Lazarus Revisited
For the past few weeks I've been preaching the through story of Lazarus found in John 11. In that story, we are invited to experience spiritual transformation as we see Jesus coming and raising Lazarus from "death to life." Author Stephen Smith, who wrote the book The Lazarus Life, sees the whole Lazarus story as a way to imagine our own spiritual transformation. Part of that is realizing that there can be some tough places for us..as there were for Lazarus. Namely, Lazarus was dead...or at least was dead until Jesus raised him. It invites us to think about those times that we have been in those "dead" moments of our lives or those "dead ends". Stephen Smith calls them our "spiritual tombs" - those dark and dead places we sometimes come across and experience in our life. The key part of this story is realizing that these moments can happen and will happen. This leaves us realizing that sometimes we can offer up a Christianity that doesnt often acknowledge the tough places of life and would rather just have the good stuff. Good stuff is great but when we have the "dead" moments, we get thrown off. I think we get thrown off because we often forget that the hard times are as much a part of the spiritual journey as the good times. And, just because we have hard times doesnt mean we have done something wrong. It just means we are human people living in a very human world. The Lazarus story reminds us that, in time, Jesus comes to us and "raises" us from those dark, empty, and hard places. How do you handle or deal with those hard, dark, and empty places? What sustains you? What gets you through? What does your faith mean for you in those times?
Lilies of the Field and a $700 Billion Bail Out
It's all over the news - the financial bail out the government is going to provide for the major financial institutions. All of this has shaken up people as well as the world. Oil spiked to an increase of at least $20 a barrell and President Bush is going to go to the world leaders and try to assure them that all is okay and the bailout is going to work. In the meantime, people worry about their retirements as well as their savings and we still see gas lines and gas stations without no gas due to "gas panic." I think about all of this and I think about Jesus words: "Therefore do now worry saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we wear?...So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today." Does Jesus really expect us - you and I - not to worry even during shaky times like this? I mean, what he said sounds good but does it work in real life? I am thinking he meant what he said. If that's the case, how do I live a life in which I truly follow and abide in the way of Jesus. I believe in preparing for retirement and I'm going to watch my 401 K, but my trust in Jesus needs to be alot deeper then my trust in my bank account, my style of clothes, and what is or is not in my refrigerator. What do Jesus words means to you?
Post your thoughts, I would love to hear from you.
2 comments:
Faith in God and that things will work out is what I rely in. The politics of it all is that we seem to be treating the symptoms and not the real problems and as usual big business is being taken care of even though how this bail out would effect individuals is not known. Just another excuse for big government and a crutch for people to only rely on government to cure their ills and not work at it on their own. Seems to be a big step toward socialism, which we know does not work, another step away from personal responsibility, and unfortunately no steps back toward putting religion, faith, and God back into our daily lives, our way of life, our government as was designed by our founding fathers. They did not say no religion or no God in government...they instilled religious freedom and how important God is to sustain life.
I hold onto the premise to not worry about the things I can not control and continue to have faith, love God, and do the best for my family and fellow human beings that I can.
The Serenity Prayer always comes to mind when trying to connect global issues along with personal hard times and how we should handle both.
"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next."
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