The Source of our Hope

Okay, so maybe the news you woke to this morning, following yesterday’s voting, is not what you wanted. On the other hand, maybe it is good news to you. Either way, we have a president and newly or re-elected representatives in all forms of government. Maybe the proposals didn’t go the way you wished for them to go either. We still have a state constitution that guides us. One thing I know, this morning as I write this post, now is definitely not the time to allow our personal feelings and biases to compromise our need to pray.

Paul, in his first letter to Timothy says it quite powerfully I believe. Listen to these words;

1 Timtohy 2:1-4 (NRSV)

            

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Paul urges us to pray. More specifically, Paul urges us to pray for our elected officials. We are to be a people marked by prayer. Why?  Because being people of prayer assures us that we place our hope, not in elected officials and/ or government bureaucracy, but in the one source that has the power to change things- The Lord, Jesus Christ. Christ alone is the source of our hope.

No wonder the songwriter could pen these words:

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace; in ev’ry high and stormy gale my anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, His covenant, His blood support me in the whelming flood; when all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay.

When He shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in Him be found, dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne.

Refrain: On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand—all other ground is sinking sand; all other ground is sinking sand.

Where is your hope built today? Is your hope built on the shaky foundation of government bureaucracy and elected officials? Or, is your hope built on the Solid Rock of Jesus Christ? We, as Americans, may be feeling various different emotions today as we turn on the news and tune into the latest to see what has transpired. One thing is sure though- Jesus is still on the throne, and God is still in control! Would that we remember this. Would that we build our hope on this firm foundation. Then, would that we heed Paul’s words and commit our country and our newly appointed leaders to prayer, trusting that our prayers will indeed avail much. (James 5:16)

It is possible to move men through God by prayer alone. 

                                           -J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership

Today, this is my view from the Open Road. 

Prayer's Power

My view from the Open Road is a little skewed this week.  There are many thoughts that I am processing as I pen this week’s post.  Over the last little while, I have been reading through the Old Testament book of Nehemiah and reading it very carefully.  Nehemiah’s task was to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity and the return of the Judahites to Jerusalem under king Cyrus of Persia.  Immediately Nehemiah faces challenges and opposition.  However, what amazes me is not the opposition Nehemiah faces but rather how he handles that opposition.  Let us look specifically at Nehemiah 4 as I think this portion of Scripture has immediate implications to the oppression that surrounds us today.

The first problem Nehemiah faces is that the enemy is directly opposed to any plans to rebuild the city wall.  In fact, so much are they opposed to the rebuilding that they are beginning to prepare for battle and have begun to taunt the Jews.

The second problem, the rumors of impending attack, and the plea from the surrounding area Jews, to abandon the task of rebuilding and save their own necks.  See many of the Jews, because of the exile had taken up residence in the surrounding area hiding their identities.  It is from these Jews, living among the enemies, as they were, that the Jews in Jerusalem hear of the coming attack.

The final problem is that internal discouragement and lack of motivation almost completely stops the rebuilding process.  The people had taken their mind off the task given them and started being mentally co-opted by the distractions surrounding them.  They took their eyes off the prize as it were.

Despite, and in fact in the face of

Opposition 

Lose of motivation

Constant continual taunts

Jeering cynicism

All around ill will

Despite all of these obstacles, Nehemiah refuses to throw the towel in and say, “I quit!”

In fact, every time opposition was encountered Nehemiah directed his, as well as his fellow Jews, attention heavenward and prayed.  I wonder what would happen if we were to follow this model.  What if every time we met opposition we focused our attention heavenward and prayed to the one who alone can handle any opposition as opposed to trying to take care of it ourselves first?

So, as we are surrounded with the devastation that hurricane Sandy has wrought on the East coast, this week’s coming election, the news of the death of loved ones, sickness, school, whatever...As we face these obstacles and many more, are we willing to follow Nehemiah’s example and pray before we act?  Then, are we willing to trust in the provision of our Heavenly Father, Jehovah-Jireh, 100%, knowing that God will supply all your needs (Phil. 4:19)?

Max Lucado says it this way: “Don’t measure the size of the mountain; talk to the One who can move it.  Instead of carrying the world on your shoulders, talk to the one who holds the universe on his.”

Let us hold these words in mind as we walk through what only promises to be a rather tumultuous week.

For today, this is my view from the Open Road.   

The Big Question

I invite you to begin a conversation again with me this week.  It is an answer to a great question that has skewed my view from the Open Road.  In fact, being perfectly honest, as a second year seminarian, I have been struggling for most of my seminary career with this question. 

What theological concept do you most struggle with and what options are out there?

Now, I must admit before I go too far that as I read this question, pulled from the “Box of Doom,” aloud to my classmates, I rather jokingly made the admission that I personally struggle with just about all theological concepts. Although this was a flippant response, said in a jokingly good-natured way, I must confess that as I continue to ponder theology and the implications of theology I am more convinced than ever that I will continue to struggle with almost all theological concepts.  Maybe that is a good thing because the struggling builds both clarity and conviction.

 Nonetheless, back to the question:

What Theological concept do you most struggle with?

Recently, upon reading a book titled How to Think Theologically written by Howard Stone and James Duke- two professors from Brite Divinity School in Texas, I stumbled across this definition to theology, “theology is a seeking after understanding- a process of thinking about life in the light of the faith that Christians engage in...”[1]  I like this definition.  As Christians “every aspect of ...life...is a theological testimony.”[2] Did you ever stop to think about that?  As a Christian everything you do, or don’t do, has a theological implication.  Everything!  I never really thought this way before entering seminary.  And, you might not have either.  If you had asked me previously to define theology, my definition would have been something like this: Theos- God; ology- study of= the study of God.  A pretty trivial definition to be sure but nonetheless it’s how I thought.  I would not have considered myself a theologian.  I was a husband, a father, an uncle, a son, a builder, a student...but a theologian?  NO WAY!!  Here lies the real struggle; most of us don’t think that we actively engage in theological study, when really we do.  Theology is not just left to the people with a ton of letters behind their name, rather theology is something you and I, as Christians, are constantly doing- even if we don’t realize it.  Every thought, action, plan, deed....reveals something about how we respond and think about God.  In this light, everything we do is theological reflection.

So, if you’re like me, these thoughts are probably surprising to you, aren’t they?  I mean do we really think about God all the time?  Is every decision I make a decision that is theologically relevant?  If we are honest, the answer is “no.” You see, in our day-to-day reality, for most of us, unless we are actively involved in Bible reading or study, the sad reality is that we tend to run our lives as if we were on self-pilot.  God is a reality that all too often is forgotten in the hustle and bustle of the day-to-day activities. We rely on our own control and only allow God to have control when we lose control of our lives. Reliance is a weakness to us. However, scripture reveals a very different reality, a reality that we would do good to follow.

In Psalm 121 we encounter a God who is our helper (vs. 1&2), our keeper (vs. 3&4), our protector (vs. 5&6), and our guard (vs. 7&8).

Proverbs 3:5-6 says “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths.”

Isaiah 26:4 says “Trust in the Lord forever, for in the Lord God you have an everlasting rock.”

Jeremiah 17:7 “Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.”

Matthew 6:25-34 Don’t Worry

Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Are you beginning to see a theme emerge?  Live in total reliance on God.  It’s that simple!  Not only is it a major scriptural strand, but it also opens us to the reality that indeed all, our entire being, revolves, is centered on, thinking theologically.  When we see that as Christians, we exist and have our being by thinking theologically then the focus we commit to the study of theology takes on a very different meaning as well.

For this week, this has been my view from the Open Road.[3]

---

[1]Stone, H.W and James O. Duke. How to Think Theologically. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2006, 2 

[2]Ibid

[3] If you wish to explore living in total reliance upon God and placing God first in everything further, an awesome book (easy to read) is Practicing His Presence by Brother Lawrence.

First, an apology:

Okay, so I slipped a little.  I promised to keep my blog post updated and it has been several weeks since I posted last.  It seems that, with all the assignments, course readings, discussions, other papers to write, and the like- not to mention family and the needs they have, it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep the blog site current.  The big ambition was to be able to write a new post every week.  The reality is becoming quite a different story however.  Nonetheless, I will still try- even if it is relatively sporadic at best, to keep posting new content. 

 

                                                                                                     

THEN and NOW

This week’s writing class introduced us to a little game called “The Box of Doom.”  Now, as intimidating as this title may be, the box actually favored me a little.  See, the sole purpose of this box was to collect, from our fellow classmates, a topic of doom.  We were to place in the box what we considered a hard topic to write on that was to be used by our classmates to construct their next blog post.  Well, as everyone else was pulling out topics that were more difficult, I reached in and drew the $1 that our instructor had placed in the box.  Thanks Adam, in this one single moment you doubled the amount I had in my wallet- AWESOME!  The adage of being a poor broke seminary student is no adage at all; rather it is a sad reality.  Therefore, rather than just take the $1 bill and run, I thought I would, for the sake of nostalgia, riff on this $1 theme for this entry.  Again, thanks Adam for providing the inspiration for this entry.

It is no doubt at all that a dollar bill just is not worth what a dollar used to be worth.  Inflation has quite literally stripped the dollar of its purchasing power.  Food, clothes, toys, health products, homes, cars, virtually everything has increased in price over time as the costs for production have also increased.  Modern living definitely has its advantages, but it comes as the cost of a dollar continually inflates.

Before we begin however, I must admit openly that neither finances nor money management are my strong suits.  In fact, aside from merely over-stating the obvious I have no idea really how inflation technically works.  I have no clue how to curb over-spending, aside from the obvious which is not spending more than you take in.  I am no economist, nor do I ever anticipate I will become one.  Therefore, this blog is not an economist’s approach to any sort of solutions.  Rather, this blog is simply a reminiscent look back at the value of things then versus their value now.  Then, maybe we can offer some theological insight as we close.  It is my hope, as always, to begin the conversation with you.

According to one report, “the cost of living in America has gone up about fifteen fold since the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776.” (Charles B. Stockdale 2010) This may not come as any big surprise to you.  In this light, let us consider a few prices of some basic items and play them through from 1776 to the present.

In 1776:

• One ton of iron cost $63.73
•  A double-barreled shotgun cost three pounds (notice that in 1776 America was still using the British money system)
• One pound of coffee cost .13 silver dollars

In fact, in 1775 $1 was equal to $29 today.

In 1800:

• A dictionary cost $0.50
• A cow cost $10
• One pound of coffee cost $0.25

The money used was no longer British, as America had established its own monetary system.

Now, let’s fast-forward 100 years.

In 1900:

• A home in Brooklyn, NY cost between $7000-$12000
• An Oldsmobile car cost $650
• One pound of coffee cost $0.15, $0.10 less than it had in 1800

$1 in 1900 would equal $26.40 today.

In 1950:

•  A Corvette cost $3000
• The board game Monopoly cost $4
• One pound of coffee cost $0.79

$1 in 1950 would equal $8.91 today.

In 1975:

• A six pack of beer cost $1.49
• A ticket to the movies cost $1
•  A pound of coffee cost $1.49

$1 in 1975 would equal $3.98 today.

In 2000:

• A 12 pack of Bud Light cost $8.99
• A movie ticket cost $7.50
• A pound of coffee $3.54

$1 in 2000 would equal $1.25 today.

Today, 2012:

• A 12 pack of Bud Light costs $12.49
• A movie ticket costs $9.75
• A 12 ounce package of coffee $5.99

$1 today, is just that, $1.

You may be asking yourself why this all matters.  On the other hand, you may have completely glossed over as you read the information above.  Either way, one thing is certain; the value of $1 has and will continue to change drastically in our lifetime.  In fact, as the information above indicates, most likely the dollar will continue to lose its value.

Now, the theological perspective I hold is that Jesus owns it all.  The dollar may continue to lose its value because of increased competition and costs, but ultimately Jesus still owns it all.  He gifts us with what we have.  He does however require us to be wise stewards with what he has entrusted to us.  I believe the parable of the talents, as found in Matthew 25, points this out well.  With what he has gifted us come certain expectations, caring for the widow and the orphan (James 1:27), feeding and clothing the hungry and naked (Matthew 25: 31-46), and so much more.  The value of the dollar may be decreasing continually but the expectations Jesus places on us, as his disciples remains constant.

For this time, this is my view from the Open Road.

Works Cited:

Charles B. Stockdale, Michael B. Sauter, Douglas A. McIntyre. 24/7 Wall Street. September 16, 2010. http://247wallst.com/2010/09/16/the-history-of-what-things-cost-in-america-1776-to-today/ (accessed October 21, 2012).

God's Perfect Timing

Yesterday I talked about trusting God 100%. Today, as I was attending a workshop at the Christian Community Development Association's National Conference one of the presenters used this prayer to start his session.

Patient Trust
by: Pierre Teilhard De Chardin

Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything
to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something
unknown, something new.

And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through
some stages of instability---
and that it may take a very long time.
And so I think it is with you:
your ideas mature gradually- let them grow,
let them shape themselves without undue haste.

Don't try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances
acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.

Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you.
And accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.

Michael Harter, SJ, editor, Hearts on Fire, Praying with Jesuits (Chicago, Loyola Press, 1993, 2005) 102-3

As I read along with the presenter today it was as if God was talking directly to me. God's perfect timing is beautiful.

Do You Trust Me?

                It’s Monday again!  How fast the weekends seem to disappear and the may lay of doing is replaced with the quiet serenity of study.  There’s a forlornness that permeates my fourth floor study retreat as the golden rays of autumn’s first sun blaze through my window.  I should be lost in thick theological canundries and theological study but instead find myself drifting, basking really, in the soft gentle warmth blanketing my quiet corner.  My thoughts drift to my friends, my beat up Saucony running shoes, and the six-mile stretch of paradise, a paradise others may merely see as asphalt, that requires- demands- sweat and effort; this six mile stretch, including the sweat and effort, is pure ecstasy.  This is my world, a world I can control, a world in which I feel truly alive.  This world frees me from books and study and propels me into the world that comprises sweat, motion, and muscle fatigue.  Between these two worlds lies an unparalleled dichotomy that is my life, or, at least, the lens through which I see my life.

                The thing is, the more I live in this in between space, this dichotomy of persons, the more I realize that I am not that different from you or anybody else.  Well, with the exception of the running/ paradise thing, most people really do find that a little bizarre.  However, regarding the dichotomy of the person I am most comfortable being versus the person God is creating me to be, I believe we all struggle with, or against, this.  On the other hand, maybe it really is not the struggle between the two unique personalities as much as it is being willing to trust, 100%, what God is doing. Am I alone in this? Do you ever struggle with the issue of trusting God 100%?  I guess that’s really the question for this week, are we really willing to trust God 100%?  Even when what God is doing in our lives isn't exactly enjoyable.

                Now, before I am branded a heretic, or told that my faith isn’t big enough, please understand this definitely is not the way I always feel.  In fact, more often than not I am very excited about what God is doing in and through my life.  I count it a privilege to be able to pause my life long enough to obtain my Masters degree and enter full-time ministry.  I love the discipline of study, most of the time.  I love knowledge and I love sharing knowledge with other people. I am thrilled that my family is 100% behind me driving me forward. Nevertheless, I do need to admit that sometimes I am still human and have my doubts.  I hope you can understand these misgivings, maybe even enter into the conversation with me.  These are just my observations this week from the open road. 

Busted!!!

The first post of for the 2012 year will be up in a few days, promised. I took the liberty to clear out the old junk, stuff dating back to 2009, to make way for the new. Now I just have to create the new. As soon as I do I will post it and I promise I will do a better job of keeping the blog current this time.