The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.
The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference.
The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference.
And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.
-Elie Wiesel
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
the answer is simple
A friend wrote this in a casual conversation over a year ago, and it's stuck with me ever since.
We want God's ends by our own means. We want to love, but want the love to come from us. In the process, what we've really done is tainted the idea of love itself because God is love and to separate Him from it in our minds is to downplay both the character of the Lord and the power and significance of love. As always, the answer is simple: we need to know Christ better.
The Lord's ways are not like mine, His are so much higher, stronger, and purer. I'll have a great goal (like wanting to serve Him), yet if I try to do His will in my own power I still miss out on the whole point of living life on this earth. Every day that passes I become more convinced that the great mysteries of life are really quite simple. Like Naaman's servant, I often ask myself, "If the prophet had bid you to do some great thing, would not you have done it? How much rather then, when he says, "Wash and be clean?" (2 Kings 5:13) The Lord's invitation is still there and I keep coming back to one of my father's favorite passages of Scripture. In these verses lie the keys to understanding salvation and sanctification.
Matthew 11:28-30
Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
We want God's ends by our own means. We want to love, but want the love to come from us. In the process, what we've really done is tainted the idea of love itself because God is love and to separate Him from it in our minds is to downplay both the character of the Lord and the power and significance of love. As always, the answer is simple: we need to know Christ better.
The Lord's ways are not like mine, His are so much higher, stronger, and purer. I'll have a great goal (like wanting to serve Him), yet if I try to do His will in my own power I still miss out on the whole point of living life on this earth. Every day that passes I become more convinced that the great mysteries of life are really quite simple. Like Naaman's servant, I often ask myself, "If the prophet had bid you to do some great thing, would not you have done it? How much rather then, when he says, "Wash and be clean?" (2 Kings 5:13) The Lord's invitation is still there and I keep coming back to one of my father's favorite passages of Scripture. In these verses lie the keys to understanding salvation and sanctification.
Matthew 11:28-30
Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
My Liberal and Princely Giver
Music and poetry mean a great deal to me, though I'm not much of a poet or musician. *coughs* Actually, I'm really not a poet or musician at all. Regardless of my lack of ability in these areas, I greatly enjoy Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and I loved this section from Sonnet VIII from Sonnets from the Portuguese.
And princely giver, who hast brought the gold
And purple of thine heart, unstained, untold,
And laid them on the outside of the wall
For such as I to take or leave withal,
In unexpected largesse? am I cold,
Ungrateful, that for these most manifold
High gifts, I render nothing back at all?
Not so; not cold,--but very poor instead.
Doesn't it sound like our relationship with the Lord? Why would such an One ever love me? How could He have demonstrated such love, yet leave it there for us to take or reject? I've often thought about how vulnerable He chooses to be. He knows that people will spurn His love and cruelly reject His very name, yet He still holds out His hands offering life and everything that makes it worth living. Even though I'm so very poor, I possess something He values. I give Him back what He gives me, and He blesses me for it! It's not hard to love Someone like that.
Messiah's Song
I love music. For those of you who have had the dubious privilege of being my close friends, you know music means a great deal to me. It should come as no surprise that this article by James Martin resonated with my spirit. I've really enjoyed thinking about it and wanted to share it with you all. If you have time, I'd encourage you to check out their website and archives at www.uplook.org
The following is by James Martin and was published in the January/February issue of Uplook!
I remember being at a youth conference once and hearing the speaker say, “By and large, Christians are the only people who gather together to sing.” You can, of course, find the odd exception. But the point remains: singing—not listening to music, but actually singing—is far more a part of the Christian’s life than it is of the unbeliever’s life. It really shouldn’t be a surprise. We have the most to sing about: a Saviour whose love is so vast that He voluntarily endured the torment and shame of the cross for the sake of His enemies!
But think of this. What if Jesus of Nazareth—the humble carpenter—had announced to the people of His day, “One day, there will be more songs written about Me than about any other person in history”? For that matter, what if He had claimed there would be even one song written about Him? They’d have laughed Him to scorn! Yet here we are. Two millennia later and hundreds of thousands—perhaps millions—of songs have been written about Him. Songs in every tongue and from every tribe. And not only is He preeminent in quantity. He has been the inspiration of the finest musicians and the greatest music in history. These facts ought to astound us, yet we take them for granted. Because everyone—even the unsaved—has come to expect the transcendence of Christ. A Man so magnificent that even unbelievers write songs about Him.
There’s no close second. And the gap grows greater every day. Count the number of songs you know about Krishna, or Mohammad, or Buddha, or Confucius, or Shiva (and you’d think you’d want to keep the god of destruction happy!). But there is a far greater motivator than fear. We sing about Him because we love Him. In this, we’re not alone. From cover to cover, the Bible is replete with songs about the Son of God: the Messianic Psalms, hymns, the Song of Moses and of the Lamb. Moreover, believers around the world are united in the object of our songs, and, one day, when we get to glory, our voices will be gathered together with the hosts of heaven and the faithful from across time in one great theme (Rev. 5:9; 14:3; 15:3). The real Hallelujah Chorus will shake heaven and earth.
But, as incredible as that will be, the Scriptures tell us of songs that will make all other music pale in comparison. For we are promised that, one day, we will hear Christ Himself sing. His singing, too, will be motivated by love: love for His Father (Heb. 2:12) and love for His people (Zeph. 3:17). Just as He, staggeringly, sang out of love for both as He made His way to Calvary (Mk. 14:26).
We’ve all tasted the power of music. Who of us hasn’t been thrilled or shaken to the core by the wondrous mixture of lyrics and music? And that at the songs of a fallen world! We’re told that angels sing (Job 38:7). I have no doubt they will take our breath away. But, for all the glory of the morning stars, we won’t know what real music is until the day we hear Messiah’s song.
The following is by James Martin and was published in the January/February issue of Uplook!
Messiah's Song
I remember being at a youth conference once and hearing the speaker say, “By and large, Christians are the only people who gather together to sing.” You can, of course, find the odd exception. But the point remains: singing—not listening to music, but actually singing—is far more a part of the Christian’s life than it is of the unbeliever’s life. It really shouldn’t be a surprise. We have the most to sing about: a Saviour whose love is so vast that He voluntarily endured the torment and shame of the cross for the sake of His enemies!
But think of this. What if Jesus of Nazareth—the humble carpenter—had announced to the people of His day, “One day, there will be more songs written about Me than about any other person in history”? For that matter, what if He had claimed there would be even one song written about Him? They’d have laughed Him to scorn! Yet here we are. Two millennia later and hundreds of thousands—perhaps millions—of songs have been written about Him. Songs in every tongue and from every tribe. And not only is He preeminent in quantity. He has been the inspiration of the finest musicians and the greatest music in history. These facts ought to astound us, yet we take them for granted. Because everyone—even the unsaved—has come to expect the transcendence of Christ. A Man so magnificent that even unbelievers write songs about Him.
There’s no close second. And the gap grows greater every day. Count the number of songs you know about Krishna, or Mohammad, or Buddha, or Confucius, or Shiva (and you’d think you’d want to keep the god of destruction happy!). But there is a far greater motivator than fear. We sing about Him because we love Him. In this, we’re not alone. From cover to cover, the Bible is replete with songs about the Son of God: the Messianic Psalms, hymns, the Song of Moses and of the Lamb. Moreover, believers around the world are united in the object of our songs, and, one day, when we get to glory, our voices will be gathered together with the hosts of heaven and the faithful from across time in one great theme (Rev. 5:9; 14:3; 15:3). The real Hallelujah Chorus will shake heaven and earth.
But, as incredible as that will be, the Scriptures tell us of songs that will make all other music pale in comparison. For we are promised that, one day, we will hear Christ Himself sing. His singing, too, will be motivated by love: love for His Father (Heb. 2:12) and love for His people (Zeph. 3:17). Just as He, staggeringly, sang out of love for both as He made His way to Calvary (Mk. 14:26).
We’ve all tasted the power of music. Who of us hasn’t been thrilled or shaken to the core by the wondrous mixture of lyrics and music? And that at the songs of a fallen world! We’re told that angels sing (Job 38:7). I have no doubt they will take our breath away. But, for all the glory of the morning stars, we won’t know what real music is until the day we hear Messiah’s song.
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