Groaning

Where I live, Wednesday morning was dreary.  The sky was dark, indicative of the thunderstorm that was rolling through.  Even in front of a window, I needed artificial light for the Zoom call I had with my spiritual director.

As we talked about finding the fingerprints of God in my unique life situation these days, the word “weird” came up…a lot.  There is no doubt that for all of us, these “unprecedented times” are weird; in some weeks, there are varying kinds of ‘weird’ by the day!

My spiritual director asked me about my response to the weirdness in terms of prayer.  I said that, along with my usual Benedictine prayer offices, there are a lot of brief, incomplete sentences being offered to God in prayer these days.

She asked if these brief, incomplete sentences could be termed ‘groans’. 

I nodded in agreement.

We both welled up a little, but in a good way.

This was a realization for me that even these brief utterances of prayer which, on some days, are all we can muster with the Lord, are important parts of our relationship with God.

If you have days where your prayers seem like little more than groans, don’t despair.  God is listening.

And be encouraged by the words of the apostle Paul:  “…the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words” (Romans 8.26, NLT).

Post-Script:  After I wrote this, I read this in N.T. Wright’s little book, God and the Pandemic (Zondervan Reflective, 2020, p. 42):  “…when the world is going through great convulsions, the followers of Jesus are called to be people of prayer at the place where the world is in pain.  Paul [the apostle, in reference to the latter part of Romans 8] puts it like this, in a three-stage movement:  first, the groaning of the world; second, the groaning of the Church; third, the groaning of the Spirit – within the Church within the world.”

Groan on, church.  Groan on.

Character Over Caricature

As we continue our series called “Epidemic in the Church: Spiritual Immaturity”, based on Terry Wardle’s book, Outrageous Love, Transforming Power, we look at how embodying good Christian character helps us become spiritually mature. The message is based on 2 Peter 1.3-11. You can watch just the message below, or the whole worship gathering below that.

Created to pray

Early in the pandemic, my friend, Adelle Lauchlan, shared with me some thoughts that she had shared with the congregation of which she is a part.  From time to time, with her permission, I have shared one with you, and this one in particular spoke to me today.  Enjoy! – Jeff+

I think a lot about prayer, maybe because I pray a lot. Praying is one of the perks and privileges of my work. 

But praying isn’t something I grew up doing. 

Although I grew up going to church, prayer wasn’t part of my response. Prayer was something someone else did for me, or more accurately, “over me”. I fell away from church for over a decade after high school, and when I found my way back to church, I asked my pastor for a book on how to pray. He handed me a book titled Teaching Conversational Prayer. 

I never read it. 

It sat beside my bed for months. But it was the most transformative book never to be read. The title taught me what I needed to grasp. Prayer is a conversation. Prayer is a response to God’s love. 

That book title was a revelation for me. Once I let faith rule in my heart, once I let Christ live in my heart, prayer became natural. Prayer didn’t need to be fancy, it didn’t need to be formatted, it just needed to be me talking to my God, my Creator, the One who loves me, the One who sent his only Son to save me; it just needed to be done. 

I didn’t need to know how to pray, I just needed to pray.

My prayers are a loving response to the One who loves us best, to the One who is love. He created us to pray. And when I forget this or my prayer life turns stale, I need only look to Scripture for encouragement, for a reminder of God’s love.

The Apostle Paul prayed a lot. I love his prayer for the Ephesians; here is just a small bit of it.  This is my prayer for you: “I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit – not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength – that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in” (Eph 3:16-17, The Message). 

Thanks, Adelle!

Life Together

In this series entitled, “Epidemic in the Church”, we’re learning about the problem of spiritual immaturity. If we live as Jesus did as shown in the gospels, we will develop spiritual maturity. So far, we have looked at the characteristics of identity and intimacy; this week’s message focuses on the characteristic of community, and how Jesus valued it and espoused it. And so can we! The message is based on Matthew 18.15-20. You can watch the whole worship gathering below, or just the message right below that.

Getting naked

Earlier this week, a Canadian Member of Parliament “showed up” (if you’ll pardon the expression) in the virtual House of Commons – an online meeting of our nation’s legislators – without clothing.

He claims it was accidental, and I’m not going to judge that one way or the other.  You can read the news articles for yourself.

But it got me thinking about how God sees us.

We in western culture tend to like to dress to impress, and sometimes dress for the role we play, even if that means, in this age of online meetings, wearing something formal on top while wearing track pants (or less) on the bottom, which will not be seen (apparently, unless you’re that Member of Parliament!).

There was a time when church-goers would wear their “Sunday best”.  Whether that was because of societal pressure, common tradition, or because they believed that giving God their best in worship included their dress code, one cannot be certain.

Nowadays, the garb worn to church tends to be a combination of what’s comfortable and what’s acceptable.  If you’re limiting your worship attendance to online, you might be going to church in your pajamas, or in The Altogether!  And that’s okay.  Because while people may judge (though they shouldn’t), God does not – or so we surmise.

I think if there is one reason why we should not be too concerned with what people wear to worship (or wear, generally), it’s that God knows what we look like naked.  He sees all of us:  our beauty, our flaws, our inside and our outside.  And he is still head-over-heels in love with us.

When it comes to “dress to impress”, we don’t need to do that with our Creator.  He knows exactly what we look like without our suit from Rosen, our blouse from Laura, or our t-shirt from Walmart.  And he loves us.

So if you’re going to clothe yourself to impress God or anybody else, try this:  “Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God” (1 Peter 3.3-4, NLT).

Let’s Get Intimate!

In Terry Wardle’s book, Outrageous Love, Transforming Power, he notes 8 characteristics of Jesus’ life that, if we emulate them, we will find ourselves getting out of the epidemic of spiritual immaturity that characterizes the church in western culture today. In today’s instalment, we look at the characteristic of intimacy, how spiritual maturity comes from making God your deepest desire. Based on John 17.20-26, you can watch the whole worship gathering below, or just the message below that.

Spiritual Heartburn

The traditional Gospel story for the Sunday after Easter is the walk to Emmaus, told in the middle verses of Luke 24.  In that story, a couple of people who had placed their hope in Jesus for the rescue of Jerusalem were walking home from that city, not having heard of the resurrection of Jesus.

Jesus appears, walking beside them, though they don’t recognize him.  They’re talking about the events of the weekend, and Jesus acts as though he doesn’t know what they’re talking about.  But as time goes on, he explains how the Bible predicted that the Messiah would rise from the dead.

He makes like he’s going beyond Emmaus, but his fellow travellers, upon reaching home, invite him to stay.  He sits at table with them, and all at once, the guest becomes the Host, because he breaks the bread – and in that moment, they recognized Jesus!  And he disappeared from their sight.

With that, they abandoned their supper and high-tailed it back to Jerusalem to find out about the resurrection of Jesus.  And one remarked to the other:

“… ‘Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?’” (Luke 24.32, NLT).

Have you ever experienced that kind of heartburn?  Have you felt that passion for God and his Word as you read the Scriptures, or hear them explained?

The Lord invites that passion to erupt within you.  It’s part of how we become mature followers of Christ.

(By the way, I’m preaching a series right now called “Epidemic in the Church”, that deals with the characteristics of Jesus that we can emulate in order to become spiritually mature.  You’re welcome to join us live, in person or online, any Sunday morning at 10, or catch up on past messages via our YouTube channel.)

Here’s hoping you’ll get that heartburn that no antacid can quell!

EPIDEMIC IN THE CHURCH: 1. Know Whose You Are

In Terry Wardle’s book, Outrageous Love, Transforming Power, he talks about the crisis that exists in the church due to spiritual immaturity. (Get the book. It’s well worth the read, and is available here.) In this series, we’re going to look at the eight characteristics of Jesus’ life that make for spiritual maturity. On this Easter Day, we begin the series with a look at identity, knowing whose you are. It’s based on the story of the Transfiguration of Jesus in Mark 9.2-10. You can watch the whole worship gathering, including the Lord’s Supper, below, or just the message below that.

Seven Last Words for Good Friday

In this Good Friday worship gathering, our intern, Christine, offered meditations on the seven last words of Jesus from the cross. You can watch the whole worship gathering below, or just the seven meditations, drawn together, below that.

April Showers: Thinking About Lament

“April showers bring May flowers.”  That’s not in the Bible, but it could be, except that it doesn’t apply to folks in the southern hemisphere.  (So if you’re reading this from the southern hemisphere, add six months and read it later!)

It’s an idiom that we northerners use to try to add a little hope to what can often be a dreary month.  We understand that we need the rain in order to bring about the verdancy that comes with late spring, just as we need the sunshine.  I suppose some might appreciate a compromise where it rained only at night (when it doesn’t much matter) and the sun shone through the day, but weather systems are not always that cooperative.

If we’re honest, though, we are a spoiled people:  we want what we want when we want it.  And when we don’t get what we want when we want it, we sometimes tend to think that life isn’t fair.

But I don’t remember reading anywhere that life is supposed to be fair.

This is underlined for us when we experience inconvenience, yes, but even more so when we experience tragedy.

Perhaps a loved one dies unexpectedly, or a pink slip arrives, or sickness befalls us.

Some – even some followers of Jesus – would say that we need to cheer up, and “just praise the Lord.”

While it’s good to praise the Lord, and to “give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5.18), we should not prevent ourselves from the practice of lament.

To lament means to feel sad, and sometimes, even mad.  And in the Bible, we see examples of both – and they are directed at God.

It’s common for Christians to think there’s something wrong with expressing anything but joy to the Lord, but Scripture demonstrates that it’s not wrong to lament before God, too.

There are some very raw laments; Psalm 137 comes to mind.  And there are others that simply express before God exactly what the writer (usually on behalf of God’s people) is feeling.  Psalm 130 is a gentle one.  Psalm 6 is more blatant.

Take some time to look up “Psalms of lament” and ponder what the Bible tells you in terms of the freedom you have to share your “rainy days” with the Lord.  Listen for how God responds as you offer these passages to him.  

And give thanks that God can handle anything you say.

“You know what I long for, Lord;
    you hear my every sigh.
 My heart beats wildly, my strength fails,
    and I am going blind” (Psalm 38.9-10, NLT)