Tag Archives: following

How to meet Jesus while vacuuming.

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I was writing this post the other day while I was vacuuming. I was writing in my head.

I had been rereading In His Steps, an old book that was the inspiration for the WWJD bracelets. In this 1897 novel, Charles Sheldon considers what would happen if a disciple of Jesus committed “to try to do what Jesus would probably do in the disciple’s place.”

While vacuuming I was considering whether Dallas Willard, was quoting from Sheldon. In a lecture at Wheaton College he said that being a disciple of Jesus means, “Learning from him how to do what he did, learning from him how to do what he said, by becoming like him. In being a disciple, I’m learning from Him to lead my life, as he would lead my life, if he were I” (10-31-01, Staley Lecture series).

And then, as I was comparing these two thoughts, I stopped the vacuum and picked up a small table to move it. I tilted the table slightly and one by one, the three pots containing cactus slid off the table and spread their planting soil and plants on the carpet.

My first thought was not to ask what Jesus would do at that moment, if he were a husband who had dumped three cacti on the carpet.

My first thought was much different.

Nancy, on the other hand, immediately said, “Don’t worry about it. I’ve done that too. Just relax.”

I eventually did relax. And realized that she had done exactly what Jesus would do if he were a wife whose husband had dumped three cactus on the carpet. He would have cared more about the husband than the carpet. And he would have repotted the plants. And he would have left some dirt for me to vacuum.

Just like Nancy.

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How Jesus fixed breakfast for some losers.

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Some guys were sitting around one evening, wondering what to do. They’d been part of a travelling band for a couple years, away from home for long stretches. Recently everything changed. The leader quit traveling with them. And so they were sitting around, sort of waiting for their leader to show up again.

Though there were seven guys, we only know five of the names. Peter, who had denied knowing Jesus. Nathanael, who grew up in one small town, mocked the even smaller town where Jesus grew up. Thomas, who couldn’t take the word of the other disciples that Jesus was alive. James and John, who a few days before the crucifixion asked Jesus if they could be at his right and left hand when he became king.

In other words, these were five disciples with the best reputations for having bad reputations as disciples. (There were other disciples with reputations from before they started following, but these guys got written up while being disciples).

And this night, at Peter’s suggestion, they go fishing. Back to the work they did before Jesus called them.

They had a bad night. No fish. Then Jesus called from shore (about a football field away) and told them to try the other side of the boat.

153 good size fish. Someone counted. Too many to pull the net into the boat. When they slowly rowed the load to shore, they found that Jesus had fixed breakfast.

That night they discovered that the only way they could be successful in their old business was with the help of Jesus. And he didn’t scold, he showed. In a huge way with fish. And in a quiet way, with breakfast.

If you’ve left your nets to follow Jesus, the way forward isn’t going to be by going back.

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From John 21:1-14

How 2 ordinary guys confounded religious scholars.

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Peter and John stood in front of the leaders of their tribe.

Imagine a random Catholic talking to the Pope and cardinals, an ordinary citizen in front of the Supreme Court or the President’s cabinet, a student in front of the university president and faculty, you in front of the people you grew up being taught to respect.

The formality of the setting is designed to remind you of the history of the tribe. Every person in the room is present because of intellect, scholarship, reputation, training.

Everyone but Peter and John.

Their families lived by the lake, but not in the resorts. They fished all night and then sold the fish to live. They didn’t have time to study, not beyond the basics that everyone learned.

Standing in this meeting room, Peter and John should have been tongue-tied, knock-kneed. They should have been silent when asked, “By what power or what name did you heal that man?” Instead, Peter reminded the leaders that they had killed Jesus, that God had brought Jesus back to life, and that the living Jesus was the name, the power, the authority they claimed when healing the lame man outside the temple.

These were gutsy words. This was the single most provocative thing to say to the people who had killed your rabbi because they were jealous of his power.

The leaders were astonished at the courage. They knew Peter and John were untrained, undereducated. The only remarkable thing about them, realized the leaders, is that Peter and John had been with Jesus.

Peter and John had spent three years listening to Jesus teach, watching Jesus challenge other teachers, seeing how Jesus healed. It wasn’t the same school as the authorities, but it was pretty solid training.

I think class is still in session.

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From Acts 4

Trust

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(Paul Merrill writes here every First Friday)

A lesson I’ve been learning again is how to trust.

One of my favorite passages in the Bible is Paul’s request for us to not worry in Philippians 4:6-7. He gives a great alternative – pray. When we worry, we bring the problems into our own court and say to God, “I can handle this one.” When we pray, we’re giving that worry (or those worries) to Him and saying, “You are the only one who can handle this. So I’m giving it to you!”

When I was a kid learning to swim, I realized that if I fought the water, it would not hold me up. I’d panic and end up sucking in lots of water through my nose and thrash wildly and start to cry. But when I relaxed and let the water lift me up, I could start to glide through the water.

But trusting in God to lift us up in the swimming pool of life is not a call for us to be lazy. Jesus told a parable about talents. The master rewarded the servant who made the most use of the resources he was given. The one who sat back and did nothing was punished. Notice that he worried. He was concerned about losing the resources he was given, so he buried it. He was so focused on himself and his perceived limitations that he didn’t step back to think about what could be done.

Back to Philippians. After telling us to pray, Paul tells us how to pray. Two things: tell God what we need and then thank Him for all He has already done. What a great way to have a positive outlook! If we reflect on what God has done, we’ll remember that He can rescue us. Again.

The reason trusting is on Paul’s mind is that he has just launched a new consulting firm, Greener Grass Media. He can help you with social media, marketing and website visual design, just like he’s helped Jon with some design projects. 

one thing I do

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I had a friend who had a dream of following God.  For him, following God had a certain location to pursue, a certain amount of meditation to conduct, a certain amount of following God without having to follow anyone else. And then he got married. And then he wondered whether he could follow God while married. And now it looks like he’s deciding that he can’t.

It’s incredibly sad. It’s incredibly familiar.

The apostle Paul wanted to devote himself to knowing Christ. He wants to be completely identified with Christ. “This one thing I do,” he writes, forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on” toward that goal.

My friend thought that meant not having “spiritual time” – Bible reading and prayer – interrupted by people. And many of us would agree with my friend.

But right before he talks about this consuming passion of his own, Paul encourages  us to the same humility of service that Christ had in living and dying. We try to rise in reputation. Jesus fell in reputation. Not so he could win points for martyrdom, like we often do. It was what he had to do.

And Paul knew that to know Jesus, to understand his work, to be with him, we need to live with and serve and be served by others.

As I am up in the middle of the night over and over with the dog, this one thing I do. As I am trying to figure out how to reload the drivers on this server, this one thing I do. As I am trying to concentrate on writing these words, this one thing I do.

It’s hard. It’s clarifying. And because we are finding Christ, it can be a delight.

Except the dog part.

Pray for me.