The joy of the waters

Hear the word of the Lord from Psalm 145:

All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,
and all your faithful shall bless you.
They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom,
and tell of your power,
to make known to all people your mighty deeds,
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

All of God’s works, even the rocks, trees and hills, will praise him. I believe that even the waters will lift their voices in praise of God as they move to do his will. Meditate on this beautiful passage from Hannah Hurnard’s Hind’s Feet on High Places:

At the foot of the cliffs they found themselves standing in cool shadows with a light spray sometimes splashing their faces, and there the Shepherd bade them stand and look up. There stood Much-Afraid, a tiny figure at the foot of the mighty cliffs, looking up at the great, never-ending rush of waters as they cast themselves down from the High Places. . . . As she listened, Much-Afraid realized that she was hearing the full majestic harmonies, the whole orchestra as it were, playing the original of the theme song which all the little streamlets had sung far below in the Valley of Humiliation. Now it was uttered by thousands upon thousands of voices, but with grander harmonies that anything heard down in the valleys, yet still the same song.

From the heights we leap and go
To the valley down below,
Always answering to the call,
To the lowest place of all.

“Much-Afraid,” said the Shepherd’s voice in her ear, “what do you think of this fall of great waters in their abandonment of self-giving?”

She trembled a little as she answered. “I think they are beautiful and terrible beyond anything which I ever saw before.”

“Why terrible?” he asked.

“It is the leap which they have to make, the awful height from which they must cast themselves down to the depths beneath, there to be broken on the rocks. I can hardly bear to watch it”

“Look closer,” he said again. “Let your eye follow just one part of the water from the moment when it leaps over the edge until it reaches the bottom.”

Much-Afraid did so, and then almost gasped with wonder. Once over the edge, the waters were like winged things, alive with joy, so utterly abandoned to the ecstasy of giving themselves that she could almost have supposed that she was looking at a host of angels floating down on rainbow wings, singing with rapture as they went.

She gazed, then said, “It looks as though they think it is the loveliest movement in all the world, as though to cast oneself down is to abandon oneself to ecstasy and joy indescribable.”

“Yes,” answered the Shepherd in a voice vibrant with joy and thanksgiving, “I am glad that you have noticed that, Much Afraid. . . . Does the joy of the waters seem to end when they break on the rock below?”

Again Much-Afraid looked where he pointed, and noticed that the lower the water fell, the lighter it seemed to grow, as though it really were lighting down on wings. On reaching the rocks below, all the waters flowed together in a glorious host, forming an exuberant, rushing torrent which swirled triumphantly around and over the rocks.

Laughing and shouting at the top of their voices, they hurried still lower and lower, down through the meadows to the next precipice and the next glorious crisis of their self-giving. From there they would again cast themselves down to the valleys far below. Far from suffering from the rocks, it seemed as though every obstacle in the bed of the torrent was looked upon as another object to be overcome and another lovely opportunity to find a way over or around it. Everywhere there was the sound of water, laughing, exulting, shouting in jubilation.

Even when the water reaches the sea, its task, its joy is not complete. There the mighty Son lifts the waters up from the depths to heavenly heights, where they soon begin again their joyful descent.

How is it with us? Is the call to go lower too much for us? Is the faith to soar over the abyss too terrifying? Is the demand to flow side by side with the other waters too limiting? How many rocks and limbs cross our path before we lose the joy of serving the purposes of God?

The waters have the power to reshape our world, yet:
The power is not in the drop of water, but in the stream.
The power is not in the still pool, but in the moving current.
Both power and joy are found in submission, in obedience, in love for the sending and love for the sender.

May God help us laugh, exult, and shout at the goodness of serving the purposes of our Creator, and in our finding God’s creative power in our lives.

Blessings,

Ron

Psalm 145:10-13 – NRSV
Hind’s Feet on High Places, 146-148.

They reeled and staggered ...

Often we think that we alone have troubles;
sometimes we might be tempted to think
that we suffer those troubles alone.
Yet God knows, God hears, God suffers,
and God redeems us from those times.
Will we be faithful until the hour of our rescue?
Hear the word of the Lord:

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever.
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
those he redeemed from trouble
and gathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.

As you hear the movement of this psalm,
imagine it, picture it, line by line.
Hear the crash of the waves,
smell the splashing salt water,
feel the blast of the wind …

Some went down to the sea in ships,
doing business on the mighty waters;
they saw the deeds of the Lord,
his wondrous works in the deep.
For he commanded and raised the stormy wind,
which lifted up the waves of the sea.
They mounted up to heaven, they went down to the depths;
their courage melted away in their calamity;
they reeled and staggered like drunkards,
and were at their wits' end.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he brought them out from their distress;
he made the storm be still,
and the waves of the sea were hushed.

Did you feel the waves lifting you high
and then falling out from under you?
Could you imagine how hard it would be
to walk the deck in the midst of such a storm?
Can you ever remember such a storm in your life?
A storm where your feet are under you one moment,
and the bottom falls out the next?
A time in your life when your heart
feels as if it tickled your tonsils one minute,
and stomped on your stomach the next?
Do you remember a time when you cried out,
not for food, or drink, but for life itself?
For hope in the face of despair?
He will hear our distress.
He will deal with the unruly sea,
as the text told us yesterday,
as if it were an unruly child.
Then we can celebrate.

Then they were glad because they had quiet,
and he brought them to their desired haven.
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wonderful works to humankind.
Let them extol him in the congregation of the people,
and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

We ought to praise God.
If we are at a safe place, he has brought us to this haven.
If we still find ourselves riding out the storm,
he is the one who will has saved us before
and will deliver us once again.

Blessings,

Ron

Psalm 107:1-3; 23-32 – NRSV

The full extent of his love ...

“It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love. The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.”
John 13:1-5

If you were there at the meal, in the room with Jesus, the Messiah, the miracle worker, the Master, think about how you would feel if you saw…

Jesus is getting up from the meal…Should we get up too, does he need help with something, where is he about to go?

Jesus is now taking off his outer clothing…

Jesus just wrapped a towel around his waist…Is he about to clean something? Can I do it before he gets to it? Where is the problem? The master shouldn’t be doing this type of work.

Jesus just poured water into a basin…What’s going on? Isn’t that the basin that they use to wash guests feet when they come into the house? Why is Jesus filling up the basin?

Jesus is washing John’s feet! He is coming for me next…What is he doing? That is a servant’s job. Why are we all sitting here letting him do it? I don’t deserve to let Jesus even touch my filthy feet.

How did you feel as you read each of these happenings? I put in some of the things I would be thinking in that moment. The next thing that Jesus did was to dry their feet with the towel wrapped around him. He lowered himself to the position of a servant. Was that really it? I know that it was more than that. Jesus was practicing service to those he loved. When we serve, what goes through our minds? What goes through our hearts? Service should be an outpouring of our love for God. It is just something that comes so naturally to us, because we have been served by the Master ourselves. He daily washes our feet by forgiving us our sins.

Today, maybe even right now, I want you to grab a towel and just sit there and hold it. Pull it in and out of your fingers and pray to God that he helps you think of ways you can selflessly serve someone in your life today. Think of your wife, husband, children, one of the boys in your care, our office staff, our minister, the principal, and just find a way to serve in secret. Bless their life, by symbolically washing their feet today. I know that for many of us, our job is in itself a life of service. But what would happen if you did something that one of the boys never expected as a way of serving them? What would happen if you husbands did the job in the house that your wife gets so sick of, and you did it secretly? Jesus showed his disciples what the towel was for and challenged them to use it as well. He set that same challenge to us. Happy serving!

Jason

The forgotten jar ...

Hear the word of God:

Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked to find him talking to a woman, but none of them had the nerve to ask, "What do you want with her?" or "Why are you talking to her?" The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, "Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?" So the people came streaming from the village to see him.
John 4:27-30

Every day, year after year, the woman came to fetch water. She knew the walk to and from the well. She probably even took the same water jar day after day. She knew exactly how much water she was able to carry in that trusted jar. After she had heard those words, "I Am The Messiah!" She took off running. Not only that, she left the water jar. She didn't even realize that she had forgotten it, because her everyday life was now in the past.

She realized at that moment beside the well, that she could have a fresh start. She realized that she could have that living water. She met the man! She ran and told everyone along the way. "Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?" She was so convincing that people came streaming from the village to see him!

They probably could sense the urgency in her voice, the changed appearance on her face. What could stir this woman out of her monotony?

What stirs you out of yours? Have you had that urgency in your voice and eyes? Have you had that skip in your step? Being with Jesus brings that to you. People can't help but stand up and take notice. Those that we work with and for cannot help but look at you and say, “Man, I want what they have.”

Conversations don't have to be forced. They flow out of the overflow of your life. Those streams of living water are coming out of you, because you took your time and made it all about Jesus! The woman had people lining up to come and see Jesus. She left her jar! I don't know if there is a huge significance there, but for me that means she put her past behind her and the so called important things in life and sought after Jesus Christ. What is your jar? What are you forced to leave behind because it is not as important anymore?

When you leave that jar, through being with Jesus, amazing things happen, both to you and those around you! As you worship today as a family, think of your jar, and leave it at the feet of Jesus!

Jason

Living water ...

We will talk about one key passage over the next several days. Hear the word of God:

Jesus knew the Pharisees had heard that he was baptizing and making more disciples than John (though Jesus himself didn't baptize them—his disciples did). So he left Judea and returned to Galilee.

He had to go through Samaria on the way. Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, "Please give me a drink." He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.

The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, "You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?"

Jesus replied, "If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water."

"But sir, you don't have a rope or a bucket," she said, "and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? And besides, do you think you're greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?"

Jesus replied, "Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life."

"Please, sir," the woman said, "give me this water! Then I'll never be thirsty again, and I won't have to come here to get water."

"Go and get your husband," Jesus told her.

"I don't have a husband," the woman replied.

Jesus said, "You're right! You don't have a husband— for you have had five husbands, and you aren't even married to the man you're living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!"

"Sir," the woman said, "you must be a prophet. So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?"

Jesus replied, "Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. But the time is coming—indeed it's here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth."

The woman said, "I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."

Then Jesus told her, "I AM the Messiah!"

John 4:1-26 – NLT

Blessings,

Jason

One human soul

Sometimes we as Christians tend to compartmentalize our lives. We tend to be dualistic. What does this mean? There is our body, which lives on this planet, has needs, and seeks to find ways to satisfy them. And somewhere over here, floating in the same general neighborhood is our spirit, here but not really of this world, with needs, but needs which we sometimes think cannot be satisfied in this world. But this is not a biblical view of things.

The Bible teaches us that one human soul is a body that enfleshes a spirit, a spirit embodied in a human body. We don't really know where the dividing line is because, for example, how do you separate the consciousness of the spirit from the physical thinking process of the brain? As you think about that question, are you in the body or in the spirit? You are seeing the world with both, yet as one soul. We don't have to understand how it works, but it is important to understand that God has firmly linked the two together. The scriptures tell us that even when we are resurrected, we will be in some sort of body, just as Jesus was. I don't know how he is going to do that, but since he made this body and spirit once, I don't figure that re-creating me again will be particularly difficult.

This means that there is always a connection between the physical and the spiritual in our lives. Nothing that we do for our bodies is devoid of the spiritual, and the things that our spirits experience have tangible effects on our bodies. There is no hard and fast boundary between the two, despite our tendency to talk that way. Let me illustrate this.

In John 4, a physically thirsty Jesus meets a spiritually thirsty Samaritan woman at Jacob's well in Sychar. Jesus asks for water from the woman, and the woman asks Jesus for living water, and, eventually, seriously so. As the encounter concludes, Jesus has spiritual food in such abundance that he is no longer physically hungry; he rebuffs the offer of food from his disciples. The woman is overflowing with living, spiritual water to the extent that she chooses to share it with her neighbors, while leaving her full but forgotten water jar (originally intended to satisfy her physical needs) at the well. The joy that the woman and Jesus feel is tangible. This narrative enacts the statement, "Man shall not live by bread alone," and demonstrates the move back and forth from the physical to the spiritual in the case of two different elements of the sacred: bread and water. The water and the bread that satisfy our physical needs are the same elements God uses to meet our spiritual needs; he is present in the meeting of either need, even for those who many might consider to be outsiders or infidels.

In John 21 (a narrative we referred to yesterday), seven disciples, including Peter, have gone fishing in Galilee after the death of Jesus. After fishing all night, these professional fishermen are hungry, naked, and empty-netted. In a matter of minutes, a resurrected Jesus fills their net full beyond belief, carefully maintaining their productive capacity by protecting every strained cord, and not only wishing them to be warm and filled, but doing it. In the early morning, this little community finds peace while warming at a charcoal fire and eating a breakfast of fish and bread. The simple earthly, physical acts of Jesus remind them that his spiritual and physical providence and presence are not limited by the cross. Jesus moves back and forth between the spiritual and physical totally unconcerned about whether some might wonder whether he was totally human or totally God. The spiritual healing and filling that that are intertwined with these simple physical acts reveal the creator of the universe to be interested in and active in both the physical and spiritual, interchangeably and permeably. So should we be.

How might this concept apply to our ministry context? At Westview, a family meal is among the first experiences that a young man confronts. Grace is said, usually by another boy, and a meal is shared. That meal may be the first recognizable extension of God's grace and providence that a child from poverty might experience. The nature of the Lord's Supper might remain a mystery for a long time (perhaps a lifetime), but an abundance of hot food can be a life-changing reality. This is true because so many children suffer from the systemic sins of our society: poverty, oppression, violence, and abuse. But eventually, if we can appropriately worship around the Lord's Table and our dinner table, these young people can come to understand that God has provided for all of our needs, both spiritual and physical. But he does this by dealing with the whole human: body and spirit, one soul.

As we go through this day, let us be whole people. This will allow us to better imitate Jesus for our own sake, and for the sake of those who live around us.

I wish you grace and peace for your whole person,

Ron

Rock and sand

Today, a scripture, a prayer, and a meditation.

"Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell - and great was its fall!"

Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.
- Mt 7:24-29 - NRSV

Walter Brueggemann has written a prayer specifically for this scripture:

No more sinking sand

God of heaven and lord of earth,
Tamer of heaven, lover of earth,
sovereign over the waters that surge,
provider for birds, beasts, and fish,
chooser of Israel and commander of all humanity.
Your vistas remind us
of how close and small we keep our horizons,
how much we blink at your power, and wince from your justice,
how much we waver in the face of your commanding mercy.
You, you, you only, you, God of heaven and lord of earth.
Comes the rain upon our parade,
and the floods upon our nations,
and the winds upon our personal configurations,
Comes your shattering and your reconfiguring
in ways we doubt or we fear.
We discover yet again, how sandy we are,
with the quaking of our foundations
and our fantasized firmaments.
We are filled with trembling and nightmares that disturb.
And then you-rock-solid-stable-reliable-sure
You rock against our sand,
You rock of ages,
You rock that is higher than us treading water,
You rock of compassion -
be compassionate for us, our loved ones
and all of our needy neighbors,
You rock of abidingness for our sick
and for those long loved, lingering memories,
dead and in your care,
You rock of justice for the nations,
fed up with our hate,
exhausted by the greed of our several tribes,
You rock of communion in our loneliness,
rock of graciousness in our many modes of gracelessness.
Come be present even here and there, there and here,
Move us from our sandy certitudes to your grace-filled risk,
Move us to become more rock-like
in compassion and abidingness and justice,
Move us to be more like you in our neighborliness
and in our self-regard.
Yes, yes, yes - move us that we may finally
stand on the solid rock, no more sinking sand.
God of heaven, Lord of earth,
hear our resolve, heal our unresolve,
that we may finish in sure trust and in glad obedience.
We already know what to do by our careful pondering
of you. Amen.

May we learn to be like a rock like God is a rock:
steadfast in resolve and in mercy,
strong in faith and flexibility,
loving through both compassion and justice.
May we realize that if we will be a rock like God is a rock:
Crashing waves and smashing storms
are to be expected.
Tumbling stones and careless birds
will scar and mark.
Heat will bake and frost will flake.
Still our steadfastness and shade
will be landmark and comfort to those
who have yet to dig down
to the real Rock.
The real rock on which we rest.
Imitate the Rock.
Imitate Jesus.
As unreal as it seems,
it pleases God for this to be the plan.

Grace and peace,

Ron