Tag: wisdom

Exulting in Our Shadow

 

“So that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. 16The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.”

Acts 5:15-16, ESV

 

Astonishing!  It was Peter, who denied the Lord—three distinct and definite times. Since we are moving past Good Friday and our celebration of Easter, so we should rest for a moment and consider Peter, and think about this “rascal.”  He really isn’t magical, or a “miracle worker,” Peter, quite precisely is a definite loser.  The best you can say is that he is a displaced and “has-been”  fisherman, who hasn’t really got a good track-record.  He tries hard, but he always muddles it up.  He falls very short.

Peter’s shadow reveals the power of unconscious influence.  His shadow wasn’t magical or possessed a healing virtue.  In a deep sense we all influence people around us–for good, or for evil.  Our imprint on others is quite significant.  Our impact is quite noticable.  Watchman Nee in his book, “Release of the Spirit.”  Nee compared our influence to the “ring” we leave in the bathtub.  Everyone leaves his mark.  Looking at that we can understand (to a degree) what that particular person is really like.  But the reality is, we all leave behind some scum.

J.R. Miller relates this thought.  “There is a legend of a good man for whom was asked some new power. He chose that he might do a great deal of good and might not be aware of it. So it was ordered that when his shadow fell behind him, where he could not see it, it should have healing power, but when it fell before him, so that he could see it, it should have no such effect.”

We need to view this thing closer.  How exactly do we influence others?  What manner of people are we to acheive such attention?  Do we really deserve “the praise of men?”  Do we go as far as to exult  in our shadows?  If we really want to powerfully affect others, we have to be humble, perhaps even dismissive of the good that may follow behind us.  (It doesn’t belong to us.”)   When we become really conscious of our significance or sway, we are in mortal danger and risk spoiling everything.

The kingdom is not big enough for Jesus, and than us–who takes over the center stage?  There is a disturbing assumption that we are most significant.  We stack-up our blocks and create a facade of being quite exceptional people.  The reality is this–we are all very much like Peter, our lives belie what is truly real.  But our authenticity really is found in the “blood of Jesus,”  which covers our wickedness.  That dear one, is our “claim to fame.”  Essentially, due to the proportion of our pride, determines the glory that the Lord receives.  We often eliminate him from our consideration.  Your pride determines His glory, plain and simple.  So step up, who goes next?

The Hard Stuff

“And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. 4And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil.”

Matthew 13:3-5, ESV

 

Parables were one of the favorite ways that Jesus communicated the truth.  This folksy and imaginative bit of “story-telling” carried profound things.  In this peculiar parable they hear of a farmer “broadcasting” the spring seed. It says he went “out to sow.”  He went out (and not in.)  The fields were awaiting him and his precious seed.

There was seed that was incidentally sown on the hard path.  The sparrows and the wrens and robins came and ate all the seed they could hold.  And some other seed was sown into the gravel, and rocks.  There was really, very little good soil.

Amazingly, they grew.  The seed there managed to sprout, and show some real semblance of growth.  But, it was temporary.  It could not last, the conditions would not endure continual growth.  The young plants would soon shrivel up and die.

Many things happen, that reveal our heart rocky and hard.  Much traffic treading down the lanes of our heart, pack the soil of our hearts.  The soil compresses and will not allow the young roots to find the nutrients it needs. Things are hard, the soil is packed down–like concrete.

So many things roll through our hearts.  We discover that we have been trampled and stomped on.  What may have been soft and fertile, has been packed down and hardened by all the traffic.  We should-be been more aware. We turned to a “free-er” and more open acceptance of what we would take and tolerate.  Evil, which has taken advantage, moves deep into our thinking, and we “sign over” much that we will regret, but later on.

The seed though is the focus.  It is precious, and knowing this, we focus on its viability.  The seed that makes it into a tiny plant is valued incredibly.  We hover over it, trying to “will” it to grow.  (If that were possible.)  But it seems we can’t press through this point.  The “precious seed” is sown, and our hardness nullifies so much real growth.

The Lord’s gentle but deep awareness is focused on our softness.  How do we manage our hard hearts?  When his spirit reaches out to us (the other day it was a wonderful song on the radio); He was reaching to me, and than I shut it down.  I guess I know he’ll continue to reach for me, even if I’m so rude to him.

There is an old story, of a demonic horse rider who would ride through the country, and wherever the horse stepped there was a permanent deadness that would never let the seed to grow.  When we indulge sin, we enable sin to flourish, and we empower the “horse rider” to continue his advance.  Our lust, and greed, jealousy, pride and selfishness bring us a deep and shadowy darkness.  He moves through my life, and I am mostly saddened because I no longer reach to him, even though I think that I grasp for him.

But how will we manage the traffic through the soil of our lives.  Will we let it continue, or will we put up signs?  Signs create a “safety zone” and we turn to this draconian measures to keep things in a good order.  It seems harsh, but it gives us space to let what is soft to become eager to receive the seed.

The Miracle of Polaroid

I can distinctly remember seeing my first “instant” photo develop.  It was back in the dark ages of 1972.  It was a miracle!  Up to that time, you took pictures, but you had to wait a time for them to be processed.  It was an assumption that after a week you would finally receive those photos, developed and a bit expensive.

As I watched the Polaroid develop before my eyes, something happened to me.  Metaphorically a train was passing by, called technology, and I immediately jumped on board.  My family upbringing was pathetically poor, but that didn’t matter.  I was finally moving in a direction that made sense.  And we all were on a more equal footing.

Those early “instant” photos, starting from a glop of blue-grey would change into a pretty neat image, right before your eyes.  You did nothing, maybe you shook it in order to dry it quicker.  Within minutes something tangible would happen.  You would have a great photo of Uncle Willy.

I don’t want to be melodramatic, but I think we profoundly changed when we finally discovered the Polaroid instant camera.  Polaroid sold millions within months.  They couldn’t keep them in stores–they sold-out!  And yet, in retrospect it was just a baby-step into our technology of today.  Yet, it was the first step, and we would never be the same.

In the presence of the Lord God, we discover many moments like this.  He continually reveals himself in fresh and wondering ways.  He astonishes us with continually fresh and spiritually amazing ways.  As we come to know him, even deeper and more profound.  We stand in the driveway and watch our understanding develop.  It is a process that insists on staggering us.  He is not a novelty gadget, he is everlasting. We choose to wait on Him.

Dealing with Arguers

“Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy”

Hebrews 12:14, TNIV

 

For me personally, someone in my face can be nasty and irritating.  It seems I can never say enough.  I simply don’t get any sense of having “convinced” them of my position or views.  I maintain composure (I try, anyway) and then ignite when its all over.

Inevitably, I start playing the whole ugly argument over and over.  Often, if I feel quite vulnerable, I will enlist my dear wife’s availability.  She comes to my side, where I find the support I wanted.

Intense arguments can derail me from so much.  Going to scripture in this frame of mind does me no good at all.  When I’m in this place, prayer becomes unplugged (kind of like my exercise “treadmill.”)  I sit in my chair and simmer, and occasionally boil over.

What do I need most?

  • Humility
  • Gentleness, and sensitivity
  • Kindness  
  • Pre-planning, or pre-alignment of my heart
  • A sense of humor
  • Renunciation of my “rights” and privileges

 

A lot of things could be added to my quick list, that would be helpful.  Making cookies, or doing new chores also sort out things.  If the issue is more mountain than molehill, find your way to an elder or a pastor.  But whatever you do, it’s best to keep moving.  So much is working to solidify you in one place.  It’s like walking through wet cement! (It’s best not to linger too long, in one place.)

Know this though.  Being in an argument or conflict is not sin.  They may disturb us, but we don’t necessarily have to sin.  Jesus had some whoppers in His day.  He walked into these conflagrations without a diminishing of peace or joy.  He walked out of them the same way.  He can teach us, by showing us how He did it.

Just one more thing (I’m trying hard to write a essay here.)  You don’t hear or read it very often–but, we all are models and examples to someone else.  Our children, neighbors, friends, the bank teller and our gym instructor.  Not that everyone knows of our issue, our frustration.  But that our lives are filled with a “joyous humility.”  I think what hurts me most is that I fear my witness or testimony has been damaged by my words and actions.

God is God of my everything.  He knows what happened.  He knows me, and knows them.  The sin does not impede His vision of you.  When he was on earth, he was never disturbed by any confict.  Today, he is the same.  Disputing with someone else– no problem.  He doesn’t get loose and cut you down in embarassment.  Brilliantly and lovingly, He absorbs all that concerns you.  He is more gentle than you know and kinder than any man, or woman.