Blog Archives
Walk on Water
The singing during last Sunday’s worship service made me nauseous. Literally.
A respiratory virus had triggered a mild recurrence of an inner ear problem. As the worship leaders began to play and sing, the lyrics were projected on a screen at the front of the sanctuary. Below the words was a video loop of waves, rising and falling, rising and falling. I tried to keep the nausea at bay by looking at the words and ignoring the rolling swell. The song began:
I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise my soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine
I tried to concentrate on the words, but I still noticed the motion in the periphery of my vision. I sat down, unwrapped a nausea-calming Life Saver mint, gaze averted to the floor, but the queasiness continued. I remembered the advice from months ago: Look up. I needed to focus on something stable, unmoving. I stood and fixed my eyes on the wooden cross and let the music wash over me.
* * * * *
The boat was far from the shore. The wind was against the disciples, and choppy waves buffeted the boat as they sailed across Galilee. Just before dawn Jesus came toward them, walking on the sea. The disciples were understandably terrified.
Jumping out of the boat, Peter walked on the water to Jesus. But when he looked down at the waves churning beneath his feet, he lost his nerve and started to sink. He cried, “Master, save me!” Jesus didn’t hesitate. He reached down and grabbed his hand. Then he said, “Faint-heart, what got into you?” The two of them climbed into the boat, and the wind died down.
Matthew 14:30-33 MSG
![Amédée Varin [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](https://constanceannmorrison.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/amc3a9dc3a9e_varint_-_christ_marchant_sur_la_mer.jpg)
We often emphasize the fact that Peter’s faith drained away when he looked down, but I like to remember the impossible thing he did, even if just for a moment. Peter walked on water.
Then he lost his focus. His eyes dropped from Jesus to the terrifying waves underfoot. Like Peter, when we gaze intently on the true and beautiful thing that is right in front of us and focus on it, the rest of the world becomes blurred and hazy–even if it’s just for a moment.
* * * * *
This week I read another set of lyrical words on another screen. I learned about crying, bleeding, stolen, marketed girls, nine-years-young girls, windward of the ISIS storm. Ann Voskamp’s post of the horrors in Iraq left me reeling.
I also read a gut-wrenching news story about the flood of sex trafficking in my own state. The statistics are sickening. The reporter reminded viewers that the average age of entry into prostitution is twelve.
Letters swim, eyes cloud, and stomach churns. Mints can’t cure this kind of nausea.
Are we drowning in a flood of evil, feeling that we can do nothing against the black, oily tide of malevolence?
How can we make a difference?
How can we do an impossible thing? How can we walk on water?
Ann Voskamp challenged her readers to make contributions to Preemptive Love Coalition. Nearly a half million dollars has been given so far.
Jennifer Dukes Lee reminds us that “we are not powerless.” She summarized what we can do about Iraq, including using social media and giving to Samaritans Purse.
Wings of Refuge in Iowa focuses on the restoration of survivors of domestic sex trafficking. (There are probably similar ministries in your area.)
We can do impossible things.
You call me out upon the waters
The great unknown where feet may fail
And there I find You in the mystery
In oceans deep
My faith will stand
“Come” Jesus invites.
I will focus on Him,
step out of the safe boat,
and walk on water.
Photo of painting “Le Christ marchant sur la mer” by Amédée Varin [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Photo of boat on water by Patricia Hunter pollywogcreek.blogspot.com/
Behind the Christmas Tree
Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool. Isaiah 1:18 NIV
During the sermon last Sunday our pastor shared part of his family’s Christmas letter.
It was a different kind of letter, not chock full of their kids’ accomplishments, but full of their hearts’ desires. This Christmas season they were struck by how much we need a Savior and acknowledged their failings. They included these two scriptures about Jesus, instead of the usual story from the second chapter of Luke:
She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. Matthew 1:21 NIV
Jesus is the Greek form of the name we’re familiar with from the Old Testament, “Joshua,” and it means
“God Saves.”
Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 1 Timothy 1:15 NIV
In his family Christmas letter our pastor wrote:
I am still selfish; I’d like to be better at sharing.
I still regret my lack of patience when parenting.
My children have come to me for mercy and found a mad man instead.
He came to save me from my sins.
The pastor’s wife added:
While in the privacy of my home, I yell at my kids and my husband.
I struggle to find contentment.
I struggle with self sacrifice for those who are truly in need.
He came to save me from my sins.
From the older children came these words:
Instead of responding to inquiries with openness and compassion, I respond with anger and then point out mistakes.
I could show more patience and caring to those that challenge me by speaking only words that are true, necessary, and kind.
I often treat others and myself poorly. I put too much value on money, and I love worldly possessions.
I worry. I always have to have something to worry about, which prevents me from truly enjoying the many blessings God has given me.
He came to save me from my sins.
The cross is often lost in the shadow of the Christmas tree. The gift given at Christmas, boxed in a manger and tied with a bow of swaddling clothes is the present I least expected, but needed most.
Jesus came to be born as a tiny baby and to die on the cross to save me from my sins: my impatience, my indifference, and my ingratitude. My sins–more than mistakes, greater that mere errors, offenses of a self-centered heart–that are guilty blood drops on white, winter ground. I need a Savior.
He came to save me from my sins.
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Psalm 51:7
linked with Jennifer Lee Dukes
Thankful 30: Day 19–The Bridge
I have joined Emily’s* 30 Day Challenge:
I’m challenging myself to post a picture every day during the month of November (30 Days To Be Thankful For) and to add a caption as to why I am thankful. — Emily
Day 19, November 19
I am grateful that Jesus died on the cross and paid the penalty for our sins. He became the bridge between God and us.
That’s what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others’ sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God. I Peter 3:18 The Message
He [Christ] presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn’t been so weak, we wouldn’t have known what to do anyway.
We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him. Romans 5:6-8 The Message
They called him every name in the book and he said nothing back. He suffered in silence, content to let God set things right. He used his servant body to carry our sins to the Cross so we could be rid of sin, free to live the right way. His wounds became your healing. You were lost sheep with no idea who you were or where you were going. Now you’re named and kept for good by the Shepherd of your souls. I Peter 2:24-25 The Message
Have you walked across this bridge?
See Thankful 30 page for every day’s entry.
* name changed
photos by Laura Crippin
“Gone to Seed” or “Perfection”
This is a perfect sunflower.
photo by Barb Briggs
Even if a few of the ray petals have been nibbled, the next one is still perfect.
photo by Barb Briggs
And this ragged, windblown flower, eaten by root worm beetles?
Perfect again.
The beautiful, golden ray petals are gone. The leaves have shriveled in hot, dry winds.
Still perfect.
This sunflower head is frostbitten, not a trace of green leaf or sunny yellow left.
It is absolutely perfect!
Not your idea of perfection? It depends on what language you’re speaking. We English speakers most often think of this definition of the word “perfect:”
entirely without any flaws, defects, or shortcomings; correct in every detail
Some of us have carried over this idea of flawlessness to our Christian walk, thinking a character and life without defects was required of us. We have heard bits of verses taken out of the whole of Scripture, and they made living the Christian life seem like a Herculean task.
For every honest heart knows they are bug-eaten, wind-blown, and drought-stunted. There are days the hard freezes of life stop us in our tracks, and we feel like dried-out husks without a tinge of green life left in us. We make the choices and say the words and think the thoughts that take us a universe away from perfection.
There is good news, friends! We need to reclaim the older meanings of the word “perfect.” The old Latin word from which our English comes is
“perfectus:” to finish, bring to completion.
In the Greek of the New Testament is the word for “perfect” (teleios) which speaks of
a thing meeting its intended, end purpose.
What is the designed, end purpose of the sunflower? In general, all of creation testifies to God’s glory and His character.
Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. Romans 1:20 RSV
However, what can the sunflower do that nothing else can? It produces sunflower seeds–enough seeds to ensure reproduction and to feed birds and other animals.
Photo by Audreyjm529 under the Creative Commons Attribution License 2.0.
We live in a broken world , but the good news is “the Good News.” Jesus provided a way for us to be forgiven, and now we can live out our intended end purpose. Jesus taught that the first and second greatest commandments were to love God and love our neighbor as our self.
We can love and glorify God. We can love our neighbors by sharing the gospel seeds with a world that is spiritually (and literally) hungry. Be a perfect sunflower–face the warm sun and “go to seed.”
Perfection!
We Got Trouble, Trouble with a Capital “T”
We got trouble
Right here in River City.
Trouble with a capital “T”
And that rhymes with “B”
And that stands for “bee!”
Bees (and wasps) are trouble.
Big ones, little ones, bumble bees, yellow jackets, honey bees. They’re all the send-me-to-the-emergency-room-if-they-sting-me kind of trouble.
Trouble with a capital “T.”
But who is there that doesn’t have some kind of trouble? Becoming a Christian doesn’t give us a get-out-of-jail-free card and exempt us from all difficulties in life. We can expect trouble.
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33 NIV
What happens when (not if) troubles come into our lives? Does God just give us a quick pat on the head, saying, “Yeah, life is tough . . . See ya later?” No, Jesus cares about the condition of our heart, and He wants to give us His peace in place of fear.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
John14:27
I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
John 16:33 NIV
God is there in the middle of our difficulties to strengthen and help us.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
2 Corinthians 1:3, 4 NIV
It’s hard to see how anything good can come out of our troubles, but this verse in 2 Corinthians give us a clue. The comfort that God extends to us is multiplied as we share that comfort with others going through their own difficult times. We see how this multiplying works with the sunflower. One sunflower, grown from one seed, visited and pollinated by troublesome (to me) bees can produce hundreds of seeds, and those hundreds of plants could produce thousands of seeds.
So the next time
Ya got trouble, terrible trouble
Right here in River City.
(right where you live)
Trouble with a capital “T”
And that rhymes with “P”
And that rhymes with “C”
And that stands for “pool” “peace”
And that stands for “comfort”
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“Ya Got Trouble” from “The Music Man”
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photos by Barb Briggs
Constance Ann Morrison 