Kept from evil?

This morning in my meeting with God, I read the following verse from Psalm 121, "He will keep you from all evil. He will keep your life." Pausing on that verse, I let it seep into my psyche a bit and let it reverberate in my heart for a few moments. "He will keep you from all evil..." What does it mean? Does it mean that evil will not touch me? Does it mean that bad things won't happen to God's people? I'm not that nieve to think that bad things don't happen to Christians and good people. It's just too simple and unrealistic to think that being "kept" from evil means I have a protective force field around me, around us as we walk through life. Is evil a present reality in this world? Yes. Does it affect my life? Yes. So, what does it mean that God will keep us from all evil?

Then I read from Acts 13. Acts is the historical account of the spread of the Jesus movement throughout the world and the establishment of this new community of Jesus people. Acts 13:49-51, "The word of the Lord spread through the whole region. But...they stirred up persecution agains Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their region. So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit." Paul and Barnabas experienced evil in the persecutions they experienced. They weren't kept from bad things happening to them. I think the difference is how they responded to the evil. They "shook the dust off their feet" and they were "filled with joy." Maybe being "kept from all evil" isn't so much kept from experiencing it, but rather it is that evil will not overtake God's people. God will give us the right attitude in spite of the deteriorating circumstances surrounding us. What a way to respond to persecution, to simply get away and moved on. Paul and Barnabas' response to me is a courageous, controlled, and graceful response to the evil the beset them. May I, may we, respond to the evil around us with the Holy Spirit equipping and strengthening us to face it for what it is...and move through and passed it with the assurance of God's love and ultimate protection for us.

Thanks for reading.

When I played football in high school, Coach Fries made the entire team memorize a poem. We recited it before every game as a group in a large huddle. Since those days long ago, portions of that poem has stuck with me and has been a source of inspiration to me in lots of areas in my life. I pass the poem on to you.

If you think you are beaten, your are
If you think you dare not, you won't,
If you like to win, but don't think you can
It's almost a cinch you won't
If you think you'll lose, you're lost
For out in the world you find,
Success begins with a fellow's will
It's all in a state of mind
For many a game is lost
Ere even a play is run,
And many a coward fails
Ere even his work is begun
Think big and your deeds will grow
Think small and you'll fall behind
Think that you can and you will
It's all a state of mind
If you think you are out-classed, your are
You've got to think high to rise
You've got to be sure of yourself before You can ever win a prize
Life battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man
But sooner or later, the man who wins
Is the fellow who thinks he can

Mandela

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small doesn't serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Taken from the 1994 Inaugural Speech of Nelson Mandela

The gospel of judas

America is all a flutter with the discovery and the revealing of the "Gospel of Judas", an historical document revealing the insider Judas into Jesus' life and death. Interesting reading, but historically accurate? I'm not quite sure. Why do people trust a more recent document, newer than the gospels, over the four gospels we have preserved in our bible? It is a question of authority really. What has more authority? An eight page document recently discovered that dates back to near the first century, or four "gospels" who also give an historical record of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection? The gospels are not simply a collection of saying of Jesus. They also include place, people, and events which root Jesus' life in an historical, verifiable time and place. The gospel of Judas may have been pushed aside by our ancient church leaders for good reason...maybe because it wasn't good nor more importantly, accurate. Was there a conspiracy to silence the writer of the gospel of Judas? Oooooo. An American public wants to think so, but maybe it wasn't read because it simply was wrong.

Bon Jovi, for example, comes to mind. A year ago they released a 3 CD set with all of their B sides over the course of their music carrier; all of the music that never made it on to one of their recordings to be sold to the public. While there are some good songs on the CD, I do remember thinking as I listened, "No wonder this didn't make it on to the CD."

Another Gospel of Judas was proposed to me through a man named Pete Greig in his book, The Vow. He writes:
"How would Judas Iscariot have responded to the resurrection of Jesus Christ? Matthew tells us that prior to his suicide, Judas was 'seized with remorse.' He ran to the priests declaring 'I have sinned, I have betrayed innocent blood' hoping there might be still some way to undo the deed. Do we dare describe these words as a confession of sin?...Everything seemed hopeless...For Judas, there was no escaping the awful horror of his own heart. No future. And so, in the darkest despair, he hanged himself.

But what if he had waited a weekend? That's all that would have been needed. I love to imagine Jesus on Easter morning deliberately seeking out the disciple more lost than any other. Perhaps now, at last, he might be found! When Judas first sees Jesus, I imagine him wondering how this tumult of madness could now be conjuring up the rabbi in his tortured mind. Slowly Jesus approaches, but Judas is frozen in disbelief. Closer. Closer. Jesus is unbearably close...And then it happens: Jesus greets Judas. With a kiss, whispering, 'Friend.'..A kiss for a curse.

Yes I believe there was even grace for Judas, if only he could have held on through that one dark and desperate weekend."

Judas story may be our story. We may feel so overcome with guilt and shame today that the only option is to take our own life. Friend, hang on. Hang on another day. Grace is finding you too. "Stumble on a few more hours in blind faith, offering God nothing more than your hopelessness and your sin. We cannot rush the resurrection. But wait and watch, and He will surely come."

Lazarus factor

Yesterday when I read a portion of John, I came across a verse that I haven't ever thought about, "...the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him" (John 12:10-11).

Here's a guy, Lazarus, who was raised from the dead by Jesus himself...he's overjoyed by the new life, but some people just can't take it. They can't take it Lazarus is alive. It goes against the status quo. If a person is dead, they are to stay dead! So instead of celebrating with Lazarus, being awed by the miracle, the leaders are ticked. They want to shut Lazarus up by killing him again.

U2 has a line in one of their songs, "Don't let the bast**** drag you down." There are all kinds of people around us who want us to stay normal, don't rock the boat, don't be happy, don't feel joy, don't be yourself...because when we are truly ourselves, when we are truly moving into the future God has in store for us, they have to change too. Instead of changing along with us, they want to change us back to the people we were before "new life" happened. For some it's living into the new life Christ has in store for us in the present moment and in the days ahead. When we embrace the future with Christ, the future God has in mind for us, it will necessarily move us away from some people, things, and/or behaviors. But even when we don't move away from relationships, our new life will change those around us...some will like the change, and others won't. If it happened to Lazarus, it will happen to us.

And yet, what if the one trying to drag us down is ourselves? After all, there may be in our lives a propensity to fear success...to fear the unknown of a new tomorrow.

Either way, we move forward with Christ, trusting in the protection, grace, and strength he provides.

Looking in the rear view mirror

Ever tried driving down the interstate or a city street looking only in the rear view mirror? Not a good idea. I remember when I was learning to drive my instructor told me to glance periodically in my rear view mirror as well as my side mirrors. I remember thinking, "Man, that's a lot of looking behind and beside me." I just wanted to drive. While there is wisdom in looking to see what's behind us, we can't drive forward very long staring into those mirrors. We'll cause damage as we move forward because we're not paying attention what is in front of us.

I wonder how much I do that in my own life. Do I stare into the "rear view mirror" of my life to the destruction of what is right in front of me and what's down the road in the future ahead of me? At times, I do. Regret, guilt, shouldas, wouldas, and couldas all cause me to look backward too much. It's important to look back periodically and pay attention to the past. Being a history major in college I have to tell you that! But I do believe it. If we forget our history, we're bound to repeat it. But glancing back can also help us move safely into the future too.

Once when I was 16 I gave Lee a ride home from football practice. I remember it being a cool, rainy fall evening in October. We drove down state route 18 listening to music and talking about stuff when all of a sudden, I glanced into my rear view mirror and saw a state highway patrolman behind me, lights flashing. "S***! Cop." We both reach for our seatbelts and click them in as I eased over to the berm.

"My mom's gonna kill me," I kept thinking as the patolman walked towards our car. He made me get out and sit in his car as he worked up the ticket. "Did you two have your seatbelts on?" he asked. "Ummm..." hesitation. "....no." He didn't think so. He had seen our hands grow out of left and right shoulders as we reached for the seatbelts. Strike two. Strike one was I was speeding on wet roads, and on top of that, we weren't wearing seatbelts. Yikes.

So, is it important to look behind? Yes, to a point. Sometimes we learn from what's behind us so that we can move safely into the future.

But, I wonder if I and some of us live too much looking in the rear view? Maybe Paul's words will help move us boldly into the present and future God has planned, "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things...let us live up to what we have already attained." Philippians 3:13-16