Reflections on a Pharisee and Tax Collector

Show me my pride;
    save me from it.
Awaken me to humility,
  its glory and grace.

Instead of questioning God's goodness and affirming your righteousness, question your righteousness and affirm God's goodness.  It is a safer path.

If you're busy looking down on others, it's hard to look up to God.

What would've happened if God had looked down on people and merely said, "I am so glad I am not like you!`"

Religious pride delights to talk about how it is doing more for God than other people are doing.

Sometimes the people who are closest to God feel the furthest away from him.

Looking up to heaven is the normal stance in prayer.  Humility waits for God to lift up its face to heaven in mercy.  Pride scorns being lifted up this way.

Humility beats the body down not to get God's notice, but so it can pay better attention to God and his ways.

The seed of humility first appears through our sins because of guilt and fear.  God's mercy frees us from guilt and fear.  Then humility can grow.

Sin is the misuse of the body.  Lust, greed, and anger squeeze the body for pleasure it cannot fully give, so such pursuits ultimately lead to emptiness.  Joy is found in the body humbled to its place of waiting on God.  Only in this can the body rest content.  The body is meant for the Lord and the Lord for the body just like the stomach is meant for food and food for the stomach.  Nothing else satisfies.

When the humble go to worship, they meet mercy.  When the humble return home, they discover grace.  Wherever the proud go, they bring condemnation.  When the proud return home, they find emptiness.

The humble often escape the notice of other people.  God sees them and blesses them.  The proud are often seen and praised by other people.  God escapes their notice.


(Luke 18:9-14)

Small Enough, Large Enough

The kingdom of God is small enough to be overlooked,
but large enough to fill my whole life.

The voice is quiet,
the seed is small,
but when planted,
it rules over all,
giving a place to stand
and a place to rest,
a place of comfort,
a place of trust.

The kingdom is small enough
to get lost in a crack,
easily looked over,
off the beaten track.

The kingdom is for planting,
going ever deep,
rooted in the will to good
of those who truly seek.

The kingdom grows larger still,
filling life in every crease,
overshadowing each moment
with love, joy, and peace.

captainkimo.com

The kingdom lifts its branches,
giving me a place to land,
a shadow of constant kindness
giving rest in its hands.

The kingdom calls
in parable and word
to be planted in the ear
and be ever heard.

Let this kingdom grow into my heart.
Let this Jesus come beside and explain
as alone I await his teaching words
about  a place to stand, a place to remain.

Your kingdom come.
Your kingdom stay.
Your kingdom grow
each and every day.

(On Mark 4:30-34, The Parable of the Mustard Seed)

The Naked Guest

"Two men went up to the temple to pray: one a Pharisee, the other a tax collector."  (Luke 18:10)

htrccsherman.org

The house of God is open.
The meal is spread out.
The conversation is slow.
The table is low.

When I enter this house
          I never hear,
          "What are you doing here?"
          They call my name,
          but will I answer?
          Do I know it?

The greatest weapon of pride
       that keeps me from tabling
                             with the Lord
                             are the words,
                             "I just don't have time for that."

The doorway to the house
       is the cross.
To enter, in confession,
       all clothes are stripped,
       all possessions dropped.
       Naked I come,
       but I arrive at the table
       dressed in glory.

At any other home,
     where people gather alone,
     this naked visitor,
     this empty traveler
     is unwelcome and unexpected.
At the house of God,
     though he worries about his welcome,
     he is seen a long way off.
And though his brother will not welcome him,
     he is clothed and celebrated.
His brother receives warm welcomes everywhere
     and he thinks he deserves them.
But this naked guest
      is only welcomed by God
                 and his company.

The naked guest finds his home
       in a church that is
          a place of worship and
          a house of prayer.
       Here is a doorway to fellowship with God.
His brother will find his home
      in a church that is
         a human gathering,
         a place of religion.
      Here is a warm welcome for all pride and false confidence.

Without confession, I will not be recognized by God.
             He knows my true self, my right name.
             Do I know?  Will I answer?
             Jesus says "I never knew you" to this pretend self.
             Jesus says "Come to me" to a contrite heart, a broken spirit.
             As a naked guest, let me come
                                         and cling to the cross!
                                         Pretend selves die
                                         and false confidence falters
                                         and all is left behind
                                                for a chair
                                                        at the table of the Trinity.

Ripening to God's Word

The listening ear and the satisfied heart
       grow in the same soil.
       That soil is the kingdom of God.
       The place where the ear and heart are married.

spmcrector.blogspot.com

I see seeds in my hand
         waiting to be sown,
         waiting to be grown,
         life waiting to happen.
In my hand, in my possession,
          they will come to nothing,
          remain only seeds,
          only fit for lesser creatures,
          barely able to feed a bird -
          only seeds,
                           ears without heart.
They touch the earth.
        Then their life is kindled.
        To what they have more is given:
              a stalk,
                 a head,
                    a full kernel in the head,
                       ripeness.

How can those seeds of listening produce such a crop?
                        They grow by loving desire, unseen, underground.
                        They grow in sleep or in waking,
                                             during night or in the day.
                        And so listening brings fruit
                                    by this kingdom of God,
                        All by itself seemingly -
                             this true listening,
                             listening with all my heart.
                        My Jesus, your words are life;
                                        let me hear!


These seeds do not grow all at once:
          First the stalk,
                  then the head,
                         then the kernel in the head,
                                then ripeness.
In growth is the waiting,
    one thing upon another,
    experience with experience,
    life within life.

Listening is waiting
                  waiting for ripeness.
So much is green in my heart
                  unable the sustain what I hear.
                  I long for ripeness.

fineartamerica.com

Lord,
        send a sickle to my heart,
                an apostle to reap the fruit of listening.
                Only then will my heart be satisfied.
        If only my heart would ripen to your word!
        If only the seeds of listening would bear fruit!
                        Something so small becomes the biggest of all,
                        the rejected stone, the capstone,
                        the Suffering Servant, the Savior,
                        the unknown man, the Teacher of all.
                        My Jesus and my little life in him.

(Meditation on Mark 4:26-29)

Seen and Heard

Do not be like the hypocrites.

They are missing out.

               They pray to be seen by people

               rather than by their unseen Father.

               Filled with the recognition they seek,

               they miss the eyes of the Beloved One.

teatime-kiddies

He goes unseen,

              hidden from the view of pride,

              invisible to the self-absorbed.

              He sees and is seen by

              those who close and lock the door

              to be alone with him.

Father, may I be seen by you,

              may your eyes light up my soul,

              may your gaze fill me.

“I see you,” he says.  “I see you.”

Do not be like those who don’t know God,

                         trying to move him with words

                         when he is already moved on their behalf,

                         covering all their bases

                         when only one thing is necessary,

                                           sitting at his feet.

bible-truth.org

He waits in silence

               in silence he is heard.

               When I am drowned by many words,

               silence is the ark that stays afloat

               and makes room for his re-creating word,

                                                   his call for deliverance.

Father, close my mouth and ears

              as you did the door of the ark.

              May the flood of noise

              always be outside our place.

“I hear you,” he says.  “I hear you.”

I am seen.

I am heard.

         What else would a father do?

             The heavens are open to me.

        I need not make a name for myself,

             only call out yours.

        I do not have to make things happen;

             I need only be remade.

        Each day you care for me

             as one who knows what I need before I ask.

        As long as people owe me recognition,

             I am collecting.

        Allow me to let it all go

             so I am free to seek your recognition.

        There are many things that shine,

                         many things that call,

             but only you are worth seeing and hearing

                         in everything.

I am seen.

I am heard.

I am free.

( A meditation on Matthew 6:5-17 for my fellow Embers)

For Dallas

His last words were “Thank you.”

Let these also be my parting words to you.

Thank you for opening my eyes to God’s great kingdom,

    the pearl of great price,

    the seed that grows all of itself.

Thank you for sharing your vision of Dr. Jesus,

                      Master of all reality,

        Teacher of all time.

Thank you for showing that eternal, abundant life begins now,

       being poured out as a gift of God

       as a blessing on other’s lives.

Thank you for the hymns you sang in the hallways,

           the scriptures you quoted without thinking,

           the kindness you showed in your silence.

Thank you, God, for the gift of this life,

        quiet laughter, intense thought,

        stinging wit, gentle hands,

        unhurried feet, eyes wide open,

        devoted heart, deep soul.

Thank you.

Seek the Kingdom with Your Ears

 Only the good soil grows in the light of God.

               Some soil stays in the darkness of ignorance.

               Some soil takes no root in troubled storms.

               Some soil gets choked by weeds of greed and worry.

Only the good soil of listening grows in the light of God.

wikipedia

The kingdom of God is a lamp shining out,

                                         never hidden

                                         never covered,

                                         placed on the lamp stand of the Christ,

                                         who shines most in the darkest places.

Light of God, shine on me!

Jesus Christ, lift up my eyes to the light!

The kingdom is everywhere shining

                              but seldom seen,

                           so blinding in Christ,

                              yet easily dismissed.

The humble God has hidden his light, his kingdom,

                                     in the Suffering Servant, Jesus,

                                     in the humble Teacher, Jesus,

                                     even in the wandering pilgrims

                                               who follow Jesus;

                                     hidden from those who think they know,

                                        but shown to those who want to know;

                                     hidden from those who are satisfied,

                                        but shown to those who are hungry;

                                     hidden from those who want to hide,

                                        but shown to those who want to walk in the light;

                                     hidden from the eyes,

                                        but shown to the ears.

visualphotos.com

If you have ears in order to hear, listen!

                  Listen to a kingdom unseen.

                  Listen to its Teacher,

                                    who holds up the kingdom in his words.

                  Listen so that you may see!

                  Open your ears and look!

Lord, may your kingdom call out to me!

The value of the kingdom in found in its weight.

        Does it weigh in your heart?

        What is its measure?

        Your ear is the balance of the heart

                weighing one thing against another.

        What weighs upon you?

surrenderedmarriage

The kingdom is heavier than it looks.

        far denser in its love, joy, and peace

             than it seems,

        seeming small compared to the world

             and yet heavier than this kingdom of the air,

        impossible to carry

             until Jesus picks up the other end.

Seek the kingdom of God with your ears.

Seek its light in the dark noise.

Seek its hiddenness from those who hide from God,

Seek its weight of love and glory

  and everything else will be yours.

Half-hearted half-listening will not bring half of the kingdom,

  but nothing.

Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.

Let your word grow this kingdom in my heart.

(A Meditation on Mark 4:21-25)