I was reading Psalm 126 this morning. It seems to illustrate the idea of joy as a reaction to God's gracious acts really well. Here is the first half of the psalm:
When the LORD brought back the captive ones of Zion,
We were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter
And our tongue with joyful shouting;
Then they said among the nations,
"The LORD has done great things for them."
The LORD has done great things for us; We are glad.
(Ps.126:1-3)
True joy comes from the realization that the Lord has done great things among us.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Saturday, August 25, 2007
More Thoughts on Joy
Last week at the home group meeting we discussed joy. Surprisingly, we had a difficult time defining joy and differentiating it from peace. Here are some thoughts triggered by our discussion.
Joy is a reaction to grace. It is a "He likes me, He really really likes me!" kind of moment. Joy is maintained and enhanced with each new realization of grace and each new attentive act of God towards the person. Not to sound intolerant and arrogant, but it seems to me that Christianity is the only religion with a very well developed doctrine (and practice) of joy. Can someone correct me?
To differentiate peace and joy, perhaps, I can define each in this way. Peace is what happens when you realize that Jesus' acceptance and presence are enough. Joy is what happens when you realize that Jesus' acceptance and presence are too much.
These are pretty raw and need more conversation and thinking. Please, comment!
Joy is a reaction to grace. It is a "He likes me, He really really likes me!" kind of moment. Joy is maintained and enhanced with each new realization of grace and each new attentive act of God towards the person. Not to sound intolerant and arrogant, but it seems to me that Christianity is the only religion with a very well developed doctrine (and practice) of joy. Can someone correct me?
To differentiate peace and joy, perhaps, I can define each in this way. Peace is what happens when you realize that Jesus' acceptance and presence are enough. Joy is what happens when you realize that Jesus' acceptance and presence are too much.
These are pretty raw and need more conversation and thinking. Please, comment!
Storm
It was about 4 o'clock on Thursday. I was sitting at our local Starbucks working on the sermon for Sunday. I started considering heading home since it looked like it might begin to rain. The next moment it got really dark, wet and scary. Everyone inside turned towards the windows and uttered phrases like the deceitfully religious "Oh, my God", the Chicago favorite "Holy Cow" and the ever popular "Wow". The storm hit suddenly and without hesitation. Somehow water was coming down while the wind was blowing outside umbrellas and lawn chairs in various directions. Several trees on the street were brought down within the first gust of wind. Transformers in the alley popped and power went out. All of this happened in the first minute or two. I called Gillian and she said that the two huge trees in front of our house came down and were resting on the power lines. I ran, or, more accurately, swam home as fast as I could. The girls were pretty scared, which is somewhat amusing since one their favorite pretend games is "Blackout" (a close second is "Mom and Dad die and we have to take care of the baby"). The storm was over in about 10-15 minutes. Everyone came outside to see what the damage was. Below are some pictures.
Some Pictures After the Storm
Our front yard. The church building is to the right of the house.
One of our two big trees.
A view from the alley.
The only car that was hit on our street. Our neighbor John took it pretty well.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Wounded Leaders
I recently read Henri Nouwen's book on leadership entitles In the Name of Jesus. It is one of the few books I am certain to read again and one of even fewer books I can recommend without any cautions or reservations (which probably has a lot to do with me being a book snob and rather critical by nature). Henri Nouwen is one of the Christian leaders I look up to and try to emulate. It makes me sad and a little angry that the Evangelical subculture of which I am a part has exalted good speakers, great businessmen and administrators, best-selling authors, and crafty politicians. Those are the people I am often encouraged to follow. I know I am not saying anything new. Everyone knows about the cult of success and the idol of numerical growth. But it is stil disturbing. So, I turn to people like Nouwen to be reminded of God's approved leaders. A lot of them are bad at speaking, like Moses. They are horrible at politics and get in trouble with the government, like the prophets. Their writing style is raw and unpolished, with a possible exception of Paul. But Paul was pretty bad at running organizations. What unites them all is brokenness. They are humble, vulnerable and connected with Christ in suffering. Let's teach that in seminaries... Henri Nouwen left his teaching carreer after 20 years at Notre Dame, Yale and Harvard and became a pastor of Daybreak, a community for mentally handicapped people. Here is how he describes his transition.
“The first thing that struck me when I came to live in a house with mentally handicapped people was that their liking or disliking me had absolutely nothing to do with any of the many useful things I had done until then. Since nobody could read my books, they could not impress anyone, and since most of them never went to school, my twenty years at Notre Dame, Yale, and Harvard did not provide a significant introduction. My considerable ecumenical experience proved even less valuable. When I offered some meat to one of the assistants during dinner, one of the handicapped men said to me, “Don’t give him meat, he doesn’t eat meat, he’s a Presbyterian.”
Not being able to use any of the skills that had proved so practical in the past was a real source of anxiety. I was suddenly faced with my naked self, open for affirmations and rejections, hugs and punches, smiles and tears, all dependent simply on how I was perceived at the moment. In a way, it seemed as though I was starting my life all over again. Relationships, connections, reputations could no longer be counted on. This experience was and, in many ways, is still the most important experience of my new life, because it forced me to rediscover my true identity. These broken, wounded, and completely unpretentious people forced me to let go of my relevant self – the self that can do things, show things, prove things, build things – and forced me to reclaim that unadorned self in which I am completely vulnerable, open to receive and give love regardless of any accomplishments.”
“The first thing that struck me when I came to live in a house with mentally handicapped people was that their liking or disliking me had absolutely nothing to do with any of the many useful things I had done until then. Since nobody could read my books, they could not impress anyone, and since most of them never went to school, my twenty years at Notre Dame, Yale, and Harvard did not provide a significant introduction. My considerable ecumenical experience proved even less valuable. When I offered some meat to one of the assistants during dinner, one of the handicapped men said to me, “Don’t give him meat, he doesn’t eat meat, he’s a Presbyterian.”
Not being able to use any of the skills that had proved so practical in the past was a real source of anxiety. I was suddenly faced with my naked self, open for affirmations and rejections, hugs and punches, smiles and tears, all dependent simply on how I was perceived at the moment. In a way, it seemed as though I was starting my life all over again. Relationships, connections, reputations could no longer be counted on. This experience was and, in many ways, is still the most important experience of my new life, because it forced me to rediscover my true identity. These broken, wounded, and completely unpretentious people forced me to let go of my relevant self – the self that can do things, show things, prove things, build things – and forced me to reclaim that unadorned self in which I am completely vulnerable, open to receive and give love regardless of any accomplishments.”
Monday, August 13, 2007
Awkward Grace
A few days ago, I came across a great statement in Robert Farrar Capon's The Fingerprints of God. It seems to me that he is absolutely correct in his assessment of human nature and tendencies. He says,
The human race, faced with the choice between a gift and a deal, will almost invariably prefer the deal.
God says "I love you" and we respond by trying to justify His love. He offers us His Son and we start looking around the house to see if there is anything we can give Him in return. God sends the Spirit to help us and we say, "Well, maybe we can use a little help, but generally we can manage on our own." The whole idea of God gifting us with something makes us somewhat uncomfortable. Grace is awkward. We'd much rather make a deal with God and keep our end of the bargain than let Him keep both ends. Such is the nature of humanity and the essence of sin. Pride can easily be defined as inability to accept gifts. So, how does God decide to eradicate sin and free us from this overconfidence in our own abilities? Well, He gives us a gift.
The human race, faced with the choice between a gift and a deal, will almost invariably prefer the deal.
God says "I love you" and we respond by trying to justify His love. He offers us His Son and we start looking around the house to see if there is anything we can give Him in return. God sends the Spirit to help us and we say, "Well, maybe we can use a little help, but generally we can manage on our own." The whole idea of God gifting us with something makes us somewhat uncomfortable. Grace is awkward. We'd much rather make a deal with God and keep our end of the bargain than let Him keep both ends. Such is the nature of humanity and the essence of sin. Pride can easily be defined as inability to accept gifts. So, how does God decide to eradicate sin and free us from this overconfidence in our own abilities? Well, He gives us a gift.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Pleasure and Joy
While we often confuse pleasure and joy, the two are alike neither in origin nor effect but only in emotional residue. It is true that pleasure may accompany joy, although greater degrees of joy often appear in the midst of pain and not pleasure. So, joy is independent of pleasure. Likewise, pleasure is often experienced apart from joy. It evokes pleasent emotion but is unable to fill the hollow place where joy once was.
C.S. Lewis said that joy is never in our power but pleasure often is. The greatest difference between pleasure and joy is their respective origins. Pleasure can be manufactured while joy can only be received. I can easily find something to please my tastebuds and make me laugh. However, I can only wait to see if someone will bring joy into my existence. Joy is connected with grace. Pleasure is a product of self.
Once joy is experienced, it cannot be maintained by one's determination. Mark Twain said, "Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of joy you must have somebody to divide it with." To preserve joy, it must be shared or given away. To keep life one must lose it first. No one can be greedy and joyful. However, pleasure is available to all selfish and proud people. Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit.
C.S. Lewis said that joy is never in our power but pleasure often is. The greatest difference between pleasure and joy is their respective origins. Pleasure can be manufactured while joy can only be received. I can easily find something to please my tastebuds and make me laugh. However, I can only wait to see if someone will bring joy into my existence. Joy is connected with grace. Pleasure is a product of self.
Once joy is experienced, it cannot be maintained by one's determination. Mark Twain said, "Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of joy you must have somebody to divide it with." To preserve joy, it must be shared or given away. To keep life one must lose it first. No one can be greedy and joyful. However, pleasure is available to all selfish and proud people. Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit.
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