St. Patrick: Sinner, Slave, Sent, Saint

by | Mar 17, 2014 | Learning Story

I am so oblivious sometimes. I am not wearing green. I’m not a hater; I like shamrocks, leprechaun hats, and the pictures of the St. Paddy’s Day race put on by our local Irish pub. (Though I admit green beer at 8:30 a.m. befuddles me…) But I am so curious. So when my calendar reminded me today is St. Patrick’s day, I studied up on him again.Here is his story of grace in 5 s’s:

1. Acknowledged Sinner: St. Patrick writes in his confessions, “And He watched over me before I knew Him and before I learned sense or even distinguished between good and evil.”

2. Slave: Born around 390 A.D., Patrick was kidnapped from his home in Roman Britain at 16 years old  (some legends say by Irish pirates) Under the harsh and lonely conditions of an enslaved shepherd, he converted to Christianity (I could not find out how). After six years, he fled Ireland and returned home to Britain.

3. Sent: Patrick studied theology. Twenty-five years after his return, God sent him back to the place of his enslavement to bring the gospel good news to the captives. Really cool fact: One impact of his ministry was to explain gospel freedom to the women of Ireland, who at the time were treated like possessions. He taught them that they were free in Christ and belonged to God alone.

4. Saint: When Patrick died on March 17, 461, he was largely forgotten.Many years later, he was made patron saint of Ireland.

5. St. Patrick’s Day: The Irish did not celebrate the day as many in America do until the 1970’s. St. Patrick’s Day as the celebration of parades and wearing green was largely invented in America by Irish soldiers fighting in the revolutionary war. While researching,

I discovered this beautiful prayer written by St. Patrick: “God, my God, omnipotent King, I humbly adore thee. Thou art King of kings, Lord of lords. Thou art the Judge of every age. Thou art the Redeemer of souls. Thou art the Liberator of those who believe. Thou art the Hope of those who toil. Thou art the Comforter of those in sorrow. Thou art the Way to those who wander. Thou art Master to the nations. Thou art the Creator of all creatures. Thou art the Lover of all good. Thou art the Prince of all virtues. Thou art the joy of all Thy saints. Thou art life perpetual. Thou art joy in truth. Thou art the exultation in the eternal fatherland. Thou art the Light of light. Thou art the Fountain of holiness. Thou art the glory of God the Father in the height. Thou art Savior of the world. Thou art the plenitude of the Holy Spirit. Thou sittest at the right hand of God the Father on the throne, reigning for ever.”

Your Name: A Pearl of Great Price

by | Mar 10, 2014 | Learning Story

My daughter created this for me with an app. When I look at my initials, I think about my many names and the stories that go along with them.

My daughter created this for me with an app. When I look at my initials, I think about my many names and the stories that go along with them.

I swear I did not put him up to it. It’s just my husband’s natural curiosity that leads him to ask random questions of complete strangers. Though in this case, she was our waitress, and she did tell us her name, and it was an unusual name, so it actually made perfect sense to me that he would ask her what it meant, though I think my daughter might have had a brief, “Oh, Dad” moment.

Perla? he asked. What does your name mean? She flashed a beautiful smile and shrugged.
“I’m not really sure — my parents are hispanic, and I guess they thought it was a pretty name.”

It troubled me slightly. I’m so much in the habit of making meaning and searching for stories that I’ve been told more than once, “You’re overthinking this.”

But it also came two days before five women and I will meet to search for stories, beginning with an exploration of our names.

Names are significant, says Scripture. In Genesis 1, God creates and he names:
“God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night” (Gen. 1:5a).

In Isaiah 43, Isaiah delivers God’s promise to care for his people even in the painful exile they have brought on themselves with these words,
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.”

And one day, Revelation tells us, God will gives us our new name, the unknown but intensely personal name we await.

So of course I wondered about Perla. No hint of accent on her tongue. No interest in her hispanic name. Would knowing more of the story of her ancestry only bring pain? Was it a story her parents did not want to tell? If so, why did they give her that name?

Did she not even know that it means “pearl,” as in “pearl of great price”? (Or could it be related to that heart-wrenching short story by Steinbeck, the one where the family loses what is most precious for a pearl of no worth?) (Now you see why people think I overthink things:-).

I hope Perla asks her parents about her name now. What about you?
Do you know your name? Do you know what part of your story it tells?
Do you know that God names you as his redeemed, precious possession?
How do you feel about being named by God?

If you are interested in investing six weeks in learning more about your name, story, and calling, please contact me. I am offering both group and individual coaching around this topic.

God’s Love Answers God’s Wrath

by | Feb 28, 2014 | Learning Story

Flannery O'Connor QuoteHere it is, the final day of February, the final day (ha-ha) of focusing on love. With Lent beginning next week, it seems like a good time to talk about that odd and these days, much debated, theological doctrine: ATONEMENT. This word perhaps describes God’s least-understood, most-loving act.

You may or may not know that some modern churches have decided that the whole concept is too violent for God and have decided in their human wisdom to omit it from their core beliefs. These folks might agree with Dorothy Sayers’ hilarious caricature of the doctrine:

“God wanted to damn everybody, but his vindictive sadism was sated by the crucifixion of his own Son, who was quite innocent, and, therefore, a particularly attractive victim. He now only damns people who don’t follow Christ or who have never heard of him.” Dorothy Sayers

N.B. (Nota Bene — my Latin-literate son told me that means “note well”) — Sayers was making fun of this understanding, not agreeing with it.

And I get why people, myself included, feel confused about such a strange love. Here’s the thing — the only way for us humans to view the atonement is to acknowledge our upside down way of thinking. The wisdom of the gospel is the foolishness of the world, so we may need to stand on our heads to understand this theological doctrine/love story.

Here is a scaled-down explanation of atonement:

1. Definition:
Composed of two basic words, with a suffix: “at” “one” “-ment.” It refers to the “at-one-ness” between God and his people as a result of Christ’s sacrifice.
2. Old Testament background:
According to the covenant of law that God made with Moses and the Israelites, God’s people were required to keep the Ten Commandments. If they did not, they had to make “atonement”—a sacrifice for their sin—to restore relationship with God. There was a “Day of Atonement” (Lev. 16:34), when the priest sprinkled the blood of a sacrificial goat on the “atonement cover” in the Most Holy Place.
3. The problem:
As Psalm 78:38 makes clear, this system of atonement would never be enough to make up for the Israelites’ repeated and rampant sin.
A few facts:
We are born sinners, whose hearts rebel against God (Rom. 3:23).
A permanent sacrifice for sins was necessary for unrighteous people to be united with a holy God (Ps. 5:4–6; Rom. 1:18).

4.God’s gracious response:
God sent his Son into the world to live and die for us. In his holiness and justice, God
removed his own wrath by offering the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, his sinless Son (Rom. 3:25). In his death on the cross, Christ became our substitute and did for us what we were powerless to do ourselves—paid the debt for our sins (1 John 2:2; Heb. 9:28).

5. The effect:
Those who trust in this sacrifice for salvation are reconciled to God,
adopted as sons (1 John 3:1–2),
created anew, and
redeemed to bear Christ’s love into the world (2 Cor. 5:17–21).

“It is one of the New Testament’s resounding paradoxes that it is God’s love that averts God’s
wrath from us, and indeed that it is precisely in this averting of wrath that we see what real love
is” —Leon Morris, “1 John,” New Bible Commentary

What do you think? What misconceptions or struggles do you or others have about atonement?
What do you see about your value to God in the atonement?

How Love Melts Frozen Hearts

by | Feb 12, 2014 | Learning Story

frozen heartAt the moment, ice heaps on massive branches throughout the south, threatening power lines and livelihood. I pray for healing warmth for those affected and I am struck again by how God melts frozen hearts.

The well-done Disney movie, Frozen, which many children and parents may watch today till they lose power, gives a lovely glimpse of redemption. If you’re not familiar with the movie, here is an oversimplified summary with a bit of a spoiler:

A young woman, Elsa, struggling with unwanted capacity to freeze life, decides to defend herself and protect others by creating an ice palace and icing anyone who threatens to get near her. Only a true act of sacrificial love can save her.

Though we may not have dark magic like Elsa’s, every one of us struggles with the capacity to ice our own hearts and others’. Our desire for love is a reflection of the glorious longings with which God created us. Our sin often drives us to seek other sources for filling our desires. The Bible says that little-g gods will ultimately numb our hearts. Like Elsa, we need a true act of sacrificial love to save us from our darkness.

The good news of the gospel is that God pursues frozen hearts relentlessly. God draws them out with grace and strength, not contempt and cruelty. Yes, he names the dark reality of his people’s unfaithfulness. God tells Hosea to deliver a threat about their “whoredom” (God’s words, not mine — Hosea 2):

“I will uncover their lewdness in the sight of her lovers. And no one shall rescue her out of my hand.” [my emphasis] Hosea 2:10

It sounds harsh at first reading. But then we realize, they – we – cannot be rescued out of God’s hand. (Back to the movie – I’m pretty sure what resonates with us is the faithful pursuit of Elsa’s heart to rescue her from her self-destruction). God adamantly refuses to let his people remain in their shame and darkness.

He allures his bride, drawing her into an intimate place, where he can speak tender words to her. He reminds her of who she is, created with glory, glowing with beauty. God knows his people. He knows they can’t just try hard enough and become forever faithful to him. He has always known. He has always loved.

Heart of loveIn honor of Valentine’s day, I am writing about love all month. What we glimpse in Frozen, what we know fully in the gospel, is that neither romantic nor erotic love can capture its wonder.

  • Love is a God who melted numb hearts with the warm blood of a human-divine Savior.
  • Love is a God who refused to give up on his people but allowed his Son’s blood to trickle until it grew cold in death.
  • Love is a God who restored the Savior’s heart to beat forever for us, and in doing so, set our hearts ablaze with new life.

This true act of sacrificial love melts our hearts, making them warm and fluid with his grace and mercy. The ice shatters, living water gushes, bright greens shoot forth, and loudly colored flowers bloom everywhere. (See Frozen for a great picture of this!) We laugh and we enjoy, God and others, frolicking in the glory of Love forever.

How to Write a Love Letter

by | Feb 7, 2014 | Learning Story

1947 ValentineWell, as you may know, we’re one week out from the big Valentine’s day, and this month’s blog theme is love. (Even the one on drops because that was about Jesus’ love!).

I found this valentine sent from my Dad to my grandfather 70 years ago, when my Dad was 10,. He sent this to my grandfather, a son of the depression who had left a hardscrabble rural world behind by joining the military. who was on a battleship somewhere in the South Pacific, You may or may not be able to detect the stiffness in this father-son relationship by reading the Valentine. You may or may not notice that the father sent the love letter back to his son with a sparse, congratulatory “Good for you, Love, CJR.” (My dad had written a note on the back saying that he had gotten his smallpox vaccine.)

Valentine 1947Valentine’s Day. A day with huge potential for love — either to enjoy the sweetness of relationships with friends, family, lovers, or to highlight the failures of love. I started thinking, we who are called to love others, how do we write a good love letter in sweetness or in failure?

I thought about the Author of the greatest love letter, what he has written to his “sons,” all of us, women and men who inherit his riches because he loved us powerfully, mercifully, in the most unimaginable sacrifice ever made. His perfect, sinless Son, died for my sins, for yours, for ours. Every love letter God sends us is stamped by his own Son’s blood.

He is God, and we are not. But because he has first loved us, we may love others by his power and grace. Spend some time with the love letters he has written you. Do they give you any ideas for love letters you need to write?

“Where are you, Adam?” (Gen.3:6).

I call you by name, for you are mine. (Isaiah 43).

Come to me, and I will bring you peace and rest for your soul. (Matt. 11:28-30)

I chose you as my beloved before time began. (Eph. 1:11-12)

You wearied of me and followed other lovers. (Isaiah 44, Hosea).

I know you inside and out and I love every hair on your head. (Ps. 139)

You were created with my love and made to be my precious possession. (Isaiah 43)

Change your ways and return to me, and you will find hope and faith. Isaiah 30.

You are my ambassador, bearing my glory into the world. (2 Cor. 5)

You are my beloved child, and nothing can separate you from me. (Acts. 17:28; Rom. 8:28-31)

I love to give you gifts (James 1:17)

I have loved you with an everlasting love. (Jer. 31:3)

  •  [I] will wipe away every tear from your eyes.
  • There will be no more death.
  • There will be no more mourning.
  • There will be no more crying.
  • There will be no more pain.  Rev. 21

I will never leave you nor forsake you. Deuteronomy 31. Hebrews 13.

 

Hearts for Sale: Sex and the Super Bowl

by | Jan 31, 2014 | Learning Story

heartsforsale2Mindy tried to look normal, but she knew she wasn’t. Everyone thought they knew her story—how a senior had gotten her pregnant when she was a freshman, and she had given the baby up for adoption. But of course they had no idea of her much deeper, darker secret. They didn’t know about the late nights when Mindy’s pimp called her and told her to meet him at the Blackriver Hotel. They didn’t know that the senior who had gotten Mindy preg

nant was involved with a ring of sex traffickers. They didn’t know that no one knew and that she had no way out.

Five Weeks Later 

There in the hotel, trying to scrub herself clean of the nasty, sweaty odor of three more men forced upon her, she noticed a number printed on the cellophane soap wrapper. The next day, duri

ng school lunch, she found a deserted place in the senior courtyard. She dialed, and a woman picked up after one ring. Mindy was astonished that this hotline volunteer seemed to know “her story” without knowing her at all. Intrigued, Mindy agreed to meet this woman at the mall food court later that afternoon. There, in the large open space saturated by the strange scent-fusion of Chinese food and chicken nuggets, she risked sharing a single page of her story of shame.

As you may have already realized, this painful narrative actually combines the stories of several women entrapped by sexual traffickers. Read more at 1. To read more about S.O.A.P. (Save Our Adolescents from Prostitution), visit http:// www.traffickfree.com/S-O-A-P-.html.

You may know that large sporting events foster an increase in prostitution and sex traf

ficking. (Before last year, I did not). Governor Christie of New Jersey, where this year’s Super Bowl is taking place, spoke and tweeted to this reality this week, warning traffickers and users of strong consequences. He also shared the story of women who had been trafficked and tweeted:

Governor Christie Twitter

As Governor Christie asserts, the issues of sexual trafficking of boys and girls, men and women are pervasive. Sometimes when I hear of such evil, I am struck with paralysis — the problem’s too big

— what can I do anyway? The gospel always calls us to respond to evil with the hope of restoration. As I prayed about it, here are a few ideas that came to mind. What are yours?

1. Get involved through prayer, giving, going. Sexual trafficking doesn’t just happen at the Super Bowl — it happens in your community. All you have to do is Google to learn more. Here are a few organizations that fight sex trafficking or assist those who have been trafficked. Take a look:

Traffickfree

Traffic911

International Justice Mission

2. Seek help… for yourself or someone else who struggles with their sexuality. Sexual addiction has been called an epidemic in America by Newsweek magazine. The fact is, someone you know struggles, and it might be you. It may be online pornography, sexting, serial relationships, and/or the painful story of suffering sexual abuse. Here are just a few organizations where you can find help for yourself or another:

Harvest USA

Route 1520

Dan Allender

3. Pray for grace in your own sexual story: here is a beautiful one composed by Philip F. Reinders, based on Heidelberg Catechism Question 109:

“Incarnate Jesus, thank you that you formed in me good desires and fashioned a body that feels pleasure. Yet how quickly desire turns into an all-consuming idol, how easily pleasure becomes a god. Chasten in me the lingering looks, leering thoughts, and hurtful desires for what is not properly mine, knowing that these are not harmless sins but violations of my soul and your honor. Amen”

What other ways have you responded to issues of sexual brokenness in our world or your life?