It seems that every day brings me way too many opportunities to face the fact that I am a selfish person. You would think that after nearly 44 years of living with me, I would not be surprised at myself any more, but I still am. Too often I am nothing but a self-centred pain. I guess this is more evident in the area of "loving others" than in any other area of my life.
I know I'm supposed to love people. That's Christian, right? That's what we're supposed to do. But if I'm honest, I think I love people that it is comfortable for me to love. I love my family. I love people that it's easy to get along with, who have the same interests as me. I love some of my college friends like they were family. But there are a lot of people that I don't really love, not really.
Those words of Jesus, "If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even the pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:46-48), ring in my ears over and over again. I have to ask myself: What am I doing to live the "extraordinary" life that Christ calls me to?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer describes this life as the perisson, the "extraordinary". He says, "It is 'the more', the 'beyond-all-that'. The natural life is one and the same for heathen and Christian, the distinctive quality of the Christian life begins with the perisson. ... It is the life described in the beatitudes, the life of the followers of Jesus, the light which lights the world, the city set on a hill, the way of self-renunciation, of utter love, of absolute purity, truthfulness, and meekness. It is unreserved love for our enemies, for the unloving and the unloved, love for our religious, political, and personal adversaries. In every case it is the love which was fulfilled in the cross of Christ" (The Cost of Discipleship).
Loving people really is of paramount importance. In his provocative book, Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller has this to say: "If a person thinks that you do not like them, that you do not approve of their existence, then your religion and your politics will all seem wrong to them. If they sense that you like them, then they are open to what you have to say. ... When I am talking to somebody there are always two conversations going on. The first is on the surface; it is about politics or music or whatever it is our mouths are saying. The other is beneath the surface, on the level of the heart, and my heart is either communicating that I like the person I am talking to or I don't. God wants both conversations to be true. That is, we are supposed to speak truth in love. If both conversations are not true, God is not involved in the exchange, we are on our own, and on our own, we will lead people astray. The Bible says that if you talk to somebody with your mouth, and your heart does not love them, that you are like a person standing there smashing two cymbals together. You are only annoying everybody around you. I think that is very beautiful and true."
We read this kind of teaching, and we think to ourselves, "Lord increase our faith." I don't see how I can do it! I think it was Oswald Chambers who said that the Sermon on the Mount is not a blueprint for Christian living, rather it is a description of the supernatural life that is utterly impossible without the life of Christ abiding within us. We know that it is the love of God that will touch the heart of man, but when we go to "reflect that love", sometimes it seems to go all wrong. Or many times it just doesn't go at all; we often don't seem to be in a very "reflective" mood.
It comes back to living the "extraordinary". How can I do it? Paul says that "God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us" (Romans 5:5). The Holy Spirit of God comes into our lives, and we are enabled to live a life filled with the supernatural love of God. It sounds easy, and quite simple, but it is a life-long pursuit of abiding and learning to trust in the Holy Spirit and his work in us.
I've been reading the biography of Samuel Logan Brengle, the great Salvation Army author, and here is the description of the day when he felt that he had truly experienced the Spirit of God: "I awoke that morning hungering and thirsting just to live this life of fellowship with God. Getting out of bed about six o'clock with that desire, I opened my Bible and while reading some of the words of Jesus, he gave me such a blessing as I never had dreamed a man could have this side of heaven. It was an unutterable revelation. It was a heaven of love that came into my heart. My soul melted like wax before the fire. I sobbed. I walked out over Boston Commons before breakfast, weeping for joy and praising God. Oh, how I loved. In that hour I knew Jesus, and I love him till it seemed my heart would break. I was filled with love for all his creatures. I heard the little sparrows chattering. I loved them. I saw a little worm wriggling across my path; I stepped over it; I didn't want to hurt any living thing. I loved the dogs. I loved the horses. I loved the little urchins on the street. I loved the strangers who hurried past me. I loved the heathen. I loved the whole world!"
The early church fathers used to echo Brengle's words. They said that the presence of the Holy Spirit would bring a baptism of love that would be beyond anything we could naturally create or understand. It is that love which will change the hearts of men and women.
We are called to love. Not just the people that we like or think are worthy of our love, but all people--good or bad, pretty or ugly, nice or nasty. We are to love. It comes only by the Holy Spirit of God. As we seek him, he will enable us to do that which we could never do ourselves. Lord teach me to love.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Our horrible hungry heron
Living near the river, as we do, we almost daily see all kinds of wild waterfowl. Geese, swans, ducks, terns, black cormorants can be seen overhead on a regular basis. Each one of them is amazing to watch. I still stop in my tracks when I see a flock of geese passing by. But there is nothing quite like watching a heron in full flight. With its massive wingspan and its graceful flight, it is truly a beauty of creation. However... herons have a down side.
We have a small pond in our back garden, and when we moved into our house a few years ago we were delighted to see that the pond had a nice stock of gold fish, white gold fish, black pond fish, and other lovely species. But two years ago, we experienced the first of our visits by a heron. (Why they can't be satisfied with the fish in the river is beyond me.) One morning I looked out and this creature that is so beautiful when in flight, was looking pretty ugly to me as it was gulping down as many of our pond fish as it could get down its long, slim throat. The pond wasn't emptied of fish, but we suffered some pretty heavy losses.
I went out and bought a few tiny fish and began the process of restocking the pond. Last spring, which seems to be when the heron comes around, we were ready for it. We had the pond covered with wire strands to deter it from landing in our pond, and we tried to keep a vigilant watch for its invasive maneuvers. We made it through the year with no problems.
Then this past Monday morning at 7.20, I got a phone call from a neighbour boy. He said, "Bruce, you've got a heron on your roof. You better watch your fish." I went tearing out of the house and scared the big bird off, but within the hour it was back. Standing nearly 3 feet tall, it is a formidable and beautiful sight. But it was a sight I didn't want in my back garden. We put one of our dogs near the pond, and we tried to keep an eye out for the bird, but we weren't really watching like we should. Also, the wire netting over the pond wasn't in the best shape, because we're in the process of selling our house, so we haven't really been diligent in keeping up with the maintenance of things that we'll soon be taking down anyway.
Tuesday we had to go out for the day, and when we got back three bricks had been knocked from the edge of the pond into the water. But the fish were still there. I didn't really do anything further to deter the ravenous creature, and Wednesday morning I had to chase it away yet again. When I went to have a look at the pond, to my dismay I saw that virtually every fish was no longer with us. The heron had won the day.
This started me thinking about the way we guard the things in our life that really matter. (I have to be honest and admit that while I enjoyed the fish in the pond, I didn't spend most of Wednesday night weeping for their loss. They didn't remember me from one day to the next anyway.) Just like the heron, there are things that are out there always ready to cause us problems and bring loss to our lives. It may have been one or two years since we last encountered them, but they are still always around.
Some of these things are out in the world--sin, lusts, temptations, or as Peter says, the devil acting as a roaring lion looking for somebody to devour. We are to be on our guard, always aware that there is a battle going on, a battle with serious consequences. But other things are in our own hearts. Jesus said the problem with humans is not on the outside, but on the inside. It's the heart that drives these things and creates the problems. I guess that's why Proverbs admonishes us: "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life" (4:23).
I recognise that too often I get comfortable, and I forget that I am to be in a constant state of vigilant watching. It's easy to think that we've defeated a particular weakness in our lives, but the human heart is deceitful, and just when we think we've got the "all clear", look out! Here comes that same dastardly habit or bitterness or weakness again. We've got to be watchful of all things.
I guess it all starts with recognising the condition of our own heart. I remember the story of G.K. Chesterton, the great British writer. One of the London newspapers asked people to write in and say what they thought was wrong with the world at that time. Chesterton wrote to the editor and said, "Dear Sir, what is wrong with the world? I am. Yours sincerely, G.K. Chesterton." Recognising our own heart condition will mean that we also recognise the need for vigilance concerning ourselves. It will also mean that we have a lot less time for criticising and correcting everybody else around us.
We live in a world that is fallen. This isn't our final destination, but for now we live here. It pays to be diligent in keeping up a guard against Satan, the world, and our own heart. For the sake of my God, his church, and my family, I need to keep a watchful eye and an alert spirit, because I don't want those spiritual herons swooping in and robbing us of something that is precious and of eternal value while I'm having a lazy day, or in some cases, a lazy year.
"Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord;
keep watch over the door of my lips.
Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil,
to take part in wicked deeds
with men who are evildoers;
let me not eat of their delicacies" (Psalm 141:3-4).
We have a small pond in our back garden, and when we moved into our house a few years ago we were delighted to see that the pond had a nice stock of gold fish, white gold fish, black pond fish, and other lovely species. But two years ago, we experienced the first of our visits by a heron. (Why they can't be satisfied with the fish in the river is beyond me.) One morning I looked out and this creature that is so beautiful when in flight, was looking pretty ugly to me as it was gulping down as many of our pond fish as it could get down its long, slim throat. The pond wasn't emptied of fish, but we suffered some pretty heavy losses.
I went out and bought a few tiny fish and began the process of restocking the pond. Last spring, which seems to be when the heron comes around, we were ready for it. We had the pond covered with wire strands to deter it from landing in our pond, and we tried to keep a vigilant watch for its invasive maneuvers. We made it through the year with no problems.
Then this past Monday morning at 7.20, I got a phone call from a neighbour boy. He said, "Bruce, you've got a heron on your roof. You better watch your fish." I went tearing out of the house and scared the big bird off, but within the hour it was back. Standing nearly 3 feet tall, it is a formidable and beautiful sight. But it was a sight I didn't want in my back garden. We put one of our dogs near the pond, and we tried to keep an eye out for the bird, but we weren't really watching like we should. Also, the wire netting over the pond wasn't in the best shape, because we're in the process of selling our house, so we haven't really been diligent in keeping up with the maintenance of things that we'll soon be taking down anyway.
Tuesday we had to go out for the day, and when we got back three bricks had been knocked from the edge of the pond into the water. But the fish were still there. I didn't really do anything further to deter the ravenous creature, and Wednesday morning I had to chase it away yet again. When I went to have a look at the pond, to my dismay I saw that virtually every fish was no longer with us. The heron had won the day.
This started me thinking about the way we guard the things in our life that really matter. (I have to be honest and admit that while I enjoyed the fish in the pond, I didn't spend most of Wednesday night weeping for their loss. They didn't remember me from one day to the next anyway.) Just like the heron, there are things that are out there always ready to cause us problems and bring loss to our lives. It may have been one or two years since we last encountered them, but they are still always around.
Some of these things are out in the world--sin, lusts, temptations, or as Peter says, the devil acting as a roaring lion looking for somebody to devour. We are to be on our guard, always aware that there is a battle going on, a battle with serious consequences. But other things are in our own hearts. Jesus said the problem with humans is not on the outside, but on the inside. It's the heart that drives these things and creates the problems. I guess that's why Proverbs admonishes us: "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life" (4:23).
I recognise that too often I get comfortable, and I forget that I am to be in a constant state of vigilant watching. It's easy to think that we've defeated a particular weakness in our lives, but the human heart is deceitful, and just when we think we've got the "all clear", look out! Here comes that same dastardly habit or bitterness or weakness again. We've got to be watchful of all things.
I guess it all starts with recognising the condition of our own heart. I remember the story of G.K. Chesterton, the great British writer. One of the London newspapers asked people to write in and say what they thought was wrong with the world at that time. Chesterton wrote to the editor and said, "Dear Sir, what is wrong with the world? I am. Yours sincerely, G.K. Chesterton." Recognising our own heart condition will mean that we also recognise the need for vigilance concerning ourselves. It will also mean that we have a lot less time for criticising and correcting everybody else around us.
We live in a world that is fallen. This isn't our final destination, but for now we live here. It pays to be diligent in keeping up a guard against Satan, the world, and our own heart. For the sake of my God, his church, and my family, I need to keep a watchful eye and an alert spirit, because I don't want those spiritual herons swooping in and robbing us of something that is precious and of eternal value while I'm having a lazy day, or in some cases, a lazy year.
"Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord;
keep watch over the door of my lips.
Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil,
to take part in wicked deeds
with men who are evildoers;
let me not eat of their delicacies" (Psalm 141:3-4).
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