Friday, March 28, 2008

Shriveled

At Easter this year I pulled a blooming tulip from its pot and showed it to the kids as a children's message, explaining how the tulip would die each year, but then in the spring come back to life. I related that to nature's annual proclamation of Christ and God's kingdom.
Then I decided to leave the tulip lay out this entire week to see how fast it would shrivel. It has turned all yellow and withered. The leaves have fallen off and lay in a heap. I am sure if I were to touch it it would fold over on itself. The roots are dry and will crumble into powder at my touch. The bulb is separating into its layers and coming apart as well. It is vastly different from the plant I uprooted just 6 days ago.
The lesson of course for us all, and what I plan on sharing with the kids on Sunday is just how quickly we begin to deteriorate once separated from the nourishment's that gives us life. That is true in every element of our life, be it psychological, physical, or spiritual. If I don't rest my mind and body, if I deprive myself of substance, if I don't challenge myself to learn more, or exercise I will soon begin to wither and die; like the tulip. In the same vein, if I don't rest in Christ, if I refrain from spending time in His Holy Word, if I refuse to communicate with Him through prayer, or ignore the leading of His Holy Spirit I will soon begin to wither and die in my heart and spirit; also like the tulip.
Now, none of us would deny ourselves of the substances of life physically or mentally; so why do we so often deprive ourselves of the spiritual substances of life in Christ?
PJ

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Out of Whack

As for most pastors, Easter is a hectic time of year. I don't believe a one of us regrets the results of Easter (Where would any of us be without the Resurrection?). This year, for me, there's the added stress of multiple family issues that, being the oldest brother in the states, I have the honor to to be involved in. And it truly is an honor and a privilege.
In a conversation I had yesterday with someone from the church as we waited for the results of her husbands Cath test, I realized just how much I haven't enjoyed the mid-fifties of my life. I am watching my parents life fade as their age begins to catch up to them, along with the difficulties and illness that brings. At the same time I get to watch my children struggle through their dilemmas of adulthood - making ends meet, and the emotional 'curve balls' life tends to throw every ones way from time to time. And in truth, there isn't a whole lot I can do to change anything.
I used to think I could, especially with my sons, when they were little. I could correct all the wrongs then; but not so much any more. And my family of origin, for the most part has led a healthy and blessed life. No major fiasco's or traumatic events for any of us to deal with (Thank you Lord). Now, well let's say we're being tested, some more than others. So for me, life right now seems really out of whack, and I don't like it. Maybe you can relate?
All I know is in the midst of this 'wackiness', the one constant I have chosen to trust in these past 30 years is more real to me than ever before. That constant of course is Christ. My trust in Him doesn't altar the circumstances around me, or the sense of helplessness I encounter from time to time, or how my heart breaks for those I love as they go through their dilemmas. What it does for me is fill me with HOPE. He loves those I speak of even more than I do, He hurts for them as much as I do, and will see to their needs in ways I cannot manage or even understand; because Jesus is Lord, and I am not. And because of His faithfulness to me in my life for the last 30 years, I chose to trust Him; even when everything around me seems out of whack, I will trust Jesus.
PJ

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Easter Story

Let me tell a story about a lady named Margaret Ault who was determined to wait for the right man to come along to give her heart to. When she had all but given up that love would ever come her way she met Hyung Goo Kim & soon they were in love. After several dates Hyung Goo delicately told Margaret he has HIV. Here's her response: "I had never met anyone whom I liked half so much as I liked him. I had never met anyone who made me feel so whole, who was such good company, whose interests paralleled & complemented mine the way his did. He was a musician, he was a scientist, and he was a thoughtful & committed Christian. He was handsome, funny, considerate, creative. He owned a tuxedo, for goodness’ sake. And he was going to die of AIDS…Now I’d met someone I liked, & we were definitely not going to live happily every after. I felt like I had been kicked in the gut by the biggest boot in the world."

They married, attended grad school at Duke & fell in love with the campus gardens. Everyday they would walk together in those gardens. They learned the name of every plant, named the ducks, sort of 'took over' the gardens like they belonged just to them. They even took on a 'reconstruction project' in one of the gardens, just because they loved them so much. In those gradens nothing mattered, they were at peace with their life; and their love grew.

A few years later Hyung Goo died & Duke constructed a rose garden his honor. On Margaret’s return trip the garden she had these thoughts: "Where peonies were promised, there were only the dead stumps of last year’s stalks; where day lilies were promised, there were unprepossessing tufts of foliage; where hostas were promised, there was nothing at all. And yet I knew what lushness lay below the surface; those beds that were so brown & empty, & to the unknowing eye, so unpromising, would be full to bursting in a matter of months. Is the whole world like this? Is this what it might be like to live in expectation, real expectation, of the Resurrection?" The answer is yes!

PJ

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Another Cooper Story

Yesterday in the St. Louis area it snowed almost a foot. It was beautiful to watch it fall, but a real pain to shovel. I told my wife I haven't seen snow like that since our 1st winter in Elkhart, KS. That thought reminded me of our sons dog Cooper, a golden retriever with a bassett hound body, who loved to come over to my house and play in the snow in our back yard. It was as deep as he was tall, and he'd leap from place to place. So I went out and shoveled him a path to run in and for me to get my garbage out. He'd come and for a while he'd run in that path, and then all of a sudden he'd leap into the deep snow, then turn around and fight his way back to the path again. It was fun to watch!
Reminded me yesterday as a I thought about that, that is a lot like us and Christ. All around us is the 'deep', at different levels for different folks, that we are attempting to leap through and find our way. Jesus comes along and clears a path for us to follow Him on. On His path we can run and jump and be free of the 'deep'. Then all of a sudden we jump off the path, thinking our way has to be better, or we just have to have that thing over there, or it just looks like too much fun; and we're right back into the 'deep' and wondering how to get out of it again, fighting to get back to the path.
When Cooper would leave the path, if I was out there with him, I would call him back to me. Jesus is out there with us, and He is calling us back. Question is, what will each of us do?
PJ

Another question for you

Since it's getting close to Easter, I was preparing a Bible study on John 18, where Jesus is arrested in Gethsemane. When Jesus asks the soldiers and police who they are looking for, and they say Jesus of Nazareth, he tells them, "I AM he". At those powerful words they all step back and fall down. Among them is Judas the betrayer. What do you think went through his heart and mind when this scene unfolded before him? When you're confronted with your sin, what goes through yours?
PJ