1 Corinthians 1:25 (The Message)
"Human wisdom is so tinny, so impotant, next to the seeming absurdity of God. Human strength can't begin to compete with God's 'weakness'."
God's standards are somewhat upside-down in our world. Strength is measured by weakness, wisdom by foolishness. How can we begin to make sense of it all? We can't! We can anticipate the unexpected, and live with the excitement of knowing that LOVE trumps all!
God of the unexpected,
God of the foolish.
God who works through our strengths to find our weaknesses,
And then takes those moments of foolishness and doubt,
Those times when all we have left is trust
And molds us with Your love.
What an absurd notion, God.
But it works,
If we allow it.
If we let you in.
Come, Foolish God,
and fill me with such Love.
GO! d365.org
When we let God surprise us
with expansive,
impartial,
unconditional,
all-embracing love,
we cannot help but carry that love
to our world.
Let our message catch people off-guard:
that God loves them beyond belief,
and so do we.
Friday, September 21
1 Corinthians 1:20-24 (Excerpts from The Message)
"So where can you find someone truly wise, truly educated, truly intelligent in this day and age? Hasn't God exposed it all as pretentious nonsense? Since the world in all its fancy wisdom never had a clue when it came to knowing God, God in HIS wisdom took delight in using what the world considered dumb... While Jews clamor for miraculour demonstrations and Greeks go in for philosophical wisdom, we go right on proclaiming Christ, the Crucified.....Christ is God's ultimate miracle and wisdom all wrapped up in one."
Where can you find someone truly wise in today's world? Apparently not on TV in the middle of the political election season! (Our trip has allowed us to be TV free for much of this time and we haven't missed that part of it!) God uses unorthodox methods....that is plain and simple to see. A manger? A shepherd boy? God isn't going to speak through the high and mighty - that simply isn't God's M.O. We need to be prepared to accept that God's message might just be delivered by the least expected, the humble, the poor. God's message will be proclaimed through a crucified Christ, revealed to us in amazing and unexpected ways. Are we looking? Are we seeking? Are we ready?
Infinite God.
I see your presence in all the wrong places at times.
You may not be seen in the glorious cathedrals
with their stained glass and gold.
You may not be proclaimed in the lips of the tele-evangelist or in the voice of the Pope.
You may not be heard in the Mormon Tabernacle-type choirs.
Where and how will I find Christ?
Perhaps in the rustic labyrinth under the red rocks of Ghost Ranch.
Perhaps on the lips of the wrinkled and wise grandmother down the street.
Perhaps in the warbled notes of the sparrow outside my window.
Help me keeping looking, Lord,
In those hidden, humble places you delight in.
Waiting for us to come in faith and trust.
Waiting for us to seek you.
Waiting....with love.
Thursday, September 20 "God Drummer"
1 Corinthians 1:18-19 (The Message)
"The Message that points to Christ on the Cross seems like sheer silliness to those hellbent on destruction, but for those on the way of salvation it makes perfect sense. This is the way God works, and most powerfully as it turns out. It's written, 'I'll turn conventional wisdom on its head, I'll expose so-called experts as crackpots'."
I've always liked this scripture, used often at the Fools-for-Christ-type services following Easter. The Gospel Message of God's Love is not one that makes sense in our world of science, prestige, power, money, and 'upward mobility'. For it is a message that rewards service, sacrifice, and surrender.... to the unexplainable, 'foolish' love of our God and his Son. So, walking in God's love is somewhat akin to the line, 'walking to the beat of a different drummer'. The love of God is different, and we who walk in it, hear a non-conventional beat. That's rather 'artsy' in nature as I think about it! I love being an artist who does things just a little differently. Let's be extravagant and obvious in our celebration of the sheer silliness of God's love! Let's walk, always hearing the rhythm of God's love behind every step!
Foolish Father -
I can say this because your love is silly!
It doesn't make sense.
Not the way our world puts things together.
But its very foolishness causes us to stop.
To take a look around,
and wonder.
How can we be foolish in service?
How can we sacrifice against the grain?
How can we surrender our conventional lives,
Daily,
To the sheer silliness of such love?
How?
Why?
When?
Now.
Wednesday, September 19 "Cocoons"
John 3:17 (The Message)
"God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again."
Finger pointing, accusations, judgments against each other. All of it negative. Rarely progressive or helpful. God's focus isn't on judgment and condemnation. It is on change - change within us and our world in order to 'put things right'. Right with God, right with each other, right with Creation. How often do we point fingers rather than support and encourage? How frequently are we quick to pass the blame or the buck, rather than work to improve? Let's get the focus back on the love.
Your love is so inclusive, so overwhelming.
We are wrapped up like a warm winter blanket in love.
Within its cocoon there is no room for blame.
No room to wiggle out fingers of accusation.
No space for name-calling or condemnation.
Just love.
Perfect, foolish love.
Unwrap me, God,
Help me unfold my butterfly wings,
And lead me to share my blanket.
There are others who are cold.
And lonely.
And hurt.
Others who need a warm blanket
Before they are ready to fly.
Tuesday, September 18 "Universal Love"
John 3:16 (The Message)
"This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life."
Back to John 3:16 once again! But when you are talking not just love, but FOOLISH love, I guess we come back to this verse.
God's love could not be limited to one person, one family, one country. It was for the world. Today in reading this familiar verse of John, I thought, 'Just the world?' I consider God the Creator of our entire universe. There ARE other worlds out there. If we think our little earth keeps God busy, listening to the daily requests of 6-7 billion people, what about the idea that God is also doing the same for worlds light years away. What a multi-tasker! Our God and our God's love is so vast! And why? Just so we can be whole. Belief alone will make it all work. That's how God can manage ALL the worlds of the universe. With our belief. With our love. Perhaps with 'foolish' love toward each other in response to the love of our universal God. It is all mind-boggling in its scope. But that's how God is also, mind-boggling.
Universal God.
God of all the worlds light-years away.
Universal Love.
Love of a size and magnitude that we cannot comprehend.
We don't understand.
We don't have to.
We just have to give our belief.
Our trust.
Our faith.
Our foolish love for each other and for you.
Amen.
Monday, September 17 "Trusting and Expectant"
John 3:14-15 (The Message)
"In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up—and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life."
We have trouble with this thing called faith. We have trouble with believing in things we cannot see. The Israelites wanted proof that God was with them (and got snakes instead!) So Moses gave them a bronze serpent to look up to. We still want miracles today. We think "If God really exists, he would take care of that! If God cared, this wouldn't be happening!" God DOES exist and God DOES CARE! And God has given us Christ - our reminder that love is present in our world, healing. I love Peterson's translation with the words, 'trusting and expectant'. There's that thing called faith again. How often do we seek God's healing grace with an expectant attitude of 'How will God handle this?' We think we know the answer - we know how WE want God to answer. But do we ever gloriously wait expectant, on the edge of our seat, anticipating the unusual manner in which God will provide life abundant?
God is at work in our life. I trust in that reality. I am trying to spend enough time each day with God in joyful, expectant anticipation of whatever and however he plans to use Rick and I in this next stage. How is God planning to make our retirement 'real life', life abundant??? Are we ready?
Healing Lord.
Another new day of anticipation.
Keep me watching.
Keep my eyes lifted up to you.
Steady my pounding heart of joyful expectancy.
What will God do with me today?
Sunday afternoon.....
I went to church today with my brother and sister in law at the Lutheran Church. The scripture readings were all different from what I read this morning, so you can imagine my surprise when the pastor said something during the sermon about the love of God is like a new parent holding an infant....exactly what I had just drawn an hour earlier! I did draw another picture from the James 3 scripture reading....about our tongues of fire. How something small can become so much bigger if we aren't careful!
FOOLISH LOVE
PAUSE! d365.org (Nikki Finkelstein-Blair)
The love of God has always caught people off-guard.
When we expect micromanagement,
God loves us expansively.
When we expect to be ranked and rated,
God loves us impartially.
When we expect to be found guilty,
God loves us unconditionally.
When we expect to be excluded,
God loves us with arms wide open,
ready to draw us in.
Sunday, September 16
Psalm 98:1-5 (The Message)"Sing to God a brand-new song.
He's made a world of wonders!
He rolled up his sleeves,
He set things right.
God made history with salvation,
He showed the world what he could do.
He remembered to love us, a bonus
To his dear family, Israel - indefatigable love.
The whole earth comes to attention.
Look - God's work of salvation!
Shout your praises to God, everybody!
Let loose and sing! Strike up the band!
Round up an orchestra to play for God,
Add on a hundred voice choir! "
Have you watched a first time parent with his or her new baby? The faces they make, the words they say, the undesirable tasks they put up with? (Oh! Johnny just peed all over my new dress! Isn't he adorable?) Their love knows no bounds! It overflows with emotions never felt before to that level. The love of a parent for child is sacrificial, often unwarranted and unearned, and at times, almost comical to watch.
That's how God loves us. Boundless, impartial, unconditional, sacrificial, foolish love. With praise and absolute glory, how can we not respond by shouting and sharing this wonderful gift! How can we not burst forth with that same love in the way we treat each other and the glory of the created world God has given to us.
Creator God. The sun has risen. The skies have shed the darkness of night to slowly erupt in the majesty and glory of your love. Once again you come to us with the expansiveness of the universe with only one purpose: to love us. May I today spread that sunlight to another. In gratitude and thanksgiving. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment