Lessons from Acts of the Apostles. Wednesday, March 18. 2015. Lent.

I love the Acts of the Apostles.

It is so relatable,

understandable

and tangible.

It makes sense

and can so easily be related to our lives.

It reminds us that we still have this call to be witnesses to Christ.

That we have a duty to spread the Gospel.

It shows us that we are not alone in our sufferings.

Persecution began as soon as the Church did.

The Church’s first martyr, St. Stephen,

was killed in Chapter 8 of Acts.

Chapter 8!

From the get-go the Christians suffered persecution,

some even to the point of death.

I was re-reading the part that talks about St. Stephen’s martyrdom

and I am fairly certain my jaw literally dropped.

“They [the Sanhedrin] threw him [St. Stephen] out of the city and began to stone him. The witnesses laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul….Now Saul was consenting to Stephen’s execution.” 

Acts 7:58 & 8:1

The first time read this,

my thoughts were something of the like,

‘Hm, Saul, that’s a nice name. Sounds familiar.’

Unfortunately,

I am not joking.

I must have been tired.

The second time I read it,

paying much more attention to detail,

I came to realize that Paul,

my absolute favorite author in the Bible,

was present,

and consented to,

the murder of the Church’s first martyr.

I do not know if I learned this pivotal tidbit of information before or not,

but if I did, it was nowhere to be found in my noggin.

I know that Paul persecuted Christians

but there is something that stands out about him consenting to St. Stephen’s murder.

What Paul witnessed was gross and gruesome.

No human eye should have to see what Paul saw.

No human heart should have to carry that burden.

Paul had this experience.

He was then given a choice as a result of that experience.

He could continue to support the persecution of Christians.

Or

He could support the Christians.

Ironically,

he did both,

the second option just took him quite a bit of time to get to.

Paul was a murderer.

He had blood on his hands.

He disappointed God.

He sinned.

Big time.

And?

After Paul’s conversion,

he supported the Christians.

He became a Christian.

He is one of the greatest examples of a Christian.

Ever.

God used Paul.

God used a murderer.

God used a sinner.

God wants to use you.

Pride,

lust,

lies,

fear,

weakness,

pain,

suffering,

sorrows,

ugliness.

He wants to use you despite all of that.

He was to take you, oh sinner,

and help make you one of the greatest Christians of all time.

Just like Paul.

He wants you to witness.

He wants you to help souls get to Heaven.

He wants you.

Because He loves you.

He loves you far too much to just let you sit and dwell

on the fact that you screwed up.  

He created you for a purpose

and until we break the chains,

the bondage of sin,

we won’t be able to fulfill that purpose.

He wants you.

He loves you.

And we need Him. 

The Rich Man and Lazarus. Wednesday, March 11. 2015.

Jesus said to the Pharisees: “There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen

and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table.

Dogs even used to come and lick his sores. When the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, and from the netherworld, where he was in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.’ Abraham replied, ‘My child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented. Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go from our side to yours or from your side to ours.’ He said, ‘Then I beg you, father, send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they too come to this place of torment.’ But Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’ He said, ‘Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ Then Abraham said, ‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.’”

Luke 16:19-31

This was the Gospel reading from last Thursday.

This one has always stuck out to me.

If a heart can grimace,

that is exactly what mine does when I read this parable.

You can probably see it in my face too.

The rich man who had everything he could ever want,

had the opportunity to feed Lazarus.

And feed him scraps at that.

But he refused.

He would not feed the man in dire need

with even the scraps from his own table.

Lazarus had nothing.

Nothing material, no food, no riches.

But upon death,

Lazarus had everything he could ever imagine.

He gained Heaven.

He no longer had need or want of anything.

Upon the death of the rich man,

he no longer had anything but

pain, suffering, and torment.

The rich man thought that he might make a request:

he wanted Lazarus only to dip his finger in water

to cool the rich man’s burning tongue.

When I sit and think about that request,

I can only begin to imagine the pain of hell.

I’ve burnt myself a fair number of times over the years.

Immediately, I head for the sink so as to have a flow of cool water

to mask the pain.

Sure, it makes it feel better,

but it still burns terribly.

And continues to burn for a good while.

These burn experiences don’t even begin to compare to the pain in hell.

The rich man begging for just a drop of water

makes my stomach churn.

Oh the pain.

And I feel such pity for the rich man who then asks

for his brothers to be warned by Lazarus.

He believes that if a dead person comes,

then his brothers will believe.

Abraham assures the rich man that Moses and the prophets

will witness to his brothers.

The rich man says it will take someone rising from the dead

in order for his brother to repent.

Abraham responds that if the message of the prophets does not change them,

then the dead coming back to life will not change them either.

I feel so much pity for this rich man.

But how often am I this rich man?

How many times can I give and I don’t?

How many times has Jesus tried to get my attention and He can’t?

How many times have I asked for a bigger and better revelation?

Too many times.

I’d rather be Lazarus here on Earth so that I can be granted the grace of Heaven.

Here’s the poor,

the lowly,

the looked-down-upon,

the simple,

the grateful,

the God-fearing.

May we one day be granted the joy of Heaven. 

Vice & Virtue. Wednesday, March 4. 2015. Lent.

Often times,

the thoughts running through my head are laughable offenses.

I have become far too good at tweaking things one way or another

to get the outcome that I want.

I am a mastermind when it comes to comparisons.

It doesn’t take long for my sinful heart to look at another person

and convince myself how much better I am than them.

When I pick apart other peoples’ flaws

my flaws pale in comparison.

And suddenly,

I am flawless

and they are steeping in flaws.

Sad but true.

Honesty at its finest.

I’ve been reminded of something recently.

“It’s the easiest thing in the world to be better than anyone at all, or at least not so bad, so long as you take care in picking out which supposed virtue to advertise and which vice to overlook.”

[Magnificat Lenten Companion]

Oh.

The person next to me might have some raging vices.

But so do I.

Oh boy so do I.

We choose to see the vices of others as the worst thing in the world.

But our vices?

Minimal, if we even have any.

We overlook the virtues that they do have

because we are too concerned grooming the virtues that we still have left.

I need to realize that

maybe what they lack,

I have been gifted with.

And what I lack,

they have been gifted with.

This Lent,

might we commit to bettering ourselves before we

so ‘generously’ offer to point out others’ vices?

Might we concern ourselves with the planks in our own eyes

before we offer to get the splinter out of our brother’s?

We could all benefit from more virtues and less vices.

Let us pray for such a blessing.

Jonah. Wednesday, February 25. 2015. Lent.

Veggie Tales had a lovely catchy song about Jonah…

‘Jonah was a prophet…oooh…oooh!’

The story of Jonah is one of the more popular stories in the Bible.

The giant fish swallowing him and all…it’s a fascinating story!

Jonah was an unlikely prophet.

He wasn’t really interested in sharing the message

that the Lord asked him to share to the people of Nineveh.

And then after he fiiiiiiinally does do what the Lord asks,

he lets his anger and jealously get the best of him.

Jonah didn’t really fit the bill of prophet.

But God still used him to do some amazing things.

The Ninevites were living their lives in a way that did not please the Lord.

They were living lives of wickedness.

They were not leading lives that glorified the Lord.

When Jonah finally agreed to preach the Lord's message,

he went to Nineveh and proclaimed that,

in 40 days Nineveh would be destroyed if the people did not change their ways.

The king of Nineveh heard of Jonah’s message and humbled himself.

He got down from his throne.

Prayed and fasted.

He repented.

He asked his city to do the same.

The Lord saw them turning from their wicked ways.

He was pleased.

He decided to not destroy Nineveh.

This story makes me wonder,

how are we displeasing to the Lord?

We sin.

We are wicked.

Have we been given a warning?

Have we been given a sign?

Is there someone or something trying to lead us to repentance?

What unlikely modern day prophet is pointing us back to the Lord?

It does seem that history repeats itself.

We have been given the problem to solve.

But we have also been given the answer key.

We know how to solve the problem.

Humble yourselves.

Turn to the Lord.

Repent.

It would be a shame to get an incorrect answer to this problem.

Let us heed Jonah's warning. 

Let us pray that we as individuals and as a nation turn back to the Lord

and repent of our evil ways.

A Muddy Soul. Wednesday, February 11. 2015.

Right now at work we are in our soccer unit.

I am fairly certain my whole school thinks they are Brazilian

because, across the board, they are obsessed with soccer.

We have these awesome pop-up goals.

One of those awesome inventions that takes a master mind to figure out how to close it.

Yesterday we had brought out one too many goals so a kid brought me the extra one.

He gave it to me and I grabbed the two handles so that I could close the net.

What the student failed to tell me was that prior to this,

he had dragged the goal through the mud.

So I now had red clay all over my hands.

Instead of closing the net, I set it aside until the mud dried.

I was not interested more mud than necessary on my hands.

Once the mud was dry and my hands were clean,

I closed the net.

As this is going on,

I am praising God that He does not do to us as I did with the net.

We get ourselves into so much trouble.

So much muck.

So much mud.

Sometimes we are able to pull ourselves out.

Sometimes not.

Sometimes it takes a God bigger than ourselves to drag us out of the mud.

But regardless of how we get out of the mud of sin,

the Lord is there ready to clean us off.

He doesn’t wait for us to dry so as to keep His hands clean.

He gets right in the middle of our gross attachment to sin.

He cleans off that mud.

He gets dirty too.

He takes care of that mud.

He offers forgiveness.

We are about to begin the sacred season of Lent.

Many churches are offering Penance services.

Your church is setting up a time for Jesus to clean that mud off of you.

Take advantage of it.

Jesus doesn’t treat you the way that I treated the goal.

He does not want you to remain in sin.

He wants you to be free of the sins chaining you down.

There is nothing that you can confess to the priest,

in persona Christi,

in the person of Christ,

that he has not heard.

There is no sin that you have committed that Jesus cannot forgive you for. 

We just have to seek that forgiveness. 

Go ahead.

Let Him get that mud off your soul. 

He is waiting for you. 

Mark 6:4-6. Wednesday, February 4. 2015.

“So He was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying His hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.”

Mark 6:5-6

In the chapter prior, Jesus had just healed the woman with the hemorrhage

and brought Jairus’ daughter back to life.

Both of these miracles occurred as a result of faith.

Jesus said to the woman with the hemorrhage,

“Your faith as saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction.”

Jesus said to Jairus’ weeping family,

“Do not be afraid, just have faith.”

Following these instructions,

the little girl, presumed dead, arose.

After these two miracles,

Jesus went to His native land.

All knew who He was.

But they were offended by Jesus

because Jesus was teaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath.  

Instead of Jesus going back to His homeland and being welcomed,

He was rejected.

Some were so eager to see Jesus,

talk to Him,

touch His clothes.

But not those in His homeland.

They quickly rejected Him.

“Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house’.”

Mark 6:4

Due to His homeland’s rejection and lack of faith,

Jesus was not able to perform any mighty deed there.

My heart aches for the people of Nazareth

and in the same breath,

my heart is convicted.

How often does Jesus seek to enter my heart

and I reject Him?

How often does He desire for me to just have faith

and I choose doubt instead?

In the previous town,

Jesus brought a little girl back to life and healed a woman of her hemorrhage.

Nazareth decided to be “offended” by Jesus’ actions

and as a result,

did not get to experience the miracles that the town before them experienced.

What I am missing out on when I lack faith?

I don’t want to be like the Nazarenes.

I want to be like Jairus.

I don’t want Jesus to be astounded at my lack of faith.

I pray that Jesus might be astounded at my abundance of faith!

It is not easy to have faith.

In fact, it is a challenge.

A daily choice.

I pray that we are blessed with faith like Jairus’.

I pray that we have faith enough to be blessed by miracles.

Let’s astound Jesus with our faith.

Hebrews 2:18. Wednesday, January 21. 2015.

“Because He Himself was tested through what He suffered,

He is able to help those who are being tested.”

Hebrews 2:18

Experience is one of the best teachers.

Sure,

we can comfort a friend who has lost a parent,

but unless we walked through that same dark valley,

we won’t truly know what they are experiencing.

I often forget that Jesus was both human and divine.

Jesus’ coming and death was not simply a breeze for the divine

but a test of suffering for humanity.

In order to save us,

He became like us.

He was willing to suffer

so that we could relate to Him and learn from Him.

When someone tells you to talk to Jesus 

and tells you that He understands,

that is the truth.

He truly does understand.

He is able to help.

Not just because He is Jesus

but rather,

because He Himself was tested.

He suffered.

What a sweet comfort!

In the midst of trial and suffering,

our weakest point,

He understands because He suffered too.

I have come to realize that suffering is a gift.

A strange gift,

but a gift nonetheless.

Christ’s sufferings and trials opens for us a path.

A path to relationship with Him,

a path to true understanding,

a path of comfort in our darkest times.

Christ has given us this gift.

We can in turn give this gift to others.

What struggles have you overcome?

What experience did you suffer through?

What trials did you think you would never get through?

How can you help others going through the same things that you went through?

Just as Christ did for us?

Sometimes God permits us to struggle through an area of life

so that we can be there for someone else later down the road.

If we can learn to view suffering as a gift,

we can continue to lead a life just like Christ did.

Remember during time of trial and suffering,

turn to Christ.

He suffered too.

There is redemption in your suffering.