It's been a rough couple of days, computer-wise. Yesterday at work our core switch went down and we had no network for 4 hours. That meant no work for four hours - cool, right? Wrong, that's a four hour slip on everything we were working on, plus extra time fixing stuff that needed help once the network came back online. This has severely hampered my writing time. I know - excuses, excuses. The good news is my trip to the dentist yielded no cavities! Woohoo! Twice in a row. But none of that is what I really want to write about.
I was reading Matthew 6 again on Wednesday starting with verse 19 (although, as I've written before, I think the chapter needs to be read as a whole) and it starts out clear enough: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal." Ok, accumulating stuff is temporal and won't last - I get it. Then comes this: "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven...For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
I understand collecting stuff and storing it away. I have a few things I like and a few things that I'd like to have, but storing up treasures in heaven is a bit abstract. How do I know if I'm doing it? What exactly am I storing up? I really want my heart to be heavenward, which I suppose is the crux - am I working to get stuff that's time-limited, or am I working for something that's eternal? It's a good question.
Jesus continues on by talking about the eyes being the light of the body. I think this must refer to what we focus our eyes on. Are we looking through the glass darkly or are we striving to see in full? Are my eyes focused on what I can attain in this world or the next? Hope and faith are very much wrapped up in this question, as Paul says "Hope in what is seen is no hope at all." But sometimes I think I am of little faith - I'm not sure my treasure room is very big in heaven, I think if I'm lucky I'll just have a sock drawer. Of course, I'm being a bit facetious. The point isn't to score the biggest loot pile, but it is to draw our hearts towards God.
Capping this particular subthought, Jesus says, "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." This I get. Who's my master? Is it money, stuff or things of this world or is it God? Who am I serving and who do I want to serve? We all are servants or slaves, none of us is master. To believe we are a master is a great deception. I'm going to say serving the King is how we store up treasure in heaven. What that treasure is isn't really relevant - it's an analogy, a parable and to concentrate on the reward is to miss the point, which seems to answer my own question.
The last nine verses of chapter six finish off the theme nicely. In the NIV they are subtitled "Do Not Worry." This brings it all home, I think. Don't worry about your clothes or your food or your house - God takes care of these things (asterisk) Chasing after them is to sacrifice the eternal for temporal seeking instant gratification instead of long term reward. Jesus puts it into perspective this way "Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things [aforementioned clothes, food, housing] will be added unto you." This is a huge burden lifted off of us, if we can see it and believe it (which is a struggle, I'll admit.) Let God worry about these things, my job is to seek His kingdom. He'll provide the necessary resources.
I want to take the leap - I'm teetering on the edge. It's a long way down, though...
Friday, July 29, 2005
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Wednesday's Big Idea: Resource to Contend
I was having trouble seeing a clear theme emerge today - I spent a good deal of time in the latter half praying for kids (spurred by Don D.) - especially the kids of our church and Mark H.'s kids who will soon be Oaxaca as they move down for a two year mission.
Rick P started us out with a few of Paul's words: Ephesians 6:10ff, Ephesians 3:16ff and Romans 12 stick out to me. His thoughts that a couple of themes emerge regularly in prayer: Worship and "Contention" (that is contending for and against things.) We certainly did some worshipping and we definitely did some contending.
In thinking through Ephesians 6 ("armor of God"), it is clear we have the resources to both defend ourselves and take the ground that we are given to take. In warfare imagery, Paul tells us we must be equipped with faith, truth, peace, salvation, rightousness and God's word if we are to successfully stand agains the enemy. It is well-worth examining these aspects of ourselves as we begin to directly contend for our children, our spouses, our church. A soldier ill-equipped tends to be a soldier dead. Luckily Paul gives us this encouragement: "Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand."
We may come out worse for wear, but in the end we are left standing. It is like chess - we may lose many of our pieces, but in the end it is the king that matters. When the battle rages, we do everything and when it's over, we are left standing. Keep contending.
Rick P started us out with a few of Paul's words: Ephesians 6:10ff, Ephesians 3:16ff and Romans 12 stick out to me. His thoughts that a couple of themes emerge regularly in prayer: Worship and "Contention" (that is contending for and against things.) We certainly did some worshipping and we definitely did some contending.
In thinking through Ephesians 6 ("armor of God"), it is clear we have the resources to both defend ourselves and take the ground that we are given to take. In warfare imagery, Paul tells us we must be equipped with faith, truth, peace, salvation, rightousness and God's word if we are to successfully stand agains the enemy. It is well-worth examining these aspects of ourselves as we begin to directly contend for our children, our spouses, our church. A soldier ill-equipped tends to be a soldier dead. Luckily Paul gives us this encouragement: "Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand."
We may come out worse for wear, but in the end we are left standing. It is like chess - we may lose many of our pieces, but in the end it is the king that matters. When the battle rages, we do everything and when it's over, we are left standing. Keep contending.
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Sabbath Rest is Good
Rick has been teaching and talking quite a bit about the sabbath - in particular the "rest" clause. The "Keep it holy" clause is a bit meatier, I think, but also more difficult. I don't think you can get to the holy part without the rest part, so I, too, have been thinking on this quite a bit.
I often joke that my next job is going to be "independently wealthy" but I'm just not sure my resume supports it and I haven't found anyone who is hiring. The truth behind the joke is that we all want the freedom to do more of what we'd like to do and be able to rest from the workaday life we must live if we are to pay the bills and care for our families. I can't seem to fit everything that I would like to do into a 24 hour period - and that includes sleep.
It's a vicious cycle and it seems that my choices become leaving some things behind (which I find myself doing more and more), doing little bits of lots of things (leaving much unfinished) or even doing nothing at all (paralyzed by the tug between the former two options.) That doesn't even include all the things I "have" to do - go to work, take care of my son, cook, clean, etc. (much of which is graciously shared by my wife.) So what's a person to do? The Biblical mandate, for at least one day a week, is...do nothing.
This is one of those joyous paradoxes of the Bible, an almost zen* approach that turns weakness into strength, poverty into abundance and emptiness into fullness. It is when Rick said that everything that God has for me can't be contained in this life that a lightbulb turned on and turned on brightly. I can't ever finish everything I want to get done. There just isn't time. Not in a day, not in a week, not in a lifetime. God designed it that way! He rested after 6 days, not because He was done working, but because rest was good. God could take time to witness His creation, call it "very good" and bless a day of rest, both for Himself and for us.
After several generations, God had to codify this day of rest in the decalogue, because Israel had become enslaved and were so used to working all day every day that a law had to be put in place to make them stop! This should sound somewhat familiar. Have WE not become slaves, working and doing all the time? We try to cram in too much in too little time, thinking that our lives will be less complete if we don't do x and see y. Again, it turns out the opposite is true. Instead of our lives getting fuller with more activities, they get weaker. We feel as Bilbo Baggins says like "too little butter spread over toast." Instead of concentrated, we are diluted - thinned beyond effectiveness, tired beyond ability.
By now, I assume you are convinced that rest may be a good idea. But good ideas are just that if not paired with action - and this is the hard part. How do we achieve sabbath rest? I'm still working that out myself, but for me, it means letting go. I need to have time where I don't worry about what needs to get done or all the things I want to get done. It means choosing to do fewer things and conserving my energy for what is important. It means leaving time on the weekend with just my family, or even just myself. Finally, it means being content with being unfinished. This doesn't mean neglecting things that I need or want to get done, but that those things don't rule - God does.
In the end, sabbath is an exercise of sacrifice. We sacrifice work or even play for the sake of resting. We recognize that it is God who is in control, it is God who ultimately accomplishes His tasks and it isn't too much to set aside one day to thank and acknowledge Him for that. Does not God the Father know what we want and need even before we ask? Our sabbath sacrifice gives us the opportunity to not only ask, but to clear out the noise and hear the response.
That is the theory anyway. What I need is practice. Today is a good time to start, and this weekend even more so. I'll let you know how it goes.
*As an aside, I often think the zen Buddhists have learned something that we Western Christians lack. I'm speaking more in terms of mindset and higher-level philosophy rather than religious tenets. There are some very good ideas to be found in unexpected places.
I often joke that my next job is going to be "independently wealthy" but I'm just not sure my resume supports it and I haven't found anyone who is hiring. The truth behind the joke is that we all want the freedom to do more of what we'd like to do and be able to rest from the workaday life we must live if we are to pay the bills and care for our families. I can't seem to fit everything that I would like to do into a 24 hour period - and that includes sleep.
It's a vicious cycle and it seems that my choices become leaving some things behind (which I find myself doing more and more), doing little bits of lots of things (leaving much unfinished) or even doing nothing at all (paralyzed by the tug between the former two options.) That doesn't even include all the things I "have" to do - go to work, take care of my son, cook, clean, etc. (much of which is graciously shared by my wife.) So what's a person to do? The Biblical mandate, for at least one day a week, is...do nothing.
This is one of those joyous paradoxes of the Bible, an almost zen* approach that turns weakness into strength, poverty into abundance and emptiness into fullness. It is when Rick said that everything that God has for me can't be contained in this life that a lightbulb turned on and turned on brightly. I can't ever finish everything I want to get done. There just isn't time. Not in a day, not in a week, not in a lifetime. God designed it that way! He rested after 6 days, not because He was done working, but because rest was good. God could take time to witness His creation, call it "very good" and bless a day of rest, both for Himself and for us.
After several generations, God had to codify this day of rest in the decalogue, because Israel had become enslaved and were so used to working all day every day that a law had to be put in place to make them stop! This should sound somewhat familiar. Have WE not become slaves, working and doing all the time? We try to cram in too much in too little time, thinking that our lives will be less complete if we don't do x and see y. Again, it turns out the opposite is true. Instead of our lives getting fuller with more activities, they get weaker. We feel as Bilbo Baggins says like "too little butter spread over toast." Instead of concentrated, we are diluted - thinned beyond effectiveness, tired beyond ability.
By now, I assume you are convinced that rest may be a good idea. But good ideas are just that if not paired with action - and this is the hard part. How do we achieve sabbath rest? I'm still working that out myself, but for me, it means letting go. I need to have time where I don't worry about what needs to get done or all the things I want to get done. It means choosing to do fewer things and conserving my energy for what is important. It means leaving time on the weekend with just my family, or even just myself. Finally, it means being content with being unfinished. This doesn't mean neglecting things that I need or want to get done, but that those things don't rule - God does.
In the end, sabbath is an exercise of sacrifice. We sacrifice work or even play for the sake of resting. We recognize that it is God who is in control, it is God who ultimately accomplishes His tasks and it isn't too much to set aside one day to thank and acknowledge Him for that. Does not God the Father know what we want and need even before we ask? Our sabbath sacrifice gives us the opportunity to not only ask, but to clear out the noise and hear the response.
That is the theory anyway. What I need is practice. Today is a good time to start, and this weekend even more so. I'll let you know how it goes.
*As an aside, I often think the zen Buddhists have learned something that we Western Christians lack. I'm speaking more in terms of mindset and higher-level philosophy rather than religious tenets. There are some very good ideas to be found in unexpected places.
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