Innermost Being

A Glimmer of Light

April 19, 2018 by Innermost Being, posted in Spiritual Growth

In the second week of the Living Deep sermon series at my church, the topic was a Deeper Walk. John wrote: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him, yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth (1 John 1:5-6). Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did (1 John 2:6).

John described an “experiential test” of whether a person is truly a follower of Christ: the test is how you behave. If you have been born of God, you cannot keep on sinning as you did before (1 John 3:9). If you have fellowship with God, you will keep his commands. Just as light contrasts with darkness, a person who has been saved should be noticeably different from a person who hasn’t.

In no uncertain terms, John challenged believers to be honest about our sinfulness. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives (1 John 1:8-10).

Pastor Brad said that we should admit our sins to ourselves, confess them to the Lord and to others, and replace the sin we are giving up with the word of God.

In the silent time of prayer, I confessed that I call people dirty, dehumanizing names when I am upset with them (though not to their faces). I am disrespectful like this when I’m driving and get annoyed with another driver or when I’m watching TV and hear someone lying. The other person can’t hear me but God can.

I know that it isn’t enough to control my tongue; my heart needs to change. Jesus said, “out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.” Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me (Psalm 51:10).

John’s admonitions are humbling. While it is no fun to be called a liar or to be confronted with my sinfulness, it is good for me to be humiliated on a regular basis! I claim to have fellowship with Jesus yet I continue to walk in the darkness. I am too proud of my own spiritual maturity, telling myself that I’m not like “judgy” religious people, that I’m more loving and tolerant. But I fall so short of the example Jesus set!

What does the Lord require of me? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with my God (Micah 6:8).

John described the faith walk in very black and white terms; either you walk in the light or you walk in the darkness. I agree that Christians should take sin seriously. But even for those of strong faith, the spiritual journey is not without struggles. Richard Rohr wrote that we never get to spiritual maturity without engaging in “shadowboxing” and the struggle continues for the rest of your life.

When I go for a walk in the sun, I put sunglasses on to protect my eyes, which are pretty sensitive to bright light. As I walk under the trees and the light becomes dappled, my eyes struggle to adjust to the changing light. They can’t figure out whether to dilate or constrict. Sunglasses off. Sunglasses on. I adjust to the changing conditions the best way I know how.

I want to be a glimmer of light in the darkness. I want to have a heart radically changed by grace. I want to be proof that Jesus is who he says he is.

*****************

Selected verses from “Live Like That” (Sidewalk Prophets)

Am I proof
That You are who you say You are
That grace can really change a heart
Do I live like Your love is true

People pass
And even if they don’t know my name
Is there evidence that I’ve been changed
When they see me, do they see You

I want to live like that
And give it all I have
So that everything I say and do
Points to You

Radically Disruptive

April 13, 2018April 13, 2018 by Innermost Being, posted in Word Prompts

I make no secret of my opposition to the president of the United States. Even his supporters would agree that he is disruptive. After all, he promised to “drain the swamp” and “make America great again,” presupposing that America was ever great in the first place. He has disrupted the norms of decency. As a person of faith, he destroyed my respect for American evangelism by exposing its hypocrisy. But as disruptive as he is to my notions of what is normal, he will never disrupt my life the way Jesus did.

Jesus disrupted social norms, but in a good way.

Instead of bragging about how great he was, he was humble.
Instead of being served by others, he was a servant.
Instead of seeking power, he was meek.
Instead of being greedy, he was generous.
Instead of condemning sinners, he forgave them.
Instead of being ruthless or cruel, he was merciful.
Instead of seeking revenge, he turned the other cheek.
Instead of hating his enemies, he loved them.
Instead of building walls, he opened doors.
Instead of being impressed with piety, he sees the truth in our hearts.

Jesus was and is and always will be the light in the darkness, the calm in the storm.

The rains come down, the streams rise, the winds blow. Life on this earth is disrupted. The house built on sand falls with a great crash. But a house built on this rock will not fall.

Image credit, Ivan Aivazovsky, Title “Walking on Water,” courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

via Daily Prompt: Disrupt

Living Deep

April 11, 2018June 7, 2018 by Innermost Being, posted in Diving Deep, Word Prompts

My church just started a new sermon series called Living Deep, which will be based on First John, a letter written by the apostle John. My pastor said this book is challenging to preach about because there are no stories and no characters. It is deep. It is luminescent.

To live a deep and meaningful life, you have to dive deep. In the first sermon, Pastor Brad told us about his scuba diving trip in Maui. He described an experience that was beautiful and unforgettable. I have never been scuba diving so I can only imagine how beautiful and awe-inspiring it is. I do know the joy that comes from experiencing the beauty of nature. I do know the joy that comes from knowing the deep, deep love of Jesus.

God is light. In him, there is no darkness at all.

How great is the love that the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God. And that is what we are!

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.

This is how God showed his love among us: he sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

He who has the Son has life.

Here’s to diving deep and experiencing the deep, deep, luminescent love of Jesus!

via Daily Prompt: Luminescent

Insufficient Funds

April 8, 2018 by Innermost Being, posted in Faith and Culture

This week, I had an imaginary encounter with God the banker. He said to me, “You know that I see all of the activity in your bank account. Lately, you have been depositing a lot of checks from people with insufficient funds in their accounts. Of course, you can do business with anyone you choose, but it is going to cost you every time a check is returned NSF.”

I was confused. Every time I bounced a check, the banker forgave me. Over the years, I’ve seen him extend generous amounts of credit regardless of the ability to pay. So I went to speak to my financial adviser, the one who warned me about the dangers of greed and self-indulgence and the risks of storing my treasures here on earth.

“Teacher, of course it upsets me that some of my friends pass bad checks. But I’m trying to do what you taught me. Love my neighbor as myself. Judge not, lest I be judged. Turn the other cheek. It feels like God is telling me to reject my enemies, not to love them.”

“Child,” he said (yes, he still calls me that at my age), “you remind me of my disciple Peter. You mean well but sometimes you just don’t get it. You have in mind the ways of man but not of God.” He paused for a moment and as he did, I heard a rooster crow. He resumed, “These are difficult lessons for anyone to learn. Did I not tell you to be on guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees?”

“Yes Lord, you did, though I’m not sure who is who these days. But you also said that the enemy sowed weeds among the wheat and we’re not supposed to pull them because we might destroy the wheat too. Let them both grow together until the harvest.”

“Child, you are able to see the beauty in weeds. This is good. But there are many kinds of weeds. Some are invasive. Some are toxic. Do you remember what happened that time you rode your bike in the grass?”

“Yes, there were burrs in the grass and I got a flat tire. Those burrs are sharp and they stick to everything. I’ve learned to avoid them.”

Quoting Proverbs 4:23, my teacher said, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”

I thought about the bad checks that have gone into my social media account, even without my explicit endorsement. The classmate who posted a racist meme about Barack Obama. NSF! The classmate who posted a video of sheep, calling it the March for Our Lives. NSF! The classmate who shared a “Power of Trump” meme that said that we didn’t “hire” him because he is squeaky clean; we hired him to sweep the trash from the corrupt government and he is the only one with the balls to do so. NSF! NSF!

Every time I see a social media post from a “friend” who has insufficient funds in their heart, it costs me. I get angry. My soul feels deflated. I feel my light fading. Their friendship isn’t worth the cost. Although it feels like I’m giving up on them, in reality, I’m letting go of something that had no value.

My Favorite Agitator

April 5, 2018 by Innermost Being, posted in Word Prompts

Daily Prompt: Churn

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. , I am sharing an article I wrote about him about five years ago. The verb churn means to agitate. To agitate is to stir things up or to arouse public concern over an issue in the hope of prompting action. He certainly did that.

A Drum Major for Justice

My husband received a couple of books about Martin Luther King, Jr. as gifts – A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of MLK, Jr. and Let the Trumpet Sound: A Life of Martin Luther King, Jr. [Stephen B. Oates]. I read part way through the first book and decided I would rather read the biography. The biography gave me a better understanding of the monumental struggle for racial equality in this country and a great appreciation for King’s inspirational leadership of his people. But reading about King’s life also taught me several lessons about standing up for social justice today.

1. God and Human Worth. In explaining the timing of the civil rights movement, King noted that blacks had gradually learned to value themselves even as they continued to experience the humiliating effects of segregation and discrimination. One reason behind this increasing sense of self-worth was their Christian faith. When you believe that you were created in God’s image and that God loved you enough to send his Son to die for your sins, you understand that you have worth as a human being regardless of your color.

Those of us who call the name of Jesus Christ find something at the center of our faith which forever reminds us that God is on the side of truth and justice. – MLK, The Current Crisis in Race Relations

The worth of an individual does not lie in the measure of his intellect, his racial origin, or his social position. Human worth lies in his relatedness to God. – MLK, The Ethical Demands for Integration

King often referred to his brothers and sisters as “children of God.” The New Testament describes the believer’s relationship to God as a relationship based on faith in Christ, a relationship that is demonstrated by love for our fellow-man.

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. – Galatians 3:26-29

This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister. – 1 John 3:10

2. Using God’s Gifts for Good. King was an intelligent man, educated, and well-read. He could have been an attorney or a college professor or lived the quiet, relatively peaceful life of a clergyman. Instead, he chose to help his people begin the struggle against oppression from the segregated city of Birmingham, Alabama. One of his greatest gifts was his way with words. He used colorful language and the tone of his voice to inspire, motivate and persuade. He repeated key phrases (“I have a dream…”) and sprinkled his speeches and writings with metaphors. In the I Have a Dream speech, he compared the march for justice to cashing a check that has been returned marked “insufficient funds.” He compared the Declaration of Independence to a promissory note. He understood the importance of choosing your words carefully because words can have negative connotations. He objected to the words “black power,” which could suggest violence and the same sort of racial supremacy that he was fighting against.

3. Shedding Light on the Darkness of our Times. King showed the world that the Emancipation Proclamation did not put an end to racism. Though blacks were no longer slaves, they still faced the degradation of segregation and discrimination one hundred years later. Today, fifty years after the March on Washington, it is shocking to me to read about the state of racial relations in our country at that time and to read about how hateful whites were towards blacks. Racial discrimination is a dark and ugly sickness of the soul that is completely at odds with God’s will. In my opinion, we have not come far enough in fifty years, but I am grateful that King exposed racism for the evil that it is. He made a difference.

4. Courage. It takes a great deal of spiritual courage to stand up for what is right, especially when you know that it puts your life at risk. King knew that his actions as a civil rights activist put him in physical danger and that he would likely lose his life for his cause. When he was arrested, he chose to be jailed rather than pay a fine because he wanted to highlight how unjust the laws were. He bravely led marches in some of the most racist cities in the South. He turned threats into opportunities. With his notoriety, being jailed brought national attention to the civil rights movement.

5. Serving Others. A couple of months before his assassination, in a sermon called “The Drum Major Instinct,” King preached about the natural instinct people have to be first. He quoted Jesus Christ who said “whosoever will be great among you, shall be your servant; and whosoever of you who will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.”

We all want to be important, to surpass others, to achieve distinction, to lead the parade. – MLK

Although King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, he wanted to be remembered as someone who gave his life to serving others, as a man who loved others, cared for the hungry, clothed the naked, visited the imprisoned.

If you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice; say that I was a drum major for peace; I was a drum major for righteousness.

If I can do my duty as a Christian ought, if I can bring salvation to a world once wrought, if I can spread the message as the master taught, then my living will not be in vain.

6. Loving Your Enemies. Other civil rights activists chose to fight against racial inequality with violence; King chose to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. There was a moment when he hated whites for the way they treated blacks but he understood that hate begets hate; violence begets violence. He admired Gandhi and used Gandhi’s life as an example of how to live out Christ’s love in the pursuit of justice. King often talked about the concept of agape, the selfless, sacrificial kind of love described in the Bible. As Jesus noted, it is easy to love those who love you; anyone can do that.

You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. – Matthew 5:43-48

7. God’s Redeeming Grace. King’s image as an American hero was tarnished by allegations that he was an adulterer. There is some evidence of this. J. Edgar Hoover was so determined to dig up dirt on King that the FBI bugged his hotel rooms and tapped his phone lines. I mention King’s sin last, not to minimize it, but because at the end of the day, even our heroes have feet of clay. The biographer, Stephen B. Oates, quoted King as saying that “Each of us is two selves and the great burden of life is to always try to keep that higher self in command. Don’t let the lower self take over.”

The apostle Paul wrote about his own struggle to keep the higher self in command (Romans 7:14-20). When Paul prayed about his own weaknesses, the Lord told him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” To borrow King’s metaphor, God’s bank of mercy always has sufficient funds.

When I read about King’s assassination, I felt grief even though he died years ago. He was a drum major for justice, for peace and for righteousness. I also feel thankful for his “marching band” – the unsung heroes of the civil rights movement. They marched for justice, rode the bus for justice, sat at segregated lunch counters for justice, even gave their lives for justice.

Here are King’s own words from his Nobel prize acceptance speech, wherein he honored the “ground crew” for enabling the “flights to freedom” to leave the ground:

Most of these people will never make the headlines and their names will not appear in Who’s Who. Yet the years have rolled past and when the blazing light of truth is focused on this marvelous age in which we live–men and women will know and children will be taught that we have a finer land, a better people, a more noble civilization–because these humble children of God were willing to suffer for righteousness’ sake.

We need more people in this world with the courage to stand up for justice. We need more people who know how to love sacrificially.