Wednesday, September 26, 2018

“If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders.” (Luke 15: 4 -5, New Living Translation)

                There are a considerable number of idioms that have to do with our shoulders. You look like you are carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. Are you giving him the cold shoulder? Get that chip off your shoulder! She can take it; she has broad shoulders. Do you need a shoulder to cry on? He is head and shoulders above the rest of the class. We are going to do this together, shoulder to shoulder. Look at us; look at whom we are rubbing shoulders with. Let’s put our shoulder to the wheel and get this done! I’ve done all I can do; it’s on your shoulders now.

                One of the “joys” of becoming older is to discover that I have considerable damage in my shoulders from arthritis.  It would wake me up at night with the pain. Fortunately, a recent cortisone shot has much alleviated most of the problem, for now. At least, it gives me an excuse not to rake all our leaves this Fall and let our lawn-care people do it instead.

                I have often counseled people who are living through some major crisis and are deeply emotionally conflicted and confused and questioning where God is in all this, that it is perfectly OK to express anger, frustration, hurt, and distress in one one’s prayers and admonitions towards God. Afterall, God has very big and broad shoulders.

Encounter Job who rails and protests long and loud about the unfair position that God has allowed to happen to him. Read many of the Psalms which are deep laments and angry complaints: “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help?” (Psalm 22: 1, NLT). Although I am somewhat captivated by The Message Bible’s interpretation of the same verse: “God, God . . . my God! Why did you dump me miles from nowhere?”  

                If one has ever been to the Holy Land the chances are pretty good that you have come home with a carved, wooden statue depicting the Good Shepherd with a lamb being carried upon his shoulders. I now have the one which I gave to my mother after my trip many, many years ago. Although there are many biblical images of God as Shepherd and therefore Jesus, too, the parable from Luke always seems to me to be  the one which best expresses the perseverant, tenacious, resolve of a compassionate and loving God to find us in our wildernesses and carry us home, back to the fold.

As it is affirmed in John’s Gospel, Jesus, himself, acts out the God as the Good Shepherd motif. Consequently, our Shepherd knows our names. We are apt to go astray, find ourselves in unfamiliar and unsafe circumstances, think the grass is greener on some other hill and not see the fast-flowing and dangerous river between, and yet, the parable assures us that God does not give up on us ever and will continually look for us until he finds us and leads us back to greener pastures and still waters. “The one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders.”  (Deuteronomy 33:12, New International Version)

Finally, this is an example for us, as well, to help shoulder the burdens of others when we can. “Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2, NLT) We cannot always fix the problems and issues that others are facing, nor should we try necessarily, but we can be a listening and empathetic ear, give a shoulder to cry upon, or be a voice of encouragement and affirmation. Find the good shepherd in yourself and be supportive and caring. As the old song goes, you’re not heavy; you’re my brother/sister.

Dale

Wednesday, September 19, 2018

“Yes, you should rejoice, and I will share your joy.” (Philippians 2:18, New Living Translation) 

                Being three years old is a wondrous, joyful, exciting, awesome time of life. It almost makes me anticipate my second childhood in my old age.

                Our grandson, Henry, had his three-year old birthday party on Sunday – a family affair. As gifts arrived he would look at them with excitement and wonder, constantly asking whether he could open them - like NOW! But he waited until the party began. But I don’t think angels rejoicing had anything on Henry once the festivities commenced. It wasn’t a greedy sense of getting stuff but rather a spirit of marvel and joy and appreciation as he began opening his gifts.      Even birthday cards, especially if they played music or made sounds, were opened and viewed with appreciation.

The expressions on his face were bursting with happiness and exhilaration as new toys appeared. There were books and clothes, too. It was as much as a little three-year-old could take in, and to top it all off there was chocolate cake and ice cream! We all shared in his joy, gladness and cheerfulness. His joy was infectious and easily spread among the rest of us.

Maybe Jesus was thinking of the pure, uncomplicated spirit of a child’s utter joy when he said, “I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” (Luke 18:17, NLT)

As I see it we, many of us adults make joy very conditional on what is happening or worse what is not happening to us in our small corner of our personal worlds. We hinge joy, celebration, happiness on what we have or own. We define satisfaction and contentment on success, achievements, victories, and rewards. I am not suggesting that these are necessarily even “bad” things but life is more precious than just those things.  At times we are so serious and sober and humourless and cynical that it saps any sense of enjoyment we might otherwise find.

We now know that depression is a serious mental health problem. People seem sadder and more melancholy than ever before.  There are times when I look at what is going on in the world right now and it can be hard to put a sincere smile on my face.  I want to hide under the covers until this great wave of negativity (like an emotional tsunami) is over. There seems to be so much hostility, anger, and fear which distort and diminish our capacity to find a real and lasting sense of joy. I am reminded of Jesus’ words, “So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again; then you will rejoice, and no one can rob you of that joy.” (John 16:22, NLT)

What robs you of your joy?

Find the three-year-old child in you.  Remind yourself each and every day that there are deep, meaningful stories of joy happening all around you. There are gifts of people and occasions of serendipitous things which put a smile on your face and a little happy music in your heart and soul. It may be only the red flash of a Cardinal in my front yard tree that reminds me that there is still much beauty and splendour in the world after all but it makes me glad.

“This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118: 24, NLT)

And then as Paul suggested – share the joy. Spread it around. This will, in turn, actually increase your joy.  God intends for us to be a community of joyful people, to be people who find our authentic voices for praise, delight, blessings, and enjoyment of all God’s gifts in Creation.

Don’t let anyone or any thing rob you of that joy.

“I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!” (John 15:11, NLT) 

Dale

Wednesday, September 12, 2018

“O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land.” (Psalm 63:1, New Revised Version) 

                Psalm 63 is one of the most beautiful poems in the whole of the Psalter. Its rich depths of faith and trust in God rise off the page in a crescendo of praise and confidence in God. “Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; I will lift up my hands and call on your name.” (63: 3-4) The Psalmist has known spiritual emptiness and emotional fatigue. It looks as if he has lain awake at night, meditating on the ways God has reached out to him in his need.  “For you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.” (63:7)

                If you are down in the dumps, feeling anxious and uneasy, feeling uncertain about the future and lying awake at night with worry and fear I couldn’t recommend a better, spiritually uplifting text than Psalm 63.

                At least the first eight verses…

                I have to be honest, verses nine to ten just don’t seem to fit the mood of the first part of the Psalm. I think somebody else may have tagged these verses onto this poem for some strange reason. Maybe, it sounded too sentimental or unrealistic. The poet’s mind, if it is the same person, is torn away from his lofty thoughts of God and now seeks harm and vengeance on his enemies. “But those who seek to destroy my life shall go down into the depths of the earth; they shall be given over to the power of the sword, they shall be prey for jackals.” (63: 9-10) Then the king (where did he come from?) is going to use his conviction in God to shut up his opponents.

                It is a confounding and disappointing ending to a wonderful Psalm.

                But perhaps our human nature is revealed in the contradictions which this poem as a whole presents. We can ride the crests of faith, assurance and renewed hope and peace but become distracted by everyday realities, problems and conflicts. We become preoccupied with the pains and aches of daily living and need to take it out on somebody else. Then before you know it, our ascending faith falls flat and we are overtaken by our darker thoughts.

                My advice – go back and read the first eight verses again. And stop! 

                Or I might also add listening to Jesus who had some very clear advice about retaliation and revenge – you know them I’m sure: “But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also.” (Matthew 5:39) or “But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!” (5:44).

                Our hearts can be ruled by Love or Hate.  Our Faith can soar to heights of immense trust or plummet into cold and spiteful payback.  Our moods can be enriched by beauty or smeared with vindictive and ugly anger.  We can reach out to God or we can give in to our own hurtful thoughts.

                “My flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”

The choice is ours to make.

Dale

Wednesday, September 5, 2018

“And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.” (1 John 4:18, New Living Translation)

                Like a lot of people, a trip to the dentist is not one of my favourite things to do. But when a broken tooth (while on vacation) leaves a gap the size of a small canyon, I really had no choice, even though I did procrastinate for a little while. Fortunately, it wasn’t causing me any pain or discomfort – as yet. But man, I could have kept loose change, wallet and sunglasses in the cavity.

                My appointment was yesterday. I surprised myself as I realized that I had very little anxiety about and no fear of the visit. Part of it is that I have a very good dentist. But I also have come to realize that in most visits there has been very little pain or discomfort during or afterwards. I really had nothing to fear. The only thing that hurts is the cost of the visit, but beyond that, modern dentistry is no longer something to fear or dread. I was done in 45 minutes, had a new tooth and was back home in time for lunch. No peanut brittle or jujubes for a week.

                Fear is powerful emotion. But it is a necessary emotion if we are doing something very risky, dangerous or facing something that is truly threatening and menacing in our lives. It adds a voice of caution, concern, second thoughts and warning that we need to stay focused, be diligent, avoid terrible mistakes and make good choices. Even heroes may exhibit fear in the situations which they are facing. Fear doesn’t necessarily make you a coward; it may make you smarter, wiser or more persevering and determined. Facing one’s fears is not easy and yet, it offers fresh beginnings and new possibilities.

                Of course, on the other hand, some types of fear are debilitating to our human spirit. Some fears may be irrational and unsubstantiated, but those fears don’t seem any less real. Deep-seated fear can paralyze the human soul, makes us totally indecisive, leaves us wanting to pull the covers over our heads and pray that whatever it is we are dreading in the moment will go away and leave us alone. Fear can lead to denial, anger, despair, depression and drown us in a sweat of qualms and anxiety.

                Our text from the first letter of John is a favourite of mine. “Perfect love expels all fear.” At first, this may sound too facile or simplistic. Well, so is a mother’s hug when a child cowers in a thunderstorm. So is a father’s hand wiping away tears after a child has fallen of her bike and is afraid to get back on.  So is a comforting word when a friend loses a loved one and fears facing the future without him or her.   So is toonie thrown in a beggar’s ball cap, so that he doesn’t fear the night.  So is a smile when someone’s hands are shaking from nerves.

                It all depends on how you define “perfect love.”  It is based in God’s love for his sons of Adam and daughters of Eve. It is a Love that gives us strength, courage, hope, joy even in the toughest and most challenging of times and situations.  This Love just doesn’t comfort and soothe but expels fear – casts it out. It replaces fear with a new energy and powerful assurances that not even Judgment Day itself can cause us to fear. When we hang onto the Love of Jesus by living like him in this world, even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death we will fear no evil because God’s presence, i.e. Love, is right there with you and me every step of the way.

Dale