Prepare the Soil

“I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” Philippians 3: 10-11

I came out of the Ash Wednesday service with a pensive walk pausing only briefly to greet a couple of the families who had already made their way out. That was as it should be since we were instructed to give thought to who we really are underneath the facade we put up to ourselves and others. We need to consider our nature and what we are at our core that drives the behaviors that give evidence to our sinful selves and not just the acts of sin. While it is good and necessary to confess the acts, we are doomed to repeat these offenses if we don’t dig down to the root of darkness within and remove it.

I looked forward to my short night-ride home; there is something about riding at night for me that I really like. There is a feeling of mystery about it, a heightened awareness of the solitude of the ride and this night I embraced it having some serious thoughts about what is truly separating me from God. There was the anticipation that He would expose it to me, allow me to see the gulf between us, and therefore be able to bring the Holy Spirit to bear on the roots of it to dig it out. That is a scary proposition; make no mistake about it, seeing who we really are and working out the roots of sin is painful and something that is all too easy to run from. Knowing that I’ve only scratched the surface of it doesn’t help getting into it all that much for me. I am thankful for Lent and having the community of believers considering this both as individuals and collectively leading up to our celebration of Christ’s victory over death. I am thankful that during our Ash Wednesday service we were able to hold true to the spirit of it and not put on a happy front just to be upbeat before we left.

Once the source is revealed to me, will I dig it out or attempt to throw dirt back over it to give the appearance that there is nothing there but fertile soil? All too often, I find just the hint of a root and toss a little soil back in place and rake it around making all the right motions of working things out but not truly facing up to it.

We are told that grace awaits the repentant sinner and will be our reward. Faith that this will be so makes it so and this can sustain us during the search. We had best be prepared for the wilderness experience that the season of Lent is patterned after. 40 days; the length of time Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness and then being tempted before entering into His earthly ministry. 40 years; the length of time the Israelites wondered in the wilderness shedding all of the old to enter into the new. The wilderness is parched and barely able to sustain human life; who can survive it? None without the sustenance of grace, the manna of life from the Father.

Somewhere along Montrose Avenue between La Crescenta and Rosemont where the street lights thinned out and traffic fell behind I found something to sustain me. Grace awaits me. The power of His resurrection will get me through the wilderness and effect the change. The power of His resurrection is enough. Death of the sinful self to be resurrected in grace with Him; all that separates us from Christ falls away and we come “to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord” (Phil. 3: 8) From there we can minister to this earth from a position of fullness and be effective workers of the harvest.

Shameless Audacity

Jesus said while talking about prayer "I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need." (Luke 11:8 [NIV]) I absolutely love the thought of shameless audacity; if I didn't have at least a measure of that when I was young then a beautiful and intelligent woman like Cindy never would have given me a second thought and now here I am married to her for over 35 years with three great kids and two fantastic grandchildren. I am a rich man because of a little timely temerity. I consulted with my friend Webster and he says audacity is "intrepid boldness" or a "bold or arrogant disregard of normal restraints". A sampling of synonyms gives us brashness, brazenness, cheek, chutzpah, crust, gall, pertness, sauce...I like them all. The synonym that stands out for me in my little search is chutzpah which is defined as "supreme self-confidence".

Jesus has told us to approach the Father with intrepid boldness if we want answers saying after giving the example of the man coming to the door after midnight "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. (vs. 9)" I confess, I have not been praying in this way. I'm too timid, too full of unbelief, and just too wimpy. I feel unworthy to come to Him and that's something I need to overcome. It's a given, I'm unworthy; I shouldn't dwell on it and let the thought of my unworthiness keep me from approaching the Lord for anything and everything. He paid the dearest price for my unworthiness and for me to let it come between us is a rejection of his sacrifice. I ask Him for good things for my family and friends, the church and her leaders, and for myself. I'm going to be audacious about it now but I had better remember one more thing. He also said to do it shamelessly or be insensible to disgrace, not give a care about appearances, and in spite of my sinful condition come to Him with chutzpah. He is the Father and what good father gives a scorpion when asked for an egg (vs. 12)? To come to Him shamelessly is not an affront to the Father but a statement of our faith that He forgives us all, that the power of His resurrection is enough to conquer everything.

Confession? Do it with confidence that He has forgiven us and longs to grant it to let us draw near. Intersession? Do it with chutzpah because He wants to be our shield and our rock. Guidance? Ask for it with brashness because He wants to lead us. Worship? Do it with audacious abandon because He wants to commune with us. Above all else, do it. Pray and then pray some more.

We Are What We Eat

Matthew 12: 35 "A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him."

I realized a few weeks ago that my scripture reading was sporadic, even non-existent. Check that, I've known that for a couple of years and what I've come to realize is that I'm starving myself and my spiritual growth has been completely stagnate. I had run out of the good things stored up in me and too many evil things were coming out. My feeding on scripture had been okay when I was regularly teaching the junior high students; being responsible for the lesson and their growth forced me to read and meditate on a pretty regular basis. This is one of the big reasons I raised my hand whenever I could for teaching knowing that I needed that sort of stimulus to keep me going. Once others took the teaching load I was getting by on their lessons but increasingly becoming a spiritual couch potato with my spiritual gifts atrophying at a steady pace. I did what I had to do and gave myself a quota of one biblical chapter and one skills building chapter a day knowing that I would do it because I'm a checklist kind of guy and knowing I'd read more once I got there; after all, I'm a glutton, I clean my plate and go back for seconds.

When we eat bread, do we toast it, cut off the crusts, and slather it with butter, jellies, and peanut butter? What then becomes of the bread? It was there, we consumed it, but did we taste it? The nutrients might be there but we were hardly aware of the bread other than it was a vehicle to deliver all the other stuff and only after we changed it from bread to toast without crust. Some breads are better for all that but others need to be enjoyed for what they are, fine pieces of bread. Scripture is the same as a fine piece of bread, meant to be consumed and enjoyed for what it is, and not merely as a side dish but an integral part of the great feast Jesus spreads out for us.

I caught myself today in a trap all too common with checklist people like me. I went to Rick's Drive In & Out for lunch and had the white fish, rice, and steamed vegetables. When I sat down I took out my Kindle and started to read Matthew 27 and had gotten through some pretty important stuff without really tasting it. I was aware of everything around me, the people talking and eating all those things I really wanted to be eating like burritos, hamburgers, and fries...the flat screen had CNN on talking about a subject I'm coming to loath, politics. There were lots of people there and I love to people watch. I was struggling to read because I'd left my reading glasses on the desk at the office. I had come to the Lord's banquet table completely unprepared to enjoy the feast. I consumed the Word and the nutrients are there but will they nurture my spirit as they should or be like the seed the farmer tossed on the pathway to be consumed by the birds? There are loads of things in chapter 27 for me to consider; Judas hanging himself, the chief priests not caring about his condition and cold heartedly buying the potter's field; there was Jesus before Pilot and Pilot washing his hands of it, the people incited by the chief priests, and the soldiers mocking Jesus. Who was I today; Judas, a chief priest, Pilot, or a soldier? A soldier, I mocked Jesus by reading His story in such a way as that. I've reread this section; otherwise I'd never have known that I behaved like a disrespectful soldier.

What happens when we eat right and have a healthy diet of scripture? When we prepare outselves for the meal? "Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit." (Matthew 12: 33) We should be able to examine the fruit of our labors and know if our spiritual diet is good or if it is bad. Do we have the fruits of the Spirit in our lives; love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? (Gal 5: 22-23) Do those we teach and have responsibility for have these fruits in their lives, are they growing in them?

Eat right, feed regularly, and enjoy the feast.