Faith Thoughts

Here is a deep saying from Thomas Merton. “The very contradictions in my life are in some ways signs of God's mercy to me.”

Currently, within church circles, much has come to the fore in terms of difference of faith and practice held by those within. This has been given the overarching name of ‘Contradictory Convictions.” In the past and indeed even today in certain denominations, such contradictions have and continue to lead to believers going in separate directions. Yet, there is a move amongst a number of denominations to to live together with these Contradictory Convictions in a positive and affirming way..

Paul was faced with a church in Rome that held different views and he was keen to ensure that no one should be excluded from God’s purposes despite what appears to be contradictory convictions.

He writes in Romans 14:5 “Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. 6Those who observe the day, observe it in honour of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honour of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honour of the Lord and give thanks to God.”

Earlier, he warns against passing judgment on those who hold differing views within the body of Christ: (v4) “Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall.”

However, if I read Merton correctly, he alludes that as individual disciples we can face inner contradiction, and that even in these inconsistencies we still can find the Jesus who “reconciles all things to Himself, making peace through the blood of His cross— whether things on earth or things in heaven!” Colossians 1:20 Well might we pray

Loving God,

you have reconciled us in Christ Jesus

and have given us the ministry of reconciliation.

We pray for all those from whom we are estranged.

Bring healing to strained or broken relationships.

Forgive us for the times we have wronged others,

whether by ignorance, neglect, or intention.

Grant us the courage and the grace to seek their forgiveness

and opportunity to make amends.

Where others have wronged us,

grant us a gracious spirit,

that we might forgive

even as we have been forgiven in Jesus Christ. Amen.

Faith Thoughts

Today, Thomas Merton takes us further on our discipleship journey by saying, “We have what we seek, it is there all the time, and if we give it time, it will make itself known to us.”

There is that trite saying that says, “you always find the thing that you have lost in the last place that you looked for it!“ But here, Merton seems to be saying that which we seek is there in plain sight all the time, if we would allow time for its presence to dawn upon us. On reading Merton’s proposition, my mind instinctively goes to the words of Jesus, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and then all these things will be given to you too.” Matthew 6:33

The Gospel of St Thomas, not found within the Canon of Scripture, has Jesus saying, "I am the light that is over all things. I am all: from me all came forth, and to me all attained. Split a piece of wood; I am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find me there."

Another way of looking to Thomas Merton’s assertion can be seen the hobby of geocaching. Geocaching is searching for “hidden treasures”  placed in the community by other people who like to geocache using a GPS (Global Positioning System) app on a mobile phone. 

Yet, it is often easy to lose track of where the GPS is pointing in relation to the hidden cache. This occurs when you walk too fast or lose a signal. When this happens it is best to stop for a few moments and allow the tracking to catch up. Sometimes it is necessary to back track and start from a point where you were confident the tracking was correct, then slowly to start searching again. 

This is a great discipleship illustration for when we find ourselves off track or not staying close enough to our spiritual GPS (God’s Positional System). We need to stay close to Jesus  just like we do the GPS geocache indicator on a mobile phone when searching for the ‘hidden trasure’. For Christ will show us where to go and, in the process, reveal something our true identity as disciples of Jesus.

Generous God,

in abundance you give us things 

both spiritual and physical.

Help us to hold lightly 

the fading things of this earth

and grasp tightly 

the lasting things of your kingdom,

so that what we are and do and say

may be our gifts to you

through Christ, 

who beckons all to seek the things above,

where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Faith Thoughts

In this next Faith Thought from Thomas Merton we discover words of wisdom for living the life of a disciple.  “Be good, keep your feet dry, your eyes open, your heart at peace and your soul in the joy of Christ.” 

Following such a recipe for life can make a tremendous difference. Richard Stearns, author of The Hole in Our Gospel, was CEO of multiple large companies. He felt God calling him to serve others and left to become the leader of World Vision. As he explained in an interview, he felt that leaving his position and joining World Vision “was an opportunity not just to talk the talk but to walk the walk”

Many talk the talk, but what about walking the walk. We may Talk the Talk, but do We Walk the Walk?

Jesus words regarding these double standards are hard hitting as he quotes Isaiah in Matthew 15:9 “These people make a big show of saying the right thing, but their heart isn’t in it. They act like they’re worshiping me,  but they don’t mean it. They just use me as a cover for teaching whatever suits their fancy.” (The Message)

How can we avoid falling into this trap? Paul in Philippians writes, “Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely, and dwell on the fine, good things in others. Think about all you can praise God for and be glad about.”

God of peace,

cause us to rejoice in you always,

make us gentle to everyone,

keep us from being anxious about anything—

help us to ask you for what we need, with thanksgiving;

and let your peace

guard our hearts and minds

in Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Faith Thoughts

We continue our series on Faith Thoughts by considering the writings of Thomas Merton who was an American Trappist monk, writer, theologian, mystic, poet, social activist and scholar of comparative religion. On May 26, 1949, he was ordained to the Catholic priesthood and given the name "Father Louis”. 

In one of his writings he claimed that, “Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone - we find it with another.” Reading this I am reminded again of the scene in the Musical Oliver, where the young lad looks plaintively from his prison window and sings. “Where is love.”

A woman seeking counsel from Dr. George W. Crane, the psychologist, confided that she hated her husband, and intended to divorce him. “I want to hurt him all I can,” she declared firmly.“Well, in that case,” said Dr. Crane, “I advise you to start showering him with compliments. When he thinks you love him devotedly, then start the divorce action. That is the way to hurt him.” Some months later the wife returned to report that all was going well. She had followed the suggested course. “Good,” said Dr. Crane. “Now’s the time to file for divorce.” “Divorce!” the woman said indignantly. “Never. I love my husband dearly!” 

In such a story we discover the wisdom found in the first letter of John.” And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:16-18

Loving Father, I praise You for Your heart of love that is open towards me, and for the many ways that You shower Your love into my life. Keep me ever mindful of Your never-failing love and ever-abiding presence in my heart. Use me I pray, to stream Your gracious love through my life and out to the weary and thirsty souls that You place in my path. This I ask in Christ's name and for His greater glory, AMEN.

Faith Thoughts

Today we look at a third inspirational set of words of wisdom from George McDonald. “It is our best work that God wants, not the dregs of our exhaustion. I think he must prefer quality to quantity.”

In a similar way Oswald Chambers asks a question  in his book ‘The Utmost for the Highest’ where he says, “Are you seeking great things for yourself, instead of seeking to be a great person? God wants you to be in a much closer relationship with Himself than simply receiving His gifts—He wants you to get to know Him. Even some large thing we want is only incidental; it comes and it goes. But God never gives us anything incidental. There is nothing easier than getting into the right relationship with God, unless it is not God you seek, but only what He can give you.”

However, a story is told of a  ceramics teacher announced that he was dividing the class into two groups.

All those on the left side of the studio he would grade solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality.

His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the “quantity” group: 50 pounds of pots rated an “A”, 40 pounds a “B”, and so on.

Those being graded on “quality”, however, needed to produce only one pot — albeit a perfect one — to get an “A”.

Long came grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity.

It seems that while the “quantity” group was busily churning out piles of work-and learning from their mistakes — the “quality” group had sat theorising about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay.

Paul writing to Colossians 3:17 said Let Christ’s teaching live in your hearts, making you rich in the true wisdom. Teach and help one another along the right road with your psalms and hymns and Christian songs, singing God’s praises with joyful hearts. And whatever you may have to do, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, thanking God the Father through him.

You are the God of abundance and You offer Yourself freely to us. Renew my faith and joy in my daily tasks, knowing Your presence is there with me, ministering to my heart. You are never far, Lord. Realign my heart to walk with you each moment, drawing on the strength that you give. Thank you, Lord, for your promises and for fresh grace today. Thank you for Jesus.

Amen. 

Faith Thoughts

Another of George McDonald’s helpful insights can be found in the words, “My prayers, my God, flow from what I am not; I think your answers make me what I am.” 

Again these words find a parallel in Paul’s words, “For I am the least worthy of all the apostles, and I shouldn’t even be called an apostle at all after the way I treated the church of God. But whatever I am now it is all because God poured out such kindness and grace upon me—and not without results: for I have worked harder than all the other apostles, yet actually I wasn’t doing it, but God working in me, to bless me.” 1 Corinthians 15:9-10 (Living Bible)

The dilemma of an unclear sense of personal identity was  illustrated by an incident in the life of the famous German  philosopher Schleiermacher, who did much to shape the progress of  modern thought. The story is told that one day as an old man he  was sitting alone on a bench in a city park. A policeman  thinking that he was a vagrant came over and shook him and asked,  "Who are you?" Schleiermacher replied sadly, "I wish I knew."

In Paul’s case, he declares that his only claim to being anyone is by God's grace, a messenger of Christ. A smile definition is that Grace is the unearned gift of God. What Paul is saying is that he did not reform himself and start over. He was transformed and sent out.

An engineer had this note taped inside his desk drawer at his office: "This is not my life. This is my job. Christ is my life."

Heavenly Father, thank you that like Paul it is by the grace of God that I am what I am.. It is by Your grace that I have been saved through faith in Christ and it is by grace that I am maturing in the faith and being conformed into the image and likeness of Christ.. for Your praise and glory. Thank You for the example of Paul who has helps us to understand that it is not the labour of my hand that is reckoned as righteousness.. but the grace of God that is with me and working through me.. that words the work of God. May I do all to Your praise and glory. Thank You in Jesus name, AMEN.

Thoughts of Faith

As we enter March we return to the the writings of George McDonald with his pithy yet revealing words “As Christ is the blossom of humanity, so the blossom of every one is Christ perfected in them.”

Paul writing to the Colossians spoke of this Christly Perfection in this way. “So everywhere we go we talk about Christ to all who will listen, warning them and teaching them as well as we know how. We want to be able to present each one to God, perfect because of what Christ has done for each of them. This is my work, and I can do it only because Christ’s mighty energy is at work within me.” Colossians 1:28-29

The word perfect in the Greek is a word full of meaning. It can mean

1. brought to its end, 
2. finished -  wanting nothing necessary to completeness 
3. fully mature 

Later in his life, C S Lewis, questioned what maturity really looked like; “When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am 50, I read them openly. When I became a man, I put away childish things -- including the fear of childishness and the desire to be grown-up. “

At a church bible study on the subject of Christian Maturity, someone said, "Being spiritually mature probably means you don't try to figure out whether the people around you are spiritually mature or not." Someone else said, "It's all I can do to figure out what God wants me to do. I don't need to try to figure out what God wants everyone else to do."

Simply put, as in our an earlier devotional, is Christian Maturity as simple as, “Letting go ad Letting God!”

God of unity and love,

place within each of us

a spirit of hope and community.

Have mercy upon us

when we speak without love

or act without humility.

Cleanse us with the living water of your grace.

Create in us willing hearts

to live in patience and gentleness.

Raise us up to be your children,

growing toward maturity

in faith and love.

Strengthen this church,

that we may be a model

of ministry and unity

for all the world to see. Amen