"whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, don't worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given to you, because it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.
- Mark 13:10-11
So that doesn't start out encouraging. But the truth is, we all find ourselves in those places. Hard places where we didn't want to go. Forced by circumstances, relationships, even family; we find ourselves in positions where we don't know what to say.
Someone dies. A tragedy hits my life that I didn't see coming. I lost EVERYTHING. She left me. And somehow we are supposed to have these words that speak comfort to us and to others. The Bible is full of words. isn't there anything that can be said to remove the pain or the fear or the emptiness?
I don't know why, but it seems we are in a season within my circle of influence where there is much suffering going on. So much hurt ranging from death to injury to loss of job to divorce. it is all over the map, but they come to me talking about this life issue (whatever it may be) and wanting answers - wanting hope.
I am learning a hard lesson that makes me very small and my God very big. That lesson is: I don't know what to say. So, what do I say when I don't know what to say?
I have a great list of things to not say:
"Just let go and let God!"
"Just be still and know!"
"Just" is never going to be a good way to open a response to someone else's tragedy.
"I know how you feel!"
Truth is, I don't have a clue. Even if I have been there, I don't know how they feel and it is demeaning to their pain to say I do.
"Well, all you need to do is..."
it is never that simple...
So I have found a couple - and truly only a couple - of things that I can say. But these things aren't easy to say and they require my full attention, my full presence.
"I am here."
"I will walk through this with you - no matter what!"
"I am so sorry."
Maybe the power of community isn't found in the words we conjure up. Maybe we shouldn't be worried about words anyway because that is what Jesus says is the Holy Spirit's problem. Maybe the strength, the hope that people are looking for is found in something much deeper and less tangible.
Maybe the power to fight through the tragedy of this life is in knowing that I am not alone. And maybe, my ability to help people weather their tragedy well is directly tied to my ability to be present with someone when these kinds of life situations hit us.
Maybe when I don't know what to say, I should say that I don't know what to say, and then just be silent, but present. and Maybe I can draw strength from that too.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Monday, March 25, 2013
Thoughts on Israel #5... The end
It has been one week since my return from Israel. And I have been debriefing the experience with many people - friend and family and church goers. Everyone has been very gracious as my wife and get get starry eyed again and begin telling tales of adventure. So first of all, thanks to all our friends who have indulged our stories. We are blessed to be a part of such a great community.
This will be my last post on Israel. I have so much more in my mind that I would like to say or that meant something very special to me, but there is not the room or the time to contain it all. And at some point the law of diminishing returns starts to take affect. So in an attempt to wrap things up, I will conclude with what I saw that impacted me the most... There are 2 events that are separate, and connected.
The first was at Caesarea Philippi.
Matthew 16:13 says, When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
This place is one of the 3 head waters of the Jordan river. The water literally comes out of the rocks. Any place that is like this is a hotbed for pagan worship in the ancient world. And this is true for Caesarea Philippi as well. In the time of Elijah, Ba'al worship was strong here. And in Jesus' day, the worshipped the god Pan. Pan is half goat half man and there was all kinds of perverted debauchery that happened as a result of worshipping Pan.
But here is what hit me, in this place children were sacrificed to Ba'al. That means that I stood where babies were sacrificed to iron and wood... To dead gods!
This was part of the affect. But it goes further. In Israel, all these sites that we pay huge money to go and see are national parks. And the high school students go there as part of their field trips. Just another day at a historical site. No big deal. And of course I don't entirely blame them. They are surrounded by all this old stuff all the time. It has to lose some of its mystique.
But they were running around - clueless. Being young, playful teens, and completely missing that they are standing at a place where children were sacrificed to dead gods.
It deeply moved me. Because it is here that Peter says You are the Christ. The Son of the LIVING God. And Jesus invites them to live in Him. And these kids are running around clueless about the significance of this place and how powerful this moment in history was and still is today.
The second place that moved me was Qumran. This is the place where the Essenes withdrew and left the trappings of riches and easy life to move out into the desert (and it is barren) to devote their lives to studying the text. They wanted to know God's Word with such a passion that they literally gave up everything and just studied text. John the Baptist comes from these people. They would have to take a ceremonial bath (mikveh or what we would call baptism) for just saying the name of God. Their devotion to the text and not missing God's path was incredible. I want to love the text the way they do. But I don't. At least I don't live my life with that level of devotion. I admire them. But I am not sure that I want to be them.
Which leads me to my connection of these 2 events. Am I the clueless teenager running around not realizing the significant moments that God has going on all around me all the time because I am not loving, living, and reading the text as I should? Would I be the "voice of one calling in the wilderness?" Am I able to "show people the ancient paths?" This is my question and it has wrung in my head since I got back.
So what do I do with my experience of Israel? Here is all I can tell you... There is so much of the whole trip that just simply cannot be quantified. I don't know how to explain what happened or what I felt. But what I can say is that like Jeremiah, there is a fire in my bones that has not been there in a long time. So that when someone asks where are the ancient paths, I will have an answer. I will know not just where the ancient paths are, but how to get there and how to walk them once we arrive. I don't want to miss any God moments. And By His grace, I will do so no longer!
This will be my last post on Israel. I have so much more in my mind that I would like to say or that meant something very special to me, but there is not the room or the time to contain it all. And at some point the law of diminishing returns starts to take affect. So in an attempt to wrap things up, I will conclude with what I saw that impacted me the most... There are 2 events that are separate, and connected.
The first was at Caesarea Philippi.
Matthew 16:13 says, When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
This place is one of the 3 head waters of the Jordan river. The water literally comes out of the rocks. Any place that is like this is a hotbed for pagan worship in the ancient world. And this is true for Caesarea Philippi as well. In the time of Elijah, Ba'al worship was strong here. And in Jesus' day, the worshipped the god Pan. Pan is half goat half man and there was all kinds of perverted debauchery that happened as a result of worshipping Pan.
But here is what hit me, in this place children were sacrificed to Ba'al. That means that I stood where babies were sacrificed to iron and wood... To dead gods!
This was part of the affect. But it goes further. In Israel, all these sites that we pay huge money to go and see are national parks. And the high school students go there as part of their field trips. Just another day at a historical site. No big deal. And of course I don't entirely blame them. They are surrounded by all this old stuff all the time. It has to lose some of its mystique.
But they were running around - clueless. Being young, playful teens, and completely missing that they are standing at a place where children were sacrificed to dead gods.
It deeply moved me. Because it is here that Peter says You are the Christ. The Son of the LIVING God. And Jesus invites them to live in Him. And these kids are running around clueless about the significance of this place and how powerful this moment in history was and still is today.
The second place that moved me was Qumran. This is the place where the Essenes withdrew and left the trappings of riches and easy life to move out into the desert (and it is barren) to devote their lives to studying the text. They wanted to know God's Word with such a passion that they literally gave up everything and just studied text. John the Baptist comes from these people. They would have to take a ceremonial bath (mikveh or what we would call baptism) for just saying the name of God. Their devotion to the text and not missing God's path was incredible. I want to love the text the way they do. But I don't. At least I don't live my life with that level of devotion. I admire them. But I am not sure that I want to be them.
Which leads me to my connection of these 2 events. Am I the clueless teenager running around not realizing the significant moments that God has going on all around me all the time because I am not loving, living, and reading the text as I should? Would I be the "voice of one calling in the wilderness?" Am I able to "show people the ancient paths?" This is my question and it has wrung in my head since I got back.
So what do I do with my experience of Israel? Here is all I can tell you... There is so much of the whole trip that just simply cannot be quantified. I don't know how to explain what happened or what I felt. But what I can say is that like Jeremiah, there is a fire in my bones that has not been there in a long time. So that when someone asks where are the ancient paths, I will have an answer. I will know not just where the ancient paths are, but how to get there and how to walk them once we arrive. I don't want to miss any God moments. And By His grace, I will do so no longer!
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