10-18-19 - Wrestling With God

(You can listen to this reflection here.)

Message of the week: It’s okay to struggle with God. The Bible is full of lively encounters with God – negotiations, laments, indignation, even door-slamming fights. And guess what? God doesn’t go away. God hangs in, stays with, even appears to change course (or was that the plan all along?)
In other words, God is revealed as One who loves – actively, passionately, fully. Those whom God seems to choose for special blessing or purpose are often far from perfect – but they are open to a robust relationship with God.

One of these was Jacob, wily grandson of Abraham, twin of Esau, who managed to secure both his brother’s birthright and their father Isaac’s blessing. The tales of his adventures, marriages, schemes, setbacks and successes is richly told in Genesis 25-33. One such story comes up Sunday.

Toward the end of his life, Jacob is returning home with his vast family and flocks, and he hears Esau is still looking for him. Fearful, he prepares to encounter the twin he cheated so long ago. He sends his family and everything he owns on ahead. The storyteller is succinct: “Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.” We don’t know who the adversary is, but Jacob holds his own and at daybreak the man wants to leave. But Jacob is tough; he won’t release him until he receives a blessing.

The man tells him, "You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed." Imagine that! The very name of the nation that will bear God’s blessing means “has striven with God” or “prevails with God.” Talk about an invitation to engage!

Are there issues in your life you want to take up with God? Times when you have struggled with God? Did you wrestle through to a place of resolution – or is it still locked away in you, holding you back from true intimacy in faith? Bring it out! As I’ve said before, God doesn’t want us to be polite – God wants us to be real, to bring all of what we feel into our interaction with the Holy One. I hear God say, “Bring it! All of it. I love who you are. I want you to be true before me.”

And if we’re really open in this relationship, we might find our desires or demands changing, as we are shaped by our encounters with the Holy. That is the goal of the spiritual life: to become ever more truly who we are, who God made us to be. In the process, we shed some of who we’re not.

I like the story of a little girl who would stop on her way home from school and watch a sculptor fashioning a statue of a lion from a block of marble. Week after week she watched as the animal took shape. When it was nearly finished, she stopped to look one day, and said to the sculptor, “Hey, mister, how’d you know there was a lion in there?”

God knows who we are. As we allow ourselves to struggle with God – and to rest in God – we allow all that is not truly “us” to be chiseled and whittled away, until we stand in our truest identity, fully known, truly loved. Sometimes at that point God gives us a new name, our true name….

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10-17-19 - Have a Little Faith

(You can listen to this reflection here.)

Talk about zingers. How’s this for a closer: “And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” That’s what Jesus says at the end of his story.

Faith. That again. I prefer the focus stay on God’s action – or seeming lack thereof. With this parting shot, Jesus brings the focus neatly back to us. That persistent widow in his story, annoying as she may have been, was also an examplar of faith. She had faith in a system that thus far had yielded no justice. But she kept at it.

How about us? I know many people who turn away from God because their suffering, or the suffering of others, has not be alleviated, as though that were the only criteria for belief. I don’t deny the reality of their pain – yet want people in that boat to widen their vision. On any given day, most of us can see many blessings and answers to prayer and signs of God-life, as well as the persistence of injustice and hardship. We are invited to take it all in, give praise in all circumstances, allow the blessings to strengthen our faith for the challenges. 

As I wrote this, John Hiatt’s song, Have a Little Faith in Me started playing in my head. 

Though it is a love song about two people, I can imagine our loving God singing it to us:
When the road gets dark and you can no longer see
Just let my love throw a spark and have a little faith in me…

Today in prayer, instead of making lists and thinking of all the areas where we want to see God’s justice, let’s recall God’s faithfulness and our own faith. If you want to try a new prayer experience, play the song and imagine God singing it to you (and if John Hiatt as God is a little too much, you could just read the words…!)

God has chosen to work through our faith, weak or strong as it may be at any given moment. It is a key ingredient in bringing forth justice. So remember. Remember the times when you’ve known God’s faithfulness, and dare to have a little faith - one more time.

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10-16-19 - Justice When?

(You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.)

“Justice delayed is justice denied,” is an expression I often hear. It can sound tunnel-visioned, oblivious to what are in some cases competing claims or the need for a process of culture change. Or maybe it’s always true, and those less hurried are simply benefiting from the status quo. “It ain’t that simple,” they say. And yet, when you’re the one waiting for justice, it ain’t that complicated.

After telling how the judge is eventually worn down by the widow’s persistence, Jesus says: “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them.”

What do you think when you read those words? I confess my reaction is, “Quickly? Not delayed? How many have cried out to God day and night, century after century, and still the powerful dominate the weak, and the rich hoard resources that keep others poor, and the corrupt steal justice from the powerless..." What are we to do with these words of Jesus?

One response is to trust, and wait. Chalk it up to the eternal mysteries and keep our focus on all the times we see do justice break through, not just on the times we don’t. That’s important, to keep our focus on where God is.

We might go deeper, though, to try to understand better what Jesus was saying. What if we flip it? What if the God figure in the parable isn’t the judge, but the widow?

How does it change our interpretation if we see God as that helpless widow? We might say that, in giving us free will, God has restrained his own power, and relies on us to choose justice over self-gratification. In the Bible, we see God time and again asking his chosen ones to turn back to him, to righteousness and truth and integrity and justice. And time and again in those stories humankind refuses.

What if God, persistent as that widow, is asking us to bring justice into being? What if, rather than waiting for justice to come from “on high,” we answer the call to be justice-makers, participating with God in restoring all things and all people to wholeness? We might feel helpless in the face of great injustices – but we aren’t called to work alone. Enough people working together can overcome any injustice.

As a maker of justice, where would you start? Or continue... Somewhere in your life or community, among friends or acquaintances? With a national or global issue? There's no shortage of need.

And what do you see as obstacles to bringing forth justice in that situation? Who do you need as allies, reinforcements? Who are your adversaries – and how might you pray for them?

The great hymn “A place at the table” proclaims, “And God will delight when we are creators of justice and joy, compassion and peace.” If you feel overwhelmed, remember this: God has entrusted us with the ministry of peace and justice, and God has equipped us with gifts, colleagues – and the power of the Holy Spirit. With the power that made the universe working in us – we can make some justice.

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10-15-19 - Plaintiff or Judge?

(You can listen to this reflection here.)

Interpreting parables can be similar to interpreting dreams – on some level, we can find ourselves in all the characters, and the meaning shifts according to who we identify with most. So, in this parable, are you the widow or the judge?

When we feel on the wrong side of justice, powerless, unheard, unhelped, victims of a system we can’t control – we identify with this widow. It’s hard to get more powerless than widows in Jesus’ day – they were at the mercy of relatives or charity. This is still true in many tribal cultures, which has magnified the trauma of the AIDS and Ebola pandemics in many families. The 70 million or so refugees in our world today must also feel this way.

In what situations in your life do you feel unheeded, powerless? We all have some area in which we don’t get what we want or feel we need, and we get tired of asking. It’s okay to feel a righteous anger over injustice – and it’s okay to be angry at God.

Or do you identify with this judge, as unsavory a character as he may be? Are you tired of people haranguing you to fix everything? Maybe you think this widow ought to take more responsibility for her life. Maybe (the story doesn’t tell us…) the opponent has a good case, and ruling in favor of the widow is not the most just outcome.

In some situations we are sitting in the power seat, denying other people resources or justice or simply a hearing. When we hoard resources or exert socio-economic privilege, we are like that judge. When we fail to honor the humanity in another person, no matter how annoying or destructive we may find them, we’re sitting on that bench.

Neither of these characters are very appealing; both generate some “yucky” feelings. Sometimes we have to move through the yuck to let it go. Those feelings are part of us, and the more we’re able to bring them into the light, the better we can be free of them. And freedom is our goal in the spiritual life.

So… let’s get out the notebook. Name some things you feel helpless about, angry at, sick of. Tell God how you feel. God doesn’t want us to be polite – God wants us to be real. If these are things you often pray about, examine that. Is there another angle from which to look at them? Action you could take? Anyone else who might join you in that prayer?

Then let's switch places and assume the judgment seat. Who’s asking you for justice or mercy – or your time? Who don’t you want to be bothered with? What resources and power do you have that you might exercise on someone else’s behalf? If you feel forgiveness is needed, ask for that. Even more, ask God to show you God’s solutions for those people so you can join God in helping them.

This is hard work, to look at ourselves clearly. But the light we shine into our shadows is the love of God in Christ, a fierce love that makes us truer than we knew we could be.

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10-14-19 - Persistence

(You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.)

In his parables, Jesus likened God to different types: a forgiving father, an absentee landlord, a generous vineyard owner, an exacting manager, the host of a wedding banquet, to name a few. Once in a while, Jesus used a negative example, not to say “this is what God is like,” but rather, “If even someone this lousy can behave in a generous way, how much more will your Father in Heaven?”

Our parable this week features one of these, an unjust judge “who neither feared God nor had respect for people,” being pestered for justice by a persistent widow. He finally gives in and judges in her favor, not because he wants to see justice done, or because he has compassion, but because he wants to get rid of her. Jesus says, “And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night?”

Luke introduces this as a “parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart.” Jesus suggests we make our needs known to God and keep on asking, day and night. Hey, shouldn't once be enough? Is God deaf? Not listening? Keeping up with his 950 zillion Facebook friends? What kind of a complaint department is this? What kind of justice?

Let’s assume that God knows what God is doing, and that Jesus is conveying truth about God. What benefit could there be to persistence in prayer? That depends on what we consider the purpose of prayer. If it is to get what we ask for, we often find it frustrating not to see outcomes we desire.

If our purpose is to draw closer in relationship to God, to open our spirits to deeper understanding and belovedness, we can pray for the same thing over and over and see what changes in us as well as in the circumstances of the prayer.

Is there something you haven't dared to pray for, which your heart desires? 

Something that seems impossible? Start today, in faith and humility – and be persistent.

Is there something you’ve prayed for repeatedly, and haven’t seen realized? 

Tell God how you feel about that… and ask if there’s another way to pray about it. 

Is God showing you something underneath that prayer?

Sometimes not seeing the desired outcome invites us to reexamine the prayer: why do we want that? Does it involve God controlling another person’s thoughts (one thing I believe God will not do…)? 

Can we see some deeper good in not receiving that desired outcome?

These questions don’t always get answered – and then we’re back at learning to wait on the Lord. But we don’t have to wait passively. We can wait engaged, persistent, insistent, standing on the promises we have received: that the most immediate fruit of sincere prayer is the peace of Christ; that we pray in the presence of Christ, that we can be conduits of the power of Christ.

Then we can invite God to reshape that prayer in us until it becomes God’s prayer. Those always get answered.

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10-11-19 - Made Whole

(You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.)

“Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.” The phrase “made you well” also means “saved you.” Healing of our bodies and healing of our spirits is a package deal with God. We can choose to open ourselves to the deeper healing of our spirits, the eternal healing – or stop at wholeness in the here and now.

All ten men were healed of leprosy – nine returned to their “here and now” lives. Something made this one come back to seek a deeper connection with the Holy One, to throw himself at Jesus’ feet and say thank you. He receives a deeper healing, as Jesus proclaims him whole in body, mind and spirit.

Is it his faith or Jesus’ power or a combination that made him well? That is mystery. The faith we bring is certainly a large part of the equation, larger than I’m comfortable with. Wouldn't it be simpler if it were all up to God? Yet God seems to work through us, to have us be conduits of his power and love, as we invite that to flow through us in faith, for ourselves, for each other, for the world.

Faith is the doorway to transformation. As we allow God’s love to flow through us, we also are healed and drawn closer. I believe Jesus is always inviting us into a deeper relationship with God. Not just assent to beliefs, not just engagement in the life of a religious community, but participation in the life of God. That’s where the “holes in our soul” get filled, where we find meaning and purpose beyond our own lives.

In our story, these two men from different circumstances and ways of seeing and being meet in the zone between their lands. The Samaritan seeks a relationship with Jesus the Jew, traveling through. We too can meet Jesus, who is always traveling through our lives. Maybe he’s just outside our comfort zone. We too can offer him our thanks and our worship, and ask him to be more real to us in prayer. It helps to be still, and set some time aside, to be open. Be attentive to any words or images or prompts that you sense. Sometimes it’s just stillness. Sometimes there’s more.

The leper-turned-disciple is a model for us. He is grateful, humble and faithful. And Jesus sends him on his way, whole. Wholeness is God’s desire for us. In fact, as God sees us through Christ, as our life in God brings our future into our present, our faith has already made us whole.

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10-10-19 - Tuned to Notice

(You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.)

Have you heard the one about the person desperate for a parking spot – late for a meeting, stressed to the max, circling the block, praying, “Dear God, I need a parking space. Please!!!” Turns the corner – lo and behold, there’s a space, right in front of the building. Pulls in, glances skyward and waves, “Never mind – found one.”

One came back. Nine kept walking. Jesus noticed the differential – “‘Were not ten made clean? The other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?’ Then he said to him, ‘Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.’”
All ten set out in faith – they weren't healed beforehand. “As they went, they were made clean.” That’s what it means to walk by faith – miracles happen as we go. Twelve baskets of bread and fish just kept not running out as 5000 were fed; cisterns of water became finest wine as they were drawn off.

Nine took the gift in stride. Only one turned back – back to his place of suffering, a place of alienation and degradation – to praise God, to thank the stranger whose word made him clean. He knew that only God could heal like this, and he wanted to connect with this man in whom God’s power was so strong. Do we want to connect with Jesus like that?

A Water Daily reader told me she’d been keeping a gratitude journal for while, challenging herself to note at least four things each day for which she is grateful. In time, the notations multiplied and she set herself a new challenge: to write down each day where or in whom she saw God.

Tuning our inner eyes and ears to know, “Ah… that was a God-moment,” or learning to distinguish Holy Spirit nudges from our own intuition, or seeing God’s love or forgiveness in another person, opens our spirits to a greater awareness of just how active God is around us. It’s not occasional – it’s all the time. Soon, we come to recognize that what we call “miracles” are just the way God works, as someone invites God’s power and love into our situations.

Try on either or both of those spiritual practices for two weeks, a gratitude journal or a “where did I perceive God” journal. They are training exercises for spiritual fitness. They build up our strength and resilience, tone our faith muscles, hone our faith senses.

When we name our gifts, we remember the Giver – and then it’s natural to come back in praise and gratitude. And then, my oh my, we find the Giver has even more for us...

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