Let's face it. This is something we say when we can't think of anything else for comfort. It's almost an admission that nothing can be done. But because no one wants to look into a hopeless abyss, you mutter:
"Oh ... I'll pray for you."
And the other person says -- because it's the right thing to say in polite company:
"Oh... thank you," with the conviction of having just won a make-believe lottery.
And then everybody muddles on; another social politeness transacted without either side losing face. Without either side conceding that prayer is at best incomprehensible, at worst undependable, and always a shot in the dark.
Right after Jesus told Peter he would deny Him three times, He also said, "But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail."
This teaches us several things about prayer.
1. Jesus regarded prayer as the assured solution. And the problem was a nasty one: You are going to betray me Peter but -- here's the solution -- I've prayed for you that your faith may not fail. No shot in the dark here.
On the evidence, this prayer was simply not answered; Peter's faith did fail. Ahh, but here's the second thing about prayer.
2. Jesus' prayer for Peter was for the long run. He saw the end in view for Peter, and the end was a glorious inheritance. Many years later this same Peter would write to others undergoing all sorts of sufferings: "These (sufferings) have come so that your faith - of greater worth than gold ... may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."
So there is a way that prayer is like a long-term certificate of deposit. In the short run the market may fluctuate, but the long run outcome is assured.
For a culture fixated on short-run satisfactions (these days if you're computer takes a minute to boot up, it's outrageous -- it's time for a new computer), for a culture with this kind of attitude, waiting for long-run outcomes is not attractive. So...
3. ...The recipient of prayers also has some responsibility. Practice cultivating long-term joys. There is that too.
4. Finally, Jesus' love for Peter was unconditional. One thing about love: it is not utilitarian. If you love someone, getting use out of that person is not foremost on your mind, if it is on your mind at all.
If there is no love there, there just might be no there there ... to prayer.
Logos2Go
Luke 22.32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."
1 Peter 1.3-8 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.These have come so that your faith-of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.
Prayer is for forever
Isn't the Holy Spirit just a Garmin nuvi?
Driving from San Antonio to El Paso amidst the endless nothingness of southern Texas, there are no Chinese restaurants.
Unless, of course, you have a Garmin nuvi.
Not only will that little GPS thing tell you there are Chinese restaurants hidden amidst all the tumbleweed and border patrol cars, it'll tell you if they're north-northwest of you, or southeast of you. It'll tell you how many miles away they are. And if you punch the right buttons, it'll lead you road by road, turn by turn, until it says, in that mature lady's voice (with just a little promise of fun):
"Arriving at destination."
Now here's my question: Is a Garmin nuvi really the Holy Spirit?
Don't we ask the Holy Spirit to show us the way? Now we can just program it in! Isn't the Holy Spirit just some sort of top-of-the-line Garmin nuvi?
Let's call it the Garmin HS. Very pricey.
Well, now, maybe some of us would say NO, the Holy Spirit is less than the bottom-of-the-line Garmin, because, ahem, we've programmed in all sorts of destinations and the thing doesn't work. It says nothing.
And many customers have turned away, no longer walking with Him.
Why doesn't it work?
Well, the Holy Spirit Garmin gives the directions, yes, but we don't program in the destination. The unit doesn't say whatever you want it to say; in fact, it can't.
There's Something Else hidden in the tumbleweed of this world. Blessed is he who sees and hears. And follows.
And I hear there is food involved when we get there. And I'm betting at least some of it will be Chinese.
Logos2Go
John 16.12-15 I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.16 In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.
John 6.65-66 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him." From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
Luke 24.40-43 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence.
Revelation 19.9 And the angel said* to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”
The life of a drawing
Lijiang in southern China is a little like Venice. Winding alleyways. Curving waterways. A splash of the medieval, except everybody has cell phones.
It's December 1, 2004, and I'm at Ma Ma Fu's restaurant in Lijiang, doing what I do best while in China: eating.
But I get the urge to draw.
(Ma Ma Fu means "Mother Pays" -- fu meaning to pay. And mama means mother in any language). So I'm at Mother Pays restaurant in Lijiang and I get the urge to draw.
Not finding a pencil, Lunch at Ma Ma Fu's was drawn with a ball point pen. So: ball point pen on paper.
Since then the drawing has been with me to Tibet. In fact it's been all over China and Japan with me. It was with me while I was sick as a dog in a rural Chinese hospital: no water to bathe in for three days; no food served; I had to get the nurses to go to street vendors for soup ... with a quarter inch of grease floating on top.
It's moved two homes with me. It now sits on my desk still in its temporary frame.
It's by far one of my favorite drawings. Not just because of the strokes falling in the right places. But because of the strokes of life it has shared with me. And I look forward to more.
Maybe someday I'll actually frame it. But I'm reluctant to, because that'll take something away.
What a heartache being the creator of drawings! Once they are birthed into the world, they have a life of their own. And yet there is a sense that I am still in them, and they are in me, because whatever made them came from me.
It would be difficult to part with Lunch at Ma Ma Fu's for any price.
What must the heart of God be like?! God, the creator of men.
Surely he would pay an enormous Price to save us.
Logos2Go
Psalm 16.6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
Ephesians 28-10 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
John 17.23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
John 15.4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
John 14.2 In my father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.
What happened today at the Starbucks
"I'll pay for that guy's order too," I said to the middle-aged barrista at the Starbucks.
My son was in town for business and stopped by for coffee after his power lunch. So here we were waltzing into the Starbucks.
He was dressed in his business best.
My attire was summer professor casual: frumpy polo shirt, second-day khakis, and I happened to be wearing my Airwalk sandals: you can see the toes squirming inside. Add to this my graying Chinese head of hair.
"I'll pay for that guy's order too," I said, as he ducked into the men's room.
"OK, we'll do," she said as we waited.
Then to pass the time, I ventured: "He's my son, you know."
You can see the gears turning as she did the mental assessment -- something like: That sharp guy is this jerk's son, yea right ...
"You're pulling my leg," she finally muttered, lower jaw not moving.
"He is," I said. "When he comes out take a close look, and then tell me if you see some of me in him."
So he comes out and places his order. But she's glancing from him to me to him. To me to him.
"Ten percent," she finally said. But she's still thinking I'm pulling her leg.
Then Jeremy gives me a big hug. And that settled it.
Logos2Go
Psalm 128. 1. Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in his ways. 2. You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours. 3. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your sons will be like olive shoots around your table. 4.Thus is the man blessed who fears the Lord. 5. May the Lord bless you from Zion all the days of your life; may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem, 6. and may you live to see your children's children. Peace be upon Israel.
Yummy and recipe are two
"Oh I must have that recipe!" We have all said this when something yummy is served.
So you get the recipe. But when you follow the recipe, the dish is not so yummy. Why?
Because yummy and recipe are two, not one.
We live in a world of recipes, because we think recipe and yummy are one.
But recipes are attempts to reproduce yummy. The yummyness is not in the recipe.
The yummyness is somehow in the first-hand experience of the original cook. That you can't capture in a second-hand recipe.
Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem (see post May 27, 2009). His disciples wanted to call down fire from heaven to wipe out villages that spurned them. Is that the recipe, huh, huh, Superman? No, says Jesus.
Others wanted to sign up and be disciples -- so they can get his recipes. They must have his recipes! No, says Jesus.
For Jesus, it was not about second-hand recipes; it was about life lived first-hand. He was going to Jerusalem to lay down his life. Not to act it out in a movie, but to lay it down first-hand. Out of that came resurrection life.
So here is the message: to really produce anything that is yummy -- filled with life; filled with beauty; filled with taste -- a life must be laid down.
In the giving of a life, recipe and yummy just may become one.
Logos2Go
Psalm 116.15 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints
John 12.24 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.
Psalm 34.8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
Luke 9.51-62 [51] When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. [52] And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; [53] but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. [54] When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" [55] But he turned and rebuked them. [56] Then they went on to another village. [57] As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." [58] And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." [59] To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." [60] But Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." [61] Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." [62] Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."
Naming animals only gets you so far
Adam did not need a RAM TOUGH truck
I was talking with a friend about my need for a nicer truck. "You can sell this one, and use the money towards the one you get into next."
The one I get into next. This seems to be a common phrase in the world of car sales. "The rig we can get you into ..."
We humans were meant to be clothed. It is just that the clothes we wear now have nothing to do with who we are. Our current clothing only covers up bodies that no longer radiate glory.
Hence the cliche "clothes make the man" -- because without the external cosmetics of the costume, we really are nothing.
This is why we need trucks that are RAM tough.
Because once you are in the costume of a truck with Ram Toughness, once we get you into that rig, all the associations ram toughness offers -- Powerful, Masculine, the Rugged Outdoors, Cowboy Boots, Those Sorts of Things -- all become you.
Or so you think. This is the endless fascination of clothes. All the world is a stage, and all of our coverings -- clothes, cars, trucks, houses, academic degrees, the book titles we dabble in and the vacations we take -- all of these are clothes we can get into to "make us."
Originally this was not so. Before the fall, Adam and Eve must have been clothed with a visible glory the radiance of which reflected an internal sinless human condition.
Adam did not need to get into a ram tough truck.
Paul referred to our present clothing as a kind of tent, that is, a temporary and movable covering serving the purposes of our dwelling in the world now. A tent is good for what it is, but there is a certain comfort in looking forward to getting into something more permanent. Paul referred to this anticipation as a kind of groaning.
A groaning not so that we can be done with clothing ("not that we would be unclothed"), but rather a groaning so that we can have our original clothes back ("but that we can be further clothed"). This being further clothed must hark back to that original radiance Adam and Eve had as they reflected, without blemish, the image of God.
The glory of God. Now that is the rig of all rigs to get into.
Logos2Go
2 Corinthians 5.1-5 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
2 Corinthians 3.10-11 For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. 11And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!
2 Corinthians 3.18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.