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Emails to God – Saying We Understand When We Really Don’t (Matthew 13:47-52)

09 Feb

47 “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. 48 When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. 49 This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous 50 and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

51 “Have you understood all these things?” Jesus asked.

“Yes,” they replied.

52 He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”

Dear God, I like the question and answer in verse 51. He asks if they have understood these things and they say, “Yes.” Did they really, or was it one of those times when there was no way they were going to say, “No.”

I remember when my kids were young and they did something wrong. I would punish them and then go back and ask them why they were being punished. About half of the time they were wrong about why they were being punished. It was clear to me, but was it clear to them?

In this case, and for this parable, what does separate a wicked person from a righteous person? Where is that line? Frankly, I’m not perfectly clear. The rich young ruler had to sell all he had and give it to the poor. Do all of us have to do that?

Father, I admit that I don’t understand everything you are trying to teach me. In fact, right now, I feel a little dazed and confused on a couple of fronts. So this is where I need to discipline myself to focus on you and seek your wisdom and insight. Help me to understand what you are calling me to do and to embrace all that you are during these trials.

 
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Posted by on February 9, 2012 in Matthew

 

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Emails to God – Do I Really Think the Kingdom of Heaven is a Treasure? (Matthew 13:44-46)

08 Feb

44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

Dear God, I like how Jesus is trying to communicate to the people listening (and to me) that what he was offering through the kingdom of heaven is THIS special. It is worth THIS much.

I think I treat it as worth as much in my personal life, but to I communicate that it is worth as much to others around me? When I have an employee who is suffering, do I tell them about the kingdom of heaven?

In fact, I have a friend right now who is not only struggling with some personal relationship issues in her life, but she is also struggling with a health issue. How will I represent you to her? Will I remind her that the kingdom of heaven is a treasure to be valued and embraced, or will I try to be a blessing to her out of my own wisdom and power?

Father, help me to really believe that the kingdom of heaven is a pearl worth a great price. Help me to live like I believe it. Help me to remember it for myself and to embrace it wholeheartedly.

 
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Posted by on February 8, 2012 in Matthew

 

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Emails to God – Two Songs, a Wedding, and a Funeral

07 Feb

I went to a Mass of Resurrection (funeral) yesterday for a woman who was beautiful in every sense of the word, Cynthia Pedregon. The two highlights for me were two of her granddaughters singing and the eulogy given by a local pastor. The eulogy was a collection of quotes from her friends and family about her. It was a tribute unlike any I have ever heard. Every word spoken about her was consistent with the woman I knew in only a small way. It was remarkable.

There was one other thing I noticed about the program for the Mass. The last song they played before the service began was “How Beautiful” by Twila Paris (music only). The recessional was “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore You.” Both of these songs were in our wedding nearly twenty years ago. My wife’s aunt say “How Beautiful” during the service, and we picked “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee” as our recessional as well. So here are the lyrics for both songs. I wonder what each one has to sang about the birth of a marriage and the end of a life well-lived.

“How Beautiful” By Twila Paris

How beautiful the hands that served
the wine and the bread and the sons of the earth.
How beautiful the feet that walked
the long dusty roads and the hills to  the cross.
How beautiful, how beautiful,
how beautiful is the body of Christ.

How beautiful the heart that bled
that took all my sin and bore it instead.
How beautiful the tender eyes
that chose to forgiveand never despise.
How beautiful,how beautiful
how beautiful is the body of Christ.

And  as He laid down His life we offer this sacrifice
that we will live just as he died willing to pay the  price,willing to pay the  price.

How beautiful the radiant Bride
who waits for her Groom with His light in her eyes.
How beautiful when humble hearts give
the fruit of pure lives so that others may live.
How beautiful, how beautiful
how beautiful is the body of Christ.

How beautiful the feet that bring
the sound of good news and the love of  the King.
How beautiful the hands that serve
the wine and the bread and the sons of the earth.
How beautiful,how beautiful
how beautiful is the body of Christ.

When I read this song and imagine what Mrs. Paris must have been thinking as she wrote it, I think that she was just struck by the beauty of God and what He brings to life. First verse: That Jesus came and lived like us was beautiful. Second verse: Jesus’ death and sacrifice for us was a different kind of beautiful. Third verse: The life submitted to God is beautiful. Fourth verse: The life lived out in submission to God is beautiful. Well, those four verses really do speak to the life that begins with to people joining in marriage, and, in Cynthia’s case, they are descriptive of the life she lived.

“Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee” Lyrics by Henry van Dyke
Set to “Ode to Joy” from Ludwig van Beethoven’s 9th Symphony

Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day!

All Thy works with joy surround Thee, earth and heaven reflect Thy rays,
Stars and angels sing around Thee, center of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain, flowery meadow, flashing sea,
Singing bird and flowing fountain call us to rejoice in Thee.

Thou art giving and forgiving, ever blessing, ever blessed,
Wellspring of the joy of living, ocean depth of happy rest!
Thou our Father, Christ our Brother, all who live in love are Thine;
Teach us how to love each other, lift us to the joy divine.

Mortals, join the happy chorus, which the morning stars began;
Father love is reigning o’er us, brother love binds man to man.
Ever singing, march we onward, victors in the midst of strife,
Joyful music leads us Sunward in the triumph song of life.

Count this one as my favorite hymn. Here is a quote from Mr. van Dyke (according to Wikipedia–so it must be true) about his intentions for this song:

These verses are simple expressions of common Christian feelings and desires in this present time—hymns of today that may be sung together by people who know the thought of the age, and are not afraid that any truth of science will destroy religion, or any revolution on earth overthrow the kingdom of heaven. Therefore this is a hymn of trust and joy and hope.

While I didn’t know of this quote when I chose this (yes, I picked this one for the wedding ceremony) as our recessional, and I doubt Cynthia knew of it when she chose it as the recessional for her funeral, I think we both chose it because the song accomplishes exactly what Mr. van Dyke intended: “…this is a hymn of trust and joy and hope.” For me, the beginning of my married life in God was about trust, joy, and hope. I’m sure Cynthia felt like the end of her earthy life in God was about trust, joy, and hope. Finally, I think for her family, the beginning of their lives without her in God will be about trust, joy, and hope.

 
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Posted by on February 7, 2012 in Hymns and Songs

 

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Emails to God – Free Will and Blaming God for Suffering (Matthew 13:36-43)

07 Feb

36 Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”

37 He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

40 “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.

Dear God, this story kind of coincides with the whole thing I have been doing lately with Job. Satan is sowing evil amidst your glory. It does make one wonder why you allow THAT to happen. Why allow him to sow in the first place?

I suppose it is another example of your respect for your creation and the fact that you allow even your angels free will. Just like the free will you offer to me.

I am sometimes amazed at how hard it is to accept the idea of free will for my children. Sometimes they get mad at me for reasons that I would consider unjust don’t like it. There’s a part of me that wants to force them to act the way I want them to act, including influencing how they think. But you’re right. If I were able to do that and pull it off, then any love they showed me would be empty and meaningless. So I suppose it is better to watch their mistakes and feel their ire than to make them love me.

Father, the thing that struck me about Job’s story is that everyone thought you were responsible for his suffering. Satan got zero blame for it. People get unjustifiably mad at you all of the time because they blame you for things that you didn’t do, or that you are working for their good. I have done it too. So please forgive me for when I have gotten angry and sinned against you. I am truly sorry.

 
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Posted by on February 7, 2012 in Matthew

 

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Emails to God – What does it mean to be a mustard seed? (Matthew 13:31-35)

03 Feb

31 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”

33 He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

34 Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. 35 So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet:

“I will open my mouth in parables,
I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.”[

Dear God, I think this story needs an example. What does this look like in real life? What does it mean?

One of my favorite Bible stories is of Jesus sitting in the synagogue watching the people come in. He sees different ones dropping money in the offering, but the one he singles our to his disciples is the poor widow who gave sacrificially. The thing I find remarkable about this story is that this widow left the synagogue that day never realizing that Jesus had used her as an example to his disciples, that it would be recorded by one of them, and that I would be reading the story nearly two thousand years later. In fact, that day, when she got back to her home, she was as poor as when she started and there is zero evidence that her lot in life ever changed.

This widow is a mustard seed. She is yeast. Unbeknownst to her, she is a living example of sacrificial giving and being willing to lay her needs aside because of her worship of you. She has been used in countless sermons and Bible studies. The story has been told on television shows and in movies. And she never knew.

Father, I think that sometimes I try to see what my seed and yeast are turning into, but, once again, you have me on a need-to-know basis, and I don’t need to know. You are calling me to be like this widow—faithfully ignorant of the impact my life is having. So help me to turn loose of my need to be noticed, appreciated, and admired. Help me to turn loose of my need to leave a legacy and simply find the joy and peace that comes from faithful service and sacrifice to you.

 
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Posted by on February 3, 2012 in Matthew

 

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Emails to God – Why does God Allow Evil People to Live? (Matthew 13:24-30)

01 Feb

24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’

28 “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.

“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’

29 “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”

Dear God, I meet with a good friend from myWacodays every Friday morning via Skype. It has been one of the great blessings in my life over the last several months as I have tried to process some personal struggles. Anyway, one of the things we discussed a few weeks ago was this passage. How did we feel about God leaving the weeds here among us? Did that frustrate us? Does answering this questions also deal with the question so many have about how a loving God can still allow evil in the world.

That is when I had this epiphany: I think you left the weeds here out of respect for us. You didn’t want us to be destroyed among the weeds. Go back to when Abraham was pleading forSodom. He asked if you found just a few righteous left would you not save the city. You said you would. In the end, it came down toLotand his family (although his family’s righteousness might be considered questionable) so you removed them before you destroyed the city. After Noah and the flood you were so grieved by what you had to do that you said you would never destroy the world through a flood again.

So, you allow evil to continue in the world because to remove it would be to harm us in some way. It still doesn’t completely answer the question of why there are things like human trafficking, child molestation, rape, etc., or even hunger, poverty, and painful deaths for some of the righteous. But this parable does let us know that you are thinking about us and you have us in mind when you consider all that you are allowing to happen on earth.

Father, life is complicated. Help me to be at peace with whatever complications are coming my way. I am studying Job right now, and, while he kept from cursing you for his pain, he did question why he had to endure it. So as different stresses and even sufferings come into my life, prepare me to handle them with your grace. Prepare me to handle them the way that Jesus handled his pain in the garden on the night he was betrayed—Father, let this cup pass from me, but not my will but yours be done.

 
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Posted by on February 1, 2012 in Matthew

 

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Emails to God – Needing an Explanation of the Parable (Matthew 13:18-23)

31 Jan

18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

Dear God, I find it interesting that in verses 16 and 17 you tell they that they are blessed because the can see and hear, and yet you go on to lay the meaning of the parable out for them anyway. Perhaps they were not as seeing and perceiving as they might have been. It seems to me that the disciples were continuously not seeing and perceiving. They missed your lessons all of the time.

Of course, I miss your lessons too. I don’t always (or even often) understand what is going on around me. Heck, I don’t quite understand what is going on around me right now. I don’t know what you are doing in me and through me as a dad, husband, employee, church attendee, son, brother, or friend. I know that it seems like there is something missing in me in each of these areas, but I just can’t put my finger on it.

Father, right now, I really need your wisdom, vision, insight, and discernment. I really need to understand how to love my wife. I really need to understand how to parent my children. I need to understand how to be a friend to those who need me. I need to understand how to lead the organization where I work. So help me. Since I am currently on vacation with my wife, please help me to be the husband and father she needs me to be. Help me to be the husband and father that you need for me to be for her sake. I can’t tell what that looks like, but I know that right now I am afraid I am missing it somehow.

 
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Posted by on January 31, 2012 in Matthew

 

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Emails to God – 6 Levels of Faith (Mastering the New Testament: Job)

30 Jan

Mastering the Old Testament – Job (written by David McKenna)

Dear God, okay, I am going to do things a little differently for a while. I am on vacation and I feel compelled to spend some time really digging into the book of Job. Frankly, it has always daunted me a little because its structure is too complicated to just journal through like I normally do. This is literature, and it is to be contemplated and studied as such.

So, much like I did in high school when I had to read something that I feared would overwhelm me, I am using a commentary to help me. It is from Word’s Communicator’s Commentary Series, and all I have read so far is the Introduction, but it is great. There was one part of the Introduction that I want to pray through this morning because I think it will lay the groundwork for the rest of the book.

I am just going to shamelessly quote about half of a page here:

Obviously, faith is not static. Compatible with other theories of human development, a person either grows, plateaus, or regresses in faith as the circumstances of age, experience, and events change. [James] Fowler [from his book The Stages of Faith] has also devised a helpful scale of faith development with six sequential stages:

  1. Intuitive-projective faith is associated with a child’s faith, based upon fantasy and imagination.
  2. Mythical-literal faith is the family faith of the early school years, which is sustained by moral rules and either/or thinking.
  3. Synthetic-conventional faith is an adolescent faith that conforms to the tradition of the community and creates the “kind” of person of faith whom it models or rejects.
  4. Individuative-reflective faith is the faith of the young adult who is capable of critical thinking, independent reflection, and dialectical reasoning.
  5. Conjunctive faith is a mid-life and old-age faith that integrates self-identity with a comprehensive world view to see the order, coherence, and meaning of life in order to serve and be served.
  6. Universalizing faith is the rare faith of a world citizen who incarnates a transcendent vision into a disciplined, active, and self-giving life.

Wow, there is a lot of meat here, and I feel like I need to dig into each one and be able to understand and recall each one frontwards and backwards in order to move through the rest of this book. So let me at least try to start by writing a definition for each one in my own words.

  1. Intuitive-projective faith is something that you believe without facts or knowledge. Your intuition tells you it is true, whether it is nor not. Santa Claus is an example of this. So are the Bible stories like the burning bush, the walls ofJericho, etc. You hear it and no real explanation is necessary because you aren’t in to thinking about things critically yet.
  2. Mythical-literal faith is what you pick up from your family’s structure. It includes your family’s values (what foods you eat, how much TV and what kinds of TV you watch. It’s pretty black and white. There is little room for grey area. There is always a right and a wrong answer, and your family structure helps to define those right and wrong answers.
  3. Synthetic-conventional faith is a little more mature than Mythical-literal in that it takes into account the social norms of the surrounding community, but there still isn’t an independent interpretation of beliefs the group has. For example, is homosexuality a sin or not? One can let their community form this opinion for them instead of studying, contemplating, and putting together their own opinions and beliefs on the issue.
  4. Individuative-reflective faith is the beginning of independent thought—hence, “individuative”. This person is starting to critically analyze some of their own long-held beliefs. For example, “Is scripture truly inerrant, or are there inconsistencies with which I must deal?”
  5. Conjunctive faith involves having to know yourself and then adding life experience and knowledge of the world to that so that it can inform your faith. Individuative-reflective faith can still be idealistic because it is often ignorant of experience. Conjunctive faith is the coming together of all aspects of the human experience.
  6. Universalizing faith is where it all comes together into a life that is, on the one had, at peace, and, on the other hand, driven by faith in God and hearing His call regardless of the personal circumstances.

So knowing those levels of faith, I will hopefully be a little more prepared to experience Job’s faith walk along with the faith walks of his wife and friends. Where are each of them at any given time? Where am I in my life right now? Have I reached #6. Am I still at #3? I guess that’s what the writer of Job wanted me to figure out.

 
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Posted by on January 30, 2012 in Job

 

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Emails to God – Ever Seeing, but Never Perceiving (Matthew 13:10-17)

29 Jan

10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”

11 He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables:

“Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand.

14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:

“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15 For this people’s heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’

16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

Dear God, I wonder what it was about these twelve men that made them different. What made them seeing AND perceiving? What made them able to hear AND understand? (verse 14) Why wouldn’t you want all of us to “see with [our] eyes, hear with [our] ears, understand with [our hearts] and turn, and [be healed]”?

I admit that there are some things that you try to show me that I just don’t understand. It seems like I am one of the people that you do not reveal things to. But then there are other times when I “get it” and can respond to what you are calling me to do. As I sit and think about this, my inability/ability to “see” seems to change depending upon what area of my life I am talking about. I have pretty good clarity at work. I can often see what you are doing and calling me to do there. I have a little less clarity in marriage. I often know how to respond to my wife, but there are times when I am insensitive and don’t have a clue. And I have even less clarity in my parenting. In fact, I was wondering recently if Satan wasn’t really trying to attack our family’s unity and I was missing it.

Father, help me to be seeing AND perceiving. Help me to hear AND understand. I want to glorify and honor you in every area of my life. In addition to that, I want to feel your peace and be a minister of your peace in every area of my life. Help me to bless my wife and children. Help me to bless my family. Help me to bless my friends and coworkers. Help me to bless our patients. And help me to bless those I simply encounter today. Touch the world through me.

 
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Posted by on January 29, 2012 in Matthew

 

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Emails to God – Accepting the Fruit God Grows in You (Matthew 13:1-9)

28 Jan

1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

Dear God, what does fruitfulness in a life look like? I think it can take a lot of forms. Of course, in this context it all starts with allowing your Word to take root in our hearts and flourish. But then, when it has flourished, how will it reveal itself to others?

I had a great experience yesterday. My wife’s birthday is tomorrow and so some of her blogging friends that she mainly knows through the Internet (although she did meet many of them once in the fall at a writer’s retreat) decided to shower her with loving posts, poems, etc. It overwhelmed her. It was fun for me to read because what I saw was a woman who had touched so many others without even realizing it. And what was it about her that was touching them? It was the fruit returning “a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.”

Ever since I have known my wife I have seen the ability she has to connect with people on a deep, deep level. I connect with a thousand people about an inch deep, but she digs deep with someone within moments. I have not only admired this trait in her, but I must confess that I have coveted it too. I would love for someone to spend thirty minutes with me and leave feeling known and loved. That is the fruit that you bear in my wife’s life, and it is beautiful.

Father, I know that you have gifted me in completely different ways that you gifted my wife. The problem is that the gifts you gave me are often more publicly acknowledged and affirmed than the gifts you gave her. But days like yesterday, when she saw the comments of dozens of people telling her that their lives are better for having known her, are powerful. I am grateful for that for her. Please help me to be at peace with the gifts you gave me. Let them take root and grow. And please continue to encourage my wife for the fruit that is born in her life.

 

 
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Posted by on January 28, 2012 in Matthew

 

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