Total Permeation

I missed the Oscars and the surprise finish, but the next day I saw this clip of Jimmy Kimmel surprising a tour bus full of people hoping to make a sighting of a real movie star. They came in the room and found themselves in the front row of the Oscars.

Something about the clip annoyed me and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Then I realized how many of the tourists (and movie stars) held their phones in front of their faces. I could barely see their reactions because all I saw were rectangles with lenses in the corner. 

So, here we have a group of people who presumably like movie stars, after all that is why they were on the bus for a tour of stars homes. They suddenly find themselves face to face with the people they desperately want to see and yet they put a phone up to block their real view. Seeing these stars through a camera lens and recording something that was already on camera was more important than putting the phone away and interacting with a real person. It is a strong indication of how phone/camera/video technology has permeated our lives. 

The point of me bringing this up is not to criticize the tourists. I certainly do not know how I would react if I suddenly walked onto the set of the Oscars. “Stupefied” is a word that comes to mind. No, all in all, I think they handled themselves quite well. I bring this up because it reminds me of something that easily infiltrates our lives to the same extent as phone technology. 

I am talking about fear.

Fear walks around in our back pocket and is pulled out when examining any new information. It becomes the lens through which we see the world.

We understand politics based on what politicians tell us to fear. We must do this or else something worse will happen.

Fear makes it okay to hurt others as long as we can justify it with the promise of safety. However, because this is the world that is an empty promise making the pain we cause less than justified.

We view our lives through the fear of the “what ifs” that lurk in the corners of our heart.

We see our relationships through the fear of wondering if we can really trust, if we really know what someone is thinking, if we can really rely on this person.

We view our past, present, and future through fear also.

“What if I hadn’t . . . . then where would I be?”

“What if this is the wrong choice?”

“What if this isn’t enough?”

“What if I am hurt, or ruined, or unsafe?”

It is bad enough when our leaders convince us to act out of fear, but it is truly devastating when fear keeps us from seeing our God.

It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” Deuteronomy 31:8

My study Bible calls these words an exhortation. That puts it substantially above a “suggestion” and well into the “urgent persuasion” category. God is with us, we do not need to fear. In fact, we are not to indulge in fear.

God is stronger than our worries. He is stronger than our mistakes. He is stronger than anything that can harm us. And He is stronger than the politicians who hold power over us when they convince us to be afraid or angry.

Furthermore, as children of God who live in the world but, not of the world, the typical fears of this world should not be ours. We were created for a different kingdom. Certainly we need to be wise in our actions. However, every thought, word, and action should be made by a person who knows and believes the following: 

“And behold I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:20b 

We are safe. We are saved. We are perfectly loved.

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts our fear. 1 John 4:18a

Take your fear out of your pocket and throw it away. There is no room for fear in our lives or in our faith. We have a Savior.

Love your Enemy

 Click for a devotion written for Wheat Ridge Ministries.
 

The Little Things

This four minute clip is a great TEDtalk from a volunteer firefighter who encourages us to do the little things. This from a man who works for a non-profit and regularly trains for a part-time volunteer gig as a hero. He knows about the big things – yet he advocates for doing the little things. 

I am the kind of person who likes to do big things. This is why I love teaching because it is a long string of little things that sometimes add up to a big thing. I still save those notes from kindergarten parents and occasional student evaluations that tell me I made a difference, but, for most of my students I was only a little thing. 

My desire to do big things is how I am able to set aside my anxieties about public speaking and driving in strange cities in order to speak to audiences of teachers and administrators. I am certainly not a big time speaker but I seek to leave a reassuring message. I suspect that message is most often found in a small story.

The truth is most of our work for God is not found in the big things, but in the little things:

A note of encouragement

A shared Bible verse

A prayer

A donation of money, time, or materials

A seat beside a grieving friend

A mindset of empathy

God does not often ask us to do the big things. Most of the time, the work He sets before us consists of small tasks. He does not often allow us to see how these small acts of mercy lead to a big thing. He does not promise us this. Instead, He asks for our humility and obedience.

He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble His way. Psalm 25:9

St. Paul understood this. At the beginning of his letter to the Romans we see the sum total of his resume. 

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God. Romans 1:1

Paul could certainly write himself a fancy introduction. He could tell many stories of big things including new churches, jail escapes, shipwrecks, and snake bites. He knows, however, that what he does is not so important as who he is. Furthermore, his identity is found only in what Christ has done for him. This is how the little things add up to big things – the big things belong to God.

May God bless you as you seek to accomplish the little things He sets before you.

Alternative Facts and a World of Darkness

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. Isaiah 9:2-3

We haven’t even finished the first month of 2017 and we already have a new submission for the Oxford English Dictionary: alternative facts. I have heard of alternative opinions, alternative perspectives, and even alternative music, but I was always taught that opinions are opinions and facts are facts.

So it has come to this. An Orwellian world of alternative facts that tells us “It’s all good!” 

A “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!”  kind of existence.

An if-it’s-on-the-internet-it must-be-true mindset.

While I could probably be talking about the current political situation, I am instead led to thinking about the world of deep darkness mentioned in this verse from Isaiah. It is a world that attacks us from all sides; world that tries to recruit us into an often manufactured struggle; a world that survives by passing off deception as truth. It is not my world. We are truly strangers living in a strange land.

The strange world we live in feels more peculiar than unfamiliar. This world does not match the values or beliefs of children of God. Perhaps we feel we are the peculiar ones. We dare not seek the light of truth from the world in which we live. We walk in darkness and are in need of a light. 

The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1

How wonderful it is, how encouraging, how hopeful, to know we have a beacon of truth shining in amidst the swirl of alternate facts. We have a God who knows the ways of man because He created us. He loves us and has redeemed us through the blood of Jesus and His Spirit lives in our heart to strengthen our faith.

You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, LORD, do I seek.” Psalm 27:8

This is our grace in a world that demands adherence to the law of untruth.

Elevator Floors

So real it's scary

I must say that this is a nasty trick to play on elevator riders. When I go into an elevator I do not give a second thought to safety. Over the years I have made a mental note of enough elevator inspection certificates that problems with the ride to the next floor do not even cross my mind.

Put this up there with one of those primal fears – spiders, snakes on a plane, and floors that drop out from under you.

Although, I must admit the clip is interesting to watch. In an instant people go from being totally inside their heads (What’s for lunch? Will this meeting go well? Does my breath stink?) to being totally outside their heads. We are witnessing the onset of fight or flight response. And some of these victims just might flee right up the side of the elevator wall. For just a bit, they cannot see the floor that supports them.

But, just as quickly as it began the fight or flight mode shifts down into normal gear – all except for the heart rate and emotional response. These continue for a while. That is why, when leaving, several of the victims look back at the elevator as if they cannot quite believe it all turned out okay.

For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Romans 8: 24-25

Isn’t this clip interesting metaphor for hope? If we assume that hope is something we always see we will be disappointed in it. This is the human kind of hope; an optimistic feeling drawn from past experience or current evidence. It is a glass-half-full kind of hope. We think things will go well because we can see the floor below us. Everything is as it should be and all is well.

But, what if it isn’t all well? How do we fare when a lost job, lose a loved one, or a devastating diagnosis drops the floor from under us? Our human hope does not serve us well in these situations. The what ifs start creeping in.

What if we lose our health insurance?

What if I cannot go on without my loved one?

What if the answer to my prayer is not what I want to hear?

We cannot cling to the wall of the elevator with a handful of what ifs.

The hope of the Bible is an assurance. It does not demand that we quickly decide if we will fight or flee. It does not depend on circumstances, strength of character, or bootstraps. Biblical hope is just there, whether or not we see it.

Hope is there because it has already been accomplished for us. A new floor is already in place. The answer is already written. The deed is done and our Salvation has been won.

I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But, take heart; I have overcome the world. John 16:33

God is not as concerned with our happiness as He is with our Salvation. He warns us that we will have troubles and He makes no promises that we will be able to endure or conquer those troubles. Instead, He reminds us that He has already overcome. He is the hope we do not always see; the hope that saves us.

“For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’” Isaiah 41:43

Go ahead, take His hand. He’s got this.