Clinging To The Rock

Scripture Emphasis: Luke 19:9-10                                       Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.

There just has to be a greater motivational force behind Zacchaeus’ lowly ascent into the sycamore tree, than his desire to see Jesus and, the littleness of stature that was preventing him from doing so. Luke’s strict economy of words leaves much unsaid about the earlier years of Zacchaeus’ life, which might provide the real reason behind his determination to see Jesus at any cost. Remembering the details of the personal search of many people for God, it may not be forbidden to permit the use of our imaginations to welcome Zacchaeus into a typical family of believers.

Zacchaeus was too cagy an individual to provide freely for any more material for ammunition to be used by his heartless critics.

In religious circles, if thought off at all, Zacchaeus was numbered with the sinners. No father, son relationship existed between him and Abraham,  that was an absolute fact. Abraham was the celebrated father of the faithful; Zacchaeus, on the other hand, was dismissed to occupying a place among the redeemable.

On the commercial scene, Zacchaeus was considered a clever tax-collector. Shrewd was commonly attached to the resume his colleagues offer concerning him. When funds were running low, pass matters over to Zacchaeus was the standard solution.

In his neighborhood, Zacchaeus lived pretty much as a loner. But most everyone had an opinion of him, uniformly he was ‘ the old miser, the thief, short in stature but never on money’! Mention the word ‘scoundrel,’ and all eyes looked in the direction of his abode!

So it stood, that neither the religious, the economic, or the social, milieu would bear witness to any suggestion of decency, let alone any opinion of righteousness in Zacchaeus’ soul.  There were some with cynical intent, who questioned whether or not Zacchaeus even had a soul!

Danger lurks in the shadows, like some viperous snake, with such widespread abandonment known by Zacchaeus. The soul’s attested visitation may well fall to the threat of disbelief. How can one substantiate the soul’s elevation when all others do not as much believe that a soul exists within that person? Can anyone, owning the forward thrust of the spirit’s working within himself, discredit that happening in another’s soul? One suppliant permits himself to begin life anew by the free Grace of God bestowed, while he denies a fellow suppliant even the dream of that same possibility.

Any human who struggles to regain his footing following a fall provides fodder aplenty for the imagination to fathom the depth of loneliness and, the living hope by which they continue. So I will imagine Zacchaeus as one such person.

Day and night; night and day, inside the tax booth, or walking beside the enchanting sea, Zacchaeus hears what he has come to identify as the persistent trumpet of God sounding in his soul!

It is so again today, above the gentle lapping of the waves on the seashore, Zacchaeus hears the sound of God’s trumpet!  “What does God see in me that no one else sees?”  Zacchaeus questions.”No matter what they say, I feel a love that will not let me go! But Why?

Then, almost like a mirage in a desert where a man is dying of thirst, something captures Zacchaeus’ attention completely! It is something though unseen, is not altogether unknown to Zacchaeus.  He senses a presence with him on the beach. In tones that indicate a familiarity, that this is by no means a first-time experience for him, Zacchaeus continues a conversation started some time previously with Jesus.

“Jesus, ’tis ‘strange! I often wish I could see you with my real eyes! But although my eyes have never seen You, all I have to do is let my thoughts go out to you, and You are there, ‘nearer than breathing, closer than hands or feet’! “Jesus, I keep hearing what I believe is God’s trumpet in my soul! No one close to me, at home, at work, or anywhere else thinks that this is even possible.  JESUS DO YOU BELIEVE ME? Show me what you would do if you were me! What would God possibly want with someone whom everyone, including myself now, considers an unworthy sinner?

I imagine that Jesus smiles His compassionate, knowing smile and begins in words that transmit caring, and compassion and understanding sympathy.

” My friend, I, too have heard what you rightly call ‘the trumpet of God.’ I, in a large crowd gathered at the Jordan for baptism, heard God speak to me, calling me His beloved Son. Others there said it thundered, but I knew it was God’s trumpet!

Of course, I believe you, Zacchaeus, and furthermore, I believe God is calling you. He is saying:  ‘Zacchaeus, you are My precious child’! You ask me what I would do if I were you? I am not you Zacchaeus; You have many unique gifts and talents that God has given to you alone, to make this world a place where God will be pleased to dwell.

Let Me show you the world which God intended from creation. Jesus begins.  “Everywhere there are scenes of perfect contentment. People are happy with each other like they are all at home, and God is their loving father. God is highly honored here, and His people delight to walk with Him in the cool of the evening! Everything living seeks their food from Him, and nothing goes hungry!

Everywhere there is music, and there is dancing as those who have gone astray “rise and come home to the Father.'”

Jesus pauses a moment! Zaccheaus interprets the silence as an expectation of him to speak. Haltingly, he begins,” I guess herein is my condemnation! I have always peeped out at the world from behind a dollar sign! I value people by how much they are worth, and by the possessions they have. There is no ‘family feeling’ here, only suspicion and greed. It’s just the way it is, and everyone does it!  Singing and dancing are almost non-existent in the circles I travel!

Jesus spoke not a word of condemnation to Zacchaeus. With the gentle tones of a loving father, He said:” My dear friend, you are missing out on so much! You will be far happier when you reclaim the portion of God’s riches that belongs to you!

Zacchaeus, God’s world is so beautiful, the way He intends it to be! All attempts to describe it break through words and escape! I see men and women young and old together free as that wind that blows where it wishes. It is a freedom which is different from an absence of fear of being robbed, or of being in bondage! The measure of their freedom is the degree they depend upon God for all things. THE SPIRIT OF GOD creates freedom for them, which binds them to God alone!                             Children play in God’s Garden. They are from all the nations under Heaven! Black skin, brown skin, and white skin playing together, and their laughter is music that gladdens the soul to hear.                           In my mind’s eye, I see deep pain on Zacchaeus’ face, which he attempts to hide from his friend’s sight. But the look of compassion, on Jesus’ face, is enough to encourage some words from Zacchaeus, ” In my world only a few people are free. Most of them are seriously in debt! Some are forced to work from crack of dawn to nightfall to pay their taxes and feed their hungry families. There is minimal talk here about God and Heaven. Our world is god, and the ownership of worldly things is the measure of all people!  Earthly possessions are the anchor they trust -in, in the rough waters of uncertainty! Jesus, everyone does it, it is just the way of the world !”

An awkward silence falls upon Zacchaeus. He falls deeply into a contemplative mood!  “Jesus, do you suppose that I have mistaken the trumpet that sounds in my soul as God’s trumpet, is, in fact, the trumpet of this world?  Jesus, I confess I  I have contributed to this world’s misery. I have riches that are not mine. I enslave people rather than setting them free to discover the freedom of God’s Spirit”!

Jesus places a steadying hand upon Zacchaeus’ trembling shoulder as He softly speaks  to Zacchaeus:’ The Son Of Man Came To Seek And To Save What Was Lost.’                                         Zacchaeus, tomorrow you will see your wish to see Me “face to face” come true! Meet Me tomorrow at the ‘ Big  Old Sycamore Tree’ in Jericho, to continue our conversation!”

You Are Invited To Make The Following Prayer Your Own.

O Christ of Tender Mercy,                                                        One day you looked into the anxious, troubled eyes of one called Zacchaeus. Those who thought that they knew everything to be known about him, saw only that which would abandon him to the pile of broken, useless pieces. They were suitably rebuked by You when You elevated Zacchaeus to a place of honor and respect! Make us less hasty in our judgment of others, and more committed to following Your example. Let us see others in the way God sees all of His children. If they brashly demand the freedom to travel into some far country, our Father keeps watch upon the road that leads that daughter, or son home again, and restores all the blessings of one dearly loved. Jesus, we cannot pretend that it is otherwise with us, we have been that prodigal who heard The Trumpet Of God, and have been moved by Your searching to respond: ” I will arise and go to our Father. It follows, that often it is the one who has been wounded, and broken, the one who bears the evidence of a sojourn in the pig-pen, who becomes the most compassionate and understanding disciples in Your Service! Here I am Lord, I will go if you lead me. I will bear your people in my heart. Amen.

Hymn:  Steal Away To Jesus

https://binged.it/2Z5cEEu

 

EDITORIAL NOTES

The Scripture references are from the NIV translation.

The photo is an earlier post on the web-site: Brigus Folks, Then and Now. This historic tree stood unconfined either by a fence or a wall, in the very center of the town of Brigus. For decades it served as a beloved landmark and as a meeting place when means of telecommunications were not so readily available. In a sense, it shared a similarity with the tree in the story.

 

Suggested Scripture Readings:
Matthew 8: 35 – 41.  Isaiah 32: 1 – 8

Scripture Reference: Isaiah 32: 2.  Each man will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land.

In “THE TEMPEST,” William Shakespeare engages his unique artistic skills and portrays the chaos and the confusion seizing a small ship caught in a vicious storm at sea. Therefore, the master of the ship orders his boatswain to rouse the mariners to action to prevent the boat from grounding in the storm. Unfortunately, in the resulting hectic activity of the mariners, the panic-stricken onlookers are overresponsive.
Under these circumstances, the boatswain gives a timely command. “Go below deck, Go below deck,” he commands! “You do assist the storm!”
Gonzalo reminds the boatswain that one of the passengers is of some obvious importance, but the boatswain is unmoved. He will do what he has to save the ship, regardless of who is aboard.Sad, yet, nevertheless true, humans can inadvertently assist a storm in its fury. The disturbance may originate within the atmosphere, like that described by Shakespeare. But on other occasions, a disturbing incident upsetting another’s delicate mental equilibrium may quickly take on all the features of a fierce storm!
Stephen Leacock, a Canadian writer, and humorist relates just such an incident in his novel,” Gertrude the Governess.”
“Lord Nosh stood upon the hearthrug of the library. Trained diplomat and statesman as he was, his stern aristocratic face was upside down with fury.”
Lord Nosh directs his fury towards his young son, Lord Ronald. The son returns a look of complete defiance towards his father. Lord Ronald said nothing; he flung himself from the room, flung himself upon his horse and rode madly off in all directions.
The boatswain’s guidelines are stringent for whatever circumstance stirs strife within a person: ‘Go below deck! Go below deck!” It is always time for each of us to go inside ourselves and use whatever time remaining to us to learn the secret of composure and celebrate the conquest that makes us truly human. The promise of the Prophet Isaiah is the complete antithesis of distressed behavior.
“Each one will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land.” Is it not a phenomenon worthy of consideration since according to Isaiah, it is a promise made to all? But what is the qualifying prerequisite that makes Isaiah’s pledge a “future” reality? “Each one will be like a shelter from the wind…etc. But when? How great an effort must we make to learn that awe-inspiring secret, in this world so filled with sound and fury that it makes Isaiah’s promise sound like an idle tale?
The solemn truth is, NO ONE can ever learn to mirror the condition of which Isaiah speaks! That secret will never reveal itself through scholarly expositions, or by personal resolutions, no matter how sincere one’s effort. It is a gift from God! Is it not true, generally speaking, that the response towards an offered gift is ACCEPTANCE?
Is it not an urgent need at this juncture in our experience to “Go Below Deck” and to review your relationship with God? Do you know enough about Him, to bring assurance at this moment that you are “like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land “?

It seems to me that the world has no greater need in this hour than for people of Faith to accept from God the things we can never do for ourselves! There is an urgent need, in this hour of diminished trust in the activity of the eternal, for people professing a religious experience to re-encounter the God of their professed religion. It is double the terror for anyone to” Go Below Deck” in a storm, and encounter there, only a rumbling emptiness because God has been crowded out by a hectic lifestyle. Therefore, hear the positive assertion by Isaiah that each one shall be the recipient of this fantastic promise! Humankind must understand themselves as being IN GOD, and as deriving FROM GOD, and not as the product of their own effort and achievement.
The One, whom Christians call the Master of Life, provides the most authentic demonstration of an individual’s response to those caught in the throes of a debilitating storm. Jesus, along with His disciples, is on a vicious storm-swept sea of Galilee. Unlike the terrified oarsmen who are contemplating certain  death, Jesus is fast asleep in the stern of the same  boat.” Carest Thou not that we perish?” they screech above the sound of the frightening waves. Who could ever miss the stark contrast in behavior between the despairing disciples and their serene Master? According to Jesus, what left the disciples in such dire stress was the lack of Faith,’ below deck’ of each participant. “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” Jesus asks them. Jesus own state of Faith both “on deck, and below” was always the same, and resoundingly positive; “Father, into Your hands, I commend my spirit.” What astounding evidence that a person can be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land. YOU can be a further witness of this same glorious truth!

                      Prayer To End This Meditation

O Lord, from the beginning of creation You showed a preference for serenity and calm.
You ordered Your Spirit to brood over the darkness and the chaos which were retarding the progress of Your proposed Creation. “And you saw that it was good!”

Wherever storms are causing chaos, either as the result of atmospheric disturbances or by individuals and nations in conflict, remind us, followers of Christ, of Your hovering Spirit, and enable us to bring Peace where there are far too many others who assist the storm.

We can expect to see the influence of Your Spirit, only after chaos and darkness have been eliminated, first from our own souls. Without the touch of Your hand, we may see the goal but we remain helpless to produce lasting results:

“Where cross the crowded ways of life,                        Where sound the cries of race and clan,                      Above the noise of selfish strife,                                    We hear Thy voice, O Son Of Man.”

Breathe on us, Breath of God, and give us spirits, strong like steel, so that we will always stand firm for You. Amen. So Let It be.

HYMN:  Master, The Tempest Is Raging

Master, the tempest is raging!
The billows are tossing high!
The sky is o’ershadowed with blackness,
No shelter or help is nigh;
Carest Thou not that we perish?
How canst Thou lie asleep,
When each moment so madly is threat’ning
A grave in the angry deep?
Refrain:
The winds and the waves shall obey Thy will,
Peace, be still!
Whether the wrath of the storm-tossed sea,
Or demons or men, or whatever it be,
No waters can swallow the ship where lies
The Master of ocean, and earth, and skies;
They all shall sweetly obey Thy will,
Peace, be still! Peace, be still!
They all shall sweetly obey Thy will,
Peace, peace, be still!
Master, with anguish of spirit
I bow in my grief today;
The depths of my sad heart are troubled—
Oh, waken and save, I pray!
Torrents of sin and of anguish
Sweep o’er my sinking soul;
And I perish! I perish! dear Master—
Oh, hasten, and take control.
Master, the terror is over,
The elements sweetly rest;
Earth’s sun in the calm lake is mirrored,
And heaven’s within my breast;
Linger, O blessed Redeemer!
Leave me alone no more;
And with joy, I shall make the blest harbour,
And rest on the blissful shore.

Suggested Scripture Reading: John 3:1 – 17

O Risen Lord,                                                                                                             You are the SONG we sang on Easter Sunday Morning! There was electricity in the air as the old timbers vibrated with the sounds of an excited people awakened from a winter’s slumber: ” Love’s redeeming work is done,                                                                 Fought the fight, the battle won;                                                                Lo! our Sun’s eclipse is o’er;                                                                         Lo! He sets in blood no more.

  Hallelujah!

                                       Lives again our glorious King;                                                                     Where, O death, is now thy sting?                                                         Once He died, our souls to save;                                                                 Where thy victory, O grave?                                Hallelujah! (3)

You, Lord, fought and won the fight to be the Supreme Ruler in these Souls of ours. You, O Risen One, are The Spirit of our Father; You have broken the chains forged by this world to enslave  God’s children, and thereby force them to worship at the altars of materialism or to worship not at all. But now we are Free; Our Souls are Free at last!

Come let us make a Highway straight from our Souls to the farthest corners of this world, that we may bring Light where there is darkness, Love where there is hate, Hope where there is despair, Singing on ‘The Road Of Tears,’ and the Light of Resurrection Glory where there is faithlessness. Enable each of us to bring out into this waiting world every Gift Of The Holy Spirit whichThe Living One is unpacking in our liberated Souls. Amen.

Hymn:https://youtu.be/sEWTMyiWmiQ

The Scripture references are from the NIV Translation.

1. Paul Tournier, THE MEANING OF PERSON,  SCM Press Ltd,

     P. 37.

2. Reference to the hymn,

      FOR ALL THE SAINTS,http://www.lutheran-

        hymnal.com/lyrics/tlh463.htm. vs.5

3 Charles Wesley, Christ The Kord Is Risen Today

      https://www.allthelyrics.com/lyrics/charles_wesley/christ_the_lord_is_risen_today-lyrics-1155708.html (vs. 2,4,5)

Suggested Scripture: Psalm 147; Luke 22: 39 – 53

Scripture Emphasis:
Psalm 147: 13-14
He strengthens the bars of your gates and blesses your people within you.
He grants Peace to your borders and satisfies you with the finest of wheat.

“A picture is worth a thousand words” is an English language adage. It refers to the notion that a complex idea can be conveyed with just a single picture”. That adage is true. It is also true that there are some pictures, imprisoned in a person’s mind, which cause such an emotional response as to render words attempting to describe the image, completely impotent. The incident of the Hebrew tribe held captive in Babylon, longing for the familiarity of their beloved homeland is impossible to capture, either by visual art or in mere words because tears remain impossible to translate.
” By the rivers of Babylon, we sat down and, we wept when we remembered Zion.” (Psalm 137)
The Scripture emphasis for this meditation falls into the same category of indescribable emotions. Permit yourself to shadow the main character in  Psalm147, and try, as hard as that may be, to capture something of the feelings herein or in your own experience under similar circumstances.

You are now all alone, and in that meditative mode, where a deep silence is touching and infiltrating everything. Completely uninvited by you, your mind suddenly produces thoughts of your present situation. There is a marked absence of the sounds and the images, still fresh in your mind, from a recent newscast. There is no sound of gunfire, nor harsh commands directed at you. Nothing interrupts your reverie. You are at home, and the serenity of your dearly loved homeland seeps into every pore of your body, resulting in a sigh of perfect contentment. The surrounding Peace is pregnant with thoughts of the Divine, prompting you to turn your eyes unto the surrounding hills and mouth the words, “I will lift up my eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help? My help cometh from the Lord.”  Without any movement or stir to suggest otherwise, you become aware that you are no longer alone. This present experience is so pleasurable for you that you long to share it with the most precious people to you in all the world, and so your family members are all here! Not in physical form, but rather united with you in spirit. In reality, all of them are hundreds of miles from you, having left home a long time ago to embrace lives of their own. “The tie that binds their hearts to your’s is blessed indeed. Distance has no meaning now! In an instant, miles are absolved, and you are all together, sharing in this exquisite moment of bliss! The experience may extend even further, to include the presence of ” someone loved long since and lost awhile.” You brush aside a tear and then lovingly you commit each into the arms of God once more!
Further, without breaking the mystique of the moment, there comes tripping into your consciousness, thoughts of kindness and the expressions of genuine love that binds this community together, like a family, where everyone has all things in common, and one man’s larder is never empty while another’s is full! (see Acts 2). The present view from your window begs admission into your meditation. It is of a meadow where a father, mother, and their seven children are engaging in the reaping of a bountiful harvest! Now let your dreaming end!

In reality, neither paint nor pen can capture the essence of such an experience as this, as beautiful as that representation may be.  What are the emotions which lie concealed inside the heart? Love? Gratitude? Faithfulness? A sense of sheer Awesomeness?   If the experiences recorded above come anywhere close to reflecting your own, then perhaps this is the moment to amplify the voice of the Psalmist’s Praise: ” Praise Your God, all you people! “Speak to Him, thou, for He hears, and Spirit with Spirit can meet— Closer is He than breathing, and nearer than hands and feet.”  ( Alfred Lord Tennyson) 2.

 Herein is meaning given to the essential ingredient for true Worship!  Worship begins within the privacy of an individual’s soul. That moment transports one beyond the usefulness of words and representations of any sort! We must embrace the Eternal One, Who comes to embrace each one who takes the time to be still and know that He has indeed come to us at that given moment!

It is significant, as well as being a thing of beauty, that some things, thought to be ordinary by one person, can be vested with an ability to stir another person deeply. The British Romantic Poet, William Wordsworth expresses something of this thought in ” My Heart Leaps Up”: ” My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky: So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man; So be it when I shall grow old, Or let me die! ” 3.

In Psalm 147:13, the mention of ” A barred gate” evokes such deep feelings in me, from early childhood to this present moment. “Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! He strengthens the bars of your gates and blesses your people within your walls. He grants Peace to your borders and satisfies you with the finest of wheat.” Ps. 147:13)  It is always possible to dismiss the immediate application of any particular text in Scripture and to concentrate upon the differences in time and space. Be that as it may, I must, on this occasion, yield to my experience of this text. It is the barred gate, and the protection it affords, that demands my attention from childhood and to this hour!
Sitting, as it does close to the roadway, it was the reason why at the end of the lane from the back yard of my boyhood home, there was a gate. The gate was constructed of solid wood and bore all the signs of workmanship by one who toiled with pride and purpose. It was a ‘horned gate’ that was bolted snugly in place to the adjacent gatepost by a  ‘U’  shaped iron instrument. But a more captivating detail yet awaits mention! It was the iron bar on the inside of the gate which remained in the blocking position except briefly to allow access or exit for the neighbor’s children and our friends. It is that barred gate that provides for me, even yet, moments of both ecstasy and refreshing uplift! The barred gate came to symbolize much of the essential preparation for the life we would yet experience.
Inside the gate, we learned about many of the ingredients that go into a healthy, and meaningful life!  There was the art of ‘getting along’ with others; the necessity of compromise without surrendering truth and honor! We learned how essential it is, to always be honest, and trustworthy. Inside that barred gate, we learned the importance of discipline and how disobedience brings with it consequences.  Within, there was unconditional love! Not that we kids, and there were seven of us, never quarreled, but within the confines of the space behind the barred gate, there was always a voice of profound wisdom. Love is never permitted to fail.  And that lesson is even more challenging to learn when the immediate family circle is stretched to include our friends and neighbors. The doing unto others as you would have them do unto you isn’t always easily accomplished! This is always a challenge but a fundamental life lesson to be learned!

Although tragic circumstances produced the situation that made it impossible for us children to own all the many things that others owned; behind the barred gate, we came to discover that we had something to be treasured more than things, we had each other!

The barred gate reminds me of something more yet! In no way was the gate barred to shield us from the harsher realities of life. On the contrary, inside this gate, we were constantly learning how to face the challenges that await everyone in the broader field. The gate suggests to me a place of refuge inside which I find safety. Within this space, I will always be welcome ( if now but only in my meditation and dreams). There I still find healing and restoration after failing to realize some higher dream, or when I am wounded or weary. I recall how here we were permitted to dream, but not allow dreams ‘to be our masters.’ Further, we learned that all things and every dream could yet be accomplished through faith in God. And our mother’s life bore eloquent witness to that certainty.

An older man  I am now, who is compelled all the more to ” Praise the Lord.” for the barred gate!
I am unable to tell you that my days in ministry have never been without loneliness, heartache, sorrow, and failure. There have been days, when like Peter, following his anguish for his failure, after Jesus’ crucifixion, announced to his friends, ” I am going fishing.” So have I thought of doing just that, many a day. It is then that I push open the gate,and going through, I meet the Master face to face. And then at His behest, I am ready “to brave another cruise.”

Each of You also has a gate, through which you may go to meet the Master Face to Face, and may that meeting fill your heart with endless praise.

You Are Invited To Make The Following Prayer Your Own

Jesus, My Lord,

Sometimes I feel unworthy to step inside the gate! When in my thoughts I see You kneeling in prayer, asYou were praying in the Garden of Gethsemane; as much as I desire to steal quietly to Your side, and just kneel there beside you, I am reluctant to intrude upon such a sacred moment! It is my sense of unworthiness that suggests my next action should be to tip-toe away into the silence of the night. I am stopped in my tracks when I hear my name on Your lips! You are praying for me! My heart feels the magnetic pull of Your love unleashed, Jesus! The next thing I know, I am kneeling at Your side!  I try to pray and the only words that escape my lips, in a mixture of excited disbelief and gratitude, are, ” You remembered me. Today I am with You here in Paradise!”

“Be not afraid, Lo I am with you always,” I hear You say.” You will yet come to realize that wherever we are together, that is Paradise! In life, in death, in life beyond death, we are together, and that is Paradise! Arise, now and let us go forward and invite everyone we meet to join us in a living Paradise”. Amen

I Come To The Garden Alone  ( Please click on the link below

Editorial Notes

1. The Scripture references are from NIV translation

2. Alfred Lord Tennyson. The Higher Pantheism.

      https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45323/the-higher-pantheism

3. William Wordsworth. My Heart Leaps Up.https://poets.org/poet/william-wordsworth

But what about their more recent incidents of God’s omnipresence?  Where is that irrefutable evidence in answer to their skeptics, who inflicted torment on them with their unrelenting demand to know: Where is your God? No such experiences come immediately to this man’s mind. Those he can recall are now conveyors of painful nostalgia: ” I remembered You, O God, and I groaned, I mused, and my spirit grew faint.”  (v 3-6)

Now memories, as abiding as they may promise to be cannot, by themselves, be depended upon to be a cure for the loss of faith’s vitality. As troubling as this thought may be, it is true that memory may become like footprints in the sea.
Frail memory can never take the place of a living Faith!

O Christ, You stand in our world in Resurrected Glory.  Behind You there stands Your tomb now emptied of the contents placed within it on Friday; To Your right hand, stark against the skyline, there are three crosses atop of Golgotha! We implore You now, Living Lord, to teach us again the lessons You desire us to bring into the thirsty, broken world that is our home.

Raised from the dead by the Hand of God,

You desire each one of us to sit at Your wounded feet and learn anew from You, the Wisdom that sets all people free. Free us from the chains of prejudice, greed, hatred, and ignorance. And as God broke the chains of death that held You captive, so may God on our last day liberate us from the grip of death

Behind You, there is Your tomb empty now 

may every burden be lifted from my weary soul; every consuming worry about the future;  every unkind thought that cripples each offer of present happiness, may all these find a place in Your empty tomb, to be sealed away from me forever?

You see people in our midst still carrying their crosses.

we see those people too! They still stand as virulent  symbols of “man’s inhumanity to man.” Wherever little children are separated from their parents because of war, or by famine or by the corrupted will of man, there stands a cross. When men and women are persecuted because of the color of their skin, there stands a cross. Wherever anyone is treated as being of lesser value, or as being less deserving than we ourselves, there stands a cross.

Help me, Lord Jesus, never to treat another human being unkindly.

  On the day when  I stand before You, with all those  whom I’ve encountered on my life’s journey,  may I not feel shame when You say to someone I considered undeserving, “Verily, verily I say unto You today you are with Me in Paradise.”Rather, as undeserving as I, myself may be, in Your mercy, and for Your Love’s sake, grant me a place in Your Kingdom. Amen

Acts 2:43″ Everyone was filled with awe, at the  many wonders
and miraculous signs that were done by the apostles.
All the believers were together and had everything  in common.”

Here is an eye witness account of His Story which stands to inspire to the end of the ages!
Later historians do not attempt to capture the details of the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead, as St. Luke does. But then, two distinct purposes are seeking expression here.  The reason later historians undertake the writing of the event is to record the natural response to something which they perceive to have had a beginning and an ending. Luke’s concern, on the other hand, is to document the spiritual impact on individuals by heavenly stimuli, which as such, has a  beginning but as yet has no discernible ending!

One can never hope to understand the Easter event by a simple reading of some curt phrase  about ‘ something out of the ordinary that happened.’ By comparison, Luke’s account contains a haunting likelihood that this something may well happen to you, the reader. The Easter event has been carried into every successive generation to be a “Living Presence” in the world. In this unique way, it is unlike any other incident recorded in history. The Easter event has kept breaking out of every tomb which the world assigned to be its final resting place!

Men, who had grown fearful and timid under the threats of a bullying world, squared their shoulders and went out to meet the most horrible deaths in the Roman arenas, defiantly chanting, ” The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth, Jesus, the Lord is victorious!” And that became a defining fact to complete the full record of the Easter event!  Herein is found the reason for the sense of awe prevailing everywhere following the pronouncement,” Now is Christ risen from the dead.”
It is detrimental to the future of this once vibrant religion, which once did stir people to be involved in such daring acts, for us to observe how in this modern-day that same religion creeps at snail pace toward its tomb. But yet, it is not enough for us merely to observe the facts of history that are beginning to pave the way to the ending of the Easter Event, which God intends to be Eternal! The need in this hour is for men and women to permit themselves to become caught up in the power of Jesus Christ risen from the dead, and not to be afraid of being seen as participants in the awesomeness that was everywhere in the early church! The present situation demands a response from every single individual. Are you going to permit the Easter Event to be locked in the tomb of ancient history, as something that had a beginning but long since has also had an ending? Or is it your witness that the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead is something that happened, and is still happening  (to you), and will go on including your children and their children forever?
The Easter event keeps on happening! Easter, when it is faithfully celebrated still brings a sense of awe everywhere! People’s better selves imprisoned within, burst forth to bless the world; defeated ones overcome by painful memories of what they might have been, awake to welcome the springtime of renewed hope, and become messengers of God’s renewal to the thousands held in the death grip of endless winter!
How different the outcome for our churches, now lumbering forward with leaden steps, if Christians choose to engage, with sincere trust, the Christ Who invites them to share in the Power of His Resurrection!  The world appears dull and grey while waiting for something significant enough to claim its allegiance; youth await someone big enough to demand their full commitment. Can we pretend not to know Him still?
T.S. Eliot’s’  “Murder In The Cathedral” captures for me, in a most compelling way, the power of Christ’s Resurrection, which I long to see emulated in the church of today.
The archbishop, Thomas Becket, following an extremely bitter dispute with King Henry 11, some years previously, now returns from exile to assume his position, as the Archbishop of Canterbury Cathedral. The unforgiving king craftily plans the Archbishop’s assassination soon after his return. When the king’s assailants arrive at the doors of the Cathedral to perform their dastardly deed, the priests, fearing the outcome, bar all the doors to protect their Archbishop.

The following lines are quoted from the above-mentioned drama.

 “Priests: Bar the door. Bar the door. The door is barred. We are safe. We are safe. The enemy may rage outside, he will tire in vain. They cannot break in. They dare not break in. They cannot break in. They have not the force. We are safe. We are safe.

Thomas: Unbar the doors! throw open the doors! I will not have the house of prayer, the church of Christ, The sanctuary, turned into a fortress. The Church shall protect her own, in her own way, not As oak and stone; stone and oak decay. Give no stay, but the Church shall endure. The church shall be open, even to our enemies. Open the door!

Priest: My Lord! these are not men, these come not as men come, but Like maddened beasts. They come not like men, who Respect the sanctuary, who kneel to the Body of Christ, But like beasts. You would bar the door Against the lion, the leopard, the wolf or the boar. Why not more  Against beasts with the souls of damned men, against men Who would damn themselves to beasts. My Lord! My Lord!

Thomas: Unbar the door! You think me reckless, desperate and mad. You argue by results, as this world does. To settle if an act is good or bad. You defer to the fact. For every life and every act Consequence of good and evil can be shown. And as in time results of many deeds are blended So good and evil in the end become confounded. It is not in time that my death shall be known; It is out of time that my decision is taken If you call that decision To which my whole being gives entire consent. I give my life To the Law of God above the Law of Man. Unbar the door! unbar the door! We are not here to triumph by fighting, by stratagem, or by resistance. Not to fight with beasts as men. We have fought the beast  And have conquered. We have only to conquer Now, by suffering. This is an easier victory. Now is the triumph of the Cross, now Open the door! I command it. open the door! ( 2)

Now it is your turn to open the door and to pass into a new experience of ” the triumph of the Cross”, and let your church, and by extension, the world attest to a renewed sense of awe everywhere!

A Prayer Which You Are Invited To Make Your Own

The whole creation heralds this Dawn! Church bells pealing their melodious invitation seem to strengthen the bonds between heaven and earth, this morning ;  trees are bursting  in anticipation of finding new leaves to rustle out their enchanting tunes; the mighty St.John River flashes in the sun, having been set free from its icy prison ; the blanket of snow, now through the touch of Your hand, moistens the lips of tiny seeds, encouraging them once again to burst into bloom.

Knowing this dawn to be different from all others, I feel the compulsion to surrender to the empowering mystery of this hour.

Thank You, Gracious Lord for tapping upon the door of my consciousness, and for inviting me to join with all creation in the Easter Celebration of New Life!

Jesus, I remember how on Good Friday, one of Your final acts from Your Cross was to make sure that Your Mother had a place to call home here on earth. You made sure that John, Your beloved friend, would discharge that sacred duty. You said to him, son, behold your mother. I desire now to fulfill my sacred duty anew, and on this present Easter morning, I offer You, my heart and my spirit to be Your Home here on earth! Grant me the Grace to fulfill this, my sacred duty! Amen

Hymn: Jesus Christ Is Risen Today

:https://youtu.be/kgDLuK_4MV4

Editorial Notes

1. The Scripture quotations are from the New International

     Version.

2. T.S. Eliot. Murder in the Cathedral.

        http://www.supersummary.com/murder-in-the-

        cathedral/summary/

3 .Photo: The Arches National Park, Utah, USA.

Dr. Viktor Frankl, world famous neurologist and psychiatrist, as well as a Holocaust survivor, in his book ” The Doctor And The Soul,” issues a thought-provoking edict.” The greatest realities for all of us to find are in what we consider as passed! ” Things and experiences that have been, are secure from the uncertainties of the future, and the incompleteness of the present. They have been, and nothing can change that”! Dr. Frankl draws liberally from the horrors of experiences in several  Nazi death camps to introduce to the world a revolutionary approach to psychotherapy known as logotheraphy. (1`)
Every person, according to Frankl, is in the process of writing a unique story. In the progression of any person’s life, there is nothing that happens in vain. The content of one’s life-story is somewhere preserved and saved, even though it may not be in an immediate recall to consciousness.
Applying this premise to the unfolding of people’s experience with Jesus, the Master of Life, let us consider the lasting effects upon character building which this affords.
There was never a greater need than that which is our own, to remember ‘The Rock from whence we are hewn. (Isaiah 51: 1 – 3).  Recall again now the whispers of God coming from as far away as earliest childhood. Recall the day when you saw, for the first time, the picture of Jesus surrounded by children wanting to climb into His arms. Capture again your feeling of being right there and waiting your turn! The poet William Wordsworth reminds us that during early childhood years,  Heaven is close at hand.
Present day challenges are not meeting their match in some stained glass image of the Christ that used to be! NO experience is ever forgotten nor does it happen in vain! When there throbs throughout our lives, the vitality of a living union with Jesus Christ, then the dark, demonic forces of the age are overcome. Therefore it is of critical importance that each one of us takes care to record their daily involvement with Him in the present tense.

The next captivating focus in Luke’s record involves a group collectively identified as having” various kinds of sickness.” But let it be stressed again, that each person there is daily recording his own story. Reminiscent of Viktor Frankl’s experience, some will recall the pain, deprivation, and desperate loneliness resulting from their imprisonment by their disease. Others in the company will remember the fellowship discovered in suffering. But if it is true that nothing which happens to an individual is ever meaningless, or in vain; what meaning or value can human suffering possibly have? If there are details that we could choose not to appear in the story of our lives, destined to last forever, let it be the memory of pain and brokenness!

But Wait! This story is just beginning! The main feature of the story captures the most significant revelation of all! Luke’s record announces a breathtaking possibility: there is a way to rewrite your personal story from a different perspective. The fact of individual sufferings and their indelible mark on the psyche, and even the body may remain in the permanent record somewhere preserved. To know the Presence of the Living God in your life, however, is synonymous with having the Company of the greatest Story Teller in the world beside you, helping with the rewriting of your life’s mission!  In His Company, scars can tell a life-changing story of Love; and disfiguring thorns, which He can weave into a crown of glory. They can shed new light upon adverse situations that are causing pain to others even yet.

Somewhere there is recorded an account of a mother whose face, hands and arms bore disfiguring scars. One evening, as part of a nightly routine, she is holding her increasingly inquisitive child close, as she finishes a bed-time story, that spoke about loving people. ” Mommy,” the child interjects, ” I love you so very, very much! But Mommy, I don’t love the way your face, and hands and arms look! They almost make me afraid.”
It was time now; the mother realized, to do what she had been thinking of doing for some time. Taking a deep breath, she began: ” When you were a very tiny baby sleeping in your crib upstairs, one evening  the horrifying cry, ” fire, fire,” rang throughout our house.” God helped me through the smoke and flames and, He put you in my arms, and brought us out to safety. But ever since that night I have looked like this. In hushed tones, the little one whispered:

” Mommy, I love you so very, very much, but I love your beautiful face, your hands, and your arms most of all. Mommy let’s say thank -you to God, all over again”.

Write the next chapter of your life’s story with Christ present, then will it count forever as” a thing of beauty and a joy forever.” ( John Keats)

Merciful Father, You created us to bear striking resemblance to Yourself and therefore, made each of us hold endless quantities of love, pity, mercy, and grace, within our being. In Jesus Christ our Lord, You demonstrated how exactly the flood gates to such resources are to be opened, in order to permit its contents to surge into the world with re-creating force.
It takes real courage to strip away the veil that hides our identity as bearing any resemblance to ‘God.’ Give us courage; give us steadfast confidence to let others see God in us, we ask You.
It takes Love to treat people as they might yet become, rather than what they appear to be when we meet them for the first time. Open wide the gates of our Love, and never let us delay to first consider a person’s worthiness, based upon their creed or their color or condition.
It takes human lips, ” moving at the impulse of God’s love,” to give expression to the expanses of God’s mercy and pity! The overflowing reservoir of gifts within a person is never for one’s own satisfaction! It is never enough to be moved to tears at the sight of another’s misfortunes, when within us there dwells the Christ who never remains silent and does nothing in the face of injustice and suffering! Lord, show mercy upon us all; we humbly beseech You!
Open our eyes to see You, Our hearts to love You, and our minds to comprehend You; that by seeing you, our faith may grow, our hearts may bring Your victory to the world; our minds may firmly establish You above the darkness of doubt and fears, among the people of this world. We pray in the Name of Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.

HYMN: When I Survey The Wondrous Cross( click on the link)

1. The Scripture references in this meditation are taken from the NIV ( New International Version) of Scripture.

2.”The Doctor And The Soul” by Viktor Frankl .https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Doctor_and_the_Soul

3. PHOTO: from General Stock Images For Lent

  Mark 1: 21-22; 27 – 28 “They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching -and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him. News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.”

I am not at all surprised that word about Jesus spread quickly following this incident under our consideration here.
The performance of miracles is, beyond dispute, a recognizable drawing card for multitudes who embraced the infant Christian faith. Tragically we have over time, and more critically at present, permitted the erosion of Christian faith. Multitudes have become content  with owning ” a wooden Christ upon a wooden cross.” Whenever people today take Jesus Christ with real seriousness, miracles happen as they did 2000 years ago. “The person who does not believe in such miracles, cannot pray. We fail to take the promises of God seriously.” (1)
The miracle that occurs in this incident must not be fixated upon a cursory observation of the reparation of a personal ailment, as essential and as possible as that healing remains for anyone even today. This incident, taken in its entirety, addresses more than that. It reveals how, in Jesus Christ, body, mind, and spirit are integrated. On the occasion of being asked, “Of all the commandments which is the most important?” Jesus’ response is: “Love the Lord thy God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” Jesus’ answer, thus involves the whole self in response.
The occasion of this incident is the hour of Sabbath worship in the city of Capernaum.  In Worship, the desire is to produce integration within the individual worshipper. The environmental mantra in the spoken word, in singing and contemplation, instills a sense of God’s Presence which evokes the essence of the first and greatest commandment. This required surrender to Presence allows God to access every phase of a person’s self, thereby initiating a complete integration.

Approaching worship with that expectation would change completely our ‘ church going’ experience! For without the integrated self we remain the divided, ineffective, indecisive beings, and something less than God’s prescription for His Kingdom builders.
There was a compelling milieu in the Capernaum Synagogue on that Sabbath Day, bringing many of the worshippers present, to the very doorstep of admission into ‘the higher self.’ The people present had no difficulty identifying what was different about the moment. It was the authority in the way Jesus presented both Himself and subsequently the message He delivered! The secret they quickly and rightly observed came from a wholly integrated self. They witnessed in Jesus the example par excellence of the fulfillment of the greatest Commandment: “Love the Lord thy God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
The daunting expectation inside the synagogue became almost palpable! The longing for personal integration was showing itself everywhere. To be like Him, knit together; to have a  single focus; to be ONE instead of owning the name Legion, was captivating beyond words! There was little doubt that Heaven had ‘ come down their souls to greet.”

Then that sacred moment is intercepted by the disturbing evidence of human disintegration. The stark evidence of human brokenness could wait no longer to present itself.
“Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are-the Holy One of God!” ( Mark 1: 23 – 24)

Notice the symptoms of this poor fellows’ disintegration. In the first instance, something inside of him recommends to him the fellowship of believers. And as wanting as his understanding of why this is, Hope remains. Tucked away in his mind there are memories of religious affiliations and perceptions as incomplete as they are. He vocalized theological concepts wich some of the more pious attendees did not embrace: ” I know who you are – the Holy One Of God.”  ( Mark 1:24)

  While there are many positive attributes present here, they are but individual building blocks, waiting to formed into a temple of the Living God. There are words here longing to find expression with authority. It remains true to this present moment that now is the right time, this, the right place, and the right Person is present to perform the miracle of integration, and He waits to authenticate one more builder of the Father’s Kingdom!