Friday, May 6, 2011

Day 5 - of a spiritual journey learning to trust God to be the one who watches over me

NOTE: I am playing around with a different approach to my daily blog and would love for your input concerning this approach. Thanks for visiting and taking the time to read what this old preacher might be thinking. Please email with your comments at jmartin450@tampabay.rr.com.

Do we really need someone to watch over us? As a toddler most of us want to remain very close to our protective parents. We cling to their legs, hid behind their skirts, and run to their arms the minute something doesn’t seem right. When we become teenagers … not so much. We cannot wait until the day arrives that we are out on our own, making our own decisions … until something bad happens then we want our mommies or we need something fixed or solved then we want our daddies. Parents become a safety net. Not a bad role for us parents. But watch over us? Really? And yet that is one of the promises from God … that he will watch over us in all of our comings and goings … for now and forevermore. This knowledge can and does give to us a quiet peace … like the little toddler who knows that mommy and daddy are not too far away.

Scripture: Colossians 2:6-15
While still in a state of sinfulness Jesus came and made us alive. Our spirits have been circumcised; cutting us off from the worldly powers and authority that seeks to destroy us. Christ has made a laughing stock out of their foolishness by nailing them to the cross. And … we are alive!

Reflection: We like rules … most of the time. They have a way of defining our boundaries … you can go this far, but no farther. And, we like to play the role of “societies policemen” by watching over our neighbors to make sure that they don’t step over the line and break the rules. We buy into the worldly powers and authority. There is a sense of works righteousness at play to make sure that we are good enough, that we do enough, that we play by the rules, making sure that everything is fair and above board. Thus, in the process, we compromise our spiritual nature. Christ has freed us from this foolishness. In fact, he has ridiculed this kind of thinking and living. We are free to love our enemies and those who would seek to do all sorts of harm against us. That is, if we will but allow ourselves to be “buried with him in baptism and raised with him through our faith in the power of God.”

Prayer: Gracious and loving Father, we state so quickly that we are believers in you, that our faith is from you and that we identify ourselves as being one of yours by taking on the title of Christian. And, yet we desire revenge. We plot retaliation. We want to even the score. We celebrate the death of our enemy. Help us, O Lord, to learn what it means to live in you, to be rooted and built up in you. Yes, Lord, help us now more than ever. Amen.

Further reflection from Why, O Lord? By Carlo Carretto
“How can you live in the same house with someone (forever) without the same likes and dislikes? How can you sit at table together with different plans – or worse, opposing ones?

‘I died on the cross for you and you don’t move a finger for me,’ Jesus would have the right to say to me. And: ‘I’m faithful, I’ve never betrayed you. And you? Betray me is all you do. … I love poverty. What about you? What do you love? I consented to be humiliated, ridiculed, defeated, while you are afraid of what others will think of you. You tremble if someone criticizes you in the paper?’

Isn’t this so? … The journey is long and its name is exodus. The exodus is the journey made by human beings to learn God’s tastes by experience. It is God’s school, the apprenticeship of the kingdom, the child’s growing up to become like the parent.”

The Struggle: This has been a difficult week for me spiritually. As an American I was relieved that Osama Bin Laden was finally found and taken off our “most wanted” list and yet, as a Christian I was sad that a life was taken. I was sad as my fellow Christians, even one that I had baptized as an infant, rejoiced and celebrated the death. I have struggled with these issues most of my adult journey and they won’t be going away anytime soon. I am thankful for the country in which I live. I am grateful for those who are willing to serve in the military. My eyes well up with tears when I think of what these brave men and women do on a daily basis, but then there is my faith. How do I reconcile my faith and live as a Kingdom person? The answers are not easy nor do they quickly come … and the struggle continues. It is like playing a game of “who do you trust” – do I trust God to be my protector, the one who has promised to watch over me … forever … or to I compromise my faith and trust in the powers and authority of worldly governments … buying into their agenda?

The Rev. Dr. Jim Harnish, senior pastor of the historical Hyde Park United Methodist Church in Tampa, FL has written in his weekly FAITH MATTERS article something that I have found to be very helpful in my struggle entitled, "Was Jesus Cheering".

Only Trust Him by John H. Stockton:
Yes, Jesus is the truth, the way that leads you into rest;
believe in him without delay, and you are fully blest.
Only trust him, only trust him, only trust him now.
He will save you, he will save you, he will save you now.

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