Ballerinas who never come back

After a performance of one of his ballets -- let's say it was the Petrushka -- someone said to Igor Stravinsky:

"Maestro, that was so beautiful!"

To which the great composer responded, with fatigue in his voice:

"Yes, yes, all of those ballerinas going up and down, up and down ... but it would only be beautiful if one of them would go up ...

... and never comes back down..."

Logos2Go

Genesis 5.24 Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.

2 Kings 2.11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.

1 Thessalonians 4.17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

Revelation 11.12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.

dingbat origami

If you've ever posted on Facebook or commented on blogs, you know the drill: for your post to go through, two strange words appear. Something like:

dingbat origami

You have to type them correctly as spelled or your Very Important Point (or Picture) won't be posted.

"Okay," you say, "I can do this." But it's not a slam dunk. Besides being strangely juxtaposed, both dingbat and origami are also strangely crinkled and warped so you can hardly read them.

If there is ever roadkill for words, they would look like these...

What is this all about?

Is it some kind of security check, just to make sure it is YOU posting, and not some other dingbat?

One thing is for sure: there must be some kind of random word generator in there, working overtime to spew out strange combos like:

halter breeze

simplicious gnarled

(Never: good grief).

Now, here is a question: What if we all got busy and started posting just to generate more of these random words? When do you think we'd get a series of words that make up a simple sentence? A sentence like:

Frankly I'd

rather be

in Philadelphia (?)

It might take a coupla days of trying, no? And how long do we have to try before our random word generator churned out ... presto!:

Shakespeare's Hamlet? -- the whole play, complete and unabridged.

You may have to pack a lunch; maybe several lunches. Many many lunches, my friend, before that will ever happen.

So how much longer for Shakespeare's complete works to appear by random shuffling?

How about the books of all the libraries of the world? How long?

And how about this cosmos: its orderliness and beauty ... its intricate organicism ... all the moving parts not only working, but reproducing each other so that each day is new every morning? How long would that take? How long would it take our random word generator to crank out the words:

Let there be light...

And there was light?

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John 21.25 Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

Job 38.32-35 Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs? Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God's dominion over the earth? Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water? Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, 'Here we are'?

Psalm 139.14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

Genesis 1.3 And God said, " Let there be light," and there was light.

Peace as a substance

Where did Paul get the peace he conferred upon Timothy? Let's trace its origins.

In exchange for his going away, Jesus told his disciples he would give them two things.

One was the Holy Spirit: after he departs, the Holy Spirit will come to teach his followers not only "all things," but will also remind them of what he had already told them.

The second thing was peace: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled ..."

So we are left with these two things: the Holy Spirit and peace.

This is where Paul got the peace he conferred upon Timothy.

Now the Scriptures also say that peace is one of the fruits of the Spirit. So these two gifts are intimately connected: the one is the fruit of the Other.

And as with any fruit, its emergence and growth is motivated by a life of its own. The Spirit is that life. So the peace left to us is a living peace. It is not by external contract -- as with something like "The Camp David Peace Accords." That one was by contract. That one didn't last because it was not motivated by life from within, but by contract from without.

Hence the peace of the Spirit is not a peace "as the world gives..."

But fruit also benefit from cultivation. And so we must not let our hearts be troubled. In other words, without cultivating peace, we can let our hearts be troubled. Below, the lexicon definition of peace, εἰρήνη, tells us what to cultivate.

Peace was the third substance Paul conferred on Timothy.

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1 Timothy 1.1-2 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, to Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

John 14.25-27 "All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid ..."

Galatians 5.22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness ...

εἰρήνη - Strongs G1514 - arana: 1) a state of national tranquility; 2) peace between individuals, i.e. harmony, concord; 3) security, safety, prosperity, felicity, (because peace and harmony make and keep things safe and prosperous); 4) of the Messiah's peace; 5) of Christianity, the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is; 6) the blessed state of devout and upright men after death.

Mercy as a substance

Mercy is room to heal.

We all know this cliche from everyday conversation: "Give me some space..." By this is meant need for respite, for deliverance from the din of demands. For cover and covering. Simply put, for a breather.

Mercy is space to live -- given to us when neither space nor life may actually be deserved.

And so when space is provided, and healing is given so life is sustained ... there is a word for that. Some call it dwelling.

To dwell. A house to dwell in.

It is striking how many times the word "mercy" is linked with "house" in the Scriptures. For example, here is the psalmist:

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever...

The philosopher Martin Heidegger -- and he needs to be cited cautiously whenever Biblical matters are concerned; but something he said does strike me as relevant here -- the philosopher Martin Heidegger once discerned sparing (being spared) at the heart of what it means to dwell.

He may not be far off in this one. Here again is the psalmist:

But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy; In fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple.

Mercy is a house. When we receive mercy, we have a house to dwell in.

We are spared aimlessness.

This is the second substance Paul wished on Timothy, both to receive as well as to give.

Logos2Go

1 Timothy 1.1-2 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, To Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Psalm 23.6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Psalm 5.7 But as for me, I will come [into] thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: [and] in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.

ἔλεος - Strong #G1656 - eleos

"The fundamental character of dwelling is this sparing and preserving ..." Martin Heidegger, Building Dwelling Thinking (1951)

Grace as a substance

So what is grace as a substance?

As with any of these spiritual substances (grace, mercy, peace), it might be easier to start by thinking of grace adjectivally:

Something that is graceful has an elegance, a wholesomeness, a carriage or conduct that exudes rightful proportions physically as well as metaphysically. Gracefulness elicits calm appreciation from all in its presence.

A graceful ballerina.

A graceful flowering of dogwoods in spring.

There is kindness in graceful displays: they put us at ease beyond what we would have anticipated. Gracefulness has a way of disarming one's plans and calculations.

Then we can appreciate grace adverbially:

To grace someone -- or better, to be graced by someone's presence -- is to feel included in that person's favor. Somewhere in our depths we know what we are, and our ugliness, or at least our ho-hum-ness, is not a fit for this wonderful favor we have somehow been included in. But we are.

It is a wonderful thing to be graced and, if we are capable, to grace someone else.

Then there is the most incomprehensible of them all: grace as a noun. We should really capitalize it, perhaps even remove our hats and stand, because it is a proper name:

Grace is an essence of God. Grace spares, and thus enables those who are out of proportion to His moral perfection to, nevertheless, be in His presence. That is why it is said of Jesus that He was full of grace.

Grace is the first substance Paul wished upon Timothy, both to receive as well as to give.

Logos2Go

1 Timothy 1.1-2 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, To Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

John 1.14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

χάρις Strong #G5485, charis

What Paul wished on Timothy

Actually, it was more like confer: Confer is a better word to use when the man who wrote just about 50% of the New Testament wishes something on someone.

Paul conferred grace, mercy and peace upon Timothy.

But Paul's conferral is usually not taken too seriously these days. We live in much too scientific an age to assign any value to such shibboleths as "grace," "mercy" or even "peace."

As if just wishing these polite little nothings upon someone would actually make a difference in his or her life.

And grace, mercy and peace from whom?

"... from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord ..."

Either this is a magnanimous courtesy of delusional proportions to begin a letter.

Or there is something to this ...

The God of the universe authorizing his sanctioned apostle ("Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the command of God ...") to deliver to Timothy three very valuable substances:

Grace. Mercy. Peace.

What if the sanctioned apostle delivered not these three substances, but a million dollars instead? What if the God of the Universe dispatched his servant Paul to confer upon Timothy one million dollars?

Immediately we would think that -- the million dollars -- would be substantive.

And you'd have so many many more people signing up for this Christian religion.

But if a million dollars was what was delivered then, you wouldn't have Christianity now; it would long ago have been all spent.

But God instead dispensed -- and dispenses -- Grace, Mercy, Peace.

So life is still worth living, and we have the right kind of substances to live it with.

Logos2Go

1 Timothy 1.1-2 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, To Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Music that is not fixed

In my aesthetics class a student asked about musical art, that is, art that is not "physically fixed" (as in stationary)?

How is a musical composition a "work of art?" What is the art?

Is it the arrangements of little black notes on the page that tell the performer what to play? It seems strange to say that the printed notes are the work of art.

Is it the sounds played by the performer? That's more believable; but then, does the musical work of art only "exist" when it is being played?

Is it what we retain of it in our minds? Most of us know Beethoven's Fifth Symphony (the one that goes ta-ta-ta-boom!), or the Beatles' Hey Jude (the one that goes "... take a sad sooooong, and make it bet-ter er er).

(By the way, how do you make a sad song better?).

Anyway, that seems strange too, because what you have in your mind of the Fifth, or of Hey Jude, is no doubt different than what I have in my mind.

I used to teach at Centenary College in northern New Jersey while living in Philadelphia. The drive home was always interminable, so I'd often listen to music. I recall one day I put on Brahms's Fourth Symphony ...

... and an overwhelming sense of boredom came over me:

"I've heard this before," I thought. "I know how it goes." And the drive got more interminable.

Oh for a beauty so alive you don't know how it will go.

Oh for a more beautiful drive home.

Logos2Go

Job 38.4-8 "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone-- while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? ..."

The order of things after the resurrection

There were ordinary and extra-ordinary things after the resurrection. Rick Peller and I were musing on both this morning.

Extra-ordinary:

1. No one, but no one, recognized the resurrected Jesus. Many of these were his closest associates. What does this say about the resurrected body?

2. He had flesh and bones. The resurrected body has flesh and bones.

3. He ate a fish -- at least one fish, if not more -- and a honeycomb, and bread. The resurrected body eats.

4. (What is particularly extra-ordinary about #4 is that, in Jesus' case, God ate fish and honeycombs He created).

5. This physical Person apparently had an ability to appear and disappear -- we can assume He "walked through walls").

6. We know He was on earth 40 days after the resurrection prior to His ascension. And yet in those forty days apparently He didn't do much. At least very little was recorded. Wouldn't He have at least gone to the chief priests and said, "See, I told you so ... so there" But no, He didn't.

7. The whole thing.

Ordinary:

1. He still carried at least some of the physical damages inflicted on him pre-resurrection.

2. He still had flesh and bones.

3. He still ate.

4. There are still ordinary walls to walk through.

5. There are still ordinary roads to walk on.

6. There is still a natural-physical world.

7. The whole thing.

Logos2Go

John 20.15 Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away."

Luke 24.15-16 While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.

Luke 24.39 "See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have."

Luke 24.42-43 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them.

Luke 24.36 As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, "Peace to you!"

Acts 1.3 To them he presented himself alive after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

Liberated by a preposition

Some years ago I was liberated by a preposition, and these days I've been thinking back on those awakening days.

It happened when I discovered that I was accepted by God not because of my faith IN Christ, but because of the faith OF Christ.

What is curious to me is that the obvious Greek possessive OF -- (or at least what seems obvious to me; I would welcome further information) -- is obviously translated incorrectly as IN in several key passages.

For example, here is Galatians 2.16 translated in the Revised Standard Version (I capitalize the IN):

... a man is not justified by works of the law but through faith IN Jesus Christ ...

But here is the Greek wording (I underline the OF Jesus Christ, followed by a more accurate translation from the good old King James Version):

... οὐ δικαιοῦται ἄνθρωπος ἐξ ἔργων νόμου ἐὰν μὴ διὰ πίστεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ

(...a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith OF Jesus Christ ...)

It is all the difference in the world. It is a difference between bondage and liberation.

Here is a weak example: if I had a million dollars, would I feel more secure if it is in the bank or under my mattress? If it is under my mattress, my efforts at keeping it safe would be intense.

But if it is in the bank, my "believing" that it is there would simply be a matter of the affirmation of a fact, not the maintenance of an effort.

On any given day I wouldn't even think about it, because I need expend no effort at keeping it safe.

So a man's salvation is secure in the bank (the faith) OF Jesus Christ.

And so Paul says: I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've entrusted unto him against that day.

Logos2Go

Versions that translate Galatians 2.16 "the faith OF Jesus Christ": KJV, Youngs, Darby, Websters, Hebrew Names Version)

Versions that translate Galatians 2.16 "... faith IN Jesus Christ": NIV, ESV, NASB, RSV, ASV)

Other passages containing "OF Jesus Christ...": Galatians 2.20 (the faith OF the son of God), Romans 3.22.

2 Timothy 1.12 ...nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Reproductive Faith

Paul addresses Timothy as his son in the faith.

Several verses later, Paul tells Timothy -- his son in the faith -- that the goal of his charge to him is ... a sincere faith.

The two uses of the word "faith" are different. Sincere faith describes a quality of faith. On any given day, Timothy's practice of his faith might be less than sincere.

But this doesn't change the fact that Timothy is Paul's son in THE faith.

There it is again: THE faith. This is the faith once delivered.

This is the Republic of Faith, a land objective from you and me. Have a bad day, and the state of the Republic of Faith remains strong.

Or perhaps it is the Kingdom of Faith, since it is under a King. It is a Kingdom permeated through and through with His faith.

It is a fertile land, and like any fertile land, it is organic. As we live in its metes and bounds, we reproduce life.

We bring into the world spiritual sons and daughters.

Logos2Go

1 Timothy 1.1-5 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, to Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God's work-which is by faith. The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

Jude 1.3 ... I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.

The joy of the faith once delivered

I am joyful these days for the faith once delivered.

It is like the America once discovered.

A land once discovered, just like a faith once delivered, doesn't go away.

Have a bad day; that Land doesn't go away.

Have a bad day; the Republic of the Faith Once Delivered is still there, strong as ever.

It is such a rich land, a land flowing with milk and honey, nay, better than milk and honey.

In it are many roads and paths and shelters from storms.

Many shade trees; so many each man can have one of his own.

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Jude 1.3 ... I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

Exodus 3.7-8 Then the Lord said, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey ...

Micah 4.4 ... they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.

The road to Emmaus

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Luke 24.13-34 That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. 16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. 18 Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19 And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. 22 Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, 23 and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” 25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. 28 So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, 29 but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. 32 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?” 33 And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 34 saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

YoYo again

The other day I saw YoYo again outside on my front stoop.

I mean, the cat looked exactly like YoYo: the same coloring, the wide fluffy body, the fan-like tail, the same nerdy look ...

KoKo was making an enormous fuss: hisses, growls, hyperventilating. So I rushed over and saw for myself.

It was YoYo.

"But it can't be YoYo," I said to myself, "YoYo's dead. I took that last trip with him to the vet myself ..."

KoKo and I looked helplessly through the window as YoYo checked us out before slinking around the corner. Then he disappeared.

* * * * * *

It was not until later, while they broke bread at the inn, that He opened their eyes.

But then he simply disappeared.

* * * * * *

Why is it they didn't recognize him? The two were not among the twelve, but they were obviously close to him.

Actually very few recognized him.

He was even mistaken for a gardener.

Maybe our present eyes are simply not equipped to recognize resurrection life. If Jesus were here, were actually physically here, would we recognize him?

* * * * * *

What day was that that I saw YoYo? Was it two days ago?

Three days ago?

Maybe it was last week.

Logos2Go

Luke 24.13-34 That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. 16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. 18 Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19 And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. 22 Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, 23 and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” 25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. 28 So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, 29 but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. 32 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?” 33 And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 34 saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

For now we know in part

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1 Corinthians 13.9-10 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.

The birds of the air

The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed ... but when it is grown it ... becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches ...

Some say this parable paints a negative picture. They suggest that the kingdom, when institutionalized by the systems of this world, becomes admixed with worldly interests.

Others say the opposite. Perhaps they think that the kingdom, when it ever expands, becomes an arbor of refuge for all.

Logos2Go

Matthew 13.31-32 He put another parable before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches."

Incremental miracles

The greatest miracle of them all, of course, was the Resurrection.

But on the day He resurrected, He was mistaken for a gardener. I take this to be a sign of what His post-resurrection regime would be like: occasionally there might be a phenomenal miracle.

But most of the miracles in this little while will not be plainly noticeable.

A gardener deals with incremental miracles, not miracles of the phenomenal kind.

Take my experiences in the Day Room.

Miracles in the garden of the Day Room are not easily noticeable. If only by casual inspection on any given day, you'd think the place is overgrown with weeds. Just weeds. But:

Last month I met John* during chapel service; he had just come to the Mission. His business was gone; his family had left; his shoulders were slumped. His eyes were teary. Yesterday he found me after dinner; he had been promoted to the kitchen. He told me he was once paid to hurt people (you don't want to know). Now he wants to help. "I'd like to get to the point where I can counsel others."

Last week Garret* owed hundreds in back taxes. Yesterday he told me he saw a tax counselor. She worked through his numbers, and helped him even get some money back. Now he could proceed with his schooling. She was impressed with his sincerity, so she only charged him a nominal fee. He wants to spend what's left of his life serving God.

These are incremental miracles.

They attest to the presence of a Gardener.

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John 20.15 "Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."

John 16.16 "In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me."

* Not their actual names

sappy Christian music

A men's singing group comes to the Mission to do chapel service.

Their voices are mellow; their lyrics rhyme; their songs are so harmonious not a discord is heard. Syrupy sweet. I think of powdered sugar on pastries; soft pastel colors; and in my distant memory: Tennessee Ernie Ford's picture on a 33rpm record album, his eyes gazing up and away, as if towards glory.

They line up on stage in a row, mikes at the ready; pressed shirts and good will.

The men in the audience are hard and hardened. Some nod their heads and tap their feet. Others stare out into space. A few nod off.

Is this sappy music a balm to their bruised hearts?

Or should the tonalities be more jarring, more unresolved, squares in jagged holes, with clashing noises ...

... within which is nevertheless found The Message?

Logos2Go

Isaiah 53.12 ...he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Luke 7.34 The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'

1 Corinthians 4.13 ... being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now.

"Do not depress over your inadequacies ...

... depend on my adequacies."

Sometimes entire libraries of learning comes down to this: a still small voice in the early morning.

Those libraries do not speak; they are mute with their facts. But:

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Ah, those lilies must know the same voice.

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I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses.

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.

C. Austin Miles 1868-1946

Matthew 6.28-30 Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Sins of presumption

There are sins of omission and sins of commission.

But there are also sins of presumption.

We neglect to honor God; this is a sin of omission.

We curse in God's name; this is a sin of commission.

We think we are God; this is a sin of presumption.

The great preacher C. H. Spurgeon once pointed out that, in all of the Old Testament sacrifices for sins, there is no sacrifice for the sin of presumption. In fact the presumptuous person is to be cut off from God's people:

But the person who does anything presumptuously, whether he is native-born or a stranger, that one brings reproach on the LORD, and he shall be cut off from among his people.

Serious words.

But we say we never presume we are God. Oh but we do. Perhaps not God with a capital "G", but god with a small "g":

He is Omniscient / we think we know it all.

He is Omnipotent / we think we are unassailable.

He is Omnipresent / we think the grass is greener over there, and so we grumble over our lot.

He is Holy / we think we are holier than thou.

Holier than thou. A common sin of presumption of good religious people. Good religious people who have all the checks in the right places, hence no sins of omission or commission, or so we think.

But because we think so, the aroma of presumption fills the room with us.

And so King David says, "deliver me from presumptuous sins ..."

Logos2Go

Numbers 15.30 But the person who does anything presumptuously, whether he is native-born or a stranger, that one brings reproach on the LORD, and he shall be cut off from among his people.

Revelation 3.17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

Psalm 19.13 Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, And I shall be innocent of great transgression.

C.H. Spurgeon, "Presumptuous Sins" Sermon June 7, 1857

Calling v. Decision

You often hear "calling" used to mean someone specifically charged, as if by divine decree, to do a certain task: "He found his calling." Or: "She was called to do this ..."

Nowadays, when a minister is hired by a congregation, it is standard practice to describe this contractual agreement as "a call." I suppose saying that the minister "received a call" gives his hiring some added gravitas, as if the paperwork came from the halls of heaven.

There is no such use of "call" in the Scriptures.

This was a revelation to me earlier in life because, like many people, I searched the Scriptures to learn how I could "discover my calling."

What I discovered was that there are no such guidelines.

"Call" in the Scriptures refers to the supernatural act of God by which someone dead in trespasses and sins is given new life in Christ. In other words, calling has to do with the act of regeneration: when God calls you, you are alive in Christ. Before that call, you were dead in sin.

Period.

The word is never used in the sense that, for example, one day I discover I was called to be an architect. Or I discover I was called to be a minister.

I was simply called to be a son of God -- called to be born anew in Christ. That is the only calling I've ever received, and ever will.

If anything, there is evidence in the Scriptures that, if when called to new life you find yourself in bad circumstances -- like being a slave -- the encouragement is to STAY in that condition to work out your calling in that environment.

The only exception of "call" applying to a specific line of work given to a specific person is in reference to the Apostle Paul. Twice Paul refers to himself as one who was "called to be an apostle" (Romans 1.1, 1 Corinthians 1.1). But ...

... we know the Apostle Paul ... the Apostle Paul is a friend of ours ... and we're no Apostle Paul.

In broad generality, "call" is limited to the calling of saints to be saints; it refers to all who are called out of death into life.

Now, much more common in the Scripture are decisions. In other words, after the new life has become active, the new person in Christ has responsibility to make decisions that move forward the interests of the kingdom of God rather than his own interests.

Because of the energy of the new life, or at least because of the presence of the new life in a person, the force of that new life pushes him or her to choose, for example, a narrower path than a broader path for the testimony and glory of God.

These are decisions made every day.

And some decisions are better than others.

Logos2Go

Romans 1.7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 2.9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

1 Corinthians 9.16 For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!

1 Corinthians 7.20-22 Each one should remain in the situation which he was in when God called him. Were you a slave when you were called? Don't let it trouble you-although if you can gain your freedom, do so. For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord's freedman; similarly, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ's slave.