If you have a Sunday school background, you probably remember reciting the Beatitudes: "Blessed are the poor in spirit... those who mourn... the meek... those who hunger and thirst for righteousness... the merciful... the pure in heart... the peacemakers... those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake."
What does it all mean, really? Is it simply a beautiful poem, or a genuine recipe for everyday life? How can one relate the seemingly nebulous blessings it offers--to be called children of God, to be comforted, to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven--to our daily needs?
Small wonder that the Beatitudes begin the Sermon on the Mount, which as a whole has been described as human logic stood on its head. Those who display the seemingly natural desire to have their good works appreciated are called hypocrites; those who save up for the future are scolded for lack of faith and for ignoring Heavenly treasures. And Jesus repeatedly announces, "You have heard it said [based on God's own commandments, no less]... But I say to you."
How can any human being ever live up to standards like that?
None can--under our own power. The whole point of the Sermon on the Mount is not to impress us with some unattainable ideal, but to impress us with our need for the Holy Spirit's strength within. Only in His strength can we work our way toward God's ideals; He Himself is the "rock" referenced in Mt. 7:24-27, the Foundation on which a God-centered life is built.
Consider that as you read this poetic paraphrase of the Beatitudes.
When you know that you have nothing,
When your souls are free of pride,
Then you are God's Kingdom children,
And for you He will provide.
When your hearts are truly breaking
From the world's and your own sin,
Then God's comfort rests upon you
As His Spirit works within.
When you're free of proud ambition
And complaints about your lot,
God will keep the whole world for you,
More than you had ever sought.
When you crave God's righteous blessing
Over any thing of earth,
He will shower His grace upon you,
Gift of matchless, priceless worth.
When your heart is kind and caring
For the world of human needs,
God extends His hand in mercy,
And your life He richly feeds.
When your heart is pure and righteous,
And you live to do God's will,
He will show His own Self to you,
And your longings He'll fulfill.
When you seek God's peace and justice
For the world as for a friend,
You will be His blessed children,
And your joy will never end.
When you take a stand for Jesus
In the face of taunts and pain,
God will keep great riches for you,
And your earthly loss be gain.
Showing posts with label Sermon on the Mount. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sermon on the Mount. Show all posts
Friday, March 1, 2013
Friday, April 13, 2012
Time Enough
Time management is not my strongest suit. If I cared to apply to the Guinness Book of World Records, I'd stand a good chance of earning a listing for "impossibly cluttered calendars and resultant frustration levels."
Not that I don't understand--in theory--the concept of prioritizing your list, doing the most important things first, and being willing to live without the rest. The trouble is that the only real priority my natural mindset believes in is "missing out on nothing"--which can make it pretty tough to hit the point of satisfaction when the world keeps bombarding you with new ideas, suggestions, and requests.
Is it just me, or does the whole concept of "things to do" mutate once you graduate from college--from a footpath into a flash flood, from an orderly grade-by-grade, test-by-test progression into a thousand square miles of tasks scattered at random and stretching far beyond what the eye can see?
Perhaps it's time to look with new eyes at the words of Jesus from Matthew 6:33: "Seek first [God's] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." On first reading this in context, "all these things" we are tempted to fret about seems to refer only to material needs. But might it also refer to our time--that much-valued treasure that everyone moans about being short on, that we seem to chase at more consistently frantic pace than anything else, that we worry and fret about and become obsessed with "saving" and try to store like spare food in granaries?
Those of us who "never have enough time for anything"--even "God's work"--may need to consider whether we're trying to do everything on our own schedule instead of His.
Higher, higher, ever higher,
Do the goals we seek retreat;
Farther, farther, ever farther,
Back we fall from lists complete;
Faster, faster, ever faster,
Come life's struggles, tasks, and fuss:
Will we never reach the day of
Having time enough for us?
Listen, brother; listen, sister--
All of time is in God's hands;
Nothing that this world can muster
Can delay His holy plans.
Never is He in a hurry,
Never is He running late:
Time enough He gives His children
For the things He counts as great!
Slow your pace and cease your hurry:
Pause and take the time to hear
How He wants to set your schedule;
He will make your focus clear.
We will never find the time for
All the world's unending "stuff,"
But to seek God's blessed Kingdom,
There is always time enough!
Not that I don't understand--in theory--the concept of prioritizing your list, doing the most important things first, and being willing to live without the rest. The trouble is that the only real priority my natural mindset believes in is "missing out on nothing"--which can make it pretty tough to hit the point of satisfaction when the world keeps bombarding you with new ideas, suggestions, and requests.
Is it just me, or does the whole concept of "things to do" mutate once you graduate from college--from a footpath into a flash flood, from an orderly grade-by-grade, test-by-test progression into a thousand square miles of tasks scattered at random and stretching far beyond what the eye can see?
Perhaps it's time to look with new eyes at the words of Jesus from Matthew 6:33: "Seek first [God's] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." On first reading this in context, "all these things" we are tempted to fret about seems to refer only to material needs. But might it also refer to our time--that much-valued treasure that everyone moans about being short on, that we seem to chase at more consistently frantic pace than anything else, that we worry and fret about and become obsessed with "saving" and try to store like spare food in granaries?
Those of us who "never have enough time for anything"--even "God's work"--may need to consider whether we're trying to do everything on our own schedule instead of His.
Higher, higher, ever higher,
Do the goals we seek retreat;
Farther, farther, ever farther,
Back we fall from lists complete;
Faster, faster, ever faster,
Come life's struggles, tasks, and fuss:
Will we never reach the day of
Having time enough for us?
Listen, brother; listen, sister--
All of time is in God's hands;
Nothing that this world can muster
Can delay His holy plans.
Never is He in a hurry,
Never is He running late:
Time enough He gives His children
For the things He counts as great!
Slow your pace and cease your hurry:
Pause and take the time to hear
How He wants to set your schedule;
He will make your focus clear.
We will never find the time for
All the world's unending "stuff,"
But to seek God's blessed Kingdom,
There is always time enough!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
The Blessed Life
The Beatitudes (Mt. 5:1-12) have been described as a passage that turns all conventional thinking on its head. J. B. Phillips, author of Your God Is Too Small, probably said it best when he wrote a widely quoted "converse version" featuring such aphorisms as "Happy are they who complain, for they get their own way in the end." (For those interested in reading the whole list, a Google search for the above phrase will turn up several postings.) Indeed, some Bible scholars have claimed that Jesus intended this description of the "blessed life" only as a theoretical view of the ideal, so antithetical does it seem to what it takes to survive in this world.
If perhaps some of those scholars let their interpretive skills be tainted by an "anything to avoid admitting this could apply to me" attitude, few of us could blame them for it without being found with logs in our own eyes. And it's not always a desire to continue in comfortable selfishness that makes us want to dodge passages like this one. For some of us, it's the fear of failure, of taking on a task too big to handle. And the fear is hardly unfounded. To consistently practice humility, mercy, and the pursuit of God's peace and justice is something that is, quite literally, humanly impossible.
But actually, that's the point. The qualities Paul lists in Galatians 5:22-23, which show obvious similarities to the Beatitudes, are called the "fruit of the Spirit," not the "fruit of human effort." In both passages, the underlying idea is not striving to achieve the ideal on our own power, but being willing to cooperate as God remakes us in His image. It's rarely as quick or obvious as we'd like; frequently, it's seriously painful. Jesus said that "a house divided against itself will fall" (Lk. 11:17); and frankly, a serious desire to become Christlike turns the human heart into a house divided: impatient to achieve patience, looking for God's will less from love of Him than from hope our lives will become easier at least emotionally, constantly fighting what we have to go through for our own good, living as perennial bundles of mixed motives. And fall we do, frequently and hard. Often so hard we can't get up on our own.
The Hebrew for "he restores my soul" in Psalm 23:3 can also be roughly translated as "He sets me upright." Yes, just as God is the true Power enabling us to grow in the blessed life, He is the one Who lifts us up and keeps us going when we feel we've reached the point where it's impossible to continue.
He will bring us safely to the land of eternal blessing.
Blessed is every humble soul:
Heaven is their lifelong goal.
Blessed are all the ones who weep:
God will make their comfort deep.
Blessed are all the meek of heart:
Endless wealth will be their part.
Blessed are those who crave the right:
God will make their joy so bright.
Blessed are those whose hearts are kind:
God's own mercy they will find.
Blessed are those whose hearts are pure:
By God's grace they will endure.
Blessed are those who strive for peace:
In God's family they increase.
Blessed are those abused when good:
God rewards their servanthood.
Blessed are all who love God's ways:
He will shower them with His praise!
If perhaps some of those scholars let their interpretive skills be tainted by an "anything to avoid admitting this could apply to me" attitude, few of us could blame them for it without being found with logs in our own eyes. And it's not always a desire to continue in comfortable selfishness that makes us want to dodge passages like this one. For some of us, it's the fear of failure, of taking on a task too big to handle. And the fear is hardly unfounded. To consistently practice humility, mercy, and the pursuit of God's peace and justice is something that is, quite literally, humanly impossible.
But actually, that's the point. The qualities Paul lists in Galatians 5:22-23, which show obvious similarities to the Beatitudes, are called the "fruit of the Spirit," not the "fruit of human effort." In both passages, the underlying idea is not striving to achieve the ideal on our own power, but being willing to cooperate as God remakes us in His image. It's rarely as quick or obvious as we'd like; frequently, it's seriously painful. Jesus said that "a house divided against itself will fall" (Lk. 11:17); and frankly, a serious desire to become Christlike turns the human heart into a house divided: impatient to achieve patience, looking for God's will less from love of Him than from hope our lives will become easier at least emotionally, constantly fighting what we have to go through for our own good, living as perennial bundles of mixed motives. And fall we do, frequently and hard. Often so hard we can't get up on our own.
The Hebrew for "he restores my soul" in Psalm 23:3 can also be roughly translated as "He sets me upright." Yes, just as God is the true Power enabling us to grow in the blessed life, He is the one Who lifts us up and keeps us going when we feel we've reached the point where it's impossible to continue.
He will bring us safely to the land of eternal blessing.
Blessed is every humble soul:
Heaven is their lifelong goal.
Blessed are all the ones who weep:
God will make their comfort deep.
Blessed are all the meek of heart:
Endless wealth will be their part.
Blessed are those who crave the right:
God will make their joy so bright.
Blessed are those whose hearts are kind:
God's own mercy they will find.
Blessed are those whose hearts are pure:
By God's grace they will endure.
Blessed are those who strive for peace:
In God's family they increase.
Blessed are those abused when good:
God rewards their servanthood.
Blessed are all who love God's ways:
He will shower them with His praise!
Friday, October 17, 2008
Storms and Rainbows
It's rained quite a bit in Houston the last couple of days--not an entirely unwelcome turn in the weather, considering that the area has dried out a little too much for comfort since last month's hurricane and that the whole of 2008 has been shorter than average on rain. The modern tendency to use "rain" as a metaphor for hard times and misery tends to forget how essential rain really is--and that in the Bible, "rain" is a good thing at least as often as not. Jesus's famous words from Mt. 5:45--"your Father in heaven... causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous" (NIV)--probably refers not to a blessing versus a curse, but to two complementary blessings.
Still, rain (like sun) can quickly turn into a curse when it arrives in seemingly unlimited amounts. Just about everyone has heard of Noah's flood; and in the same Sermon on the Mount where Jesus mentioned the rain's falling on the just and the unjust, He told the parable of the wise and foolish builders, where rain causes rough times if not total catastrophe.
Incidentally, the famous quote "Into each life some rain must fall" is not from the Bible, but from the nineteenth-century poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Longfellow knew his share of "rain"; twice widowed, he carried for his last twenty years burn scars from the same fire that killed his second wife. Virtually everyone who lives a normal life span will experience at least one real tragedy at some time. For some, the agony is sudden, wrenching, and totally unexpected; for others, it is so long and drawn-out that the tragic end is almost a relief.
It's comforting to know that for Christians, tragedy is never the real ending. A happy final ending is waiting beyond this world.
As the rainbow that was created after Noah's flood symbolizes God's promise never again to send such total catastrophe, the rainbow surrounding God's Heavenly Throne is a sign that no "flood" will ever again reach His servants there.
It rained in the time of Noah
Forty days and as many nights,
Till the mountains were under water
As it rose to unheard-of heights,
And it washed away earth's corruption;
So God gave a fresh start to all:
And He set in the sky a rainbow,
To bring hope after each rainfall.
It rained in the time of Jesus
Over many a shore and coast,
Leaving many a house in shambles
To give lie to the builder's boast.
Jesus told us to choose foundations
Made of rock to withstand the storm:
Human spirits are filled with rainbows
When we trust Christ to save from harm.
It rains in each life that's human,
Through real weather and floods of pain,
Till some feel life is drowned forever,
Blown to shambles by hurricane.
But what first seems to be disaster
Can bring cleansing to start anew,
If we look to God's Heavenly Rainbow
And stand strong in His Light so true.
Still, rain (like sun) can quickly turn into a curse when it arrives in seemingly unlimited amounts. Just about everyone has heard of Noah's flood; and in the same Sermon on the Mount where Jesus mentioned the rain's falling on the just and the unjust, He told the parable of the wise and foolish builders, where rain causes rough times if not total catastrophe.
Incidentally, the famous quote "Into each life some rain must fall" is not from the Bible, but from the nineteenth-century poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Longfellow knew his share of "rain"; twice widowed, he carried for his last twenty years burn scars from the same fire that killed his second wife. Virtually everyone who lives a normal life span will experience at least one real tragedy at some time. For some, the agony is sudden, wrenching, and totally unexpected; for others, it is so long and drawn-out that the tragic end is almost a relief.
It's comforting to know that for Christians, tragedy is never the real ending. A happy final ending is waiting beyond this world.
As the rainbow that was created after Noah's flood symbolizes God's promise never again to send such total catastrophe, the rainbow surrounding God's Heavenly Throne is a sign that no "flood" will ever again reach His servants there.
It rained in the time of Noah
Forty days and as many nights,
Till the mountains were under water
As it rose to unheard-of heights,
And it washed away earth's corruption;
So God gave a fresh start to all:
And He set in the sky a rainbow,
To bring hope after each rainfall.
It rained in the time of Jesus
Over many a shore and coast,
Leaving many a house in shambles
To give lie to the builder's boast.
Jesus told us to choose foundations
Made of rock to withstand the storm:
Human spirits are filled with rainbows
When we trust Christ to save from harm.
It rains in each life that's human,
Through real weather and floods of pain,
Till some feel life is drowned forever,
Blown to shambles by hurricane.
But what first seems to be disaster
Can bring cleansing to start anew,
If we look to God's Heavenly Rainbow
And stand strong in His Light so true.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Firm on the Rock
With all the recent talk about storms it seems only right, before moving on to other topics, to say a bit about Jesus's famous analogy in Mt. 7:24-27:
"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash" (NIV).
After every major hurricane, people who built lovely seaside homes are left staring at the foundations (if even that much is left), wondering what ever made them think this was the perfect location. Such is the portrait of many a wrecked soul: his whole life was centered on achieving money, success, or that one special someone--then a storm of hardship blew in; the foundation he was depending on for security couldn't stand the strain; and he was left with nothing.
How do people react when that happens? Too many remain foolish: they rebuild on the exact same spot; they search for another worldly, equally flimsy foundation; or they just sink into permanent depression and give up trying. But a few let the experience "wise them up" and lead them to God, the only solid Foundation.
Incidentally, if you're tempted to get smug because you used the right Foundation from the beginning--you didn't. All of us start off building on sand; it's inherent in the human sin-nature. Some of us just grow up earlier than others, in which case it isn't our job to mock or scorn them.
Instead, we should be helping them find the better building site before a real storm comes.
(One version of the following poem was set to music years ago. I probably still have the only existing audiotape.)
A long time ago in a faraway land
A man built a house by the sea:
He anchored it firm on a high, solid rock
With a foundation strong as could be.
A great storm came and it shook the house,
And it seemed it would blow it away,
But that house held firm to its place on the rock
And it stood through the storm that day.
Firm on the Rock is the place to build;
Build it strong and you'll find you can't go wrong:
God is our Rock, and He holds our lives in hand--
Trust His strength even when the storm is long.
A long time ago in a faraway land
Another man built a home:
He couldn't be bothered to find a rock,
But built on the beach by the foam.
A great storm came and it shook the house,
Shook it hard to blow it away,
And that house was swept like a leaf from the sand
And the man lost it all that day.
Firm on the Rock is the place to build;
Build it strong and you'll find you can't go wrong:
God is our Rock, and He holds our lives in hand--
Trust His strength even when the storm is long.
In all days of time, in all lands on earth,
We all build our lives on our faith;
Some place all their trust in the only true Lord,
But many choose gods that are fake.
When the storms of pain come and shake our lives,
Cheap foundations will all blow away:
But the soul that anchors itself in Christ
Will hold firm to the final day!
Firm on the Rock is the place to build;
Build it strong and you'll find you can't go wrong:
God is our Rock, and He holds our lives in hand--
Trust His strength even when the storm is long.
Firm on the Rock is the place to build;
Build it strong and you'll find you can't go wrong:
God is our Rock, and He holds our lives in hand--
Trust His strength even when the storm is long.
"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash" (NIV).
After every major hurricane, people who built lovely seaside homes are left staring at the foundations (if even that much is left), wondering what ever made them think this was the perfect location. Such is the portrait of many a wrecked soul: his whole life was centered on achieving money, success, or that one special someone--then a storm of hardship blew in; the foundation he was depending on for security couldn't stand the strain; and he was left with nothing.
How do people react when that happens? Too many remain foolish: they rebuild on the exact same spot; they search for another worldly, equally flimsy foundation; or they just sink into permanent depression and give up trying. But a few let the experience "wise them up" and lead them to God, the only solid Foundation.
Incidentally, if you're tempted to get smug because you used the right Foundation from the beginning--you didn't. All of us start off building on sand; it's inherent in the human sin-nature. Some of us just grow up earlier than others, in which case it isn't our job to mock or scorn them.
Instead, we should be helping them find the better building site before a real storm comes.
(One version of the following poem was set to music years ago. I probably still have the only existing audiotape.)
A long time ago in a faraway land
A man built a house by the sea:
He anchored it firm on a high, solid rock
With a foundation strong as could be.
A great storm came and it shook the house,
And it seemed it would blow it away,
But that house held firm to its place on the rock
And it stood through the storm that day.
Firm on the Rock is the place to build;
Build it strong and you'll find you can't go wrong:
God is our Rock, and He holds our lives in hand--
Trust His strength even when the storm is long.
A long time ago in a faraway land
Another man built a home:
He couldn't be bothered to find a rock,
But built on the beach by the foam.
A great storm came and it shook the house,
Shook it hard to blow it away,
And that house was swept like a leaf from the sand
And the man lost it all that day.
Firm on the Rock is the place to build;
Build it strong and you'll find you can't go wrong:
God is our Rock, and He holds our lives in hand--
Trust His strength even when the storm is long.
In all days of time, in all lands on earth,
We all build our lives on our faith;
Some place all their trust in the only true Lord,
But many choose gods that are fake.
When the storms of pain come and shake our lives,
Cheap foundations will all blow away:
But the soul that anchors itself in Christ
Will hold firm to the final day!
Firm on the Rock is the place to build;
Build it strong and you'll find you can't go wrong:
God is our Rock, and He holds our lives in hand--
Trust His strength even when the storm is long.
Firm on the Rock is the place to build;
Build it strong and you'll find you can't go wrong:
God is our Rock, and He holds our lives in hand--
Trust His strength even when the storm is long.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
On the Mountain
I spent Labor Day weekend at a church retreat in the Texas Hill Country; the theme was "mountaintop experiences." No doubt a native of Colorado or Nepal would laugh to hear the hills of central Texas described as "mountains," but they're tough enough climbing for those of us who live on the flat Gulf Coast.
Perhaps because it takes effort to reach the summits, perhaps because they seem to rise above the world's problems, or perhaps simply because they point up toward Heaven, mountains hold deep spiritual significance in almost every religion. In the Christian Gospels, Jesus's Transfiguration took place on a mountain, and His best-known preachings come from what we call the Sermon on the Mount. Numerous Christian works use mountain imagery; Hannah Hurnard's novel Hinds' Feet on High Places and Steven Curtis Chapman's song "The Mountain" are just two examples.
Both those works--indeed, most mountain-climbing stories--mention the descent as well as the heights. For all the beauty and triumph of attaining a mountain summit, every climber eventually must return to the "lower world." Often it's a "comedown" in more ways than one. Moses, for example, spent forty days alone with God on a mountain--then returned to that same God's supposed followers to find them worshiping an idol. No wonder he exploded with anger (Ex. 32:19); sin seems especially dirty after we've received a close view of God's holiness and purity.
Our first instinct, on realizing that our time "on the mountain" is drawing to a close, is often to beg for an extension, to delay our return to the dirtier matters of earth. Peter was thinking in such terms at the Transfiguration, when he said, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah" (Mt. 17:1-9, NIV). Let's not spoil the experience, Lord. Let's all just stay here. Didn't You just tell us a week ago (Mt. 16:21) that there was suffering and death waiting in Your earthly future? Why would You want to go down and face that?
Jesus went down because His love for helplessly sinful people like Peter--and all the rest of us--was stronger than His love for glory. The same heart that led Him to leave the unimaginable riches of Heaven for the hardships of earth led Him away from the mountaintop and toward the Cross. He did it for us, to break the spiritual shackles that kept us earthbound with no hope for more than temporary joys.
We can never truly be His followers if we let selfishness replace worship--which is exactly what we are doing if we cling to the mountain summits while He is telling us to go work in the valley.
Moses was upon Mount Sinai
Six long weeks through day and night,
All alone in God's great Presence,
Bathed within the glorious Light:
Must he not have wished to linger
In the Father's luminous glow,
Rather than confront the idol
Rising on the plains below?
Jesus taught upon a mountain,
Taught of blessings and God's grace;
As His followers sat and listened
In that wilds-made-holy place,
Must they not have wished to linger
In those moments' radiant glow,
Rather than apply His teachings
In the stress-filled world below?
Peter saw, upon a mountain,
His Lord shine in radiant white,
In the presence of the prophets,
Blazing with a holy Light:
Can we fault his wish to linger
In that perfect, heavenly glow,
Rather than to face the trials
Waiting in the world below?
We all have our "mountain moments,"
When God seems especially near,
When Creation shines with beauty,
When we feel no trace of fear;
But, though we may wish to linger
All our lives within that glow,
If we love Him, we must also
Go to do His work below.
Perhaps because it takes effort to reach the summits, perhaps because they seem to rise above the world's problems, or perhaps simply because they point up toward Heaven, mountains hold deep spiritual significance in almost every religion. In the Christian Gospels, Jesus's Transfiguration took place on a mountain, and His best-known preachings come from what we call the Sermon on the Mount. Numerous Christian works use mountain imagery; Hannah Hurnard's novel Hinds' Feet on High Places and Steven Curtis Chapman's song "The Mountain" are just two examples.
Both those works--indeed, most mountain-climbing stories--mention the descent as well as the heights. For all the beauty and triumph of attaining a mountain summit, every climber eventually must return to the "lower world." Often it's a "comedown" in more ways than one. Moses, for example, spent forty days alone with God on a mountain--then returned to that same God's supposed followers to find them worshiping an idol. No wonder he exploded with anger (Ex. 32:19); sin seems especially dirty after we've received a close view of God's holiness and purity.
Our first instinct, on realizing that our time "on the mountain" is drawing to a close, is often to beg for an extension, to delay our return to the dirtier matters of earth. Peter was thinking in such terms at the Transfiguration, when he said, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah" (Mt. 17:1-9, NIV). Let's not spoil the experience, Lord. Let's all just stay here. Didn't You just tell us a week ago (Mt. 16:21) that there was suffering and death waiting in Your earthly future? Why would You want to go down and face that?
Jesus went down because His love for helplessly sinful people like Peter--and all the rest of us--was stronger than His love for glory. The same heart that led Him to leave the unimaginable riches of Heaven for the hardships of earth led Him away from the mountaintop and toward the Cross. He did it for us, to break the spiritual shackles that kept us earthbound with no hope for more than temporary joys.
We can never truly be His followers if we let selfishness replace worship--which is exactly what we are doing if we cling to the mountain summits while He is telling us to go work in the valley.
Moses was upon Mount Sinai
Six long weeks through day and night,
All alone in God's great Presence,
Bathed within the glorious Light:
Must he not have wished to linger
In the Father's luminous glow,
Rather than confront the idol
Rising on the plains below?
Jesus taught upon a mountain,
Taught of blessings and God's grace;
As His followers sat and listened
In that wilds-made-holy place,
Must they not have wished to linger
In those moments' radiant glow,
Rather than apply His teachings
In the stress-filled world below?
Peter saw, upon a mountain,
His Lord shine in radiant white,
In the presence of the prophets,
Blazing with a holy Light:
Can we fault his wish to linger
In that perfect, heavenly glow,
Rather than to face the trials
Waiting in the world below?
We all have our "mountain moments,"
When God seems especially near,
When Creation shines with beauty,
When we feel no trace of fear;
But, though we may wish to linger
All our lives within that glow,
If we love Him, we must also
Go to do His work below.
Friday, February 1, 2008
All These Things
Today's selection is one of my older poems, the earliest version dating back to college days. But the topic matter is timeless--especially to us natural worrywarts who, no matter how many catastrophes fail to materialize or how many needs are met, have to keep up a constant mental battle against the idea that every element of the universe is constantly waiting for its chance to ruin our lives.
However much we may want to blame the pressures of modern life, there was no shortage of such uneasiness in Jesus's day, judging from His famous "do not worry" passage in Matthew 6:25-33. Ironically, the same superior intelligence that allows humans to know God better than do any other creatures, feeds the worry that encourages us to doubt Him. "Dumb animals" never waste time fretting about anything apart from immediate concerns.
"Look at the birds," Jesus tells us. "Look at the wildflowers. They have all they need for life. Do you think your Father loves them and not you? Do you imagine He has less than your best interests at heart? You concentrate on the work of building His Kingdom, and leave the rest to Him."
That's good advice for anyone in any age.
Oh, look at the flowers abloom on that hill,
That bright splash of color that gives us a thrill.
They don't give a thought to save money for clothes;
They just wait for God to provide them with those.
Oh, look at the birds soaring high in the air:
Where is their next meal coming from? They don't care:
They just go and eat when there rises the need,
For God will provide them with insect and seed.
Now look at the people all bustling about:
More often than not they just worry and pout.
"Will I find a new job?" "Will I have enough food?"
"Will anything ever work out for the good?"
How foolish we are, we who worry and fret,
Who doubt Him Who never has failed us as yet!
He cares for creation, from sky to the sod--
And we're the most precious creations of God!
However much we may want to blame the pressures of modern life, there was no shortage of such uneasiness in Jesus's day, judging from His famous "do not worry" passage in Matthew 6:25-33. Ironically, the same superior intelligence that allows humans to know God better than do any other creatures, feeds the worry that encourages us to doubt Him. "Dumb animals" never waste time fretting about anything apart from immediate concerns.
"Look at the birds," Jesus tells us. "Look at the wildflowers. They have all they need for life. Do you think your Father loves them and not you? Do you imagine He has less than your best interests at heart? You concentrate on the work of building His Kingdom, and leave the rest to Him."
That's good advice for anyone in any age.
Oh, look at the flowers abloom on that hill,
That bright splash of color that gives us a thrill.
They don't give a thought to save money for clothes;
They just wait for God to provide them with those.
Oh, look at the birds soaring high in the air:
Where is their next meal coming from? They don't care:
They just go and eat when there rises the need,
For God will provide them with insect and seed.
Now look at the people all bustling about:
More often than not they just worry and pout.
"Will I find a new job?" "Will I have enough food?"
"Will anything ever work out for the good?"
How foolish we are, we who worry and fret,
Who doubt Him Who never has failed us as yet!
He cares for creation, from sky to the sod--
And we're the most precious creations of God!
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