Mathematics. It’s the Key to the Universe.

    

Here is our relationship with God, written as a mathematical expression. 

C=F/(R>0) where C is connectedness; F is the flow of the Holy Spirit; and R is our resistance. Here are some questions to think about as we prepare to welcome another new year. 

1. Is this true for all humans or only ‘Born Again Christians’?
2. Why must R be greater than zero, mathematically and practically?
3. Was there ever a person whose R was in fact zero?
4. What is your R value? What can you do to lower it in the new year?

The Lord bless you and keep you;

the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;

the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.

Tolerance

Everyone is different. Once we get past the obviousness of this statement we can begin to understand how profound the truth of it actually is. It means my opinion, no matter how strongly I believe in it, no matter how logical it is or how much supporting evidence I may be able to find, is in the end my own. You, being a free moral agent, may agree or disagree but that will not make things any less right or wrong. It simply means we disagree. 

Tolerance, in some circles, has a bad reputation. What passes for tolerance today is mostly the idea of being tolerant (more on this tomorrow). Tolerance frees us from the burden of having to convince-or having to be convinced-one way (mine, for example) of seeing things is the correct way and the other (yours) is not. Tolerance goes beyond mere lip service to an opposing point of view; we are now free to discern whatever truth may be lurking in the shadows of the ‘opposition’. Accepting one another as individuals helps us see the Imago Dei in one another. We can now be truly present to the one another. This is how tolerance moves from the realm of idea into a discipline we can practice.

Biblical tolerance cannot exist in a vacuum. It it must be accompanied by other virtues such as justice, mercy, forgiveness, humility, love. The Hebrew Bible has a word for this-hesed, translated as steadfast love, lovingkindness, kindness, unfailing love, mercifulness, pity and more. Hesed refers to an attribute of God and has nothing to do with the idea of tolerance, which more often than not leads to intolerance toward anyone whom I do not perceive to be as tolerant as I am. Tolerance, accompanied by hesed, is a way for us to mirror God, who puts up with a lot foolishness from His beloved children. 

Knowing, Being Known

“The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When our mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers. If you love someone but rarely make yourself available to him or her, that is not true love...mindfulness is very much like the Holy Spirit. Both of them help us touch the ultimate dimension of reality. Mindfulness helps us touch nirvana, and the Holy Spirit offers us a door to the Trinity.”

Excerpt From

Living Buddha, Living Christ 20th Anniversary Edition

Thích Nhất Hạnh & Elaine Pagels

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/living-buddha-living-christ-20th-anniversary-edition/id357991837?mt=11

This material may be protected by copyright.

When it comes to God mindfulness becomes a two way street. He is always present to us, showing us steadfast love (see, for example, Ps. 23:6; 139:7-12; Jer.23:24; Lam.3:22-23). How often are we truly present to Him? When we pray, most of us, despite our best efforts, inject some of ourselves into our prayers. In Bible study we tend to do the same thing-this is how I understand that passage; this is what I think this means. Now I’m not saying these things are inherently wrong. Both Jesus and Paul invite us to let out requests be made known to God. Paul warns Timothy not to neglect the Scriptures; to study to show himself approved.  What I am saying is to be truly present to God requires a certain quiet mindfulness-removing ourselves from the equation, so to speak. We do that by not doing anything. We cultivate silence and stillness and listen. It is an acquired skill, but this is where transformation of the heart occurs. This is where we transition form knowing about to knowing; to allowing ourselves to be known. 

“Search me, O God, and know my heart;

test me and know my thoughts.

See if there is any wicked way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23-24

“...it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God...And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” Romans 8:16, 27.

“...in returning to me

and resting in me will you be saved.

In quietness and confidence is your strength..” Isiah 30:15

We All Belong to Him

Acts 9:3-5 (NRSV)

Now as [Saul] was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”

Saul-later to be known as Paul, author of much of our New Testament-had been “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord” in Jerusalem and was on his way to Damascus with “...letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.” In other words, he had a fist full of arrest warrants and extradition papers and nobody in Damascus would be safe. At least that was his plan; our Lord had other ideas.    

How Saul of Tarsus became Paul of the New Testament is a beautiful story of God’s unconditional love and transforming grace but it is not what I want to talk about today. What I want us to see is Jesus’ complete identification with His people-“Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me”. As far as Saul was concerned he was not persecuting God; he was doing God’s will, ridding the world of these evil Pharisee-defying heretics one believer at a time. Jesus’ teachings-his very memory-would be removed from the face of the earth forever and Saul was just the man to do it. Or so he thought. What Saul did not understand was Jesus Himself is the God Saul thought he was serving and, more than that (as if that wasn’t enough) Jesus so totally identifies Himself with His people that, whatever Saul did to them, he might as well be doing to Jesus Himself.

Now, hold on to that thought for a moment and imagine yourself as a large dot in the middle of a huge circle. Now imagine all the people you come in contact with as smaller dots orbiting you (not because you’re that important; it’s just a convenient illustration). Those closest to you would be your immediate family-husband, wife, children, parents. Next out would be, maybe, aunts, uncles, cousins, in-laws. Next close friends; or co-workers, then maybe church family, next the checkout clerk you see every other day or maybe the people you feed at a homeless shelter, maybe the group you see at your favorite coffee shop-are you getting the idea? All these people orbiting you, some close, some not so close, are those in your sphere of influence, which is what the circle represents. 

Now, in spite of what we may think, we really do not know the relationships any of these people have with God-their eternal destiny, whether or not they are saved, if they have accepted Jesus as their personal savior, if they are in a state of grace-however your tradition defines it. It’s all the same, just different words. In fact we don’t even know if some of them have any religion at all. However, we do know a couple things. First, we know “The Lord is not slow about his [coming] as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.”-Peter tells us that. Second, we know Jesus totally, completely identifies Himself with those who believe in Him. Do you see where I’m going here? If we assume everyone in our sphere of influence will, at some point, find themselves belonging to Jesus, how should we then treat them? If we treat those whom we are pretty sure will never belong to Jesus differently from those who do, and we discover at some point that those very people do in fact belong to Jesus, how will we explain ourselves? Remember, from Jesus’ perspective, the question is how will we be found to have treated Jesus Himself. 

Let’s widen our sphere of influence a little bit. We have already included anyone with whom we have any type of person to person contact, however brief or insignificant. Now let’s consider anyone we may find ourselves thinking about, whether we know them personally or not. Without getting to deep into the metaphysical aspect of our thoughts as mental and emotional energy, can you see the difference simply thinking about people as belonging to Jesus might make in our overall countenance? Not to be too New-Age about it but I’m pretty sure we need all the positive emotional energy we can get right now. 

Now that you have the principle the possibilities for expanding you sphere of influence are infinite. We pray for people we don’t know and will never meet all the time. How would praying for those people as if they already belong to Jesus (and we all belong to Jesus, one way or another) change your way of thinking? Which leads me to my final point. Assuming everyone in our spheres of influence-regardless of their position in our orbit-belong to Jesus, what difference will that make, not only in the way we think about them but in the way we actually treat them?

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. 

JRG

Rise and Walk

“One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, at three o’clock in the afternoon. And a man lame from birth was being carried in. People would lay him daily at the gate of the temple called the Beautiful Gate so that he could ask for alms from those entering the temple. When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked them for alms. Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.” And he took him by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. Jumping up, he stood and began to walk, and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.” Acts 3:1-8 (NRSV).

Imagine for a moment that you are Peter walking into the Temple with John. It is the time for afternoon prayer and sacrifice; the Temple is filled with activity. People are walking and talking and scurrying about in a kaleidoscope of sounds and colors that you barely notice. What you do notice is a beggar, a man lame from birth whose day to day life depends on the mercy of strangers. The beggar sees you and asks for alms. 

As You fix your gaze on him your eyes connect and at that moment time stands still, like one of those movie scenes where everyone around you is frozen in place. The first thing you see is a man who needs the money he is asking for. But then that layer peels away and you see the resignation of a man who long ago accepted his condition as his lot in life. Looking deeper you see the shame and incurable sadness of a man who has never been whole; who believes he never will be. Years of ridicule and contempt flash buy; he may have buried it all but he could not take it away. You linger there for an instant, connecting with his sadness and then you see the faintest glimmer of light-nothing more than a spark, really, and you understand you are seeing the Image of God in him. 

At that instant the Image of God in you connects with the Image of God in the beggar and the spark becomes an explosion, a blinding light filled with love and wholeness and healing. You hear yourself say ‘get up and walk’. He does; the two of you rejoice together, jumping and dancing-a shameless celebration. You’re pretty sure at some point you’ll have some explaining to do but for now there is only the joy of connection; the joy of healing; the Joy of the Lord. 

Go to a New Place

Tomorrow’s lectionary reading from the Hebrew Scriptures is Genesis 12:1-7. This passage transitions from the account of the fall and its effects to the story of God’s redemptive plan for His creation, beginning with the call of Abram. You know the story-God tells Abram to pack up his stuff and go to a new place. Abram, seventy-five at the time, does just that, taking his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot. God’s original promise to Abram, seen here, is that Abram will be blessed and bring a blessing (or curse, depending on one’s point of view) to nations. The text allows for two readings: “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” or “by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves” (12:3b). 

It is a well-known story and there is, as far as I know, little doubt among people of faith that it actually occurred and so one would think there isn’t much left to say about it. However, if we consider it from a metaphorical or symbolic point of view it becomes a nice little picture of what God does to and for believers (that would be us). If we insert ourselves into the story and give it a slight update it comes to life on a new, personal way. Let me show you. 

Imagine for a moment it’s the middle of the night; you woke up unexpectedly and now can’t get back to sleep. Suddenly God speaks to you. “Hey”. 

“Yes?” 

“I have something in mind for you”. 

“Ok”. 

’’I’m going to bless you.”

 “Oh, cool.” 

“But I’m not just going to bless you. When Im finished with you you will be a blessing; you will bring a blessing with you everywhere you go. People will look at you and say ‘wow, I wish I were blessed like that’”. 

“Great! When do we get started?”  

“There’s something I need you to do first.”

“Ok, what’s the catch?”

“You have to forget everything you think you know about me.”

“Whaaaaat?”

“Seriously. Forget everything you think you know. We’re going to start all over.”

“Un-huh. I’m not so sure about all this.”

“Don’t worry. I have it covered.”

“How?”

“Well, I wrote a book. We’ll read it together. When we’re finished you’ll be a totally new person.”

“I think I’ve done that...”

“Not like this. Not with me. You will read and listen and I will show you new stuff, stuff you won’t believe.”

“When do we start?”

“Now.”

  My first point here is the importance of reading the Bible as if for the first time and letting God speak to you, personally. Different religious traditions have different descriptive phrases for this practice but the point is to read and listen. My second point is blessings are meant to be contagious, and we never know who might catch one from us. 

Peace

JRG

Jonah and the Bush

Jonah and the Bush

As far as I can tell, Jonah is the only Hebrew prophet who flat refused to go where God sent him. Moses argued with God and provoked Him to anger, but eventually he went back to Egypt to lead God’s people out. Isiah was concerned about his unclean lips and Jeremiah said he was too young but both ended up obeying God’s call. Even Hosea, whom God told to marry a prostitute so his life could be a living illustration of what-from God’s point of view-was going on with Israel and their idols obeyed God with nary a whimper. But when God sent Jonah to Nineveh, Jonah jumped on the first boat to anywhere but there.

God, however, His mind being made up, whipped up a storm set to capsize Jonah’s boat and drown everyone on board. When the captain confronted Jonah, to his credit Jonah fessed up and urged the crew to throw him overboard, which they did with some reluctance, evidently thinking taking Jonah’s life might just make a bad situation worse. Their fears proved unfounded; once Jonah hit the water the storm “ceased from its raging” and God arraigned for transportation-in the form of a big fish-to take Jonah back to dry land. Inside the fish Jonah, grateful to be alive, composes a song of thanksgiving to God. Later on in Nineveh, however, Jonah will change his tune. 

Nineveh itself was a large, wealthy city and the capital of the Assyrian empire. The Assyrians were pagan and violent and outside of God’s covenant with Abraham but not outside God’s promise to Abraham. Jonah, however, did not see it that way. As far as Jonah was concerned Nineveh was a threat to the Jews and Jonah wanted nothing less than judgement and condemnation. Be that as it may, Jonah begins his three days journey with a simple message-“Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”. Much to Jonah’s chagrin everyone in the city from king to animals of the flock fast and put on sackcloth in an attempt to avert destruction. Their behavior had the desired effect-God, “[seeing] what they did...changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it”. And this should have been the end of the story. Except it wasn’t. 

Jonah, far from pleased at this turn of events, utters his classic line-which becomes the point of the entire book-‘See, this is exactly why I didn’t want to come here. I knew you would do this because this is the kind of God you are, saving people left and right, anyone who asks’. And just to make sure God understands where Jonah is coming from he finishes with ‘just go ahead and kill me now’. Then Jonah leaves the city and sits down to check things out, probably hoping God will change His mind yet again and make Jonah happy. God does not change His mind but He does give Jonah a bush which grew up over Jonah, providing some shade, making Jonah very happy. 

But the next day, just to add a little insult to injury God appoints a worm to destroy the bush and heats things up for Jonah by providing “a sultry east wind”, prompting Jonah once again to figure he would be better off dead. In their final exchange, God says to Jonah ‘you’re worried about a  bush you didn’t plant; don’t you think “I...[should]...be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?” 

That’s the story; here’s the application. First, as I said, Nineveh may have been outside the covenant God made with Abraham but it was not outside the promise God made to Abraham; or to Adam either for that matter. Jonah may have wanted the people and animals of Nineveh condemned but God seems to prefer mercy and salvation over judgement and condemnation. We all have our personal Ninevites-people we secretly (or not so secretly, for some of us) would just love to see condemned to hell for a good long time; usually people who are different from us in some way. God does not see difference, He sees diversity; hilarious, joyful diversity. If you hate your enemy across the aisle today, you probably won’t be too comfortable with him later on in heaven. 

Second, by allowing Jonah to become attached to his bush God was giving him-and us-a life lesson. God was in effect saying ‘you’re sad because you lost a bush; now you know a little of how I feel’. God, it seems to me, is giving us a little glimpse into His heart, a chance to share the pain of rejection which we cause and He still suffers. Don’t miss this-the sorrow is real. 

One last thing. Take some time to think about who God is referring to when He says “...more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals”; and why He puts them together. 

Peace

JRG