Tag Archives: Questions

Good Friday Meditation

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Silhouettes in the Light
by Doug Langille

Lord, your love has more than filled my heart,
It has also opened my eyes.
Lending a fresh perspective
As night is broken once morning arrives.

Yet, as I step into Your perfect light,
Darkness can still be found;
In a shape all too familiar,
My silhouette upon the ground.

Why must it constantly stalk me?
Why will it not go away?
Why, when I’m standing in Your light,
Does this patch of darkness stay?

Haunted by the form it takes,
Could this be the sin of man?
That e all must bear while on this earth,
A reminder of how we began?

I believed as I embraced You, Lord,
All sin would fade once in your light.
But now realize and have come to accept
I shall never completely escape the night.

I was foolish, please forgive me Lord,
For I was looking only at me.
Obsessed by the darkness that lay at my feet,
So blind I could not see.

And just as shadows grow at sunset
So too, does the darkness we must walk through.
A reminder of the sin, we live within,
While our hearts reach up to you.

 

 

Used by permision – All Rights Reserved.

When in Doubt…

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If you follow Jesus long enough you will experience a crisis of faith. Most Christians come up against the darkness, pain and difficulty of the crisis and they draw back, they retreat. They will stay in the safety and security of what they know, what they understand, what they can plausibly deny and willingly accept. Some of us, though, will walk into the darkness. We will enter the pain and loneliness and fear of our uncertainties, our doubt. We cannot go back.

After a lengthy, bitterly contested teaching by Jesus - ‘eat my flesh / drink my blood’ - crowds of his followers walk away. He turns to his disciples. “Are you also going to leave?” Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.”

When she accepted the Nobel Peace Prize, Mother Teresa spoke passionately about living a life of service and then suggested that the upcoming Christmas holiday should remind the world “that radiating joy is real” because Christ is everywhere — “Christ in our hearts, Christ in the poor we meet, Christ in the smile we give and in the smile that we receive.” (Time Magazine) In private, though, she expressed profound and chronic pain at the continuing absence of Christ’s felt presence in her life. Her faith crisis was not one of doubt but of a profound loneliness of at the depth of her spirit.

Lord, to whom would we go? Once you belong to Christ you will always belong to Christ. And sometimes, in faith and in life, you put one foot in front of the other and keep walking – like Mother Teresa. And sometimes, in faith and in life, you hold the questions in one hand, and with the other hold the things you do know, like Simon Peter.I know God loves me. I know his plans for me are bigger than this. I know that I can’t just walk away. I know that Christ is the Holy One of God. Where else am I going to go?

“If what you have hasn’t come with some kind of struggle, then what you have isn’t faith.” (James Matheson)

Many Roads? Same Destination?

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This Sunday in the ‘Scribbles on a Flip Chart Series’ we’re looking at Christianity vs. Other Religions. Are there many roads to the same destination? Do all religions say the same thing?

This isn’t as simple as if first appears. There are some really big questions associated with this and they take us into discussions about the human experience and the divine nature, about how we read the bible and what we believe about life after death. On Sunday I’m going to try and narrow that down to a few essentials:

  • What are the claims of Jesus regarding this, and what do those claims actually say?
  • How does the Holy Spirit operate in the world – and does that indicate God is at work in other religions?
  • How has this culture been shaped by our culture, in both opposition to and agreement with the bible?

Christianity is often said to be intolerant, narrow-minded, exclusionary and aggressively militant towards other religions – particularly Islam. Much of that criticism is well deserved. But how should we respond to all those criticisms out there? How can we best  respond to misrepresentations of Christ’s teachings?

I have the feeling this might be a Sunday in which our discussion is all over the map! But shall we not therefore, dearest brothers and sisters, let thine good times rolleth?

Can a brother get an Amen up in this joint?

Why I Quit Preaching…

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In his article, “A Theology of Interactive Preaching” Paul Warby analyzed the way in which Jesus taught in the gospels and the Apostles taught in the book of Acts. He found the following:

  • 33 have dialogue
  • 28 are unclear as to interaction (these are generally sweeping statements, e.g. “Jesus came to Galilee preaching the gospel of God” Mark 1:14)
  • 14 are initiated by persons other than the main speakers, e.g. an opening question
  • 11 are action events (a miracle, healing or some other physical experience)
  • 5 are non-interactive monologues

It’s clear that the majority of times in which Jesus and the disciples taught involved asking questions and engaging in discussions. Partly this is because of the Rabbinic tradition and Jewish culture, but the numbers above also include engagements with non-believers, both by the Messiah and the Apostles. Clearly, the way in which both Jesus and the Apostles taught was very different from the speech-making we do today.

We don’t do sermons here. At Third Space you’ll find plenty of discussion, questions and interaction around a bible passage. I will usually begin with what I’ve encountered in studying the passage that week but the conversation always takes it much, much further than I do. I have consistently found that there is far more wisdom in the group than there is in my study – no matter how much effort I put into it.

We have to be careful to avoid the trap of thinking that the book of Acts represents one perfect, shining moment in church history and we have to return to that moment. Instead, I think we need to recognize how remarkably similar our cultural contexts are and see how they responded to some of our challenges. We might also want to recognize that this Jesus fellow – you know, the Christ, the Messiah, the Second Person of the Trinity – may have had some wisdom of his own.

For most evangelical churches the worship band and the sermon are the two big deals – everything else that happens on Sunday morning is incidental. We’re on a different road. Is it a better road? Not for everyone, and we’re okay with that. And let’s face it, life in this ‘in-between’ place is precarious and uncertain. But it makes sense to us, and we keep meeting the Spirit in it. That’s good enough for me.

(more from Nathan Colquhoun of The Story in Sarnia)

Christ at the Centre

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ImageI was asked today about our values. “What’s the thing you’re willing to die for…” was the question.

The answer to that question is “Love Feast”. Without it, I think, we will slowly but surely die on the vine. I think it’s that important. Without it we could be a ‘learning community’, a party, a group of nice folks meeting every week – we could become almost anything. But the Love Feast recognizes Christ in the midst of our community. And that recognition comes in a context of generosity, sharing food, time and one’s self – as well as Christ. The bread is on a plate, the juice in a coffee cup, we serve one another.

It’s Christ at the center of our community. That’s the thing that, if stripped away, is the death of our community, the end of our life as a ‘church’. What does that look like? I don’t always know. Sometimes it looks like sharing a meal together. Sometimes it looks like a cup of coffee growing cold while you listen to someone pour out their heart. Sometimes it looks like giving a cell phone to someone who has lost theirs Sometimes it looks the heaviness that descends on group of men praying. Sometimes it looks like taking someone to lunch because you know they’re strapped for cash. And the longer I’m a part of this crazy-wonderful, beautiful community the less I think it looks like the perfect sermon. Or a worship band and light show. Or having exactly the right theology. Or just about anything else I might have said, ten years ago.

Love the Lord your God, with everything you’ve got. Love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus said that this is the greatest commandment, and that the entire law and all the prophets hang on this one commandment. What does that look like in real life? Maybe having Christ and his transforming love at the center of a community looks something like this.

Journal Notes: Questions

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Today’s Journal Question: In what area of your life do you really, really need an answer from God?”

One night, driving home after yet another 12 hour day at work, I realized the depth of my exhaustion. I was completely spent – mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. In the dark night, cruising down the highway, I began to cry and couldn’t stop. In desperation I remember bellowing, “God, where are you?”

Some of our questions are academic, some are trivial, some we have carried for years. Some roar and wail from the heart of brokenness and suffering and pain. I love how the journal repeats the word ‘really’. It forces us to look below the surface, below the fake smiles and happy handshake we give the world each day. What really, really matters? Truth is, sometimes we’re afraid to go there.

Years ago I had a conversation with a lovely young woman whose mother had recently died. She was struggling with her anger – she felt that it was very, very wrong to be angry with God. I suggested that God already knew how she felt. It was she who needed to be honest. God is, I said, big enough to handle our anger.

Wherever our deepest questions begin – sorrow, disappointment, anger, regret – these are questions that must be asked. God isn’t hiding from us because of our questions. But sometimes we’re hiding from him.

Ask.