Beautiful Day: Embracing Freedom One Step at a Time

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We were out to dinner at a popular restaurant for my daughter’s birthday. I was enjoying my family, enjoying my burger, and not paying much attention to anything else. Until, Autumn mentioned the song that was playing in the background, Beautiful Day by U2. It’s an iconic song. It holds in tension beauty and destruction, hope and disappointment. The main point the song tries to make is that no matter how bad things get, there is still hope. You can find beauty in a horrible day when it is viewed through the eyes of hope.

I’m a huge U2 fan and have been since I was eleven years old. Beautiful Day is one of my favorite songs. So, when Autumn mentioned it, all of this came flooding into my heart and mind.

As tough as it is to confess, my family and I have been going through a long season of living in survival mode. Most days it is quite hard to find beauty amid the chaos. Then there are days where God’s grace enables us to catch a glimpse of hope and embrace the beauty around us.

One day a few weeks ago, I asked the Lord, “How can we get out of this mess?” I had not yet realized that we were in survival mode. God told me, “One step at a time.” This was so liberating for me. I have labored for decades with the notion that if God really loved me, all the chaos and crap would just go away and that we would have perfectly ordered and blessed lives just like that. But in the moment God said, “One step at a time,” I began to see pathways to freedom that Jesus was inviting me to walk down with him. One specific path was to re-establish small routines, building on those successes.

Even though we are still in survival mode, we have caught a glimpse of hope that allows us to see the beauty of the day and the grace of God in the process toward freedom, one step at a time.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in faith so that you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13

Grace and peace,
Brook

Embracing Proximity, Part 3: Fellowship

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We need each other. In fact, we were made to need each other. From the opening passages of the Bible, “It is not good for the man to be alone,” to the Psalms, “Look at how good and pleasing it is when families live together as one!” to the letters in the New Testament “Submit to each other out of respect for Christ.” Proximity to one another is God’s intention for humanity.

I pray you find time this weekend to increase your proximity to those you love.

Grace and peace,
Brook

Make Sure You Are Hungry

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This week I came across a devotional that really touched me and seemed to continue in the same thought as my message last Sunday.* It comes from a daily email devotional by Fr. Richard Rohr. I thought it best to share it in full.

* Note: Eucharist is the same as Communion or the Lord’s Supper.

In my message last Sunday I applied my equation of Proximity + Process = Presence to Eucharist. At the Lord’s table we draw near to God (proximity), expecting to be changed through healing, forgiveness, salvation (process), and thus experience God (presence). Fr. Richard describes an aspect of how this works.

Grace and peace,
Brook

Make Sure You Are Hungry

“Christ is the bread, awaiting hunger.”  – St. Augustine

Bread and Wine by Anna Tikhomirova

Bread and Wine by Anna Tikhomirova

Eucharist is presence encountering presence-mutuality, vulnerability. There is nothing to prove, to protect, or to sell. It feels so empty, simple, and harmless, that all you can do is be present. In most of Christian history we instead tried to “understand” and explain presence. As if we could.

The Eucharist is telling us that God is the food and all we have to do is provide the hunger. Somehow we have to make sure that each day we are hungry, that there’s room inside of us for another presence. If you are filled with your own opinions, ideas, righteousness, superiority, or sufficiency, you are a world unto yourself and there is no room for “another.” Despite all our attempts to define who is worthy and who is not worthy to receive communion, our only ticket or prerequisite for coming to Eucharist is hunger. And most often sinners are much hungrier than the so-called saints.

– Fr. Richard Rohr

Embracing Process, Part 2: The Process Is The End

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Last Sunday Kim Nowlin spoke at our worship gathering here at VLC. Due to some technical difficulties, her talk did not get recorded. I believe, though, that its impact is not in any way diminished by that. I was not in the gathering to hear it, but I did ask a few people to share with me what they heard. On each occasion they quoted something that Kim referenced from Oswald Chambers’ My Utmost for His Highest. “What we call the process, God calls the end.” That phrase pulled up a chair and sat down in my soul like a caring loved one who won’t leave until the issue is resolved. If you couldn’t tell, I’m still in process with it.

I encourage you to read Oswald Chambers’ devotional that Kim referenced. It comes in two versions, classic and updated.

A few weeks ago I wrote about proximity and that closeness with Jesus us essential to learning from him. One of my main points was, “Closeness is not a matter of worthiness, but willingness.” I’m still working through that. If what we call process, God calls the end, then that means we need to invite Jesus into the now of our process. It’s easier said than done, especially if we are not too proud of our current process. It would feel much better to invite Jesus in at the end of the process, asking for his blessing, instead of inviting him into the process. But, that is precisely where the greatest value is found, in the one with whom we process, not in the finished product.  It is our willingness that God values, not our worthiness. “Come near to God, and he will come near to you.” (James 4:8, CEB)

My prayer is that we invite Jesus into our processes daily, for wherever he is, there is freedom. (2 Corinthians 3:17)

Grace and peace,
Brook

Embracing Process: It’s OK That Things Just Take Time

Embracing Proximity, Part 2: Getting Messy

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There is a time for everything, a time for getting close and a time for backing off, a time for getting messy and a time for staying clean. I think the former should be a prominent feature of the Christian life, but we often to default to the latter. It is just easier that way. But, convenience always comes at a cost.

What do you think? If someone had one hundred sheep and one of them wandered off, wouldn’t he leave the ninety-nine on the hillsides and go in search for the one that wandered off? If he finds it, I assure you that he is happier about having that one sheep than about the ninety-nine who didn’t wander off. In the same way, my Father who is in heaven doesn’t want to lose one of these little ones. (Matthew 18:12-14, CEB)

'Shepherd and Sheep' by Anton Mauve

‘Shepherd and Sheep’ by Anton Mauve

Here the shepherd felt that “cutting his losses” at one sheep was too costly compared to the convenience of staying back with the ninety-nine. Jesus said that God feels the same way about us.

This required the shepherd to get messy, to get involved, in order to restore this sheep to his flock. It was a price worth paying.

Yes, there is a time for distancing ourselves, but but it should be a means of ensuring and/or restoring safety. It should not be a lifestyle. Let’s face it, life is messy and not always safe. It takes getting close to the lost, the broken, the sinner, the other if we want to God’s kingdom established in our world. It’s God’s mission. Is it ours?

I admit that these are hard words to swallow. It goes against my inclinations of self-preservation and comfort, but my prayer is that by getting messy a little bit at a time, I will begin to see and love people as Jesus does. This is my prayer for you, too.

Grace and peace,
Brook

Embracing Proximity

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A question I have come across lately is, “What would Jesus say about that?” This question has a range of applications, but its premise is the same, relationship. Actually, it is not intended to be asked the way it is quoted above. It is more like, “Jesus, what do you think about this?” coffee Bible

Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

As Christians we are disciples of Jesus. A disciple is a learner. If we are to learn from Jesus, we must bring ourselves close to Jesus. Closeness is not a matter of worthiness, but willingness. Are we willing to draw close enough to Jesus to hear his voice? Are we willing enough to trust his wisdom and learn from him? Are we willing to follow through with his instruction by allowing ourselves to take on his yoke? I know these are big questions. They are life-long questions. I wrestle with them daily. If I want to know God’s heart on the matter at hand for me, I must bring myself close enough to Jesus to hear his voice, receive his direction, and follow him in the way.

The beautiful thing about Jesus is that he is willing to draw near to us, too. It is in the place of mutual willingness that relationship happens. And, it is in relationship that we can ask, “What do you think about this?”

Grace and peace,
Brook

Freedom to Love

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Independence Day usually gets us talking about freedom. The freedom our nation’s founders fought for and established. The freedom we enjoy today as citizens of this nation. And, in the church this conversation crosses over into the freedom we have in Christ. For today, I’ll keep with the latter.White Flower

We love to quote Galatians 5:1a, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” But what is this freedom that Paul is referring to? It is a freedom from and a freedom for. It is a freedom from the burden of keeping the Law as a means of righteousness. For Paul, righteousness is a grace received through faith in Christ. It is, also, a freedom for the purpose of loving one another. Paul explains this in verses 13-14.

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 

Paul turns the burden of keeping the law on its ear. Keeping the law will never achieve righteousness, but to love well we must treat one another rightly, which is the heart of the law and honors God as well. So, this holiday weekend, let me stand with Paul and declare as Jesus did, “You are free to love!”

Grace and peace,
Brook

Embracing the Middle: Thoughts on Culture and Gospel

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Our time in Guatemala was fantastic. My two oldest children had a blast. Even though we were in a completely different culture, we seemed quite comfortable. For some people culture shock happens on the way into a new culture. For others, it happens on the way back to their culture of origin. Our team in Guatemala discussed this the night before we left to come home. This reminder helped me to navigate the cultural differences.

Part of our conversation that evening was on how the new culture affects us. Shawn Smith, our mission director, illustrated this by calling the culture of origin, square, and the new culture, circle. If someone from a square culture spends time in circle culture, he will begin to appreciate some circle ways of doing things. His experiences in the circle culture will change his perspective. He will know that he is not a circle, but he may also feel that he is not quite square anymore either

squircleIn our conversation, we coined a word, squircle.

Living as a squircle will have its challenges and benefits, but either way it will be a new normal.

As Christians, we are in some ways a squircle. We have experienced the love of God. We’ve received the grace of new life. We have seen the example of Jesus’ earthly life. We have embraced the hope of the gospel — all things put to rights and all things made new.

These experiences change us. We don’t fit any longer in the world as we know it. We are still in process toward becoming like Jesus. This is the now and not yet of the kingdom of God. We find ourselves in the middle. It’s in this middle place that people of God can make the most difference (granted we don’t wall ourselves in to preserve our “squircleness”).

With all cuteness aside, my prayer is that when we find ourselves in this in between place, we will realize that we are not alone. This is where we find Jesus and his people. Remember, we love God best when we love other well. This can only be done from the middle.

Grace and peace,
Brook

Finding God in Forgotten Places

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The human body has an amazing ability to filter out or prioritize the stimuli so that we can focus on what is presently at interest. This capability is also used to navigate socially. It only makes sense that we make family, close friends, organizations we associate with a priority. Yet, there are times when we are faced with situations that are out of the normal. Physiologically, it could be stubbing your toe, or socially, getting an unexpected phone call. Further more, we can place ourselves in situations that are completely outside our context for living. In a sense, these are forgotten places. We know they exist, but since they are not an immediate priority in our life, we simply don’t pay attention to them.

Guatemalan girlThey are forgotten because they are also undesirable and uncomfortable. To the affluent, these things are refuse, to God they are holy. In God’s economy, that which is set apart is holy, even that which is considered refuse.

For me, our trip to Guatemala is just that, putting myself in a forgotten place. Though it is forgotten to me, it is not forgotten to God. My prayer as I’m in Guatemala is to continue to find God and experience the holy with these forgotten people and in these forgotten places. As I walk through my day, may I make place for the holy, discovering it as God reveals.

Soon enough I will forget this too, just like when our bodies filter out unnecessary stimuli. But, by experience a pathway is formed, recall is faster, and the forgotten is not so forgotten anymore.

Thanks for reading.

Grace and peace,
Brook

Preparing a Place

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We are just about finished preparing for our service trip to Guatemala. I will be taking my two eldest children with me. I am excited for the opportunity and humbled by their willingness to go serve people who live in extreme poverty in a developing country. The phrase, “a child will lead them,” is truer than you know.

As the three of us we going out to run errands last night, the thought came to me that we are not the only ones preparing for this trip. Jesus is too.

Antigua, Guatemala

Antigua, Guatemala

“Don’t be troubled. Trust in God. Trust also in me. My Father’s house has room to spare. If that weren’t the case, would I have told you that I’m going to prepare a place for you? When I go to prepare a place for you, I will return and take you to be with me so that where I am you will be too. You know the way to the place I’m going.” (John 14:1-4, CEB)

Jesus was not only preparing an eternal home for his followers, but a place among the communities of the world. The Father’s house, the family of God, spans the globe as much as it spans eternity. Just as Jesus is preparing our hearts for this service trip, I trust that he is preparing hearts in the communities that we will be serving in. As a friend said to me this morning, “Jesus is already there and is waiting with a warm welcome.”

This is as true across the street as it is across the globe. Jesus is preparing a place for you.

Grace and peace,
Brook