Whatever happened to brotherly (and sisterly) love? That is a question that a wise friend asked me. He said that he saw a meanness in American life that was not as evident before, a coarseness of private and public discourse that made him sad. He remembered times when neighbors seemed to be more helpful to each other, and more caring about each other’s families and general welfare.
My friend reminisced about a time when humor was not so harsh and cutting, and not always at someone else’s expense. He said he knew that politics had always been rough and often dirty, but contemporary technology has upped the ante, often made running for office character suicide, where even the winners have usually lost everything but the election. So we chatted a while, and our conversation came near to being a requiem for the moral concept of brotherly love that we remembered so fondly from our youth.
But when I went to prayer time tonight I was reminded that we must not let it disappear. The fight for brotherly love, for human agape, must not die with us. Sometimes I believe that brothers and sisters in Christ forget the relationship that they ought to have one with the other. Sometimes there are things that are done one to the other that are completely wrong and hurtful.
Often times Christians forget that we, if remaining faithful, will share Heaven. Yet, some folks seem to want to hate each other here on this earth. The Bible tells us how we should continue in our walks with brothers and sisters. Hebrews 13:1 "Let brotherly love continue."
As a matter of fact we should love each other as Christ loved us and be even willing to give our lives for one another. We Christians must seek for our actions to align with the Bible. 1 John 3:16-18 “ This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue, but with actions and in truth.”
What is more, we should love our enemies. That is powerful spiritual medicine! Looking at the love a Christian should have for his or her enemy really gives clarity to "brotherly love". In Matt 5:43-45, Jesus states "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.”
Christ commands us to love each other and he tells us that this will be sign that we are his disciples. (John 13:34-35) We are called to be faithful soldiers of Jesus Christ, but our weapons are spiritual, grounded in Scripture and prayer. And the greatest weapon of good is love. The time has come for Christians to walk the walk, and not just talk the talk. Everyone who calls himself or herself a Christian must consider all their actions in comparison to the Golden rule (Matthew 7:12) and the commandment to love.
If we begin to do that, we will begin to find a kinder and gentler America, and a more hopeful, expectant world. Many of our problems will melt like fog on a sunny morning. Kindness beats meanness every time. (1 Cor. 13) It is time for brotherly love to make a comeback.
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Pray for Our Country
As we near the Fourth of July we are struck with how blessed we are to have been born here, and to live in this great country. Our nation has been overwhelmed with abundance and great privilige, and we must respond rightly to the responsibility that goes with that blessing.We remember 9-11-01, and we realize how precious life and freedom are for each of us, and how we should cherish each other in the time that we have together. And as we pray, there is much that troubles us about our national problems of greed and selfishness, and the sinfulness and brokeness that rules the day in many areas. We pray for peace -- in our lives, our churches, our communities, our nation, and our world. Peace with God (through Jesus Christ), and peace with each other through living as true ambassadors of His love.
We pray for America, as Katherine Bates wrote in American the Beautiful, "God Mend Thine Every Flaw." Let us stand on 2 Chronicles 7:14, which contains God's recipe for revival -- "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." In Jesus Name we pray it. Amen. Amen.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Holy Communion with God and Each Other -- Glimpses of His Glory!
We had the Lord's Supper in church today and it made me contemplate the joy that is communion and Eucharist (Thanksgiving!) with God and our fellow Christians. I could feel the presence of God in our service, and I could see Jesus in the smiles of the people.
A late friend of mine from Kake, Alaska, Rick Mills, used to talk about the closeness to God that he felt when we celebrated the Lord's Supper together. He spoke of the unconditional love from God that he felt as he took the bread and the juice(wine) and remembered what Christ had done for each one of us. It was a deep, wonderful, spiritual experience for Rick.
Theologian John Calvin, who God used to lay a strong spiritual foundation for many Christians, had a great enthusiasm for the celebration of the Lord's Supper. Calvin wrote that "it (the supper) was ordained to be frequently used among all Christians in order that they might frequently return in memory to Christ’s Passion, by such remembrance to sustain and strengthen their faith, and urge themselves to sing thanksgiving to God and to proclaim his goodness." He saw the Eucharist as a spiritual banquet, saying "All, like hungry men, should flock to such a bounteous repast. (Calvin, The institutes of Christian Religion, IV.xvii, 44, 46).
One of my favorite books is The Weight of Glory, by the great British Christian writer, C. S. Lewis, who is most well known for his wonderful Chronicles of Narnia children stories, Lewis was a great writer on the Christian faith in a number of other books. In The Weight of Glory, Lewis writes an insightful essay on our inner desire to have communion with God. We secretly, deeply, sometimes subconsciously, long to experience fellowship with God and to bask in His glory. This glory is partly the approval of God, but also partly our entering into the splendor itself. Lewis espouses the belief that each mere mortal as actually an immortal destined for glory or horror. He feels we should treat one another with the great significance that fact implies.
Lewis writes about beauty, and about the simple pleasure of seeing something beautiful, and about how in seeing it we want more. We have a deep desire to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it. Poets and artists attempt to capture this beauty for us. And humans long for that beauty, wanting to be filled, immersed, at one with it. This is really a longing for the Creator of all beauty -- God.
Another aspect of longing in The Weight of Glory has to do with reunion. It is a longing "to be reunited with something in the universe from which we feel cut off," "to be acknowledged, to meet with some response." Here Lewis shifts from discussions of filling and experiencing fullness and life, to the joy of being known, and moving on to fellowship. We want to be full, to be fullfilled, to be complete again, and when we seek for it, we find we need and want God, who makes us complete -- and this happens in fellowship with God.
We long for glory. Lewis says that we want, "approval or appreciation by God." To be seen as good children by God is an inner goal of Christians. Lewis states, "We long to please God... to be a real ingredient in the divine happiness... to be loved by God, not merely pitied, but delighted in as an artist delights in his work or a father in a son--it seems impossible, a weight or burden of glory which our thoughts can hardly sustain."
But it is made possible through Jesus Christ. Lewis says we move from longing as the desire to be filled (baptized), then to the desire to be reunited, reconnected and known by Him(fellowship), and finally to the desire of being a thrill to the heart of God.
What we want is to be a delight to the Father's heart, and to be so filled with His pleasure that our whole being dances in its fellowship. And with that we are a hairs' breadth away from the Holy Trinity and the great dance of the Triune God. Lewis contends that behind the whole universe was something very lively, not static but highly personal. Behind Lewis's longing and ours is "the first dance," the original dance, the fellowship of the Father, Son and Spirit. This fellowship is not boring, joyless, sad or empty. This is a living fellowship, a fellowship of passion and delight and love, of creativity and joy and glory and communion. Lewis helps us see the Trinity in all of God’s glory and grace, and to see “Glory Himself” in our neighbors.
To see Christ in each other is indeed a joy. We do see glimpses of His presence in church and in everyday life, and it is always a marvelous thing to see Him, smiling from behind the eyes of our brother or our sister in Christ! Such Holy Communion is the thing we live and die for! May we each become "a thrill to the heart of God"!
A late friend of mine from Kake, Alaska, Rick Mills, used to talk about the closeness to God that he felt when we celebrated the Lord's Supper together. He spoke of the unconditional love from God that he felt as he took the bread and the juice(wine) and remembered what Christ had done for each one of us. It was a deep, wonderful, spiritual experience for Rick.
Theologian John Calvin, who God used to lay a strong spiritual foundation for many Christians, had a great enthusiasm for the celebration of the Lord's Supper. Calvin wrote that "it (the supper) was ordained to be frequently used among all Christians in order that they might frequently return in memory to Christ’s Passion, by such remembrance to sustain and strengthen their faith, and urge themselves to sing thanksgiving to God and to proclaim his goodness." He saw the Eucharist as a spiritual banquet, saying "All, like hungry men, should flock to such a bounteous repast. (Calvin, The institutes of Christian Religion, IV.xvii, 44, 46).
One of my favorite books is The Weight of Glory, by the great British Christian writer, C. S. Lewis, who is most well known for his wonderful Chronicles of Narnia children stories, Lewis was a great writer on the Christian faith in a number of other books. In The Weight of Glory, Lewis writes an insightful essay on our inner desire to have communion with God. We secretly, deeply, sometimes subconsciously, long to experience fellowship with God and to bask in His glory. This glory is partly the approval of God, but also partly our entering into the splendor itself. Lewis espouses the belief that each mere mortal as actually an immortal destined for glory or horror. He feels we should treat one another with the great significance that fact implies.
Lewis writes about beauty, and about the simple pleasure of seeing something beautiful, and about how in seeing it we want more. We have a deep desire to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it. Poets and artists attempt to capture this beauty for us. And humans long for that beauty, wanting to be filled, immersed, at one with it. This is really a longing for the Creator of all beauty -- God.
Another aspect of longing in The Weight of Glory has to do with reunion. It is a longing "to be reunited with something in the universe from which we feel cut off," "to be acknowledged, to meet with some response." Here Lewis shifts from discussions of filling and experiencing fullness and life, to the joy of being known, and moving on to fellowship. We want to be full, to be fullfilled, to be complete again, and when we seek for it, we find we need and want God, who makes us complete -- and this happens in fellowship with God.
We long for glory. Lewis says that we want, "approval or appreciation by God." To be seen as good children by God is an inner goal of Christians. Lewis states, "We long to please God... to be a real ingredient in the divine happiness... to be loved by God, not merely pitied, but delighted in as an artist delights in his work or a father in a son--it seems impossible, a weight or burden of glory which our thoughts can hardly sustain."
But it is made possible through Jesus Christ. Lewis says we move from longing as the desire to be filled (baptized), then to the desire to be reunited, reconnected and known by Him(fellowship), and finally to the desire of being a thrill to the heart of God.
What we want is to be a delight to the Father's heart, and to be so filled with His pleasure that our whole being dances in its fellowship. And with that we are a hairs' breadth away from the Holy Trinity and the great dance of the Triune God. Lewis contends that behind the whole universe was something very lively, not static but highly personal. Behind Lewis's longing and ours is "the first dance," the original dance, the fellowship of the Father, Son and Spirit. This fellowship is not boring, joyless, sad or empty. This is a living fellowship, a fellowship of passion and delight and love, of creativity and joy and glory and communion. Lewis helps us see the Trinity in all of God’s glory and grace, and to see “Glory Himself” in our neighbors.
To see Christ in each other is indeed a joy. We do see glimpses of His presence in church and in everyday life, and it is always a marvelous thing to see Him, smiling from behind the eyes of our brother or our sister in Christ! Such Holy Communion is the thing we live and die for! May we each become "a thrill to the heart of God"!
Friday, June 23, 2006
Hug Somebody, Shake Someone's Hand -- Remembering the Words of Leo Buscaglia
At the end of every Sunday Service during the time I have been a pastor, I repeat this invitation to enacted friendship and love --:”Hug somebody -- shake someone’s hand!” For 22 years of ministry my father repeated those words of fellowship, and in 20 years of ministry that God has called me to do since 1986, helping my father when he was a pastor, and in my time as a camp director, and as a pastor myself, I have proclaimed this invitation to put our faith into action, to begin our time after the service with acts of compassion and love.
The late professor and author Leo Buscaglia, who died in 1998, was known as “Dr. Hug.” He eloquently talked of the value of hugs and encouraging pats on the back. He wrote some inspiring philosophical books, including Love, Personhood, The Way of the Bull, Because I am Human, and Bus Trip 99. In talking about hugs and affirmations, Buscaglia remarked on the value of touch: “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”
The professor also proclaimed, “"It's not enough to have lived. We should be determined to live for something. May I suggest that it be creating joy for others, sharing what we have for the betterment of personkind, bringing hope to the lost and love to the lonely."
Dr. Leo was made famous by a series of PBS specials that were compiled from his popular public lectures. Though not overtly Christian in his lectures and books, he was a man of faith and principle. Who often pointed out that “Your talent is God's gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God.
I have tried to model part of my ministry after some of the things that Leo Buscaglia wrote so eloquently about. He once wrote, “I've always though that people need to feel good about themselves and I see my role as offering support to them, to provide some light along the way.” Certainly, I try to show people who they are (or who they can be in Christ). By raising a person’s “Christ esteem” the Sprit raises their self esteem.
One other Buscaglia quote that moves me is this one: “The fact that I can plant a seed and it becomes a flower, share a bit of knowledge and it becomes another's, smile at someone and receive a smile in return, are to me continual spiritual exercises.”
Yes they are! And it is so amazing that God allows us to be partners in the processes of growth and creativity. God enables us to be part of the tapestry that is each of our lives, which, in turn, are part of the greater life quilts that weave together under the Spirit’s gentle guidance. Sometimes we do not see the pattern until we are at a distant vantage point in the unfolding future, but God was with us in every stitch and thread.
The late professor and author Leo Buscaglia, who died in 1998, was known as “Dr. Hug.” He eloquently talked of the value of hugs and encouraging pats on the back. He wrote some inspiring philosophical books, including Love, Personhood, The Way of the Bull, Because I am Human, and Bus Trip 99. In talking about hugs and affirmations, Buscaglia remarked on the value of touch: “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”
The professor also proclaimed, “"It's not enough to have lived. We should be determined to live for something. May I suggest that it be creating joy for others, sharing what we have for the betterment of personkind, bringing hope to the lost and love to the lonely."
Dr. Leo was made famous by a series of PBS specials that were compiled from his popular public lectures. Though not overtly Christian in his lectures and books, he was a man of faith and principle. Who often pointed out that “Your talent is God's gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God.
I have tried to model part of my ministry after some of the things that Leo Buscaglia wrote so eloquently about. He once wrote, “I've always though that people need to feel good about themselves and I see my role as offering support to them, to provide some light along the way.” Certainly, I try to show people who they are (or who they can be in Christ). By raising a person’s “Christ esteem” the Sprit raises their self esteem.
One other Buscaglia quote that moves me is this one: “The fact that I can plant a seed and it becomes a flower, share a bit of knowledge and it becomes another's, smile at someone and receive a smile in return, are to me continual spiritual exercises.”
Yes they are! And it is so amazing that God allows us to be partners in the processes of growth and creativity. God enables us to be part of the tapestry that is each of our lives, which, in turn, are part of the greater life quilts that weave together under the Spirit’s gentle guidance. Sometimes we do not see the pattern until we are at a distant vantage point in the unfolding future, but God was with us in every stitch and thread.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Love is at the Heart of Our Lives -- the Beatles and a Bible Truth
Love is at the very heart of the Christian Life. It rises above all else -- above judgmentalism, above works righteousness, above intolerance and sanctimonious piety. Love transforms and carries us to new places in God.
The seminal band of my childhood was the Beatles. They stirred the cultural pot in the sixties just as Elvis and his contemporaries had caused the fifties to boil over. Some of what they sang about may have missed the mark and taken kids in wrong directions, but some of their music was quite accurate in talking about how we should treat each other. One such song was the classic, "All You Need is Love." The lyrics are:
Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love.
There's nothing you can do that can't be done.
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung.
Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the gameIt's easy.
There's nothing you can make that can't be made.
No one you can save that can't be saved.
Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be in timeIt's easy.
All you need is love, all you need is love,All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love.
All you need is love, all you need is love,All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
There's nothing you can know that isn't known.
Nothing you can see that isn't shown.
Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be.It's easy.
All you need is love, all you need is love,All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
All you need is love (all together now)All you need is love (everybody)
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
Now, of course, this is just a song that happens to point us toward a universal theme and a Christian value. It is not Scripture. But it does shine some needed light. Scripture tells us that God is love -- and Scripture tells us that GOD IS ALL YOU NEED.
1 Jo 4:16 — "And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him."
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the answer for every problem in the world today. His love can heal all wounds and bring reconcilation to the hurting and broken hearted.
Paul deals clearly with the need for love in 1 Corinthians 13th chapter.from one of Paul's letters in the Bible:
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
One of the most important terms for Christians is "fellowship". This term covers our life together as Christians. This means first of all that we spend time together, in worship, educational activities, service to others, and just having fun, and in loving each other in the brotherly and sisterly sense. In addition to their primary goal, these activities help us get to know each other, and to develop into a community. The Bible refers to the Christian community using organic metaphors, such as a vine and a body. It talks about us sharing with each other and supporting each other.
When people think of Christianity they sometimes think of it as a set of prohibitions: "But it should be seen as way of life in response to God's love. Sometimes Christians actually have gotten carried away with rules. Rules of behavior have turned into an end in themselves, rather than ways of protecting us so that we can develop better relationships. However good sense normally prevails in the end. And at the center of most rules is the idea of freeing people form the bondage of sin, which destroys and weakens us, and keep us from being our best, and from receiving God's best.
Love is the key to a life of honoring God and His purposes. When we love others, we are also loving God who created them and calls on us to love our neighbor and our enemy. (Mark 12:29-31, Matthew 5:43-44). Here are some Scriptures to consider:
Galatians 5:14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
1 John 4:10-12 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
1 John 4:18-21 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
James 2:8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right.
The spectrum of Love has nine ingredients (1 Cor. 13:4-6)
Patience--"Love suffereth long." Love never gives up.
Kindness--"And is kind” Cares more for others than for self.
Generosity--"Love envieth not." Love doesn't want what it doesn't have and doesn’t covet what others have.
Humility--"Love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up." Love doesn't strut, Doesn't have a swelled head,
Courtesy--"Doth not behave itself unseemly” Respectful.
Unselfishness--"Seeketh not her own." Not always "me first,"
Good Temper--"Is not easily provoked." Anger is managed.
Forgiving --"Keeps no record of wrongs." Things good things and looks for the best in others, seeing their glass half full.
Sincerity--"Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth with the truth." Never glad about injustice, happy when truth wins out.
The seminal band of my childhood was the Beatles. They stirred the cultural pot in the sixties just as Elvis and his contemporaries had caused the fifties to boil over. Some of what they sang about may have missed the mark and taken kids in wrong directions, but some of their music was quite accurate in talking about how we should treat each other. One such song was the classic, "All You Need is Love." The lyrics are:
Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love.
There's nothing you can do that can't be done.
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung.
Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the gameIt's easy.
There's nothing you can make that can't be made.
No one you can save that can't be saved.
Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be in timeIt's easy.
All you need is love, all you need is love,All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love.
All you need is love, all you need is love,All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
There's nothing you can know that isn't known.
Nothing you can see that isn't shown.
Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be.It's easy.
All you need is love, all you need is love,All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
All you need is love (all together now)All you need is love (everybody)
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
Now, of course, this is just a song that happens to point us toward a universal theme and a Christian value. It is not Scripture. But it does shine some needed light. Scripture tells us that God is love -- and Scripture tells us that GOD IS ALL YOU NEED.
1 Jo 4:16 — "And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him."
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the answer for every problem in the world today. His love can heal all wounds and bring reconcilation to the hurting and broken hearted.
Paul deals clearly with the need for love in 1 Corinthians 13th chapter.from one of Paul's letters in the Bible:
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
One of the most important terms for Christians is "fellowship". This term covers our life together as Christians. This means first of all that we spend time together, in worship, educational activities, service to others, and just having fun, and in loving each other in the brotherly and sisterly sense. In addition to their primary goal, these activities help us get to know each other, and to develop into a community. The Bible refers to the Christian community using organic metaphors, such as a vine and a body. It talks about us sharing with each other and supporting each other.
When people think of Christianity they sometimes think of it as a set of prohibitions: "But it should be seen as way of life in response to God's love. Sometimes Christians actually have gotten carried away with rules. Rules of behavior have turned into an end in themselves, rather than ways of protecting us so that we can develop better relationships. However good sense normally prevails in the end. And at the center of most rules is the idea of freeing people form the bondage of sin, which destroys and weakens us, and keep us from being our best, and from receiving God's best.
Love is the key to a life of honoring God and His purposes. When we love others, we are also loving God who created them and calls on us to love our neighbor and our enemy. (Mark 12:29-31, Matthew 5:43-44). Here are some Scriptures to consider:
Galatians 5:14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
1 John 4:10-12 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
1 John 4:18-21 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
James 2:8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right.
The spectrum of Love has nine ingredients (1 Cor. 13:4-6)
Patience--"Love suffereth long." Love never gives up.
Kindness--"And is kind” Cares more for others than for self.
Generosity--"Love envieth not." Love doesn't want what it doesn't have and doesn’t covet what others have.
Humility--"Love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up." Love doesn't strut, Doesn't have a swelled head,
Courtesy--"Doth not behave itself unseemly” Respectful.
Unselfishness--"Seeketh not her own." Not always "me first,"
Good Temper--"Is not easily provoked." Anger is managed.
Forgiving --"Keeps no record of wrongs." Things good things and looks for the best in others, seeing their glass half full.
Sincerity--"Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth with the truth." Never glad about injustice, happy when truth wins out.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Praise the Lord!
The Psalms never cease to amaze me. They take me to new places in the spirit each time I read verses in them. Consider Psalm 148. It tells me of the beauty of this world God has created, this world that we enjoy.
I am reminded of a story I heard while in seminary.
A preacher spoke of spending a summer evening as a child with his grandfather, a Presbyterian Elder. They were by a lake and their ears rang with the noises of crickets and bullfrogs and birds and God knows what else. While they were sitting and listening to the racket of the wildlife; the grandfather asked the child, "Do you know what they are saying?"
"No," he said.
"They are praising God," the grandfather replied.
Certainly the grandfather knew that Presbyterian Westminster catechism begins with the affirmation that the 'purpose' of human life is "to glorify God and to enjoy [God] forever." Even more importantly, this grandfather was familiar with the Psalms, many of which like Psalm 148, speaks of all creation praising God.
Maybe praising God is the purpose of all whole creation. Maybe this is what the grasshoppers are doing when they whine through the heat of an summer night. Maybe this is what the coyote is doing when it pierces the desert night with a howl. Maybe the short, funny melody of the turtle dove, is praising and enjoying God. When dogs bark at the moon or when seagulls swarm and screech or when a rattler rattles its rattle, when a robins sings its morning song, then maybe they are being more faithful to God in their innocence than we are in our vast knowledge. Maybe they are simply praising God without guile or pretense.
It was the American theologian Jonathan Edwards who articulated the idea that the beauty of the natural world is an expression of God's glory. And seeing things that way ought to make us approach nature with awe and wonder, because there is a sense in which when we look at the creation we are seeing reflected all around us the work of the Creator.
Psalm 148 delights and dazzles, dancing between the mysterious majesty of the angels; the gossamer beauty of new fallen snow; the thundering storms, the melodies of larks and the leaping, crashing, breaching of humpback whales. The whale image comes full stregth to me from my time in Alaska. They are sea creatures of the deep, sea monsters of the gentlest variety, and there sheer size is beyond amazing. There are few things as impressive to see as is a 40 ton whale launching above the waves. We witnessed it on numerous occasions, and never ceased to be fascinated by these herculean water dancers.
This Psalm reminds us that we are not alone in praising God. In fact, it may be that we are the slowest of God's creatures to praise our Creator and Redeemer. But praising God -- and living lives with an attitude of gratitude -- is key to the Christian life.
I am reminded of a story I heard while in seminary.
A preacher spoke of spending a summer evening as a child with his grandfather, a Presbyterian Elder. They were by a lake and their ears rang with the noises of crickets and bullfrogs and birds and God knows what else. While they were sitting and listening to the racket of the wildlife; the grandfather asked the child, "Do you know what they are saying?"
"No," he said.
"They are praising God," the grandfather replied.
Certainly the grandfather knew that Presbyterian Westminster catechism begins with the affirmation that the 'purpose' of human life is "to glorify God and to enjoy [God] forever." Even more importantly, this grandfather was familiar with the Psalms, many of which like Psalm 148, speaks of all creation praising God.
Maybe praising God is the purpose of all whole creation. Maybe this is what the grasshoppers are doing when they whine through the heat of an summer night. Maybe this is what the coyote is doing when it pierces the desert night with a howl. Maybe the short, funny melody of the turtle dove, is praising and enjoying God. When dogs bark at the moon or when seagulls swarm and screech or when a rattler rattles its rattle, when a robins sings its morning song, then maybe they are being more faithful to God in their innocence than we are in our vast knowledge. Maybe they are simply praising God without guile or pretense.
It was the American theologian Jonathan Edwards who articulated the idea that the beauty of the natural world is an expression of God's glory. And seeing things that way ought to make us approach nature with awe and wonder, because there is a sense in which when we look at the creation we are seeing reflected all around us the work of the Creator.
Psalm 148 delights and dazzles, dancing between the mysterious majesty of the angels; the gossamer beauty of new fallen snow; the thundering storms, the melodies of larks and the leaping, crashing, breaching of humpback whales. The whale image comes full stregth to me from my time in Alaska. They are sea creatures of the deep, sea monsters of the gentlest variety, and there sheer size is beyond amazing. There are few things as impressive to see as is a 40 ton whale launching above the waves. We witnessed it on numerous occasions, and never ceased to be fascinated by these herculean water dancers.
This Psalm reminds us that we are not alone in praising God. In fact, it may be that we are the slowest of God's creatures to praise our Creator and Redeemer. But praising God -- and living lives with an attitude of gratitude -- is key to the Christian life.
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