Open Myself to God - Contemplation

     I know that I'm very guilty of cramming my schedule with everything possible.  I just love being busy;  I hate sitting around.   Normally this isn't a bad thing necessarily, I feel like I accomplish more.  But the problem comes when I become so experientially oriented that I fail to take time and slow down.  I get so focused on feeling accomplished, that I never stop just doing stuff.  I never take the time to think deeply.  I mean thinking about something below the surface; thinking at so deep a level (especially about my faith) that I begin to see Christ in new ways.

     "Contemplation invites us to enter in to the moment with a heart alive to whatever might happen.  It is not just thinking about or analyzing an even or person.  Contemplation asks us to see with faith, hope and love." - Spiritual Disciplines Handbook

    
     When I begin to be a contemplative person, I begin to see the world through God's eyes.  I can see the injustice in the world that I may have not previously perceived, and I know I have to do something about it.  Take time to contemplate everything we have been taught about God and everything we believe is essential for us forming OUR faith, and not just the faith of our pastors, leaders, and parents.  Contemplation creates intimacy with Christ, and that's something that I should be striving for; not only for my future ministry, but for my own life.

     The book that I'm reading suggest a "walk with Jesus."  It's just one way that you can enter into a serious time of contemplation.  Take a walk outside, alone, and find a place where you can walk that isn't completely taken over by cars and noise.  Just take the time to see the beauty in God's creation, and emerge yourself into the presence of God.

"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:18)

Worship - Summing it all Up

     I tend to view worship as a Sunday morning thing often.  Or when outside of the church setting, I consider it to be worship whenever I pick up my guitar either alone or with someone else and just start playing "worship songs."  But while those ARE worship...worship isn't limited to those two things.  It's not even limited to a religious sense, or a church sense.  You can worship anything in your life; sometimes without even realizing it.

    Sometimes, we fall prey to either unintentionally or intentionally worshiping things other than our Creator.  Many worship money, some their favorite football team, or it could even be someone in your life.  I know in my life at points I have worshiped soccer.  Going into my freshman year of high school, soccer was all I cared about and when I didn't make the team, I was devastated.  So how would my life have turned out if I worshiped God only and not soccer?  I don't know, it would've been a lot easier to see my worth.

    When we begin to worship other things, we can't worship God.  How can our heart be divided?  We can't serve two masters.  True worship is when we value God above all else; when we put him first in everything we do.    We can do amazing things in God's name, but it's not of any credit to us if we don't put him first is it?  If our motives for bringing someone to Christ is to boast about it?  Are we worshiping God in that? NO!  We are worshiping what we consider to be our own importance. Jesus describes people who do this in this way:

"These people honor me with their lips, 

but their hearts are far from me" (Matthew 15:8)

     One thing to keep in mind is that everyone has their own style of worship and it is up to the individual to find their way in which they come closest to God.    Everyone comes closer to God in their own unique way.  Some believe that only hymns are worship while others believe that hymns are void of meaning to them because they are boring to listen too.  Some people think that dancing is not right in worship, and some people honor God through their dancing and feel it is their best way to worship God.  Some think that sitting in nature in silence is their act of worship.  Are any of these wrong? No. Is there any one way that's the best? Who am I to decide?

     I think my best way of coming to worship is through song, and I think it's easiest to worship God with others.  I feel God's presence more when I sing with others who are worshiping...or rather I come and meet with God more when I'm in a group.  That doesn't have to be you...it's even possible that in seeing others singing out their hearts to God, you can worship God just by feeling his presence.

  

Worship - Sabbath

     When most people think of "The Sabbath" they think of Sunday.  You go to church, you have lunch with some friends, then you spend the afternoon either napping or watching football.  The world's view of the Sabbath has become skewed and misinterpreted over the years.  The fourth commandment reads:

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.  On it you shall not do any work" (exodus 20:8-10)

     The original Jewish understanding of the Sabbath centered around 24 hours of setting aside the work of their lives.  They literally put aside anything and everything and rested.  They would meet together with their families, light lamps, and just enjoy a time of prayer, food, and fellowship with God.  "They woke on sabbath morning to a world they didn't make and a friendship with God they didn't earn." (Spiritual Disciplines Handbook).  But over time, this fellowship with God began to transform into just a ritual with sets of rules that must be kept.  It turned from a time of rest and transformation into almost another kind of work in that it was stressful to keep all the regulations of the sabbath day.

     I know that I have a lot of trouble just slowing down and spending time with God.  There were times during the school year that I would wake up at 6:30, then go to school until 3, then track practice till 5, then work till 9...then do homework till 11.  Then I would go to bed and start all over again.  The sabbath is a time where I can realize that I am finite; I can't go on forever.  I tire, I get weary; but God doesn't.  It is a time where I can thank God for all the work he has done and will do in the future.  He never gets weary of our burdens or our struggles.  "Sabbath is God's way of saying 'Stop. Notice your limits. Don't burn out.'" (Spiritual Disciplines Handbook).

     I know that many have fallen into this sense of Sunday being a day where you can't work, and you must rest all day.  But that's not really what the Sabbath is all about.  It isn't a specific day of the week, or even a specific time of the day.  I know that some people have to work on Sundays.  Are pastor's sinning when they work on Sundays?  Definitely not.  But they take a day off work during the week for their Sabbath.  In my dad's case, he takes Friday's off from going into the church so that he can enjoy his Sabbath.  Every Friday night, we would go out to dinner together and enjoy a family time of rest from a long week of work and school.  So maybe my family could consider our Sabbath to start Friday night.

     Also, it's important that we understand the distinction between rest and sleep.  This whole idea of rest does not mean lay around and do nothing all day.  It means we are to be refreshed in Christ through everything we do.  I don't believe it matters what you do honestly (within reason).  I know my dad finds peace and rest by manual labor.  He would go out and work on building our deck on his sabbath because it was a time of just getting away from the hustle of work and he could relax.  Of course by the end of the day he was tired, but he would be renewed.  I know it's a little difficult to take in; that manual labor could be rest. But I honestly believe that if the sabbath was all about just getting sleep and sitting on a couch all day, then God wouldn't have given us the need to sleep every night.  He would have created us so that every seventh day we would get super tired and sleep for 24 hours.

     For me, I find refreshment on going on a run, or going to the gym.  Maybe it's just the endorphins running through me after I work out, but I always feel more relaxed.  I can set aside everything that's stressing me out; everything that's causing me to worry.  I find that sometimes if I just sit around and eat all day I tend to feel like I wasted the whole day.  And that's not the point of the Sabbath.  I feel like you need to find what refreshes you;  what relieves your stress; what brings you into an unhindered fellowship with God.  Because that's what it's all about.

Worship - Rule For Life

     "A rule for life offers unique and regular rhythms that free and open each person to the will and presence of Christ" - Spiritual Disciplines Handbook

     At first I was totally confused by what the book mean when it said "rule for life."  I mean, is that like some kind of unspoken rule that everyone should know?  Or maybe it's some kind of rule that's listed somewhere in the bible?  But then the book goes on to read that every person has their own "rule for life" that they create.  The sole purpose of these rules is to create a habit of something; and through that habit, to continuously grow closer to God.

     This will look totally different for your friends or your family then it will for you.  Everyone has a unique rule for life that they live by.  It specifically addresses your life, your relationships, your needs.  It is just meant to be a simple set of disciplines that you live your life by -- not just a list of do's and don'ts.

     "Before making a rule, take stock of your desires, natural rhythms, limits and times of closest connection to God." - Spiritual Disciplines Handbook

     I have been given a passion for music by God, so why not use the passion and incorporate it in my Rule For Life?  I sing ALL the time, and I feel that singing brings me closer to God.  So why don't I make my rule to sing my praises to God every day?  It's so simple, but when I get in a rhythm of worshiping God through song, I will connect to God and grow closer and closer.  I want it to be so regular to me that it's easier to forget how to breath than to miss a day of singing my praise and glory to God.

     So what will your rule for life be?  Maybe for you it will be just going out in nature and admiring God's workmanship.  Maybe it's going to your church's sanctuary and just getting on your knees and praying.  Maybe you don't sing, you just play the guitar, well then strum away if that is when you feel close to God.  He isn't picky...he's given you desires, so use them to grow closer to him.  Establish a rule that becomes so natural that it models your very breathing.  This rhythm of drawing near to God will make you stronger in your faith.
     It's such a simple concept, but sometimes we over-think it.

Worship - Holy Communion

 ²²While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples,   saying, "Take it; this is my body."

 ²³Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, and they all drank from it.

 ²⁴"This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many," he said to them.

                              (Mark 14:22-24)

      This book has started to change my perspective on the tradition of communion.  I have taken part in communion countless times over the years, but what's really the purpose?  I guess one way to look at it is in remembrance of Christ and his death.  We celebrate what Christ did when he gave himself up for us, so that we could be redeemed.  He was perfect, without sin, and yet he paid the ultimate price.  He was the final blood offering for our sins.  With him, a new age was established in which we now all take part.
     I guess another way at looking at it though is a way to enter into God's story.  As we take communion, we are entering into a long line of apostles, disciples, and believers before us who have entered into the story of Christ's death and resurrection.  We, as each individual part, form the body of Christ.

Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf (1 Corinthians 10:17)

      I think it would be downright insane to be sitting with Jesus at the Last Supper and hear him say that his body would be broken, and his blood spilled for me.  I can't imagine what was going through the disciples' heads...You can't die, you're God!...How could you give your life for me, I'm not worthy!.  It's just insane to think that someone so perfect would be killed for doing nothing wrong.  And yet, he did it, knowing he didn't deserve it, knowing that we didn't deserve what he was doing for us.

Worship - Gratitude

     Gratitude...that's also a tough one, and it seems to go hand in hand with celebration.  I mean when we celebrate what God has done in our life, aren't we showing him how grateful we are for what he has done?  Sometimes though I think we can get caught in the trap of being silently grateful.  I mean, how many times have you ever had a great meal, and never thanked the cook for spending the time to actually prepare the food that you ate?  Or how many times do we thank the person who cleans the restrooms at your church (ok, so I was a janitor for a couple years).  Or how often do we thank God for our family?

     I guess we can be grateful without showing gratitude.  But what's the point of silent gratitude?  It doesn't benefit anyone, and it definitely doesn't make anyone feel good.  I mean, doesn't it make you feel unappreciated if you work extremely hard for something and get not even a thank you for it?  Not that we should always work just for that recognition, but I know that a simple "thank you" can make someone's day.  I think we should be abundant with our thanks, in everything and to everybody.

     I mean if you look at Jesus' example in Mark 8, he gave thanks for what little he had.  

¹During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, ²"I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. ³If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance."

 ⁴His disciples answered, "But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?"

 ⁵"How many loaves do you have?" Jesus asked. 

      "Seven," they replied.

 ⁶He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people, and they did so. ⁷They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them. ⁸The people ate and were satisfied.

Jesus was given seven loaves of bread and a few fish, not near enough food to feed the crowd.  But he thanked God for the little he was given; and God blessed him for that.  I think sometimes we sell God short and don't believe he can provide, so we forget to thank him for what he has already provided.  I mean, he's the one who provided us with life to begin with.

Worship - Celebration

     Celebrating isn't always as easy as it seems it should be.  We're quick to celebrate birthdays, holidays, or the victory of big football games; but when do we really take time to celebrate what God has done for us in our lives?  I know in my life, it's not near often enough.  And I know it becomes especially hard when not everything is going my way...oh God, why did this door close?  Why won't this place hire me?  Why do you want me to leave all my friends and family to go so far away?...etc.  But all the while I don't celebrate all the blessings God has put in my life.
    Ultimately every Christian is striving to live their life loving God so that one day we can join him in heaven.  And the cool thing is, all of heaven is celebrating.  So why do we think it's ok to not celebrate God on earth for what he has done?  I mean if we're going to spend eternity praising him, why not start now?  Sometimes we get too wrapped up in "secondary things."  We focus our time and energy on celebrating that promotion or our 18th birthday, but we forget who blessed us with that job or life in the first place.  Jeremiah the prophet reminds us that everyday there is something new to praise God for in Lamentations:

My soul is downcast within me.

          Yet this I call to mind

and therefore I have hope:

Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed,

for his compassions never fail.

They are new every morning (Lamentations 3:20-24)

    
     So I guess what we should take away from this is that we should be able to look at every day and find something new to praise God for.  Even if it's only for waking up alive.  And in our celebration we should be undignified;  we should praise God without caring who's watching, or what we look like.  Just give God all the praise and glory we can give Him.  So tomorrow I'm going to celebrate God for the blessings I have, no matter how bad or good my day goes.  I'll thank him and celebrate him for my family, or for my girlfriend, or for my friends.  Or even for the fact that I wake up alive.

I will celebrate before the Lord.  I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes (2 Samuel 6:21-22)