Questions and Answers and Liking Neither

   Matthew 5, verse 7 (The Message):

“You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for."

   Same verse (New KIng James Version):

"Blessed are the merciful,
    For they shall obtain mercy."
   And the same haunting question: Do I, really? Really care about people?

   It is so easy to talk about St. Francis and how he did care about people, and to write about what that looked like, but when I sit in the quiet morning, when I think about what my day's activities look like, I know the question of caring is a very real one.

   Is it a heart issue? Do the acts of caring flow out of a heart that cares? Is it simply putting others first in my life and acting that way toward them?

   The implication of those words of Jesus above is care, do it! But, how do I work up a feeling of true caring? Can I just summon up a will to care, or what? Do I care about caring?

   I know I want to be a person who is caring. I want to be known. as a man that does, but most of all I want to look inside and see a heart that is true to this.

   So I pray for help. A selfish heart struggles with the concept and the answers to all these questions.

   When I reach the end of this day, can I lay my head on the pillow and see any evidence?

   Did I truly care about someone today? Anyone? or just me?

   Jesus says CARE

   With His help, I will....

God Can Speak Here, Too

   I am not trying to project myself too far into the future, but just going through Matthew 5,6 and 7 at a slow, verse by verse, pace and seeing how it all plays out on a day by day basis. I sense that there are many things in here that call me to a new level of following Jesus, even questioning whether I am actually following Him at all. A scary prospect for sure.

   In Matthew 5, moving down to verse 6, as translated in The Message:

“You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat."

   And also in the New King James Version:

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

    For they shall be filled."

   What put me on this whole trail is the rereading of Chasing Francis, a modern day chronicle of a man, disillusioned by "doing church" and wanting more. His pilgrimage into the life and times of St. Francis of Assisi, brings to light a new look at the Sermon on the Mount, and it is that journey that I am trying to understand. 

   In the evangelical protestant world, old saints in the Roman Catholic Church don't generate a lot of respect or publicity, and, if the Peace Prayer had not been attributed to Francis, we may not even know his name.

   But there is much to be admired in the life of this old saint. From the passages quoted in this fictional book, it is said that Francis took the Sermon on the Mount and tried to live it out as it was written, not attempting to put a modern (for him modern was 13th century) spin on the words. He attempted, not to just teach the Sermon, but live it out in front of his world, hence his words:

   "Preach the Gospel always, and if necessary use words"

   Sure St. Francis has some odd ways, like the stories of him preaching to the birds and animals, but maybe they are odd in our 21st century eyes, or maybe they are just stories, but throwing out a whole life seems a great injustice. There is just too much good stuff in his life and writings.

   So I read this fiction book, and I try to see where the author is heading, and I try to square it up with what the Bible says, and I see where God can use it to speak to us moderns.

   What does all of this come in with the study of Matthew 5:6? 

   What I read, what I look at, where I put myself are all ways to feed My appetite for God.

   There are 2,000 years of Christians, their traditions, and their writings. God can use any of these to speak to me His words of Truth.

   Even in a work of pure fiction.

The Two Sides of Contentment

   I am trying to get my mind around "contentment" this morning, specifically what might be good about it and what could be damaging to my soul.

   Matthew 5:5, in The Message:

“You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought."

   Matthew 5:5, in the New King James Version:

"Blessed are the meek,
    For they shall inherit the earth."

   The part that strikes me this morning and how I relate to it (my translation):

   Be content in who you are, find out how to be the satisfied owner of all God wants for you.

   Maybe I should relate it to Solomon's words in Ecclesiastes where he talks about "a time for each thing under the sun".

   There is a time to be content in your standing and a time not to be. The trick is to know which is which for me. Basically it is being content when I am where God wants me to be, and I know how to live in that attitude, not grabbing for more of stuff or position.

   But I do not want to be content if I am not where God is. I want to be satisfied in the spot He has me, and know that where that is, is right.

   It all sounds so easy, sitting back with a big smile on my face and being satisfied, but, alas, not if it is because of what I have done, or have, but only when I know God and His will and am there in it.

   Could it be where both God and I are content, at the same time?

   Like this:

 

How Do I Respond?

   I thought of that South Korean ferry this morning, of those families who lost high schoolers in that accident, and how they must grieve. For some it might have been that the one lost was their only child, for a few that child might have been their only loved one. How would I have felt? How would I have coped? Despair, anger, resignation, bitterness? I 'm sure those involved must have gone through them all in the days following.

   It must have been the same with the Malaysian airliner, the one they still have not found.

   We lose all kinds of things in this life; health, wealth, jobs, and all sorts of tangible items, but the worst loss is in the area of people and relationships.

   What of that next verse in Matthew 5, verse 4, in The Message:

“You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you."

   Or in the New King James Version, a more familiar translation:

"Blessed are those who mourn,
    For they shall be comforted."

   When I read these words, and try to put myself into this situation, what I see is people, especially family.

   I don't want to lose anyone of these or any of my friends either, but the facts of life tell me that it does and will happen. Illness, estrangement, conflict, and death can take or pull them away. The fact that it happens does not take away the sting.

   But Blessed? That is what Jesus tells His followers on the mountainside in Galilee 2,000 years ago, and what He speaks to us today.

   When friends turn against us, or desert us...

   When illness or death takes one of ours away...

   How are we blessed?

   By turning to the One who cares the most and who has it all under control.

   I know that it is easy to sit here and write those words, especially if I am not living through the trauma of loss right now, but that does not make them less true, and these things will come in a fallen world.

   How I act in the midst of them is the key.

   God help me to remember and trust.

When I Cannot....

   Verse 3 of Matthew 5 is translated like this in The Message:

“You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule."

   It may be more familiar in another translation like the NKJV:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    For theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

   When the storms of life are all around, I show my true colors in who or whom or what I turn to. Jesus tells those ones in His presence where their true blessing will come from and how.

   It will not come from friends, from family, from those influential people that I think can help. It will not come from the wealth in my account, or the things that I own. It will not come from how good I am or think I am.

   This all reminds me of the story of the man who was clinging to the end of his available rope. He was dangling from the side of the cliff in the dark. There was no more rope and his feet were swinging free, not able to find a hold in the rock. A voice from above told him to let go, but he did not know the voice. He struggled and questioned, but finally came to the point where his own strength was gone and he had to let go, only to find that his feet were 6 inches above the ground. He was at the end of his own rope, and all that was left was to resign himself to what the voice commanded.

   I will try anything and everything in my power to make a bad situation better or right, but my distance perception is so very limited. God knows and cares. The result will be good in His eyes, and in ours too, if we trust and look for Him in the whole thing.

"Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
¹⁰ Your kingdom come.
Your will be done"

   Your will be done, not a prayer of resignation, but of trust.

   My family will tell anyone that one of my favorite sayings is "It will all work out", and indeed it will, in some way, with some result.

   I am blessed when I cease to struggle and turn it all over to Him.

   He is sufficient and He cares...

St. Francis and Me

   I have been reading again, Chasing Francis, by Ian Cron, a book of one man's journey into the land and life of St. Francis of Assisi. Written for our contemporary time, it has been a challenge for me to look at my life and see how much it differs from the calling of this saint from the 13th century. The principles that God gives him to live out are surely applicable to my life today, but they sure seem radical in our American culture.

   This fictional story is not about St. Francis per se, it is looking at this monk through the eyes of a 21st century evangelical pastor, and the crises of faith that ensues. It is this that drew my interest, and thus I read.

   A strong section of the book is about how St. Francis is led by God to live out the sayings of Jesus as recorded in the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 5,6 and 7. 

   I have heard these verses, especially from the 5th Chapter, as they are listed as the Beatitudes, but I have never studied them in any sort of deep way. So I began this morning reading these 3 chapters in their entirety, before settling down to look at the words verse by verse.

   I have used and heard this prayer for decades, but never looked at it very hard:

Prayer of St Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen

   Most of Francis' vocation and calling are put out here in these words, words that are echos of those in those 3 chapters of Matthew's Gospel.

   What a challenge for my life. I know I can be blessed by looking at these verses through the eyes of St. Francis and even through the lens of the 21st century pastor. Even if he is a fiction character, he is not divorced from my time or my life.

   Looking at verses 1 and 2 of chapter 5, I want to begin my study in the way the disciples, and perhaps other committed followers, began to hear the same words, as St. Francis did. St. Francis, of course did not have The Message, indeed he may have had only the Latin text, but here is the contemporary version:

"When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with him. Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and taught his climbing companions."

   Committed followers climbed with Jesus as he separated Himself from the masses.

   Jesus chose a quiet place, away from the distractions of the world, and then He taught.

   Oh, to be that committed and to have that quiet place to sit and to listen. That is the way I want to approach each session with these verses. Listening for God's voice.

   Listening will have its reward, but it will also have its responsibilities. Am I ready?

The Morning After

   The picture on the front page of the Brunswick News this morning showed part of the crowd who  gathered Easter Sunday morning, yesterday, for the sunrise service.

   Now the day was not like my picture from a few months back. First of all there was no sunrise yesterday that could be seen here. Sure, the sun did come up, but our sky was filled with grey clouds resulting in a misty rain at times. Not a suitable day for the service, perhaps, but the people were there anyway.

   I thought this morning of all the folks who, not only got up early to go to the pier area yesterday, but who filled other places of worship, celebrating the events of that Resurrection morning years ago. Easter is a day like no other in the Christian calendar, and all manner of people make it a point to be in church on that day, even if they don't go regularly.

   Our church was packed for both services with over a 1,000 people in each one, and others, not able to find a seat in the sanctuary, were scattered around the periphery, watching on closed circuit TV. I'm sure other churches saw the same thing.

   What was it like this morning for all those that worshipped yesterday, on that most holy of Holy Days? I'm sure those lives ran the gamut from deep piety to ho hum, just another day. I hope there had been more of the former than the latter, but then I think about my own reaction to the Day.

   Knowing that it is so easy to get caught up in all the stuff that goes on before Easter, I determined that I would spend more time this year in just thinking and meditating on the events that transpired in Jesus and the disciples lives in the days preceding Easter. I thought that I could guard that Day and make it special for worship and praise.

   I needed to be at church early Sunday morning. We were using a new system for coffee, and I needed to learn what to do so to be able to take care of it in the weeks following. I also needed to count offerings and make the deposit in the night depository. With much help I managed to get the coffee ready, and take care of the money in a timely manner. I did manage to hear some of the music and part of the sermon, although that viewing took place on a TV out in the atrium, not in the sanctuary itself. It was good but not like being in the same room with 1000 others in worship.

   Thinking back, it seemed that the "tyranny of the urgent" took precedence in those hours. In my morning after, I could be glad that I had spent the time in the days before Easter to focus some on the meaning and importance of that early time in history, but I really wanted to look back on Sunday worship as being special for me.

   I know that God used all the services around the world for His glory and that many people were touched by Him with the message of Easter.

   What of the morning after for those man and women in Jerusalem, long ago, and what about us today?

   Easter is not just another day....was it this time around?