regret, remorse, self-criticism, deploring my failures-all of these I know. But as I struggle now to be truthful I realize that there is often a self-centeredness in these feeling and little joy. There is a secret pleasure in wounding my self-esteem further with blame. But where is the joy at being forgiven, the pain of facing the paltriness of my compassion, and the joy again of looking forward to my own full conversion? These can only come as your gift. No effort of mind can generate the 'grief that make for joy."
Martin L. Smith

"Today, Tuesday, may we NOT lose ourselves in the contemplation of our own inadequacies. Rather, let us lose ourselves in the contemplation of the all-inclusive embrace of God's love in which we are held."

A Season for the Spirit: Keeping the Spirit at Arm's Length

Spirit who filled Jesus, no wonder I shy away from the mystery of your indwelling! The moment I consent to your living and moving in me, and trust you, the numbness I have relied on to get through life begins to wear off. Give me the faith to be vulnerable to the joy the Father has in me through my union with Jesus the Beloved. Give me the courage to share the pain of the world which is so far from its home and center, the Living God.
- Martin L. Smith

Who is the Spirit to you? Is the Spirit remote from reality like an attic of mystical, stored-away teachings? Again, is a true spiritual, wilderness experience driven by the Spirit only reserved for the elite among us? Is the numbness to the Spirit actually a resistance that tries to keep the the Spirit at arm's length?

My son's room is a wreck right now. As I try to get him ready for school, I undoubtebly began to get agitated at the extreme mess of it. I knew that if we did not get in there before Christmas and clean things up, send things to Goodwill, and throw useless items away; it would come back to haunt us. As a result, I am embarrassed to allow his neighbor friend into our house. Things must be cleaned up before any unexpected guests arrive.

Our life and journey with the Spirit is similar to this. Our resistance to the full access of the Spirit is due to our shame of the Spirit seeing our inner rooms. "Inner rooms from which even our own conscious minds are barred." And when the Spirit's presence is beginning to make itself known we feel as if, in Paul Claudel's words, "an undesired lodger has moved in, one who does not hesitate to rearrange the chairs according to his taste, to drive nails into the walls and, if necessary, even to saw up the furniture when he is cold and needs a fire."

We are taught from birth that we are autonomous; we have complete ownership of ourselves. But in reality we are beggers. We can't even pray like we should because of all the rooms that need to be examined and cleaned. As a result, the Spirit prays within me "with sighs too deep for words." Throughout my life I have had many, many articulate, meaningful, sincere experiences through prayer. And then I walk away believing that the prayers were my own.

I could choose to get stuck in the shame of it. I could wallow in self-loathing and say "what is the use?" This would lead directly to the anesthetic that often overtakes our love for God and the world. But there is a better option for all of us.

We could surrender ourselves to the Spirit. Sound idealistic doesn't it? Admit it, that is what came to your mind, right? Just religioius speak as always.

That is resistance sounding its alarm. Anesthesia.

And we know that the Spirit of God is having his way with us when the anesthetic begins to wear off. We then become vulnerable to God's love (joy) and the condition of the world (pain). So let us pray, not relying on our own strength, but on the Spirit who prays within us.

A Season for the Spirit: Deep within our Humanity

In the scriptures we find that the Spirit is like a wind that drives us towards places that we will be exposed to liberating truth. This is essential to our faith but it is, nevertheless, just an image. The Spirit is found deep within us. Jesus refers to the Spirit of God gushing out of the heart. 'Heart' literally means 'guts.' Jesus is not refering to the trivial manner in which we as Christians often use the word 'heart.' Jesus is talking about the core of our humanity. If the Spirit is not alive within us, then who are we really?

Martin L. Smith tells a captivating story about searching for a centuries old spring. The spring was once known as a holy spring. In the Middle Ages, pilgrims once searched for this spring but all trace of it was lost. The expedition was a failure.

So Smith went out to find it. After hours of probing around he wondered if the cows in the field that we standing in the stinking mud patch might be guarding this special secret. He was right. There he found a carved platform with a wooden pipe. Pure, clean water flowed from it in a steady stream.

"We are reminded here that the home of the Spirit is not found in the intellect, the realm of concepts or ideas, not in a refined interior sanctum of spirituality, but in the 'guts', the deep core where our passions have their spring, the place of conflict, confusion, vulnerability, and desire."

The pilgrims had not found the spring because they hurried past the stinking mud patch and swarming flies. How often do we, on occasion or with our entire lives, pass over the place of the Spirit's indwelling? Are we looking in vain in only the cleaner world of spiritual thought and piety?

The following parable tells us all we need to know. It is about a man who was seen searching for something at night under a street light. "Did you lose something here?" he is asked. "No, over there," he replies, pointing to a dark corner some distance away, "but this is where the light is good."

This is the story of the spiritual quest of so many of us.

The Spirit is found in the core of our own humanity. I find comfort in this. The Spirit is a mysterious wind but we need not get fixed with only this image. The Spirit flows in our heart, the guts of who we are, and it flows there continuously. It just needs to be uncovered.

A Season for the Spirit: Yearning to Be Distinct

Spirit of Jesus, give me the courage to take my heart and look it in the face! It is absurd to be surprised to see there cravings to be special, to be invulnerable, to dominate. Only if you deepen my awareness of your indwelling and the priceless gift of intimacy with the Father which is already mine can these desires give way to the truth that I belong to others and can serve and embrace them.
- Martin L. Smith

I once had a professor encourage us in divinity school to "simply be awake." If we are "awake" to our surroundings and walking in the Spirit then our council to others, our sermon preparation, and our Bible teaching will come from life itself. Martin L. Smith has learned over the years to be awake to his surroundings and listen to the stories of individual lives. What he has learned is that all people yearn to be joined with others. This is solidarity. The other is the yearning to be unique and distinct. This is identity. No wonder there are so many bloggers today. It gives a voice; sometimes vain, sometimes harsh, sometimes poetic, to millions of people a day.

In the Jordan Jesus experienced a massive affirmation of uniqueness. So what becomes of his identification with all of those weak and struggling mortals?

Jesus must reconcile the two. Now comes the literal desert of silence. Jesus is accompanied with only angels and is visited frequently by Satan.

Smith rightly proclaims what is really at stake. I had never made the connection before. What is at risk is his solidarity with ordinary human beings. A showmanship of power would place Jesus in an elite alignment of spiritual entities that have no need for bread and feel no pain.

"To exploit miraculous powers would be to insulate himself from dependence on others and, as a result, separate himself from ordinary men and women."

Would you fully trust a Jesus that used special powers to overcome temptation, have his stomach filled, and avoid pain?

We join Jesus on his journey because "the common way of faith lives with a deep sense of vulnerability." We must all reject the ways of spiritual elitism and bravado. Yet so much emphasis is placed on leadership these days. We use the same tactics and expect the same results as the secular world. There are even books centered around becoming a leader like Jesus. But here I see a vulnerability that depends on God alone and the help of others.

"Charismatic leadership depends on sustaining the illusion that the leader is above and beyond the common masses, an illusion they need as much as he or she does." What does this say about the popular preachers of today? What does it say about Christian culture? What does it say about the charismatic leader who may just need the illusion as much as the person he or she leads? It is time to be confident, not in our own skills and dynamics, but in the Spirit alone that drove Jesus into the wilderness.

Jesus stands with them and his actions demonstrate that he will never stand over them.

Our wilderness experience is about taking a close look at our own hearts; what is "below the surface stream, shallow and light of what we say we feel." We may find that our hearts are insulated, to use Smith's word, by secular skills, bravado, control, manipulation, and self-confidence. Taking our own hearts and looking them in the face is the essence of this (Lenten )wilderness experience. - Dorothy Sayers