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Welcome and Prayer: Nancy Lopez

Good morning!  Welcome to RefleXion.          The Lord is with you.

Last week Chuck talked about parables and their working into our soil though we don’t even realizeit.  Then, later, we might recognize or realize something by the pattern that had been planted.  I love that idea and the idea that changing our viewpoint…well, changes our point of view!

I want to share a word with you that I’ve been playing with for a couple of years; that word is “Realize, “but I think of it as “Real Eyes,” gazing at the unseen Real.  It has to do with seeing differently, the Reál, the Royal Way, the Jesus Way.  In other words, seeing something for what it is vs. what I prefer, what I’ve been taught, or what I’ve always thought.  Maybe it’s not a complete picture, but something I didn’t see before is “Real-Eyesed,” something more Real. 

I’m referring today to two woman mystics.  First, I’m reading a quote from Evelyn Underhill (20^th century) in her devotional “Light of Christ.”  Listen for how she uses the word “realize.”

“You know how sometimes one goes to see a church which one is told has magnificent windows—and seen from outside they all look alike—dull, thick, grubby. We probably say, ‘Well! It is obvious there is good glass here, but we cannot realise it.’ Then we open the door and go inside—leave the outer world, enter the inner world—and the universal light floods through the windows and bathes us in their colour and beauty and significance, shows us things of which we had never dreamed, a loveliness that lies beyond the fringe of speech. And so, in the same way we cannot realise God and His eternal Truth and Beauty, from outside. One constantly hears people commenting on Christianity from outside and missing the point every time. They are on the wrong side of the wall. How important then it is for us to be familiar with the inner vision. It is from within the place of prayer, recollection, worship, and love, where the altar is, where the sacrifice is made, where we are all bound together in a life of communion and self-giving to God, that we fully and truly receive the revelation which is made though Christ. To re-enter that Cathedral, receive a fresh gift from its inexhaustible beauty, see through those windows more and more of the light of God, that is the secret of meditation.”

That is how, I believe, we can real-eyes God’s viewpoint and be on the Real Way of Jesus, the New Way of the Spirit.

Our prayer this morning is from the thoughts of Dame Julian of the 14^th century:
Lord, we remember what was revealed to your daughter Julian, her vision of Christ that was ‘Light, Life and Love’ and that everything was gathered in that.  May Your Spirit show us the Truth, quicken us to fresh vitality, and fill us with adoring devotion. May we real-eyes Your Vision for us. We come into the silence now to real-eyes more Light, Life and Love. We come to contemplate our Christian treasure from the inside, in the Real, the Way of Jesus.  Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel, and get from them staffs, one for each fathers’ house, from all their chiefs according to their fathers’ houses, twelve staffs. Write each man’s name on his staff, and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi. For there shall be one staff for the head of each father’s house. Then you shall deposit them in the tent of meeting before the testimony, where I meet with you. And the staff of the man whom I choose shall sprout. . . .
On the next day, Moses went into the tent of the testimony, and behold, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds. Numbers 17:1-11

Intro: This is an odd story

Not only for the strange miracle that God sets up,
– but also because it seems unnecessary in the context of the larger narrative
• the people of Israel were disappointed and discouraged
◦ their situation was primed for discontent and insurrection
• four rebellions had been staged and subdued:
◦ Moses’ sister and brother (ch. 12)
◦ the whole nation turned from God at the border of Canaan (ch. 14)
◦ a clan of rebels that refused to follow Moses any further (16:1-3, 12-34)
◦ a crew of Levites, who claimed rights to the priesthood (16:4-11, 35)
– in each instance, God intervened and punished the rebels
• so God’s choice for priesthood and service in the sanctuary would seem obvious
• however, considering Israel’s state of mind, and history of complaint and stubbornness,
◦ extra evidence for God’s choice may have been required

At that time, and in desert, a staff had many uses:
– support for standing and walking, herding flocks and cattle, prying, and as a weapon
• staffs were personalized – you could identify its owner by looking at it (cf. Gen. 38:25-26)
• in two passages–I know of–a staff is coupled with a scepter (Gen. 49:10; Num. 21:17-18)
◦ the staff was a symbol of leadership
◦ that is why each staff here was one that belonged to the head of a community
– so if we give this story a title, it could be “Moses’ Staff Meeting”

There is something else in this story I find strange

The test will be to see which staff will “sprout”
– what would it take to qualify one staff as the winner?
• a fresh, green twig? a short twig with one small leaf?
◦ what Moses found the next morning was that Aaron’s staff
had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds (v. 8)
• doesn’t that sound excessive?
Robert Alter, “. . . this fast-forwarding of a slow process of growth spectacularly confirms the miraculous character of the event.”
◦ a line from Bruce Almighty comes to mind
“Okay, now you’re just showing off”
– as I was meditating on this passage, I wondered,
• “Is there more to this story than what I’m seeing?”
◦ the thought that came to me was:
◦ perhaps God is saying something here about the leader he chooses
• so I read it again, and found a possible meaning:
◦ some personal characteristics of a person God is pleased to use
◦ then I made a list

There is nothing novel or profound about my list
– as I go over these items, you’re going to think, “Of course”
• still, they were a good reminder for me
• and since God hasn’t given me a new series topic yet,
◦ I’m going to share my mediation with you
– I believe that what I have to say applies to every follower of Jesus

The miracle took place in the inner chamber of God’s sanctuary

I’ve been reading Tyler Staton’s, Pray Like Monks, Live like Fools
– he doesn’t say anything we haven’t heard or don’t know already,
• but he does well in reminding us and nudging us toward God
Staton, “. . . this book is an invitation to what cannot be taught, only discovered. . . . An invitation to be found by God in the place he’s most faithfully been found throughout history: not in a megachurch with Broadway lights and arena-rock fog machines or in the eloquent podcast of a contrarian thinker, but in the bare silence of you and the endless expanse beyond you.”
• the inner chamber is where God reveals his presence
– prayer is our conscious connection with God
• okay–my grandchildren use me, and I know it
◦ when they were small and lived with us,
◦ would come into my room and sit on my lap, just to be with me – nothing more
• for our prayer to become an encounter,
◦ we need to realize it’s more than just asking for things
◦ it’s resting in the invisible, yet real and holy Presence

So, the first characteristic of God’s chosen servant is prayer
– this is where the miracle begins – where our lives are changed

The next characteristic is LIFE

When the Hebrew Scriptures take a jab at idols, they point out the fact that idols are lifeless
. . . every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,
for his images are false,
and there is no breath in them (Jer. 10:14)
– I think now, perhaps more than ever, we need to be cautious
• we can fabricate a religious experience – a sense of “church”
• I met a young man, raised Christian and in charge of an inner city mission
◦ but he had stopped believing in God
◦ but still, he was working to create a church-like community without a god
– how much do we need God or depend on God to do church?
• it’s possible to create a lot of programs for people,
◦ so they don’t feel the emptiness of not encountering God
◦ many Christian leaders believe they must control people, and they use programs to do it
• the word “fabricate” has two meanings:
◦ to manufacture something and to make up something untrue
◦ we do both when we make something that looks like a work of God, but isn’t

God is the Giver of life – he gives new life to his people
– Jesus said that those who believe and follows his teaching
have passed from death to life (Jn. 4:24)
• this message saturates the New Testament, so I won’t press the point (especially the writings of John)
• if we live a God-given life, we don’t have to fake anything
– coupled with life, is growth – and there is no end to this

The next characteristic is FRUIT

Jesus emphasized fruit as goal of our relationship with him
I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit (Jn. 15:102)
– when Jesus warned his followers of “false prophets,” he said,
You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit . . . Thus you will recognize them by their fruits (Mt. 7:15)
• I am much more at peace with myself than I used to be
• there was a time when I hated having an unproductive day
◦ and right up there with unproductive was being ineffective
◦ days are important, but what counts is my whole life
– others will produce more fruit than I have – that’s cool
• I just want to be as fruitful as God wants me to be

Another characteristic is BEAUTY

I get that from the blossom that the staff produced
– there is a beauty that is superficial and can be disappointing
• St. Peter encouraged women to adorn
the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit (1 Pe. 3:4)
• there’s no good reason not to apply that instruction to men as well
– there are times when we want to look our best,
• but it would not hurt, if every day we asked ourselves,
◦ “Am I a beautiful person?”
◦ “Do I add beauty to the world through my presence, words, and actions?”
• compassion is beautiful; generosity can be beautiful;
◦ forgiveness is beautiful; kindness is beautiful;
◦ the gift of a flower, or a smile, or a hug can be beautiful

The last characteristic I imagine is FRAGRANCE

Like beauty, I relate that to the blossom
– it has to do with the impression we make and leave on others
For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance of life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? (2 Cor. 2:15-16)

Conclusion: I don’t want to leave you with impression that this is all up to you

As we read, it was God who caused the staff to sprout
God gives us life and makes us fruitful and beautiful and fragrant

My first “real” job was working at a fish and chips restaurant. The other employees and I did everything. We cut up the fish, battered and deep fried them, deep fried the chips, wrapped it all up and sold them to the customers. Because my work was close to my home, I could walk both ways. My high school was between work and home. One Friday evening, walking home I noticed there was a dance happening at the school, so I got in line to buy a ticket. But after a couple minutes, I heard a girl somewhere in the line behind me say, “I smell fish!” Quietly I exited the line and went home.
My aroma that evening was not the result of applying a new cologne (eau de poisson), but from being emerged in the atmosphere of my job.

If we spend time in the garden of prayer, we’ll come out smelling like roses

Our guest speaker this week, Mike Stowell, shared some of his life’s stories, emphasizing the importance of faith and trust in God. Because he spoke without notes, we are not able to post any this week. However, we are posting Nancy Lopez’ introduction to the service.

Good morning!       May the Shalom of the Lord be with you.

I hope you know that you can go to our website (reflexionsc.net) and get the script of the messages from Sunday mornings.  Sometimes I need to see it in writing, letting the message come through my eyes, as well as my ears.   Last week’s message from Jim was like that.  He made a few points that brought an image that I got a few years ago to remembrance; and I want to offer it with you this morning.  For me, it presents a picture of living and serving in the way of love.  Picture – I might have said Pitcher, because there’s a Pitcher in the image.

Many of us would say we’ve got a lot on our plate.  Let’s imagine that a Plate might stand for all our tasks, ways we influence others, you might call it ministry, extended relationships and commitments.  Atop the Plate, sits a Saucer which stands for our personal and close relationships.  You know what a Saucer is, don’t you, the smaller plate with an inside rim that can hold the Cup and its spillover.  So, now there’s a Cup.  The image is called Pitcher-Cup-Saucer-Plate.  Picture it if you will.  The Pitcher represents God, overflowing, ever flowing, abundant love and grace to us, the fullness of His love.  When we put our Cup—the Cup of our life, under His flow, He  pours into us all He intends for us.  As we abide there, His love is pouring into us. 

And as it fills, it naturally fills the cup to overflow on to the Saucer (our relationships) and then the Plate (the places we influence).   You know this is true, right?  We see people filled with anger, resentment, or fear spilling those things on to their Saucers and Plates.  Our privilege is  not just to receive good from God to pass along, but to allow what we receive to do a work in us.  We don’t come with empty cups, but if we allow what we receive from God to heal us from the inside out, then we change the overflow.  Last week, Jim mentioned that Jesus says, “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’  A lot of things have come to us unbidden and unwelcome.  We’re still responsible for our own Cup.

Jesus confronted the false religion of the Pharisees reminding them to clean the inside of the cup so the outside could be clean as well. They had replaced a spiritual life of loving with a religion of purity codes that did nothing to clean the inside of the cup. It did nothing to clean their hearts.

Pitcher-Cup-Saucer-Plate:  I hope the image helps you to see and realize love in flow.

Can we pray?

LORD God, we need Shalom – wholeness, holiness.  Let us be still and make space for You to fill us with love.  We ask that you reveal those places in our Cup that hinder and taint.  Let us realize them and ask for healing.  Continue pouring your love that we might be filled with your goodness, for our sake, and for the sake of others.  We welcome your empowering Presence to create Shalom in us and through us.  Amen

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Welcome and Prayer: Nancy Lopez

Welcome to RefleXion!    May the Lord be with you.

I often think of my life in Christ as the branch of a tree, my image taken from the passage in John 15 about the vine and the branches.  The tree is the source of my life; my branch has been grafted in, scripture says, because I am a Gentile.  As Chuck mentioned last week, scripture refers to Gentiles as those who didn’t know the God of Abraham.  And now we do know God by the gift of faith.  Romans 11:17 reads, “And you Gentiles, who were branches from a wild olive tree, have been grafted in.  So now you also receive the blessing God has promised Abraham and his children, sharing in the rich nourishment from the root of God’s special olive tree.” 

So being grafted in is not the end of it.  Can you picture the grafting in?  The vine promises to hold on to the branch, and the branch must also cling/send its fingers into the vine.  While the root of our tree is Holy, and our branch is made for receiving Holy nourishment, pests and parasites can cause damage, and knots within the branch can entangle and stop the flow of that nourishment.  We all have knots in us. 

Are you familiar with burled wood?  It’s quite beautiful on the outside and highly prized for making furniture and such.  And a burl is essentially a tree growth in which the grain has grown in a deformed manner. Burl formation is typically a result of some form of stress such as an injury or a viral or fungal infection, or it could be a genetic disorder.  The burl is the wound response.  When a tree has injury, any disruption of the inner layers interferes with the trees ability to receive nourishment.

Whatever we’ve been through, we remember that we are still beautiful, just as the burl is; but we want to be aware if, underneath that burl, the wound becomes an inner knot, entangling the free flow of Grace.  

And this is why we pay attention to our inner life:  to untangle our knots, to welcome the free flow of Grace, and to share in the promise of the rich nourishment from the root of God’s special olive tree.

We start with noticing wherever and whenever it doesn’t seem that we are experiencing the flow of Grace.  We start with awareness and then we do our work with God, because we want those pests and parasites to no longer have the ability to impede the Holy flow of our life-in-Christ.

Will you pray with me: 

Father, in our inner being we delight in You.  We pray that, according to the riches of Your glory You may grant us power through Your Holy Spirit in our inner being.  We recognize that we are Your Holy Sanctuary; let it be more wholly Yours.  We pray in the Name of Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.  Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

Some time after this, the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker committed an offense against their lord the king of Egypt. And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, and he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison where Joseph was confined Genesis 40:1-3

Intro: I wasn’t going to mention anything about depression today

Everyone goes through stuff – and we just have to ride it out
– I feel like the poet who in Psalm 13 asks God,
How long, O LORD, Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day? (Ps. 13:1-2)
• my dark cloud persists and I’m not doing my best thinking
• when I begin a new series of talks, I have two concerns:
1. Is there a message God has for us at this given time?
2. What might you need or want to hear?
– for the time being, my brain left me a voice message:
“Currently out of the office. If you have an emergency, hang up and dial 911. You will be notified as soon as I return. For now, direct all personal inquiries to Barbara, your wife.”
• so instead of beginning a new series, I’ll be treading water
• I promise to try to keep it short

My topic is: Finding the will of God for your life

Here’s what preachers do when they know their talk is going to suck:
– they come up with a compelling sermon title
• so you’re not, really, going to learn about finding God’s will for your life
• what I’m going to share with you
◦ are three meditations from my scripture reading this week
– the first one was inspired, in part, by our Lexio Divina meeting on Wednesday night
(this one will be more intense than the other two meditations)
• our passage had to do with sin, lawlessness, and righteousness
◦ those are loaded words—hot topic words
◦ the reason they grate on us, is because we don’t understand them

The morning after our Lexio Divina meeting,
– I came to a passage that helps us see what righteousness means in the Hebrew Scriptures
• in fact, a 20th Century, OT theologian, referred to this story:
“A very extreme piece of evidence for [righteousness] . . . .”
• that’s where we’ll start:

What Gerhard von Rad explained about righteousness

von Rad, “There is absolutely no concept in the Old Testament with so central a significance for all the relationships of human life as is that of [righteousness]. It is the standard not only for [human] relationship with God, but also for [our] relationships to [others], reaching right down to the most petty wranglings . . . .”
– he says we’ve interpreted righteousness according to our Western presumptions
A person’s “proper conduct over against an absolute ethical norm, a legality which derives its form from the absolute idea of justice.”
“Nevertheless, it cannot be held that [the] Old Testament concept of righteousness is specifically forensic, for it embraces the whole of Israelite life, wherever [people] found themselves in mutual relationships.”
• he points out that righteousness, “in particular” is
“conduct loyal to a relationship [and] includes far more than mere correctness or legality . . . .”
• this is a relational righteousness – and it,
“demanded the showing of kindness, faithfulness, and as circumstances arose, helpful compassion to the poor or the suffering.” A person’s “common life was . . . judged from the point of view of faithfulness to a relationship.”
– von Rad illustrates this with the story of Saul and David
• Saul was out to murder David, and David disrespected Saul, but spared his life
“You are more righteous than I, for you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you with evil. . . . you did not kill me when the LORD put me into your hands (1 Sam. 24:17-18)
von Rad, Saul “meant that David had taken the relationship existing between the two of them more seriously and given more heed to it than Saul had.”
◦ later, David would say,
“The LORD rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness . . . .” (1 Sam. 26:23)
• that is righteousness; it’s key feature:
◦ faithfulness to what a relationship implies and requires

Four points that the Scriptures make clear:
– every relationship requires people to treat others in a way specific to that relationship
– everyone was constantly engaging in many different relationships
– every day could bring a new relationship
– what applied to human relationships also applied to relationship with God

The problem we’ve had with righteousness is thinking that it is moral, ethical, or legal
– doing what is “right” according to a list of rules
• that is exactly what the Pharisees believed
◦ and it turned them into intolerable fault-finders
◦ it did not make them good people
• biblical righteousness is not moral or legal, but relational

I am going to press the issue further,
– because it radically challenges what’s going on in churches today
• and it radically changes the way we live with others for God
– when Jesus was asked, What is the great commandment in the Law?
He answered, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart . . . soul . . . and mind. . . . A second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets (Mt. 22:36-40)
• Paul echoes this in his letter to the Romans
For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder,” . . . and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law (Ro. 13:9-10)
• Paul could not have said that love fulfills the law unless the law is relational rather than legal

Here’s my short version of the story I read Thursday morning

Jacob was a grandson of Abraham, whose name God changed to “Israel.” Jacob became the father of the nation of Israel and his twelve sons became the twelve tribes of Israel. One of Jacob’s sons was Judah, who married a Canaanite woman and together they had three sons. Afterward, Judah’s wife died.
Judah secured a wife for his oldest son, but he died without having any children with Tamar. At that time, it was the duty of the next son in line to sire a child with the widow in order to provide his dead brother with an heir. But for some reason, this younger brother he avoided getting Tamar pregnant. And what he did was wicked in the sight of the LORD, and he put him to death (Gen. 38:10). Judah was afraid to have his youngest take his older brother’s place and so he withheld him from Tamar.
When Tamar realized Judah was not going to fulfill his responsibility to her, she removed her widow’s clothing, dressed herself as a prostitute, and sat at an intersection where she knew Judah would pass on his way to celebrate with his friends. Seeing Tamar (his daughter-in-law), and assuming she was a prostitute, he gave her in pledge his signet cord and staff until he could send her a proper payment. However, when he left, she returned home and Judah did not hear from Tamar until he learned she was pregnant. When that news came to her, he said, “Bring her out, and let her be burned” (Gen. 38:25–a high price to pay for playing the role of a prostitute!). But that is when she produced his signet cord and staff, saying, “By the man to whom these belong, I am pregnant.” At that, Judah exclaimed, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son” (Gen. 38:26). Gerhard von Rad asks, “But what in the world has this to do with our concept of righteousness?”
◦ the answer is, Nothing! She pretended to be a prostitute and he had sex with her
• our concept of righteousness is off, and we need to correct it
von Rad, “She wanted even by the most extreme of means to raise up descendants for her dead husband’s family, and because she had shown loyalty to her relationship to this family, she was ‘more righteous’ than her father-in-law, who had refused to giver her his youngest son in marriage.”
◦ God’s main concern for us is how we treat others

My second meditation is from the first verses I read (Gen. 40:1-2)

Joseph was this innocent young man
– betrayed by his brothers and maligned by his boss’s wife
• then imprisoned in a foreign land, he dropped to the lowest point in his life
• then one day two new prisoners landed behind bars
◦ Joseph was assigned to their care
◦ this resulted in him being introduced to Pharaoh, and from there he became the second most power ruler in the nation
– it seems to me that the two officers thrown into prison exactly where Joseph was confined was a “fortuitous coincidence”
• my meditation was simple:
“Has it occurred to you that God’s will for your life can find you right where you are?”
◦ we don’t find God’s will for our lives, his will finds us — wherever we are
◦ and our circumstances make no difference — they play into our destiny, they do not prevent it
• later, Joseph will tell his brothers,
As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today (Gen. 50:20)

My third meditation is from this same story

Although the cupbearer was key to Joseph’s destiny, he faltered
– this officer enjoyed the status of working for royalty
• peasants were beneath him – prisoners were nothing to him
◦ although Joseph brought him good news and asked to be remembered and mentioned to the Pharaoh, we read,
Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him (Gen. 40:23)
• my meditation was:
“Don’t take it to heart when you are forgotten”
– we disappear behind whatever good we do in the name of Jesus
• the banner that flies over all acts of Christian service the slogan of John the Baptist:
He must increase, but I must decrease (Jn. 3:30)

Conclusion: So here are my three thoughts for today:

Being God’s child is not about being pious, religious, going to church; it’s about being a good person
God’s will finds you where you are now
Don’t take it to heart when you’re forgotten, but
Rejoice that your names are written in heaven (Lk. 10:20)

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Welcome and Prayer: Nancy Lopez

Welcome Friends!              May the Hope of the Lord be with you!

We begin our Advent journey today; Advent is traditionally a time of preparation for Christmas.  It is remembered on the four Sundays preceding Christmas; and—if you didn’t realize it yet—Christmas falls on a Sunday this year.  We will not be having a service on that day.

Preparing for Christmas – what comes to your mind?  It probably does include garland, cards, and presents; but most especially, we want to allow a time of preparing the Way for the Christ.  Today we will be entering Advent with the theme of Hope.  What other way would we enter?  Those who were waiting for Jesus’ birth had been waiting in Hope for a very long time. Matthew gives us the timeline of about 700 years when he points to the prophesy of Isaiah: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign.  Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel.”  Immanuel means “God is with us,” and that’s what they were waiting for.  It wasn’t just waiting, but waiting in Hope. We still wait for the fulfillment of all the prophecies, but let’s be pre-occupied with waiting in Hope.

Another prophet, Zechariah, calls us to be “prisoners of hope.”  Let’s long to be that, unable to quit hoping in Jesus and His Kingdom come.

Remember how Mary visited Elizabeth who was still carrying John the Baptist, and how John, still in the womb, leapt in anticipation and recognition of the coming of the Lord Jesus.  We hope for the Second Coming of Christ, and also a visitation, a revelation, an engagement with Christ along the way, ones that will make our hearts leap.

Pray with me:

Lord, as we will light the candle of Hope today, may we realize the significance of the Hope that does not disappoint, poured out into our heart by the Holy Spirit.  This is the candle that will remain lit in the coming weeks, just as Hope must sustain us and carry us forward.  May our Hope be as a feather, drawn upward by the breath of the Spirit.  Thank you for this beautiful day to remember our Hope in Jesus, the Christ.  Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” Acts 17:1-3

Intro: When St. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, he told them,

He was impressed by three qualities that they demonstrated:
your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thes. 1:3)
– faith, love, and hope – essential building blocks of a Christian life
So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love (1 Cor. 13:13)
• Paul may have looked for evidence of these traits in the churches he visited
• do they walk by faith, hang onto hope, and do everything in love?
– “Hope” is the Advent theme for this Sunday

I’m going to begin with three observations regarding hope

First, hope is an attitude that is oriented to the future
– it may be the near future or a distant future
• but it looks forward to an ultimate outcome that is good
• that outcome is not yet within our grasp, but its believable
I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me (2 Tim. 1:12)
we wait eagerly for…the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we are saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience (Ro. 8:23-25)
Second, hope anchors the soul (Heb. 6:19)
– the soul in scripture is our natural self – our needy self
• it is both mind and emotions; drives and desires; physical and psychological needs
• the soul needs to be anchored, otherwise, it will drift with every current moving through culture
Third, the Christian hope for the future rests in Jesus Christ our Lord
if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also (Jn. 14:3)
– the birth of Jesus brought an eternal hope into our world — that is in the past
• Paul refers to the return of Jesus as the blessed hope (Titus 2:13) — that is in our future
– Advent is the celebration of both arrivals of Jesus
• when he first came to us in Bethlehem and when he will revisit the world in glory

In Acts 17, Paul is introducing a Jewish community to Jesus

He makes an argument that Jesus is the fulfillment of prophecy
– it amazes me, how quickly the disciples found Jesus in the Hebrew Scriptures
• in Acts chapter 8, Philip was led to a man who was an official in the court of the Ethiopian Queen
◦ Philip found the official sitting in his chariot, reading Isaiah 53
◦ the official asked Philip,
“About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus (Acts 8:34-35)
◦ Isaiah 53 may be the most explicit message prefiguring the gospel in entire Old Testament
• when Paul presented his argument regarding the Messiah, his closing statement was:
“This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ” (Messiah)

Israel had held onto a hope for centuries
– that the dynasty of King David would rise from the ashes
• that a descendant of David’s would become Israel’s ultimate king
• that God would anoint him to rule Israel
◦ and through Israel, God would rule the world
(“anointed one” is the meaning of the Hebrew word Messiah and the Greek word Christ)
◦ Isaiah prophesied that in the golden age
[The LORD] shall judge between the nations,
and shall decide disputes for many peoples;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more (Isa. 2:4)
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them. . . .
They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea (Isa. 11:6-9)
– Paul was telling them, We now know who that king is:
This Jesus [who went through Judah and Galilee, healing the sick, casting out demons, and proclaiming the kingdom of God] is the Messiah

Now we’re going to move backwards in the book of Acts

In chapter 2, we find the first sermon preached by an apostle after Jesus’ resurrection
– Peter presented the same argument as Paul (only Peter’s message was longer and included more scripture)
• when he gets to the end, he says,
“Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36)
– wouldn’t you assume that the crucifixion of its leader would end a movement?
• that was, in fact, the objective
Caiaphas . . . said to them, “You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish” “So from that day on the made plans to put him to death (Jn. 11:50 and 53)
◦ but despite what he had in mind, Jesus’ death did not end the movement
◦ instead, it fulfilled a criteria that qualified Jesus as the Messiah
He [Caiaphas] did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who were scattered abroad (Jn. 11:51-52)
• with another small step backwards, we come to this verse:
This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses (Acts 2:32)
◦ so in “this Jesus” there rests a hope that even death cannot extinguish

One more time we’re going to move backwards in Acts

Jesus had spent his very last moments on earth with the disciples
– they asked their most pressing question and he answered them
• he also told them what would happen in their immediate future
◦ and while they were watching,
he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight
• no telling how long they would have stood there gawking skyward
◦ but we’re told,
two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:9-11)
– now we have an idea of Advent hope
• this Jesus who was sent from God into the world is the Messiah
◦ this Jesus suffered as we suffer – he died and was buried
◦ this Jesus broke the chains of death, freeing himself and us
◦ this Jesus will return, and bring heaven to earth
• Christmas is anticipation, expectation, and celebration
◦ it ties together past, present, and future
◦ and during Advent, it is possible to experience moments of the eternal now, if during this season we make time for quiet reflection
– after all, there is no Christmas apart from this Jesus

Listen to a couple lines of a prayer Paul prayed for believers

I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your heart enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you . . . . (Ep. 1:16-18)
– this inspires me as much as anything in the Scriptures
• it is the reason I take time to read, reflect, and sit in silence
• it is not as if I receive a revelation every day,
◦ but if God’s Spirit has something to say to me, I want to be there to hear it
– today God has something to say to us about
this Jesus who looked at the crowds and felt compassion for them
this Jesus who touched blind eyes and deaf ears and healed them
this Jesus who lifted children into his arms and blessed them
this Jesus who rebuked hypocrites and forgave sinners
this Jesus who loved the unlovable and forgave the unforgivable
this Jesus whose birth is Christmas and resurrection is Easter
• and through these he procured our new birth and eternal life

Conclusion: One more word about Advent

It is not four weeks of Sunday celebrations
– Advent is a season
So with everything else that goes on during this hectic time of year,
let’s try to remember that this is a season of HOPE
No matter what,
let’s hang onto the hope that hangs on to us

Welcome and Prayer: Nancy Lopez

Welcome to RefleXion               May the Spirit of the Lord be with you all!

The inner life and the outer life.  If you’re like me, you may have had a season focused on the outer life and attention to service and right action.  In the past several years, the Lord has given me an invitation to focus on my inner life, and I know that’s often what I share about.  But both inward and outward attention to God are necessary.  To do the outward without the right motivation is a clanging cymbal; to be only attending to self-awareness may be a stream impeded.  I’d like to share an image that our friend, Bill Dogterom, posted on social media recently.

“Simultaneity is Thomas Kelly‘s word for both inward attention to the work and way of God in us, and outward attention to the place and ways we are in the world. I wonder (Bill says) if being able to live in both at once is similar to learning to play the piano with both hands – first beginning one after the other then slowly integrating them until they are both able to play fluidly together. Never forgetting the melody of the Kingdom which enables the music.”

Since Bill quoted Thomas Kelly, I went to my book A Testament of Devotion by Kelly.  If you aren’t familiar, Thomas R. Kelly was considered a Quaker mystic–a writer, speaker, scholar, who lived in the early 1900’s.  I’m reading a few sentences from the book:

“There is a way of ordering our mental life on more than one level at once.  On one level we may be thinking, discussing, seeing, calculating, meeting all the demands of external affairs.  But deep within, behind the scenes, at a profounder level, we may also be in prayer and adoration, song and worship, and a gentle receptiveness to divine breathing.  The secular world of today values and cultivates only the first level, assured that there is where the real business of mankind is done and scorns, or smiles in tolerant amusement, at the cultivation of the second level–a luxury enterprise, a vestige of superstition, an occupation for special temperaments; but some men know that the deep level of prayer and of divine attendance is the most important thing in the world, because it is at this deep level that the real business of life is determined.”

This is simultaneity.  Inflow and Outflow–we are always living a life of overflow.  What happens in us is expressed outwardly.  We know the Beatitude that encourages us, “Blessed are the Pure in Heart, for they shall see God.”   And, there’s a Proverb that says, “Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.”  Not this OR that, but Both/And.

So, I hope and pray that my life is learning to play the piano with both hands, in harmony with the melody of the Kingdom. Join me in prayer, will you:  Lord God, thank you for creating us to make music, to be engaged in harmony with Your Spirit.  We know it is not only our work, but the way of our work that becomes a blessing.  Let us be attuned to the Spirit who orchestrates our inner life and to Your work and ways in the world.  Give us opportunities to be a blessing, Lord, for the Kingdom’s sake.  Thank you for Your Presence with us, this morning and always.     Amen

Today’s Talk: Guy Gray

Three Dimensions of Christian Faith and Life

Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida,
while he dismissed the crowd. And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to
pray. And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. And he saw
that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them.
And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by
them, but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, for they all
saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be
afraid.” And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, for
they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.
When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore. And when
they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him and ran about the whole region and
began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he came, in
villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might
touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well. Mark 6:45-56

We will look at three images from our passage:
• Jesus on the Mountain
• Jesus in the storm
• Jesus on the shore
Each image represents one important dimension of Christian Faith and Life

1. Jesus on the mountain, alone, praying for his disciples
Mountain scenes in the gospel are always scenes of transcendent glory.
This mountain scene in Mark 6
is a preview of another mountain scene soon to come in Mark 9 – Jesus on the mount of transfiguration.
The mount of transfiguration is clearly a picture of the transcendent glory of Jesus. It is also a preview –
a preview of Jesus in his post resurrection glory as the risen Lord.
As we read about Jesus on the mountain in Mark 6, it’s clear that Mark wants us to focus exclusively on
Jesus. Mark is the gospel of non stop action. It’s miracle after miracle and controversy after
controversy. Even chapter 6 is filled with intense descriptions of crowds, controversy, and action. But
then comes this unexpected scene with Jesus by himself. The crowds are gone. Even the disciples are
gone. And the text tells us clearly that Jesus is all alone.
Even in the dark of night, with the disciples miles away on the water in a small boat, Jesus sees them.
This is amazing.
The point of the story is to cause us to pause and consider Jesus. Who is Jesus?
If I could chose one word to describe this scene, I would call it “majesty”. This is the unique glory of
Jesus on display. This scene, along with the other mountain scenes and other scenes in the gospel
portray the unique glory of who Jesus is. He is unlike any other.
This is the first important dimension of my Christian Life and Faith. Everything depends on my vision of
who Jesus is. But actually, it’s not “my” vision of Jesus. It’s better to say, it is the biblical vision of Jesus
that matters.
Think of this dimension of Christian faith and life as the “theological” dimension.
After 50 years of studying the biblical vision of who Jesus is, I am more convinced than ever that Jesus is
utterly unique. He is the incarnate Son of God, who died for our sins, and rose again as Lord and King of
a new creation. This is the majesty of Jesus.

2. The next image is Jesus in the storm, walking of the water, intending to pass by the disciples
The disciples are struggling at the oars with the wind against them. It’s 3 am, pitch dark. They are
exhausted and afraid. Jesus appears walking on the water. But for some reason, he intends to pass
them by.
All of this is mysterious. If there is one word to describe this whole scene, it is the word “mystery”.
This is the second important dimension of my Christian life. I call it “ the mystery of Jesus in our lived
experience.”
I believe I will experience the presence and power of Christ in my life, but I don’t know when, or how, or
what it is going to look like.
I have had many profound experiences of Christ’s presence in my life. Often, they come in the most
random and unexpected ways!
But on the other hand, I also believe I can “put myself in the way of experiencing Christ.” There are
practices I can engage in that may open my heart to experience Christ. One practice that has helped me
I learned from reading St. Augustine’s Confessions. He makes a startling assertion. He says the most
likely place we can encounter God is in the past! He reasons that every experience in the present
instantly moves into the past. Because of that, it is in our memory that we can encounter Christ. He
teaches us to go back though our life experiences, moving through them prayerfully. Bringing them
before God in prayer and asking God to show us where he was in each experience. Praying to see God’s
grace and guidance and intervention. Giving thanks.
Yet even this is not a guarantee we will experience Christ. Christ is free to do what he will in his time
and way.

3. The third image is Jesus on the shore with a crowd of hurting people
No doubt the disciples were still in shock, processing what they just experienced. But Jesus is moving
forward into ministry. This image of Jesus with the crowd of hurting people is an image of the heart of
God for ministry to hurting and broken lives. One word we could use for this image is the word
“mission.”
This is the third important dimension of my Christina faith and life.
Jesus wants his disciples to move beyond simply reflecting on their personal experience with Jesus. He
wants them to join him on mission by seeing this crowd of hurting people and joining him in moving to
meet their spiritual and physical needs.

Summary
One way to think of these three dimensions is like this:
• The theological dimension
• The experiential dimension
• The missional/ministry dimension
We must hold these three dimensions closely together. Often people will focus on just one, or maybe
two of these dimension. But truly knowing and following involves all three.

Christians are on a life quest to know and follow Jesus.
• It’s a life quest to develop a biblical vision of who Jesus is in the unique glory of his person.
• It’s a life quest to experience Jesus’ presence, power, and love in our lived experience.
• It’s a life quest to join Jesus in his ministry to hurting people in our broken world.

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Welcome and Prayer: Nancy Lopez

Welcome – I’m so glad we get to be together today.  May the Spirit be with you!

I found a cartoon from Family Circus.  It features an older sister comforting a younger brother as they watch a storm outside their window, rain, darkness, thunder and lightening.  She says to him, “Don’t be afraid, it’s just God givin’ us some thunder and enlightening.” 

Today is Pentecost Sunday, and I wonder what the Disciples were experiencing as they gathered together to wait for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, as Jesus had instructed them.  They were already fearing for their very lives.  Ten days of prayer and waiting, and then the Spirit of God descended to fill them.  I’m sure fear, even terror, was felt in that scene.  Scripture describes it this way in Acts Ch. 2: Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them.  Can you imagine what they saw and felt?  I mean, when the Holy Spirit fell on Jesus at His baptism, it was a dove!

We remember that Jesus had already breathed on the disciples and declared, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”  That was on the first day after His resurrection.  But this, THIS, is something more.  The Acts passage continues: And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.

Thunder and Enlightening…that’s what they experienced!  So, friends, are you experiencing a bit of thunder in your world?   Perhaps you could be on the lookout for some enlightening!

I’m offering the Pentecost prayer this morning from the Celtic Prayer Book.
Most powerful Holy Spirit
come down upon us
and subdue us.

From heaven,
where the ordinary
seems glorious,
and the glorious
is but ordinary,

bathe us
with the brilliance
of your light
like dew.

The morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, should I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you? Is not Boaz our relative with whose young women you were? See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. Wash therefore and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do.” And she replied, “All that you say I will do.” Ruth 3:1-5

Intro: This past week was about getting things done

Not everything on my to-do list–not even one, one-hundredth
– one appointment was scheduled several weeks ago
• another one that I had to plan and prepare myself to complete
◦ I’ll have more to say about this later
• my point is that in our day-to-day passage through life,
◦ I am no different than you
◦ we all have to deal with schedules and appointments and getting things done
– the Book of Proverbs offers us a guide to wise decisions and actions
• the philosophy behind the Proverbs is simple:
◦ God is the source of all wisdom – so reverence him
◦ use common sense
◦ integrity will serve you and your community better than duplicity
◦ when stuck, be creative (but stick to the path of the righteous)
◦ ask for help – seek the counsel of wise people
• it is wisdom to plan and prepare for the future

This is what we find Naomi doing

“My daughter”
Robert Alter, “This reiterated form of address is a token of Naomi’s constant affection for Ruth.”
“should I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you?”
– Naomi has had this concern for Ruth from the start (Ruth 1:9)
• she blessed her daughters-in-law with safety and security in the homes of their husbands
– Boaz’ interest in Ruth had not been lost on Naomi
• so she makes plans that involve some “maneuvering”
• probably a little more than the Proverbs recommend
◦ it required a special skill – more like chess than checkers

Naomi knew, at end of harvests there would be a celebration
– winnow means to use wind or a fan to separate the husk from a kernel of grain
• there was a special place for doing this – the threshing floor
◦ it was a festive event – the way grape stomping is depicted in film and TV
• and, important for Naomi’s purpose, Boaz would be present and accessible
– it was a simple plan: Ruth was to make herself presentable
• then go to the harvest festival, but stay in background
◦ she would have to keep her eye on Boaz,
◦ notice when he’s done celebrating and where he beds down
• that is when she would approach him
◦ “uncover his feet” may mean nothing more than that
◦ from that point on, Boaz would take the lead
Ruth’s response, “All that you say I will do”

(Please read vv. 6-13) We may discern a whiff of romance in this scene

However, there is a stronger feeling of suspense
– we cannot predict how Boaz will react to Ruth’s approach
• this uncertainty is intensified when he wakes up startled and barks at her, “Who are you?”
• that’s the moment Ruth makes her intentions known
I am Ruth, your servant. Spread [the corner of your robe] over your servant
– she uses a word with a double-meaning – kanawf
(it refers to the edge of something, the corner of a blanket or garment, or the wings of a bird)
• it is the word Boaz had used in blessing Ruth (chapter 2, verse 12)
The LORD repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!”
◦ Ruth may be saying that Yahweh would provide her refuge under Boaz’ wings as well
• a few weeks ago I said that we are all artists
◦ what I want to emphasize here is Ruth’s artistic creativity
◦ Naomi did not give her this line, she came up with it herself
it states her request perfectly, using another meaning of his own metaphor
– one other detail, Ruth reminds Boaz, “for you are a redeemer”
• we went over this last week
• a family member with a legal opportunity and responsibility

Naomi and Ruth could not have asked for a more enthusiastic response from Boaz
– Boaz had his eye on Ruth, but he was unsure of who she had her eye on
• he is pleased to learn this young woman wants him
◦ besides whatever physical attraction he felt toward her
all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman
• literally “my people of the gate” – the city gate served as town hall and county courthouse
◦ so he is referring to everyone living within the jurisdiction of the city gate
◦ that will be location of the first scene in the next chapter
– Boaz saw in Ruth something that was true of himself (Ruth 2:1)
• if we see in someone an attribute we value, it is attractive

Boaz delivers the same line Ruth used with Naomi, I will do for you all that you ask
– but there was a complication
• the success in the first stage of Naomi’s plan can be lost in next stage
• this snag creates greater tension than anything else in the entire story
– there was another redeemer who stood in the way
• and, there was valuable property at stake
• we are stuck in suspense through the rest of the night
◦ for now, nothing can be done to resolve it
◦ however, if that obstacle is removed, Boaz swears,
“As the LORD lives, I will redeem you”
(note that he does not mention the property, because that was not his interest)

(Please read vv. 14-18) Ruth reports back to Naomi

“How did you fare, my daughter?” – she is eager to know
– Ruth’s report includes the generous gift she brought home,
• and that he reportedly said,
“You must not go back empty-handed”
• this is exactly how Naomi described her return to Bethlehem
“I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty” (Ruth 1:21)
– now Naomi’s new instruction to Ruth is “Wait”
• of course, we find this more difficult than doing something
• our challenge is to not let things eat at us while we wait

There is one more detail in this story I want to show you

It may not seem like much at first, but I think it’s important
– the most dramatic moment of this episode occurs on threshing floor
• the threshing floor is a recurring symbol in the Scriptures
◦ and the message it speaks comes all the way down to us
• the threshing floor is a place of identification, decision, and separation
– what happens on the threshing floor?
Things get sorted out!

The first instance in scripture is ironic, because it doesn’t mention a threshing floor
– but it should, because Gideon was threshing wheat, but he was doing it
in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites
• an angel appeared to him and commissioned him
◦ this was a decisive moment for Gideon
◦ it separated him from his life of fear and inaction, and gave him a new identity
• there were more separations – soldiers in his army were threshed out twice
◦ the kernel separated from the husk
– the next two examples are found in the story of David
• Uzzah died after placing his hand on the Ark of the Covenant — and that happened
when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon . . .
• it was a pronouncement of judgment – they were to do the Lord’s work in the Lord’s way (cf. 1 Chr. 15:2, 12-13)
◦ the chaff had to be separated from the wheat
• David’s last big mistake resulted in judgment on Israel
◦ but God relented when his avenging angel came to Jerusalem
And the angel of the LORD was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan (1 Chr. 21:15)
◦ this threshing floor became the sacred space on which the temple was built (2 Chr. 3:1)
– one more example involved two kings Ahab and Jeroboam
• Ahab was the most evil king ever – Jeroboam was one of the best
• they were a mismatch, but had allied themselves for war
◦ when they sought first to hear from a prophet whether they should go into battle,
they were sitting at the threshing floor at the entrance to the gate of Samaria (2 Chr. 18:9)
◦ soon the chaff would be separated from the grain
(Ahab died from a battle wound and Jeroboam escaped with his life)
– both Jeremiah and Micah referred to a threshing floor as a place of judgment (Jer. 51:33; Mic. 4:12)
– for the last reference, we turn to the New Testament and John the Baptist
I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire (Mt. 3:11-12)

Conclusion: The positive side of John’s analogy is the gift of the Holy Spirit

Today is Pentecost Sunday — the day the baby Church was given its first breath
– the significance of this event is that we are not alone
– yes, we plan, design, prepare, make schedules and appointments
• but none of that guarantees our future or the future of the Church
• Pentecost tells us that Jesus will fulfill the word he spoke to his disciples,
I will build my church (Mt. 16:18)

Last week we saw God working through what was apparently a coincidence
This week God is at work through Naomi’s plotting and planning
(the success of her maneuvers, like our own, is never guaranteed)
The point is – God’s Spirit is present and he is at work

I mentioned my busy, stressful, and oppressive week
But Wednesday morning, I found peace
It cam through something I mentioned last week about my grandson,
when he blurted out, “It’s my lucky day”
When I remembered that, I smiled and said, “It’s my luck day”
Then I began to believe it, because I knew God was in my day
I had to remind myself again on Thursday,
and God worked it out so that too was my lucky day
But I could have saved myself a lot of unhappiness earlier in the week
if I had just trusted God fully all the way through
So prepare, plan, schedule–but above all, trust God
And that bit of wisdom can be found in the Proverbs:
Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths (Pr. 3:5-6)

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. . . the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up a burn offering for yourselves. And my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.” [Then Job’s friends did what] the LORD had told them, and the LORD accepted Job’s prayer.
And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. Job 42:7-10

Intro: I lost two companions this month

I did not know them personally, so I can’t say they were my “friends”
– I’ve known them only through their writings
• when I became interested in contemplative prayer, Thich Nhat Hanh introduced me to mindful meditation
• Jim Forest, an Orthodox Christian writer, helped to broaden my spiritual growth, and enhanced my understanding of icons
◦ these men knew, respected, and appreciated each other – they were friends
◦ so I enjoy their friendship vicariously
– the theme of my talks is intimacy, and today I will go over intimacy between close friends
• I can only share a few ideas
• a thorough exploration of friendship would require a whole series of talks in itself

Job had three friends who were close–at first
Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place . . . . They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him. And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and the tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for the saw that his suffering was very great. Job 2:11-13

So far, so good
– sometimes the best way to comfort someone in grief is to just be present
• stunned and empathic silence can provide more comfort that empty words
• in fact, they would have done better to remain silent
(later on, Job will say as much:
Oh that you would keep silent,
and it would be your wisdom! Job 13:5)

But when Job began to talk, they panicked
– his speech was dark and hopeless
• and it threatened their whole notion of reality and God
◦ the dogma that people believed and on which they staked their lives,
◦ was that good people get the good things of life, and bad people get the bad things
• Job’s experience and his bitter complaints contradicted their worldview and sense of justice
◦ here he was, a good and righteous man, suffering the fate of the wicked
– the fear Job’s friends felt turned to anger quickly
• in his second speech he warned his friends,
He who withholds kindness from a friend
forsakes the fear of the Almighty (Job 6:14)
and later on, My friends scorn me (Job 16:20)
◦ Job will call them
worthless physicians (Job 13:4) and miserable comforters (Job 16:2)
◦ he will complain and cry out,
All my intimate friends abhor me,
those whom I loved have turned against me. . . .
Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, O you my friends
for the hand of God has touched me! (Job 19:19 and 21)

When we reach the end of Job’s story, God reconciles him to his friends
– what happens in the passage I read earlier surprises me
• God assumes the roll of mediator – he tells them how to repair their relationship
◦ even with wealth and livestock, Job was not fully restored until he had his friends back
• the process of reconciliation included a sacred ritual and prayer
◦ their friendship was for God a serious concern
◦ serious enough for him to intervene personally
– before now, did you know this?
• that friendship not only involves us physically and psychologically, but also spiritually?
So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift (Mt. 5:23-24)

Nowadays, when we use the word friend, we have to qualify it

Someone is a “close” friend, or “true,” or “good,” or “casual”
– sometimes the qualifier expresses doubt, as with a “supposed friend”
• the reason for this may be that we do not know what “friend” means
– Facebook has made a mess of the concept of friend
• it keeps offering me total strangers as “friend” suggestions
◦ as if friends of my friends can become my friends also with a simple click
◦ no one has one thousand “friends”!
• to “unfriend” someone is a terrible way to describe a preference
◦ when all you want is to stop your newsfeed from being filled with political rants or photos of kittens

We can get a general idea of what friend means from the Proverbs

The wise sage tells us,
A friend loves at all times (Pr. 17:17) EVEN ON YOUR WORST DAYS
A man of many companions may come to ruin,
but there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother (Pr. 18:24)
– conversations with a friend lift our spirits
Oil and perfume make the heart glad,
and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel (Pr. 27:9)
• even a friend’s brutal honesty is valuable
Faithful are the wounds of a friend;
profuse are the kisses of an enemy (Pr. 27:6)
• you can trust a friend with your worst secrets
Whoever covers an offense seeks love,
but he who repeats a matter separates close friends (Pr. 17:9)

Intimacy with a friend is built on trust and safety

That is because, in order to get close, we have to “reveal” our inner self
– not everything, but specific things
• for instance, in order for what we feel and experience make sense to our friend
• if my friend is going to understand me, he or she will have to know me,
◦ to know me, I have to reveal parts of myself
– that is one side of the coin – the other side is discovery
• our friend reveals a hidden inner self, and we begin to discover who this person is
◦ in reality, there are two discoveries friends make
◦ I discover what my friend reveals, but I also discover parts of myself
Iron sharpens iron,
and one man sharpens another. . . .
As in water face reflects face,
so the heart of man reflects the man (Pr. 27:17 & 19)
• friends share things that wake us up to what lies inside our own hearts
Olivier Clement, “Spiritual progress has no other test in the end, nor any better expression, than our ability to love. It has to be unselfish love founded on respect . . . a disinterested affection that does not ask to be paid in return, a ‘sympathy’, indeed an ‘empathy’ that takes us out of ourselves enabling us to ‘feel with’ the other person . . . . It gives us the ability to discover in the other person an inward nature as mysterious and deep as our own, but different and willed to be so by God.”

The reveal part of friendship will always be a challenge, a risk
– and it can be scary – “Did I say too much?!”
• but in close friendships, being vulnerable is not as uncomfortable
◦ we know that all can be forgiven
• but some of us get stuck – we identify too much with our “old self”
◦ with its guilt and shame – it’s ugly past and ugly impulses
◦ we fear that if we’re seen for what we are, we will be rejected
– the blessing vulnerability brings, is that it frees you to be yourself
• you don’t have to modify yourself to be accepted
• intimacy in friendship requires integrity at every turn
◦ If I’m going to be known, it has to be for who I am — all my integrated parts
◦ but friends also appreciate the fact that we are in a state of “becoming”

We cannot force a friendship

We may see someone or meet someone we would like for a friend
– so we reach out to that person – but that’s as far as we can go
• if you are coerced into spending time with someone,
◦ that person is not a true friend
• we’ve been told to choose our friends wisely
◦ but I don’t know that we choose our friends
◦ I think we just find each other somehow
and at beginning, you can’t predict where it will go
– everyone who has had friends makes mistakes
• one mistake: you try to befriend a person incapable of being a true friend
◦ someone with a personality disorder, like a narcissist
◦ that person simply cannot be there for you
• another mistake: you have a close relationship, but
◦ the other person has a bad influence on you (2 Sam. 13:3)
◦ or we have a bad influence on each other — a wicked chemistry
C. S. Lewis, “. . . the dangers are perfectly real. Friendship can be a school of virtue . . .; but also a school of vice . . . . It is ambivalent. It makes good men better and bad men worse.”

Friends do not grill each other for personal information
– they don’t ask for confessions or pry into secrets
• we talk about our mutual interests – whatever we both love
• this is the essence of Christian friendship; God is our first and greatest love
– don’t trust the person who pries or spies
And when one comes to see me, he utters empty words,
while his heart gathers iniquity;
when he goes out, he tells it abroad (Ps. 41:6)

One of the deepest wounds we can suffer is a friend’s betrayal

For it is not an enemy who taunts me—
then I could bear it;
it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me—
then I could hide from him.
But it is you, a man my equal,
my companion, my familiar friend.
We used to take sweet counsel together;
within God’s house we walked in the throng. . . .
My companion stretched out his hand against his friends;
he violated his covenant (Psa. 55:12-14 & 20)
– friendship is a covenant, a sacred bond
• the two of you do not have to cut your hand, drip blood on a rock, and bury it in the earth
(like my friend and I did when we were eleven years old)
◦ it is still a covenant, a shared understanding and agreement
Even my close friend in whom I trusted,
who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me (Ps. 41:9)
• John says this verse was fulfilled in Judas (Jn. 13:18)
◦ and when Judas approached Jesus in the garden to kiss him, the Lord said,
“Friend, do what you came to do” (Mt. 26:50)
◦ Jesus had already forgiven him

Jesus told a parable about laborers in the marketplace, hoping to get hired. The owner of a vineyard came and made an agreement with them to pay them a days wages for working his vineyard. Around noon he found other laborers and sent them into his vineyard to work it. An hour before quitting time, he sent other laborers into his vineyard. When at the end of the day, when he paid the laborers, he began with those who arrived last and paid them the same amount that he paid those who worked half a day and those who worked the entire day. Naturally, those who spent the whole day working complained that this was unfair. But when the owner justified his actions, he began by saying, Friend, I am doing you no wrong (Mt. 20:13-15).
Referring to the laborer as his “friend” was an invitation. The laborer could stand side-by-side with the owner and with the right attitude, share his generosity. It was an invitation to form an alliance, to do good together, to board the Jesus “friend ship” and sail with God

Conclusion: This has been for me a week of surprises

Walking our dog Kona on Tuesday, I ran into a friend I had not seen in several years
It was a wonderfully joyful moment,
and we arranged to spend time the next day to catch up

Later in the week I received a message from a roommate of mine from fifty years ago
He was stationed in 29 Palms, and I was there planting a church
His message read, “You have been in my thoughts and trust all is well. How are you doing?”
Later, I noticed that he sent the same message to another friend from our church there,
and then later I noticed he sent it to yet another
We are all still friends who have loved each other all these years

Then, Friday, I received text from a friend who lives far away
She asked, “When can we chat?”
So last night we were on the phone for two or three hours.
Each of these encounters brought rich blessings

We miss out on so much love by not staying in touch
God cares about friendship – so he helps us reconcile and repair them when they rupture
Then, finally, there is Jesus Christ, A friend of sinners
Not an imaginary friend, but the true Friend, our best Friend,
Always forgiving, always faithful,
and if Jesus were the only friend I had, he would be enough

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O LORD, my heart is not lifted up;
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me.
O Israel, hope in the LORD
from this time forth and forevermore. Psalm 131

Intro: When we read the Psalms, we are in the realm of sacred poetry

Poetry begins in the heart and it speaks to the heart
– we can analyze a poem – take it into the lab and dissect it
• but if we go too far, we kill the specimen
• in our first encounter with a poem we need to hear it–that’s all
◦ listen to the music of its rhythm
◦ feel the effect of its words and images
– what I feel in this poem is contentment
• here is a poet who accepts himself as he is
my heart is not lifted up
◦ in the Old Testament, a heart lifted up is conceited, full of itself
my eyes are not raised too high
◦ eyes looking downward is a gesture of humility
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me
• he does not grasp at things beyond his reach
◦ this reminds me of a classic Eastwood line,
“A man’s got to know his limitations”

Rather than striving for greater status, more things, or being agitated with his circumstances,
– the poet has calmed his anxious and troubled soul
• wanting to communicate his heart,
• he looked for a metaphor to illustrate his restful state
– a “weaned child” is not a nursing child and is not on his mother’s lap to feed,
• but to receive love, soothing, reassurance
◦ the picture is well-chosen
◦ the mother’s arms and voice are enough
• the psalm ends, “O Israel, hope in the LORD”
◦ my soul cannot find rest if it has no hope
◦ it’s a lovely poem – and a challenge to us in our frenetic times
Charles Spurgeon, “It is one of the shortest psalms to read, but one of the longest to learn.”

It turns out, the psalmist was onto something

Only recently have psychologist come to appreciate it
– typically, the mother is the primary source of the infant’s sense of security and safety
• two names stand out in the early stages of research into mother-child bonding
◦ British psychologist, John Bowlby and Canadian psychologist, Mary Ainsworth
• Bowlby introduced the concept of “attachment theory”
◦ research indicated babies come into the world hardwired for connection
◦ how well they bond with others depends on their bond with the mother
Bowlby, “Initially the only means of communication between infant and mother is through emotional expression and its accompanying behavior. Although supplemented later by speech, emotionally mediated communication nonetheless persists as a principal feature of intimate relationships throughout life.”
A “secure attachment” is one “in which the individual is confident that his parent (or parent figure) will be available, responsive, and helpful should he encounter adverse or frightening situations.”
◦ what enables a mother to provide a secure attachment?
Bowlby, “. . . it is necessary also to consider what has led a mother to adopt the style of mothering she does. One major influence on this is the amount of emotional support, or lack of it, she herself is receiving at the time. Another is the form of mothering that she herself received when a child.”
• initially, Bowlby concluded that there were two “attachment styles”:
◦ “secure” and “insecure
– Mary Ainsworth, however, extended his research
• she devised a way to test a child’s attachment to mother
◦ by close observation of a toddler in a variety of different situations
◦ this was dubbed, “The Strange Experiment”
• she discovered two forms of insecure attachment:
◦ “insecure avoidant” and “insecure anxious/resistant”
◦ later research identified a third–“insecure disorganized”

Research was advanced in 1970’s by filming infant and toddler behavior
– then slowly analyzing the films frame by frame and noting vocalizations, body language and facial expression
Colwyn Trevarthen, “through detailed analysis of timing and expression [researchers were] able to show that infants are actually born with playful intentions and sensitivity to the rhythms and expressive modulations of a mother’s talk and her visible expressions and touches.”
• later on, advanced imaging technology allowed them to observe the living brain in action
• in this way they were able to discover what structures in the brain were activated during bonding exercises
Trevarthen, “We now know that there are widespread events in both cortical and subcortical regions of the brain that are specific to emotions and intentions, and that these animate the acquisition of conceptual knowledge or motor skills. . . . [These structures of the brain] involved in both making and recognizing coordinated patterns of facial and vocal expressions, including those that will eventually produce and receive language, are already specialized for these functions in a 2-month-old infant.”

Are you wondering, “Where is Chuck going with this?”

We learn intimacy through our family, beginning at our birth
– what does knowing this do for you and I today?
• first: it gives us a way to understand our own intimacy skills
◦ what do we know about being intimate with another?
◦ what was our experience? what were our examples like?
◦ how well developed are our skills?
• second: it suggests some basic skills for developing intimacy
◦ and perhaps healing for any damage done to our own bonding experience
– so, lesson one: “charity” really does “begin at home”

Is there a list of instructions we can follow?

We have to be careful when it comes to lists
– for instance, our “list” for an intimate marriage may include:
• commitment: but what if a woman endangers herself and children because she refuses to divorce an abusive husband
• communication: but here is an educated couple who are very articulate when they pour contempt on each other
• compassion: but one person treats their spouse in a condescending way – with pity, as if talking to a child
• communication itself is not what makes for intimacy
◦ what counts is the nature and quality of the couple’s interaction
– another concern:
• using a list to demand specific performance from the other spouse
• the most commonly abusive example is men telling their wives they must “submit”

Everything that can be said regarding intimacy needs to be qualified
– it also has to be adapted to a family’s various personalities

We need to think about an environment that fosters family intimacy

Trust – we can rely on each other
Safety – no one is going to be harmed; physically, verbally, or emotionally
Acceptance – for who I am and what I am not
Mutual understanding – sincere listening to each other
Healthy honesty – we do not have to share everything
Empathic – we feel for and with each other; we feel what the other person feels

We need to think about behavior that fosters family intimacy

Involvement – each person is emotionally present and engaged
Attention – not 100% of time, but definitely when someone needs it
Affirmation – you not only exist, but you know your existence is special
Affection – we need touch; our bodies need it as well as our souls
– you know, Jesus did not have to touch every person he healed
Sensitivity – awareness of others’ attitude or body language
– our sensitivity is diminished by our own stress and anxiety
– we need to be aware of this
Responsive – you get serious feedback from others
Conversations – that get to the core of our emotional needs and wants
Mercy – forgiveness is always available
Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.” (Mt. 18:21-22)

We need to think about what blocks intimacy

Negative patterns of interaction – family “habits”
Lies – we can always work with the truth, even if painful
Judgment – if I as a person am condemned, labeled, shamed I will not seek intimacy with those who do these things to me
– or I may feel incapacitated by the judgment of others
Apathy – not trying or not caring
Abusive speech or actions
Neglect – if we don’t bother with each other, don’t listen — a passive form of abuse

Conclusion: Every positive thing mentioned above is true of Jesus

And this really is the point
We love, because we were first loved (1 Jn. 4:19)
Scripture also tells us, “God is love” (1 Jn. 4:8)
God has built into us a need for love and the capacity to love
The pursuit of intimacy is our path of spiritual development
– spiritual growth and an ever truer, deeper love for others are not different paths, but the are one and the same
If we do not want to seek intimacy for ourselves,
because don’t feel the need for it, or it’s too risky, or it requires too much work,
we must do it for the sake of others
Oivier Clements, “Spiritual progress has no other test in the end, nor any better expression, than our ability to love.”

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God 1 John 4:7

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So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said,
“This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man.”
Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. [Read Genesis 2:18-25]

Intro: Awhile back I read The Healing Power of Emotion

An anthology of essays written by specialists in the fields of neuroscience and applied psychology
– afterward, I read several books by the authors of those essays
• one author was Sue Johnson, who pioneered Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)
◦ in Hold Me Tight, she explains research behind EFT and provides lots of examples of how it works in therapy
• it turned out that Johnson has a Christian friend, Ken Sanderfer, who is also a therapist
◦ he suggested that she write a book specifically for Christians
Sue Johnson, “This made perfect sense. As Kenny and I placed the science of EFT alongside the ancient wisdom of the Christian Scriptures, clear and consistent parallels between EFT and biblical teachings about divine love and God’s teachings about human love leapt out at us.”
– I read that book too – Created for Connection
• and that brings me to the point of why I have told you all of this
◦ I am “borrowing” the title of her book for my next few
Ken Sanderfer, “I don’t believe the Bible was ever intended to be a marriage book, but it is a beautiful love story—a story about a God in pursuit of His bride. We are the bride of Christ. God created us to have a relationship with Him and with others. . . . Our relationship with God is essential to how we connect with others, and our view of God is influenced by our lifelong interactions with others.”
• we will consider our close relationships in the light of the Scriptures
◦ we’ll work our way through our various friendships towards intimate closeness with God

Today I’ll share a few random thoughts about intimacy

In story of Adam and Eve we’re given an ideal model of intimacy
– the man holds fast to his wife and they become one flesh
• Hebrew word for hold fast means also cling to, stick to, and joined
◦ a bond is formed that holds them together

In one of my factory jobs, a pro told me that in using glue the strongest bond is when glue is applied to the two surfaces that are to be joined. If the glue penetrates the surface, the two parts adhere so well that it is like they have become one piece instead of two.

• later on, in the law of Moses, provision is made for breaking that intimate marriage bond
◦ Jesus had an explanation for that stipulation
And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.” (Mt. 19:3-8)
– every other living organism, God made using soil
• not the woman–she was made of existing human stuff
◦ so the man and woman share a shared existence and a unique closeness
◦ they are capable of an intimacy unknown in any other relationship
• one of Christianity’s earliest and most powerful thinkers was Origen
◦ he saw an analogy in Eve coming from Adam’s wounded side
Origen, “From the wound in Christ’s side has come forth the Church, and he has made her his Bride.”
◦ through the cross, we are remade, and from same stuff as Jesus

Although marital intimacy is unique, we can find closeness in other relationships

But what does that mean?
– are you close to a particular relative? an aunt? a cousin? a sibling?
• do you have a close friend? Or a closest friend?
• how did that closeness develop?
◦ perhaps it has a lot of the many experiences you have shared together
– some therapists talk about “building” an intimate relationship
• but for some of us, it has more to do with removing obstacles, including:
◦ if we never experienced closeness as an infant or child
◦ other past experiences of betrayal and broken trust
◦ if we’ve attempted closeness with someone who was incapable of it
(a narcissist can fake intimacy, but cannot sustain or live it)
◦ if we are insecure in relationships or never feel safe

Intimacy is always a gift – one that some people are unable or unwilling to give
– it is the gift of oneself – a sharing of who I am with another person
• in this sharing, all the parts of oneself come into play
• this doesn’t mean we share everything
◦ but there is not much that we leave hidden or covered
And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed
– closeness is the natural trajectory of redeemed human relationships
• that doesn’t mean it is easy
◦ and ir doesn’t mean we find it automatically among “Christians”
◦ we’re all human and we all struggle
• but as a new creation, we live in God’s love
God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us . . . . We love because he first loved us (1 Jn. 4:16-19)
◦ God shares with us his own loving energy
◦ so we are to be merciful because he is merciful, we are to forgive because he forgave us
we are to abide in his love

Closeness with another person requires us to face our brokenness

There are two things I want to say about this
– the first, is that we will inevitably reveal our brokenness
• if you cannot apologize for the wrong you do,
◦ you cannot maintain a close relationship — not even with your child
◦ the same is true if you cannot forgive
• it can be humiliating, in can be painful, it can seem impossible,
◦ but those broken parts will ruin a relationship if not acknowledged
◦ relationships can be repaired, and strongest tool for repairing them is forgiveness
So we must be prepared to both seek and give forgiveness
– the second thing, is that we cannot use our brokenness as an excuse
• it is an explanation for our struggle with particular issues,
◦ but once we’re aware of them,
◦ we have a responsibility to resolve and correct them
• some continue to fail, hurt, use, and abuse those who love them
◦ and then make excuse for their behavior rather than change it
◦ we need to be aware of the actions that integrate and of those that alienate

Some authors talk about the dance of intimacy

Here are two people: person ‘A’ and person ‘B’
– ‘A’ says or does something and it immediately affects ‘B’
• ‘B’ responds, or reacts, or does nothing–neither responds nor reacts
• that affects ‘A’, who then responds to ‘B’, etcetera
– in their interaction, they have an ongoing impact on each other
• awareness of that impact may be as important as the content of their communication

We need to learn the steps of this dance
– they will be slightly different with one person than with another
• we must know each dance partner well enough to perfect those steps
– dance steps that are fairly common include:
• empathy – we’ve talked a lot about this
• vulnerability – we have to be able to take what we hear
• humility – our imperfections
• emotional control – not “tight” control, but the ability to calm ourselves

It turns out that sharing our emotions is a critical factor in developing intimacy
Dan Hughes, “Through the communication of emotions, we create an opening that makes our own inner life clear to the other person. [Emotional] communication–when expressed in a reactive manner–often leads to attacks on both the other and the self. Similarly, [emotional] communication–when continuously avoided–often leads to increased isolation and loneliness rather than emotional intimacy.”
“. . . when we are able to successfully share our emotional experience with a trusted other, we are better able to regulate these emotions because the other is not being experienced as if he or she had been there with us in the event.”
– who we are is revealed when read by others in the story of our lives
• the experience and expression of emotions is central to our story
• they are the inner energy of the plot – of our decisions, actions, or inaction
◦ they reveal important elements of the story
◦ they shape our story, and they have been shaped by our story
– sharing our emotions helps others to read and know our story

Conclusion: I think most will agree,

Christianity in the United States is currently in a crisis state
– it is seriously fractured and needs a time of healing and repair
• Maximus the Theologian: was a seventh century Christian monk
He said, “Only love overcomes the fragmentation of human nature.”

Henri Nouwen, after enjoying a flourishing career in the U.S. returned to a divided church in Holland
Nouwen, “Who is to blame? I often wonder where I would be today if I had been part of the great turmoil of the Dutch Church during the last decades. Blaming is not the issue. What is important is to find the anger-free parts in people’s hearts where God’s love can be heard and received.”
We need to hear this! “Blaming is not the issue”
And, we need to find in our hearts “the anger-free parts”
so that we can experience the loving bond of Christian community
and then share it with the world

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When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”
And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. Luke 24:28-35

Intro: Years ago, I saw a news clip featuring Salvador Dali

The flamboyant surrealist artist, with his trademark handlebar mustache,
– he was famous for his painted landscapes with melting watches
• he had alerted the press that he was working on another masterpiece
◦ and he was going to complete it in front of a live audience
• the day came, and a crowd gathered and the cameras were rolling
– Dali arrived with his usual air of self-importance
• he dabbed his brush in a smudge of white paint,
◦ climbed a step-ladder, and with theatrical flourish,
◦ added to the portrait of a woman, a dot on the pupil of eye
• that was it – the painting was finished

Artists, whatever their craft, know the importance of detail
– Luke was that kind of storyteller
• he includes details not found in any other gospel
• for instance, when Jesus was on trial and Peter was in the courtyard denying that he knew him
◦ the third time Peter said, “I don’t have anything to do with him”
◦ Luke says, And the Lord turned and looked at Peter (Lk. 22:61)
– we can feel the intense emotion of that visual connection,
• even if we don’t know how to read it
◦ was it about Peter? Did it intensify the impact of what he felt?
◦ or was it about Jesus, perhaps communicating something to Peter with his eyes
“See, I told you so; I told you that you would deny me”
or more likely,
“Don’t give up, Peter. I understand. I still love you. I haven’t given up on you”
• whatever that glance meant, Peter and Jesus were connected

There are little details that enhance our story

The one I want us to think about is this:
Then they told what had happened on the road and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread

These two anonymous disciples reflect our spiritual community

Our lives are bound together by the same pursuit
– we are not driven to live as comfortably as possible
• we know that we’ve been called to a spiritual journey
• seeing that we’re all going the same direction,
◦ we meet up so we can walk together
– Jesus also walks with us
• although we don’t always recognize his presence
• what we do recognize is that mystery plays major role in journey
◦ Jesus taught the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven in parables (Mt. 13:11)
◦ Paul mentions mystery repeatedly in his letters
the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints . . . which is Christ in you, the hope of glory (Col. 1:26-27) and, For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3)

We are surrounded by mysteries – they live behind everything
– they are like those hidden-object puzzles,
• we cannot see them with our normal vision, even if we try
◦ but they do reveal themselves to faith
• every day we pass through mysteries and don’t know it
– mystery is an inner voice, an intuitive voice
• and it speaks very quietly – intuition makes only a whisper
• we need to be quiet to hear it
Olivier Clements, “We not only listen to the words of Jesus but we welcome his silence into our hearts, the mysterious presence of the Father and of the Spirit.”
Ignatius of Antioch, (lived in the second century and was a church leader in the city where believers were first called Christians) “It is better to keep silent and to be, rather than to speak but not be.”
– we are not accustomed to silence
• if not from all the noise of machines and broadcast media,
• then from the noise inside out own heads
◦ anger is very noisy – so is fear – and so is grief
◦ these two disciples were grieving

I will admit, I don’t always enjoy how biblical stories unfold

Precisely at the moment the two disciples recognized Jesus,
he vanished from their sight
– to me, this doesn’t feel right – this is not the place to interrupt story
• of course, a story well-told is always suspenseful
• only, in real life we don’t like suspense
– at any rate, the two disciples are up and on the road again
And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem
• I think they left Jerusalem, because they believed the Jesus movement was over
◦ they thought he was Messiah, but that hope died on cross
• now that their hope has been resurrected, they head back to the epicenter

This is so much like our spiritual journey
– it does not move in a straight line to heaven
• sometimes we backtrack
◦ we’re taken back to something we had already learned
• sometimes it seems we are going in circles, until God says,
You have circled this mountain long enough. Turn northward (Deut. 2:3-4)
– their journey is our journey
• Jesus has vanished from our sight
• yet we have to travel on
– how did they do it?
• how did they continue on their journey without seeing him?
• what did they have now that he wasn’t there for them to follow?
◦ what did they have to support them? to sustain them?

Here is what I find in this story

They had an encounter with Jesus that left a permanent impression
– Paul never tired of telling the story of his first encounter
• it is good for us to remember our first experience of Jesus
◦ our first discoveries and our first love
• it reminds us of what set us on this journey

They had a new connection with, and understanding of the Scriptures
. . . beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself (v. 27)
Did not our hearts burn within us while he opened to us the Scriptures? (v. 32)
– later, after they had joined the others, Jesus told them,
. . . everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures (vv. 44-45)
• the Scriptures can burn like a fire in our hearts too
Olivier Clements said, regarding “contemplative reading”:
“It happens that while listening to the Word the heart is touched by a particular saying and set on fire. Then one must stop and let the fire spread quietly.”
• we just have to be there long enough or enough times for this to begin to happen
◦ we keep going back to scripture
◦ we strike the flint until sparks fly and create a flame

They had each other and the other disciples
– it is extremely helpful to have one very close Christian friend
– an entire spiritual community is a necessity
• we are here for each other
• we are here for you

They had the breaking of the bread – the Communion meal
– the Last Supper became the first Lord’s Supper
• this is a visible facet of the mystery
• this is where their eyes were opened, where they became aware of Jesus’ presence
– if you look at Christian writing through history,
• every saint, every mystic, every spiritual theologian
• found in Communion a consistent experience of encounter with God in Christ
◦ the visible facet (bread and wine) of the mystery becomes a bridge to the invisible reality

Conclusion: When I read Bible, I sometimes forget how it works

My mind tells me I must hunt down a significant insight latent in the text
– then I have to work at developing it into a profound thought,
• a devotional encouragement, a warm feeling
• but all I do is waste my time
I do not have to come up with anything–profound or otherwise
I do not have to produce grace – I receive it
I cup my hands and stretch them our to my Father
I receive forgiveness, I receive help, I receive love
From God’s hand we receive Jesus
we receive him with the bread and the cup
And through Jesus, we receive everything