June 2018 – Clinging To The Rock

You may gain a further understanding of the meditation that follows, by the reading of the suggested scriptures. The Editorial Notes at the end of the post may also prove to be beneficial)

Suggested Scripture Readings: Psalm 121: I will lift up my eyes unto the hills – My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth

Matthew 8:1 – 2

When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed Him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before Him, and said, “Lord, if you are willing You can make me clean. Jesus reached out His hand and touched him.
” I am willing, “He said, ” Be clean .”

The large crowds that followed Jesus down the mountainside had just looked in upon heaven through an open door! Because of the sermon that Jesus preached to them, these people had seen God. The challenge that is now disturbingly theirs is to live with the scent of Heaven still clinging to them! How does one ever live a life of grace in the valley of human woes?

We must avail ourselves of every possible way to appropriate the Gospel. It is not enough to hear it with our ears. It is the critical belief of Christendom, that ‘The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.’ We must never permit the Gospel to become words only; for unless there throbs throughout the world the vitality of a living union with the Risen Christ, the dark demonic forces of the age will not meet their match. In this regard, the words of the beloved Robert Louis Stevenson are pertinent. ” If a person were to make a certain effort in imagination and would read the gospel freshly, it would startle and move anyone !” (1)
I invite you to join me in the effort in imagination in this particular incident from the Gospel, ( Matthew 8: 1 – 4) with the view to making it “Flesh” again rather than “word” alone.
As best I can I will assume the identity of this unfortunate valley dweller, whose encounter with Jesus, one evening, results in his passing with Him through the gates of a new life.

My name is Job, son of Issachar, of the tribe of Benjamine. My biographers neglected to give you that information. The only point they remember to tell you is the most horrific feature of my life, namely, ” I am a man with leprosy.”
That is just the way life is here in the valley. The value of an individual’s life is often determined by the color of his skin, or by the style of clothes he wears. The tribe to which one belongs is a warning of predictable behavior and the determining factor concerning his destiny in this world.

It wasn’t always like that in this valley, but of late the atmosphere is repugnant with self-absorption, hatred, and mistrust; like malignant tumors, which are destroying the moral and ethical fabric of this ‘vale of soul-making.’

I would have dearly loved to accompany the crowd, from the valley up the mountainside to hear Jesus speak, and see Him equip His followers with the lamp of hope. The thought did cross my mind that perhaps someone from the valley might come and offer to help me up the rugged mountain path. I waited, I dreamt, I even prepared myself as best I could, hoping, that someone would think of me. But nobody came! “After all, you do have leprosy”! I offered in an attempt to curb my disappointment.” Who is going to touch someone with this horrible disease? No one is willing to go that far!”

I am a man with leprosy! But I am a living soul! That outweighs all other considerations. This disease may well lay this rusting heap of humanity in a grave by-and-by, but my soul is immortal! In the final analysis, neither the color of a person’s skin, nor the clothes he wears, nor the tribe or nation of origin, matters. It is the red blood of decency that gives one the courage to take the hand of one being persecuted and walk up the mountain with them to discover a new life. That is the victory that God is planning. It will yet change this broken world!
There is a twofold reason why Jesus came down from the mountainside and into the valley that day, I believe. In the first place, it gave visual expression of God’s longing for all people to share in the experience of unconditional love. It was to meet all those who, through no fault of their own, are unable to join the crowds on the mountainside. It is the will of the Creator that each of His children in this world feels the caring embrace of His arms, as well as the tender compassion of those members of the human family who profess to own that experience. No one must ever be left behind or driven away through the inhumane and corrupt ideologies adopted by other humans.
There are large crowds following Jesus down the mountainside into the valley! I see them with clearer vision; I feel a strange stirring in my heart. Fear and hope are invading my soul at the same instant. Then a barrage of searing images overtakes me numbing my brain:’ I do not belong here, I am different, the law forbids a person with leprosy to mix in the company of other people. I look in every direction expecting to see the authorities rushing towards me to arrest me for violating that law.
All of a sudden there is a tremendous burst of HOPE like the most glorious dawn I have ever witnessed. It must be the full glory of heaven that fills the valley. He walks toward me. Jesus comes to me! My response is unthinkable. But it is the only thing I can do. Breaking every law in man’s book, I kneel at His feet and cry out:”Jesus, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”And then, O then, the very arches of heaven ring out, and the sound echoes in the surrounding hills of the valley. He touched me! O,” He reached out His hand and touched me.” And I know for certain that I am a child of God! And nothing nor anyone can ever change that!
” Man’s inhumanity to man” still slithers its way into the valley. But there is in this valley today, the evidence of the transformation that follows when the will of God reigns. When Christ is leading the forward march of the crowds, victory is assured, and renewed help will always come from the mountain of God.

A PRAYER TO FOLLOW THIS MEDITATION
O God, we are homesick for more of Heaven’s influence to infiltrate our troubled and tormented world. We fear that there is much greater evidence that we have” conformed to the world” rather than transforming it, with the power of love.
(Romans 12:2). The evidence is overwhelming us.
Churches that have graced our skyline for generations have disappeared. Steeples that have long identified places of refuge and sanctuary now leave only empty spaces on the horizon. And many people, abandoning the simple trust in Your mercy to provide, are turning to’ the world of chance’ to see them through.” Lord have mercy upon us; Christ have mercy upon us.”
Open again we implore You, the Sky-Windows, so that your people in these troubled times, may learn again to look Heavenward! Loving God, help us to remember that it was from this direction You descended one night, holding in Your arms a Baby whom You laid upon the world’s doorstep; and it was from this direction that the Holy Spirit descended to bring new beginnings to a weeping world. Come, Lord Jesus, Come. Amen

Music: You Raise Me Up -Josh Gorban

https://youtu.be/oni0tO_HN30

EDITORIAL NOTES

The Biblical texts here are from the NIV (New International Version) unless otherwise indicated in the body of the meditation.

1.https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/robert_louis_stevenson

2. Music: YouTube. you raise me up – Josh Gorban

3. Photo: Taken while vacationing in Arizona in 2016. I have given it the title: “Star Of Hope.”

(To gain a further understanding of the meditation that follows, a reading of the suggested scriptures will be most helpful. The Editorial Notes at the end of the post may prove to be beneficial)

Suggested Scriptures: Psalm 23
Acts 9: 1 – 22

George MacDonald was a Scottish author, poet, and Christian minister. There is a thought-provoking couplet in his poem,” A Prayer for the past.”It reads:

“Father, in joy our knees we bow;
This earth is not a place of tombs:
We are but in the nursery now;
They in the upper rooms.”(1)

Indeed it would be the expected thing to do, to bow the knees in joy, before God, if we possess more decisive proof that this earth is not a place of tombs! Encourage an individual to recall some of the most beautiful experiences they can remember, and in a moment, with a sob, they relate how many of such experiences now inhabit the graves of what used to be. Spend an afternoon visiting your local senior’s complex, mingle again with some of the people who just a few short years ago were the undisputed leaders in your community, and then tell me, there is no evidence of ‘change and decay in all around you see.” Where are the treasured dreams of yester-years? Where is the evidence of the sacrifices made, and the exquisite beauty of love’s transforming power? What about that daughter or son for whom no words are adequate to describe your love, and your sense of pride, as the time comes for them to ” leave the nest.” Then one day you learn they have joined the company of ‘ the prodigal’ in that ‘ far country,’ as in the story that Jesus tells. ( Luke 15: 11 – 32). A confident son finds the far country irresistible and consequently wastes all that he possesses for naught. ” This earth is not a place of tombs”? Tell someone else that! Indeed it is a place of tombs, and one of those tombs holds a part of your heart! And I have said nothing at all of the graveyards you visit, and from which you forever turn away, with leaden steps.
What can one do when he comes upon George Macdonald on bended knee, engaging in prayer to God, but kneel beside him, for we each have much for which we should offer our thanks? But we grow hesitant upon hearing MacDonald thanking God,”That the earth is not a place of tombs. ” Our witness weighs too heavily upon our hearts for that assertion. O God, help us that we might learn the captivating secret his words intend!

There is further startling evidence that George Macdonald is not the only one propounding this mystery. The infinitesimal details originating here on earth, concerning an individual’s life, do not pass away forgotten as a dream, to lie silent in death forever. Hear further, the more extensive view of George MacDonald, on this matter:

” I think that nothing made is lost,
That not a moon has ever shone,
That not a cloud my eyes hath crossed
But to my soul hath gone.(italics are mine)

That all the lost years gathered lie
In this The casket, my dim soul;
And Thou wilt, once, the key apply,
And show the shining whole. ( 1)

Now hear some details associated with that well-known classic,”The Lost Chord.”The author, Sir Arthur Sullivan is suffering deep emotions, as he sits beside the bed of his dying brother, Fred. There he composed those brilliant lyrics. The poem tells the story of one who while, sad, and tired, sits at the organ, and begins to play. No particular melody is in his mind at the outset. But suddenly, inadvertently he strikes a chord of music that sounds like a triumphant expression of a great Amen. The organist never ceases in his efforts to reproduce the sound but is unsuccessful. A disturbing thought crosses his mind; perhaps the great chord may be lost forever? Then this sound conviction arrives:

” It may be that death’s bright angel
will speak in that chord again,
It may be that only in Heav’n
I shall hear that grand Amen.” (2)

Furthermore, the Scriptures of both the Old and the New Testaments bear witness to this magnanimous fact, that what has been, is safest from the ravages of time; safe from the withering that often occurs to our physical faculties. Every experience is kept safe in ‘the casket of one’s soul, and one day, God will reveal the whole of the soul’s content.

Let me call attention to what is one of the most familiar texts of the Old Testament, ” The Twenty-third Psalm. Because God revealed Himself to the author of this Psalm, at some earlier juncture in his life, he is confident that no evil can harm him. His soul is restored. It is a vessel designed by God, to preserve one’s personal experiences so that nothing is finally lost.
The Psalmist will not always find a walk beside the still waters, or a quiet rest in the green pastures refreshing, or even remotely possible. He may occasionally find himself in the tormenting, and even dangerous company of hostile people! But the ecstasy of that moment in which God revealed Himself as the author’s Shepherd, is secure in the ‘casket of his soul, to which God holds the key. It is God who determines the time and place to apply the key and show the shining whole. “Surely, goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the House of The Lord, forever.”(Psalm 23:6)

The New Testament has many poignant reminders of God’s involvement in the protection of our treasures, “from the moth, and rust that destroy ” (Matthew 6: 19 – 21) and, from the repulsive forces of the earth that would abandon our treasures to lie unremembered forever in’ the tomb.

The evidence is almost on every page of St Paul’s recorded life’s history. God ‘applies the key’to the ‘casket of his soul’ during the Damascus Road experience, to show Paul the immediate contents of his present life. Paul reviews the not so moving experiences of his life still remaining in ‘ the casket of his soul. One more look in the direction of his shameful acts permits Paul to see that the unceasing activity of God’s Grace upon one’s shameful deeds, will transform them to be a revelation of the unconditional Love of God, and add to the realization of God’s victory.
Then without hesitation, Paul recommends to all, the ecstasy of the resulting new creation. The propulsive power behind each undertaking becomes the firm belief: ” I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” The treasures resulting from one’s appropriation of that type of belief are of inestimable worth. But there is yet awaiting Paul an even more inexpressible moment of ecstasy. He confesses:
” Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart, what God has prepared for those that love Him.”
(1 Corinthians 2:9). Not even Paul with his profound wisdom can comprehend the inestimable value of those treasures which remain with God until we view them with Heavenly eyes. Paul, writing to the Corinthians in seeking their enlightenment says: “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror, then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”

Everyone has far more valuable treasures than they have ever realized. We will not fully comprehend the vastness of their wealth during our sojourn here on earth. That which we see with the physical eye can only be partial, at very best. Not until the morning breaks and the shadows flee, will we see the whole shining content of our souls. And then, please God, what will number among the most luminous of our treasures will be the faithfulness and the mercy of God!

PRAYER TO FOLLOW THIS MEDITATION
Merciful Father, we are struck with silence. Our feeble brains cannot find the words to transcribe what our hearts are feeling! Just for us to try and grasp the extent of Your knowledge of each one of us earth-dwellers, and to know that unconditional love accompanies Your insight into each of us is silencing. You go on believing in each one, in spite of our messing up so frequently.
Thank You for the gift of memory whichYou have given to us. It is Your wisdom that has placed this unspeakable gift of memory into such vessels of clay. Perhaps You would have us know, that the totality of all of our remembered experiences is not all that is visible to You in Heaven. You see everything, and You keep it all safe and secure to present to us at the appropriate time! The small act of kindness that I may not even remember; the word of hope which I may speak to someone in doubt, is far more crucial in your view than I might realize. My failures and my sins, which for long have weighed me down, and the secret sins I do not see, which when You observe with eyes of Compassion, offer me renewed Hope for eternity. “The very way You see things, and the way You interpret them, is never our way!
” My ways are not your ways, neither are your thoughts, My thoughts, says the Lord”!
We praise You that Jesus so forcefully and so beautifully reveals to this world the Glory of our Salvation, which allows us to one day stand with Him in Your Presence “and tell the story of His saving Grace.”He will repeat in Your hearing the truth at the heart of His Story of the Prodigal Son;” This is Your son; this is Your daughter, who was dead, and is alive again; who was lost and is found.” Amen.

HYMN: The Lord’s Prayer – Andrea Bocelli

https://youtu.be/aEplqV0scyo

EDITORIAL NOTES

Here and throughout the text of this meditation, the quotations from the Holy Bible are from the New International Translation, Unless otherwise noted in the text.

George MacDonald. A Prayer For The Past. https://www.best-poems.net/poem/a-prayer-for-the-past-all-sights-and-sounds-of-day-and-yea-by-george-macdonald.html
Sir Arthur Sullivan. The Lost Chord. http://www.james-joyce-music.com/songb_19_lyrics.html
PHOTO: ” Discovering Lost Treasures” is my title for a recent photo of Vera remembering one of her favorite places from her childhood home at Crescent Lake, Robert’s Arm, Newfoundland.