Dust – both dirty and delightful
There is much of my life that has disappeared over the years. One moment it was there and then the next it just crumbled into a pile of dust. Some of it I destroyed intentionally, some unintentionally, and some just happened without any effort or neglect on my part.
Living in a sin infected world, and being myself infected with this disease of rebellion, dust piles lie all around us and in and around the lives of everyone we meet. 2010 leaves numerous piles in my life. I have a choice to either be overwhelmed at the mess or live in anticipation of what the Beauty Maker might make to rise up out of it. While I am tempted to live in despair I strive to live in wonder as I wait to see the Potter add water to my dust and begin to mold and make something new. This is what Advent is all about.
In the most dirty and desperate of environments, the Stable, the most splendid and pure living being, Jesus, arrived. And the lives of the despised and dejected have never been the same. I will miss those people, especially Mom and Grandpa, and ideas and things that used to be, but today I look forward to something beautiful becoming of their departure, because in Jesus I can.
[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyPBtExE4W0&feature=player_embedded’]
Salty or Not?
Many of us are familiar with Jesus’ words in Luke 14:34, “Salt is good, but if salt loses its flavor, how can its flavor be restored?” But until today I have never understood what in the world that meant.
I won’t bore you with chemistry, but as a chemist I know that sodium chloride will be salty unless one of two things happen; either the consumer loses the ability to taste or sodium chloride becomes something else and ceases to be sodium chloride.
What made reading this verse today different from the numerous other times is circumstance combined with context. The circumstance is that I happened to be reading The Great Omission by Dallas Willard, and more importantly Chapter 2 entitled, “Why Bother With Discipleship?” while at the same time I read Luke chapter 14.
In essence Dr. Willard says that being a disciple of Jesus is not something a Christian aspires to be, but being a disciple of Jesus is what a Christian is supposed to be. People, saved by grace through faith, will not excuse their unwillingness to participate in the life of a disciple of Jesus, but repent of that unwillingness. People, covered in the supernatural shed blood of the Lamb of God, are not called to some life that is less than a completely devoted, eternally convinced, supernaturally inspired student of the God-man, Jesus of Nazareth.
Simply, if you are not enabled to and compelled to live your life in deed, thought, action and speech after the life of Jesus as exposed in the Bible and led by the Holy Spirit, then you really are not…dare I say it, a Christian. If you are trying to be a good person, or trying to earn God’s favor by studying your Bible or praying or going to a worship service and you are not compelled to do those things then we need to talk.
Back to the Luke 14:34 passage. In the context of all of Jesus’ teaching there is no “almost salt.” You can’t be an “almost adopted” child of God. There is no such thing as an “almost disciple.” What are you or have you been excusing in your life because “almost” has been enough for you?
Do you Love or Desire?
[singlepic id=53 w=320 h=240 float=right]Chocolate Chip Cookies, Sex and Beer are three things that, until recently, I would have said “I love!” But a recent post by my friend and professor Dr. David Timms has challenged me with a quote from In Hope, “When we say “I love chocolate cake!” we deceive ourselves. We don’t love it. We want to eat it! If we loved it, we’d care for it.”
You see, one is focused on fulfilling another and the other is focused on fulfilling self. One is willing to be used and the other uses. One is miserly and the other charitable. One cherishes freedom and the other slavery.
When I desire someone or something I will get “it,” and hold onto “it” at any cost even if “it” doesn’t want to be held. I might rather destroy “it,” then allow anyone else the pleasure of having “it.”
Chocolate chip cookies, sex, and an ice cold beer are things I desire. If I get to the last beer or cookie I will seldom ask if anyone else wants it (Confession #1). I may even eat cookies in secret so as not to tip off the crowd in order to secure as many cookies as possible (Confession #2). I used to say I love chocolate chip cookies, but I am deceiving myself because who cares about what a cookie wants?
Sometimes I try to pass off my desire for sex as love for my wife (Confession #3). This is hard for me to type, but if I loved my wife I would be more concerned for her desire than my own. Sadly, I fail miserably at this.
And there is nothing better than a hot summer day and an ice cold Grolsch, or Yuengling, or Newcastle. In fact, forget hot and summer. Any day drinking one of those is going to lead to refreshment, but I don’t want to give anything to beer or sacrifice for it.
In this season of life I find myself in a state of some confusion about whether I desire or love Jesus. I have thought that I loved Him, but I have been asking a lot of Him lately: heal my Mom, heal Kasey’s baby, make a way for this adoption to happen, and now heal my brother and heal Kristi’s grandfather.
It never really occurred to me in the midst of this until now that I might show Jesus love if I just simply asked Him, “What would You have happen Lord? What would You have me do?”
His answer may be, “Just continue to do what you are doing, keep asking,” but it may be something else. It’s the fear of the something else that keeps me from moving out of desire and into love.
Are you a user or lover of Jesus?
It’s a valid question. It’s one I need to wrestle with more.
Fill in the blanks with people and then with Jesus and answer the question: Do I love _____________ or do I desire _____________?
Now, with me, repent, and seek to love the Lord and desire Him only…only if He wants you to.
Thanks to David Timms for sparking this post.