God from a Distance

 

Pluto:  Photo courtesy of NASA's New Horizon Probe

Psalm 139:7,8a

Where can I go from Your Spirit,

Where can I flee from Your presence?

If I ascend to the heavens, You are there...

Recently, I have often felt far away from God. I haven't been going through anything that difficult or anything life-threatening.  I can't point to one thing to explain my episodic sense of spiritual isolation. Furthermore, I know the character of God. I have experienced His love and His power and His presence in real time. However, recently, those times are few and far between. 

In sum, God has often felt far away...

Then, a few weeks ago, I saw the above picture taken by the New Horizons space probe on a fly-by of Pluto over 2 billion miles from earth revealing a landscape that is over 300 degrees below zero.  And in that cold, dark piece of space, New Horizons sent back this picture of Pluto with it's gigantic heart-shaped shelf of ice over 1000 miles wide!

In that moment, God gently said to me, "Where can you go, Geoff, from My Spirit and where can you flee, my favored one, from My presence?" God reminded me in that picture of Pluto that it is precisely in those cold and dark places of life, when it seems like God is far away, that He is actually right there with us revealing to us another dimension of His love...

And not just me...but remember Moses?  How many times had he walked by that same bush before it became a beacon of eternal light? How many times had Moses walked that dusty trail before the sand transformed under his toes to holy ground?

And how long was Gideon hiding in the winepress before that supernatural encounter that transformed his life and saved the lives of his people?

And I wonder why Jesus chose a little boring hill to transfigure into radiant glory?

It is when our lives seem dusty and the way before us seems monotonous and unremarkable, it is when we are afraid, and it is when we are cold and in the dark, that we discover that the heart of God still beats for His people. 

I have thought a lot about this picture from the New Horizons probe the last couple of weeks. And I am beginning to look at things differently in the very parts of my life that I haven't seen evidence of God's presence because now I know it is in those places that God has shown up again and again for His people, not because He has to, but because there is nowhere that we can go from the heart of God...just ask those weary shepherds who one dark night, were serenaded by a host of angels and found a king lying in bed of straw.

Less doing. More being.

Reading: I have read a few Cantos of, "The Faerie Queene." (I think it is mostly in English)

Movie: Sheep Detectives (So fun!)

Music: If I Could Walk on Water (Eddie Money)

The Party Tithe

The Party Tithe

"(W)hen the place where the Lord your God will choose to set his name is too far away from you, then you may turn your tithe into money.  With the money secure in hand, go to the place that the Lord your God will choose, spend the money for whatever you wish-oxen, sheep, wine, strong drink, or whatever you desire. And you shall eat there in the presence of the Lord you God, you and your household rejoicing together." Deuteronomy 14:24-26

This changes everything. Maybe we have been taught to tithe out of a sense of duty. Maybe we have been taught to tithe because the church needs our money. Maybe we have been taught to tithe because we need a tax break or an investment strategy. Maybe we tithe because we like the feeling of being holier-than-thou. But when was the last time we hear a sermon explaining that, if we insist on being selectively legalistic, God's word demands ten percent of our income to be set aside, not for the church, not for the poor, but for a great big party? Our tithe is for joy the presence of God!

Do you remember that sermon? The sermon about the party that wasn't flowing with milk and honey bur flowing with brisket and beer? That's church renewal we can get excited about! But instead, we talk about the habits of highly effective churches and pontificate on the malaise of declining congregations. Does this even come close to the dream that Jesus has for the church?  No. Jesus describes the gathering of God's people as a foretaste of the heavenly banquet full of colorful riff-raff. (Luke 14:15-24) Baptists, beware! There will be dancing! Presbyterians, loosen your ties. Nazarenes, now is the time for wine! Seventh-Day Adventists, there is going to be meat! This is a raucous affair! in this place, int the presence of God, there is joy!

Transcendence and Credentialing

 

"I am sure of this, that the One who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day                                                               of Jesus." - Philippians 1:6
           Here is a picture of some bread that my wife made today. Yes. You can be jealous.

 

My wife has recently started making sourdough bread. She feeds the starter every morning. She makes the dough, and then she "burps" it to let out some of the built-up gasses. She will put it into the oven later in the day. The whole time, the yeast is at work transforming flour and water into something completely different...something better. Something new. 

Making bread is a lot like life. It takes time. You can't rush it.  It needs to be fed every morning. There are times when we need to be, "burped" and let go of things we have been holding on to.  But God is at work the whole time making something completely different, and...if we wait...something better. Something new! 

For the last three years, I have been working in medical administration after spending over a decade in full-time ministry.  At times I have felt stuck, but now I realize that God has been at work this whole time. God, in this season, has been helping me to release those things that I have been holding on to; things I should have let go a long time ago. Yes, God is at work, making something new...something more than flour and water.

I don't know what is next. But because of these last three years, three difficult years at work and at home, I have a better idea of who God is. He is at work and His work is not done. Furthermore, because of these last three years, I have a better idea of who He created me to be. I am excited about the future because I am convinced that the one who began a good work in me, the same God who began a good work in you, will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus; something better. Something new!

                                            Church Stopping. Less Doing. More Being.

Recently Finished: "Living Fearless," Jamie Winship (God still speaks!)

What am I reading: "Simply Christian" by NT Wright (I hope to finish this week

On My List: "How Than, Shall we Live" by Frances Shaffer (recommended by a colleague at work.)

Recent movie: Latest episode of, "The Chosen." (This was a tear-jerker!)

Recent song: "If I Could Walk on Water" by Eddie Money (Eddie has so many great songs. I am not sure this one had the play it should have...So good!)

Holy Ground...and a Jeep Comanche

 

"When I consider the heavens the work of your fingers...what is man that you are mindful of him...you made him a little lower than gods, and crowned him with glory and honor." - Psalm 8:3a,4a, and 5

Here is a picture of Will and my Jeep Comanche, circa 2009 and 1992, respectively. Both, a little lower than gods.

 

This morning, before church, my wife and I were up before the boys in our Sunday Soubhiye.  We were doing a listening prayer together, inviting the Lord to meet us where we were and speak to us the word we needed to hear. 

I have been skeptical in the past when doing these, "mindful" exercises. "Where do you feel the burden?" They ask. "Where do you feel the weight of your soul meeting the crushing weight of the world?"  They say. And that's about the time I tap out...or as our son, Will, would say, "Dip."

But this morning, I felt my feet. Usually, I try to ignore my feet. 

They have taken some wear and tear over the years. Feet in general, and my feet in particular, are unlikely things for me to think about on my own, so I began to pay attention. Then, it hit me...it was like the Lord transformed our living room floor into holy ground.  Not the Sinai desert, and no burning bush was to be found, but the Lord reminded me, in that moment, that all of creation is indwelled by His presence. I felt it on my forlorn feet.

But I was also reminded of the, "holy" part of holy ground. The other-worldly and mind-boggling immensity of God that is beyond human capacity to fathom.

This juxtaposition of words that we say so nonchalantly, "Holy Ground," is actually a portrait of the two-fold nature of a God who is as close as the ground where we plant our feet, but also the creator of that ground.  The same God who fashioned Adam out of red dirt and breathed into him the life-giving Spirit is the same God that reminded me that He is both closer than I can comprehend and bigger than I can imagine. 

And in that moment, I couldn't help but think of Moses who...at the age of 80 years old, experienced God doing a new thing in his life. It feels like that for me now...God is moving. I know, God is always moving, but there is this unsettledness now; an awareness that God is about to do a new thing, or reveal to me a new thing that will show me how he has been moving all along.

In some way, that brings me back to my old truck and our youngest son. It is fun to dream about both the things I would like to do to the truck (33 inch tires, stroked engine rebuild, 6 inches of lift, etc) and what God is doing in our youngest son who is in the early stages of discovering who God created him to be. (teacher, coach, NBA basketball player, etc). 

So, here's to the journey and the assurance that even if we don't know exactly what we are doing or where we are going, the Lord is with us...indeed, he has been leading us the whole time.

                                            Church Stopping. Less Doing. More Being.

Recently Finished: "Journey to the Center of the Earth," Jules Verne (Fun excursion to the middle of the earth.)

What am I reading: "Simply Christian" by NT Wright (I have not read Wright before.  Now, to "Wright" that wrong!)

On My List: "How Than, Shall we Live" by Frances Shaffer (recommended by a colleague at work.)

Recent movie: When the Game Stands Tall. (Football and based on a true story. Good show and good message for today.)

Recent song: "Unwritten," by Natasha Bedingfield ("Sometimes my tries are outside the lines" Boom!)

Come Down From That Tree...or, Come Out From Under Those Tree Branches!

 

June 23, 2024

"Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at you house today." - Luke 19:5b

They didn't like him too much, it sounds like. His friends from school, they thought he was a traitor. His parents were saddened about the decisions he made along the way. Sure. He was rich, but he was a sinner with a corrupt heart.  And he had forsaken his faith for ill-gotten gain.

...and out of all the people lining the street in Jericho that day, Jesus chose him to have dinner with.  His classmates couldn't believe it. His parents didn't understand it, But Jesus wouldn't have it any other way. He didn't see Zacchaeus as a criminal, or a sinner, or a heartless traitor. Jesus saw him for who he really was and for who he was really created to be...and Jesus called him by name. 

*                 *                 *

It has become a bit a spring tradition for me. Over the year, I gather branches and stack them up. Some of the branches, after big Kansas storms, fall out of the mature oaks we have growing in our yard.  Some of them, I trim from our miniature orchard we have been nursing along over the years. Recently, the power company had to trim one of our cedar trees to make room for an outdoor light on a power pole.

So, this year's pile was especially lavish. For comparison, that is our oldest son, Sam, who is 6' 2" tall.

It was time. Our neighbors began to question how much longer we were going to have our ill-favored incline. We started to worry about wild animals lurking in the detritus.

So I rented an industrial chipper and got to work. In about five hours, I had reduced the branches and bramble to chips and mulch. I spread it around our little orchard and our hostas. I used some to line the flower bed and created a little secret trail to watch the fireflies at night. It was so satisfying!

And then I discovered it...that little, beaten, and bruised forsythia bush underneath it all. (Sam is pointing to it in the picture below.) I know that it doesn't look too good now, but it will come back early next spring with beautiful yellow flowers heralding, once again, these warm days and short nights.  

It was there all along. Deep down.

And I think that we are often like this forsythia...or Zacchaeus.  We get buried.  We are there all along, only deeper down. The world suffocates us with it's demands and piles on with it's delights, and we forget who we were created to be. Underneath the weight, we can no longer hear the One who created us and still calls us by name. 

But we now how the story ends. Zacchaeus comes up from under it all...

He, climbs the sycamore, has dinner with Jesus, and was changed...or maybe it is more precise to say, "uncovered."  I like to think of the townspeople of Jericho the next day getting a knock on their door from Zacchaeus.  Some roll their eyes and some burn with hatred towards this man doing the business of the Roman government.  However this time Zacchaeus was not asking for money. He was giving it away. This day, Zacchaeus wasn't an agent of the overlords. This day, Zacchaeus was a servant of the Lord of Israel. This day he was repaying anything extra that he had taken over the years, even four times the amount of anything that he had cheated.

In my mind's eye, some people open the door and weep with joy when they understand what is going on.  Some embrace the exile. Everyone was in a bit of shock. Except Jesus. Jesus knew who Zacchaeus really was the whole time, under it all and down deep. After all, Jesus created him, Jesus knew his gifts, and Jesus had called him by his true identity. (See, "Living Fearless" below.) After all, it wasn't lost to Jesus what his name meant.  

Zacchaeus means, "Pure and Innocent."

Who is Jesus calling you to be? What is Jesus calling you to be free from? What are those things that keep you from Him and swallow you up? Don't stay buried. Feel free to bloom, even after the bruises and cares of the world have swallowed you up. He knit you together and He still calls you by name. 

            Church Stopping. Less Doing. More Being.

Recently Finished: "Living Fearless," by Jamie Winship. (If you have forgotten who you were created to be, if your prayer life feels lifeless, if you feel smothered or stuck, or if you just want to read an account of God at work...I highly recommend this book!)

What am I reading: "Journey to the Center of the Earth," Jules Verne (Fun excursion to the middle of the earth.)

On My List: "Simply Christian" by NT Wright (I have not read Wright before.  Now, to "Wright" that wrong!)

Recent movie: Seabiscuit. (Fun movie based on a true story.)

Recent song: "Don't Use Me," by Bride (Mind blown! These guys were so good!)

 Pentecost 2022

"All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other lanaguages, as the Spirit gave them ability." - Acts 2:4

        Today was Pentecost. In church, we heard again the story of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and how many people from many nations heard the Good News in their own language for the very first time.

        A lot has changed since that first Pentecost, but I am convinced that the Holy Spirit still wants us to hear the Good News in our own language...again...for the first time or, maybe, even the 100th time. 

        For me personally, at least, I need to be reminded constantly that God speaks most clearly to us when we stop.  Certainly, God can speak to us in church and always speaks to us in His Word...but it is when we step away from our busyness long enough (Just like those Pentecost pilgrims in Jerusalem) to go to church and read God's word that God has space...and time...to remind us who we were created to be.

        Lately, I have been listening hard for who God wants me to be. Through job loss and uncertainty, through our oldest son moving away to go to school, through the busyness of a sophomore in high school, a seventh grader, and an older home in constant need of attention, I have let the caucophony of the world fill me up...not the Holy Spirit.

        I should know better.

        After all, the whole idea of, "Church Stoppping" is to let go of the reins long enough to let God lead us into a deeper version of not only who we are...but of who God created us to be.  

        "The lawn needs to be mowed,"  I said.

         "Nope. Not today." Jennifer said.

        "I need to pay some bills," I protested.

        "Not today," my wife insisted.  "Today, we are going to put our toes in the pool and you are going skateboarding with your boys."

        That is what we did. Nothing on my list was done. And the Holy Spirit filled me up. "Just write," I thought I heard God say.

        "But what if I am not good enough?" I said.

        "It doesn't matter," God said, and the tongues of fire burned brighter, bringing to life places long dead. "You don't write for the acclaim of others, after all. You write so that I might bring you life."

        "I am tired," I insisted.

        "You are tired," God spoke deeply. "You are too busy. Just be."

        I took a nap. I dipped my toes in the pool. I rode skateboards with the boys.  Maybe tomorrow, I will write.

            Church Stopping. Less Doing. More Being.

Re-engagement

 

"Your harvest's aftergrowth you shall not reap, and your grapes of untrimmed vines you shall not gather; the land shall have a sabbatical year." - Leviticus 25:5

In some ways, churches across the country are re-engaging with their congregations and community after an unexpected sabbatical year.  It has been a year of virtual worship and digital assembly, palpable loneliness, and extended ennui.  But now, churches are beginning to open up again to face-to-face worship, teaching, and ministry.  There is a fresh enthusiasm to get back to work, as well as some anxiety to return to the way things were before.

In the face of this pent-up zeal, I would like to encourage the church to do the unexpected thing...the thing that doesn't feel right or make sense; stop. Then breathe.  Church leaders and parishioners do not need to rush right in to a flourish of new activity.  At least, not yet. At least, not before asking three important questions.

1. What did we miss most last year?

2. Is there anything we didn't miss at all?

3. Who are we now, one year after the world stopped and our lives and ministry changed?

As we begin to build back activities and ministries, don't miss an opportunity to redirect this exuberance into dialogue about why we do church work in the first place. "Oh, no!" I hear my inner critic cry, "Please! Not another committee or fruitless conversation!"  No. That is not what I mean and I know that no one wants that.  But maybe, when we stop and visit again with one another after so many months apart, we might just discover that God has been doing a new thing all along. 

Church Stopping. Less Doing. More Being.