Sunday, July 20, 2008

Learning by Doing

There's always those recurring thoughts that will string together the reflections and realizations of each day. We have them and often we dismiss them or altogether fail to notice them. I've been glancing over most of mine for a while. But thankfully for me one thought that came to me the other day is beyond my ability to be oblivious and still occasionally catches it's needle on a new thought.

It's the realization that each and every moment we read in scripture was at one time a very real moment just as genuine and tactile as the moment you are in right now. It was once just as real as the keys I'm touching right now.

And mere seconds before it was "real" each and every moment in scripture was nothing more than raw potential for something really amazing or something utterly ordinary and meaningless. It was a second in reality where the people you read about in the Bible and any great true story had to answer the question "what will I do?" or the even more interesting "Am I really about to do what I feel inside?"

How they answer the question often amazes us the first time we hear or read about it. Some of their answers give us tremendous joy. Some give us great sorrow. Some amazingly do both when we wonder if we could answer their questions the same way and with the same faith.

But I think after years of reading the Bible the thing that begins to amaze me about the scriptures is the fact (you have permission to call it a possibility if you aren't yet ready to call it a fact. It's not much less amazing if you do) that these real people would really make these faithful choices and do faithful things. I think of things such as cutting down pagan images or dousing altars and bulls in water and asking God to light them on fire or holding up their staff and watching a sea part. I also think of things such as forgiving people about to kill them or selling something, maybe even everything so that others could eat. I think of Jesus having to confine himself to his complete humanity and somehow choose to believe he could not only forgive sins, but also command crippled people to not be crippled anymore or deaf people to hear. To be restrained to a human mind and still take a step onto a raging sea or be forced to carry the instrument of His own torture without hurling one abusive word at his oppressors. If you believe He is fully human you have to understand how amazing of a power must be at work in Him to do any of these acts of faith.

But there is a responsibility that come with me realizing this. If men and women of God were in moments that are just as real as mine when they made choices of faith, does that mean that most of my moments are only as meaningless as they are because I'm not making choices of faith? It's scary because it takes away my excuses for not doing what my soul and His spirit keep telling me to do.

And for you too this could mean that you really don't have an excuse not to do something that you know right now you should to do. If you believe the Bible is real then you have to ask why things that resemble the Bible aren't happening in your life. Is there some theological explanation that has something to do with God deciding that He doesn't want to perform miracles anymore?

Let me ask it plainer. Did God decide to no longer does amazing things? Or did we decide that He was no longer going to do amazing things? Why would he decide that anyway and if He did how would He reconcile that with the fact that He would leave generations of us without hope.

If God hasn't changed His mind, are the stories of the Bible real. I realize that it would be a lot more convenient to say that the stories of the Bible are just fairy tales. I think this is the real reason atheism and agnosticism exist. It's far more convenient to say these are just morality tale than face the fact that we're responsible for bringing true good into the world and we haven't.

As I've said, I'm starting -- not to "believe" that the stories of the Bible are real -- but to understand that they are real. I'm gaining awareness that they always were real. I don't get a choice in the matter. My reality is becoming that Peter really walked on water and that means he really had to decide to put that leg over the side of that boat. It's no longer a question of faith for me, but a question of reality. But there's a difference between being aware enough to accept reality and believing God enough to act on reality.

The reason we are careful to pick up a rose is the thorn. The reason so few of us see the really beautiful waterfall is the life-threatening hike it takes to get there. The reason I don't see God at work in power is that I don't have the courage or the wisdom to let Him bring that power too close to me.

To say it plainly, I've been a coward. I avoid these things.

Look closely at the stories of God's amazing power in the Bible. Every miracle is surrounded and even birthed by demanding, hardship-laiden circumstances that most of us don't want to get involved with. Granted... ultimately we don't have a choice whether we get into that kind of circumstance and once we do, many of us reluctantly encounter God.

That's why it bothers me when I hear someone teach blessing and prosperity in such a way that ignores the things that surround blessing and prosperity. I'm thinking of things like suffering, sacrifice, patience and character. I hear it a lot of places and sadly sometimes people in the church. Pardon me if I'm extremely saddened and more than a little angered by that.

But, O, to have the courage to go straight into those places where God changes the world in front of me.

Last night as we studied Colossians 1, Ben shared an insight that fits on this string of thought. It seems that to the Hebrew mind you don't know something until you do it. In all of my years of study how much knowledge do I have that I've never really known by that standard of measure. How much of God's will do I fail to truly know because I don't obey the call of the Spirit within me forgiving a debtor, feeding a hungry person, helping a stranded motorist (or hitch-hiker) or gently correcting a friend in error.

I saw that thought again when I read Psalm 45:4 and the last part of the verse said, "Let Your right hand teach You awesome things." Many believe this Psalm foreshadows Christ so it's a little amazing to think that by doing His righteous works, Jesus -- from a human perspective -- was learning things as He walked towards the end of His life that taught Him how faithful His father would be as He laid down His life.

I've also been noticing that the first person killed for belief in Christ (after Jesus Himself) was a guy who was put in charge of making sure all the widows got food. Anybody else notice this. Is it possible that Steven learned something from that obedience which enabled Him to say what He said and got Him killed. It fascinates me because 1) Steven's job was a lot like mine and 2) I've felt for a long time like it would be a shame for me to die of old age and "natural causes."

I feel within me that I'm going to someday die for my faith. At least I hope so. And I don't think it's going to be for preaching the Four Spiritual Laws. The gospel I've seen sold around here (i.e. the American Church) seems so unlikely to get a man killed. I've been asking why they really wanted to kill Jesus for a while. Not the theological concepts of why He had to die according to prophecy, but why would the leadership of Jesus' religion want Him dead so bad. And I think, like Steven, my understanding of the answer to that question is going to come by doing. The "it" I'll have to do is yet to be seen.

I have a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson courtesy of my friend Brook that says "Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood." I just remembered that as I was writing this. I guess God's been waiting a long time for me to notice all this stuff together. I guess it's time to ask what I need to be learning by putting my faith in action.

For starters: One thing I realized while writing this is that the Bible says a lot more about correcting one another than we do. It's a big step of faith for me. The proverbs and the Gospels -- like Matthew 18:5 -- talk a lot about correcting people. But that reminds me of Psalm 2:3? (Actually I just did a google search for "let us throw of their chords psalms" and my own website came up. Hah! I guess I've thought about this before.) I can see how correcting people may have contributed to Jesus death. I can see also how that would be a good thing for me to learn to do (gently and with humility and love of course)

So, dear reader, what's your next step? What do you need to learn by doing?

posted by Scott # 3:46 AM

Comments:

Every so often I check your blog to see if you have any spiritual insights to share. I always learn something about scripture and about you. The blogs always make me think. Sometimes, I don't quite understand what you are trying for. Sometimes, they scare me a little. This one falls into that last category. Largely because I'm Mom. A lot because I have often thought you would not be with us as long as I would like you to be, both with us by virtue of closeness and by your physical being. Just occasional fleeting thoughts that you will get into situtions while living out your faith. But, I know you need to live out that faith and my mom-ness can never get in your way. So I pray a lot for your safety, your faith, you to recognize and follow God's ways. And I also pray a lot for you to understand the difference because correcting and judging. Judging in the sense that your faith is advanced compared to many and maybe you sometimes don't use patience to wait for us to catch up. But, blogs like this one scare me a little into realizing my faith has to be one of doing. And I'm glad that I have recognized this and am working on it. I won't be doing the way you most likely will, but faith can never be stagnant, it requires effort to keep it moving forward and each of us has a different job to do. My job(s) may seem small by comparison to what you want, but it's/they're mine to do, and each of us has different guidelines set by God according to our talents and abilities. But I also think that your guide from God may or may not take you far away. Maybe it's wishful thinking because I want you closer. Maybe it's just that I see so many real needs close by and I know a person with talents and God's guiding can help in so many ways. And I believe strongly in helping those in our own back yards. So I pray, with a certain sense of urgency to keep you safe and recognizing the right track, and the human side of me prays with a sense of pride in you and the fact that you are my family. And I pray you will always have God's peace and God's strength, knowing you have God's love.

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