Monday, September 15, 2008

Naked and poor...

I think authentic God experience gives you another place to stand, another identity, and the courage to stand outside of the world.

Authentic God experience liberates you from the domination system, liberates you from needing everything to be perfect or right, and liberates you to be who you really are - naked and poor.

And until you can stand in what Jesus called the kingdom of God, a different kingdom, you will almost always be completely subservient to the world.

Richard Rohr, from Spiral of Violence


In a world so full of social and political turmoil and immense human suffering, people of faith will often be ridiculed because of their so-called ineffectiveness. Many will say: "If you believe that there is a loving God, let your God do something about this mess!" Some will simply declare religion irrelevant, while others will consider it an obstacle to the creation of a new and better world.

Jesus often tells his followers that, as he was, they will be persecuted, arrested, tortured, and killed. But he also tells us not to worry but to trust in him at all times. "Make up your minds not to prepare your defence, because I myself shall give you an eloquence and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to resist or contradict" (Luke 21:14-15). Let's not be afraid of skepticism and cynicism coming our way, but trust that God will give us the strength to hold our ground...

In a world so full of social and political turmoil and immense human suffering, people of faith will often be ridiculed because of their so-called ineffectiveness. Many will say: "If you believe that there is a loving God, let your God do something about this mess!" Some will simply declare religion irrelevant, while others will consider it an obstacle to the creation of a new and better world.

Jesus often tells his followers that, as he was, they will be persecuted, arrested, tortured, and killed. But he also tells us not to worry but to trust in him at all times. "Make up your minds not to prepare your defence, because I myself shall give you an eloquence and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to resist or contradict" (Luke 21:14-15). Let's not be afraid of skepticism and cynicism coming our way, but trust that God will give us the strength to hold our ground...

When we are anxious we are inclined to overprepare. We wonder what to say when we are attacked, how to respond when we are being interrogated, and what defence to put up when we are accused. It is precisely this turmoil that makes us lose our self-confidence and creates in us a debilitating self-consciousness.

Jesus tells us not to prepare at all and to trust that he will give us the words and wisdom we need. What is important is not that we have a little speech ready but that we remain deeply anchored in the love of Jesus, secure about who we are in this world and why we are here. With our hearts connected to the heart of Jesus, we will always know what to say when the time to speak comes.

Henri Nouwen, from Bread for the Journey


I need to hear these words over and over again. I know them to be true - time and again they have been proved to be true by actual events. Perhaps better, Christ has proved himself true in even the worst of events: "we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." (Romans 8.28 NIV) And yet still I wonder what I'd do if [insert the latest horror from the news, or nightmare of my own heart] happened - what I'd say, how I'd cope. And yet when bad things have happened - and a fair few have, over the last 10 years or so - not only have they not been the ones I was expecting, but I've had not a clue how to cope. And yet, every time, in the darkest places, the light was not overcome; and God, even in the most desperate times of fear and pain, has somehow caused "all things [to] work together for good for those who love [him], who are called according to his purpose." (Romans 8.28 NRSV)

1 comment:

Sue said...

Amen!

Thanks for the food for thought - I have never really thought of those "do not worry about what to say when giving a defence" in quite those terms before. I have always just thought of them in a narrow evangelical "witnessing for your faith" way - about you you you and your faith your faith your faith instead of thinking of it in broad terms of people criticising God for sitting on his hands. I love these lightbulb moments :) Thanks, Mike.