He Walked In...

He walked into the bible study drunk.  I didn't know his name.  He introduced himself by way of his testimony.  I quickly replied, "Isn't God good."  He said, "Better than that..."

I stood still.  His comment forever shifted the way...

1. I looked at God
2. the boxes I put God in
3. and the unnecessary limits I've put on myself. 

I used to simply be annoyed by the comment, "God is good."  I heard it used mostly in regards to someone or myself getting something that they/I wanted in life.  It was said easily while others went without the very thing we'd/I'd just received.  Is God good to them when they don't have what we just got?  But there is a far greater problem with the comment.  It puts God in a box.  Let me explain.

The difficulty for me with this statement has to do with freedom.  If we are honest, more often than not, when we say God is good it's not uncommon for us to really be saying God is good because I got a new job, my marriage was saved, the tornado did not come this way, the enemy was finally defeated.  But, this kind of thinking begs the question, is God only good when these things happen?  What about when they don't?  What about when the opposite happens?  When we limit God's goodness to our circumstances we actually limit our own sense of freedom and experience of peace, hope and courage in life.  

But the real trouble I have with this comment is the subliminal judgmentalism that can easily slip into it.  It harkens back to a first century mindset that believed when good things happened to people that meant they were good (read God's favor) and when bad things happened to people that meant they were bad (read God's disapproval).  Jesus totally messes with this way of seeing life in Mark 10:18, Luke 18:19 and Phil. 2:6.  Our freedom resides in knowing a God who is good not based on our circumstances but simply because of who God is--radically loving!  Our freedom comes when we can sing vulnerably, candidly, happily or harshly before God knowing yes God is good, in fact, He's better than that!  God loves us far more than our circumstances can ever suggest (good or bad).  Enjoy the freedom of knowing a God who loves us to the core, in our circumstances and beyond them.  Check out this song that speaks to Life Overflowing goodness of God in the here and now.  

Mercy is made up of our lives mixed with the life of god in  jesus

Have You Ever...

Have you ever been so overwhelmed you thought you would drown? I have.

We live in a society of extreme pace, increasing disconnection and I'd suggest all the consequential "stuff" that comes with intensifying disconnection:  random or intentional violence, fractured families, unjust business practices, and more. 

Mary and Martha speak to this reality in the Bible.  There's a constant tension between the demands of the day and the daily need for a peace of mind.  

It is easy to get focused on everything that needs done in life.  Work. Parent Taxis. The Poor (who Jesus said would always be with us).  Fighting Injustice.  Volunteering at Church.  Trouble is when we live from one thing to the next people become objects more than human beings.

We see this most commonly and unfortunately as we begin referring to issues rather than people.  Martha's issue was hospitality.  Mary should have been helping.  It was a core first century value and nobody would fault her for issuing the plea for Jesus to set Mary straight!

Mary, on the other hand, was being hospitable in another way.  It's easier to offer what we have then to hospitably offer our lives to another.  Mary was offering her life to The One she knew gave life to everyone he encountered.  Jesus said, Mary had chosen the better part, in fact, the one thing necessary.  It was in spending time with Jesus that Mary knew a greater sense of the sacred nature of her own humanity and others.

We are all on a journey of learning to treat people as human beings instead of objectifying them.  Let us have compassion with ourselves and others, as we face a pace of life erodes our memory of how precious we are (c.f.  James 1:24) and so others.

As with Mary, may we slowly sit down at the feet of Jesus, hospitably offer him our lives, and begin to feel his gaze reminding us of the sacred nature of everybody's lives.  

Maybe this song will help you slow down and know a good God...