Wednesday, July 14, 2021

“To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 1:1, New Revised Standard Version)

[I am going to take a summer break. But I will be back on August 21. Have a safe and happy summer.]

                 I have watched the Major League Baseball All-star game as far back as I can almost remember – maybe as young as nine or ten years old. It isn’t summer unless I get to watch the best of the best when it comes to baseball players. Back in the good old days of my childhood, it was Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Sandy Koufax, Yogi Berra to name but a few. Now the stars include Vladimir Guerrero, Fernando Tatis, Oshai Ohtani, Mike Trout. The format has changed a few times over the years but the allure remains the same – watching the best of the best all playing together on the same field at the same time. The game has always captured my fancy as it did last night, although I watched only half the game as it was going to go way past my bedtime. Just like when I was a kid…

                Come to think of it, there have been many all-stars who have inspired me in my Christian walk. They weren’t famous or much celebrated but their personal Christian example sticks with me. Be they Sunday School teachers, boys’ group leaders, musicians, deacons, my own maternal  grandparents and parents, these folk helped shape a young child in the Way he should go. They turned me eventually toward pastoral ministry where I have had the privilege of meeting and working alongside more all-stars of the Church or as Paul would call them: saints.

                We need immediately to set aside the oft-interpreted meaning of sainthood as someone who is “holier than thou.” I have met a few of those in my time, too, but they are not the ones I am meaning here. Saints are seldom perfect and they are the first who will humbly admit it. In fact, they have little to no ambition of ever being labeled a saint. They might even scoff at the very idea. All they are trying to do is live a Christian life to the very best of their ability and mostly succeeding. They strive to love Jesus Christ and to follow him and to demonstrate the Love, Grace, Forgiveness and Compassion that comes with being dedicated to that journey. A true saint is someone whose presence rubs off on others.      

                It may come as shock to some, but we are all called to be saints. When you stop laughing at such a notion, hear me out. Christ’s touch upon us takes us out of our sinful, “muddy” ordinary lives and compels us into the discovery of  making our lives count and matter. I am not saying it is easy. A baseball all-star has to work hard, practice, improve, listen to his coaches before he will ever make an All-Star Game. Becoming a saint, a beloved one in Christ, takes effort, initiative, growth, constant practice. It doesn’t happen over-night but over years. But each of us is called to strive for sainthood i.e. being blessed and being a blessing.

                I think Paul has caught this idea in Philippians: “I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back. So let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision—you’ll see it yet! Now that we’re on the right track, let’s stay on it.” (Phil. 3: 13 -16, The Message Bible)

                Eye  on the goal – that is sainthood!

                You are an all-star in my book.

 

Dale

Wednesday, July 7, 2021

“Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a musty cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!” (Matthew 6: 22 – 23, The Message Bible)

                 According to my eye doctor I have very healthy eyes. I had my annual eye examination yesterday. My mom had both glaucoma and macular degeneration, so I like to make sure that my eyes are not inheriting those weaknesses. I do have the beginnings of cataracts but only just and it has been that way for the last few years. No change. So, I get to continue to view the world through these hazel orbs.

                The classic line from Proverbs is “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” (Proverbs 29: 18 King James Version) It reads the best in the KJV as most of the other translations or paraphrases while they may be more accurate, they lack the same punch. Although, as usual, The Message Bible makes you think: “If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves.” Perhaps this is what Jesus had mind when he was pushing back at the pharisees: “They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch.” (Matthew 15: 14, New Living Translation)

                Just as it is important to maintain our physical vision, so we should nourish and sustain our spiritual vision. I don’t mean looking at the world through rose-coloured glasses. But I do mean seeing the world more through Christ-coloured glasses. Look at the world around us and see its beauty, depth, purpose and recognize the magnificence of all of God’s creation. It is to see the beauty of each and every person. It is to see the work of the handiwork God throughout the world, even in the mundane routines of what the day holds for each of us.

                “He alone is your God, the only one who is worthy of your praise, the one who has done these mighty miracles that you have seen with your own eyes.” (Deuteronomy 10:21, NLT)

                Moreover, it is to take the blinders off that which judges, condemns, belittles, demeans, criticizes, sneers at and sees only what they want to see. Some see the world as black and white and miss out of the extravaganza of all that the world offers through the variety of peoples, languages, cultures and customs. Some see the world through the lenses of anger, bitterness, resentment, hatred, greed, pride, racism and fear. Others shut their eyes to injustice, inequality, poverty, homelessness, abuse, violence.

                “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own?” (Matthew 7:3, NLT)

                Without good vision we risk perishing. But our text invites us to open our inner eyes to the goodness that God offers, to be able to observe the example of Jesus and keep our “feet” safely on the Way, staying out of the ditches.  Focus in on the love and hope which walking with Christ reveals to us.

                It is up to each of us to conduct our own personal spiritual-eyes’ examination, to test our spiritual perceptions, observations and world-views and use the lenses of Christ-values to correct our vision where need-be or reveal to us the fullness of a life which the Lord sees for each of us.

                I can see you; can you see me?

 

Dale