Passions of the Soul

The Gardner, the Vine and the Branches

In John 15, vv. 1 and 2, Jesus speaks of Himself in relation to His Father: He calls Himself the "true vine" and His Father "the gardner" who cuts every unfruitful branch from the vine. We who call ourselves by His Name are the "branches."

From there, Jesus speaks at some length about the relationship between Himself and us, further developing the vine-branches motif. The whole passage describes so beautifully the way we are to live in relation to Him; that relationship was designed by His and our Father with a specific purpose in mind: that we should bear fruit to advance His work in the world.

I use an NIV* study Bible, because I appreciate the study notes at the bottom of each page on which scripture text appears. Sometimes, the notes simply refer to one or more other scripture references. Other times, the notes add context, some insight into the culture, the environment, or the established religion, its rules and its practices. Now and then, I read a note, or part of one, that so illuminates a verse that it seems to me to be inspired.

Here, for example, is v. 16, which reads,

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit —fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you."

The study note actually exemplifies two purposes that I identified, above: It offers some insight into the culture and the established religion and its practices; the underlined portion seemed downright inspired, when it elicited an "Ooooh!" from me:

'I chose you . . . bear fruit . . . ask.' Disciples normally chose the particular rabbi to whom they wanted to be attached, but it was not so with Jesus' disciples. He chose them, and for a purpose--the bearing of fruit. We usually desire a strong prayer life in order that we may be fruitful, but here it is the other way around. Jesus enables us to bear fruit, and then the Father will hear our prayers.

Jesus turned so many ideas, beliefs, traditions and practices on their heads. Here, He makes it clear that He enables us to bear fruit, when we allow Him to work in us and through us. "And then the Father will hear our prayers." I want my Father to hear my prayers.

Of course, unless we spend time in His word, not only reading, but meditating on what we read and then doing whatever it says (see James 1:22-25), Jesus will probably be hampered in bearing good fruit in or through us. Equally important is spending time, each day and even throughout the days, in conversation with our Father and learning to listen for His voice. So, yes, we need to be obedient and in tune with His Spirit, but we do not need to strive to bear fruit; He will enable us to do that.

*NIV = New International Version

Lay Down, or Die?

[I first drafted this post on February 24, 2012. It has sat ever so quietly in the Draft folder, until I opened the folder and took it out, a short while ago.]

I John 3:16 - "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers."

Ephesians 5:25 - "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her."

Back in May, 1972--it might have been 1973--I sat in a Layman's Retreat in Prescott, AZ, over a weekend. The speaker was my former professor and much loved friend, Reuben Welch. That weekend, we all listened to Reuben bring light and life to I John. Tempting though it is for me to try to capsulize the four messages of the weekend, I will focus on just one part: What does it mean that Christ laid down His life for us, and for us to lay down our lives for the brothers (other believers)? The basic interpretation comes from Reuben's teaching, but as I read in I John 3 several days ago, I nearly jumped out of my seat as my understanding hit Refresh and broadened, just a bit.

The basic idea: The verb that is translated lay down life is not the verb to die; it means put it down--as in, put it on the table; put it down over there; just lay it down wherever you see a place. That kind of laying it down. Our troops who are or have been overseas lay, or have laid down their lives for us, every day, and too many of them have died, in the process.

Caveat: I realize Bible scholars often disagree on such translations or meanings, in part, because they rely on differing manuscripts. I allow for that possibility in this instance, but I offer two qualifiers: 
    - First, Reuben studied Hebrew under a rabbi, while in seminary; later, he taught New Testament Greek at Point Loma Nazarene University, in San Diego, AZ. 
    - Second, I, not a Bible scholar, am writing now out of my own reading of the verses and passages identified. 

Continuing: Some of the ways Jesus laid down His life for us, before He died for us: He left His home in heaven, where He enjoyed the worship of the angels, the love of His Father, the glory of His throne; where He acted in creation--it was Christ who created the heavens and the earth, and "without him, nothing was made that was made" (John 1:1-3). He left all of that to come to the earth He had created and to live among the people he had made (John 1:14).

While here, He laid down His divinity (Philippians 2:6-8*), spoke only the words that the Father gave Him and acted only as the Father directed Him. In short, He lived as we ought to live, in total dependence on the Father--which does not mean excising our brains, but living in full humility as children of God and branches of the Vine (John 15). (I am not preaching, I'm processing!)

Here is what I read last week, in I Jn. 16-18:

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

How often have we said or heard someone else say, "Love is an action verb"? It's true! As I read this passage, what jumped out at me is simply this: To lay down our lives for others means sharing with others in need out of who we are and what we have. This passage speaks of material possessions, but with time and study, I'll bet I could make a case for extrapolating it: Laying down my life means not holding back. It means acting as I can, where I see a need.

In fact, I now remember that, in trying to help us understand what it meant to lay down our lives, Reuben contrasted that concept with holding back on who we are and what we have.

But what does this have to do with the verse in Ephesians 5? That was the reading for today per our church's Bible reading plan for 2012. There I discovered that, even in the study note for v. 25, the words "Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her" are interpreted in terms of His death. As I read on, my mind said, "Nooooooo!" If the context of death is correct, then Paul's admonition to husbands to love their wives "as Christ loved the church" has to mean that husbands are to die for their wives. I don't want my husband to die for me!

But Bruce does lay his life down for me every single day, in a wide variety of ways. He so often does little things, simply because he knows they will make a piece of life easier for me, whether it's removing the inner seal on the next half-gallon of milk or moving a load of laundry from the washer to the dryer. He shows his love for me in a hundred different ways, every day. Or at least fifty different ways.

So there you have it. The scriptures cited, according to Vicki: Whether it's laying down our lives or giving ourselves up for our spouses or others, when we do so, we are loving as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her . . . for us, praise God.

Philippians 2:6-8:

⁶Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
⁷ rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death —
        even death on a cross!

"Drop Jesus to Appeal to More People!"

That was, in essence, the recommendation of marketing consultants to the executive leadership team of Compassion International, some years back. But the executive leadership team, being made up of believers who really believe, did just the opposite.

At that time, the "tagline," or whatever it might have been called at the time, said simply, "Releasing children from poverty." No "Jesus" there, just in the Mission Statement, the 4C's of Compassion, and in the day-to-day work of releasing children from poverty. So what did these executive-types do with the recommendation?

They changed all of their marketing materials, letterhead, business cards--everything that the old line appeared on was changed, all the way to the sign in front of the building. The line now reads, "Releasing children from poverty in Jesus' name"! Read why and how, and the affect on the children and their families, when they are loved, developed and cared for in Jesus' name. Shaun Groves has laid it all out beautifully.

Oh--the Epilogue: Compassion International has done nothing but grow, in sponsorships (phenomenal growth!) and financial support, in the years since that infamous recommendation was made . . . even through our Great Recession, from which we are still recovering.

Rejoicing in Suffering

I typed the words in the title, despite the argument going on in my mind. One side says the words Rejoicing and Suffering don't even belong in the same sentence. But a Higher Authority says otherwise:

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. Romans 5:1-5

(Note that Paul did not say we rejoice because of our sufferings, but in them.) I had read this passage many times; in fact, it was already underlined, in my Bible. But the changes in my physical well-being, this past year made the sentence in the middle jump out at me.

I have grappled for the past six months with the question of how to live with pain, every day, and remain upbeat, joyful in spite of suffering (which is not what Paul wrote, but I'm working on it!), trusting that God has His reason for not answering the many prayers that have been prayed for my healing. And I do trust Him for having a reason, and therefore, I wait on Him; remaining upbeat and joyful, in spite of pain and in pain--? Hey, I'm still working on accepting that this is now my life, and it is a different life than what I lived before the pain got bad enough to drive me into surgery.

My goal is not "positive thinking," "positive affirmations," or unfounded optimism. My goal is a quiet and trusting spirit.

The passage quoted above does not tell us how to rejoice in our sufferings. But it does go on to tell us why: They produce perseverance, which produces character, which produces hope.

[The paragraph that was here is better developed in my Update on Rejoicing in Suffering, 02/05/2012.]

I have two choices: I can slide into self-pity and become a whiner and a complainer, thus ruining the rest of my life, and Bruce's life, as well. Or I can let Christ's strength be made perfect in my weakness and learn to rejoice in the pain. I can find ways to compensate for at least some of the changes in my life. And I can be open to however God wants to use me, still.

Surprised by Grace in a God-Forsaking Place

Title:  The Grace Effect: How the Power of One Life Can Reverse the Corruption of Unbelief *****
Author:  Larry Alex Taunton
Published by Thomas Nelson, 2011
Kindle Edition

What on earth would lead a child who had spent her entire existence in one orphanage or another, in a country that had plunged ever deeper into the abyss of Godlessness, to pray to God? Under a government whose policies continued to dismiss the poor, the weak, the disabled and the orphan as worthless, and which continued to deny the existence of God, how would a child know to pray to anyone, let alone a Being she could not see?

          Sasha, ten years old, had entered her first orphanage right after her birth. No one had any idea who, or where, her mother was, or if she was alive. Sasha was not only an orphan: She was HIV-positive and, by the time the Tauntons met her, had rickets. She had survived in a system that did not care whether she survived, or not, but wanted her off the streets and off their minds.

          One day, an adoption facilitator the Tauntons would later meet walked into Orphanage #17 and found Sasha, who normally was vivacious, despite her physical condition, in tears. Nobody around wanted to tell him why, but finally one child did: Sasha had been attacked by a teenaged boy. That night, Sasha prayed for a real family, with a mother and a father.

          Taunton’s narrative of his family’s trip to Ukraine to finalize their adoption of Sasha, not so many years after she had prayed, gripped me, as the pitfalls and the possibilities for failure lay waiting at every turn. At any time, any of the Ukrainian “players” could have stopped the whole process; one bribe too few or too small, or one judge having a bad day or too lacking in care for a child, and the family could have been sent home without Sasha, forever.

          Sasha’s resilience, faith and hope throughout the proceedings reflected what Taunton refers to as “the [Christian] grace effect.” I cannot explain that nearly as well as he has done in this book, but he has left me much more aware of the many ways my own life is touched by grace. He has also left me sobered by his discussion of how a nation moves gradually but steadily down the road to losing the gentling effect of grace, toward the ultimate end of abject denial of the human soul, of God, of any purpose in life.

          The Grace Effect fascinated me, took hold of me, and hasn’t let me go. I not only recommend it; I urge you to read it. Will you agree with it? I cannot guarantee that, but if it doesn’t make you think, then your mind is closed, perhaps irrevocably. I hope that is not so. I give The Grace Effect five ****. 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze program. TN did not require me to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

 

Lessons Learned from a Good Outcome of 9-11

Title: Thunder Dog: The True Story of a Blind Man, His Guide Dog, and the Triumph of Trust at Ground Zero
Authors: Michael Hingson and Susy Flory
Publisher: Thomas Nelson – Kindle edition

Exactly what I expected from this book, I’m not sure. Is it a good 9-11 story? Yes, indeed—a bit unnerving, even, at times, although there was certainly no question as to the outcome: Michael and guide dog Roselle obviously made it out alive, along with Michael’s friend and co-worker, David Frank. 

But suspense was never the point; the point was how they made it out and how that story ties in with Michael’s life-long blindness and what we can all learn about blindness and interacting with blind people, as a result. At least, I think that is the point; I found myself wondering, many times, just what the main point of the book really was: Was the main point that they survived, despite Hingson’s blindness, by walking down almost 1500 stairs in Tower 1? Or was the 9-11 story the vehicle through which Hingson and Flory could educate the masses about blindness and how sighted people can interact with the blind without looking, ourselves, like total idiots? 

I think the latter option is true; certainly, that is how it turned out. I learned a lot from the book, not the least important point being that blindness does not render a person deaf, unintelligent, or incapable of doing anything for him- or herself. Not that I thought it did; yet, many sighted people act as though any or all of those are true. According to Hingson, blindness is not the tragedy many of us think it would be, if we were suddenly to lose our sight. Still, I suspect it would seem more tragic to me, at this stage of my life, that if I had lived with it from birth. But according to Hingson, putting up with the ignorance of most of the public with regard to blindness and dealing with the blind is perhaps the biggest hurdle a blind person faces—and faces virtually every day. 

Thunder Dog is worth reading, if only for the chance to learn a wealth of information, in one volume, about blindness and how to interact with blind people without robbing them of dignity and looking like an idiot. But the format--the interweaving the 9-11 story with Hingson’s life experiences as a blind child, adolescent and adult—often felt disjointed to me. I often found myself really “into” whichever part of the total story I was reading, only to be jerked back to the alternate story with little or no transition. I’m not sure whether a single volume with Parts 1 and 2—the two main story lines of the book--would have worked; it may be that the connections would be lost, altogether. Most likely, all that was needed were smooth transitions—easily followed segues.

I am a re-reader; I often turn to books I have previously enjoyed and read them again and again and…you get the idea. I am glad I read this book, but I don’t know that I’ll read it again. I do think you should read it, and maybe give it to someone who has a need to learn about blindness to help him or her cope with the blindness of a loved one, a co-worker, or some other person.

It might be a good gift (it is available in audiobook format, unabridged) for someone who is losing or has lost his or her sight, and feels devastated. I suggest this because Hingson also says that far too many blind people believe the negative misconceptions about their blindness and allow that to limit their life experiences, unnecessarily. If hearing the book will help them live a fuller life, then it’s well worthwhile.

Grace Gift in My Life: Reuben

I have edited this blog post on 5/24/2012 to add the photo of Reuben; I don't know the exact date it was taken, but it is very recent.
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Today is Father's Day, and social networking sites are filled with good wishes and statements of love and gratitude to dads, some of whom have gone on ahead. I love to read those, especially when they give any example of what made Dad stand out for them. But they also make me aware of a hole in my life, and that has come into sharp relief, yesterday and today. 

Several months after my parents divorced, my dad left the state we lived in, never to return. I wish I could tell you that his going was a terrible loss--and in some ways, it was, only because I was nine years old and daddies are not supposed to go away, forever. But, in some instances, it's better that they do where there has been abuse, chaos caused by addictions, mental illness, or whatever; and yes, sometimes healing takes place and some degree of reconciliation may be possible. Reconciliation was not possible, for us, and Dad's going away forever was best. But this post is not about him.

Sometimes, at least, God brings other people into the life of a child with only one parent, or with parents who have such severe problems that they can not effectively parent their children. Last year, I wrote a post for Father's Day--my first, ever--to honor Tom Clendenen. Tom was the first such man to come into my life, for a season, and I loved him very much. And having reconnected several years ago and even enjoyed a visit, early this year, I assure you that I still do. He and Eva are still really neat people who loved a little girl who felt adrift.

Other men, youth pastors and a few others, filled the need for male role models in my life. I don't mean that they taught me how to be a good man; that would be silly. But they exemplified good, Christian men who could and did invest themselves in the lives of kids and teenagers, including my life. I am ever and forever grateful to them. Don Hughes, now gone ahead, and Norm Shoemaker tried to help mold me into a reasonably healthy, contributing, Christian young woman. That was a tall order, but they were committed, and I still tear up when I remember how important they were to me and how God used them in my life.

Before I reached college, Norm brought into our youth group a godly man and student of the scriptures to speak to us for a week of special gatherings. Reuben Welch had been a pastor and had come to the church-related college in our town as an assistant professor in the Religion department. A kinder, more humble, more genuine follower of Christ Jesus I have never met. I have met a few whom I would describe in the same words, but none has surpassed him. I do not mean to imply that any of them is perfect, never feels frustrated with the demands made on him, never says anything he might not have said, with a little more thought; after all, they aren't in heaven, yet.

When I entered the church college, Reuben became my advisor, as I had listed a major in Religion. But he became so much more to me than he ever bargained for. I sought him out often for nonacademic counseling; as he was not always available when I insisted I needed to talk to him now, I learned that I could survive while waiting until Friday. I also learned that, no matter what I told him about myself, he responded in love and compassion. He was my first recognized example of the unconditional nature of God's love; that does not mean no one I'd ever known loved me unconditionally, but I hadn't recognized it.

Because...

Easter 2011 is almost over, but for those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ, every day is Easter! I hereby commit myself, this year, to praising Him more, complaining less, and to acting more consistently in harmony with what I believe:  He lives, and therefore, I can live without fear, without worry. That will take continued practice, so feel free to remind me, anytime!

"Because He lives, I can face tomorrow
Because He lives, all fear is gone!
Because I know He holds the future
And life is worth the living, just because He lives!"

(Thanks to Bill Gaither for that song!)

How Good Is Your Friday?

I don't know about you, but I've often wondered why we call this "Good Friday," when it calls to mind a most brutal, inhumane death--the death of Jesus the Christ. Yes, others had been crucified before, and two other men were crucified with Him. But they were being punished for crimes they had committed, while He was being killed for who He was. Not a good day, in my book!

One year, I was especially struck with how utterly bereft His disciples must have felt. This Man, this Jesus, who had taught with such authority; this Man, who had lived like no one they had ever known, and who had called them to live as He lived; this Jesus, who showed such compassion and who also spoke such harsh words to the religious leaders (the "Robes") of His time; this Son of Man, in whom His disciples had placed all their hopes, all their dreams, was dead. Tortured by Roman tactics of the time, He was crucified on a cross--a horrible, horrible death.

The soldiers assigned to Jesus' crucifixion mocked Him and cast lots for His clothing. Yes, this same Jesus, who had committed no crime and hung as the pure, sacrificial lamb for the sins of the world and for my sins, hung naked for all to see. Robbed of strength, robbed of blood, robbed of his clothing, robbed of any human dignity, there He hung. And there He died.

For what purpose did He die? Where was the good in that? Oh, most people who know anything about Him, whether they accept Him as the Christ, the Savior that He is or not, most people know that He died to save us from our sins, to reconcile us to God the Father, and to make it possible for us to enjoy eternal life with Him. But what does that mean today? What does it mean to you?

Some of what it means to me is that I know God is at work in me and, amazingly, through me. He is not content with behavioral modification, although some of that is often desirable. He is all about transformation, changing me from the inside, out; renewing my mind, transforming my heart, my attitudes, my thoughts. Now. Here. In this life, He is transforming me . . . and He won't likely finish before I die. But I am very aware of some of the areas in which transformation has been taking place--and some of the areas where I desperately need transforming. It starts here, it starts when we put our faith in Jesus Christ. Our eternal life begins now.

The transforming power of God is possible, here and now, through the work of the Holy Spirit, because of what Jesus Christ suffered on what we now call Good Friday, and what God did with that two days later in raising Christ from the grave, to make my reconciliation to God and my eternal life with Him possible.

He makes this a very Good Friday!

Look at Jesus!

Reading this morning in Oswald Chambers*, I came across this verse at the bottom of his devotional for April 2:

Since mine eyes have looked on Jesus,
I've lost sight of all beside,
So enchained my spirit's vision,
Gazing at the crucified.

Several years ago, when I was struggling with a very old source of shame, I read this passage in the letter to the Hebrews:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (vv. 1-3)

I had read that passage many times before, but that morning, the Holy Spirit fine-tuned my understanding. I focused completely on the few words that I underlined, above, as the answer I needed for dealing with an old shame: I turned my heart and my mind--"fixed my eyes," as it were--on Jesus; shame is much too heavy a burden for me to carry, and when the sin** that brought it on is forgiven, shame loses its purpose.

Since that morning, whenever an old sin, an old habit, an old hang-up--call it what you want--captures my attention, I remember to look to Jesus. Sometimes, it takes me a while to remember, but when I do, I experience the freedom from enslavement that He offers us.

I needed Chambers' verse, this  morning, to remind me to get my eyes back on Jesus and off of the concerns that have distracted me for several days. Some situations are just more than I can handle. Remember the Serenity Prayer?

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
    the courage to change the things I can, and
        the wisdom to know the difference!

*  *  *

*My Utmost for His Highest," c. 1992, Oswald Chambers Publications Association, Ltd. Original edition c.1935, Dodd, Mead & Company, Inc. Copyright renewed 1963 by OCPA, Ltd.

**I recognize that shame comes both from our own sins, and from the sins of others against us that cause us to feel unworthy, inadequate, ashamed of who we are. I am not dealing, here, with the shame from those sources; however, I have come to believe that we see ourselves best, when we begin to see ourselves as God sees us--as His much-loved children, for whom He died and rose again, and whom He has gifted in various ways to serve Him by serving others for His purposes.