Wednesday, December 26, 2012

A Hallelujah Life


Wednesday 12/26/2012 6:25 AM
Yesterday Jaci and I went on our annual Christmas Day motorcycle ride through Turnbull Canyon in the late afternoon.  As we crested the top of the hill the setting sun cast a red hue over the LA basin.  We continued down the east side of the hill and as we came south on the pass on Colima Road the entire southern sky was a brilliant red, reflecting a radiant red pillar of cloud illuminated by the setting sun.  It was quite a display of the beauty of nature.
Since it was Christmas day I also spent some time reflecting on the mystery of God becoming man, entering our sin-scarred world to redeem it and reconcile it to himself.  As I ran this morning the song What Can I Do by Paul Baloche played on my phone.  “When I see the beauty of a sunset's glory, amazing artistry across the evening sky.  When I feel the mystery of a distant galaxy it awes and humbles me to be loved by a God so high.  When I hear the story of a God of mercy who shared humanity and suffered by our side, of the cross they nailed you to that could not hold you, now you’re making all things new by the power of your risen life.  What can I do but thank you, what can I do but give my life to you.  Hallelujah, hallelujah!  What can I do but praise you, everyday make everything I do a hallelujah, a hallelujah.  Hallelujah!”  What a perfect song to cap my day yesterday.  I pray that my life will be an offering of praise and thanks like that.

Monday, December 24, 2012

Footings of Righteousness and Justice


Monday 12/24/2012 5:37 AM
My psalm for the new week is Psalm 89.  It begins with these words, “I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations.  I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself.”  The psalm then goes on to describe the covenant God made with David and the awesome power available to God to keep that covenant.  As I continued reading verse 14 caught my attention, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you.  Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, Lord.  They rejoice in your name all day long; they celebrate your righteousness.”
My New Testament reading for the day is from John 15, Jesus words to his disciples the night before he died.  He said, “If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.  I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”  I thought about many of my students whose lives are not joyful in the least, marred by dysfunctional relationships and desperate circumstances.  Many times I think how their lives could be so different if they knew the love of God and lived their lives accordingly.  The words of Macrina Wiederkehr in her book A Tree Full of Angels describe my feelings well, “Every time I say no to the birthing and dying that is set before me at the table of daily life, I seem to hear the echo of Jesus’ words to the woman at the well, ‘If you but knew the gift of God…’  Whether God weeps at the beauty and potential of our lives at birth or the lost potential of graced moments along the way, I hear that voice urging us to claim our splendor and our glory, ‘If you but knew the gift of God…’”
As I contemplated this I decided to return to Psalm 89 and I hit the back key on my Kindle.  When it returned to Psalm 89 the first part of verse 14 was highlighted and written in a larger font like this: Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne.  I thought about the world in which I live and the lack of righteousness and justice that seems so prevalent.  Many of the desperate circumstances in which my students are embroiled are brought about because of unrighteousness and injustice that is endemic in society at large.  The loving faithfulness of God that brings the joy to which Jesus refers when speaking with his disciples must have righteousness and justice as its foundation.  As Christians we often bemoan the lack of morals and ethics in our society.  We rant and rave about how prayer and religion have been removed from the public arena and blame all of society’s woes on that fact.  Instead we should be striving for justice and righteousness in our personal dealings, our governmental agencies and from our elected officials.  Too often decisions are made in favor of large corporations or other lobbyists who line the pockets of elected officials to receive governmental largesse.  Meanwhile those without means are ignored and exploited.  Until Christians demand that righteousness and justice become the foundation of the church and the foundation of our society the love and faithfulness that bring joy and fulfillment to our relationships will remain elusive.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Longing for God


Tuesday 12/11/2012 5:19 AM
As I opened my journal to write this morning I realized that it has been a week since I last wrote in it.  This time of year I am often busy with correcting the final midterm tests of the semester and getting ready for final exams so my schoolwork demands more of my time.  This year I am also in the middle of leading Children and Worship at our church for five weeks so I spend time reviewing my story, taking away from my regular devotional time.
Psalm 65 is my assigned psalm for the week and it describes a life of abundant blessing and joy.  Here are a few examples, “Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts!  We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple. … The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, and evening fades, you call forth songs of joy. … You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. … You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance.”  As I read the psalm I found that I longed for that kind of abundance in my life, not in the material blessings of overflowing carts and bounty but in the good things of the house of God, the joy that comes from intimacy with God.  It seems that I have been missing that intimacy over the course of the past year as my devotional time has dwindled from a daily routine to an intermittent, hit or miss proposition.  I long to regain what I have lost but it seems that any commitment I make to renew my routine is met with abject failure.
An excerpt from The Coming of God, by Maria Boulding, gave me some hope today.  She writes, “If you want God, and long for union with him, yet sometimes wonder what that means or whether it can mean anything at all, you are already walking with the God who comes.  If you are at times so weary and involved with the struggle of living that you have no strength even to want [God], yet are still dissatisfied that you don’t, you are already keeping Advent in your life.”  From her perspective I am walking with God in spite of how I feel about it.  Her perspective may well be true but I still long for the joy I have experienced in the past from shared intimacy with God.  That is something I miss.

Monday, December 3, 2012

Photovoltaic Lights


Monday 12/3/2012 5:00 AM
My neighbor has photovoltaic lights along his sidewalk.  They have photoelectric cells on the top of the light, which absorb sunlight during the day, convert it to electricity and then store it in a small battery.  When the sun sets at night a sensor turns the light on and it illumines his sidewalk using the energy that is stored in the battery.  The lights work great in the summer, when the days are long and there is plenty of sunlight but this time of the year, when the number of hours of daylight is less and when it is cloudy, the lights can store no energy because they are not exposed to the sunlight, the source of all the energy.
My psalm for the week is Psalm 80.  Verses 3,7 and19 are all alike, “Restore us, O God; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.”  I immediately thought about my neighbors’ lights and I wondered if the verse could paraphrased in this way, “Make your face shine upon us, that we may be empowered.”  I also thought of Jesus’ words in John 15:5, “I am the vine; you are the branches.  If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”  Jesus had a way of using the common items of his day when he told his parables and made his point to his disciples.  If he were walking the earth today he may have said, “I am the sunlight, you are the photovoltaic lights.  If you absorb me and store my power in your batteries, you will have much light.  Apart from me you can do nothing.”
For the past year or so I have not had my normal, regular devotional time each morning.  It seems that other things have crowded out my time with God.  Not surprisingly I have not heard God calling me to ministry and I feel isolated and alone in my daily life.  I need to spend time before the face of God, absorbing his love, so that my batteries are energized for ministry.

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Photosensitivity


Saturday 12/1/2012 6:51 AM
The streetlights in my neighborhood have photo sensors on them.  In the evening, when the sun sets, they come on automatically and in the morning, when the sun rises, they turn off.  I ran a little later than usual this morning and the sky was lightening as I turned at my halfway point to go back home.  As I ran I noted a number of streetlight were turning off as I ran past them.  They were no longer needed to illuminate the street because the sun was rising.
I immediately thought of Matthew 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world.  A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”  Revelation 21:22-24 and its description of the city of God also came to mind, “I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.  The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.  The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.”
God calls me to be photosensitive.  He has placed me in a dark world and asks me to let the light of his love shine through my life to illumine the darkness around me.  If I live in such a way that when those around me see my loving deeds they give glory to God, then the glory of God brings more light into their lives and I can turn my light off, allowing God’s glory to illumine their world.  God will then move me to a different place or bring me into relationship with a different person where my photosensitive cell can turn the light of God’s love back on to illuminate another portion of the world of darkness.
In heaven there will be no need of photosensitivity.  God’s love will be pervasive and we will all be bathed in the light of God’s love and mercy.  It will be obvious to all.  But in the meantime God calls us to be streetlights, illuminating our immediate surroundings, showing the world a little glimpse of the future.