Sam Storm once wrote, “Worship is a feast where God is the host, the cook, the waiter and the meal itself.”
Let’s face it. There are many feasts out there and for the most part those feasts only fill a certain facet of the hunger of a soul that cries out for something to ease the ache of a craving, yet it never fully satisfies. When we come to the table of Christian Spirituality (in essence Messianic Judaism) we come to a feast where the Creator God invites us saying, “Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden…” As the cook of the meal Christ calls to us, “take my yoke upon you.” As the waiter Jesus says, “and I will give you rest.” And as the meal itself, Christ tells us “Take, eat, this is my body” and “This is my blood of the New Covenant, shed for the remission (in the Greek: aphesis: freedom) of sins.” Christ says, “Come join me in this glorious exchange. I will take care of your needs, for I have created this feast for you and I have created you for this feast. I know this feast will hit your deepest spot of longing, because I am the feast.”
Really, it often seems that spiritual life in the United States is a battle of the feasts. It’s as if it’s a battle of fast food versus one of a large Thanksgiving buffet. No one stops in the middle of their second helping of turkey and collard greens to say, “Boy, I sure could use a Big Mac.” And someone eating fast food will be hungry again by dinner, but someone just finishing Thanksgiving dinner might not grow hungry again for 24 hours. As feeble as an illustration as this is, the point is that humanity in general is that same battle being brawled out in the spiritually hungry wherever there is spiritual beings called humans.
Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be filled.” I’m talking about more than the hunger pains between breakfast and lunch, or the “agony” that occurs if you miss one. I’m talking: haven’t eaten for weeks, or a month…or more. In the Greek the word here for hunger is peinaō, which means: to famish, or to crave. Jesus says, “Blessed are those who are famished and craving me with everything they’ve got.” It’s sort of a case of “You are what you eat” because (really) that’s what happens. As you partake of this triune Creator God it changes you. Your passions change, your desires change, your paradigm of God, culture, and life changes. As the late Christian musician Rich Mullins once said, “Christianity isn’t something you do, it’s something that does you.”
It’s really incredible what happens here. God says, “Blessed are you if you hunger and ache,” but as we ache, we ache with an ache that we only have because He put the ache inside of us. And then the object of our hunger is righteousness. This righteousness is not a self righteousness, but a righteousness from and of God. So pretty much what Jesus is saying is: “Blessed are you if you ache for me.” But this ache is something that He gives us, and as we abandon to this He rewards us. The reward (this “Blessing”) is more than a happy emotional state, it’s a spiritual well being, it’s the approval of God and a leading into a happier destiny. So in the end, God is putting a hunger inside of us to hunger for Him, and when we hunger for Him with the hunger He puts inside of us He rewards us for it. Cool.
This blessing is something incredible, but even more inconceivable is this ache. Blessing is something we all crave. Within generations of Christian marketing we hear “Come to Jesus and get blessed”, but there is (I believe with my whole heart) something greater. It’s the truth to the story. Very often what we think is “Come to Jesus and get blessed,” but what is really happening is an invitation that reads:
“Come to Jesus and He will kill your old man, and consume you and give you blessing greater than you’ve ever thought possible.”
Colossian 3:2-4 says it best as it reads, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” He calls us to die and be found in Him. This is our reward, and if you tried to explain it in a book, capture it in a picture, or weave it into a sonnet to be sung for an eternity, all efforts would be dimmed by the greatness of this truth.
Monday, January 23, 2006
Friday, January 13, 2006
Hurled Into the Sovereignty of God: Consecration Week One
Inch by inch. Minute by minute. Day by day. It's odd how things echo for lifetimes that are set into motion by little moments throughout one's life. Though those moments don't last they are sometimes immortalized, immortalized for a lifetime if not for a history of a town, country, generation, or a running stretch of humanity. But the reverberations of a moment in our lives have a tendency to trickle down the brain to our hearts, gathering there the collection of joys, sorrows, and phenomenal ordinarity. Moments aren’t all fleeting though. We have the opportunity for moment to kiss eternity, echoing not a fleeting pebble in a pond, making dinky little rings pushing merely a few inches; but instead these moments can be avalanches rushing into eternity.
In Matthew 19 there is a story of a rich young man that approached Jesus asking Him, “What must I do to get eternal life.” Jesus said, “Obey the commandments.” And the rich young man said, “I have since I was a kid.” And Jesus said, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." With that the man hung his head as head and walked away, because he had great wealth. As the rich young man, in his desperation, fought a short lived battle of defense in his perfection, he hung his head moments later in defeat as he found out that in spite of all of his great accomplishments to the letter of the law, the only thing that he could do to be perfect was the one thing that he was unwilling to do. The moment that echoed in him struck a gong of "Sell all that you own and give the money to the poor..." Despite all of his toil, as good natured or self-seeking as it may have been, somehow that moment defined him in eternal words and to this moment his feet shuffling in the dirt is what we know of him now. Maybe our own shuffling in the dirt is what will linger the most. With all of our accomplishments and failures, and our unwillingness to let go, perhaps we shall only remember the dust drifting and twisting on a breeze that is much more eternal than the moments that we breathe. As the psalmist scribed, "As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him; for He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass, He flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more." We linger but a breath. Like breath that fogs for a split second on cold glass, we come and shuffle our dust through this planet in moments. But in defining moments we can decide that eternity is what we live our moments for. Moments where we walk up to the edge of the cliff that we know as the present, we can wildly hurl ourselves into an eternity even now by proclaiming that the lives we live, the breaths we breathe, the songs we sing, and the words we verbalize (or even don’t verbalize) all exist for our passionate desperation to live every moment in the abyss of the sovereignty of God.
I think what it means to hurl oneself into the sovereignty of God is to abandon recklessly every fiber of our make-up. I don’t think that there is a checklist. Rather, I believe that the line drawn for reckless abandonment is whatever our threshold of comfort can bare (plus one). It’s devoting every inch of our hearts, every detail of our plans, and every hope and dream to the last laugh and last tear. It’s giving our all in response to Him giving His all for us. It’s us finding ourselves in Him. In the end, I don’t believe that this recklessness is extraordinary Christianity at all, but normal Christianity. Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” I don’t believe that the Christian life is something where we can separate our salvation from the discipleship and unity of us to Christ. It’s impossible.
I think Jesus was getting at this point when He gave His Sermon on the Mount. He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” In the Greek the word used for “poor” here is “ptōchos” which means: pauper or beggar. In other words, blessed is the spiritual beggar, because of the one you’re begging for. Jesus is saying, “You’re blessed if I’m your everything.”
“So here I am Jesus my Lord, you are my everything. Utterly torn and silence worn, I lay my bits and pieces at your feet. As Your love closes in on my human heart, I surrender all of me to all of You. Oh Consuming Fire, consume me in this moment and the next. Draw me deeper to get lost in You. Consume me in this moment and draw me into eternity. You are all that I seek. You are all that I want. Amen.”
In Matthew 19 there is a story of a rich young man that approached Jesus asking Him, “What must I do to get eternal life.” Jesus said, “Obey the commandments.” And the rich young man said, “I have since I was a kid.” And Jesus said, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." With that the man hung his head as head and walked away, because he had great wealth. As the rich young man, in his desperation, fought a short lived battle of defense in his perfection, he hung his head moments later in defeat as he found out that in spite of all of his great accomplishments to the letter of the law, the only thing that he could do to be perfect was the one thing that he was unwilling to do. The moment that echoed in him struck a gong of "Sell all that you own and give the money to the poor..." Despite all of his toil, as good natured or self-seeking as it may have been, somehow that moment defined him in eternal words and to this moment his feet shuffling in the dirt is what we know of him now. Maybe our own shuffling in the dirt is what will linger the most. With all of our accomplishments and failures, and our unwillingness to let go, perhaps we shall only remember the dust drifting and twisting on a breeze that is much more eternal than the moments that we breathe. As the psalmist scribed, "As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him; for He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass, He flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more." We linger but a breath. Like breath that fogs for a split second on cold glass, we come and shuffle our dust through this planet in moments. But in defining moments we can decide that eternity is what we live our moments for. Moments where we walk up to the edge of the cliff that we know as the present, we can wildly hurl ourselves into an eternity even now by proclaiming that the lives we live, the breaths we breathe, the songs we sing, and the words we verbalize (or even don’t verbalize) all exist for our passionate desperation to live every moment in the abyss of the sovereignty of God.
I think what it means to hurl oneself into the sovereignty of God is to abandon recklessly every fiber of our make-up. I don’t think that there is a checklist. Rather, I believe that the line drawn for reckless abandonment is whatever our threshold of comfort can bare (plus one). It’s devoting every inch of our hearts, every detail of our plans, and every hope and dream to the last laugh and last tear. It’s giving our all in response to Him giving His all for us. It’s us finding ourselves in Him. In the end, I don’t believe that this recklessness is extraordinary Christianity at all, but normal Christianity. Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” I don’t believe that the Christian life is something where we can separate our salvation from the discipleship and unity of us to Christ. It’s impossible.
I think Jesus was getting at this point when He gave His Sermon on the Mount. He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” In the Greek the word used for “poor” here is “ptōchos” which means: pauper or beggar. In other words, blessed is the spiritual beggar, because of the one you’re begging for. Jesus is saying, “You’re blessed if I’m your everything.”
“So here I am Jesus my Lord, you are my everything. Utterly torn and silence worn, I lay my bits and pieces at your feet. As Your love closes in on my human heart, I surrender all of me to all of You. Oh Consuming Fire, consume me in this moment and the next. Draw me deeper to get lost in You. Consume me in this moment and draw me into eternity. You are all that I seek. You are all that I want. Amen.”
Monday, January 02, 2006
The Last Battle...Psalm 63: Part 7
They who seek my life will be destroyed;
they will go down to the depths of the earth.
They will be given over to the sword
and become food for jackals.
But the king will rejoice in God;
all who swear by God's name will praise him,
while the mouths of liars will be silenced. Psalm 63:9-10
Rain. It is raining today like crazy. Literally like crazy. It's as if God's created wonder has cocked its head back in a nasty temper today. As cars weave in and out of Atlanta traffic the sneers of windshield wipers brush back and forth as they seem to agitate the blurring traffic lights and four wheeled steeds jousting each other in a mad rush to get home. Drip. Drip. Drip turns into a breaking vein from door awning to gutter - to front porch - to driveway flood, pushing and charging down residential streets to deluge the main streets through town. Desperation peeks its head around a corner as a child peeks around the corner to see if it's safe to proceed where he's not sure if he's allowed to tread. And so I proceed with finishing meditation on a piece of some of the worlds finest literature, and on some of the world's Creator's most delicate breathings. It's a breathing because it is life and, like a breath, it can be missed if you don't know it's happening, or if you underestimate it. This breath breathes in "O God," it breathes out "You are my God." It breathes in "My soul thirsts," it breathes out "my body longs." It breathes in "I have seen You in the sanctuary," it breathes out "I have beheld Your power and Your glory." It breathes in, "Because Your love is better than life," it breathes out "my lips will glorify You." Like a ticking clock ticking to the beat of a heart every second growing older and older. The pen that scribed it etched, "each man is but a breath." (Psalm 39:11b) Because, like a breath, a man can be missed if you don't pay attention to him. But the point of this psalm, this poem, this ballad and lament, is that the Creator who created ears will hear even the most feeble and weakened voice. Justice will happen because the One worshipped is the one called Faithful and True.
"So come Faithful and True, Redeemer and Prince of Peace...Ruler of the Nations. Come through this soggy winter day, afternoon and evening. I lay my worn heart at Your feet. Breathe on me O Breath of God. For I am but a breath, the world may miss me, but You O God hear. Please hold me close to Your heart so that the beat of my heart may be overpowered by the hard-hitting passion of Your's. You who are not contained by time, let my heart, my life, my everything fall into tempo with Your will. Amen."
they will go down to the depths of the earth.
They will be given over to the sword
and become food for jackals.
But the king will rejoice in God;
all who swear by God's name will praise him,
while the mouths of liars will be silenced. Psalm 63:9-10
Rain. It is raining today like crazy. Literally like crazy. It's as if God's created wonder has cocked its head back in a nasty temper today. As cars weave in and out of Atlanta traffic the sneers of windshield wipers brush back and forth as they seem to agitate the blurring traffic lights and four wheeled steeds jousting each other in a mad rush to get home. Drip. Drip. Drip turns into a breaking vein from door awning to gutter - to front porch - to driveway flood, pushing and charging down residential streets to deluge the main streets through town. Desperation peeks its head around a corner as a child peeks around the corner to see if it's safe to proceed where he's not sure if he's allowed to tread. And so I proceed with finishing meditation on a piece of some of the worlds finest literature, and on some of the world's Creator's most delicate breathings. It's a breathing because it is life and, like a breath, it can be missed if you don't know it's happening, or if you underestimate it. This breath breathes in "O God," it breathes out "You are my God." It breathes in "My soul thirsts," it breathes out "my body longs." It breathes in "I have seen You in the sanctuary," it breathes out "I have beheld Your power and Your glory." It breathes in, "Because Your love is better than life," it breathes out "my lips will glorify You." Like a ticking clock ticking to the beat of a heart every second growing older and older. The pen that scribed it etched, "each man is but a breath." (Psalm 39:11b) Because, like a breath, a man can be missed if you don't pay attention to him. But the point of this psalm, this poem, this ballad and lament, is that the Creator who created ears will hear even the most feeble and weakened voice. Justice will happen because the One worshipped is the one called Faithful and True.
"So come Faithful and True, Redeemer and Prince of Peace...Ruler of the Nations. Come through this soggy winter day, afternoon and evening. I lay my worn heart at Your feet. Breathe on me O Breath of God. For I am but a breath, the world may miss me, but You O God hear. Please hold me close to Your heart so that the beat of my heart may be overpowered by the hard-hitting passion of Your's. You who are not contained by time, let my heart, my life, my everything fall into tempo with Your will. Amen."
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