Healing Rays of Righteousness

Waiting – For What?

It has been forty days since Easter Sunday and Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.  During these forty days, Jesus has been with the disciples, teaching them, feeding them, and spending time with them.  Now it is time for Jesus to go.

Jesus has completed the work given him by God.  Now it is time for him to physically exit this world, so that the Holy Spirit can always come and be God’s presence and power with his people everywhere.

Jesus leads his disciples out to the Mount of Olives near Bethany.  He blesses them and commissions them to be his witnesses, and then he was “taken up” and “a cloud hid him from their sight” as he ascended to heaven.

As they were “looking intently up into the sky” two men (messengers from heaven, angels) appeared and asked a question, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky?  This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”  (Acts 1:10-11).

Let me leap forward to our world and our current environment.  With the angels’ words just being repeated to us in the year 2020,  let’s rewrite the story to include the questions that may be swirling within you and me as we stand looking into the sky, wondering and reflecting on the angels’ message.

Okay, but what do we do now?  Jesus said, “Wait in Jerusalem.”  Wait for what?  Jesus said, “Wait for the gift.”  What gift?  Jesus said, “Wait for the baptism of the Holy Spirit.”  How long must we wait?  Jesus said, “That’s not important for you to know.  Just trust God’s timing.  Waiting is key to your receiving the gift.”

But why must we wait and why is the gift important to us?  Jesus said, “You need the Holy Spirit to empower and enable you to have the strength to partner with me in doing my mission of accomplishing the Father’s Kingdom work on earth as it is in heaven.  Waiting is preparation time for receiving the tools needed for building a new creation with its new order of priorities and hopes.”  (End of story rewrite).

Wow!  A new creation with new priorities and hopes.  That is a mind-exploding reality that seems almost impossible and certainly needs further exploring.  This thought is so counter-cultural and so counter-religious in our day.

Many Christians have concluded that this earth is doomed and so “waiting” is all about praying and waiting until we can be rescued from this ugly world of sin and darkness and taken into a “new creation” called heaven, where there is no darkness of sin and evil.

I disagree with this religious conclusion based on a distorted and bias view of Biblical scriptures.   I agree with N. T. Wright’s counter response to this way of thinking, “Never at any point do the gospels or Paul say that Jesus has been raised, therefore we are all going to heaven.  They all say, Jesus is raised, therefore the “new creation” has begun, and we have a job to do.”

Is not this the angels’ message in their question, “Why do you stand here looking into the sky?”

By physically leaving, Jesus underscores his teaching that our purpose is in this world is to be his ambassadors, giving witness to his aliveness in the world.  The One who is no longer physically present for the world to see, becomes visible in us, his people, when we live and speak of God’s glory, love, and amazing grace.  Jesus Christ is made visible in the world when we make the compassion and mercy of God real by how we relate to and care for one another, this world, and all of creation.

From the moment God called a special people, God made it clear that every person who bears God’s name has been called into existence to be a blessing in this world.  Those were God’s words to Abraham, and they are basically Jesus’ instructions to the church.

The angels testified to Jesus’ ascension, and they testified that someday Jesus will return.  In the meantime, we are not to stand around wringing your hands wondering what we should do.  We are to get on with the work of building and enlarging God’s kingdom.  This means being busy in making disciples in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching one another what it means to belong to this wonderful Lord who is now King over all of creation.

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – May 27, 2020

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

Memorial Day and Memories

The Memorial Day activities of parades and services to remember and honor those who died in our nation’s wars, left me wondering why this is so different to the way our society responds to the deaths of its fellow citizens.  On the one hand, it responds with an all-out effort to remember and honor those who died in its wars, but on the other hand, it seems to encourage an all-out effort to quickly hush the memories following the death and funeral of a dearly loved family member or friend.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer said it well when he wrote, “Nothing can make up for the absence of someone whom we love.  …It is nonsense to say that God fills the gap.  He doesn’t fill it, but on the contrary, he keeps it empty and so helps us to keep alive our former communion with each other, even at the cost of pain.  …The dearer and richer our memories, the more difficult the separation.  But gratitude changes the pangs of memory into a tranquil joy.  The beauties of the past are borne, not as a thorn in the flesh, but as a precious gift in themselves.”

We know this to be true, and we rightly remember and honor those who died in our wars.  But I am saddened that we do not encourage the same response following the deaths of our neighbors and friends and wonder why.

We all acknowledge that it hurts to remember, but many believe the myth that because it hurts, they must somehow help the family to quietly shelve the death of a loved one and move on with life.  It is believed that to “bring it up” will reopen the old wounds and cause more pain.  And it most likely will.

However, they will be remembering and hurting, silently and alone, whether we “bring it up” or not. It is so important for all of us to rightly understand that grief is not a process of forgetting, but rather a process of learning to cope while we painfully remember and talk about our grievous loss.

To not readily and openly talk about our relationship with the person who died and the memories they gave us is to rob ourselves and the bereaved of good grief work and healing, as well as to steal significance from the one who died.

In his booklet, The Gift of Significance, Doug Manning writes, “The grieving process is a gradual change from the physical presence of a loved one to the sense of presence provided by the memories.  The goal is to learn to live with the person not being here.  Coping without their presence happens when we begin to find comfort in the memories.”  

Establishing the significance of the life lived in our midst is key to the healing of the pain suffered in the loss.  Significance is established as we remember and share memories of that relationship with one another.

Memories take us by the hand and lead us back through the mists of the past to the happy scenes and experiences of yesterday.  And when a life has been lived constructively and for God and others, these memories provide for many a beautiful walk through a pleasant garden.

From my own experience, I have learned that one of the most priceless gifts that God gives us in the death of another person is the garden of memories.   These memories are ours to keep, to hold and to cherish, a treasure that no one can rob from us. A treasure that should never be buried or locked up inside of us.

The writer of Proverbs suggested this when he wrote, “The memory of the righteous will be a blessing,” (Pr. 10:7a).

The ability to nurture and enjoy this garden of memories means that you never need to do as is often said, “pay your last respects” to a loved one who has died.  Why?  Because every time the memories are audibly shared with another, they keep those “last respects” for a loved one or friend alive and growing.

Yes, memories are a gift given us by those now separated from us.  Let us rightly cherish them and freely share them frequently with one another.  In so doing, we both bless and are blessed.

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – May 20, 2020

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

“Teacher, I Want to See”

In Exodus 3:7-12, we are reminded that God sees misery, hears crying, and is concerned about suffering.  The misery, crying, and suffering causes God to come down to rescue those who are experiencing such.  However, God does not come down to do the work.  He comes down to delegate the rescue operation to a human being, which in this case is Moses.

Moses tries to excuse himself, but God does not back off.  Instead God says – “So now, go.  I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt. … I will be with you. … When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”

And so, I believe that even to this day, God sees, God hears, and God is concerned about all the suffering and misery in the world.  And to this day, God comes down to delegate to us “Jesus followers” his gracious rescue operation of those crying, suffering friends and neighbors living in misery.

But if we do not see misery, if we do not hear crying, we probably have little concern about those who are suffering, and most likely shelve the delegation order and ignore its mandate.

I find inspiration and motivation in my life and witness as a disciple of Jesus from the following words of J. H. Jowett;                        (A Guide to Prayer, p. 357 – The Upper Room)

It is our God-appointed office to lead men and women who are weary and wayward, exultant or depressed, eager, or      indifferent, into “the secret place of the Most High.”  We are to help the sinful to the fountain of cleansing, the bond slaves to the wonderful songs of deliverance.  We are to help the halt and the lame to recover their lost nimbleness.  We are to help the  broken-winged into the healing light of “the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”  We are to help the sad into the sunshine of grace. We are to help the buoyant to clothe themselves with “the garment of praise.”  We are to help redeem the strong from the atheism of despair.  We are to help little children to see the glorious attractiveness of God, and we are to help the aged realize the encompassing care of the Father and the assurance of the eternal home.

The story of blind Bartimaeus in Mark 10:46-52 I think would be Jesus’ response to us who seek to become more God-like in our ability to see, hear, and be concerned about the suffering around us.

According to verse 47, Blind Bartimaeus cries out, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.”  And when he is told to be quiet, he shouted all the louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” This is the first time that Jesus is publicly called the “Son of David.”  In doing so, blind Bartimaeus makes a declaration of faith that he sees something the others are not seeing.  He sees and identifies Jesus as the long-awaited Son of David, the promised Messiah.

Being invited, Bartimaeus “threw aside his coat” (used to catch coins), “jumped up” (abandons his sitting position as a beggar), “and came to Jesus” (on his own, without help).

Jesus meets the faith of blind Bartimaeus with the question, “What do you want me to do for you?”   The question is open-ended, a blank check, just waiting to be filled in.  Bartimaeus says, “Teacher, I want to see!”  It is a simple, straightforward request, but one that is much harder to fulfill than a plea for a job or a bag of gold, or even a place of honor in the community.

“What do you want me to do for you?”  Remember, Bartimaeus is a beggar, so he could have asked for a bag of gold.  He is unemployed, so he could have asked for a job.  He had no status in the community, so he could have asked for the respect of others.  Instead, he says, “Teacher, I want to see!”  I sometimes wonder how I would have responded if I were blind Bartimaeus.

“Go, your faith has healed you” says Jesus.  And “Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.”  What else can you imagine him doing? 

Yes, this was a physical healing, but I believe Jesus can also heal our spiritual and social blindness as well.  He can fully cleanse and heal our eyes, allowing us to see as he sees, if only we would ask, “Teacher, I want to see!”   He is always inviting us with his question, “What do you want me to do for you?”

In his song, “Blowing in the Wind” Bob Dylan asks some hard questions that I think calls for our personal response.

“How many times must a man look up / Before he sees the sky?

Yes, and how many ears must one man have / Before he can hear people cry?

Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head / And pretend that he just doesn’t see?

The answer my friend is blowing in the wind, the answer is blowing in the wind.”

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – 5/13/2020

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

CLIMB EVERY MOUNTAIN

When educational philosopher John Dewey was 89 years old, a young medical doctor was questioning his philosophical view of life and asked, “What’s the good of such claptrap?”  “Where does it lead you?”  Professor Dewey responded by saying, “The good of it is that you climb mountains.”

The young man scoffed, “Climb mountains!  And what’s the use of doing that?”  Professor Dewey answered, “When you climb mountains, you see other mountains to climb.  You come down, climb the next mountain, and you see still others to climb.”  Then he added, “When you are no longer interested in climbing mountains to see other mountains to climb, life is over.”

In other words, if there are no challenges, no difficult mountains to climb, then you may still have a physical pulse, but you are not fully alive and living.  It is the mountainous challenges that give our life meaning, purpose and energy.

I find it interesting and revealing that the biblical story of Moses’ life tells us that the major pivotal moments in Moses’ life took place on mountains?  First, there was Mount Horeb, the mountain of God’s call.  Then came Mount Sinai, the mountain of God’s commandments.  And finally, there was Mount Nebo, which we can call the mountain of commencement.

It was from this final mountain that Moses was privileged to view the end results of his life’s work, the promised land.  From this mountain he also entered the heavenly promised land, graduating from this life and into the next.  For Moses, there continued to be the challenge of another mountain, until he was called into heaven from his final mountain.

Whether we be young, middle-aged, or senior adults, it is always good to ask ourselves for what purpose am I living during these years?  Is your purpose just to hang on as long as you can, just like the bumper sticker advertised: “I just want to live long enough to be a burden to my children.”

I suppose that can be a purpose for living, and it may indeed prolong your life, or probably more correctly, make it just seem that way to everybody around you.  Obviously, we should find a purpose that is bigger than just having a cantankerous spirit.

What keeps you going?  What is your purpose on planet earth?  Even more importantly, is that purpose one given you by God?  If you believe it is, then you, like Moses, can still be young in mind and spirit at age 80.  If not, then you most likely will be feeling old at age 40.

You are old when you feel that tomorrow holds no meaningful challenge, no mountain to climb.  You are old when you say, “I’m too old for that.”  You are old when you think that you have learned all that there is to learn about life and God.  You are old when you talk to people younger than you but are not willing to listen and learn from them.  You are old when you only talk about a purpose for living in the past tense and not in the future tense.  How old are you feeling today?

On the other hand, if you believe you have a God-given purpose for living, you will daily feel motivated and energized toward experiencing even more learning and growing experiences.  You will be young no matter how many candles are on your birthday cake.

Keep climbing every mountain and grasp every challenging opportunity.  Keep focused on claiming your spiritual legacy, your purpose for living, and follow God’s guidance.  For if you do, then every day you will climb to a new mountain peak, from which you may see tomorrow’s mountain, and then the next day’s mountain, until you graduate to the promised land standing on a mountain peak.  What an exciting way to live, and what a glorious way to die.

And so, I say to myself and to you, keep climbing every mountain.  We cannot relive the past, and try as we may, we cannot live the future yet.  All that we will ever have to hold in our hands is “today.”  What will we do with it?

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – May 6, 2020

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley