Posted in Uncategorized

healing words.

Others have said it already – “Salvation means creation healed.” I pray these words can provide a quiet moment spent listening to the heart of the healer.

“healing words.” (a spoken word poem)

In this left-brained world with anxieties hurled once for every breath
With very little left in the well from which we draw
We find it easy to name, but less permission gained to take a pause
To cease inspecting our flaws, or applying gauze to fresh wounds
To step back and give room,
from being those who consume
To be those who receive
You may not even believe, but for a moment, allow
Unfurrow your brow, and close your eyes, just for now
Open the door to the brain on the right, imagine the light
That illuminates not a fight, but a peace,
As anxieties cease, not that we decrease our thought
But we are no longer caught up in the logic of despair
Finding care that reaches out in our direction
Slowing down for reflection upon such a choice,
we hear a voice
One that has been whispering since we were born…

“I was there when you were formed. Before you were even given name
I assembled your frame within the womb. As a groom pursues his bride,
I’ve opened my arms wide that you might abide here with me.
But you see, this world is not what I had in mind
The free will that blinds humanity, convinced of their own way
Has caused so much delay in the life I have willed
So many dreams, stilled by my gracious approach
Not wanting to encroach or force my own
Not to impose my throne, yet unable to deny
To turn away from me, is to choose to die
For I Am, Love and Life itself, a wealth that runs deeper than gold
No matter what you’ve been sold, you’re set free from all your debts
Here my forgiveness begets New beginning
Whether you’re swimming upstream, or just barely up to surface
Feeling you don’t deserve this, because shame is in season
But there is no reason from me to turn, nothing here to earn
All that is given for free, completely
My child, I desire to bless
I invite you to come and confess, not because I don’t already know
But to show a heart that is open, beyond just hoping
This will be the best choice in a long line of empty reminders
Blinders to the Love I’ve offered all along
Noise that has drowned out my song of delight
Morning, noon, and night,
I’ve always sung over you, that you might hear
Know that you are so dear, I’ve watched you – responding to fear
Unclear about your story. I assure you, you were born for glory.
But not the kind this world entices, by distractions and vices,
The deceiver aims to keep you moving, always disapproving
But never slowing, feeling like you’re owing
A debt you could never afford, its’ payments become your lord
But the cord stretches so thin, it begins to disappear
You forget what keeps you from being right here
Come closer, I Am, Jesus.

You’ve been pulled by strings impossible to see
But hear me – I’ve cut through them all.
You are free, even free to fall.
For anytime you call, I’m there already
Arms steady and strong, reminding you belong
To something much more grand
A glory this world does not understand
But I’ve planned a New beginning
Much more than simply winning
And already being revealed
As all wounds are healed in humanity and creation
As every tongue and every nation are united
All that once divided, burned away
So for today, stay.
Hear my heart for healing.
Join my love in revealing what’s in store
Not just as treatment, but as cure.
From all that brings dis-ease
My Love is that which frees”

Posted in Different Scriptures, Uncategorized

He “lives”?

“..songs affect what we think because of repetition – singing the same songs over a period of years embeds the message; and when music is added to the text, an emotional element is introduced that causes greater attachment to the message of the song.” (Constance Cherry, The Worship Architect, 2010)helives

The above statement carries all sorts of implications for the music we listen to, the music we encourage our kids to listen to, etc.  But here we are asking about the words that shape our theology and faith over time.  Modern songs get a pretty hefty (and often deserved) criticism at times for their vague or shallow theology.  But there are plenty of songs (I’m looking at you, “I’ll Fly Away”) that we love to sing, that we should also be careful to examine/balance with Biblical teaching/awareness.

Today I’m asking us to re-examine the words of a song most of us probably sang over the weekend.  “He Lives” (#220 if you’d rather not use the screen), is a classic hymn with some great reminders in it.  “I serve a risen Savior, He’s in the world today.”  What a hope-filled offer for us to live toward!  But on further review of the entire song, there’s something significant missing from it: a resurrected Jesus.

Let’s pretend you don’t have it memorized for a moment, and examine the chorus:

He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today,
He walks with me and talks with me along life’s narrow way.
He lives, He lives, salvation to impart!
You ask me how I know He lives?
He lives within my heart.

Yes! Amen.  I love it.  I sing it loudly, and I even hold out the final “LIIIIIIIIVES” until the lack of breath begins to turn my lungs inside out.  Yet the Jesus in this song is not the physically resurrected Jesus we celebrate visiting His disciples and revealing His scars.  I’m not saying Jesus couldn’t visit us physically, either recognizably or hiding his identity (both are seen in post-resurrection accounts).  But I’m saying when most of us sing this chorus (and the rest of the song), we’re probably actually referring to the SPIRIT of Jesus at best…and the idea of Jesus at worst.

Yes, I believe the “presence” of Jesus we have been given through the Holy Spirit, and a God who is omnipresent/immanuel is “God With Us”.   That means so much of the song still rings true.  But if we lift this song up as our primary “Easter Song”, we can miss something vital to our faith:

We believe Jesus was physically resurrected ahead of all things.  That all humanity who have died or will die, continue to wait for a full and coming revealing of God’s fullness at which point we will all share in the same physical and bodily resurrection.

He does not “walk with me and talk with me” the same way He walked and talked with the disciples who saw him after the resurrection. Why? Because he has physically gone to be with the Father, to a location many simply refer to as “Paradise” (using Luke 23:43).  A place where it seems both non-resurrected beings (like the thief), and resurrected beings (only Jesus, for now) can be together in God’s presence as we await the final return of Jesus.

The promise and hope of the resurrection isn’t that Jesus has returned spiritually to “be in our hearts”, and help us not feel lonely along the paths we walk.  That’s one of the blessings of the encourager He has given us (Holy Spirit).  But the promise and hope we receive as we celebrate the resurrected Jesus are found in 1 Corinthians 15 (take a moment to read it!).  In Jesus we see the “first fruits” of all New Creation, and an example of what God has in store for all of us – our loved ones, and creation itself!

This is a foundational truth, and one of the greatest things we can clarify to a world that assumes we all think Jesus is a spiritual being hiding in our hearts that helps us to be “good behaving people”.  The Holy Spirit can help transform our hearts and minds, and the grace of God is actively moving to heal/restore the image of our Loving God He intended in creation.   But we believe there is much more to celebrate in Jesus, and much more hope for the embodied lives we live today.  These physical bodies (and this physical world) are tied deeply to the New Creation we believe will exist fully someday.  So caring for others, for creation, and for ourselves happens in fully embodied ways.  There are so many things still to say here, but plenty have already said them.  I just wanted to throw out a quick reminder.

For more on this, check out: Surprised by Hope by NT Wright, Salvation Means Creation Healed by Howard Snyder, and Earthen Vessels Matthew Anderson