I’ve been fighting with the lexicon and our
interpretations of Scripture, this week, because that totally makes sense in
the midst of a time when I have almost no wiggle room in my schedule…Typical L…
Jeremiah
30:22-24:
“‘So you
will be my people, and I will be your God.’
See, the storm of the Lord will
burst out in wrath, a driving wind swirling down on
the heads of the wicked. The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back until he fully accomplishes the
purposes of his heart. In days to come you
will understand this” (NIV).
Just in case you didn’t know (because I sure
didn’t), the word we translate here to “wrath,” is actually closer to “heat.”Maybe that doesn’t make a difference, at all,
but I think it might.Maybe instead of a
vengeful God, we have a passionate one who relentlessly works until “he fully accomplishes the purposes of his
heart…” which might be lovingly forming us into God’s people.
In reading this passage, anew; I certainly think
God is frustrated—perhaps even angry—but I’m not convinced that translates to
punishment, death, and destruction!Sometimes
aggravation precedes realization.Maybe
it translates to prevenient grace, persuasion, and redemption (because all of
that stuff looks like a raging storm, too).Or maybe I haven’t reached the day when I understand this, at all.It could go either way.
“To accept reality is
to forgive reality for being what it is, almost day by day and sometimes even
hour by hour. Such a practice creates patient and humble people.”[i]
–Richard Rohr
Well… that’s timely…
I want to be careful about this post… exceptionally careful…
Grieving any kind of loss is not primarily or necessarily
about being dissatisfied with what (or whom) you have now.Even though the grief, itself, comes in very
present waves; I would venture to say it is more accurately tied to both the
past and the future.We grieve over past
losses that do not allow us to move into the future in the way we had
hoped.It doesn’t mean we can’t have
good hours… or days… or lives.It doesn’t
mean we can’t wholeheartedly embrace (and even love) what we’re doing
immediately.But it does mean that
expectations must shift as we stumble forward.
Several days ago, I wrote a rather hopeful piece about
letting go.I meant every word.Then I remembered that doxologies aren’t
quite the same as benedictions.They are
ends to pieces and parts…not the whole
thing.
Last night, I cried myself to sleep.I felt every tear rip through my body.
I have really big emotions, and life is complicated.It’s OK.
I prayed and worked and interviewed and
begged for a small inner city Nazarene church, anywhere, all spring and into
the summer, in hopes of co-pastoring with my husband and doing compassionate ministries
work. As of this weekend, I live on 14 acres in the middle of a hog and chicken
farm, a few minutes away from the UMC where I am the family ministries
director.
I would like to know whose free agency
messed this up!
But by ‘messed up,’ I really just mean that
life doesn’t look like I expected it to, which is kind of a dumb statement to
make, because it never does.
Who knows what might happen tomorrow… or in
a year or two?I guarantee you that if
you had asked me exactly two years ago, while I was lying on the beach, by
myself, taking in the Pacific Ocean for the first time ever while alternating
between talking to seagulls and reading a few pages of fiction; I never could
have guessed what today would look like—not in a zillion lifetimes…
Having all of your plans completely blown
out of the water does not have to be devastating.I mean, it is.Go ahead and back up and consider grief again
for a moment.But it doesn’t mean that
what you’re doing right now (that alternative thing you couldn’t have made up
if you tried) can’t be pretty great.
The lectionary readings for today are all
wrapped up in people who don’t quite understand what it is to accept suffering,
or at the very least to accept a plan that doesn’t add up.Moses… David… Peter… even Paul…But then there is this gem tucked away in the
reading from Jeremiah:
“When your words came, I ate them;they were my joy and my heart’s delight,for I bear your name, Lord God Almighty”
(15:16).
Stuff happens… or it doesn’t happen… and
there’s not always a reason… and sometimes it is more than we can handle!Yet God is near, and we are God’s.These are words I want to eat for breakfast…
There’s this thing we (OK, not I) say when people are living with tragedy:“God has big plans for you!”
I hope this doesn’t offend every reader I have, but
seriously… what a stupid thing to say!Just think about it for a minute.
You’re unemployed?Oh, God has big plans for you!
It’s two years later, and you’re still unemployed?Don’t worry!God has big plans for you!
You’re homeless?God
has big plans for you!
You can’t sell your home, and you need to?God has big plans for you!
You’re dying?God has
big plans for you (but even if there actually is no plan, something great will
come of this for someone else)!
Your spouse was unfaithful?God has big plans for you!
Your aging parents need more and more care every day?God has big plans for you!
You lost a child?God
has big plans for you!
Maybe Emily McDowell says it best:
Now, I want to be honest.“God has plans,” used to be my mantra!There are certainly places in Scripture where we see this displayed or
flat out proclaimed, Jeremiah 29:11 paramount among them:
“’For
I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and
a future’” (NIV).
I’m not implying that God has no plan at
all, but I think we’ve used this phrase (and this verse) incredibly
irresponsibly, and I’m over it.
Isaiah 43:1-7 resonates very deeply, impregnated with hope
yet grounded in reality.My very brief paraphrase goes something like this:
Bad stuff is going to
happen in your life, but God is with you, and God will gather God’s people in
community… so hold on.
You could definitely read the passage for more
insight.
If you’ve been following the daily office… or the lectionary…
or even this blog… the story of Jacob has been prevalent for the past few
weeks.Jacob’s story is overrun by ‘bad
things.’Some of them are his own
fault.Some of them are the fault of
others in his life.Some of them seem to
have come about simply because he exists.But then there is this incredible moment when God renames him, and he is
no longer Jacob, ‘the deceiver,’ but Israel, ‘the one who wrestles with God.’That’s better, right?Uh…
Here’s the good news.God chooses as God’s own people the ones who wrestle.I would venture to say that God’s plans are
almost always (if not entirely) consumed by redemption within community.So next time someone you know is hurting, you
might consider what God’s plan is for you, as opposed to them.Be present.Be near.Be together.Be loving.Be kind.Be redemptive.We are the plan.
Earlier this morning, my kids were talking
about Dora the Explorer.This is mostly
funny, because my youngest child is seven, and Dora is definitely preschool
material.They were actually talking
about how everyone in our family had outgrown Dora, but how we appreciate the
very rudimentary Spanish vocabulary we have retained from years upon years of
episodes.Stay with me…
I wrote the post below and am just adding
these introductory paragraphs, because by the time I finished rolling my eyes
and shaking my head at the daily office, I was back to thinking about Dora; or,
more specifically, the character of the grumpy old troll who lives under the
bridge.
“Solve
my riddle…”
I think this has been my heart’s cry for
awhile now.I am a problem solver by
nature, and I’m good at it, but lately my own conundrums can be unthinkably baffling.
This is the first time I ever recall
reading the daily office and thinking to myself, “I’d better go find the
alternate reading…”
Jeremiah
42:22, “So now, be sure of this: You will die by the sword, famine and plague
in the place where you want to go to settle” (NIV).
Seriously?
I mean, of course there’s context, but after
the week I’ve had, I was just stunned.I’ll
take the Psalm.Please, give me the
Psalm, today…
Psalm
6:1-9, “Lord, do not rebuke me in your angeror discipline me in your wrath.Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint;heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony.My
soul is in deep anguish.How long, Lord, how
long? Turn, Lord, and deliver me;save me
because of your unfailing love.Among the dead no one
proclaims your name.Who praises you from the
grave? I am worn out from my groaning. All night long I flood my bed with
weepingand drench my couch with tears.My eyes grow weak with sorrow;they
fail because of all my foes. Away from me, all you who do evil,for the Lord has heard my weeping. The Lord has heard my cry for
mercy;the Lord accepts my prayer” (NIV).
Well, that’s better… lament...
Also, there’s an alternative Scripture
where Jeremiah is thrown into a cistern to die… but then he’s rescued…
I’ve been shaking my head for days…
followed by crying… followed by more head shaking.I have exactly no idea how my heart can feel
so incredibly empty while bursting at the seams in anticipation of fullness.
Oh…I think I just read this in a completely different light.To settle can carry multiple meanings…
I would encourage you to listen to FGT - The Podcast for thoughts on today's lectionary readings as well as the importance of putting our own safety, comfort, and preferences aside in an attempt to stop worrying about 'taking care of our own first' and to, instead, recognize that, as Mother Teresa put it so aptly, "If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other."
Also, my commentary on the alternate reading, Jeremiah 20:7-13, can be found here at A Plain Account.
L.
If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/mothertere107032.html
I
Corinthians 12:1, “…brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed”
(NIV).
I can remember sitting in a theater in 1992…
just barely 13 years old… 8th grade… surrounded by a good group of
girlfriends… ready to watch the latest Disney animated release… Aladdin.
I can remember that it was breathtaking,
and I could not only see, but feel, the scene in which Aladdin escapes from the
cave of wonders.This endeared the magic
carpet to me, for life.Not to mention, “A
Whole New World.”For a girl whose love
language is vacation; Carpet is a pretty sweet ride…
Aladdin
falls somewhere on my Disney favorites list, although it will, admittedly,
never hold a candle to Beauty and the
Beast or even the much newer era Tangled.
But there are significant problems with
this film, as well.After all, Aladdin
is the non-prince of lies!
When I stop to think about it, I wonder if
watching this particular film… at that particular age… had some unintended
consequences, because I’m pretty sure it’s the first time it ever occurred to
me that a relationship with a ‘bad boy’ might be appealing, and shortly after
that my movie going escapades devolved into sneaking out and lying,
myself.
I’ve been thinking about this, lately,
because… friends… I’m raising teenagers.Three of them.Although… thank
goodness… I’m at least as smart as Jango Fett and only requested one unaltered clone to raise as my own.
I must be doing something right, because as
we were rocking out to some T Swift, while driving the other day, she turned to
me and asked, “Why would anyone want a ‘bad boy’?”
And I laughed… and laughed… and sent up a
quick prayer, thanking God that we might escape the whole ‘sneak out to the
movies with boys your parents have never met’ phase…
But I digress… just a little…
There’s this one scene in Aladdin where he
flies up to the balcony of Princess Jasmine’s bedroom (that’s not creepy or
anything) and essentially makes a bid for her hand in marriage (Elsa…where are you?“You can’t marry a man you just met!” Although
there is the whole law about how Jasmine has
to marry a man she just met, so it’s a catch 22…).She’s smart enough to initially tell him to “Go
jump off a balcony,” but when he does, she discovers that he has a magic carpet,
people!She doesn’t really have much of
a chance here!Watch the scene.She falls in
love with Carpet!
Still, the dialogue has turned impressive
at this point, as Aladdin admits, “You should be free to make your own choice…”
Well, ‘bad boy,’ that sounds a little bit
like free will, so she’s listening.
But then Jasmine asks, “Is it safe?”
And this is where Aladdin may allow the
greatest lie yet to spew from his lips.
“Sure.Do you trust me?”
Oh, friends…Trust is not safe.
The daily office plunges us right back into
God’s monologue to Job, today, and I have a slightly different perspective than
I had last week.As God continues to
recount all of the many things God knows and Job doesn’t, I stopped to think
about the vast number of things that are risky… and even scary…There are things God does (satisfying the
hunger of lions 38:39), beasts God tames (an ox who serves God? 39:9) that the
vast majority of us would not find the least bit appealing.I began to see this as soliloquy, in
part.I wonder if God isn’t offering an
invitation to Job to join God in God’s work, while also reflecting for Godself
about the difficulty of the tasks.I
have long since dropped the phrase, “God is in control,” from my vocabulary,
but I can also see how God works in the midst of all the difficult
circumstances we do not choose in order to bring some good, or at the very
least to hold us close while we realize just how dangerous it is to trust in a
world where human choice reigns.
Trust is not safe, precisely because there
are no guarantees.And yet, unlike Aladdin,
God calls us to seek him (see Jer. 29:13), to make informed decisions (I Cor,
12:1, above), to know the truth that does not promise safety or a pain free
life but that does promise a God who will not leave us, even in the midst of
our greatest struggles and fears.
And we have to trust other people,
too.Because, as an example, Job’s
friends totally stink!But if you can
make it to the end of the book, you’ll find that at least they’re there.At least they come. At least they stay. It counts for something.
