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Sacred Scars

Posted by revarant on October 28, 2014
Posted in: relationship. 1 Comment

I am covered with scars. For years I self-consciously found it necessary to hide them, especially the larger ones. That all changed some years ago when I received a call concerning young teenager who had an accident which required painful treatment. His parents and physicians had requested that I visit him before his procedure. In High School I had suffered a similar injury and undergone much the same treatment. As soon as I introduced myself, he reached up his hand and asked…”Can I touch them?” I knelt by his bed and guided his hand toward the many scars that remain as proof of my ordeal. After touching them, he said…”I needed to see that I can get better.”

I’ve also noticed that my youngest son periodically needs to see and touch my scars.  He has a particularly large one on his knee about which he is always concerned. When he’s particularly worried that his is not healing right, he’ll reach up and touch mine asking, “How long ago did you say this was?”  Somehow seeing how a scar heals reassures him.

A scar is the visible evidence that something has happened. But it is not just evidence of a wound; it is also evidence of a wound that has healed. In the Gospel of John (20:20), after his death and burial, Jesus showed his scars to the disciples so that they would recognize him. It was only when they saw the scars on his hands and feet that they knew he was back.

Life has a way of leaving its mark upon us. In the same way that Jesus used his scars as proof that he was alive and well…God often uses someone else who has been wounded to bring love, understanding, and healing to others. No one goes through life unscathed, yet we still try to hide our scars. God doesn’t use the perfection of actions to change the world. It’s the scars that remain from our healed faults and failures that God uses to give hope to the hopeless. We only find true spiritual wholeness when we embrace our brokenness for others. We would do well to remember that “wholeness comes more from pain and failure than joy and success (Unknown).”

Staying Warm

Posted by revarant on September 28, 2014
Posted in: relationship. Leave a comment

Toddlers helping and sharing in the playroomOur middle son has always had a kind heart and a gentle spirit. When he was in kindergarten he was always giving away his school supplies. He would come home and explain how someone else needed his pencil or crayons more than he did. I quit buying the fancy supplies, and often would send him with old crayons. And still he continued to share what he had. Each time I tried to convince him that he could share without necessarily giving everything away, he would always explain how much they enjoyed his supplies.

I was nearing the end of my patience when he came home one day wearing someone else’s jacket. One warm morning he had forgotten his jacket as he left for school. As the day progressed it became cooler. While asking him about the jacket, he explained that he was cold and couldn’t go outside to play at recess. He friends wanted to play with him so they offered to share their jackets. He then looked up and said something that I’ll never forget…”You don’t have to be cold when you share daddy.”

It is so easy to become isolated while we are working so hard to meet the needs of our families and ourselves. Often times it appears as if the only purpose in living is to make a living. As we work toward making a living, we can find ourselves striving for more and more as we begin to share less and less or ourselves with our community, with our friends and eventually even our own families and God.

Proverbs 29:23 says: “A man’s pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor.” This passage suggests that real fulfillment and accomplishment in life is found in the sharing of ourselves with and for others. It’s a reminder that the only sure way to freeze to death is to be wrapped up in yourself.

Just like me!

Posted by revarant on August 27, 2014
Posted in: relationship. Leave a comment

FB_Just For MenA few years ago my then seven-year-old son and I were walking down the tooth paste and shampoo isle of the grocery store. He always loved to shop and comment about all the products. At some point he noticed the boxes containing men’s hair color with each box showing a man with a different shade of hair. He reached out and grabbed the box for blondes, and said “You need this Daddy…so that you can have the same color hair as me.” Laughing, I explained that my hair was once blonde like his, and that his was getting darker and one day would be brown like mine. He put the box back with somewhat of a disappointed look and said…”Yea, but when mines brown yours will be white!”

It’s not uncommon to desire being like someone else, or even to have what others have. Occasionally, we may even feel as if those changes would bring a better quality to our lives, maybe more happiness and contentment. Paul writes, “And don’t be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else. Where you are right now is God’s place for you. Live and obey and love and believe right there. God, not your marital status, defines your life (1 Corinthians 7:17).” Paul’s words remind us that that always obsessively looking for something more or something better can devalue this moment.

It is so easy to become distracted by those things that we don’t have, those places we can’t be and those things that we can’t do. Living life so distracted causes us to take for granted and miss the blessings and gifts of the moment. Yesterday can only be remembered, tomorrow can only be planned…and life can only be lived today with what we have. Its only when we focus on living today as best we can, being as faithful as we can, that we become aware of the real blessings that God has placed in our lives. It does not matter what change you make in your life, you’ll never find happiness where you’re headed unless you take the ingredients along with you.

Show Me the Way

Posted by revarant on July 21, 2014
Posted in: Faith in Action, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

I like to think I can find my way anywhere without a map, but my family will testify that it simply is not true. Some years ago, a member of my congregation had surgery out of state in order for them to recover in home of their daughter. They lived in a huge subdivision in a large metropolitan area. I had their address and the general area of their subdivision in my mind, and was convinced that I could simply drive directly to their home an visit this member as they recuperated out of town. I did manage to find the entrance to their subdivision, but I continued to get lost and turned around inside the subdivision no matter how hard I tried.

After an hour, I accidently found myself at the entrance once again. Breaking all the ‘man rules’ I called for help. When I explained to the daughter where I was, she said “What there and let me come to you. You‘ll never find us otherwise.” It wasn‘t long before she pulled up next to my vehicle, and simply said “follow me.” Ten minutes later I was sitting by the bed praying with her mother. When it was time to go, I was able to find my way out without any help. Two weeks later I was even able to drive directly to their home for another visit without any help. But I had to follow someone first.

Paul wrote, “Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view (1 Corinthians 9:19-22)” Paul is reminding us that ministry takes place in the world. If we are truly going to ‘Make Christ known’ around us…then we have to take Christ to them. Too often we want to wait for someone to ask for help, or come to us (often looking like us) before we help. Paul‘s words remind us that our faith calls for us to be active not passive participants.

Sometimes we simply need to stop what we‘re doing and go meet someone where they are so that they can follow us to where they need (and want) to be. Life can be a lonely road, especially if you feel like you have to walk it by your self. If we live so that others can follow the right path with us, no one will need to be alone.

Part of History

Posted by revarant on June 21, 2014
Posted in: Perseverance, Prayer. 1 Comment

old-pulpit

The first Sunday at any new church always makes me a little nervous. Everyone shows up to see if the “new guy” can preach. In their minds … they are comparing you to all the other messengers that have been sent into their lives. Even the furnishing and building designs can add to or relieve the anxiety of a first Sunday.

I remember stepping behind a small antique pulpit that dated to around the 1850’s. It was the most ornate furnishing in this historic one room church building, where everything had been crafted by hand more than a century earlier. I felt small as I took my place behind the pulpit. At that moment I felt my fingers fall into the grooves created by a century and a half of ministers who had placed their hands in the same spot. All of a sudden I was at peace, being reminded that I was sur-rounded by a great company of faith.

I still find comfort from that moment because it helps me remember that I am part of something larger than myself. Each time anyone is baptized or is confirmed they become part of the same heritage as they profess their faith for the first time. As we celebrate this rite of passage in their lives, we should be mindful that this is only the beginning of the journey of faith … not the end. Too often we forget that being a Christian requires action beyond our quest to know Christ. We must also work to make Christ known.

In Paul’s parting comments to the church at Philippi, he said “Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:9).” You and I are Christians because many others taught us by word and deed what it means to love and be loved by Christ. Now it is our task to do the same for everyone around us. No matter how much the world changes the work of the Church and Christian remains the same … to know Christ and make Christ known. The goal of the church has not changed since its inception, only the faces behind the plow.

 

Good at what we don’t do

Posted by revarant on May 27, 2014
Posted in: Faith in Action. Leave a comment

Baseball

Some of my fondest childhood memories are of playing little league baseball. I can still remember my first uniform. We didn’t have to play any games, I was happy enough with that orange hat and shirt. I remember my first catch during a game, and even my first hit. My mom and dad (especially my mom) would practice with me for hours every day.

Believe it or not, baseball can be a painful experience. I remember one particularly difficult week when I was eight years old. It seemed as if every time I came to bat, the pitcher would throw the ball AT ME, not to me, but AT ME! By the end of the week, I had a bloodied nose, two black eyes and a busted lip. I had been hit in the head, in the legs, in the arms, and even in the seat of my pants. I started getting anxious each time it became my turn to bat. Most kids begged the coach to let them hit at practice, but I begged the coach to let someone else hit. I had all kinds of excuses for letting someone else take my turn at batting practice. I even went for two weeks without coming to bat. As a matter of fact, I was so good at finding someone else to hit for me, that I had forgotten how to hit when it finally became my turn on game day.

Many of us deal with this problem in our spiritual lives. Jesus gave each and every Christian a job and a place on His team when He said “Go make disciples of all nations…and teach them to obey everything that I have commanded you (Matthew 28:16-20).” Churches have developed complicated boards and commissions to accomplish this task, and individual Christians have given of their time and money in order to obey Christ. Unfortunately, as time has passed some would rather give money than time. We seem to have entered a time in our lives when we would trust our obligations (spiritual and life) to “paid Christians.” We may even have had the good intentions of doing God’s work when we began waiting on others to fulfill our duties. But if we’re not careful we may find that we have become so good at doing things this way…that we may become good for nothing.

 

Fear not!

Posted by revarant on April 1, 2014
Posted in: Perseverance. 1 Comment

playing-baseballI loved baseball when I was a boy. I played every year. When I was ten years old, I had what was probably my best season. I finished the regular season with no errors and had a high batting average. It was the first year that I made the All Star team. During the All Star season accidents began to happen to me. Pitchers kept hitting me, balls would take unusual bounces and leave me bruised and bloody.

Slowly a fear began to creep into me. I began to find excuses to miss practices and games. When I did play, I found myself overwhelmed with anxiety and fear about what may happen. All they joy was gone. One day my mother pulled me aside and simply said, “Everyone is afraid sometimes. But you can’t focus on your fear… or you’ll never enjoy baseball again. Focus on what you enjoy, not what you fear.”

Fears surround us. Often they are the personal fears that stem from the problems that we each face, the challenges, the failures that we worry about. For some of us, they are financial fears that we carry around. We worry about our job performance because that affects our financial future, and many of us have struggled with losing jobs and being in that in-between land where we don’t have a livelihood. There are health issues that we fear. We fear cancer. We fear heart attacks and strokes and the list can go on. All of these are very real dangers.

In Isaiah 43:1, we read “But now, this is what the LORD says… ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.’” This passage reminds us that we belong to God, and that God will see us through any trial. When we focus on our fears, we tend to forget our blessings. Eventually the fear and worry began to have a negative impact on how we enjoy those very blessings. There are some things in life that may be out of our control, but there are also things that we can do. It is only when we focus more on the blessing from God that life is truly a joy. You will never find happiness where you are going unless you take the ingredients along with you.

Investments

Posted by revarant on February 21, 2014
Posted in: Faith in Action, Love, Perseverance, presence, teaching by example. Leave a comment

 

Odd-Investment-Options-Worth-a-ShotEarly in our ministry things were tight for our family. My wife and I had both been working hard and rarely seeing one another. So one night we sent our children to their grandparents, and made reservations to celebrate our anniversary at a nice restaurant. It was something that we both looked forward to doing. Just before we left, a teenager from church walked up our driveway with tears in his eyes. His grandfather had died, and he simply wanted to be in our company. My wife and I spent the next several hours of our anniversary gladly playing monopoly with a grieving teenager.

 

It was a night of compassion and ministry. Occasionally I would remember it, and wonder how that young man’s life had turned out and if we had been of any influence. Last week, I received an email from that same young man after he had tracked us down. It seems that he had experienced some difficulties in life. He said that at one point when he was near the bottom, he remembered the last time he felt so low. It was the night when he wound up playing monopoly with a preacher and his wife who were all dressed up. He went on to describe an awaking of grace in his life as he remembered that he was loved. Eventually he found his way back to church. His note was not necessarily to reminisce, but to invite us to his ordination. He wanted to spend the rest of his life in ministry making others feel as loved as he felt that night so long ago.

 

Sometimes you never really know how much of a difference you are making in someone’s life. It can be discouraging to invest your time giving and doing and not see any dividends. In Matthew 13, Jesus tells the parable of the Sower. In it he describes a farmer scattering seeds on different types of ground, and how the condition of the soil either helps the seed grow or prevents its. In this parable Jesus reminds us that God’s grace is lavishly scattered, but the conditions of a person’s life and heart can become obstacles to that grace. Our role in life is to remove as many obstacles as we can from the lives around us with our love and service. God does the rest. Every act of service and love, no matter how small, becomes an investment in God’s kingdom…whether we see it or not.

You haven’t tried

Posted by revarant on January 20, 2014
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: , . 3 Comments

basketballOur daughter decided that she wanted to play basketball when she was six years-old. She had a great coach, but no assistant coach. So I filled in where I could. Basketball has never really been my sport. I‘m short, I can‘t jump and could never seem to get by my tendency to tackle the man with the ball . So coaching basketball was a leap for me. I was okay as an assistant. I could help manage the kids and even follow up on the coaches instructions, but I couldn‘t and wouldn‘t even try to coach basketball alone.

One day the head coach approached me after practice. He was going to be out of town during their next game and wanted me to coach in his place. I had all kinds of excuses why I couldn‘t. Finally, I simply said…”I’m just not qualified. I‘ve never done it before.” At that, my six year-old daughter looked up and said…”That‘s only because you‘ve never tried Daddy!”

In the first chapter of the Gospel of Mark, Jesus calls four fishermen to follow him as his disciples (vs. 16-20). I have always found it interesting that none of these men were teachers or religious leaders. They were common, hard working men. They were completely unqualified for the job. It was their inadequacies that helped them lean on Jesus more than themselves. Eventually they became strong, and effective disciples for Jesus…something they had never done before.

Often times we hesitate to jump in because we don‘t feel prepared. There are times that we may even avoid doing the things that God has called us to do in life for no other reason than we feel unqualified. Each of us has been called to follow Christ and get involved. What we need to remember is that God doesn‘t call the qualified, but God qualifies the called. Anything God asks us to do…God will prepare us to do…but we have to try.

Open My Eyes

Posted by revarant on November 13, 2013
Posted in: relationship. Leave a comment

open_your_eyes_by_artofnightsky-d5hv5ztAlthough it has been many years ago, I can still remember as if it were yesterday sitting down at the table to begin what was at the time a monthly ritual of paying our children‘s medical bills. Paying the bills never makes me happy. It‘s trying and depressing because it seems that the more checks I write, the more bills I get. My then two-year- old daughter was in my lap, playing doctor… of all things! I continued writing checks and complaining while she tended my imaginary wounds. Suddenly she stopped playing and asked, “daddy, how da get dis boo-boo on your face?”

Her question brought back long forgotten memories. As a child I had received many “corrections” at the wrong end of a switch for playing in Granny‘s flowers. I learned that lesson so well that on one particular occasion I personally attempted to provide the same correction to a stray dog I found in Granny‘s flowers. Needless to say he did not appreciate the quality of the education I was providing and he bit me. I was carried into the house screaming, “I‘m blind, I‘m blind, I‘m blind, I can‘t see!” I‘ll never forget my father‘s words…”Well open your eyes then.”

As those memories flooded my mind, I looked into my daughter‘s eyes, and smiled. One of god‘s greatest blessings had been in my lap all along. I had not noticed because I was blinded by my own complaints. All of a sudden as I opened my eyes paying those bills did not seem so bad. It is amazing how much easier life‘s burdens are when you open your eyes to God‘s blessings. In the fourth chapter of Philippians, Paul encourages us to think about the blessings from God and not our short comings. When you think about God‘s blessings in your life, God will open your eyes just as he did for the blind man. Life is too short to miss God‘s blessing simply because we fail to see what is right in front of us.

As I turned my attention back toward the mountain of medical bills and looked at my daughter playing doctor. With a huge smile I thought, “two more payments and she‘s all mine!” How many blessings can you see?