I have made it no secret that I have actively participated in the Beijing Games and I feel as though I should have podiumed in the "Rhythmic Remote Controlling" event. My heart was with the athletes while my butt was with the sofa.
And my favorite athlete coming out of these past two weeks has to be Adam VanKoeverden. I don't want to take anything away from the blazing fast Usain Bolt or the accomplishments of Michael Phelps, the two athletes for whom the Beijing Games will most likely be remembered. Far and away, I was most impressed by Adam VanKoeverden's interviews. Here is a guy who, going into the games had Canada's hopes literally on his shoulders as he carried the flag for the opening ceremonies. And then he breezes into the finals for both events he entered and completely tanks in the 1000 metre kayak. But it was what happened afterward that impressed me about this guy. The CBC interviewer (by the way, does the CBC make their interviewers ask those ridiculous questions? Every last one of them were brutal on the athletes!) asks him what happens and he looks straight into the camera and apologizes, presumably to Canada. Like, as if we need an apology. He has just paddled his tail off while our tails are making indents on the upholstery!
And then, every interview afterward just impressed me more. I am convinced that there is not a more honest athlete in the entire athlete's village. The guy was frank and honest and real. The kind of guy you can imagine watching the game with. During the closing ceremonies, he said something that was huge for me. He said that you just can't take anything for granted or rest on your laurels. You need to stop looking back at what you've done (or what you haven't done) and you just move forward.
We spend too much time looking backward. We might have a great spiritual experience, so we look to that as a pinnacle moment. But the problem is that we come down from that pinnacle in a hurry--and then what? Sunday was a tremendous morning for me. It seemed like God showed up in ways I never expected and in many ways it was a real pinnacle moment for me. But I left church and stuff just happens. We look back and say, "Wow, look what Jesus did." And we move forward and say, "Wow, look what Jesus is doing." Just like the story we read from John 5. Jesus told the man who couldn't walk: "Get up, take up your bed, and walk." "Take up your bed": remember what happened; but "Walk": move forward and don't rest on the laurels of that experience. He is doing something new today and something new tomorrow.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
When God Speaks
So it seems like I've had dozens of conversations over the past year or so with different people who say things like, "God has been speaking to me;" or, "I want to know God's voice;" or, "I feel like I can't hear God's voice." Stuff like that.
And it has made me wonder something: is God's voice really that hard to hear? I mean, do we just assume he's a divine low-talker? The Bible tells us repeatedly that God is a loving Father, which begs the question: if he is such a loving Father, why doesn't he just tell us what he wants? I'm a dad. I wouldn't expect my kids to know what I expect of them if I didn't tell them.
However, if I told them and they weren't really listening, that's a different story. Which has led me to believe that, most likely, God has been speaking to me and, if I can't hear his voice, it's not because he's not talking. Which means it probably has less to do with God's voice and more to do with our ears, doesn't it?
What I've come to believe is that, more often than not, the Holy Spirit is talking to us, but he's saying things we might not want to hear. He's challenging the way we think and live. He's pushing us further and stretching our faith. And that's difficult to do. So, instead of actually listening to what he is saying to us, we assume that we simply can't hear--until, of course, we hear what we want, and then: "God's been speaking to me!"
The problem with this is simple: what loving dad only tells his kids what they want to hear? "Okay, you can have as much ice cream as you want and stay up as late as you want for as long as you want." While that's what kids want to hear, there are times when it is necessary to tell them what they need to (yet don't exactly want to) hear.
I have come to the conclusion that God is always speaking. That his Spirit is constantly prompting us forward in our faith in Christ. That the issue of hearing God's voice has much less to do with God's voice and much more to do with our hearing!
And it has made me wonder something: is God's voice really that hard to hear? I mean, do we just assume he's a divine low-talker? The Bible tells us repeatedly that God is a loving Father, which begs the question: if he is such a loving Father, why doesn't he just tell us what he wants? I'm a dad. I wouldn't expect my kids to know what I expect of them if I didn't tell them.
However, if I told them and they weren't really listening, that's a different story. Which has led me to believe that, most likely, God has been speaking to me and, if I can't hear his voice, it's not because he's not talking. Which means it probably has less to do with God's voice and more to do with our ears, doesn't it?
What I've come to believe is that, more often than not, the Holy Spirit is talking to us, but he's saying things we might not want to hear. He's challenging the way we think and live. He's pushing us further and stretching our faith. And that's difficult to do. So, instead of actually listening to what he is saying to us, we assume that we simply can't hear--until, of course, we hear what we want, and then: "God's been speaking to me!"
The problem with this is simple: what loving dad only tells his kids what they want to hear? "Okay, you can have as much ice cream as you want and stay up as late as you want for as long as you want." While that's what kids want to hear, there are times when it is necessary to tell them what they need to (yet don't exactly want to) hear.
I have come to the conclusion that God is always speaking. That his Spirit is constantly prompting us forward in our faith in Christ. That the issue of hearing God's voice has much less to do with God's voice and much more to do with our hearing!
Thursday, August 14, 2008
On Being the Rich Guy
On Sunday, I preached on the story of the rich young man who asked Jesus, "What good deed must I do to have eternal life?" As I read and prayed through these verses, the thought kept going through my mind: "I am the rich guy."
This guy is beaten up often in sermons because he's rich, but that's really not the problem. Sure he's rich and he likes being rich but that's not the entire reason that he doesn't receive what he's looking for. Truth be told, we like beating him up because he's unwilling to give up his money. Makes me wonder if, maybe part of the reason for that is because we are envious and it makes us feel better about ourselves. See, none of us thinks we're the rich guy, even though every person in the audience on Sunday was more wealthy than 98% of the rest of the world. But I am the rich guy.
Here is a man who is well-known for his upright, principled life. Even the disciples were shocked when this guy went on his way, basically saying to Jesus, "If that guy can't be saved, who can?" Here's a guy who says he kept every single command and Jesus (who did in fact, keep every single command!) doesn't argue with him. This is a good guy.
And that's where his question becomes exactly what so many North American Christians' biggest issue, "What good deed must I do to be saved?" (emphasis mine) We spend so much time focusing on our lifestyle and on doing good stuff that we miss out on what Jesus is saying to this guy. We think that the things we do for God will somehow tip his scales in our favor and so we busy ourselves with doing good deeds. But Jesus said two things to this guy in his final response: (1) let go of the very thing in which you find your security; and (2) follow me instead.
We find our security in all sorts of different areas. Maybe our jobs, or our families, or our friendship circles, or our education/degree, or our accomplishments, or even our church and religious acts. For this guy, it just happened to be his abundant wealth, but we all are less than willing to let go of certain things to which we hold dear. The other thing that Jesus told this man (which curiously gets overshadowed by his 'give to the poor' comment) was to follow him. To experience the fullness of life that Jesus promises and which he brings, we simply follow him. Do what he did and be what he was.
When we abandon everything to follow him, then we're not so rich anymore. Although, Jesus wraps up this encounter in telling his disciples the following paradox: "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last and the last first." So, I guess, when we abandon everything to follow him, then we're richer!
This guy is beaten up often in sermons because he's rich, but that's really not the problem. Sure he's rich and he likes being rich but that's not the entire reason that he doesn't receive what he's looking for. Truth be told, we like beating him up because he's unwilling to give up his money. Makes me wonder if, maybe part of the reason for that is because we are envious and it makes us feel better about ourselves. See, none of us thinks we're the rich guy, even though every person in the audience on Sunday was more wealthy than 98% of the rest of the world. But I am the rich guy.
Here is a man who is well-known for his upright, principled life. Even the disciples were shocked when this guy went on his way, basically saying to Jesus, "If that guy can't be saved, who can?" Here's a guy who says he kept every single command and Jesus (who did in fact, keep every single command!) doesn't argue with him. This is a good guy.
And that's where his question becomes exactly what so many North American Christians' biggest issue, "What good deed must I do to be saved?" (emphasis mine) We spend so much time focusing on our lifestyle and on doing good stuff that we miss out on what Jesus is saying to this guy. We think that the things we do for God will somehow tip his scales in our favor and so we busy ourselves with doing good deeds. But Jesus said two things to this guy in his final response: (1) let go of the very thing in which you find your security; and (2) follow me instead.
We find our security in all sorts of different areas. Maybe our jobs, or our families, or our friendship circles, or our education/degree, or our accomplishments, or even our church and religious acts. For this guy, it just happened to be his abundant wealth, but we all are less than willing to let go of certain things to which we hold dear. The other thing that Jesus told this man (which curiously gets overshadowed by his 'give to the poor' comment) was to follow him. To experience the fullness of life that Jesus promises and which he brings, we simply follow him. Do what he did and be what he was.
When we abandon everything to follow him, then we're not so rich anymore. Although, Jesus wraps up this encounter in telling his disciples the following paradox: "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last and the last first." So, I guess, when we abandon everything to follow him, then we're richer!
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