Where Do You Go for Protection from Unhealthy Fear?

When my spiritual director suggested I pray the psalms, our loving God soon gave me a new meaning for “enemy “... and a place to go for protection from my enemies. 

The psalms are filled with enemies, and although I may not have enemies in the same way the people and kings of ancient Israel had them, I have them in my head. Those Falsehoods Experienced as Reality, that Rev. Donna spoke of during Lent, are everywhere…and they are heavily armed.  

Remembering Donna’s teachings, I'm referring to unhealthy fear, of course, not the healthy fear that causes us to take action to protect ourselves against speeding cars and food poisoning. When Jesus advised us not to worry, I'm pretty sure he wasn't referring to healthy fear. 

I wonder if the very human Jesus experienced unhealthy fear and worry? If so, where did he go for protection? Where do you go for protection? 

Perhaps Jesus prayed Psalm 27.  On Sunday, we will sing and read some excerpts from Psalm 27:

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
    whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
    of whom shall I be afraid?

Though an army encamp against me,
    my heart shall not fear;
though war rise up against me,
    yet I will be confident.

One thing I asked of the Lord,
    that will I seek after:
to live in the house of the Lord
    all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the Lord,
    and to inquire in his temple.

For he will hide me in his shelter
    in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
    he will set me high on a rock.

Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud,
    be gracious to me and answer me!
“Come,” my heart says, “seek his face!”
    Your face, Lord, do I seek.
    Do not hide your face from me.

Teach me your way, O Lord,
    and lead me on a level path
    because of my enemies.

I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord
    in the land of the living.

If we seek his face, the Lord who loves us and is always present with us and our fear, hides us in his shelter.

Why Does God Want to be Present With Us?

I’ve been thinking this week about one of God’s promises to us - his promise to be always near.  It’s an amazing promise, really, this idea that no matter where we are or what we are doing, he is always with us, always present…with all of us at the same time! 

You might remember one of the songs we sang last week - it mentions his presence four times!

You are holy, you are whole.

You are always ever more

than we ever understand.

You are always at hand.

Blessed are you coming near.

Blessed are you coming here

to your church in wine and bread,

Raised from soil, raised from dead.

 

You are holy, you are wholeness; 

you are present.

Let the cosmos praise you, Lord!

Hallelujah, Hallelujah,

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, our Lord.

What is God doing when he is present with us, I wonder?  Why does he want to be present with us?  How does this promise make you feel?  Have you ever wanted to be with someone all of the time?  If so, why?

Our scripture reading for this week (Romans 8. 22-28 MSG) also mentions God’s presence:

All around us we observe a pregnant creation.  The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it's not only around us; it's within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We're also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don't see what is enlarging us.  But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.

Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter.  He does our  praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God.  That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.

I hope to see you on Sunday (at 10AM in the Dogwood Room) for worship on Sunday - in the presence of our Lord.

Can We Ever Love Like God Does?

The Last Supper- John August Swanson

On the night that he was betrayed, Jesus shared bread and wine with his close friends…a symbolic Passover meal, and yet one like no other. With a new metaphor they didn't yet understand, he tried to explain (again), that his love was so great, he was giving his body and blood - his life. 

“Do this in remembrance of me”, he said.

We will do this on Sunday, and read about human love from the letter of Paul to the Corinthians 13. 1-7 (MSG)

​​If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.

If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.

If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.

Paul is pretty clear here that nothing is as important as love…not what we say, what we believe or what we do. 

Why is love so hard for us?  Can we ever love enough?

Can we ever love like God does? Can we grasp the size of God's love for us that he would die for us and then continue to love us despite our failure to love?

Come and experience the Lord's compassionate mercy at his Table on Sunday, as we gather for Holy Communion and Worship. (10AM in the Dogwood Room)

Open our hearts Lord

Help us to love like you

Open our hearts Lord

Help us to love

       - Jesse Manibusan

What Strikes You About This Story?

 

Feed My Sheep

This week we rejoin Jesus and his disciples on the beach. If you recall from three weeks ago, the risen Jesus had appeared to the disciples after a night of fishing. They had caught nothing on their own, but Jesus helped them catch a net full of fish, and then he cooked them breakfast.  The story continues:

John 21. 15-17

 

After breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Master, you know I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

He then asked a second time,“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”

“Yes, Master, you know I love you.”

Jesus said, “Shepherd my sheep.”

Then he said it a third time: “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was upset that he asked for the third time, “Do you love me?” so he answered, “Master, you know everything there is to know. You’ve got to know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. 

What strikes you about this week's story?  What do you wonder about?

Do Jesus’ question and his invitation remind you of any other passages?

What does this passage say about transformation? 

I wonder whether Peter was as puzzled as I am…such a quick transition, without further explanation, between Jesus’ question (Do you love me?) and his immediate invitation to him (Feed/shepherd my lambs/sheep).  

I am reminded of two other passages about love. The first passage is the passage about the two greatest commandments (Matthew 22:36-40).  Jesus says, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

In the second passage I remember, John says, we love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19).  The word “because”, clearly states a cause and effect relationship. And this, for me, is where transformation comes in. 

I'm learning that the more I meditate on God's great love for me, the more I want to love others.  This transformation is purely by grace, and like a rechargeable battery, I have to keep plugging into God to recharge…no wonder it takes time!  

May God bless you with his powerful and transformative love,

We rejoice to be God’s chosen

not through virtue, work or skill,

but because God’s love is generous,

unconformed to human will;

and because God’s love is restless,

like the surging of the sea,

we are pulled by heaven’s dynamic

to become, not just to be.  

John Bell & Graham Maule

Can We Find Stillness in the Busy-ness of our Lives?

Many of us lead busy lives, or love to tick things off our to-do lists.  Are busyness and task lists the “way of Jesus”?...the man who said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”?  Jesus was busy, but he frequently withdrew to isolated places to pray.  Is “busy” different from the stressed feeling we get when we are hurried?

While I confess I am driven by my task list, I am very attracted to the voice that calls me:  “Be still and know that I am God.”  What if stillness is essential for transformation? 

On Sunday, Rev. Paul Beckingham will continue with his reflection on Psalm 46:

Psalm 46:5-11 (ESV) 

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

    the holy habitation of the Most High.

God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;

    God will help her when morning dawns.

The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;

    he utters his voice, the earth melts.

The Lord of hosts is with us;

    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Come, behold the works of the Lord,

    how he has brought desolations on the earth.

He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;

    he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;

    he burns the chariots with fire.

“Be still, and know that I am God.

    I will be exalted among the nations,

    I will be exalted in the earth!”

The Lord of hosts is with us;

    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

These two additional passages speak of our triune God transforming us:

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 (ESV) 

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Philippians 3:20-21 (ESV)

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

I wonder if following God's advice to be still, and know that He is God, would be helpful if I want freedom, rest, and heaven?

“Busy-ness is inevitable in modern culture…By itself, busy-ness is not lethal…Being hurried is an inner condition of the soul. It means to be so preoccupied with myself and my life that I'm unable to be fully present with God, with myself, and with other people…Busy-ness migrates to hurry when we let it squeeze God out of our lives. 

I cannot live in the kingdom of God with a hurried soul. I cannot rest in God with a hurried soul.” - John Ortberg 

Where is Your Focus?

 

When trials, temptations and tribulations descend on you, where is your focus?  Problem solving?  Racing thoughts? The subject of your temptation?  Anger?  My brain naturally offers me lots of options, and most of them don’t seem very good.  Flight!  Fight!  (Maybe your brain is different from mine - I hope so!)

When Jesus was in the wilderness tempted by the Devil, each of his three responses mentioned God, so I know where his focus was.  

In one of our scripture passages for this week, Romans 12:2, Paul directs us to be transformed by the renewal of our minds, testing to discern what is the will of God.  I wasn’t sure how to begin that, so I read the MSG translation, and read fix your attention on God.  You’ll be changed from the inside out.  Ah, If I can focus on God, God will change me. 

Romans 12:1-3(ESV) 

12 I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. 

3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

Romans 12:1-3 MSG

[1-2] So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. [3] I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.

What else does focussing on God do when we are in the middle of these trials, temptations and tribulations?  The answer is found in our second passage:  he is a safe place, he gives us strength, and helps us when we’re in trouble.

Psalm 46:1-3 (ESV) 

 1 God is our refuge and strength,
    a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
    though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam,
    though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

On Sunday we welcome back Rev. Paul Beckingham.  I wonder what he does when trials, temptations, and tribulations descend?