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Praying with a closed fist

July 18, 2010

I’ve been looking at the story in Mark where Jesus cursed the fig tree then turned questions about it into teaching on prayer. As so often happens, when you think of something, things come into your life around that topic. Further, I choose what goes into my mind as much as possible. So, I never watch TV news, for instance. When I work out I listen to talks either about God (sermons from John Ortberg and Bill Hybels) or technology.

This week John Ortberg was speaking on prayer. He said, “It doesn’t work to come to God and have a closed fist.” Henri Nouwen wrote a wonder little book on prayer, “With Open Hands.” Same idea. You cannot be open to God if you are still grasping something–hiding something from God. Jesus said in this story that one thing that you could be grasping is hatred or anger toward another person. He said that before you can pray, you must give forgiveness to others.

I continue to observe religious people (who think they are spiritual, but that’s a different thing) build fences around themselves in order to separate the good from the bad. I was just thinking about the progression–in the 50s and 60s, the phrase was “I have a black friend;” then in the 70s, “I know a woman who is a good leader; now in the ‘oughts,’ “I know a homosexual person.” I have read the theology derived to say that in each case these people were less than human. So I wonder, what is my clenched fist? What is yours? Where do I find justifications for my attitudes? What is there within me that still builds a barrier between me and others? Jesus took it to that level–the level of your relationship to God and your relationship to other people. That’s all that matters.

Today, black people are mostly accepted into society despite some lingering racism. Women are now pastors and leaders despite some lingering sexism and weird interpretations of Paul’s writings. Homosexuals–well, the jury is still out.

But as for you, what are you holding tight to that interferes with an honest, open relationship with God?

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When you are stressed

July 16, 2010

How do you react when you’re stressed? I tend to get snippy with people. Some people probably withdraw. Some react with anger. Did you ever think of it? The first step to controlling yourself is learning how you react in situations. Next you learn to watch yourself and see when you are doing it.

Jesus had to be stressed. His ministry had finally brought him to Jerusalem. He knew that ahead of him were confrontations with religious authorities, trials and death. As a youth, he had been trained by these authorities. Somewhere along the way as a young man, he saw God’s true wishes. He came to oppose the religious establishment.

At any rate, he had made his first entry into Jerusalem and checked things out. Then he was going to a small town outside the city for the night. He saw a fig tree in leaf. It shouldn’t have been–it wasn’t fig season. Who knows. Maybe he felt a sudden hunger for figs and maybe thought that God had provided. Whatever, he saw the tree and went over to it. But it had no fruit. He was stressed, now he was disappointed. He reacted probably like we would have. He cursed the tree–“may you never bear fruit.”

The next day on the way back to Jerusalem, his companions noticed that that fig tree was dying. They pointed it out to Jesus. He always used incidents as teaching opportunities. So, he didn’t explain why he did it. He just said that we, too, could do things if we pray. We could cause mountains to move if we should but pray to God.

Then there is an added paragraph. Seems like a non sequitur. First forgive others, then seek forgiveness, then with a clear conscience you can pray.

Seems like a long explanation from being stressed. But recognizing your situation, clearing your conscience so you have nothing between you and God, then going into conversation with God takes you into a new state of being. You overcome the stress–or whatever else in concerning you–and you can re-establish your direct link to God and find peace.

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Overcoming Distraction

July 13, 2010

This could probably be the topic of a book. Maybe I’ll do it. But I wrote yesterday about how people get worried and distracted by many things. Jesus said, focus on the one thing.

Today this quote was sent to me:

Constant attention wears the active mind,

Blots out our pow’rs, and leaves a blank behind.”

— Charles Churchill: 18th century English poet

Sometimes, we need to just “chill.” Did you ever just sit on the patio and take in the beauty of a garden? Watch the birds? Let your mind drift to nothing?

Or, do you have your TV on constantly tuned either to Fox or MSNBC? Or even other channels? Especially the first two are designed to manipulate you into an emotional frenzy. They want to keep your attention permanently on the screen so that they can serve up more ads.

Take care what you put in your mind. Take care that you have intellectual control of your emotions and spiritual control of your intellect. I have tuned ALL TV news out of my awareness. I am so much more at peace. Focus on Jesus instead. That is far healthier.

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Worried and distracted by many things

July 12, 2010

“Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing.”

These words of Jesus to Martha were meant to change her attitude–that is, the relationship of her life with the direction it should be headed, much like the attitude of an aircraft is its relationship to the direction of travel. She needed first to achieve calm. Unless you can put worry behind you, you will never be able to focus on the “one thing.” Worry has the power to change your attitude. Likewise, distraction–the opposite of focus. Just as almost everything you worry about is beyond your control, so is much distraction. We think about this or that. We think about things we need to do. We think about things other people should or need to do.

The foundation to my spiritual and intellectual growth was built from the civil rights and anti-war movements of the 60s. While I still maintain the values of equal rights and peace, I never really was a “True Believer” as the philosopher Eric Hoffer might say. The single-minded fanaticism of many of my contemporaries seemed to me to come at a loss of perspective of spiritual life. Therefore, many hated the “Serenity Prayer” attributed to theologian Reinhold Niebuhr which asks God to grant the serenity to know that some things can’t be changed. This is a continual problem with some people–exacerbated, I might add, by the way “news” is presented on TV–where they are “worried and distracted by many things.”

There is only one thing–God. What matters is your relationship with Him. You cannot worry about other people, or tell other people what to do (well, you can, but what good does it ever do?). You can witness about how your life with God has brought you the fruits of the spirit.

Are you focused on the “one thing?” Or are you worried and distracted?

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Who Is In Charge

July 7, 2010

You’ve decided to start a new organization. You have a vision of what you want to accomplish. You have been teaching about the vision. So then you recruit some associates to help you in the ministry. You know at some point you will be leaving, so you need a succession plan. But you have a unique vision of how an organization should be run. So you have a number of  vice presidents. Then two people approach you and want to be appointed senior vice presidents. But that violates the vision. It needs some explaning.

Jesus had just such a problem. He had been teaching a radically new way of relating to God–and doing it outside the structure of the established organization. He recruited some “vice presidents.” Then James and John approached him and asked to be SVPs (in Mark they did it, in other Gospel accounts their mother was the culprit).

That created two problems. One–they didn’t understand yet (but they would shortly) the new vision of leadership and mission. Two–it creates dissension among the small group where each thought of themselves as special.

This story comes at the end of the section where Jesus is teaching his followers. The next section chronicles his confrontation with the authorities. So, one of his last instructions is on how to be a leader. A Christ follower approaches leadership as a servant. You are not to aspire to leadership in order to have the best place at the table and to have worshipful servants. You are to be the servant–teacher, too, but servant of all. You think of others first.

Try it. It’s not easy.

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I’m All In

July 2, 2010

I guess there’s a phrase in modern poker where you bet all your money–“I’m All In.” When the rich man came to Jesus and said he had followed all the laws but still didn’t have assurance of eternal life, essentially Jesus told him, “You have to be All In.” Being a rule follower wasn’t enough, your whole life–including your money and possessions–need to be dedicated to God.

When he went away sad, Jesus told his followers that it was hard for a rich man to be saved. Not impossible, but hard. The followers were astounded. “Who can be saved?” they asked. Now surely Mark knew what he was doing when he placed this story immediately after the story of blessing children. First Jesus says that we should bless children (in an age where they didn’t dote on them) and be like them in order to inherit eternal life. Then he says that it’s almost impossible for rich people–the most honored people in society–to have eternal life.

No wonder his closest followers, those chosen to be leaders after Jesus left, took so long to figure all this out. They were continually hit with these teachings that overturned their attitudes, expectations and view of society. I’m betting that the same holds true today. We still worship being rich and most people think that being rich is a sign of God’s blessing. That’s not true. Just like being poor is automatically a sign of blessing. No, it’s all an individual thing. When you look at another person, you don’t evaluate external things. Do they seem to be living with God?

How about you? Are you caught in external things? Merely following rules without thought? Looking up to the wrong people? Or, are you trying to live each minute with God?

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Roadblocks on the way to Life

June 29, 2010

A wealthy man approaches Jesus and asks, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus asks if he has kept the laws. “Yes, ever since I was a child,” replies the man. The man here acknowledges that following the law (see all my previous posts about rule-following) does not give him assurance of eternal life.  Jesus sees that. He loves him.

So what is the roadblock in the way of the man from the assurance of Life? Jesus sees the symptoms. This man cannot live a life with God because his wealth occupies too great a part of his life. He needs to focus first on God. Remember Jesus’ two “commandments.” First love God, then love other humans. It’s very simple, but very hard to do. For this man, there was a roadblock to living with God. He needed to put God first, his wealth second. He could not do that.

This passage is often rationalized these days. We in the West are wealthy beyond the dreams of ancient (and not so ancient) people. We know from other stories in the Bible that mere wealth is not the stumbling block. But having wealth–many things, money, possessions–can occupy too much of our time and attention. We need to remember where our attention needs to be.

Now, I’m preaching in that last paragraph. But, I’m a very busy person. I’m trying to build a business. Traveling much (today, it’s Dallas, last week Detroit, before that Phoenix, before that Los Angeles…). When I have much to do, it’s hard to remember my time with God at the beginning of the day. I’m sure that it’s similar for many. We have much to do, livings to earn, money to invest, shopping for more things to do. And so on. The real question is how do we make an appointment for ourselves to be quiet, alone with God, focus on eternal things?

This man? He couldn’t. He went away sad. Outsiders would think he’s perfect from the way he lives his life. But inside, he just can’t open a space to live with God. How about me? How about you?

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Get in the flow of the Spirit

June 26, 2010

People seem to like lists. And lists of rules. You probably grew up with them–after all that’s much of what school is about. Teachers make up rules. Students follow them. Teachers have a list of things students must learn, students follow them. We’ve probably all lived through this experience.

Think of the organizational problem confronting Moses when he led the Hebrews from Egypt. I don’t know how many people there were, but surely the size of a medium sized city today. They had no organization, maybe just some informal leaders from their days in Egypt. They were in a hostile land. They had to organize both civilly (judges, police, ward leaders, and so on) and religiously. After all this situation came about because these people were all descendants of Abraham. They belonged to the same tribe and were supposed to be following the God of Abraham. I suppose that even after all the years in Egypt, they still had tribal identity. No mention is made of priestly leadership, or if there were religious traditions handed down.

Moses was spiritual and talked with God. And God talked to Moses. And Moses listened. But what about the rest of the people? They were afraid to talk with God. Moses scared them because he talked with God. So, God gave Moses a list of rules beginning with the Ten Commandments to guide the people. No doubt God would have preferred that everyone talk with Him, but they were afraid.

We have stories of ancient people. But the stories seem modern as they describe humans. We still have people who talk with God and people who need rules. Trouble is there just can’t be a law that covers every little situation that you might run across. If there were, there would be so many that you couldn’t remember them anyway. Then, laws need lawyers to interpret them. And as you all remember from school, laws also separate people into groups according to which laws you break–or the kind of people that don’t break laws (at least not publicly). Comparison breeds the idea that some are better than others. I can point to someone else and compare.

But Jesus didn’t do that. He said we should live in relationship to God and then in relationship with others. The relationship with others is determined by our relationship with God. You don’t need a list of rules if your behavior is guided by the Spirit. When you are living with God, you just go with the flow of the Spirit and do the right thing. When something interferes with that flow (sin), then you can tell it. Those are the times you feel guilty or ashamed of the way you act.

So, get with the flow of the Spirit. Break the tyranny of rules. Jesus sets you free to live with God without worry.

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It’s about relationship not rules

June 25, 2010

What’s legal? I’m a soccer referee and an instructor of the Laws of the Game. Once I was asked to give a presentation on the game and it’s laws to a high school team and their parents. It was a new program, and no one knew very much about the game other than you ran around and kicked a ball. As I explained fouls, they asked, “How far can I go before it’s a foul?” In other words, “What can I get away with?”

The Pharisees (lawyers, experts in the law), asked Jesus, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” There are two aspects to this question. First, they were like the advisory board of a graduate student which asks the student many questions to see if the student knows the material. Second, they wanted to know, “What can we get away with?”

Jesus replied that you should not get a divorce. That Moses only set up the law that made divorce legal because people were not open to living with God (I’m paraphrasing, of course, the text says “hearts were hardened). He’s calling them out as people who think they don’t need God. Once upon a time, God spoke to Moses. From Moses descended a tradition that tried to make a law or rule that covered every aspect of your life. And if you followed those rules to the letter, then you were living a Godly life. And, if by chance–or planning, you were able to come out better for yourself, then so much the better.

When I teach this passage to people even today with certain personal tendencies to like rules, they immediately say that Jesus promulgated a new rule. You can’t divorce–period. But they forget, Jesus didn’t come to set rules. He said that. There are really only two–you are to love God and love your neighbor. These are relationship rules.

Let’s go back to what he said the reason for the rule was–the people’s hearts were hard. They couldn’t live in relationship with God. They were like small children still being trained by the father. Jesus brought an adult message. Grow up. Develop a deep relationship with God. Then develop a God-like behavior and attitude toward other people. If you have such a relationship, you don’t need the rules. You’ll do what’s right naturally.

I’m sure Jesus would love the woman who is being physically abused by her husband. If he were present, he’d heal the husband of the devils within him that drive him to be abusive. Otherwise, if she needs to escape to protect herself and her children, I can’t believe that Jesus would condemn her. Or for the man whose wife runs away. But in the ways of this world (almost globally, not just in the US) where marriage is selfish and not a committed relationship–I’m sure Jesus weeps over that rejection of God.

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Where to focus

June 21, 2010

I used to have to pass running tests to maintain my grades and certifications as a soccer referee. First you ran a distance within a certain time limit, then you ran sprints. It sort of simulated how well you could run at the end of a match. Since I really don’t like distance running (even the short 1.5 miles of the standard test), I think about how to do the run. Every morning when I face the 3.5 miles at the park, I can’t think about the end. I have to think about one step at a time. Otherwise I wear myself out. Sprints, on the other hand, especially the shorter 40 or 50 meter ones, entail focus on the finish line. I just start as quickly as possible and try to keep going faster until the end. 200 meters is about where I can see the goal but emphasize the stride.

Putting this is the context of patience (and perhaps adding perseverance–the ability to keep going even when you’re tired), sometimes life is like the distance run. You know there is a goal ahead, but you need to focus on a day at a time. The Buddhists have a phrase, “Wherever I go, there I am.” Jesus also said to not be worried about the past or the future. Just live in the moment. And be there in the moment.

Jesus tried to teach us–don’t be burdened down worrying about all the rules of the Pharisees (and the modern pharisees who surround us). Just live each moment in the Spirit. You’ll know what to do. Things will be taken care of. The things of the future you worry about don’t happen. Or, if they do, they are not what you were afraid of. That’s because you just live in the moment with God in you and leading you. And that’s all you need.

Just take one step at a time in the direction of your goal.

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