There is a hymn call "There is a Balm in Gilead" and the refrain is pretty powerful: There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole, there is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul...
A great hymn. For those who have been in church recently you may have heard a sermon on Job, currently lectionary is following this fun-loving fellow (note the sarcasm). Job is a righteous man in God's eyes, perhaps more so then Abraham and he lives in Uz, which is translated as to reflect or meditate. This book is one meant to be reflected on and to give us pause. In Job we meet a man who because of Satan experiences a lot of pain and suffering in a short period of time and begins to ask the question that still plaques us today "WHY? WHY is there suffering? Why do bad things happen to people who seem to be good?" After several days of being good pastoral care friends, his friends lose ground when they finally speak with him and try to get him to admit to living a bad life. They are assuming that if these things are happening then Job must not be as righteous as he says he is, there must be hidden things. Perhaps the judgment we find ourselves offering others? But Job in desperation pleads to God.
As faithful people - or people searching - the good news is that there is a balm for our agony - Christ our Savior. This balm doesn't mean that our life is going to be all about the "easy" button or that our desires will be ours. Believing in Christ and following God does not entitled us to either an "easy button" or a "name that price tool" it does however entitle us to GRACE. And through grace our souls can be made whole or sin-sick soul can be saved.
Recently I had a raise Jewish, Communist, Russian and who studied Christianity ask me why there was evil in the world. When I took the easy way out and answer if there wasn't evil we wouldn't be able to know the shear wonder of God's love she kissed my hand. In her years no one ever tried to answer that question. Job asks this big question, why is there suffering and more importantly why is there senseless suffering. We are reminded in Job that even in the suffering God is there. God does not abandon but is instead there.
We cannot understand all that there is to know about our world or about God. We cannot proclaim to know the goodness of our lives or the blessing to be the only measure of our righteousness. However, we can know that God is there always for us. We can as faithful people find God even in the midst of our struggles but more importantly we can find grace! Through our faith in Christ, we can be whole. Sure we may still carry a scare around with us - but who doesn't? Christ is here to heal our souls to give us wholeness and to offer something not found on Earth - GRACE. Now that is something to rejoice in.
As everyone is getting ready to celebrate Halloween and the demons or scary things remember that the scariest and deepest places for us are those furthest from God's love. But rejoice in knowing that God does not abandon us, instead God continues to encourage us, strength us and give us hope. Let us know that our souls can be healed and made whole through Christ the Savior.
Friday, October 30, 2015
Monday, October 26, 2015
God Winks
God winks are when we our lives are touched by God and a blessing is felt. Daily I feel that God winks in my life and except for sharing with my husband and occasionally on Facebook I usually don't share my winks with everyone. Some days I feel like Mary who "pondered all in her heart" at the birth of Christ, for the blessings bring great meaning and joy. Some days I feel like the Christian world may not be ready for my blessing as it calls into question some of the norms and I just don't feel like fighting with people about God and other days I just don't share because it reveals more about my personal life than people want to know (as a Pastor one must remain in a certain view by the public, which can and does change based on who is viewing and although you might feel like you may never, you should still try to remain this way).
Either way, I think I should stop living in such a way. As God continually shows me that we learn through testimony and example. That people come to faith through testimony - look at the Bible! And so I will begin sharing my winks with you, when God has truly touched my life and reminded me that no matter where I am at on a giving day, God is with me.
As a chaplain I experience God throughout the day. I feel God's presence as I pray with people and as I hold Holy conversation. I know God is working throughout people's lives and I am often brought to someone because of God's push or pull instead of my own desires. One day I visited a man who had left the church several decades ago. Mostly in anger over politics, a story that I hear daily. As this man wonder the world - literary he traveled for a living - he experienced great things and many religions. He was left with a feeling of doubt and yet belief. He knew there to be a God, he had experienced that in war; yet he didn't know he could believe in the God of the church. So he was left to sitting in a state of "unbelief" and yet "belief." We had a very deep conversation about the God he had experienced in his life and perhaps that being the answer in itself. He joked that if he got to heaven, which he wasn't sure there was one or that he was good enough for, he would let me know. I joked that if I got there first, I would let him know. (we both knew he was going first). The night he died, I had a dream of him. I usually don't remember my dreams. As I usually don't get much sleep, I often don't dream and yet I woke up with a profound feeling of that dream. I shared with my husband that morning I had a dream I needed to share. I didn't know the man had died until later, except when I heard it, my dream made sense.
In my dream, my church (which is very welcoming) was having a potluck and the elevator door opened and this man, who had never stepped foot in the church before, was there and was greeted with a warm welcome. Wheeled the front and offered a meal. I know that his entrance into the Kingdom was one in which God warmly welcomed a searching believer who finally found his home.
You see, it takes more then just going to church to be a truly righteous believer. It takes looking at the church and struggling when you see it do wrong. It also takes realizing the good and uplifting it. This man didn't struggle with God, he struggled with the church and with the teachings. He struggled with his own worthiness because he did't fit into the box that the church likes us to check. He struggled with God most of his adult life not because he didn't believe but because he cared enough to believe the God he had experienced which was different from the God found in some churches.
Jesus reminds us that we must "cut off" our limbs that are sinning; 43If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. (Mark 9:43).
In this case, this man felt his church was causing him to sin as he did not feel he could uphold all its teachings. And yet, he never felt he could "find" another church. He felt disconnected from church and considered himself disconnected from God. What a way to live your life.
Don't make this mistake! There are churches out there that are teaching things you would like! But more importantly, there are Christians out there you can join in fellowship. Where 3 or more are gathered in Jesus' name, God is there! Let us go out then and be the church. Let us welcome all and most importantly let us testify to the God winks in our life. For if this man had heard from others their love for not just their church but also God, he may have found a church home instead of living his life searching until his death. Although he was welcomed home, let us strive to live a life in which we feel and know the Kingdom in the here and now.
Let us spread our God winks!
Either way, I think I should stop living in such a way. As God continually shows me that we learn through testimony and example. That people come to faith through testimony - look at the Bible! And so I will begin sharing my winks with you, when God has truly touched my life and reminded me that no matter where I am at on a giving day, God is with me.
As a chaplain I experience God throughout the day. I feel God's presence as I pray with people and as I hold Holy conversation. I know God is working throughout people's lives and I am often brought to someone because of God's push or pull instead of my own desires. One day I visited a man who had left the church several decades ago. Mostly in anger over politics, a story that I hear daily. As this man wonder the world - literary he traveled for a living - he experienced great things and many religions. He was left with a feeling of doubt and yet belief. He knew there to be a God, he had experienced that in war; yet he didn't know he could believe in the God of the church. So he was left to sitting in a state of "unbelief" and yet "belief." We had a very deep conversation about the God he had experienced in his life and perhaps that being the answer in itself. He joked that if he got to heaven, which he wasn't sure there was one or that he was good enough for, he would let me know. I joked that if I got there first, I would let him know. (we both knew he was going first). The night he died, I had a dream of him. I usually don't remember my dreams. As I usually don't get much sleep, I often don't dream and yet I woke up with a profound feeling of that dream. I shared with my husband that morning I had a dream I needed to share. I didn't know the man had died until later, except when I heard it, my dream made sense.
In my dream, my church (which is very welcoming) was having a potluck and the elevator door opened and this man, who had never stepped foot in the church before, was there and was greeted with a warm welcome. Wheeled the front and offered a meal. I know that his entrance into the Kingdom was one in which God warmly welcomed a searching believer who finally found his home.
You see, it takes more then just going to church to be a truly righteous believer. It takes looking at the church and struggling when you see it do wrong. It also takes realizing the good and uplifting it. This man didn't struggle with God, he struggled with the church and with the teachings. He struggled with his own worthiness because he did't fit into the box that the church likes us to check. He struggled with God most of his adult life not because he didn't believe but because he cared enough to believe the God he had experienced which was different from the God found in some churches.
Jesus reminds us that we must "cut off" our limbs that are sinning; 43If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. (Mark 9:43).
In this case, this man felt his church was causing him to sin as he did not feel he could uphold all its teachings. And yet, he never felt he could "find" another church. He felt disconnected from church and considered himself disconnected from God. What a way to live your life.
Don't make this mistake! There are churches out there that are teaching things you would like! But more importantly, there are Christians out there you can join in fellowship. Where 3 or more are gathered in Jesus' name, God is there! Let us go out then and be the church. Let us welcome all and most importantly let us testify to the God winks in our life. For if this man had heard from others their love for not just their church but also God, he may have found a church home instead of living his life searching until his death. Although he was welcomed home, let us strive to live a life in which we feel and know the Kingdom in the here and now.
Let us spread our God winks!
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