northpoint notes

I spent part of this past week-end with a friend who has moved his family from the mid-west to New York City. He moved his family of five from a nice mid-western, suburban home to a 2 bedroom, 800 square foot, fifth floor apartment with parking in a multi-level parking garage that is a 10-minute walk from the apartment that costs more than double his previous mortgage payment.

I traveled 1380 miles round trip to affirm his decision and to offer encouragement and support. I have been reflecting a bit on what motivates a person to make that kind of move; or more specifically, what causes a person to make choices that involve personal sacrifice, distruption of family, and separation from friends and extended family.

Religious zealots might make that kind of decision because of the promise of reward for sacrifice and faithfulness – perhaps the kind motivation of a terrorist bomber who is willing to give a life for the promise of reward in heaven.

Others might make that choice because of career advancement and the potential for increased income, influence, and recognition.

Some might make the choice out of sheer fascination with the city. New York City certainly is a fascinating place.

My friend and family made the choice purely based on their love for Jesus and a desire to be in a place where they can share with as many as possible about Jesus love for them.

It wasn’t a move of convenience or promise of anything but simply because of their love for a Savior who has given them life.

They are modeling what it is to be a disciple of Jesus – making decisions not out of fear or obligation but out of love for Christ and for those He loves. Most of the decisions we make on a daily basis are not nearly as life-changing as their decision. However, to consistantly choose to follow Christ because of our love for Him is life-changing.

I’m stuck on old commercials – actually on commercials in general.

That line, “You deserve a break today,” is from a McDonalds commercial from the early ’70’s. Ancient history – I know. I suppose there is a positive bent to it – a sense of well-being, positive self-esteem, a sense of personal value.

The down side is that it communicates a sense of entitlement – that I deserve something. I wonder what I ever did that would cause McDonalds to think I deserved a break. To what am I really entitled? A home? a car? a cell phone? food? clothes? a job?

One of the problems with entitlement is that I lose gratitude. If I deserve it, I have some how earned it and there is no one to thank but myself. That in turn makes me even more full of myself.

The Bible communicates that we have worth. But then I have to ask, what determines my worth. A shirt is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. The same is true of all goods and services. A car wash is worth what someone is willing to pay another to do it. Could it be that my worth is determined mostly by what someone is willing to pay for me.

My worth is set – I am worth what God was willing to pay for me. He was willing to send His Son to die for me. That makes me rather valuable in the eyes of God. I may have no value to others but in God’s eyes, I am worth the price of His Son.

That speaks to what I am worth – not to what I deserve. Everything I have is a gift. Everything I have is better than what I deserve.

I have had at least two breaks today – each was with a different friend. I didn’t deserve the breaks nor do I deserve the friends. I am very thankful for those two breaks and for the two friends. Both were gifts – expressions of God’s grace and affirmation that I have value to Him.

“Have it your way” was a slogan introduced by Burger King in 1974 to state a market difference between them and McDonalds. Is a just a marketing distinction or a reflection of a spirit in our culture? A local department store once had as their tag line – “We want you to have what you want.”

I admit, it all sounds really appealing. I like to have things go my way. I like getting what I want but…

Is it realistic to expect to get just what we want?

If we always got what we wanted, what other things would we miss and never experience?

What impact is there on relationships if I always get what I want?

What impact would it have on character building?

When we pray, is it O.K. if God doesn’t always give us what we want?

Jesus once told his followers that they must deny themselves and follow Him. Sounds like He is saying set aside what you want for something better.

I wonder how often we settle for our wants when God really has something better in store for us. I have often gone into situations praying that God would have His way. Then I was frustrated when the situation didn’t turn out the way I wanted. Did I really want God’s will or was it just the “right prayer” to pray. Perhaps the prayer was answered but what I really wanted was my way.

I admit it. I am not a very patient person. I don’t like to wait. I don’t like lines. Microwaves have become too slow and products that advertise as being instant usually require the time to stir.

I don’t like loose ends. The car accident was two weeks ago. The car is still not repaired, insurance is not settled and it appears there will be another delay on the car because they found additional damage on the underside.

For the past 5 days I have been fighting a sinus infection. I am really impatient when it comes to being sick. I don’t like being confined and restricted from my normal activities. I have not been able to run. Although I attended some meetings Monday and Tuesday, I felt lousy and was unable to participate as I would have liked.

A couple in the church had a baby – I could not go and visit because of the sinus infection. The father of one of the men in our church died last night. I have not been able to visit the family in the hospital.

My wife often urges me to slow down – take some time – rest. She then quotes (out of context) from Psalm 23 – “the Lord makes me lie down…” She uses this when I am sick as a reminder that the body can only endure so much without rest.

Consistant with my need to be on the move, I ventured out this morning (at 6:30) to meet with some pastors for prayer. Most of the time was spent in silence – simply waiting on the Lord. In that quiet place I realized how much I needed to simply be alone with God – to set aside my schedule and be quiet with Him. I was able to give thanks for an unhurried time.

I am not cured of my tendency to impatience but I am thankful for the reminder that my schedule is not nearly as important as time with Him.

For the past 4 days my morning run has taken me from the hotel to the shore of Lake Michigan – about 4.5 miles round trip. It is an easy route because the road in front of the hotel ends at the lake. It is also a bit challenging. It is down hill nearly all the way to the lake which means of course that it is nearly all uphill on the return trip. There are stretches along the road where there is no sidewalk so I have to run on grass (uneven ground). Add to all of that a rather stiff wind – sometimes in my face, sometimes (rarely it seems) at my back and sometimes a crosswind.

I am not fond of hills no matter where I run. I much prefer level ground. Hills require extra effort. I don’t really like to run on grass because of the uneven ground. I don’t particularly like wind either because it always seems to be in my face instead of at my back pushing me along.

Having said all of that I know that running hillls; running into the wind; and running on grass make me a better runner. The hills and wind build strength and stamina. The uneven ground requires my muscles to respond and helps with balance.

As a Christ-follower, I prefer life that runs smoothly. In fact, I once thought that if I followed Christ all of life would be easy. But there have been sicknesses, deaths, disappointments, frustrations, car accidents and questions. All of those have served to strengthen faith. They have forced me to look at myself – to look at God – to study Scripture.

My morning run is not all down hill with the wind at my back. My Christian journey is not all down hill either. It is the uphills that build strength and faith. I’m thankful it isn’t all down hill.

I am working my way through the Book of Acts – primarily looking at the role of prayer. Acts 1 appears to record the last appearance of Jesus after the resurrection. His followers are no doubt bewildered. They had expected Jesus to be the Messiah/Deliverer who would overturn the Romans and set the Jews free. Instead of a white charger, He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. He faced humiliation, persecution and crucifixion without raising a finger. Then there was the resurrection. Inspite of all the appearances (to 500 at once according to Paul), there were still doubts.

Then Jesus tells them not to leave Jerusalem but wait for the Promise He had told about. There is no indication of how long they are to wait nor exactly how this Promise would manifest. He told them that once the Holy Spirit (the Promise) came, they would be His witnesses to the world.

What an incredible assignment – actually it is a promise but it has been interpreted as an assignment – the followers of Jesus are to take the message of Jesus to all the world.

If that same scenario happened today in North America, I think a few key leaders would pick up on the “witnesses” part and begin planning a strategy for saturating the world with the message of Christ – perhaps a noble response but a hasty response.

The disciples responded to a different assignment. They responded to the assignment to “wait.” Perhaps that is tougher than planning a strategy. The disciples spent the next days praying “constantly” and “together.”

The question: What were they praying?

Did some of their time look much like Jewish prayer observances – repeating the Shema or other scriptures?

Were they praying for the “Promise” to come?

Were they praying for  strategy for witness?

Were they praying to remain true to Jesus?

Were all of these a part of their prayer?

What are the implications for me? for the church?

This is a rare day – no schedule – we are on a mini-vacation but that doesn’t usually keep me from making a schedule. Here is the day:

Early morning run – not as early as usual but before full daylight.

Free breakfast provided by the hotel

Study – I’m on a mini-vacation – I still have to preach on Sunday

Kim joins me for her breakfast.

Drive into town to check out restaurants, beaches, shops.

Trip to the local state park to check out the beach – stayed for two hours.

Back to the hotel to get ready for dinner – fish dinner – on a scale of 1-5 we both rated it a 3.

Back to the hotel to change for an evening at the beach to watch the sunset – stopped to get ice-cream – (Blackberry for me, Chocolate-almond-coconut for her) on our way to the beach.

Walked on the beach until nearly dark and then back to the hotel to read, write and then sleep.

The day had no schedule but plenty of purpose – to relax, be refreshed to put the cares and frustrations of jobs, car accidents, other challenges on the shelf.

Although I normally schedule vacations full of activities – things to do and see – it was nice today no to have any great plans. I think we need these times if we are to remain healthy.

It’s early in the morning; the sun has not been up long; family is still asleep; I’ve had my morning run and I can sit in the quiet and think and pray. I thoroughly enjoy times of quiet – times away from the sound of voices, TV, radio – times when I can silence the “to do” list for a few minutes – times with the noise of ministry cannot be heard.

It is in these quiet times that I am most apt to hear the still small voice of God. I’m sure He could shout through all the other noises or silence them altogether but I think He likes these quiet times when He doesn’t have to compete for my attention.

I have always been a “busy” person – that doesn’t mean I have always had important things to do – but they were my things and I thought they were important. Quiet times kept me from doing the important things I had on my list. It has taken me a while (years actually) to realize that my ”to do list” is not nearly as important as I might think and that quiet times help me put that list in perspective and prioritize it. 

Early in my journey as a disciple I was taught the importance of quiet times. What that meant was reading the Bible and praying. Both are good. However, they became one more task on my “to do list.” It wasn’t quiet time. It was just a different kind of activity – beneficial no doubt but not necessarily quiet.

 When I began to understand that quiet times are keys to a relationship, I began to look forward to them. It was no longer about how much Scripture I read or how long I prayed. I wanted to stay in the quiet place for as long as it took to connect with this Divine Friend. Sometimes it only takes a few minutes. Then there are times when there is so much to talk about and share that I can lose track of time.

Jesus sought quiet times with His Father – He would leave the demands of ministry and get away from His closest friends and go to a mountain to be with His Father. It appears that He just wanted to spend time alone with His father.

The family is beginning to stir and this time of quiet will come to an end but there will be more of them – not just because I need them but because I have a Friend I want to connect with again.

There have been great story-tellers in our history. Mark Twain, Will Rogers come to mind as story-tellers of the past. Garrison Keiler tells great stories of the Lutherans of Lake Wobegon where all the women are strong; all the men are good-looking and the children are above average. We can piture the streets of this fictitious town through the power of a story.

Some stories are purely entertainment. Some teach a moral lesson but there is another kind of story – one I hadn’t thought about much until today.

I met with several men this morning for a prayer meeting. A couple of them had heard about my accident earlier in the week and wondered how I was doing. Those who hadn’t heard wanted to know the details and I was happy to accomodate – a little attention and sympathy feels good. As I told my story, I noticed that it was interrupted several times as one of the men would tell a story of a similar experience in their lives.

At first I was frustrated. This was my story – my time for the spot light – my time for sympathy. But it dawned on me that each segment of my story prompted another story. These stories are windows that give us opporunity to peer into the soul of another. One by one others told their own stories of accidents, pain, set-backs, and recoveries.

Jesus told stories. Most of them had a lesson in them but mostly they were windows into His soul. He told stories not just to get a point across but to allow us to see Him. 

When I tell my story, I am sharing something of who I am – of how I am wired. When I hear another person’s story – if I listen carefully – listen not for the details of the story but for the person in the story – I might actually know something of their heart, their fears, their hurts and their victories.

If I am not careful, I can be all about my story and fail to really listen to the story of another. This is what relationships are made – listening to another’s story and entering into their joy, pain, defeat and victory. It is another case of learning more from listening than talking. One of the best ways to fulfill the 2nd great commandment – love your neighbor as yourself – is to listen to their story.