Impact

Yesterday during a lecture Dr. Fretheim, professor of Old Testament at Luther Seminary pointed out that, "On 9/11 nineteen middle eastern men deeply affected our lives [in a negative way]"

My question is this:

Has the middle eastern man, Jesus of Nazareth through his death and resurrection, and have his disciples (whose writings we have recorded) deeply affected our lives in a positive way?

Poor and needy

As I mentioned in my last post, David wrote, "I am poor and needy" (Psalm 86:1) Um, not really David. You're the king so you're not poor. And needy...well, maybe. Poor AND needy? What was he getting at? David lived in depedence on God, displaying a radical trust in God's love for him. Later he writes, "Great is your steadfast love toward me." David was in need of God's grace, of forgiveness, of peace, of assurance, of EVERYTHING. Economically he was rich but poor in other ways. He may not have wanted for anything physical, but stood in great need.

"The moment we acknowledge we are powerless, we enter into the liberating sphere of the risen One and we are freed from anxiety..." --Brennan Manning

Financial Crisis

America is in quite a debacle with our current financial crisis and many are weighing in with solutions. Currently, politicians in Washington wrangle over government response. We wait.

In the meantime, I was encouraged by Paul and David this morning. David writes in Psalm 86, "Hear me, Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my life...Bring joy to your servant who trusts in you." Could prayer and trust in God through this crisis be a viable solution? Absolutely. We are all poor and needy literally or figuratively. "Every good and gracious gift is from above," James writes. We ask God and wait for divine assistance.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer recorded his morning prayer while suffering in a German prison at the hands of the Nazis. Maybe his prayer will become your prayer during financial stress, potentially captive to creditors and debt:

O God...help me to pray and to concentrate my thoughts on you; I cannot do this alone...Lord Jesus Christ, you were poor and in distres, a captive and forsaken as I am. You know all man's troubles; you abide with me and when all men fail me; you remember and seek me; It is your will that I should know you and turn to you. Lord, I hear your call and follow. Help me...Restore me to liberty, and enable me so to live now that I may answer before you and before men. Lord, whatever this day may bring, your name be praised. Amen.

Paul's encouragement comes from his letter to Timothy, "Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment" (1 Tim. 6:17-18)

Pray for and do not be bitter or envious of the wealthy in this crisis. Heed Paul's advice to encourage the rich to be generous. Pray for generosity. And for all of us, rich and poor, Paul encourages us like David did to put our trust in God.

Let trust rule the day.

Emmanuel. God is with us.

Meet my daddy?

Yesterday after driving into my neighborhood, I saw my son Ethan playing with a few of his friends. I slowed the car to say 'hi' to him and lowered the passenger side window. I stopped the car and Ethan walks over to talk.

"Hi daddy," he says to me (he's five). Then he looks over at his friends (a few I had not met yet...three kids from the neighborhood just a couple years older than him) and says, "Guys! Do you want to meet my dad? He's really nice."

All of the kids look at Ethan with a blank stare. No one says 'no' and no one says 'yes.' There is no response (which in itself is a response, I know).

I waved and said hi from the car and they all said, "Hi" back but that was it.

"Guys, do you want to talk to my dad?" he asks again, and again, no response.

I said, "That's ok...they don't need to talk to me."

Honestly, I felt touched that Ethan wanted his friends to meet me...that he likes me enough to want to tell others about me. The experience also reminds me of evangelism too. As Christians I think our sharing Christ with others lots of times is like Ethan with his friends. We're met with blank stares...and little if no response to our invitation for people to meet God. "Do want to talk to God? He's really nice." Crickets. Chirp. Chirp. Chirp.

But what if the onus wasn't on us asking the question or the response of the person. After all, if I was one of those kids, I'd think Ethan's request was pretty odd too. "No, I don't want to meet your dad. He's an adult and I'm a kid." There's just too big of a boundary to cross. And with people and God, when we expect people to respond favorably to our question, "Do you want to talk to God?" we're fooling ourselves. People may want to talk to God, but there is just too big of a chasm to cross...after all, God is God and we are humans.

The onus for the relationship lands on the one with the power. In my experience with Ethan, as the adult, I could have gotten out of my car, gone over to the kids and introduced myself. The chasm needs to be crossed by the one with the most power. Isn't that the way God does it too? Jesus says, "You did not choose me, I chose you." All of us come to God because God comes to us first. He bridges the gap between us.

Next time you want to introduce others to Christ, know that the responsibility for the relationship isn't on your shoulders. God is bridging the gap. We may be opening the door (Do you want to meet my dad?), but God is first moving toward our friends and us establishing relationships. We need to pray for our friends that their hearts are open to the movement of the Spirit in their lives.

Time

"Therefore be attentive to time and the way you spend it. Nothing is more precious. This is evident when you recall that in one tiny moment heaven my be gained or lost. God, the master of time, never gives the future. He gives only the present, moment by moment...You will not be able to excuse yourself at the last judgment saying to God, "You overwhelmed me with the future when I was only capable of living in the present."

In love all things are shared and so if you love Jesus, everything of his is yours. As God he is the creator and dispenser of time; as man he consciously mastered time; as God and man he is he rightful judge of you and your use of time. Bind yourself to Jesus, therefore, in faith and love, so that belonging to him you may share all he has and enter the fellowship of those who love him."

--From The Cloud of Unknowing