Friday, March 25, 2011

Don't Worry Jesus, We'll help!!

Getting supplies to the castle can take long periods of time, but I am able to write again with fresh ink... ...which makes me ponder prophecy - which is indeed similar - a quill, or pen, is only useful if supplied with ink - the ink being the prophecy, the pen being the humble instrument on which the ink of God flows. But, alas, back to my original thoughts...

Let's see.

There is One God, and yet so many millions of people depending on him. Poor guy! How does he do it? Running from one calamity to the next, one request after another - you remember the scene of an anxiety ridden Jim Carey trying to handle God's work in the film 'Bruce Almighty' with every request taking the form of a 'Post It' note until he himself is utterly engulfed by them.

God must be so busy that certainly my trivial daily needs must be so inconsequential that I fear they will be overlooked! Hey, I have an idea! I'll help him out. That way he can look after that real problem down the street and I'll feel a lot more confident that everything I need will be looked after.

You know, bless our friends for their input - I still have learned more from those in my life who have offered up real criticism than from those with pasted on smiles where everything is "Great!".
But in careful listening and weighing of the input some interesting traits can be exposed.

One I find most curious is the revealing "Let's help Jesus!" mentality.

Now before you start imagining who these people are and making judgments in your mind - take a moment to pause, and lets look at our daily attitudes.
I'll choose one attitude in particular that was mentioned that stirred my thoughts in this direction:

Alarms.

The setting:
There are certain things in everyone's possession that could be easily stolen.

The recommendation:
"Whhhaaaat?!? Hey - you need to alarm all your stuff!!"

Yes, alarm companies offer a service that they sell as deterrents or even guaranteed safeguards against theft related situations regarding auto, home, business, etc, etc. Some say it is a wise and shrewd person who chooses to utilize and pay for services of this nature. You know - so the stuff that you eat, drink, wear and drive will be exactly where you left them in the morning.

Whew! Hey, Wow! What calm assurance and worry free living the alarm companies have given me!

Someone else once said something quite different:

"For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? “And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ “For the Pagans eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Taken from Matthew 6.

I could write paragraphs of exegesis on the preceding being not spiritual issues, but real pragmatic, material things, the 'stuff of life' we need to live - but I think the passage speaks pretty good for itself (after all, it is the Bible).

Yeah, the same 'stuff' your friends rebuke you for - for not looking after good enough.
(Oh, ME of little faith?)

Let's not just look at alarms - you who easily agree - let's look at all of it. What about your 401k, Investments, Real Estate Holdings, Contingency Funds, Retirement Plan, Pensions, and everything else you have toiled to preserve for yourself so that day by day you will have the things that one day Moth and Rust will destroy?

Oh, and don't forget -
Coming Soon To A Residence Near You:
A Thief In The Night, that no alarm or security can keep out...
and on this night,
your most intimate and personal of possessions,
indeed your very soul,
will be required of you.

Remember the the persistent widow and the friend at midnight? Through their persistence they saw completion of their needs - keeping in mind their persistence was in dependence on God through fervent prayer.
Jesus went as far as saying the widow would not only see justice served, but that she would see it 'quickly', or in this life, not just in some disconnected spiritual sense.
Luke 18:1-8, Luke 11:5-13

Let's shift to an aside for the moment - Career Christians, Pastors, Churches, Television Evangelists, in fact let's lump them all together.

What's funny is that for all the Church Alarms, Church Investments, Pastor Salaries, and On and On Ad Infinitum, there is the one area that Career Christians seem to 'forget' about 'Helping God'.


YOUR MONEY.


That's right folks, for all the other areas where Christians 'Help God' (because you know, if someone wants to break into your Church and steal a couple 100 Bibles - that would be tragic, now wouldn't it? Why, they might even READ one of those stolen Bibles... they might even BELIEVE the very words of God... but thank Heaven! We have alarms on the Church Doors!), they seem to forget that the same initiative it took to seek out and hire an alarm company to provide calm assurance and peace of mind concerning Church possessions and Christian Businesses, and the same initiative that it took for them to seek out financial advice from investment bankers concerning the millions of dollars in Church holdings; yes, that same initiative could be utilized to 'Help God' by actually obtaining gainful employment to pay for all their ever important and endless 'ministries'.


But no - that's when they cleverly 'remember' to 'act in Faith', which really means sit back and let you pay for all their grand ideas and schemes.


"We must not be self righteous! We must let the Lord of Hosts provide our needs!"


But somehow, the cheque never quite falls from Heaven... but money does appear out the sagging, sore backs of the heavy laden work force ('Laity' is just church jargon for unspiritual regular joe working stiff church attendee) of janitors, welders, steel workers and plumbers to 'provide' the nice office that the Pastor 'Needs' to accomplish his Christianity. (By all means feel free to read 2 Thessalonians 3:6-14, 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12. Could someone please explain why there are a class of 'privileged' christians who need not work for an income?)


Needs.


Funny word...


So the office the Pastor needs, needs to be alarmed.


And one 'need' is provided by 'Faith' (to be sure: Faith = Your Wallet), and the other 'need' is provided by way of 'Helping God' by purchasing an alarm service.

I can barely describe or contain the agonizing anger and shame I am filled with having to live under the blanket term 'christian' when the Church so blatantly lives in hypocrisy and the abuse of it's own beleivers believers.

And then I remember Jesus.

"So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you NEED before you ask Him."

Do you really believe Jesus knows your needs? And if you really believe that, do you turn that belief into reality by acting in true Faith?
Or are you like the lowly and derisive 'Them', who 'run after these things'.

So what comes directly after Jesus makes this great statement on needs?

"So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you NEED before you ask Him."

Pray, then, in this way:

‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. ‘Give us this day our daily bread. ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil."

But of course, who am I... to argue with those... smarter than Jesus?

Hypocrites, who allow God to provide one moment, but have no Faith He will provide a mere moment later.

Do you not realize your life is not characterized by the moment, but always the moment after? For that is reality.

From the ink of my pen,
Richard from the North Country

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