Category Archives: Following

Rest in the Infinite

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The following words are from a recent interview I read (in as issue of “What is Enlightenment?” magazine) with a theology professor named John Haught. His language is more philosophical than I usually deal with and may feel awkward to some, but his words may deepen the reverence we have for the One whom we worship and to whom we offer everything.

Sometimes people ask, “What is the evidence that the infinite exists?” For Augustine and many religious people throughout the ages, the best evidence is the utter restlessness of the human heart. You could extend that also to the restlessness of the intellect itself. We all realize that no matter how much we know, there is yet more to be known; we all realize that no matter how much we get in life, how much we have, how much we possess, we are never fully filled up by it. So there is, in a sense, a God-shaped hole at the heart of our being. That’s what Augustine was saying—our hearts are restless until we rest in the infinite.

Now the way we become aware of the infinite is not so much by knowing it as by allowing ourselves to be grasped by it. This often happens without people realizing it. For example, even a scientist is grasped by the value of the truth and surrenders his or her life to the pursuit of that truth. Whether they say so explicitly or not, I think many scientists, if not most, have made a commitment to something much larger than themselves that is inexhaustible. They realize that no matter how much they probe, the horizons will keep on receding. I associate that very closely with what theology refers to as religious experience. So we come in contact with this infinite horizon—which Augustine referred to as God—in very subtle ways that oftentimes we are not aware of. Religion simply tries to make us more explicitly aware of, and especially grateful to, that horizon of depth, that horizon of an infinite future, a horizon of infinite beauty and truth that keeps calling us, that keeps addressing us, that keeps summoning us. And in doing so, it gives us vitality, life, and meaning.

That’s a lot of lingo. What do I take from it?

Only God brings peace.

Allow Him to grasp me.

March towards the infinite horizon.
I like that.

Offering

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Offering

That’s the theme around our church this year: Offering Ourselves to God. Below was something we looked at together recently…

There’s a story about the famous violinist Fritz Kreisler. After a concert, a fan rushed up to him and gushed, “I’d give my whole life to play as beautifully as you do.”

Kreisler replied, “I did.”

None of us are strangers to the feelings expressed by the fan. We are often like Peter, who declared that he’d do whatever it took—only to learn that he had no idea what he was talking about. The sentiments were great, but intentions alone are insufficient. Good intentions make great pavement for roads we’d rather never travel, according to the old saying.

What’s needed is the actual act of offering ourselves. Anyone even vaguely familiar with the God revealed in Scripture knows that He is One who requires the commitment and devotion of any who long to side with Him. Piles of biblical concepts are built upon the idea that God’s followers will offer their entire lives to Him, as their chosen Master. Examples of this include sabbath, tithes, circumcision, sacrifices, confession, repentance, prayer, worship, baptism, fasting, charity, service, forgiveness. Minus a heartfelt desire to offer ourselves to God, these holy acts are reduced to legalistic tasks or bargaining chips that we bring before God and others.

Even more, the Scriptures display a powerful pattern: We are drawn to God and empowered by Him to the extent that we offer ourselves to Him. How many of Scripture’s wonders would not even exist, if not for the willingness of God-seekers to trust Him and step out in faith? Better question: How much of what He’d love to do in our lives and world might be limited by a lack of such servants today?

Kreisler reminds us of the level of commitment it takes to be part of something beautiful. Nothing compares to the beauty of seeing God’s work within our lives and the lives of those we love. So this year, we offer ourselves to God.

Who Are You?

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Did anyone else just sing that title and then go, “Woo, woo; woo, woo” as CSI started rolling in your mind?  If you said yes, you win a golden star.   Oh yes, you do.

I’m preaching through the book of John each Sunday lately, so I’ve been spending a lot of time there.  Here’s something that seemed special…

In John 1, John the Baptist is on the scene and turning some heads.  Everyone wants to know who he is (1:19-23).  The Christ?  No way.  Elijah?  Nope.  The Prophet?  Not him either.   Then who?  Just a voice calling out in preparation.

Elsewhere, (as in Matthew 11), Jesus speaks about John the Baptist: “He is the Elijah who was to come.”

What is the deal?

John denied being exactly who Jesus said he was, yet nothing about the accounts of John the Baptist would lead us to think of him as deceitful.  What gives?

John was just “doing his thing”, being “a voice”, obeying what he knew was expected of him.  In his mind, that may have seemed small.  How would he have known that he was THE voice and THE Elijah that were expected immediately before the Messiah would arrive?

But Jesus knew.  He saw John exactly as he was.  He knew the place that John filled in the grand scheme of things, even if John didn’t have the slightest.

We can so often get our heads shrunk into thinking that things are exactly as we perceive them to be: No more and no less.  Surely we must have a grasp that is realistic on the things that are right around us, right?

Truthfully, likely not.

This little idea reminds me of that song in “Prince of Egypt”, when Moses is in the wilderness, being shaped by sheep-care and led towards a burning bush… “Look at your life through heaven’s eyes”…

A single thread in a tapestry, though its color brightly shines
Can never see its purpose in the pattern of the grand design.

And the stone that sits on the very top of the mountain’s mighty face,
Does it think it’s more important than the stones that form the base?

So how can you see what your life is worth or where your value lies?
You can never see through the eyes of man; You must look at your life…

Look at your life through heaven’s eyes

A lake of gold in the desert sand is less than a cool fresh spring.
And to one lost sheep, a shepherd boy is greater than the richest king.
If a man lose ev’rything he owns, has he truly lost his worth?
Or is it the beginning of a new and brighter birth?

So how do you measure the worth of a man in wealth or strength or size?
In how much he gained or how much he gave?
The answer will come, the answer will come to him who tries…
To look at his life through heaven’s eyes

And that’s why we share all we have with you though there’s little to be found.
When all you’ve got is nothing, there’s a lot to go around.

No life can escape being blown about by the winds of change and chance,
And though you never know all the steps you must learn to join the dance.
You must learn to join the dance.

So how do you judge what a man is worth by what he builds or buys?
You can never see with your eyes on earth; look through heaven’s eyes.
Look at your life, look at your life,
Look at your life through heaven’s eyes.

Do whatever you’re called towards, and trust that the Caller has a plan.

And by doing so, you, my friend, are now a part of it regardless of whether or not you have any clue how it all fits together–and oh my… it DOES fit together!

And life lived this wasy is good.

Preachin’ It

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I’ve been loving this old sermon by S.M. Lockridge for years now. You may know it, even without knowing it. Either way, you can hear all six minutes of one of the most powerful sermons I suspect has ever been spoken… if you wish.  Never gets old to these ears, and you can hardly resist the energy.

It’s a beauty.

Recent Chords Struck

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Our adult class at church has been working through John Ortberg’s book “The Life You’ve Always Wanted” recently. We’re only a few chapters in so far, but it’s already been easily worth its while. The subtitle of the book is “Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People”, but it’s about way more than just making “spiritual habits”. It’s about real change in our lives and how one goes about actually becoming what he or she is called to be. A few highlights so far…

“Now with God’s help, I shall become myself.” (Soren Kierkegaard)

“Too often people think about their ‘spiritual lives’ as just one more aspect of their existence, alongside and largely separate from their ‘financial lives’ or their ‘vocational lives’. Periodically they may try to ‘get their spiritual lives together’ by praying more regularly or trying to master another spiritual discipline. It is the religious equivalent of going on a diet or trying to stick to a budget.
The truth is that the term spiritual life is simply a way of referring to one’s life—every moment and facet of it—from God’s perspective. Another way of saying it is this: God is not interested in your ‘spiritual life’. God is just interested in your life.” (Ortberg)

In speaking of whether the changes we seek in our lives are authentic changes in the depths of who we are… or something less, these thoughts hit me with some special force…

“If you are weary of some sleepy form of devotion, probably God is as weary of it as you are.” (Frank Laubach)

“This was the great irony of his [Jesus’] day: The ‘righteous’ were more damaged by their righteousness than the sinners were by their sin.” (Ortberg)

“The strongest argument for Christianity is Christians, when they are drawing life from God. The strongest argument against Christianity? Also Christians, when they become exclusive, self-righteous, and complacent.” (Ortberg)

We can find ourselves as “a ‘peculiar people’ set at odd angles to the world rather than being an attractive light illuminating it. As a result, our morality calls out rather feebly. It whines from the corner of a sanctuary; it awkwardly interrupts pleasures; it mumbles excuses at parties; it shuffles along out of step and slightly behind the times… It’s often regarded by our secular contemporaries as a narrow, even trivial, pursuit… Tragically, conventional religious goodness manages to be both intimidating and unchallenging at the same time.” (Steven Mosley)

Jesus makes so much sense to me. He’s way out there, don’t get me wrong. He thinks unlike anyone else I know. What I mean is that his ways make such greater sense than anyone else’s do… I just get a very strong feeling that he is right. About everything.

The logical question then… How can his followers (Exhibit A: Jason) get so much so wrong so often?

Solution: Let’s fall in surrender, die to all lesser calls than his, and give whatever it takes to be altered.  Easier said than done?  Of course.  So what?

A new creation is calling.