Passive Prayer

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men? 1 Corinthians 2:12-3:3

Intro: The church in Corinth was being ripped apart (see 1 Cor. 1:10-2:11)

Torn by conflict, Christians had formed separate camps
– for Paul, this was a serious threat to God’s work in Corinth
• he asked them, Has Christ been divided?
• if not, how could they justify their division?
– the two primary weapons in their arsenal were: reason and rhetoric
• whichever group had the strongest intellectual argument
◦ Paul uses the word “wisdom,” in Greek: sophia
◦ Greece was the birth place of Western philosophy (“love of wisdom”)
• which ever group had the best presentation – speeches
– Paul reminded the Corinthians that these were worldly weapons
• Greek culture demanded philosophical verification
• Jewish culture demanded presentation – signs
◦ God ignored both and gave us Jesus, his Son, the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:24)

Next, Paul reminded them of the message he brought
– it wasn’t bolstered by superior wisdom or speech
• in fact, he arrived in weakness, fear and much trembling
• in his message, he simply stuck to the story of Jesus and his crucifixion
◦ because this is the key factor in God’s salvation for humankind
◦ Paul’s words were energized by God’s Spirit and power (not human wisdom or communication skills)
– but they were not to think there’s no logic to faith
• there is, only it is a hidden wisdom, a mystery
• the only access we have to it is by God’s Spirit

This was his argument up to the verses quoted above

The conflict in Corinth was rooted in a deeper, personal conflict
– a primal tension that affects every believer
– to clarify his point, Paul describes three conditions:
• “a natural man” – psychikos; psyche is the soul
◦ a soulish person, having no hope and without God in the world (Ep. 2:11)
• “he who is spiritual” – pneumatikos (the Greek word for spirit is pneuma)
◦ the believer, in whom the Spirit of God lives
• “men of flesh” – sarkikois (the Greek word for flesh is sarx)
◦ “flesh” is a metaphor that represents a life controlled by physical appetites and soulish passions
◦ this condition is revealed in a person’s behavior
For since there is jealousy and strive among you, are you not fleshly . . . ?

Not only the Corinthians, but all Christians face the same conflict
– the spiritual self is frequently tripped up by the “carnal” (fleshly) self
• I refer to these two selves as pneumatic and sarchotic Continue reading →

(I want to thank Nancy “Joy” for her personal use of these notes and how doing so sent me back to them. I am editing and updating them because I had left so many typos, which doesn’t concern me when speaking from them, but are a problem when making them public.)

What Do You See?

The word of the LORD came to me saying, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said, “I see a rod of an almond tree.” Then the LORD said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over My word to perform it.”
The word of the LORD came to me a second time saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north.” Then the LORD said to me, “Out of the north the evil will break forth on all the inhabitants of the land.” Jeremiah 1:11-14

Intro: To me it’s a privilege to observe Jeremiah’s apprenticeship

Our verses record his first training exercises, which appear simple
– the prophets’ work was not complicated
• they received a message from God that they delivered to his people
◦ the critical factors were to hear the message, get it right, and tell it straight
• so, Jeremiah’s training began with a question, “What do you see?”
– the spiritual vision of the prophet gave rise to a possibility
• a human person could have eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart to perceive
◦ they could have a vision that penetrated to the heart of things
◦ they could see the glory of God
• there were two classic expressions of this possibility
◦ Moses’ request, I pray You, show me Your glory (Ex. 33:18)
◦ Isaiah’s vision:

In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said,
Holy, Holy, Holy is the LORD of hosts,
The whole earth is full of his glory. (Isa. 6:1-3)

There is an intriguing irony in the message Isaiah received
– Isaiah was given a awe-inspiring vision of God
• he heard angels praising the God whose glory filled the earth
• yet it was Isaiah’s job to prevent God’s people from seeing or hearing

Go and tell this people:
Keep on listening, but do not perceive;
Keep on looking, but do not understand.
Render the hearts of this people insensitive,
Their ears dull,
And their eyes dim,
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
Hear with their ears,
Understand with their hearts,
And return and be healed. (Isa. 6:9-10)

– Their spiritual dullness was a divine discipline
• otherwise, we would expect everyone to be able to discern God’s glory (cf. Psa. 19:1-3)
• and that brings us to our theme . . .

Prayerful Awareness is seeing what God wants to show us

Jesus wanted his disciples to see his–and his Father’s–glory (e.g., Jn.  17:17:1-5, 24)
– I’m using “see” as a metaphor for all of our perceptions and ways we perceive
• including: notice, observe, explore, discover, and respond
– our eyes need training to see God’s glory
• the ultimate vision of God’s glory is seen in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:6)
• but our normal vision of God’s glory is discerned in ordinary objects and routine actions
◦ for example, a dandelion’s parachute seeds or a train’s whistle in the night
◦ it is to see all of Christian theology in a slender ray of light

How did Jesus enlighten his followers to the kingdom of God?
– “Watch the farmer planting seed,” he said
• “Follow the life-cycle of a mustard seed”
• “Spend time in the kitchen watching grandma make bread”
– when he told us to seek first God’s kingdom,
• how did Jesus tell them to escape the distraction of anxiety?
◦ “Look at the birds of the the air” and “Observe how wild lilies grow in the field”
• he turned our attention to the sights and sounds of our everyday world

My favorite prayer in the gospels is that of blind Bartimaeus
– when Jesus asked what he wanted, he said, “Lord, that I might see”
• I have made that my prayer–alongside Moses’ prayer, “Show me Your glory”
– before Jesus took his leave of the disciples, he gave them an invaluable gift:

Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures (24:45)

• so the goal we have for our time with God in prayer is this:
to see and be transformed by what we see

What makes this seeing and hearing so difficult?

1. We aren’t looking (the biblical word is seek – we’re not searching) or listening
   – one time you turned your head at the right moment and saw something unique
   • the zigzag branches of a lightning bolt or a whale spouting
   • you have also turned your head just in time to miss something extraordinary
   – we want to sit in prayer, holding our gaze steady so we do not miss God’s glory
2. We tend to lose sight of what is always in front of us
   – I notice the gate needs painting, but walking past it ever day I no longer see it
   • eventually it fades into the background
3. We do not watch patiently – like an astronomer or a bird-watcher
   For the vision is yet for the appointed time;
   It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail.
   Though it tarries, wait for it;
   For it will certainly come, it will not delay. (Hab. 2:3)
4. We do not see clearly, but through frosted glass as it were
   – our mental habit is to connect perceptions with words
   • with labels, prejudices, judgments, opinions
   ◦ “It’s just a tree” or “Just a crow”
   • we also connect perceptions with feelings and emotions
   ◦ “I don’t like that color,” “This music scares me”
   – we do not know how to enjoy the pure experience of what is before us
5. Sometimes God shows us something we do not want to see
6. We do not ponder or reflect or move in for a closer look
   – we are like a mother humoring her child, “Oh yes dear, that’s lovely. Now let’s get moving”
   • I wonder how much of my life I’ve lost by not allowing a child to lead me
7. We are not look for God’s grace specifically — or his glory, specifically
   – too many times, I don’t look past my problems
   • tears are not the only way that emotions can distort our vision

Continue reading →

Body Work

How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?
Consider and answer me, O LORD my God;
Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,
And my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
And my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken.
But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness;
My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
I will sing to the LORD,
Because He has dealt bountifully with me. Psalm 13

Intro: I want to use this psalm to open three windows

The first window: The psalm’s accurate and concise depiction of despair
– the dark thoughts that constantly churn “all the day”
• negative rumination that goes nowhere
The second window: The way the poet makes use of body parts
– God’s face (or presence) that is hidden from him
• it is not only that he cannot find God in his circumstances
• but he cannot see his expression — anger? compassion?
– the poet’s eyes are dying for enlightenment
– the poet’s heart, that in verse 2 carries sorrow all day
• but by verse 5, it is ready to rejoice
The third window: The reminder how physical the psalms are
– there other psalms that name five or six different body parts
• the psalmists were very conscious of the physical body in physical space
◦ i.e., God’s created world
– even the most spiritual desires are cast in physical terms

My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for you (Ps. 63:1)

• this is a person fully alive, fully in touch with himself and his world
• and keep in mind that the psalms are prayer
◦ prayers filled with visceral and earthly images
◦ they bring all of this into prayer

Evangelicals have a salvation theology (e.g., Jesus saves souls)

What we need is a robust creation theology
– it begins in the first chapters of Genesis
• when God saw all that was made and it was good
• and it goes on all the way to Revelation 4 and 5
◦ chapter 4 God is worthy of worship because he created all things
◦ chapter 5, Jesus is worthy of worship because by his blood he purchased salvation for people of every nation
– salvation theology does not replace creation theology or render it null and void
◦ salvation embraces creation – all of it! (Ro. 8:19-23–note Paul’s specific inclusion of the body)
• Genesis celebrates the body (it is the theme of the first humanly composed song, Ge. 2:23)

People in scripture paid attention to what they felt in their bodies Continue reading →

Pruning: When and What to Cut

I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. John 15:1-11

Intro: The teaching of Jesus included numerous symbols and parables

But no other analogy is more expressive of intimacy than the vine and branches

Abide in Me, and I in you

– here we have ample inspiration for Christian devotion
– but what does this metaphor look like in lived-experience?

Consider some of the key words in this passage

Jesus set up the analogy by giving away the punch line: I am the true vine, and My father is the Gardener
– he did not always provide an explanation of what the symbols represented
• “true” in John’s gospel can mean “spiritual essence”
(cf. John 6:32-35 where the true bread is also the bread out of heaven and the bread of life)
• whatever a vine is to a branch, Jesus is to his followers
– with that as the backdrop, he goes straight to point

Fruit
The branches do or do not bear fruit (v. 2)
– the branch that does is pruned to bear more fruit (v. 2)
• but by itself a branch (or disciple) cannot bear fruit (v. 4)
◦ the disciple that abides in Jesus bears much fruit (v. 5) and much fruit is what glorifies his Father (v. 8)
• several Hebrew prophets used the vineyard analogy and it was always about the fruit
◦ reflecting on the wood of the vine, Ezekiel learned its one purpose was to bear fruit
◦ unlike wood from forest trees, the vine wood was useless for anything else
– in God’s vineyard, as in all vineyards, fruit is the main concern
• does Jesus specify in terms of discipleship what that fruit might be?

This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. . . . This I command you, that you love one another (vv. 12 & 17; cf. 14:23, 31)

• that is a good enough start for now

Abide
This is the most repeated word in the passage — it means to stay, remain, or dwell
– Jesus is home to us, and he also finds his home in us
• this is the critical factor in bearing fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing 
◦ to be apart from Jesus is the same as to not abide in him (v. 6)
• the love Jesus desires from us is impossible without this union
◦ his life flowing into us, sustaining us, enabling us to abide and be fruitful
– Jesus adds important variations to the abiding theme Continue reading →