Be-loved, Be-hold, Be-come

1. Even before Jesus does anything, the Father tell Jesus who he is (my Beloved Son) and expresses his feelings toward Jesus (with whom I am well pleased). 

• As a member of the Trinity, Jesus began his ministry of manifesting the presence of the Father on this earth by being affirmed in who he was and to whom he was valued by. As members of the body of Christ IN him, we stand also affirmed, before stepping a single foot on a houseboat or mission field, that we are Jesus' Beloved and desired by the One who made us.

2. Jesus prays to the Father: "I want them to behold my glory"

• The sheer thought of being able to not only see the glory of God, but also to contribute to it astonishes me. We can behold, we can see, we can observe the glory of the Lord! This should leave us in the fear of the Lord, yet I ask myself how often I shrug off or ignore the creation surrounding me that proclaims the glory of our Creator and Father. The sun, the moon, the stars, the wind, the rain, people around us, the food we eat declares that our God is good and life giving!

3. All of us are the beloved disciple. We are loved in the same as the love existing between the Father and Son because we are IN the Son. 

"When he had finished saying these things, he went forth to make all he prayed for happen." This last line got me. It had the same effect as if I was standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon or staring at the beauty in a sunset over the water: complete awe and wonder, witnessing something that seems too full of goodness to be true.

Discipleship = Automatic Inclusion

First of all, I want to apologize for the tardiness of my posts. But, reading each of your insights has provided much relief and encouragement, more than you know.

Secondly, holy moly!

They in us so that "that they may all be one"

We are given to Jesus by the Father to be in the middle of the Trinitarian love! That is a concept I cannot wrap my mind around at all without it being unraveled all over again. So engraved is my understanding set by culture that every person needs to be individualistic, standing out, unique, or making a name for ourselves, that the truth of our design and privilege to be united is lost. How beautiful is the bride of Christ, together as one body, participating IN the oneness of God.

After listening to DJ's sermon, I have been thinking about how the oneness of us in God shows in my life? Being a mainly kinesthetic learner, I want to understand by application, by acting in oneness. But no matter or works or effort can place me in Christ. Being in, or one with the Lord is a declaration of our being. We are, I am in Christ. Our actions flow out from being united IN Christ who is IN the Father through the Holy Spirit IN us.

To compare, I think of our physical bodies. I have never once woken up in the morning and thought of my oneness in my body. It, for the most part, is always a cohesive mass of skin and bones, organs, nerves, blood vessels, and various systems. Oneness is not something we can created, it is something we are proclaimed to be in and of ourselves when we accept Christ.

Jesus' Last Will and Testament

1.) "Father I want them to be WITH ME where I am." 

Where is "with?" IN Him. You can't get any closer than "IN." The desire of Jesus' heart was that He would live IN us and we abide IN Him. Again and again throughout John 17 we see the intimacy that Jesus so passionately desires to have with us! He doesn't want to be next to us, in the same room as us, or the same building. He wants the closer than close, He wants us to abide IN Him. "This is where you live, right here." (Hitch) 

2.) "You thought He was making a decent little cottage and instead He made a palace and intends to live there." --C.S. Lewis.  All spaces are sacred because Jesus is IN us and therefore IN all things. The space is irrelevant. It is the person that matters, or rather Christ that matters. Thinking back to last summer and recalling Reid say time and time again, "Don't cling to these docks, cling to the person of Jesus." It's easy to have the mindset that sacredness or the holiness is in the place. When really it's in us! The love love doesn't stop just cause we leave the docks. It leaves home with us to invade our homes, work places, schools, etc. 

3.) "It would take an eternity to know the fullness of God." 

We will never fully comprehend the love the Father has for us. But every day He invites into the intimacy and fullness of the love between the Father and the Son. Everyday we can sink deeper into His love and every day we get to abide IN Him. Thinking to what Torrey has mentioned over this past weekend about using our senses to draw near, to be aware of the His presence. Lord may You give us the eyes to see Your presence and ears to hear Your voice that surrounds us each day. Awaken our senses to grasp the enormity and presence of the love You have for us.  May we daily accept Your invitation to abide IN You. 

The Thin Sacred Space Between Here and There - #eternalmoments

The part of the sermon that stood out to me more than anything else was the "Sacred Space."  Darrell in his Darrell fashion, rattles of a list of sacred space in the scriptures......The manager, the wilderness, the cross, the tomb, Mary's womb???? Come on DJ, FOR REALS?!?!?!?!

As I listened to DJ, I couldn't help but think of my own list of sacred space that I experience year after year on the water...
- The Docks before and after a training weekend
- The seminar boat every time it is filled with staff
- The Ski Boat shed's (Sitting in a ski boat anointing it with oil (RP) before the season)
- The drive to Shasta
- The drive home from Shasta
- All of Driver week
- Sunday's after the campers leave the docks
- Floating drivers Monday and Tuesday
- The solo patio boat drive in from driver float at midnight (Am I right Molly?)
- Program
- Driver prayer meeting on our knees
- Thursday night boat assignments (Am I right Torrey?)
- CHEDDAZ!!!
- Ricks
- Saturday night dinner on docks

On and on the list goes of this "Thin sacred space between here and there!" #eternalmoments

FYI that is my first hashtag ever!  I am a little embarrassed and excited at the same time!  Like Daniel said, great training weekend with the Barney's!  Thank you Admin for the journey of listening to Jesus pray for us!  I look forward to more sacred space this weekend with drivers and trainees!

The Law of Transitive Qualities

Okay, so now I'm starting to see the whole Admin thing about the "Blessed preposition of IN"! I get it now! I think we all touched on it, but what got me was when Darrell was talking about the connection between the qualities of the Father, Jesus, and us. He says that the qualities that the Father has are IN Jesus, so he has the Father's patience, love, joy, all that stuff. And because Jesus is IN us, so are those qualities! Being able to access those is such a privilege.

With the Father, another thing he talks about in this sermon is how Jesus "wills those you(The Father) have given me to be with me where I am." In it, Darrell points back to John 14, where Jesus is telling the disciples at that last meal "I am going ahead to prepare a place for you." He wants us to be there with Him, and prays to his Father for that! For me, I immediately thought of that good old 90s worship song, "In My Father's House," where the singer cheesily yet joyfully sings about "a big, big house, with lots and lots of rooms/ a big big house, where we can play football." That's just a tiny little taste of the place Jesus is preparing for us!

While I was thinking about one classic song, Darrell brings up another great hit, Mercy Me's "I Can Only Imagine." Another great way to think about heaven, what will my reaction be? Utter silence, pure ecstatic joy, weeping, kneeling, screaming, or something else!?

Last note: for those of you who weren't there, the Barnabas Retreat went great! An awesome group of people, and showing them what Sonshine is all about (Hint: Jesus) was a privilege. Be praying for their hearts as they start preparing for this summer, and for the Barneys that had to miss out this weekend! Thanks guys! I'll be praying for the Drivers going up this next weekend!

Beating the "&#%@" out of the Profane

As we approach this weekend I felt empowered by Darrell’s reminder that every moment and every space is sacred. As we brace ourselves for another season of ministry I always like to be reminded that Christ challenged us to storm the gates of hell.

His challenge to "storm" affirms Darrell’s point that space and time are filled with the sacred and takes it a step further.

Jesus doesn’t only remind us that spiritually and philosophically all space and time are sacred but Jesus starts over the line and takes it from there by proclaiming that in this battle, the mission is not to protect the sacred from the profane, but instead our mission is to break through the profane’s gates and defenses with the sacred.

We are not to protect the sacred from the profane.

We are called to be aware that strategically the profane seeks protection from the sacred.

For the sacred is not timid, weak, & frail.

The sacred is bold as a cosmic Lion whose very word upholds all things and whose roar can rip all creation to pieces.

The sacred tolerates the puny profane so that the children of Adam can see His glory – sacred blood poured out for the forgiveness of sins.

Okay – I think that’ll do it!!! See you at training peeps!!!!!


QUOTES I LIKED::
 “After speaking to humanity in different ways he speaks definitively through Jesus Christ. He is there and he is not silent. “

“When we gather in the name of Christ, Jesus is the actual church leader.“

The father is finally getting the answer to the question he asked humanity at the beginning of history. God asked in the garden, “where are you?” “Here I am!” says the son. “Here I am,” says the last Adam. “Here I am and those that you’ve given me. “

Joining in the Oneness

“We are not called to become one like the Father and the Son are one, we are called to join in the Father and the Son being one.”

What does it look like to join in the Father and Son being one?  I have been thinking about this for a while and I ended up here. Which comes first: knowing the Father and Son so well and so intimately that I can then enter into the oneness? Or entering into the oneness initially which then leads to the knowing and intimacy? If it’s the latter then I still have the same question… How?

Then I am brought to this line of the sermon: “The oneness that Jesus wants for his disciples and the church PARTICIPATES in the oneness that is God.”  Or if you will… partici-relate, thank you Steve. God is inviting me to partici-relate in His relationship with Jesus. And this is made possible because like Paul says in Acts 17:18, IN HIM we live and move and have our very being! (DJ says “Linger here for a little while longer…. like the rest of your life.” Classic.) I have been created in the image of the oneness of the Living God which gives me access to partici-relate in the oneness of the Father and the Son.

A theme I have noticed in Darrell’s preaching/writing is that he always brings up the “-ing point.” By that I mean he always addresses the fact that relationship with God is not a one-time thing or something that happens in a specific moment, rather always ongoing. We are continually participatING in the oneness that is the Father and Son. DJ says we are eternally indwellING in the Father and Son as they are eternally indwelling in each other. It is a constant, daily, hourly invitation to join in the oneness of the Father and Son. 

Live IN the houseboat

I've heard Darrell discuss INness before, but I've always struggled to understand what that actually means or looks like.  What does it mean to be IN and not be like, or to be near/with.  I think of in light of the first sermon: to KNOW Jesus.  How do we know the true nature of something, to know what something is really like?  Using a houseboat, for example:

If I am LIKE a houseboat:  I can probably float on water, travel at an extremely tedious speed, and be extremely muscular (in that I can withstand the weight of 15-30 individuals on my roof!).  But being like a houseboat doesn't mean I am a houseboat, it doesn't mean I share the same characteristics, or even fully understanding the operational functions of the houseboat.

If I am NEAR/WITH a houseboat: I am probably somewhere in the vicinity, can probably see the houseboat and describe it's outer characteristics.  It has blue railings, a front/back deck, a gate, some windows, and the name of a church written in geechy-algae from twenty years ago, but I have no idea if there is anything inside.

But, If I am IN a houseboat: I can describe to you the features of the boat, can probably tell you how old it is, how it smells, if it is structurally stable, how it runs/operates, etc.  To be IN doesn't mean that we ARE a houseboat.  Adversely when we are called to be IN; IN Him we can do X, Y, and Z, it does not mean WE ARE.  It means we have gotten to a place, we have trekked long and hard, and no longer are we on the outside looking in.  We are not standing on the shore, or on the levy; we have entered in through the narrow gate and are now inside.  We are in tune, we can better understand His will because we see what the "boat" was meant for, not just what it looks like or what it can do.  

So often I am an outsider.  I stand on the shore and try to look inside.  I pray and act confused; God, what is your will for me?  What am I supposed to do?  Am I on the right track?  And he replies with, why don't you come on in and see for yourself?  I built this beautiful houseboat for you, NOT just to look at, but to LIVE IN.

In=One=In - Now that is my kind of math!

I absolutely loved this sermon this week.  As a plague of sickness has been ravaging my house this past week leaving me sleepless in Lodi, I have been able to listen to the sermon a few times.  Here is just a quick thought:

This past week has been challenging and frustrating for Torrey, Daniel, and I with regards to Barney staffing.  As the retreat approaches this coming weekend, the challenge of following Jesus seems to be more difficult than some Barney's expected.  The parable of the sower and the Seed seems to leap of the pages of scripture like never before.  The birds of the air and the weeds and thorns of the field are wreaking havoc in the hearts of Barneys who have decided to "drop" from participating in Jesus and His call this summer.  "We are not called to just imitate Jesus but also participate IN Jesus" - DJ
In-in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in-in!  At least 17 times in John 17 Jesus uses the blessed preposition IN! "In you" - "You in me," "us in them!"

I love Darrell's attempt to define Jesus' use of "IN".....=ONE!  Couldn't help but sing out U2's "One" all week!    

Is it getting better, Or do you feel the same, Will it make it easier on you, Now you got someone to blame
You say, One love, One life - When it's one need In the night, It's one love, We get to share it
It leaves you baby, If you don't care for it - Did I disappoint you? Or leave a bad taste in your mouth?
You act like you never had love And you want me to go without
Well it's too late Tonight, To drag the past out, Into the light, We're one, But we're not the same
We get to carry each other, Carry each other - One

Have you come here for forgiveness, Have you come to raise the dead, Have you come here to play Jesus, To the lepers in your head, Did I ask too much, More than a lot, You gave me nothing
Now it's all I got, We're one, But we're not the same, We hurt each other, Then we do it again

You say, Love is a temple, Love a higher law, Love is a temple, Love the higher law, You ask me to enter
But then you made me crawl, And I can't be holding on, To what you got, When all you got is hurt

One love- One blood- One life You got to do what you should
One life, With each other, Sisters, Brothers

One life, But we're not the same, We get to carry each other, Carry each other - One - One

Sorry!  Had to include the lyric!

Another quick thought was about our identity as gifts!  I know it is all through out our training material and is one of our "I AM" statements, but I have struggled to view the "dropping" Barney's  as a gift from the Father to the Son.  Pray for me there......the first thought after I hear their excuses is not..."WOW, what a gift!!!"

Thanks guys for this blog journey!  All your posts are very encouraging.

-Reid

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In the I AM

“So that they may be one as we are.”   It would not be an exaggeration to say that Jesus wants one Church.  This steady drumbeat message seems to be the main burden of Jesus’ prayer. The Father and the Son are remarkably close, and it seems that Jesus would love to have his Church experience and participate in this comparable closeness.   The lock the Father and Son have on each other is the way I want to be spiritually locked into Jesus and the Father.   Before this one-ness happens with the Church, it seems important for us to individually and corporately seek our own “lockage” with Jesus and the Father.  This seems like a vertical, devotional relationship.  The Father is so locked into the Son that he seeks his Son’s glory more than anything else in the world; the Son seeks the Father’s glory above all else.  Now we are invited into this amazing commitment!  Does this not scream of the eucharist?  We break bread and literally ingest it into our bodies.  “So that they may be one as We are one.”  We are physically ingesting the body of Christ as a way to be one with Him.   Oh, may we find ways into this upward devotion, for the sake of the Church’s outward reach in the wide world around us!

“Keep them in your name that you gave to me, so that they may be one as we are one.”   I couldn’t help but think about being kept in God’s name.  What is God’s name that He gave to Jesus?.....the “I AM.”  Woah! Jesus is praying for his disciples to be kept inside his I Am.  Flash to the I Am statements that we use during our Barney training, and I am enveloped in the Who we are being kept inside: the good shepherd, the bread of life, the resurrection and the life, the light of the world, etc.  What richness to participate and live in!

  

YOU are included

Big words, terminology, and message, but when you peal it all back the heart of it is simple. Few things I gathered from sermon 3: 

1.) We as disciples of Christ are gifts from the Father. 

Funny how not only are we all given the greatest gift so freely given, but we ourselves as sons and daughters of the most high are viewed as gifts to the Son. Gifts to bring glory to Their name. 

2.) "Just as You abide in Me and I in You, so they will abide in Us." 

I think that's something how it went. The point was "IN!" We are invited IN to the circle of intimacy with the Father and Son. We will never fully comprehend the love the Father has for the Son and His children. But how exciting is that, that Jesus' desire was that we would all enter into the unity and intimacy the that circle!? 

3.) "It is being included in the eternal life of God that heals all wounds and allows us to stop demanding satisfaction, what really matters of a personal nature of once it is clear, you are included." 

Stop demanding satisfaction....love that! Because why would we need to demand satisfaction once we've realized we've been given the greatest gift and invitation!? You are included, you are included, YOU are included. Such a great reminder of what an amazing, loving Creator we serve. The lyrics from Sinking Deep have been running through my mind all week and I think they tie pretty well with Jesus prayer: 

Standing here in your presence

In a grace so relentless

I am won by perfect love

Wrapped within the arms of heaven

In a peace that lasts forever

Sinking deep in mercy's sea

I'm wide awake, drawing close, stirred by grace

And all my heart is yours

All fear removed, I breathe you in, I lean into

Your love, oh, your love

When I'm lost you pursue me

Lift my head to see your glory

Lord of all, so beautiful

Here in you I find shelter

Captivated by the splendor

Of your face, my secret place

I'm wide awake, drawing close, stirred by grace

And all my heart is yours

All fear removed, I breathe you in, I lean into

Your love, oh, your love

Your love so deep is washing over me

Your face is all I seek, you are my everything

Jesus Christ, You are my one desire

Lord, hear my only cry, to know you all my life

CELEBRATION is central to all life! 

One Because In

"The oneness Jesus wants for us is not just modeled on the oneness of God, but participates in the oneness of God."

This sermon destroyed me!! A common theme, I'm noticing. It brought me back to my last post about confession. If I am participating in the oneness that the Father and the Son are participating in, that is as intimate as it can get. There is no use in trying to hide anything, because where would I hide it? I am in the Son as the Son is in the Father and the Father in the Son. The Son is in me as I am in the Father as the Father is in the Son. There is no dark corner, no hidden alleyway to hide anything, so I can experience total freedom because I am fully known (uncomfortably fully known!) and still fully loved.

"Each member of the Trinity is always pouring himself out for and into the others."

We are called not to imitate in this model of oneness, but participate in it. Meaning, as we participate in the Trinity, a natural byproduct of being a participant is pouring ourselves out for and into the others members. An easy response to this for me is this: "Perfect, my job is to pour everything I am into the Son & the Father, so I'm going to sit in my room with my Bible and journal and only spend time with the Son & the Father." But Jesus, in His grace, reminds me, "You're missing the point! *flashback to last week's sermons* You are the salt and light! You have purpose! I didn't ask for you to be taken out of the world so don't remove yourself!"

And finally, "Each believer is a gift given by the Father to the Son. Not to us."
Barneys are gifts, from the Father to the Son. I need to remember, amidst frustration and awkwardness, 1) They are a gift! and 2) They aren't a gift to me!

“FATHER-SON-HOLY SPIRIT-INTIMATE-ONENESS-UPTOWN-FUNK-YOU-UP-UPTOWN-FUNK-YOU-UP-SWEET-BEATS-SOUL-STIRRING-JAMS” pumping my heart pistons!"

Impression 1 – He finishes the message by repeating the phrase – “You are included. You are included. You are included.” This phrase, “you are included,” for me, as I consider our training, rings synonymous (sort of) with the phrase “you are befriended.”  In our training, the very first, what I would call “official”, paragraph begins with the sentence “First, our job is to simply befriend them.”  With our training in mind, as the sermon ended, I kept hearing in my head with the zing-pap of “FATHER-SON-HOLY SPIRIT-INTIMATE-ONENESS-UPTOWN-FUNK-YOU-UP-UPTOWN-FUNK-YOU-UP-SWEET-BEATS-SOUL-STIRRING-JAMS” pumping my heart pistons – Ok. Start of over. As the sermon ended, I kept hearing – “You are befriended. You are befriended. You are befriended.”  I found myself riveted by the astounding wonder that the Father-Son-Spirit per karisis dance of beauty and power drives our training’s first invitation to our staff – BEFRIEND.

Impression 2 – He speaks at length on the idea that “no person exists on their own.” He uses oxygen and food as examples that “we are constantly taking in from outside of ourselves.”  He expands the taking to relationships, saying we are “constantly relating to others” and in a “profound sense others are making their way inside of us and we are making our way inside them.”  He ties this need for intimacy with others to our most fundamental need to be alive in the life and love of the trinity.  Put another way in the message, Christ’s desire is that our need for relationship and/or relating point us to our fundamental need to live in and be alive in the oneness of the triune God of love.” These thoughts that I’ve labeled as impression 2 add depth, power, spiritual perspective to the second sentence in what I call our first official paragraph of the Ultra packet which is, “Everyone needs genuine friendships.”

These two impressions and their ties to the Super Ultra Packet definitely flipped on the excitement and enthusiasm switches for Barney training next weekend.  I felt very fortunate to hear from Darrell this week about the inestimable depth, breadth, & mystery that surrounds the simple mission of befriending folks who need genuine friendship.

On the prayer front – the gal who hurt her arm when I was blogging last week needed emergency surgery. Felt like a long summer season night last Friday  at Lodi Memorial sitting with her dad into the wee hours of the morning.   After she returned home to L.A. they decided to have a follow up surgery with a children’s specialist.  That surgery finished yesterday.  The second surgery created a lot more pain than the first one so she’s pretty bummed right now. Thanks for your ongoing prayers for this little one.  

Jesus the Gentle Toe-Pincher and Other Thoughts Over Fish Tacos

A few days ago, I was out having fish tacos at a local Mexican restaurant with my good friend, Jourdan.  Our talk turned to Jesus and the trial before the Sanhedrin. Jesus’ disciples had deserted Him, a friend betrayed Him, He was falsely accused, and yet Jesus remained silent for much of the time.  Before we knew it,  Jourdan and I had gone down the rabbit hole and were engrossed in conversation about why Jesus had to suffer during his time on Earth, especially leading up to the crucifixion and why he remained silent and did not defend himself.   Knowing that God was going to conquer all, why not just fast forward to that endpoint or at least to the crucifixion?  Why all the suffering?  Here are some reasons we discussed:

-        He chose obedience to the father over his own (human) desires.

-        It was the fulfillment of prophecies.

-        Jesus knew that the only way for humankind to be saved was for Him to give His life for them.

-        It was because only the perfect Son of God could pay the price for the sins of the whole world.

-        Not that physical pain was necessary for salvation, but perhaps what we can understand is torn flesh, thorns, and nails through hands and feet. If we can internalize that pain, we will get a small glimpse of what it really means to have God turn away from us: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?. 

-        Identification:  Humans can identify with Jesus because He too suffered emotionally and physically on earth.

-        To give value.  If He did not suffer (and die), there would not be a value to what was being given.  

There were many, many more reasons we came up with, then I listened to Darrell’s sermon, and he said this:“He prays that the father would send us into the world.  'Just as you sent me, so I send them.' Not in the sense of now it is their turn, but in the sense of in the same way, and for the same purpose.  The father sent his son into the world in order to enter the world’s suffering and make that suffering his own.  The father sent his son into the world to enter into the world’s sin and embrace it as his own.  The father sent his son into the world’s longing, and own it as his own.  As so now he sends us into the world, into the worlds suffering, and sin, and longing to embrace it all as our own.  And as he sends us he prays.  He prays for us. " 

Oh yes!!  A great reminder! The idea of Jesus owning the world's longing and the suffering, not just so he can identify with our suffering and us with his, but also to set us an example of what we are to do.  He sends us into the world's suffering and longing to embrace it as our own.  We are not to turn a blind eye to social injustice. When there is injustice in the world, when wrongs are being done to others, when a friend is suffering and longing, we don't just have to lay down and be silent, we can own it as our own.  

One other thought:  John 17: 11 “Father keep them in your name.  The name you have given me.”  Darrell reflected, “Keep them alive to your name as holy father.  Do not let them develop distorted images of you….Don’t let them develop false ideas of you…Don’t let them take ideas from all over their cultures and project them on you.  Jesus wants us to know God as God really is…Keep them alive to you as you really are.”

I could not help but think that back to last week’s sermon where we reflected on keeping our head on Jesus’ heart.  How do we not develop false ideas of God?  We keep our head on Jesus’ heart.  How do we know God as God really is?  We keep our head on Jesus’ heart. 

I was having back pain a few weeks ago, so I decided to get a deep tissue massage to work some of that angst out.  That day I also happened to be dealing with a bout of allergies and my sinuses were pretty clogged up. During the massage, I was surprised that the massage therapist was doing some reflexology on my toes.  She was pinching them, rubbing them, etc.  I didn’t know what was going on down there, but I went with it.  All of a sudden she pinched my second toe and immediately my sinuses cleared up – amazing!  I expressed to her my surprise and she explained the connection between our sinuses and our toes.   All this to say that this portion in Darrell’s sermon and the scripture in John 11 reminded me of keeping passages clear.  By keeping my head on Jesus’ heart he is able to “pinch my toe” and keep my ideas, thoughts, feelings toward God clear and alive to who he really is.  Jesus, the loving toe-pincher.

Our Challenge in the "World"

I loved this one, Man it was good! Sorry for the late post this is still week 2 for me.
I have never viewed the world in the way that DJ talks about it here and the way that Jesus refers to it in this chapter. Our world is really just an organized society trying to function without God, Jesus says, "holy father, keep them in your name". Keep them identified in you, but our world tries to do everything else, society tells us what a happy life should look like or what should bring joy. Jesus did not come to change this idea but instead he came to challenge us to stop living like this. He challenges the world to stop being the world! I love this line, Jesus empowers us christians to not fall into this category, to not become part of the world but instead to walk into that world, into that darkness and bring the light of Christ. As DJ puts it, the church is the only place left in the world where the world no longer exists. I love vs. 18 as it says that just as Jesus was sent into the world so are we sent into the world. How crazy is this? just as Jesus was sent to embrace the sin and suffering of the world and so are we. But what does it look like for us to actually live this out?
Our world is full of disaster, people put their identities in the worst of things and people walk the streets broken and shattered. That is our mission field, the world. Jesus says we are the salt of the earth, as christians we have the mission to keep the earth from going dark. As we walk these things out we are kept safe as Jesus prays for us from the heavenly realms and keeps us free from the evil one.
The biggest thing that sticks out to me is that we are sent into this world. I think I really needed to hear this too because I have not been seeking the Lord out daily as I should be, I have not been embracing the hurt of this world. I am in so many places right now where I can do that and I know that God has placed me in these areas fro a reason, I think its about time that I start looking at that reason.

Brussels Sprouts

Sorry for the late post! When Darrell was discussing how many Canadians are turned off to Christianity, I began to better understand what he was trying to say throughout the sermon: Jesus' pray for us is to be the salt, not an insult (insalt?!).  Why are Canadians, Americans, anyone for that matter, turned off to Christianity, to Jesus?  Well, probably for the same reason why we look at certain things (maybe a new car, a type of food, a job, etc.) and are uninterested.  For me, if you were to offer me Brussels sprouts (by the way, I had NO idea it was Brussels sprouts until I wrote this post... I always thought it was brussel sprouts!  Go Belgium!) I would most likely decline... but, here's the thing: I don't think I've ever tried one!  So why don't I eat them?  1) They look like little turtles hiding in their shells and it rubs me the wrong way, 2) the smell of hot Brussels sprouts make me want to pass out, and 3) I've been told they don't taste good.  So, what about me?  Am I perfectly cooked, well-seasoned steak or a heaping pile of steaming, rancid-smelling sprouts?  Jesus prays for us to possess saltiness because when we are salty we glorify the Father, we invite/encourage others to ask questions, and we experience that true, authentic joy that Darrell spoke to.

Saltiness is a two-way street.  It glorifies the Father and it produces joy!  Yet so often I'd rather sit in my "sproutiness..."  It's like a baby sitting in... never mind!  You know what I mean...  I know it's good for me, but at the time it doesn't taste as good!  It's like exercise: you know it's good for you in the long-run, but at the time it's not as easy as sitting on the couch eating ice cream.

This week I had a terrible toothache.  For much of the week I was so concerned with myself, the pain, and what I could do to seek relief; that's all I cared about.  And, I know at many times I probably acted complacently and was more of an insult than anything.  My prayer for myself and for each of you is that we can be consistently seeking that unique joy that can only come from Jesus at all times, and not just when it's convenient.  So often I forget that joy, relationship, pursuit is not something that I have to wait to attain in the future... Jesus offers that to me/us today.

Oh, Selfishness

God spoke right to my selfish heart with this one. I get super discouraged by "the world" & a lot of the time selfishly pray to be done working hard for Christ. I spend too much time thinking about myself, how tired I am, how hard it is to love my roommates and use God as a way to peace ("Lord, take me out of this rough situation, I'm done!"), rather than treating Him as Peace Himself ("How close can I get to you & still be ok? I'm never close enough!").

When Darrell explained that we are in the world for a purpose (that is not our own), I heard it with fresh ears. Oh, how often I need to be reminded that this life is not about me! Although it is clear that we are not promised an easy road, we are offered one full of joy!

As Darrell deconstructed the word JOY and how it's vital to living, it seemed to become synonymous to confession. We receive God's grace, give thanks, and as a natural consequence, experience joy. In order to experience the grace though, we have to need it aka recognize our need for it aka confess.

I've been learning a lot about confession the past couple of years and what it means to be found completely in Christ with no shame or guilt and this just reemphasized the importance of it to me. I have this preconceived notion that the closer I get to Christ (rather, the closer Christ gets to me) I should be confessing less and less because I should be messing up less and less. But, I've learned that the opposite is true. The more Christ invades in my life, the more he shines his light on the darkness in me & I almost vomit out confession after confession after confession. I find myself at his feet, vomiting out nastiness (like Caleb!), receiving grace, giving thanks & being filled with circumstance-defying JOY!

Joy, joy, joy

I like the distinction made between Jesus praying that we are sent INTO the world and be protected from the evil one verses protected from suffering and hard times. Jesus was sent to take on the suffering of God and now we are sent to take on the sufferings of the world. However, Jesus prays that we be protected from the evil one. That we would know who God is, having been brought into the intimate circle of His love and light. That He would reside in us so that we may be the salt and light of His world. 

So we head Jesus' call and we follow Him "out upon the water" to take on the suffering, to dive into His circle, to know Him, to love Him, to serve Him. Meanwhile, Jesus prays for us to be filled with His joy. So filled with His joy that we would be "defiant" to the lies of the world attempts us to believe and doubt the Father's faithful promises. That we would be sanctified (set apart for his purpose) through the word. I loved that DJ pointed that it was His JOY that drew so many to Jesus; not His power, not His sermons, but the joy of the Father that lived in Him! May the joy of the father fill us from fulfilling the mold of services that He has created us to be! 

I don't know about you guys, but I continue to feel extremely loved by Jesus prayer and desires for us. What an amazing God we serve that He would pray these words for us. That He would invite us into the most intimate circle of His light and love. That He would pray for His joy to remain in us amidst a world of brokenness! 

"Holy Father I want to glory only in understanding and knowing You. I surrender my mind, emotions, will, and body for Your Son and the Holy Spirit to usher me (us) into Your glory circle so that I will be included in the loop of love You share. I (we) want to glorify You with my(our) praise." 

"No Soup for you!"

The enemy's lie....."NO JOY FOR YOU!" "Evil's one goal is to doubt the goodness of God" - DJ

Back in the 90's NBC Thursday night TV ruled the ratings.  The most popular show was "Seinfeld" followed by "Friends."  A legendary episode of Seinfeld involved an iconic character named "The Soup Nazi!"  His one line, "No soup for you!"

"No soup for you" quickly became a cultural saying that implicitly robbed someone of a said desire or joy.

Enter Phoenix Arizona!  Owen and I have been in Arizona since Thursday night.  We are here with his hockey team from Stockton.  I am the assistant coach of the team so I get to deal with the parents in a "special" way.  Our family happens to be the only family on the team that has placed our hope in Jesus.  Throughout the season there has been many uncomfortable moments of tension between my family and others (most notably how we raise our kids).  Two world views colliding on the stage of youth hockey.  This weekend I have discovered afresh and been reminded by Darrell in this sermon,  that joy (the joy of Jesus) is offensive!  People who don't know the Grace of God are searching desperately for Joy the person!  When confronted by Joy, I have observed two different responses.
1.  Anger
2.  Wonder and intrigue

Even after a crushing 13-1 loss (last night), a smiling 9 year old (Owen) is offensive to parents who have believed the lie that the Father (God) is no good.  No grace.....No Joy!  The joy nazi (the enemy) strikes again!

I have been surrounded/reminded this weekend that bathing in God's grace exudes a pungent odor of Joy unspeakable!!!

           

What do you want?

At the end of his sermon, DJ lists the desires of Jesus' heart as revealed through John 17. He says,
Jesus wants:

• to be glorified so the Father is glorified
• for us to to know the one true God by knowing the One God sent, and thus have eternal life
• for us to be set apart by God, for God
• for us to be kept in the Father's name
• for us to be kept from the evil one
• for us to be sanctified in the truth 
• for us to be brought into the fullness of joy

Whenever I read through John 17, I feel so overwhelmed at the intimacy of Jesus' prayer because in the midst of the shared desires of the Father and Son, since before the world began, Christ places us. He prays on our behalf, not out of obligation, not out of obedience, but out of desire. 

As I examine my own prayers three times a day for Sonshine, the staff, the churches, campers, weather conditions, unity, support, etc., I keep asking myself what do I want, what are my desires, through these prayers. Somedays, I pray out of obedience or obligation, but I want to consistently pray out of desire. Over and over, at every point Darrell made, I kept thinking about praying as Jesus' does on behalf of the students and campers coming, on behalf of staff members, on behalf of our admin team. Every thing Jesus wants for us, I kept saying: "This is what I want for campers and staff this summer." 

But what I found so essential to Christ's prayer is that he prays for these things, and then goes to the cross. He prays and then makes a way for these to happen. Before we were even aware of our need, Christ provided. 

Overall, I was encouraged to seek to care for staff and churches with Jesus in desire, devotion, sacrifice, and joy so that the Father may be glorified in and through his people.

Prayer Request, Joy, 50 First Dates, and Defiantly Resisting the Oxygen Squuueeeeze

Some friends just showed up to visit us for the weekend.  Their daughter was at our kids school and did something serious to her arm and elbow.  Sarah is on her way to the ER and preparing to case manage the situation for them and once I wrap up the post I'm heading over their two.

A few notes from the blog

1.  I found powerful wisdom and perspective in Darrel's words about the enemy and evil  -  Evil wants to divert attention, distract devotion, and destroy confidence that the father of Jesus is good.  "Evil one’s goal is to doubt the goodness of God.  Put suspicion in Eve’s soul that God is withholding what she needs."

2. Love the positioning of Joy as foundational to life -- "Joy is like oxygen. Without joy life is sucked out of you. "

3. Fully pumped on his defining of the word Joy -- Here is the surprising thing about joy.  It is always a surprise.  The root of “Cara” is surprise. When grace breaks through we are surprised, give thanks, and experience joy.  I loved his explanation because sometimes I think my marriage is joyful and fun because I have very little  short term, medium term, or long term memory of life with Sarah.   Part of our marriage adventure for me is waking up each day into new mysteries of the covenant and seeing life through Sarah's eyes.   Love that.   The movie 50 First Dates with Adam Sandler comes to mind when I think of Darrel's explanation of joy and contemplate the "dwelling in the moment" joy I find in marriage.

4. Love his positioning of joy as defiant and tying the defiant nature of joy to facts about God and His Kingdom Come -- Nevertheless there is a God. This God is on the throne. This God is good all the time.  Faithful all the time.  Working out his purpose.  God is for us all the time.  God became one of us. Jesus died for us and gave his life for us. He died and conquered the grave. He is lord and has the last word. No one can snatch us out o f his hand.  He commands my destiny from life’s first cry to the grave.  

TRUE THAT!!!!

Off to the E.R. -- again, please pray.  Can't go into detail but our friends already needed some seriously defiant joy in their lives. Pray that God does what God does in this circumstance because our friends already have had a lot of oxygen squeezed out of their souls over the last few months.

Thanks,

Steve

 

A Defiant Nevertheless

Another hit by DJ! In this sermon, the concept of Jesus praying His grace on us, his disciples, and as a result praying his great Joy on us really stuck out to me. Darrell notes that the concept of joy in greek is greatly related to the concept of surprise, as in "grace is given to us, we give thanks, and then we are joyful." God's Grace begets Joy! Joy, this concept that Karl Barth says can be defined as a "defiant nevertheless." So cool. The idea that a full understanding of the grace that God gifts us naturally leads us to joy is such a great reminder for those times when I am down or circumstances are not going my way. It is in those moments that I hope the Spirit reminds me: "God sent his Son to die for you, a co-heir with Christ. Be thankful; Have Joy!"
As Molly put it, that was the part that made me "woah." A great reminder about the grace, and therefore joy, that is ours in Christ.

No more world

My mind was blown listening to this sermon! Darrell brings up the concept of the world and the question that people ask most often in response to John 17 – Why does Jesus not pray for the world? When in reality, we learn that Jesus does pray for the world because everything he prays for has a world orientation.

The part that made me “woah” was this: Jesus does not come to change the world, rather to challenge the world to stop being the world. And once the world knows that Jesus has been sent into the world…. It will no longer be the world!!!!! I have never thought about this concept in that way before! When all of the world knows and recognizes that Jesus is king, there will be no more world. Dang. During this time of political campaigning and the upcoming election, I can’t help but think about the time when we finally stop attempting to organize ourselves without God.  

DJ also talks about the three things that the evil one does to get Jesus’s disciples to stay stuck in the world: divert our attention, distract our devotion, and destroy confidence that God is good (lots of D’s). Evil’s major goal is to get us to doubt God’s goodness – which Jesus counteracts by praying that HIS JOY made be made FULL in us!!  DJ says that joy is the emotion that says “this is what I was made for.” I appreciated this definition because sometimes joy is a hard concept for me to grasp, especially knowing that joy can exist during great sadness and grief. Joy is the emotion of being in relationship with God and knowing his goodness, which is why it can co-exist with pain.

Lest We Miss Your Kingdom's Goal

“The beloved disciple is the disciple who has his head on Jesus’ heart…So that our hearts begin to beat with the rhythm of his heart.  And whenever I rest my head on Jesus’ heart, I find I can breathe again."

To rest my head on Jesus’ heart, to be aligned with its beating, to hear and know what it beats for and Who it beats for…it beats for the Father. I am eternally thankful that God left us His spirit so we can discern and hear and listen to Jesus’ heartbeat, the only one that matters.  Lord, help me to sit still long enough to listen.  Help my heart to be simpatico to your heart.

“The deepest desire of the heart of Jesus Christ, ‘…glorify your son that the son may glorify you’ - the most fundamental longing of Jesus’ heart.” 

What singular, unwavering, intense, laser-focus Jesus had over a long period of time.  He was of that single-mindedness for 33 years.   Talk about a long obedience in the same direction! It seems unfathomable to me for a person to be that intently focused on one life-goal, from the cradle to the grave.  Yes, I love Christ and I have been following him for as long as I can remember, and I have held the same job for close to 15 years so the longevity may be there, but it’s the intensity and devotion to God in every little detail of Jesus’ life 24 hours a day 7 days a week, living and breathing the Father, His whole purpose, mission, drive, breath, and death is God. It is God. It is God. It is God.  He Alpha Omega-ed the Alpha and Omega.  Oh, what devotion!!!!!  Oh, to have one iota of that intensity for the Father and devotion to His Glory.   

“I did not do all there was to do.  I did not do all that could have been done.  I did not do all that others expected of me.  I did not do all I expected of me.  But I did do what You called me to do.”   This one wrecked me. Shot through the heart, Bon Jovi! Help me to remember this Lord, every day.  Help me to do what You call me to do. 

“He took the fall to show the world for all time who the father is.”   Amazing Love, how can it be?

This past Sunday we sang the old hymn, God of Grace and God of Glory and I was struck by the last lines in the last stanza:

“Cure your children's warring madness;

bend our pride to your control;

shame our wanton, selfish gladness,

rich in things and poor in soul.

Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,

lest we miss your kingdom's goal,

lest we miss your kingdom's goal.”

Your kingdom’s goal….Your kingdom’s goal!  Jesus’ goal was to glorify the Father. This should be our goal too.  Let us not miss it.

"You'll be in my heart.." (Phil Collin's Voice)

It just worked out perfectly that I watched Tarzan and listened to this sermon in the same week, so Phil has been stuck in my head for quite some time now.

Two things have stuck out to me from this sermon.
1. Resting my head on Jesus' heart
I love that image and the comfort that it brings me. At first when the sermon ended I was kind of frustrated, thinking, "Jesus I wish I could actually rest my head on your heart, hear your heart beat & feel you holding me, that is where I want to be." But He quickly reminded me that that can be my reality. I just have to allow him to open my ears & let go of everything I'm holding on to so my hands are free to hold onto him. He keeps saying to me, "Listen to my heartbeat in the laughter of your roommates or music. Feel me holding you when you feel the wind or crawl under your covers at night." It was just an encouraging reminder.

2. Jesus does all things to bring glory to the Father.
This one hit me like a ton of bricks. How often do I do things for everything BUT glorifying the Father? (Spoiler Alert- the answer is all the time.) I've been thinking about this a lot: how do I know that what I am doing is glorifying the Father or the decision I'm making is glorifying the Father or the way I'm speaking is glorifying the Father? Molly reminded me today that I can't focus on specific 'do's and don't's' but rather focus on loving God & being in relationship with him & the glorifying will happen naturally. I feel like the theme for me this year has been a recurring "Loving Christ is central to all life, anything else must come from there!"

I am so excited for this summer & the challenges to come. Lord, continue to romance us in relationship & glorify yourself. Thank you for giving us a view into your relationship with the Father and how we are invited into that relationship.

Show me Your Glory

God has a funny way of having perfect timing in life! It's been quite a hectic week and I was feeling like Darrell, very "overwhelmed" until turning this on the other morning. So thanks God for letting me rest in the peace and boldness of Your Son's words!

I think what stood out to me the most was how in Jesus' darkest hour here on earth, the last thing on His mind was Himself. In His moment of darkness when He could have walked away from it all, He prayed and said, "Father, show them your Glory." Talk about self-giving, servant, sacrificial love! I know when I start to feel overwhelmed and stressed (like this week) my mindset quickly shifts into a "me" centered world rather than one of "How can I serve you better Lord?" Such a beautiful prayer and mindset to remember out there on the water this summer. That when we feel in our darkest hour, we would echo Jesus' prayer and ask God to let His glory shine through the sacrifice and pain. And like Reid said, that we may dive into the intimacy of His heart and know His deepest desires. So exciting and such an incredible picture painted through His prayer. 

Wow exciting things await this summer!! 

Know

There seems to be incredible misconception nowadays about the two questions Darrell posed during the sermon: who is Jesus and what does Jesus want?  I occasionally like to listen to debates that Chrisian scholars like John Lennox and Ravi Zacharias have with others who have yet to successfully understand the premise of the two questions above.  I like listening to them because, like Darrell, they give me insight and help me see things I hadn't understood or thought of before.  When someone asks me why I have the hope I have I want to be able to provide an answer that makes sense, not that our faith experiences don't provide that, but because many people harp on the legalities of the Word without remembering or ever hearing of stories like: Jesus and the Adulterer.  I want to better know who Jesus is and for others to know who he is, and not having a misinformed view of the things he said and the things he did.  When I then think about what Jesus wants, I think about stories like Jesus and the Adulterer, Mary and Martha, the words he spoke about being like children: keep it simple.  Something Darrell says, "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing."  I try to keep things simple and the main thing the main thing, but I begin to equate simplicity with easiness.  Yeah, Jesus just wants me to "follow" Him.  I respond with, I read the bible, I go to church, I volunteer, I work for a Christian camp over summer.  What I forget in all of that is... Well, okay, but WHAT DOES JESUS WANT?  To just read the Bible, to sit in a pew on Sunday's, to show up to food banks, to drive boats.  Well, sure, maybe at a superficial levels.  But more that that, I would say one answer would be to simply "know."  When we know who he is, what he know what he wants, then we begin to act differently.  "Father, forgive them for they do not KNOW."  "Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.  They were at a loss to KNOW."  "For I KNOW the plans I have for you."  "Many will say Lord, Lord... I will say I never KNEW you." Jesus wants us to know him.  It's all over the place.  And when we SIMPLY KNOW him we recognize that it's not easy, but it is what he wants.  What Jesus wants is for us to know who Jesus is.  I need to learn to KNOW what Jesus wants and KNOW who Jesus is.

Drumbeat of Purpose

Wow.
That was a breath of fresh air for sure! I'm excited to see where this series leads us!

I think the thing that stuck out tome the most was the emphasis on the orientation of Jesus's life all toward glorifying the Father. DJ's specific phrase of the "relentless drumbeat" at the back of every single thing Jesus ever does. Every miracle, every sermon, every action of his was for the glorification of God. What a great reminder that it is NOT about me. That is something I need to remember more, and will be praying about: that my life would mirror Jesus's in this way.

I think what this passage really reminded me of was that passage in Chapter 6 of Isaiah describing the throne room of God, with two seraphim constantly crying out "Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God Almighty!" These two beings are created only to praise Him eternally, and so am I!!!! I have been given a life on Earth simply to worship him and point to Him. That is the deepest part of "the work I've been given to do," as Jesus puts it in v. 4.

And the focus on that last part, simply "the work I've been given to do," not "All I could have done" or "all that is possible" but simple the work I've been given. Man! How great a reminder when I put so much pressure on myself to perform, especially during the summer. I'm sure I'm going to have to circle around again to that idea during the summer many times.

Glory to God not ourselves

DJ puts a heavy emphasis on why Jesus did the things he did, all of His healings, all of his ministry, Jesus does to glorify the father. Jesus is not doing things to glorify himself or bring attention to himself but Jesus serves the way he does because that is how the father is glorified. Jesus's heart breaks for mankind as he sincerely loves us and that is seen in this prayer. But what blows my mind is that the way to glorify the father is to save others. Because really that is what Jesus does in his time on earth, He heals people, but he does not simply heal them to rid them of their physical sickness. Jesus heals people to bring them to faith with the father. Jesus cleanses them of their sickness that is sin and they are saved. And this is then greatest desire of the father, that his people would be saved and set free from sin. If anything shows God's love, man that is it!
When I look at this deeper my mind clicks into the further implications of this message. Jesus is on earth to glorify the father and He does that through loving on the people that God places in his life, and this is what he teaches the disciples to do, and through Acts this is what we see them doing. Starting with Jesus we see this movement in Christianity this shift on what it means to glorify God. Sure we can glorify God through a number of things, but what sticks out to me here is the father's deepest desire for mankind, bringing him Glory. What God desires for us most is to bring him glory. The way we bring God glory is through the same things Jesus did, humbly serving God and bringing people to him, saving people from sin. So let me rephrase that, what God desires most is the freedom of his people from their sins. God's deepest desire is for us to not live in captivity, I mean that is why he sent his son right!
I Love this, and at a glance it seems so simple, glorify God through bringing his word to others. But how often do we mix this up and put all the attention on ourselves. Once everybody has seen us and seen what we've done then we say, "glory to God". Or How bad do churches try to be different that the emphasis switches away from Jesus and on themselves. How often do we want to be the ones to bring a camper to christ, a driver, or a barney? Why does it matter? It doesn't, if God's deepest desire is for people to be free from sin then that should be our deepest desire. So if my deepest desire is for my brother to be saved then why do I want so badly to be the one who has that conversation with him? This prayer that Jesus has for us teaches me to pray for my brother. It doesn't matter that I am the one who saves him because he is in God hands. My prayer for him is that He would find his way to God through whatever means necessary whether that's me or something he hears on the radio station on his way to work. what really matters is that he is saved.
Going into this summer I so deeply desire for this mind set, that my number one concern is the spiritual well being of our staff and campers, not whether they like me or not, or how they perceive me, or how spiritual they think I am, but I want my desire to be that they come to their knees before Christ and see him in a whole new light because ultimately that is how I can care for them the best.

Hell Vomit - How to Party Like a Rock Star when His Hour Has Come

Opening Parenthetical to Explain the Title - (Christ is the Rock. He's the morning Star. He parties at the Last Supper. Hell Could Not Contain Him after Consuming Him at the Grave when His Hour Comes) - 

And now to the blog and partying like Jesus.........

My son Caleb puked for the first time in his life this week.  Sarah was out of the minivan (actually at Reid’s house I think) when she looked back and saw Kyle diving out of the side slider door and running from the Honda Odyssey like a grenade pin had been pulled and it was gonna blow. 

I would pay money to get the slow motion action hero type footage of Kyle rolling/diving onto the sidewalk to get away from Caleb’s heaving.  Oh my…..

Cup holders in the front of Sarah’s minvan were filled with aftermath.  Her cell phone, Caleb’s back 

pack, stereo equipment, socks, shoes, (I know this because I hosed them out with Sarah later J) were coated/smothered by his tidal unswallowing.

A day later Caleb and I were hanging out in the kitchen and he looked at me and said, “Can I tell you something?  At first when I threw up I thought apple sauce was coming out of my mouth.”

As I listened to Caleb I became amazed at Caleb’s perspective.  Caleb was so mystified at this new experience in life that his processing/synthesis of what occurred had very little (if any) qualitative assessment of what happened.  His recollection didn’t invoke self- centered obsession on pain, discomfort, or nastiness.  All of those sensations were present but they were so secondary to the mystery and intrigue of this new biological moment in his journey that he paid no heed to them.   The pain, discomfort and nastiness were inconsequential for they were drowned out by a much more supreme consequential event -- his body being invaded by a new reality which for Caleb could not be explained by any previous experience or facts.

Caleb’s upheaval in the minivan for me serves as a metaphor for Listening to Jesus in many ways.

The introduction and conclusion of the sermon focused on our balance, perspective, equilibrium, “still point in the midst of a whirling world” being found in centering on God as our refuge and strength. 

As Sarah and I worked together as a makeshift haz-mat crew to de-biohazard her van, our love for Caleb which finds its root in the love and glory of our heavenly Father provided safe harbor from this little nasty tempest that comes from time to time in family life.  As we kind of bathed ourselves a little bit in stomach contents, did we feel disoriented? Overwhelmed? Afraid? (those are words from the sermon)  – definitely!! But the bigger story – compassion, kindness, empathy, acceptance of what God put in our path, embracing that God must be cracking up at us, his kids, trying to sort this thing out, brought a “still point in the midst of a whirling world.”

In the same way, Caleb didn’t stress about his circumstances.  He was so taken with fascination of this strange experience that the suffering he endured paled in comparison.   Caleb’s experience came to mind as I heard Darrel explain that Christ’s revelation of God’s glory goes with the moment He is seized by violent men in the valley of the shadow of death.  Hebrews says that for the joy set before Him Christ endured the cross.  Christ is so defined and focused by the character and heart of God and His Kingdom Come that the pain, discomfort, and shame he endured pales in comparison with His fascination and joy at being a revelation of God’s glory.

Caleb for me did what Darrel calls us to do.  As an innocent child of God, he entered a valley of physical suffering and nastiness (that lasted for hours – he puked more later J) but had little concern or worry over the circumstances.  Instead of stressing, Caleb walked his path with a focus on being open to embrace and even marvel at the wonder of taking some new unpleasant & painful steps in His journey.

Later, Caleb’s stomach revolted again at the dinner table that night.  Just seconds after returning from the upheaval, he came back and sat down at his grilled cheese sandwich. He immediately grabbed the sandwich and plunged it into his mouth.  His mom and I both protested.  Caleb protested back and argued with us.  I loved his point.  “Look guys.  Isn’t it obvious…… I’m hungry.”  In other words, “mom and dad, if I keep emptying the contents of my stomach, you should both know, I’m gonna need some food to fill it up.”

I love when Christ tells us not to worry for each day has enough trouble of its own.  This truth was so at the heart of Caleb at our dinner table.  Without any concern over future stomach wrath, he pounded that sandwich.  I’ve always felt that this attitude is the heart of Christ and certainly the heart of Christ at the last supper.  With the entire weight of the cosmos and the upheaval of the principalities and powers through hell and death vomiting his bloodied, obliterated body and ravaged heart from the realm of the dead, Jesus, according to the gospels, was as passionate as he could possibly be to pound bread and wine with His friends at the last supper.  With the nausea and icks of crucifixion, sin, and demonic oppression at the highest level, he has the light hearted wisdom to not worry about tomorrow but instead to embrace His moment of celebration with the disciples with fat, passionate slug of faith, hope and love. 

Caleb reminds me that Christ’s freedom gives us the power and wisdom to dance with joy in the midst of suffering.

Darrel’s sermon pushes me to understand that suffering provides a unique moment where we with perhaps a deeper power and wisdom (because of the suffering) do whatever needs to be done to manifest the Father’s glory in me and through me.