Day 059: A Healing Faith

When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment.  For she said, "If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well."         Mark 5:27-28

Here we have a great image representing how we are to live out our faith.  Jesus came to the world and preached and left us with lots to think about.  Now, through his words and through the Holy Spirit, he continues to move around everywhere before us.  There is a movement that has been going on since his ministry.

Our faith involved our own decision to act.  In order to proclaim our faith, we have to begin with, "I believe."  We have to make the effort, and we have to take the steps forward.  In this story above, we see a woman who was unclean because of her bleeding come forward to touch the clothes of Jesus.  However, Jesus did not condemn her as an unclean person stepping out of line.  Just as Jesus had been doing with many of the oppressed in those days, he healed her and told her that her faith had made her well.

Jesus is walking before us all the time, but we don't always take the first step.  Many times, we use our own constructs as excuses.  I can't go before Jesus because I'm a woman.  I'm too far into sin to be healed.  I'm hopeless because my pastor says so.  Rather than wallow in a bout of self-guilt, run to Jesus.  Jesus is ready to turn our faith into healing.  Jesus is ready to transform us.  He radiates with so much power, and all we need to do is reach out and touch him.  Make Lent be a time where you take one step closer to Jesus.

Day 058: Edification

"How is it then, brethren?  Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation.  Let all things be done for edification."  1 Corinthians 14:26

Recently, I have been thinking a lot about how I personally like to worship.  In sum, my preferred style is traditional but not impractical.

However, when I talk to other people around me, even those closest to me, we all have different preferences.  Some love the organ while others loathe it.  Some love modern language and others find it sacrilegious.  I have friends of different denominations: Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Episcopalian, and even non-denominational.  And, yet, each person has her own preference for her worship.

As I've been reading 1 Corinthians more carefully, I've been thinking a lot more about how we need to be aware that everybody will worship a little differently, and that's okay.  The root of the message, though, is that all worship should be to edify those who are participating - those who are involved should feel closer to each other as they observe their worship.

But then I'll see other people bash on different practices.  I guess since I'm a musician I've seen most of the bashing occur around the idea of what music is best or the most appropriate.  The only answer I can bring to the question is this: whatever works.  Not everybody is going to respond to the same kind of music in the same way.  Look back on history, how things have changed so much.  The earliest Byzantine chants must have resembled their Jewish counterparts.  Many hymns that were written throughout the second millennium were based on popular songs of the day.  Of course, now we probably wouldn't recognize the songs as such anymore, especially since they've become elevated under the cover of hymnals.  Contemporary Christian music, which is a blanket term for a great variety of music today, usually draws on different musical traditions, pointing them to God.

And that's the point.  We are called to direct our lives to God.  If an organ and hymnals brings you there, do it.  If a five piece band with projected lyrics and unison singing get you there, do it.  However, through the different styles of worship, we all report to one God.  So, be sure to respect how someone's traditions bring her closer to God.  In reality, your preferred traditions were probably considered wild and sacrilegious in their early days.

Day 057: Instruments

"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal."  1 Corinthians 13:1

After reading this article, I have come to understand this verse a little differently.  Basically, the sounding brass and the clanging cymbal are both tools to help one's voice project in a hall.

Here are two more modern examples that might help to explain the metaphor a little further:

The grand piano is indeed quite grand.  It's a large wooden instrument that can look like an obscenely large table, especially if you put a tablecloth on it rather than an actual cover.  It makes no sound when it's all closed up.  However, when you look at it, you can think about all the different possibilities, from Bach and Beethoven to Thelonious Monk to Queen.  Still, it makes no sound without a player.  If you want to think even further about it, the instrument could be significantly lighter and smaller if you did not have a large resonating chamber built into the instrument.  Again, that whole chamber, the big black box holding all the keys and strings, can't make any sound on its own.  It needs the soul of music and of the musician to make it come alive.

Another example is of a church building.  You can design it with all the fancy windows, parallel walls, wood, marble, arches, or gold you want, but it's just a building.  It's something that can be used for any number of purposes besides being a worship space.  In Boston, there are many church buildings that were converted to apartments because they no longer had congregations.  Imagine that: a condo with a bell tower all for yourself, or play tennis in the sanctuary, or have your king sized bed where many a Eucharist were celebrated.  Closer to my house, there was a large grocery store that moved to another location before being bought out entirely by another company.  In the building left behind, half was converted to a gym, and the other half was converted into a church.  It's the congregation, the Holy Spirit moving, that makes the church.

When we understand that we can recite bible verses, recite prayers, keep our mouth shut for about five minutes with our eyes closed, or even sit in a church for about an hour and come out without having been transformed, we can see that we can become mere resonating chambers.  When we go about our lives without love, we are nothing more than vessels on the sides of the room, doing absolutely nothing but standing there.  It's when we start to spread the love, both to ourselves and to all those around us that we can begin to make the music, to resound with the Gospel.

Make this Lent count.  Make this Lent be the one where everything you do has a purpose: love.

Day 056: Recognizing and Using Spiritual Gifts

"There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.  There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord.  And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.  But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all."  1 Corinthians 12:4-7

Isn't it interesting that in nearly two thousand years of the ministry there still looms the same problem?  I find that this issue has been growing from two different angles: a failure to recognize spiritual gifts, and a failure to accept our own gifts.

What I have come across quite a bit lately (and this is probably an offshoot the collective frustration and anger with the political landscape in the USA) is people talking down other people or other practices as not being good enough or not being "correct".  A church that uses an iPad for the Gospel is unholy.  This kind of singing is detrimental to the congregation.  The use of this language deters a certain population.  This liturgical activity is not liturgical.  I could go on, but that would bring much more negativity into this post than there needs to be (if you haven't figured it out yet, there is plenty negativity out there to satisfy your needs).  But what does Paul say?  He explains that there are so many different gifts out there, and that they are all out there for the benefit of all.  And that's how we can understand what is a spiritual gift and what isn't.

Think about this: if a congregation does the Eucharist in Rite II with Prayer C every Sunday, and the entire congregation is participating, how does that affect you, who come from a different congregation where you use the 1920 BCP?  Obviously, one prayer works for one group, and another for the other.  On the contrary: if a worship team has an organ and a choir of six singers where you can only hear the six voices during a congregational hymn, there might be a slight discrepancy.  The same can be said for the converse, with a worship band of soloists and no participation from the congregation.  In the end, though, the things that benefit the congregation are the ones that are bringing more and more people to God.

The other issue is that there are many of us who are too lazy to recognize our own gifts.  In the Episcopal Church, especially, we like to use the formula, "I'm discerning..." as an excuse not to put our gifts to work.  Even more of us like to complain that we aren't good enough to bring forth our fruits to the altar.  We like to compare ourselves to many saints who we say have lived perfect lives.  But, what does Jesus say?  Does the phrase "Follow me" ring a bell?  Jesus is ready to use us.  God is ready to work all in all.  The Spirit is burning within us in a way that will drive us to do great things.

Make Lent be a season where you can use your gifts.  If you have any fears our doubts about your gifts, practice them, and do it sincerely.  It is one thing to show off the same riff on the guitar that you've played for ten years, but it is another to listen to more music, practice diligently, and cultivate your musical skills.  If you have doubts about how you could use your gifts, consult your priest, or any other outside opinion.  The main thing, though, is to go out and do.

Day 055: Traditions

And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.  Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath."  Mark 2:27-28

This verse bears an important message that gets lost many times in the Church.  We like to get caught up in our traditions and customs many times, making sure that everybody around us takes part in them, but we often forget what they're there for.  Just as the Sabbath was made for humankind, so are the fasts, the feasts, and traditions.

Don't get me wrong, I love traditional worship - the older, the better.  But, we do have a problem with how we ostracize those who don't always celebrate the way that we do.  I remember when I was a part of certain Facebook groups, people used them as grounds merely to complain about how terrible modern worship is, how music is falling apart in the Church and how liturgical worship is being desecrated by Father X and Mother Y.  Yet, what does Jesus have to say about this?

We like to point our fingers when we have nothing else to do, and that's a big issue in our spiritual life.  When we come to church, we have to remember that it is not we who are in control, but God.  Yet, that seems to be a problem for many, if not all, of us at some point.  We may be used to running things at home, at our jobs, at school, in our ensembles, our troops, our businesses, but when we come to church, we are no longer in control.  We come together to worship God, not to worship ourselves.  Just look at the politicians who are running all over this country if you want to find an example of self worship.  Follow only them if that's all you want to do.

We as a church need to start acknowledging that we worship the triune, living God, the God who moves all of us in many different ways.  Maybe we can't behold everything that is God at the moment, but through God's grace in the form of revelations, we can learn a little more every single day.  During this season of Lent, ask your fellow Christians about what they are doing, if they are willing to share.  Let this season be one where you will do much more observing and listening than forcing.

Day 54: God Is Faithful

"No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."  1 Corinthians 10:13

This is one of my top five favorite verses from the bible.  Reading it in context caused the verse to have extra resonance with me.  If you can, I recommend you committing some verses to memory, at least enough so that you can come across it and speak the words before they appear on the page/screen in your reading.

This verse is very powerful because it comes at the end of a summary of the unfaithfulness of many of the Israelites during the period of time covered in the Pentateuch.  Paul even makes it a point to say that it was some of the Israelites who strayed, not all.

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man

This statement can hurt a little, because it makes any situation you're in sound quite diminished.  But that's the point.  We like to bring our troubles to our neighbors, while they have just as many issues to deal with as we do.  However, this statement is also there to help us, because we can then look for how other people dealt with our problems.  We can consult our parents, grandparents, priests, teachers, friends, and so many other people.

But God is faithful

If you're struggling with a specific situation, you need to look no further than the bible.  In 1 Corinthians 10, you can find the different temptations that came about.  But, you can also see that God delivered the entire nation of Israel from destruction time and time again.  Read Exodus to see one story of deliverance.  Read Joshua for yet another story.  Read Kings and Chronicles for so many more stories of deliverance.  And, most definitely, read the gospels, any of the four: Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John.  You'll understand that God has been faithful to us throughout all our troubles and tests.

[God] will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape

Here is our safeguard.  Times are going to get tough, but they will never get impossible.  Even at the point of death, God is there to save our soul, and when our time comes, God is in control.  Our legacy will last as an example for all those who are struggling.  The great thing about living as Christians is that we have one great escape: the church.  We can go and refresh ourselves with prayers we pray or from those of our fellow Christians.  We can talk to many more faithful people to learn about how great God is.

That you may be able to bear it

Here is an important distinction.  It is one thing to have a way out of our problems.  The easiest way out of any problem is just by doing nothing at all.  We can stay in the comfort of our bed all day unto eternity, allowing our bodies to waste away, let away our minds, our dreams, our talents.  But that's not what God wants.  God is sending us out there into the world as sheep against wolves.  God will guide us through all the difficult parts, but it will all be for our personal growth.  This last clause implies that we weren't able to bear our challenges to begin with.  What's the only way to bear a heavy weight?  Get stronger!  God is guiding us through our difficult times so that we can become stronger beings.

During this Lent, let God guide you through your discipline, whether it's giving up sweets, reading more of the bible, saying a prayer every once in a while, or even just to step foot in church just once this season.  God is faithful, and will guide us through all of our trials.

Day 053: Producing Good

There are those who sow their own things and produce more things, and there are those who gather but have less.  Proverbs 11:23

This proverb reminds me of Jesus' parable of the talents, for the lesson in the parable was about putting the talents to good use.  Both speak to me about how we should grow in our faith.

God gives us so many things in our lives.  Those things come in the form of material things and wealth.  Others, though, come in the form of our abilities, our talents.  Whatever they are, though, we have an obligation to put them to some form of use.  That's where faith comes in.

On the one hand, we could just hide the gifts that we have from God, but, just as the parable shows, that will just leave us with less.  If we aren't putting any of what we have to good use, we are turning ourselves away from avenues that could connect us with more people in the world.  We could be turning ourselves away from many who want to hear the Gospel but can't just because of our selfishness.

On the other hand, we can put our gifts to good use, for God.  Of course, at first, it might be scary.  Sometimes that means investing our gifts into things that may or may not be successful.  It is always difficult to make an investment of any kind.  However, God's grace is there just for this reason.  God wants to help us, to make us successful, when we bring our offerings to God.  God the provider, is all loving and will help us in our endeavors.  All we need to do is to make the first step in the right direction.  Allow for this Lent to be a time for bringing your offerings to God, so that God can make them grow into greater things than we could ever have imagined.