Risking for Freedom

One weekend this month, Steve and I took a trip into Ohio on a self-guided lighthouse tour.  The first lighthouse we visited was the one at Fairport Harbor.  The original lighthouse in this town was built in the early 1800s.  It was later replaced by the present stone structure.

As I read about the history of the lighthouse, I learned it was a final stop on the underground railroad.  This source ( http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=285) says, " Not by accident did the lighthouse act as a beacon of freedom to escaped slaves—the townsfolk actively made it one."  The people who lived in the town so firmly believed in freedom that they "colluded" to keep escaped slaves safe from slave masters who hunted for the slaves.  The town hid them in the tavern and in the lighthouse until escape could be made to Canada.  And the town fought to repeal the Fugitive Slave Law.

What do we believe in so much that we will work together, risking ourselves to help others to freedom? What will we risk to transform the world? 

Perspectives: Helping

This is Steve on the beach.  We were walking along the water that evening, and we saw a family with one member taking their picture.  My husband, being the person he is, went up to them, and offered to take the picture so that everyone could be in it.

Where can you offer a helping hand today?

Sharing in the Inheritance

Read these two verses from the first chapter of Colossians:

Verse 3: In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ

Verse 9: For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord., fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God.

Years ago, when Steve and I were first married, Gloria Peak approached us after worship.  She told us that she had been praying for us.  I'm not certain, but I think she was part of a prayer group in the church, and maybe we had been assigned to her as people for whom to pray.  Being told by someone that she is praying for you is a memorable moment.  I thanked her, and asked her to not stop.  

How do you feel when you find out that someone is praying for you, specifically, by name? I imagine we all feel a sense of gratitude.  It is a gift to know that someone is remembering you, and is praying for you.  It is an act of steadfast love, reflecting the grace of God.

Years later, I was attending a meeting at West Virginia Wesleyan College.  It was the month before Grant, our older son, was to start school there.  On a break, I walked across the campus and sat on a wall across the street from his dorm-to-be.  I spent some time in prayer for him, thinking about his future college years, praying for him as he left home to do something new.  When we dropped him off to start school, we left him with a care package.  Among the many items in the box was a note from me, telling him of my prayers for him.  I hoped it was one way to help him understand how loved he was (and is) - by his family and by his God.

Who are you praying for right now? Who in your life needs to be reminded that you love them, that you care enough about them to lift them in prayer? Who needs to be reminded of the love of God, and that they are not alone? 

I invite you to take a seat in a pew, or find a quiet wall, and spend some time in prayer for that person.

And for you, I pray verses 11-12:

May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. Amen

Prayer from Pslam 25

A Prayer from Paslm 25:1-10

 

Oh, God, my God,

To you I lift myself,

My heart, my life, my breath.

 

Oh, God, my God,

In you I place my trust.

My faithfulness.

My hope.

Stand by me.

Stand by all of us.

We are nothing without you.

 

Show me the way to go.

Make the path one that I can see.

Clear the path so that I can follow you.

Teach me, tell me, help me

To know what to do.

 

Show me your truth.

Fill me with your truth so that

My version of truth is gone.

My beliefs are self centered,

Self serving

Selfish.

Fill me with your truth.

You are who saves me from myself

I wait for you.

 

Remember your mercy, Oh God.

Remember your love,

Remember me.

Remember us.

We forget, but we pray you remember.

Forgive our forgetfulness.

 

Do not remember all of the ways

I have sinned against you.

Do not remember how often

I forget about you.

Do not remember.

Remember only your mercy

Remember only your love.

 

You are good.

You are merciful.

You are righteous.

Only in you will we find our way home.

Only in you will we find the Way.

Only in you.

 

All of your paths are mercy and love.

You are steadfast and faithful,

Beyond anything we deserve.

Beyond anything I deserve.

 

Lift us up, Oh God.

Oh God, my God.

Oh God, our God.

Amen.

Born into the Faith

In her book Faith Unraveled, Rachel Held Evans wrote about her experience as an evangelical in the later part of the 1900's:

To experience the knowledge of Jesus Christ, we didn't need to be born again; we simply needed to be born.  Our parents, our teacher, and our favorite theologians took it from there, providing us with all the answers before we ever had time to really wrestle with the questions.

I'm not sure this is a symptom that is unique to evangelicalism.  Aren't we all tempted to take the easy way? To assume that what we have been taught is the "way it is?"  It doesn't require struggle or doubt, questioning or thought.  Just assume the way we heard the stories as a child are true.  Simple.  Easy.  No questions.

And yet, we are called to more, don't you think? To think.  To question. To struggle. To find answers that are honest and true to our faith.  To have a close-minded faith means that we are never open to change. Never open to growth.  We remain - not child-like in our faith - because children question everything - but we remain childish in our faith.  

Christianity is a faith of change and growth.  That's what sanctifying grace is all about.  That's what moving on to perfection is about.  It isn't easy. It takes effort. It requires confronting what we believe in the light of the truth of God as experience through the holy spirit.  It doens't mean rejecting scripture. It means really, truly, struggling to understand it.  It means respecting scripture.

And then, instead of being born into the faith, we are re-created into who we were made to become.  Grown up - or growing up - Christians. 

Happy Fourth!

Core Beliefs

And one more thought about the quote from Wednesday of last week.  

At first, when I read the quote, I thought, "YES! This is a defining characteristic of fundamentalism."

Then, as I thought more about it, I think all of us have core components of our faith.  In my mind, a belief in the divinity and humaneness of Christ, and the belief in God's grace are (to name a few) defining characteristics of my faith.  These I hold on to. 

We should think about this for ourselves. What defines your faith?  What is it that if you had to let go it, would either destroy or irrevocably change your faith?

Culture and Faith

Continuing on from last Wednesday regarding the faith we hold and how it remains "unchangeable".  

I also see this in the way people approach culture and faith.  I don't believe culture should define what we believe, but I know that we need to adapt the way we tell our story in order to reach people in the culture.  

And I also believe that the Bible was written to a particular culture in a particular time.  We need to investigate how that culture (2000 years ago) shaped the words of the writer at the time.  We can't just plop words written to a particular community 2000 years ago in our time and expect them to apply to our own culture and time.  

This doesn't threaten our faith.  It is a way to remain true to it.