Hello, I Must Be Going

Hello, I must be going.

I cannot stay; I came to say I must be going.

I’m glad I came, but just the same, I must be going….

These immortal words were sung by one of my heroes, Grouch Marx in the classic “Animal Crackers”.  And they capture my thoughts for this post.

Yes, it’s been a while. There were some glitches with the website, but I think the technical issues are behind us, and I am able to post here again. So I am back, but only to say I will be signing off for a while.

Hopefully you have gotten a little something out of reading the occasional posts here. For me, the blog was a way to keep digging into the Word and sharing whatever thoughts or insights seemed helpful, and it was an enjoyable project.

The main reason I am stopping – pausing might be a better word – is that I feel that I am more in a learning posture than a teaching or expounding posture right now.  That is, in part, why the posts have been infrequent. I feel as if God is saying that this is a time in my life to be quiet, simply sit at His feet and learn.

I hope that what I am learning will be the stuff that will eventually get me back up on my digital soapbox. Specifically, it involves becoming more involved with ordered forms of spirituality that are deeply rooted in the history of our Christian faith, such as a greater and more regular use of the Daily Office and principles of Ignatian spirituality.  I have been practicing these things for a while, but at a beginner’s level.

While there is nothing I would like to do more than write about all I am learning, that would be sort of like a college freshman trying to write a doctoral dissertation. It’s not time yet. There is much to learn. Eventually, I want to be able to expound not only on the ideas but on the practical results (i.e. how it makes me more of the person God designed me to be), and that takes time, consistant application and wisdom I do not yet have.

So thank you for whatever reading or attention you have given to my rambling thoughts in the past. It’s been fun and I hope to resume someday in the not-too-distant future. Until then, see ya ‘round the farm.

(Yes, I headlined a post about Christian spirituality with a Jewish guy. Gotta love the irony.)

The Friendship Of God

Taking a short pause in Ephesians here. I read this this morning and wanted to share. It is from a second-century Church Father, Ireneaus of Lyons, and is taken from his treatise called Against Heresies. The subject: the friendship of God.

Our Lord, the Word of God, first drew men to God as servants, but later he freed those made subject to him. He himself testified to this: I do not call you servants any longer, for a servant does not know what his master is doing. Instead I call you friends, since I have made known to you everything that I have learned from my Father. Friendship with God brings the gift of immortality to those who accept it.

In the beginning God created Adam, not because he needed man, but because he wanted to have someone on whom to bestow his blessings. Not only before Adam but also before all creation, the Word was glorifying the Father in whom he dwelt, and was himself being glorified by the Father. The Word himself said: Father, glorify me with that glory I had with you before the world was.

Nor did the Lord need our service. He commanded us to follow him, but his was the gift of salvation. To follow the Savior is to share in salvation; to follow the light is to enjoy the light. Those who are in the light do not illuminate the light but are themselves illuminated and enlightened by the light. They add nothing to the light; rather, they are beneficiaries, for they are enlightened by the light.

The same is true of service to God: it adds nothing to God, nor does God need the service of man. Rather, he gives life and immortality and eternal glory to those who follow and serve him. He confers a benefit on his servants in return for their service and on his followers in return for their loyalty, but he receives no benefit from them. He is rich, perfect and in need of nothing.

The reason why God requires service from man is this: because he is good and merciful he desires to confer benefits on those who persevere in his service. In proportion to God’s need of nothing is man’s need for communion with God.

This is the glory of man: to persevere and remain in the service of God. For this reason the Lord told his disciples: You did not choose me but I chose you. He meant that his disciples did not glorify him by following him, but in following the Son of God they were glorified by him. As he said: I wish that where I am they also may be, that they may see my glory.

It's About Him

OK I admit it…life has been crazy and I have been slow to post. Mea cupla (wait - I think I knew a girl in high school by that name).  This blog has been two-thirds prepared for some time, but the busy-ness of life has gotten in the way. On the other hand, that may not be all bad, because it has given some thoughts a greater chance to sift for me. 

In trying to wrap up this introductory section of Ephesians (1:3-23), one can read it and feel instantly overwhelmed. There is so much here. But for some reason, one little phrase toward the end jumped out and grabbed me. In v.23, Paul says that the church is “His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”  Put another way, it is Christ’s church and it exists for one reason:  Him.  And He fills it with His presence and imbues it with His power.

We may see the church as lots of different things.  It is a place full of familiar faces where we find fellowship, and where we gather together to hear God’s truths declared.  It’s a place populated by people who are just like us – human, flawed, sinful, who need God’s grace.  

We watch the church deal with its own mechanics, especially if we are involved in the nuts and bolts of ministry. We know what goes on at meetings, who said what to whom, who is engaged in the work, and who is not. 

All of these things and more make it very easy to focus on the church as something we “do”, as an enterprise which we operate. In short:  it is our own corporate response to God.  And in a way, this is right. After all, we are meant to be involved.  

But we must never forget what Paul asserts in that short phrase at the end of Ephesians chapter 1 – this is His body, and Christ is the one who fills it up, not us. Christ Himself inhabits the church. It isn’t simply that the church was established by Him, or even that it points to Him. It is His and He is here, in a real way. The church is His dwelling place.  His Spirit and power are active.  His glory (tho veiled) is with us. 

Because of this passage and others like it, we are biblically called to see the church as the very habitation of God Himself, the place to which we are invited to come and behold Him. A place to enter and offer the sacrifice of praise. Everything else – all our plans, programs and preferences - run a distant second. 

One theologian I heard recently put it this way.  It is common to come to church because of what is there for me.  But, he argues, NOTHING is supposed to be there for me. That’s precisely the wrong posture.   Everything that is there is meant for Christ. He is the fullness. It is His church. So, don’t worry about how the music sounds. Don’t worry if everything went smoothly.  Don’t be concerned with whether or not you are being fed, or if you thought it was a “good” service (whatever that means), because it is not about you, or me, or what we want. It is about showing up in love and obedience to worship Him Who gave everything for you.  Nothing else. Seeking Him first is not simply an individual matter. It is a corporate matter as well. 

The objection might be raised: “What about feeding the flock? What about our fellowship?” Sure, these are important, and they are functions that the church should provide. I am thinking more about our attitude, our motivation. Our expectation and our focus.

A final thought that relates to this in a small but practical way – many Protestant churches have adopted a practice that is typical in Catholic churches – the reverent silence and time of quiet personal reflection and prayer in the sanctuary before a service. Conversation is meant to be left in the fellowship hall or foyer, and the pre-service sanctuary becomes a place where we believers prepare our hearts for what is about to happen.  

Maybe your church does this.  If not, how might it change how believers approach a Sunday morning service?