Scripture: 1 John 5:1-6
Those that love the parent loves the child. This verse struck me today as I reflected on it. I considered the relationships that I have with various families. Those that attend our Meeting as well as those I know from other places. I observed that I am much more patient with the kids from our Meeting than the ones that run around the store. They act the same, mainly because they are kids, but I am friends with the parents of the ones I worship with, the others are just… annoying.
This got me to thinking. Why am I getting annoyed with kids? Now don’t get me wrong I love kids, I just observed a small difference. After reading this passage I know why that is. Then I got to thinking about the parents, what causes me to reguard people differently. I found that I do not always treat people equaly, I have a tendency to gravitate toward people that share similarities with me.
Equality is a tenet of sorts in the Friends Church. Through our history we have been in the front of equal rights. We have always recorded female ministers, we were greatly involved in ending the slave trade, and we spoke up for equal rights for all people. If this aspect of faith is important to my expression of worship I have to ask why I reguard people differently? It bothers me to think that I live my life with a form of prejudice. I wrestled with this for a while, I even caught myself trying to justify my actions saying, “Its ok I don’t know them and if I did I would treat them the same.” But when will I get to know them if I am treating someone with a prejudice?
Before you get the wrong idea I must say that I am not speaking of a prejudice against race, gender, or something like that, but of something that is at the root of all prejudice. The unwillingness to reach out to others in friendship. If I fail to attempt to build a friendship with someone, it can quickly morph into something deeper and more sinister. I can begin to develope stereotypes or biases based not on truth but on shallow observations.
We are called to love, because God is love. We are called to love the children of God. The children of God are the ones for whom Christ died for as an attoning sacrifice. It does not matter where your theological stance, this literally means to love all people. Love them if they are like you, or different in some way. Love them if you agree with them or disagree. Love them if they love God right now or if they are turnin their back on Him. John says it is an easy command, what do you think. It is often hard to love people who are judgmental, prideful, filled with self pity, or who lie. (The list is longer but I think we have the picture) But Jesus did. He loved the unlovable when he reached out His hand to touch and heal those with lepresy. He loved the woman caught in adultery. He was friends with cheaters, haters, and violent zealots. He did not really care who you were He treated everyone with an equal amount of respect. Why then am I so hesitant to share a gift of friendship with others?
I am challenged today to be more open with others, since by nature I am fairly shy, this will be challenging to me. But I’m not challenged to try to convert others, but to become friends, to respect others as the people they were created to be. What challenge is God giving you as you consider and pray with this passage?
Scripture: Acts 10:44-48
How do you experience God? Where best do you relate to Him? It is funny how often we tend to judge when, how, and in what clothes we can meet with God. In this passage Peter and several Jewish believers witnessed something they could not explain. They say people unlike themselves receive the same blessing that they had.
Prior to this time the only way people could come to God was through the temple in the Holy City…or was it? I have often wondered about this. What did God do with people in Ireland, Rome, China, and every other nation prior to Christ? I think it will be a constant debate because we can never really know the truth on this side of the veil. But it still makes me wonder. Which also makes me ask where did all the “pagan” gods come from that these places worshiped? I try to look through the legendary writtings and am left with the thought that someone experienced something and had to give it a name. I have even read through scripture and found references to Michael being the leader of God’s army and the protector of Israel, what if there were other angels given tasks over other people groups? Were some of these angels involved in the angelic rebelion and if so what hapened to the people groups that they were sent to protect?
Lots of questions, but there is really only one answer. We all experience God in different ways. God speaks to some of us through participating with Him in creating through art and music. Others of us enjoy having a healthy intellectual debate and reason with Him. Some of us hear His voice most clearly while being out in nature, or working with our hands. We build religious groups around these expressions but the fact remains that God meets people there.
Theologically we can debate if expressions are benificial or not, but God is beyond our words and knowledge. Peter and the Hebrew believers had a theological stance, but God blessed Gentiles with the Spirit in the same way. Which leads me to ask was God already there? When I think back on my life I can see that God has been there all along, even in the areas I felt He was absent. The most stiking thing is that those areas I felt God was farthest away He was actually closest to me helping me find my way through the darkness.
I recently went on a tour through a cave and just like every cave tour they shut off the lights. In the darkness our guide asked us to find the way out, of course no one moved. God gives us some light, He did not leave us in total darkness. He then judges us according to the light we have received, and also draws us to even greater light which is found in Jesus. Jesus experienced life just as we experience life, sure there were some differences but for the most part the basics of life are the same. (If you visit another country you would observe this as well). Jesus vicariously lived out the darkness for us leaving in our paths enlighted trails to follow.
God did not withold his blessing from anyone, but freely gave it to anyone who opened their lives to Him. I encourage you to follow the Light before you and enjoy His pressence where you feel closest to Him.
Scripture: Psalm 98
Music is a tool, a tool that moves the spirit of a person. For my birthday I received a CD from a friend. It is probably one of my favorite albums even though it was originally produced before I understood what music was. (I was alive but only a few months old.) This album makes me think, it actually drives me into a spirit of worship. I do not know why and most people would be scared about what I was worshiping by listening to it.
The album is Pink Floyd’s The Wall. The music reminds me of the brokenness of mankind and the struggle each of us make just to survive. We each have wounds from various places: our parents getting a divorce, bullies and teachers at school, the threat of war, and countless others. To protect our vulnerable spirit we build defensive walls to hide behind. We hide behind the wall afraid to show our true selves to the world. The wall become our facade, who we think we are. It was built to protect but it morphs into our prison, we would like to be free and real but we cannot think of living life without our protective wall.
The album stirs emotions in me, which is the point. Music is used to prompt emotions, thoughts, passions. This album reminds me of what life could be like, but does not have to be. There is another option. The bricks of the wall could be used for other purposes.
The Psalm today speaks of a victorious life with the Lord. A life where God shows the world what he can do. It speaks of a battle, but we are not sure who the players are. If you wanted to study it deeper you could probably figure it out, but the writer does not say who the Lord was victorious over. It is left up to the imagination. What if the victory was the transformation of a life hidden behind a wall, but brought out into and warmed by the light of God? Somehow the light breached through the cracks between the bricks sparking life within the dying spirit withering in the darkness of their prison. Slowly and steadly enlightening more and more of the life until the wall has been transformed into a beautiful labyrinth leading to the throne of God.
As we travel this pathway we are filled with more life, greater energy and hope. We are vulnerable to the word yet not worried about what it can do because the Lord is drawing us in and protecting us as we sing His praises.
Today consider what bricks you have in your life, the issues that you struggle with, and consider where we are putting them. Are we stacking them up building walls to seperate us from the people around us, or are we allowing God to use those struggles to build a pathway for us to walk on? Consider those people that we have in our lives, are we allowing them to become bricks in a wall or are we letting God turn those stressful people into songs of praise and ornimates in the garden of our lives?
Who would ever think a progressive rock album from the 1979 would prompt a guy in 2012 to praise God? Crazy things happen when God is in your life. I also challenge you to prayerfully listen to music, consider what it is stiring in your life. If you have kids it may be a great oppertunity to open up lines of communication between you as you just listen to the music. I am not going to say that there is great spiritual significance in every song but there is movement. If you play an instrument consider a jam session with God.
I also encourage you to let others know how God is moving in your life. On a path we will meet others on our journey sharing our experiences often gives help to others and may also prevent us from building another wall.