distraction

One of the most troubling problems followers of Jesus encounter is the problem of distraction from attentiveness to the Lord. Of course the story of Mary and Martha is a prime example in scripture. Martha was burdened over the many preparations that had to be made, while Mary was content simply to sit at the Lord’s feet to hear his teaching. Martha let Jesus know about it, and he gently- I’m sure rebuked her, telling her that she was worried and upset over many things. That only a few things, actually one is needed. That Mary had chosen what is better, which would not be taken from her.

Distraction can be acute as in falling head over heels into some problem. In which we need prayer and help from God just to get through it, and out of it on the other side, back into the light of day. Oftentimes distraction is low grade and chronic, spanning our lives over lesser matters which keep us from the one thing that does matter.

Ironically distractions can help us by awakening us to our need to give our full attention to the Lord. We may feel up against it, so that it is hard to focus, which can help bring that awareness. Or we might realize that our lives are taken up with what doesn’t matter, in other words we’ve given our full attention to lesser matters, perhaps asking for the Lord’s help along the way, but not attentive to him.

No matter what our distraction we need to keep Jesus front and center. We need to give him our full attention. In fact if we’re facing an awareness of either acute or chronic distraction, that is an occasion for us to turn to the Lord, and endeavor to listen to him. We need to bring what distracts us to him. When we do, he can help us by giving us discernment so that what we do, the many things we need to do, can be done out of love for God, and for our neighbor. And he can give us needed wisdom for an especially acute distraction, or temptation toward such. As well as wisdom for the long haul.

I hate the sense of distraction away from God and his work in Jesus. And yet I often can be distracted in ways which seem innocent or even important, even when I may know that the distraction isn’t the best. Often this involves weakness and even struggling over sin such as in our attitudes.

We can be thankful to God that we long for something better. In Jesus is the way to learn to listen and give our full attention to God. Like Mary we want to choose what is best, sitting at the Lord’s feet, with others of his followers. Together in the way of Jesus for the world.

 

when one is mute

Most of the time in one way or another humankind is full of words. Of course there are the talkative people, the extroverts, always the life of the party, with plenty to say. Then there are the introverts who can be full of words themselves if you get them going (I’m mostly introvert I think). But regardless of our inclinations, and whether or not we treasure solitude, words are a big part of our existence. If we’re not talking we’re thinking or reading or hearing others.

There can be those times though when we really have nothing to say. When we would just as soon be quiet. Oh, there’s always the room for small talk, indeed we need to make room for it. To be open to conversation. And there are those occasions of silence. We call them “silent retreats.” They last for a few hours during which we say nothing. This is striking and noteworthy since we humans are indeed full of words.

When I am mute having nothing to say, then it may be good to be still, to simply listen. Of course I want to listen first and foremost to God. To hear God’s voice in and through Jesus. In something that might be impressed on me out of the blue. Or through something someone might say. And I want to hear others. Not only their words, but what might lie behind them.

We are blessed with all the words in the book of Job. There comes a place in that story when Job no longer has anything to say. He is spoken out. Maybe that’s where we need to be. We’ve had our say, perhaps along with others. Now it’s time for God to speak, and for us to listen. And be changed. In and through Jesus, together for the world.

when tired

At times one is simply tired, when they can be. And with that it seems sometimes that life is on hold. We really can’t do much, or anymore than we have to. Perhaps an imposed season of rest, whether short or longer.

When tired it may be a good time with the slowing down to ask questions. Or better, seek simply to be still and quiet in God’s presence. To hear his voice, or simply remain in his presence.

Our society and culture is too busy with what ends up being busy work so to speak. And what do we have to show for it? It depends on what one’s values actually are. But for those who find the true riches and inestimable worth in Jesus and God’s grace and kingdom come in him, life takes on it an entirely new meaning. So that we begin to value what God values. Even when that may involve a breaking and remaking of us, which inevitably it does.

So I am tired. I’ll get more rest than usual. Do what I have to do in getting over this head cold. And try to come near to God and remain in his presence.

tone deaf

We read the words, but do we really get it? That is a problem in social media both on blogs and on sites such as Facebook. One may not be cross at all, but may be misunderstood as such. If we can be misunderstood in person, we most certainly can be in print. Although I find pros and cons to that on either side for myself.

Reading scripture, God’s written word, conveys to us promises of God in Jesus which bear out well God’s fatherly care of his children. Or how God in his sovereignty rules over all, and in a special, present, growing sense, in the coming of Jesus within and out from the church. We read truths and related promises, but do we really get it? Speaking for myself, I think we are often tone deaf. We miss the music, so to speak, that accompanies the words.

Scripture is put to song, especially evident in the psalms. And it is told in story form in significant measure. In fact we do well I think to see it as story, with much directly so, and the rest contributing to that. We do well to listen so as to catch the rhythm and melody, to gather in the stories which are fulfilled in the story of Jesus, and now ongoing, as we head to the consummation when the fulfillment in Jesus begins to be completely realized forever and ever.

Do we see God’s word as both story and song which finds its plot, music and end in Jesus? Are we picking up that music now, be it ever so faintly? Or are we caught up in other stories and tunes from the many the world has to offer?

I think to overcome this we need to learn to listen better. To catch the tune which is coming out of the story, no less than from God. More silence and meditation, as well as awareness of this, can be helpful.

I am grateful for our pastors at our church, as well as for friends and books which can help us in this way. Actually all that is from God will help us to begin to really pick up the music and begin to understand the story and plot in Jesus, so that we with others can find our place in it, our own role and part together in and for this world.

study as in attentiveness

I have to give a talk on study, in between talks on piety and action. Many other talks lined up as well.

I value the intellect, and agree with Mark Noll that we evangelicals have been all too either anti-intellectual, or more like apathetic in, or downplayed matters of the mind. We need to learn to think well, if we’re truly to love God with all our minds.

But study is not just an intellectual endeavor. Along with that it involves all that makes up our humanity. We were made for relationship, and we were made for community. As well as the mandate from God for humanity, and mission in this world in following Jesus.

The question becomes: How does God get our attention? How does God keep our attention? How do we remain attentive to God, and to God’s word and will for us in this world, in and through Jesus?

I can tell my story how God captured my attention years ago. My response to that, and what has followed after. Too often I’ve seen life mostly in terms of knowledge, which is essential, but by itself not enough.

Yes, we need to be in God’s word, all of it. For me listening to something like The Bible Experience facilitates that well. And reading scripture also. Hearing it read in our church gatherings.

But God’s word is meant to lead us to God himself in Jesus by the Spirit. And in that, God’s will for us individually and in community in Jesus for the world.

I want to learn to be more attentive, really honed in on that even in the midst of all life’s demands and responsibilities.

There is much that could be said about attentiveness. It will look as different as each of us are, in its outworking in our lives. And yet it will have something of the same characteristics. Some people more on the intellectual side, others the mystical, etc. So that we benefit from each other. But no part of human life that is to be neglected in any of our lives.

What is God saying to us? How is he moving in our lives? What should be our response? And how do we know any of this to be so, in the first place? All good questions. An element of mystery to be sure in God’s working, but we need to give ourselves fully, by God’s grace in Jesus, so that we can begin to attend more and more fully to God himself, and to God’s good will for us in Jesus, together in community with others, in mission for the world.

let me hear your voice

show me your face,
let me hear your voice;
for your voice is sweet,
and your face is lovely.

Song of Solomon 2:14

After reading Richard Foster’s new book, Sanctuary of the Soul: Journey into Meditative Prayer, I am moved to want to hear the Lord’s voice. Of course I know no more beautiful person than the Lord Jesus. And the Father and the Spirit are exactly like Jesus, in their own distinctive ways.

I strongly appreciate and agree with Richard Foster that we need to know scripture well as a starting point to begin to do well in hearing the Lord’s voice. I also think one could begin to hear the Lord’s voice, while just beginning to work at feeding on all of scripture. Of course we in Jesus should be feeding on scripture our entire lifetime. But it doesn’t stop there.

Scripture is supposed to lead us to God, to a personal, intimate knowledge and relationship with God. Richard Foster gently and humbly in the telling of his own story, leads us in that direction. And specifically for me at this point, to simply learn to be quiet in seeking to discern and hear the Lord’s voice.

So much of my own experience in my past, even affecting me still in the present, is a sense of heaviness, condemnation and dread, not to mention fear. We read in scripture that perfect love drives out fear, since fear has to do with judgment. The one who fears in this way, is not made complete in God’s love.

It’s not like I’m looking for some great experience. Foster makes that and much more plain in this little, deep and profound book. What I am looking for is an interactive habit of life between God and myself, in which I hear and speak, speak and hear, in conversation with God.

The few times I have clearly experienced God’s voice encourage me to want to do so all the more. As Foster points out, God’s voice draws and encourages us. Unlike the voice of the enemy which drives and discourages us.

God’s voice is the voice of love. A love in which we can indeed begin to live more and more. In the Father through the Son by the Spirit together for the world.

really listening

Job‘s friends really did not listen to the suffering Job. Or ask questions. Yes, we need to give them props, because as surely was the custom then, they sat in silence around their suffering friend for seven days and nights. Not a word. Good start.

Job then spoke up and cursed the day he was born as he entered into his lament. His friends responded with their corrections of Job, according to their theological understandings. Not only did they not understand what God was doing, what was really going on, but they did not open themselves up so they could come to understand.

Of course the context here is about why the righteous suffer. It was a family matter, so to speak. What Job’s friends failed to do is to really listen to Job, then attempt to listen to God. Oh yes, of course we know people reap what they sow. There are certain things we know without having to hear more. If a friend is in the vice grip of some sin or addiction, we don’t have to be told they need freedom from it. Even then we need to seek to hear both them and God.

We need first to prayerfully listen well. To hear not only their words, but also their heart. And then we need to pray, and try to hear from God. What would God have us say? Or maybe not say. What are we to do? As well as not do?

I think we can apply this thought to our own personal struggles, as well. How often do we think we already know when in reality we may not know, or know enough? Are we in the habit of really trying to listen to and hear from God? Do we really believe that only God knows what God knows on anything at any time.

Really listening. Something I want to do much better. That God through Jesus might be heard and made known to us, and to the world.

tested and tried

It’s interesting how often I am tested on a certain matter the same day I post about it on this blog. Somehow I see the devil in those details, yet I also can learn to see the Lord. The devil of course tempts us, wanting us to fall. Out of love the Lord tests us, to refine us and make us holy.

Early church desert fathers and mothers from what I understand, spent extended time in solitude and experienced much of the temptation of the devil, there. Just as our Lord did when he was tempted forty days and nights in the wilderness. Such times were times of drawing near to God, and hearing God’s voice. Followed by rich blessing for many when they returned to society. I think especially of Anthony of Egypt.

I want to finagle my way out of such times. Instead of resisting the devil and drawing near to God, I want to complain. Alright, if I pour out my complaints to God as in the psalms.

Shouldn’t I develop a new attitude toward trials? I think so. I should see them as necessary in a process of my becoming like Jesus. I need to resist the devil in all of his schemes. Learning discernment in that. And I need to draw near to God, to hear God’s voice, and learn to see his heart and hand in everything.

Tested, tried and in the end found true. For all of us, in and through Jesus, that we might become more and more like him, together for the world.

remembering

Recently in our team devotions at work we were reminded of the importance of remembering, from Peter’s words in 2 Peter. Proverbs speaks to this as well, the importance of taking wisdom to heart and life. We find in Jesus’ words, and in scripture, repetition, surely in part for this very reason.

I am amazed at how I can experience, every once in a while, a kind of life-changing moment through a realization which God seems to be giving me, into nothing less than a breakthrough of sorts. Just as amazing, however, is how a few weeks, perhaps even days later, it seems like I need to learn at least something of that lesson all over again. Somehow I had not kept it in memory and practice. Or else there is the need for further growth and development in that very area.

I think part of the problem is the very nature of who we are as human beings. We are forgetful, and we tend to gravitate back to something of what we were before. Faith tends to stretch us at certain points, and that’s an important aspect of it. But another aspect of faith is the importance of finding a daily rhythm in which we live, and continuing in that day after day. In what we might call a new default position. All the while being open to change, even radical change.

It is interesting how change involves the renewing of one’s mind. We’re not to be conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewing of our minds. We need to endeavor to grow in our understanding, and indeed to hold on to that understanding. Although it is God who gives us understanding, we need to apply ourselves for this to happen. We’re acted on by God, but we act as well. Along with passivity pronounced at times in our actively waiting on God, seeking God, praying for change.

Maybe a big part of remembering is in how we listen. Jesus mentioned that. He tells us to be careful how we listen. With hearing comes responsibility. It is not a luxury item given to us for our enjoyment, but part and parcel in our growth, in following Jesus together in and for the world.

what’s the point?

In all of our activities: church, Bible reading, prayer, quiet, etc., what is the point? I must say that I have been helped immensely by slowing down–huge, being quiet not just for quiet’s sake–though that helps! But to really listen to God’s voice, whatever way God chooses to communicate to me. I want to learn more. Our Pastor Sharon Brown has wonderfully wise words in her award winning book, Sensible Shoes. And these tried, true disciplines are worked out in a communal context, which ends up life-changing, in fictional character’s lives who are every bit as real as you and I. A page turner. One does not get bogged down, but keeps wanting more.

And then there is a book by one of whom I’m also honored to be a friend, Jesus and New Testament scholar, professor, prolific writer, and speaker, Scot McKnight: One.Life: Jesus Calls, We Follow. In it we find what the point is, and ways from the fulfillment of scripture we see in the gospels, how that is to be carried out. An eminently helpful book, in that it helps us see what by and large we’ve missed over the centuries. With notable exceptions to be sure.

We practice the “spiritual disciplines” and seek to draw near to God for one reason: to love God with all our being and doing, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. That is what is aptly called the Jesus Creed. How that is worked out is in terms which embrace all of life. Shalom. Refusing to stop at just “me and God”, or even “God and us.” But for the world, for all the people in the world, for all creation.

This is why Jesus came, why he lived, died and rose again. Why the Spirit was poured out. “In Jesus” is where we who seek to follow him, live. And that life is not just for us, but for the world.

So I commend these two books for us. They are life-changing, and have been so for my life. And I continue to work on that. Wanting to follow Jesus more closely with others and for the world.