Thursday, April 27, 2017

When Jesus Drops In

In this high tech, fast paced world of get it done yesterday I feel we miss out on many things.  We miss out on taking it slow, breathing in deep and enjoying our families.  I have struggled with this for years, getting caught up in the “rat race” or the need to move at the speed of progress.  The desire to earn that extra dollar, and put in the extra few hours of work.  I have constantly set unreasonable expectations of myself and those around me and helping me.  Have you found yourself in the same boat?  Burnt out from the constant bombardment of tech and work and life in general; attached to the little screen in your pocket for work and then you turn to it to relax as well?

How much have I missed?  This is the question that plagues me over and over.  The better question is What have I missed?  Did I miss Jesus at work in my life?  When that friend asks me to lunch to just chat about life but I am too busy, did I miss Jesus telling me to slow down?  How about when I am sitting at McD’s eating breakfast and working on my sermon and some stranger walks up and says they have a question about the bible but I explain that now is not a good time for me; did I miss Jesus trying to save someone or trying to give me clarity of a verse? 

I get lost in the frenzy of life and not because I want to but I let it suck me in.  Several people asked me how my “Easter” Sunday was.  This is one of the biggest days of the year for me after all.  All I could think to say was “it came and went so fast I don’t really know how it was.”  We must force ourselves to STOP!  Stop and look for Jesus in our lives. He drops in everywhere we are and he is trying to have a relationship with us.  A relationship is something that you can’t just put on your schedule and plan it every day.  You must be ready always to engage in a relationship. 


This article is more rant than information and for that I do apologize but sometimes we just need to rant to hear our own voice.  We all need to stop, listen and look for Jesus around us.  He is there trying to engage us in a relationship.  We get so caught up in what matters to us and what makes us happy.  What brings us true happiness is serving God.  He wants us to be with Him and be about Him but we lose sight of that.  Let’s get back to the basics of just entering relationship with Jesus, serving him and following where he leads.  We need to be willing to engage when Jesus drops in. 

Thursday, March 2, 2017

Revenge Fantasies

Revenge fantasies, are they healthy?  There is a modern trend in Psychology that is saying, “yes fantasying about revenge is not only normal but healthy for a person.”  The idea is that as a victim you have no voice and that by being given the opportunity to live out a “fantasy of revenge” you gain strength and can be heard.  These fantasies are lived out in a controlled setting and not acted upon but just fantasized. 

I am not a psychologist or even a counselor of sorts.  So, I am not commenting on my opinion about such a system, but I do recognize in my life that I have relished such quiet times where I could plot a comeuppance for someone who has wronged me.  A boss, co-worker, or just the nagging satellite salesman at the store.  I understand and have partaken in the release that is felt through such fantasies and can understand the findings that I have read. 

But I don’t see this as a teaching of Jesus.  Paul, maybe, when he talks about being kind to your enemies as this heap burning coals on one’s head, but I think there could even be a historical debate about that language.  Today I want to focus on what Jesus says about the matter.  In Matthews words in Chapter 5:38-48 Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek, walk the extra mile and to love your enemy.  Jesus says life is not fantasying about revenge but to reaching out in love to your enemies. 

Many of us, myself included having looked at this from purely our American roots of “can do attitude” and have felt that Jesus must be a passivist.  Well per dictonary.com the definition of passive is “not reacting visibly to something that might be expected to produce manifestations of emotion or feeling.”  In other words a disengage of the one person to the actions of another.  But Jesus says to turn the other cheek, walk the extra mile, make them your friend.  What Jesus is saying is not passive but engaging the other person just from the standpoint of love, not anger. 

Jesus is not looking for us to lay down when beaten but to stand back up and pray for those that are beating you to be saved.  Jesus teachings were radical in the first century, and it is a radical thought today as well.  While modern psychology says, it’s okay to be a victim and fantasy about revenge Jesus says no it is not okay.  Jesus teaches to love those oppressing us.  When you love those, who try to victimize you remove their power.  Oppressors need you to be a victim, but if you refuse to act like one they can no longer oppress you, this is the radical teachings of Jesus. 

Jesus is looking for superheroes.  Jesus wants superheroes that can practice radical teachings.  The kind of hero that can stand for injustice without playing the victim card.  The kind that says I can love you even though you are trying to hurt me.  I can love you even though we do not agree.  I can love because I have been loved by the one who is love.  

Thursday, February 2, 2017

Atonement

Atonement.  If you were to look this word up the dictionary might say something to the effect, that is the paying for a wrong or a reconciliation of a wrong doing.  For the Christian, it is just that and so much more.  It is the reconnecting with our God that loves us through the blood of His son Jesus the Christ. 
There are some that do not understand this word, atonement, but for me, it holds a sacred meaning.  It means so much more than a payment made for my wrong.  To me, atonement means I can sit at eh foot of life’s biggest, meanest, most ferocious obstacles and have peace in my heart.   The peace is a sense of calm that tells me no matter how much pain is coming; the pain does not own me.  I belong to another.  I belong to someone who Loves me despite my shortcomings.  I am Lovable as well as Loved, and nothing this world can throw at me can take that away from me.

Sometimes I forget all of this and get caught up in the thorn in my life that has etched a rash into my soul.  I step back and realize the etching is because I have allowed it and I remember the Love I first felt.  The Grace and Mercy are flowing over me. Then I find joy, peace and rest at the foot of life’s obstacles. 

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

The Lord is my Righteousness

It has been a long time since my last post.  A lot of things have happened in my life, and that is all I am going to say about that.

Today I was looking at Jeremiah 23:6.  "The Lord is our righteousness."  That sounds strange.  "The Lord is Robert Brock's righteousness."  Putting your name in only makes it more so.  Try it, put your name in the blank.  "The Lord is _________ righteousness."  Uncomfortable? Odd? Maybe just awkward?

I struggle with seeing myself as anything close to perfect.  When I do surveys, I rarely give a perfect score because no one is perfect and there is always room for improvement especially in myself.  But that is not what God says here.  

If Jesus is my righteousness, then He is what perfects me.  I don't feel perfect.  I don't act perfectly.  I often find myself comparing myself to others that I feel are better than myself.  I see a father with his kids playing at the park, and I think to myself 'what a horrible parent I must be for not doing that with my children.' I hear other preacher's sermons, and I think 'WOW! If I could only preach like that.'  I hear about how healthy others are and what great shape they are in and think 'I am so lazy.'

 I don't feel perfect when I compare myself to others.  But I guess that is the point.  I am not perfect when compared to others; I am perfect because of Jesus and what he has done, not me.  It is not about me, it is, however, about Him and what He does for me.  Jesus makes me whole again. Jesus makes me perfect, so I don't have to compare myself to others.  Jesus takes away all of that anxiety, stress, and worry by making me perfect.  


Thank you, Lord.