Thursday Thoughts 5/25/17

 It is strange how the smallest of things can impact us so profoundly. Things that have no intrinsic value or meaning can inspire a thought, and evoke an emotion buried within. For me it was a clothes hanger. I stood and stared at it for all of thirty-seconds as the image etched into my mind, becoming an expression of some repressed emotion.

Hangers are everywhere. Our closets have hangers with clothes of various sorts hanging on them, but none of them have ever captured my attention like this old plastic hanger. Nevertheless, there it was, hanging all by itself. As I stood there a thought entered my mind, “Leave it alone”.

To my surprise this was not as easy as it sounded. I began to wonder, why leave it alone? Why, not put it with all the other hangers? It is after all just one hanger. One silly little hanger. “Close the closet door”, a gentle thought passed through my mind. Slowly, with tears falling from my cheek, I closed the closet door. I looked around the empty condominium. “One hanger, for the one who will not move with us”, I softly spoke to the air.

I stepped out the front door of the condo and all I could think of was the hanger in the closet. Maybe I needed the hanger. The hanger became a symbol of that which does not come with us. Dad is in a place that I will one day go, but for now he cannot go with us. As I drove the two hours north to mom’s new neighborhood the words of the prophet came to mind, “God does not delight in the death of anyone, but wills that all would come to repentance and live” (my paraphrase).

The hanger began to take on a new image of thought. God doesn’t want any hangers left in the closet. He desires to bring all the hangers to himself. Some hangers will resist that will, and chose to remain separated from God. When Jesus stood at the tomb of Lazarus we are told that he wept. Many have given opinions about why tears ran down his cheeks. I cannot speak for the Jesus on this, but maybe he wept because that is what humans do when we look at death. There is no delight in death, not even when we know the result will be eternal life.

Death, even though it is only for a short time, brings separation. Separation took on the image of a hanger in the closet. The new residents will likely look at the hanger and toss it in the trash. After all, when the hanger was separated from its purpose and possessor, it was of little value. The new family brought their own hangers, why would they want someone else’s stuff.

I am so thankful, that although I was separated from God, he came for me. He did not leave me hanging. Instead, he became human and hung for me, on the cross. He opened my closet of separation, rejoiced with great rejoicing, and declared, “At last, my hanger is come home!” I could never move toward him, but as though I had found him, God welcomed me into his family, calls me child, and though death may separate me one day from my family, in God’s closet I will never be left behind.

Just a thought!

Thursday Thoughts (5/4/17)

(Matthew 6:25-34) Jesus tells us not to worry about what they would eat or what they should wear. He reflects on the birds of the air and the flowers of the field. The overall gist of what Jesus is saying, is that we are to put our trust in God. He provides for the birds, and he created the flowers with great beauty. Israel for many years had tried to look to foreigners for help. Who could they trust, how could they build alliances with others to survive and not be destroyed.

Rome’s occupation of their land was the result of making deals to avoid war that they could not possibly win. Who could blame them? After all they were greatly outnumbered, and after the Babylonian captivity their faith in the Jerusalem very well could have been shaken. As a people their faith in God would be shaken to the core.

Jesus speaks to an audience that knew what Roman rule looked like. They also knew what corrupt Jewish leadership looked like too. It seems logical to imagine that the average person in Jesus’ day lived with a certain level of anxiety about the political climate, especially in the larger cities.

What is fascinating is that Jesus’ teaching focuses on the basics of life, food and clothing. Things that most of us today take for granted. Food pantries fill our community churches, and there are places for folks to get clothing. In Jesus’ day people weren’t looking at fashion as we do today. These folks would be worrying about basic coverings for the day. Yet, he goes beyond this to tell his audience not to worry about anything, not even tomorrow. Jesus knew humanities propensity to worry. Media outlets today play on our being predisposed to worry.

What does worry get us? I have been one of those people who tells others, “Don’t worry everything will be ok!” Yet, in my own life I find myself worried at times. When a semester comes to an end, and papers are due, I begin to worry about grades, finishing my work, and yes even the beginning of another semester. I find it is always easier to encourage others more than myself. Nevertheless, with all my worry, my stress rises, I can’t sleep, I can’t focus, and it takes me twice as long to work than when I am not stressed. Worry does not help me one bit, but I still do it.

I suppose worry could become sin; however, I am not sure that is the best way for us to look at it. Worry is a reminder that we do not control the world around us, nor can we. We have no power to align all the circumstances of our life according to what would make us comfortable. Virtually everything is beyond our control. Self-control is hard enough. Jesus is not trying to add another worrisome stress to our lives, “Great now I am worried about worrying”.

Jesus is speaking words of loving encouragement. When you are facing worry, look around, see how God takes care of the smallest of creatures. See how God has adorned the earth. In the basic creative order, God provided for all of creation, and you, you are the pinnacle of that creation. You are created in the image of God. God loves you so much he sent his son to provide a way into holy fellowship with him. Jesus invites us into his peace, his shalom. It’s as if he is saying, “Come leave your worry behind, if you will trust me I will give you rest. Look how God has taken care of everything else, aren’t you worth more than birds, and flowers.”