This world is full of wonders. Abounding as the greatest wonder is that of
people, souls eternal. Shall we look into
people’s eyes today and know that God crafted their story as a particular
articulation of His Love and Creative Hand? Do we often think about how our
words sow seeds of encouragement or stamp out live growing things in their
hearts? Our lives are not so very long;
how carefully we ought to consider what we scatter-sow. Shall we love with our eyes and with the eyes
of our hearts as we see one another walking the particular path God has written
as their story? Shall we choose
carefully words which make the love of Christ our Brother, the magnitude and
almighty power and purifying Fire of God our Father, the ministry of the Holy
Spirit our Comforter and Guide – better even than the presence of Jesus
incarnate, He said to His Friends--more real to them for today, that they may
be faithful living actors in the story God is weaving around their hours? Shall we be a strength and joy, taking their
hand warmly as they stumble on the way?
Or shall we look the other way as we pass by? After all, someone just texted us and dinner
is late and we forgot to call that person and we’re leaving in two days for vacation
and – it never does end.
My daughter and I had an unforgettable time at the RZIM
Summer Institute this past week. We were
powerfully struck by all the persons we met – people who, behind their eyes and
smiles and greetings all have extraordinary stories and it was a very great joy
to hear even the little bits of them: the woman from Jamaica who is an
oncologist and hematologist and university professor, talking softly about her readings
on the martyrs; the young graduate from Kansas who said there were more
tumbleweeds than people in his tiny town, but he wanted to articulate great
things for God; the man who had a brain tumor and went into a seizure and was
taken to the hospital just after sharing a great heartache in his life; the FBI
agent who fights faithfully against the world’s greatest sorrows and fears; the woman who holds Bible Studies in
retirement communities and the one who mentors college students as family and
the one who ministers to women snared into trafficking and the one who actively
loves Muslim neighbors into Truth and really this list has no end.
We all drank deeply from the encouragement
given by the Australian-accented, the Kenyan, the Scot, the Canadian with the British
humor, and the man originally from India—dynamic powerhouse for the gospel
whose friends and father said he would never amount to anything and now he
stands before robed kings of foreign lands who embrace him after he speaks
Truth and say to him things like “I hope this is the beginning of a long
friendship”. (Take opportunity to read his books or listen to him on the radio
(Ravi).)
I’m going to include here some notes from the conference
that struck me, tho’ I do know it’s almost impossible for such things to
translate with the same power and impact they have within the context we heard
them. And before I sign off, I would just
like to share with everyone that my sugar snap peas are blooming white curled
blossoms of promise and six feet high.
The rabbits have moved on to all my white impatiens, barred out of
lettuce and peas by chicken wire. Just
thought those who read me rave about this a couple months ago would like to
know that something good is garden-happening out in this rain.
Isaiah 6:1-8, 9:1-7
"Isaiah calls the people to faithfulness during a time of
great pressure. Pressure and difficulty
are normative. The Bible anticipates the
lives of people will be lived out under incredible pressure... When the dark clouds are rolling that’s when
God speaks.
Isaiah knows with utter certainty that this is reality –
God’s reality breaking in and everything is shaken. This is the opposite of a self-centered
perspective where we are the reality.
God is a reality, not a concept that fits around you and
your reality. There is no
transformational power in God being a concept that fits around me and my
reality. God moves into my life and
begins to shape my priorities and my life.
You will need to have encountered the fire of God – a reality
for you—just as He touched Isaiah’s lips, cleansing them. Fire represents judgment and wrath. When God comes as a reality the self is
shaken. Our mediocrity shakes our
esteem. Isaiah was a brilliant
communicator, articulate, and yet when God revealed Himself Isaiah said, “Woe
is me” – I am ruined, disintegrating.
God is utterly holy and glorious. The seraphim are calling out attributes of
God—His Nature—constantly, present-progressive.
The Hebrews conveyed magnitude by doubling a word; tripling signifies
superlativeness. Holy, Holy, Holy – a
category beyond categories. Greatness, Brilliance, Purity.
The word glory means weight: it is permanent, substantial,
the real. God’s glory is ultimate over our
material realities."
--notes from talk given by Amy Orrr-Ewing
No comments:
Post a Comment