Introspection: God Provided

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.
Comments are always welcomed.
If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

God Provided

He must increase, but I must decrease.

John 3:30 (NRSV)

Give me Words to speak
Don't let my spirit sleep
'Cause I can't think of anything worth saying
But I know that I owe You my life
So give me Words to speak
Don't let my spirit sleep

From "Give Me Words to Speak" by Aaron Shust

Writing has been a struggle for me lately, for various reasons.  Inspiration and motivation have been in short supply due to the pandemic, the changes of life it has necessitated, and the uncertainty and anxiety it has created.  Also, I recently had some preaching commitments that seemed a bit more stressful than normal.  Because I've been blogging for more than ten years, I've even started to wonder if I've simply run out of things to write.

Normally, I try to post something on this blog every Sunday, unless I take the week off, and I make it a rule to take one week off per month.  Basically, I try to post something either three or four times per month.  Since I've been trying to make some progress in my life over the last couple of years, I've also committed to writing one introspective post each month as a means of checking in with everyone.  In August, after the second and last of my preaching commitments was completed, I decided that I would try to post something as often as I did before the pandemic, after three months of not meeting my monthly goal.

Well, somehow I've been meeting my goal.  I read Gospel passages that made the gears of my mind start turning, and I was able to weave the thoughts I record in my devotional journal into something more fit for public consumption.  After I read my previous perspective to my mother, I commented that, hours earlier, I had nothing to post for the week.  She said, "God provided."

I feel that God has indeed been providing me ideas for blog posts lately.  My previous perspective was written the day before I posted it, and it was based on the passage I read earlier that same day.  One perspective I posted back in August was based on a passage I originally planned not to read but ended up reading anyway.

Recently I read a couple chapters from New Seeds of Contemplation, in which the great Catholic thinker Thomas Merton describes the true self and the false self.  The true self - if I understand it correctly - is the identity God bestows upon a person, while the false self is the persona a person has learned to present to the world.  We have the choice either to work with God to discover and cultivate our true selves or to continue constructing our illusory false selves.  Merton suggests that one's false self does not exist since it is not known by God, that one's true self is hidden with God, and that in discovering God we discover our true selves.¹

Merton references a certain quote of St. Paul²: "It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me."³  To be honest, I cannot say that I find this statement appealing.  Am I meant to cease to exist as a self to the point that I become a mere shell for another, namely Christ, to inhabit?  Am I to aspire to become a mere puppet for God?  I like to think that I have a good grasp on Scripture, but I sincerely hope that I have yet to understand what Paul is saying.

Maybe, when it comes to my writing, part of decreasing so that Christ may increase is depending on God to give me ideas for things to write.  Though I believe that, over the last couple of months, God has given me ideas, the things I wrote were not devoid of me, for I drew from my own experiences when writing them.  Maybe these blog posts were a collaborative effort between God and myself.

For me, 2020 was supposed to be a year for cultivating courage, and I've struggled to figure out what it means to cultivate courage amid a pandemic, when it seems like many aspects of life have to be placed on hold.  I fear that, at times like this, people confuse courage with recklessness, and I wonder if maybe prudence might be better virtue to cultivate right now.  Maybe it requires courage to loosen one's grip on one's plans, and maybe it requires courage to become a little less self-reliant and a little more reliant on God.


Notes:

1. Thomas Merton.  New Seeds of Contemplation.  ch. 5
2. Merton, ch. 6
3. Galatians 2:10 (NRSV)

The photograph of the pen and paper has been released to the public domain.  The photographer is in no way affiliated with this blog.

Perspective: Not a Country Club

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.

Comments are always welcomed.

If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

Not a Country Club

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:3 (NRSV)

There's a lady who's sure
All that glitters is gold
And she's buying a stairway to Heaven
When she gets there she knows
If the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for

From "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin

I can recall, in my thirty-six years of life, going to a country club only twice.  On one occasion, I was invited by relatives to either a birthday party or an anniversary party that was held at a country club.  On another occasion, I was invited to by an acquaintance.  For many years, my grandmother sewed curtains, and one day one of her recurring clients, who happened to be a member of a country club, once invited my grandmother and I to join her there for lunch.  I had just graduated from high school, and this client wanted to offer me some advice regarding college and scholarships.

What both of my experiences at country clubs have in common is that I was invited.  I was not a member.  Not all country clubs are the same, but what they all have in common is that memberships are expensive.  Yearly dues are in the thousands of dollars.  To be a member of a country club, one must have a significant amount of disposable income.  For this reason, most people don't have memberships to country clubs.

In the Gospels, we read that the Kingdom of God can be compared to a lot of things.  One time, Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to a vineyard owner who pays all of his harvesters the same amount, whether they worked one hour or twelve hours.¹  At another time, Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed, some yeast, a treasure hidden in a field, and a pearl merchant.²  One thing to which the Kingdom of God cannot be compared is a country club.  In fact, the Kingdom of God is very much the opposite.  To join a country club, one must have wealth, but, according to Jesus, the Kingdom of God is a place where wealth is actually a hindrance.

One day, Jesus says to the Disciples, "I assure you that it will be very hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven.  In fact, it's easier for a camel to squeeze through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter God's kingdom."³  There are different interpretations regarding what Jesus meant when He referred to "a camel" or "the eye of a needle," but basically Jesus is suggesting that it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God.

William Barclay suggests that "riches encourage a false independence."⁴  He writes,

If people are wealthy, they are apt to think that everything has its price, that if they want a thing enough they can buy it, that if any difficult situation descends upon them they can buy their way out of it.  They can come to think that they can buy their way into happiness and buy their way out of sorrow.⁵

Before Jesus describes how difficult it is for wealthy people to enter the Kingdom of God, He is approached by a rich man who asks Him, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to have eternal life?"⁶  As a man of means, he seems to have a "country club" mindset.  He thinks that there is something he can do - some price he can pay - to gain admission to the Kingdom that Jesus has been describing.  Wealth seems to open doors in the kingdoms of this world, but it apparently closes doors in the Kingdom of God.  Jesus instructs the rich man to rid himself of his wealth, saying, "Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor.  Then you will have treasure in heaven.  And come follow me."  The rich man walks away, dejected.⁷

Upon hearing that it is extremely difficult for rich people to enter the Kingdom of God, one of the shocked Disciples asks, "Then who can be saved?"  Jesus replies, "It's impossible for human beings.  But all things are possible for God."⁸  Wealthy people focus on what their wealth makes possible for them, but Christ calls us to focus instead on what God makes possible for us.

If the rich man had followed Jesus' instructions, he would have lost not only his wealth but also his independence, but he would have gained something else, a newfound dependence on God.  Barlcay writes,

The basis of all Christianity is an urgent sense of need; when people have many things on earth, they are in danger of thinking that they do not need God; when they have few things on earth, they are often driven to God because they have nowhere else to go.⁹

Behind the pursuit of wealth is perhaps a pursuit of independence.  In other words, we want the means to do the things we want to do.  The Kingdom of God is nothing like the kingdoms of this world, so we need to change our mindset.  In other words, we need to repent.  There is nothing we can do to purchase admission into God's Kingdom or in any way entitle ourselves to it.  We are fully dependent on Christ's invitation.


Notes:

1. Matthew 20:1-16
2. Matthew 13:31-33, 44-46
3. Matthew 19:23-24 (CEB)
4. William Barclay.  The New Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of Matthew, Volume Two.  2001, Saint Andrew Press.  p. 253
5. Barclay, p. 254
6. Matthew 19:16 (CEB)
7. Matthew 19:21-22 (CEB)
8. Matthew 19:25-26 (CEB)
9. Barclay, pp. 255-256

The photograph of Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California was taken by Dan Perry and is used under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.  The photographer is in no way affiliated with this blog.

Perspective: Stay Hungry and Thirsty, My Friends

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.

Comments are always welcomed.

If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

Stay Hungry and Thirsty, My Friends

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:3-6, 10 (NRSV)

---

But woe to you who are rich,

for you have received your consolation.

Woe to you who are full now,

for you will be hungry.

Woe to you who are laughing now,

for you will mourn and weep.

Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.

Luke 6:24-26 (NRSV)

You call me out upon the waters

The great unknown where feet may fail

And there I find You in the mystery

In oceans deep my faith will stand

From "Oceans" by Hillsong United

For some of us who study the Bible, there are certain passages that have become so painfully familiar to us that we'll read them or listen to them without actually taking them in.  Reading such familiar passages from an unfamiliar translation of the Bible can help us to experience them afresh and glean new insights from them.  Last week, at the church I attend, the congregation heard one rather familiar passage - a certain discourse on love¹ - read from The Message, Eugene Peterson's paraphrase of the Bible, which serves at times as both translation and commentary.

After church, my own personal Bible study brought me back to another familiar passage, the Beatitudes.  I decided to apply the same Bible study hack that was used during the service, and I read the Beatitudes from The Message.

The Beatitudes, which are found in the Gospel of Matthew at the beginning of Jesus' famous Sermon on the Mount, are a series of announcements of blessing upon people whom the world would not normally consider blessed.  Jesus blesses "the poor in spirit," "those who mourn," "the meek," "those who hunger and thirst for righteousness," "those who are persecuted," and others.

In The Message, Peterson shows how the circumstances of the people Jesus calls blessed are tied to the blessing they will receive.  Consider the following:

You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope.  With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you.  Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

You're blessed when you're content with just who you are - no more, no less.  That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.

You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God.  He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.

You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution.  The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom.²

Frederick Dale Bruner describes the Beatitudes as "Jesus' surprisingly countercultural God-bless-yous to people in god-awful situations."³  Eugene Peterson seems to suggest that these "god-awful situations" are exactly what puts people in contact with God's blessings.  When we've reached the end of ourselves, we are forced to turn to something beyond ourselves.  When we rely on God, we experience God's blessing upon us.

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus delivers a very similar message which is sometimes called the Sermon on the Plain, and He begins this sermon with a series of blessings similar to the Beatitudes.  Interestingly, He goes on to announce woe upon people who would generally consider themselves #blessed: the rich, the well fed, the laughing, and the highly praised.

When Jesus enters the scene, everything seems to work differently than it would otherwise.  One evening, Jesus sat down for dinner with a number of tax collectors.  The Pharisees - the good salt-of-the-earth religious folk of the day - wondered why Jesus would associate with such scumbags.  Jesus told them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick."⁴  Later on, when Jesus encountered a rich man who wanted a place in the Kingdom of God but had no desire to let go of his wealth, He told His disciples that "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."⁵

I live in a society in which self-sufficiency is lauded as a virtue, a society in which the rich man who approached Jesus would be considered a success.  Even those of us who claim that we've put our trust in God like to think that we have it all together, like the Pharisees who criticized Jesus.  I wonder if our "virtues" of self-reliance and self-assuredness actually get in the way of our experiencing everything God has in store for us.  If our relationship with God is somehow connected to our dependence on God, then maybe self-sufficiency actually robs us of God's blessings.  Perhaps a step toward God is actually a step away from ease, comfort, and self-sufficiency.  Jesus came for the people who actually needed Him, not the self-reliant, the self-assured, and the self-righteous.

It is not the filled who need to be fed.

It is not the comfortable who need comfort.

It is not the healthy who need to be healed.

It is not the sheltered who need shelter.

It is not the safe and sound who need to be saved.

For the last year and a half, I've complained that I feel like I'm in a rut and that my life has become stagnant in some way.  I wonder if, at this time, I might be a little too comfortable with my circumstances - or at least "comfortably numb."  Looking back on my journey of faith, I see that it is a sense of need that draws me closer to God.  The time I spent working in the gambling industry was the most miserable season of my life, yet, ironically, I think it might have been the time I was actually the closest to God.  Every morning before work, I turned to God in prayer, begging God to get me out of my "god-awful situation."  I did not need God's help at that time - I was desperate for it.

If we're dissatisfied with our spiritual lives, then perhaps what we need the most is to experience our need for God.  The challenge then for some of us is to venture out from the spaces where we are comfortable and where we feel that we're in control, toward the spaces where we actually have to rely on God.  Though contentedness is generally considered a good thing, there are some aspects of our lives with which we should never be content.  When it comes to our relationship with God, we would do well to stay hungry and thirsty.


Notes:

1. 1 Corinthians 13:1-7
2. Matthew 5:3-6, 10 (The Message)
3. Frederick Dale Bruner.  Matthew, a Commentary: The Christbook, Matthew 1-12.  2004, Eerdmans Publishing Company.  p. 165
4. Matthew 9:9-13 (NRSV)
5. Matthew 19:16-30 (NRSV)

The Sermon on the Mount was painted by Carl Heinrich Bloch in 1877.