I love the dictionary, it is so circular at times. I was recently thinking of the word revision and what it means. The dictionary, in its perfectly obtuse way, told me that revision was the act of revising. Needless to say I finally found the formal meaning buried layers deep in my search through noun and verb forms. To revise means to "look over again to correct or improve; to make a new, amended, improved, or up-to-date version." Now where this all started out at was my thinking about spiritual vision, and the need occassionally to revisit vision, or to re-vision. The notion that "God said it, I believe it, that settles it" is not the type of direction the church or I need in this time and age. In the Old Testament the cloud and glory of God dwelt in the camp of Israel as they came out of Egypt. It was an awesome wonder, a place of revelation, of glory, of spiritual visioning, a people being formed by the hand of God. But in a day, a week, the cloud moved on and so did the camp. To stay in the old place would be to remain in the wilderness and never enter into the promise. God moves and our task is to track that movement and be present. Too many of our congregations remain stationary in past encampments.
A lot of churches have written visions, those spiritual blueprints that try to say where a congregation believes it should be a year out, five years out, ten or more years out. The problem with any attempt to develop a vision "cast in concrete" is that it is based on a present understanding that may be outdated in a year or five years. The Spirit of God moves where He wills, we can't see where He originates, we can't see where He is going, we only feel Him passing in the present. Too many church visions are concerned with building up the church. But there is a big difference between "building up the church" and "being built up as a spiritual temple". One is our idea of what needs to be done, the other is the exclusive movement and action of the Spirit of God. I remember reading something about the kingdom of God, and the author said something to this effect; there is no reference in the scriptures to building up the kingdom of God, we are only called to receive it, to enter into it. We do "church" very well, we've had years to perfect our organizations. But I wonder if it is not time to "re-vision", to lay aside what we think we should be about and start looking again for where the Spirit of God is moving. To borrow the words of Revelation, let the one with ears hear what the Spirit says to the churches, in this time, in this location. God moves, it's time to get in step with Him..
Showing posts with label vision. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vision. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Monday, July 9, 2012
I See Men as Trees
I am facing cataract surgery in August and the whole process of aging (a more palatable form of describing the process of slowly dying or decaying) brings fresh perspectives into this interesting time of life. Cataracts are probably different for each person who experiences them, but for me I see men as trees walking. Everything is blurry all of the time, and nothing I do can improve the focus. The light simply enters into my eyeball lenses where it is diffracted all to hell and never quite hits the back of the eyeball on target, or at least all of the light does not hit the same place at the same time. I am starting to better appreciate my physics about not really seeing something but rather seeing the light reflected from that something. In my case I lack the properly calibrated equipment to collect and focus that light, hence blurry has become my way of life.
Now as you age, you learn to live with things, things like joint pain, difficulty in sleeping, having to fight against gravity, loss of muscle tone, and more of all that. I used to think that you could get use to most anything, that over time what is abnormal would become normalized, you just learn to live with it. But constant blurriness is difficult to live with. Oh, I've adapted to it, I can drive but not read highway signs until they are right in front of me, I can still read books and papers but may have to adjust the lighting, computer screens are now my nemesis with their own light source but somehow I get by typing...you get the picture. But I don't like it, it's more than a nuisance, it affects everything that fills every day and gives me a headache by the end of the day. I can't get used to it, never will.
And somehow I thought there might be a parable in all of this because as I have aged, my spiritual vision has likewise gotten blurry. I thought it would sharpen with time, but I find that I no longer see those clear, crisp lines between black and white, I see a lot of grey. My eagle-eyed vision that used to catch every jot and tittle and nuance now seems content to just try to take in the big picture and make some sense of that at least. I know that some would use words like "lukewarm" or "left your first love" or "compromise" to describe my condition. But I don't think that's a fair assessment. What cataracts have done for me is make me appreciate the miracle of sight and become really fearful of what my condition might be if I ever lost it. And I thought that was probably true for me spiritually as well. I need another touch of Jesus' hand; seeing men as trees walking may be better than darkness all of the time, but for one that was used to seeing clearly it is a step down. But here's the hard part to put into words. I don't want to return to the way I used to see things around me, I want to see the light reflected from all of those things, to believe again that the world was created good, that man is redeemable and life has direction and purpose, that God has not abandoned us to futility, that the gospel is still good news, and that in the end of all things in His light we will see light (Psalm 36:9).
Now as you age, you learn to live with things, things like joint pain, difficulty in sleeping, having to fight against gravity, loss of muscle tone, and more of all that. I used to think that you could get use to most anything, that over time what is abnormal would become normalized, you just learn to live with it. But constant blurriness is difficult to live with. Oh, I've adapted to it, I can drive but not read highway signs until they are right in front of me, I can still read books and papers but may have to adjust the lighting, computer screens are now my nemesis with their own light source but somehow I get by typing...you get the picture. But I don't like it, it's more than a nuisance, it affects everything that fills every day and gives me a headache by the end of the day. I can't get used to it, never will.
And somehow I thought there might be a parable in all of this because as I have aged, my spiritual vision has likewise gotten blurry. I thought it would sharpen with time, but I find that I no longer see those clear, crisp lines between black and white, I see a lot of grey. My eagle-eyed vision that used to catch every jot and tittle and nuance now seems content to just try to take in the big picture and make some sense of that at least. I know that some would use words like "lukewarm" or "left your first love" or "compromise" to describe my condition. But I don't think that's a fair assessment. What cataracts have done for me is make me appreciate the miracle of sight and become really fearful of what my condition might be if I ever lost it. And I thought that was probably true for me spiritually as well. I need another touch of Jesus' hand; seeing men as trees walking may be better than darkness all of the time, but for one that was used to seeing clearly it is a step down. But here's the hard part to put into words. I don't want to return to the way I used to see things around me, I want to see the light reflected from all of those things, to believe again that the world was created good, that man is redeemable and life has direction and purpose, that God has not abandoned us to futility, that the gospel is still good news, and that in the end of all things in His light we will see light (Psalm 36:9).
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
A Vision for Lent
"Then to Adam He said....Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return." Genesis 3:17-19
The keeping of days, times or seasons must be based on the divine action and revelation of God lest it supplant the very calling of God. Thus the Church has, since ancient times, celebrated the Paschal cycle ("...indeed Christ our Passover, was sacrificed for us." I Cor. 5:7) which marks the very work of God's salvation in the earth made possible by the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Man had been separated from God by his sin and was without hope in this world. The continual offering of the blood of bulls and goats was insufficient to atone for his transgression. It required a supremely more perfect sacrifice, a divine sacrifice of the blood of the only begotten Son of God to accomplish redemption. It required Jesus Christ who was that "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world".
Informally the season starts on Septuagesima Sunday which marks out a period of time of about seventy days before the celebration of Resurrection Day. The next two Sundays before Lent, Sexagesima (sixtieth), and Quinquagesima (fiftieth) remind us of the transition made in the Church year from the celebration of the Lord's birth and Epiphany (manifestation) to the world, and the season of preparation for recalling His all-sufficient sacrifice. Formally, Lent (which comes from an Old English word meaning Spring) starts on Ash Wednesday. This day is marked by the placing of ashes on the heads of the faithful in the sign of the cross with the words "Remember, man, thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return." It is the pronouncement of death upon us, a recognition of the consequences of our sin. The words carry with them the same dread and sorrow which they did when Adam heard them from the very mouth of God. Unless God be gracious, the enormity of our sin must surely swallow us alive and carry us down to the grave. Ashes have always been a sign of frailty and transience (consider the grass thrown into the oven in Matt. 6:30). They also speak of mourning and repentance when seeking the favor of God (consider Esther 4:1 or Jonah 3:4-9). To us they speak of humility and repentance. The ashes used in the service come from burning the palms which were used during last year's Palm Sunday celebration when our hearts were joyful at the coming of our King. Now we humbly prepare those same hearts to turn from our sinfulness to seek again His righteousness.
Forty days are marked by Lent from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday. We do not count Sundays in our observance for these days have forever been marked as days of rejoicing and celebration by the Resurrection of the Lord. The other days are days marked by special prayer, fasting, self discipline in striving against sin, and sacrificial giving. The Church has always prescribed the two fold discipline of fasting and almsgiving as strong weapons in the fight against self-centeredness and indulgence. Forty is a sacred number being 4, the symbol of the earth, multiplied by 10, the symbol of the complete judgement of God. Forty days marked the deluge which cleansed the earth in the time of Noah; forty years the wandering of the Jews in the wilderness to purge their unbelief; forty days the fasting and warfare of Jesus in the wilderness against Satan. May we welcome this season as the time in which "the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge [our] conscience from dead works to serve the living God." (Hebrews 9:14)
The keeping of days, times or seasons must be based on the divine action and revelation of God lest it supplant the very calling of God. Thus the Church has, since ancient times, celebrated the Paschal cycle ("...indeed Christ our Passover, was sacrificed for us." I Cor. 5:7) which marks the very work of God's salvation in the earth made possible by the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Man had been separated from God by his sin and was without hope in this world. The continual offering of the blood of bulls and goats was insufficient to atone for his transgression. It required a supremely more perfect sacrifice, a divine sacrifice of the blood of the only begotten Son of God to accomplish redemption. It required Jesus Christ who was that "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world".
Informally the season starts on Septuagesima Sunday which marks out a period of time of about seventy days before the celebration of Resurrection Day. The next two Sundays before Lent, Sexagesima (sixtieth), and Quinquagesima (fiftieth) remind us of the transition made in the Church year from the celebration of the Lord's birth and Epiphany (manifestation) to the world, and the season of preparation for recalling His all-sufficient sacrifice. Formally, Lent (which comes from an Old English word meaning Spring) starts on Ash Wednesday. This day is marked by the placing of ashes on the heads of the faithful in the sign of the cross with the words "Remember, man, thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return." It is the pronouncement of death upon us, a recognition of the consequences of our sin. The words carry with them the same dread and sorrow which they did when Adam heard them from the very mouth of God. Unless God be gracious, the enormity of our sin must surely swallow us alive and carry us down to the grave. Ashes have always been a sign of frailty and transience (consider the grass thrown into the oven in Matt. 6:30). They also speak of mourning and repentance when seeking the favor of God (consider Esther 4:1 or Jonah 3:4-9). To us they speak of humility and repentance. The ashes used in the service come from burning the palms which were used during last year's Palm Sunday celebration when our hearts were joyful at the coming of our King. Now we humbly prepare those same hearts to turn from our sinfulness to seek again His righteousness.
Forty days are marked by Lent from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday. We do not count Sundays in our observance for these days have forever been marked as days of rejoicing and celebration by the Resurrection of the Lord. The other days are days marked by special prayer, fasting, self discipline in striving against sin, and sacrificial giving. The Church has always prescribed the two fold discipline of fasting and almsgiving as strong weapons in the fight against self-centeredness and indulgence. Forty is a sacred number being 4, the symbol of the earth, multiplied by 10, the symbol of the complete judgement of God. Forty days marked the deluge which cleansed the earth in the time of Noah; forty years the wandering of the Jews in the wilderness to purge their unbelief; forty days the fasting and warfare of Jesus in the wilderness against Satan. May we welcome this season as the time in which "the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge [our] conscience from dead works to serve the living God." (Hebrews 9:14)
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