by RobertCummins | Nov 11, 2015 | 45. Tears
Tears – Matthew 26:36-46
By combining a few thoughts from Paul and one from Solomon, I conclude …
There is a time for time’s fulness and it is now.
In today’s passage, time is just about full. It is the most intimate of moments. Jesus has invited Peter, James and John to come deeper into the garden with him. As far as we know, he simply desired their company. He made a point to tell them how they should compose themselves in the fulness of time. He takes his intimate friends aside and confides …
My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death, remain here and keep watch with me.
That God is willing to reveal his deepest emotions to man should awaken us to the type of relationship he desires with us. However, as Jesus is pouring his heart out – the disciples were snoring!
Jesus : Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt.
Man: Yawn
Even among his friends, sleep is apparently a chronic problem. At the most important moment they succumb to the temptation three times! Finally, their opportunity to respond passes and Jesus wakes them, saying …
The hour has come and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.
I do not fear God’s wrath. I am confident it was absorbed in Christ on the the cross. I do tremble a bit though, knowing I too am capable of being asleep in the fulness of time – squandering my opportunity to keep watch with him, wasting my invitation into greater depths of intimacy.
Jesus knows sleep is a formidable enemy. He tells us …
Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.
This verse and the words that follow, speak directly to the critical nature of time and how we steward it. This will not effect our salvation but it is definitely going to affect our reward. That is sobering! Whether its in this body or the next one …
Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. (Matt 24:46-47)
Scripture tells us, eyes heavy with sleep, will be a sign the times are once again full. Jesus is still inviting us to stand with him and keep watch. A frightening number of us sleep even now, having given ourselves over to the worries of this world, driven to a frenzied pace by technology, consumed in our vocations and vacations – deluded in our perceived need for more. Listen to Paul …
Awake, sleeper and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your hearts to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ”. (Ephesians 5:14-21)
The Blue Book is one of the Lord’s standing invitations to keep watch and abide in intimacy. Jesus is still saying, “Remain with me a while. Be awake and watchful over your heart because times are growing more full by the day. Again, I don’t fear judgement. I do acknowledge, with sobriety, that my choices matter and, that at some point, our exclusive opportunities to love, will be no more. Today is the day of salvation.
Father, help us to hear your invitation. Help us to slow down and listen to your heart and ours. Help us to make the choices wise stewards make. Help us to grasp the greater intimacy, opportunity and reward at hand. That we would be those with whom you would share your heart’s burdens. Amen
by RobertCummins | Nov 10, 2015 | 45. Tears
Tears – Matthew 23:37-39
Where do our tears come from? From what the scriptures tell us, it appears it is just us and God who weep. We can cry because we were created in his image. This is, in part, what distinguishes us from beasts. I am curious if evolutionary research has discovered that before Cro-Magnon there was Cry-Magnon man? (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.) Back to business.
We are all familiar with what causes our tears. Some of them come as we are surprised by something pure and beautiful or we are moved by an act of love or kindness. Some tears are joyful but I suspect that God, who collects them, would confirm there is still a radically lopsided proportion of sorrowful tears to joyful ones. We know why we cry, but what brings tears to God’s eyes? I believe his role as a parent is the sources of his sorrow.
Oh Jerusalem. Jerusalem
Jesus laments over a people created for relationship who instead spurned every overture of his love. The consuming fires of holiness and righteousness surely reside in God’s nature yet there is also a heart that is bound up, in love, with a people hell-bent on rejecting him.
This passage reveals there are ultimate consequences to rejecting the love of God …
Behold, your house is being left desolate!
The temple was razed within 40 years of this statement. Jesus then bid his people a farewell until another day when their hearts would return to him saying …
Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!
The absence of God coincided with the sudden decimation of Jerusalem. I have wondered if the gradual erosion of America does not also coincide with God’s absence. Since we are systematically evicting him out of one arena of life after another, perhaps our nation is experiencing judgement as well. Unlike the visible plagues on Egypt, God’s agents of justice may be ten-fold and internal to our culture. Like Israel, God loves us but a parent must discipline his children. Being holy and a parent surely has brought a flood of God’s tears. I wonder if he laughs or cries at Fox vs CNN.
Father, may your discipline be recognized for what it is, wherever it is. May our hearts learn wisdom from it. May we grasp that your heart is to gather and to protect those you love. May we grieve over the things that grieve you. May our sorrow evolve into petitions. May we be the generation who recognizes and listens to your prophets. May we be a generation who recognizes your overtures of love, even those embedded in discipline. May we come to our knees voluntarily. We pray that not one of your tears be wept in vain. Let it be Lord. Let it be.
by RobertCummins | Nov 9, 2015 | 45. Tears
Tears – John 11:17-44
Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls; all Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me. Psalm 42:7
The scriptures self proclaim their inspiration. This means more than being uplifting. Inspiration means (from the original greek) God breathed. This implies there is more than just a credible history of God in scripture. This mean the scriptures are coded with God’s DNA and must be compatible with us, who were made into God’s image and also animated by God’s breath. At some level we have a deep affinity with God’s Word. The depths of God’s Word call unto the depths of us. God’s Word can awaken eternal realities within us. If we will look, we will find ourselves in the scriptures. That should be an adequate primer for our pop quiz …
Which of the following descriptor(s) of God seem incompatible with the others? God is; a) omniscient b) omnipotent. c) holy d) omnipresent, e) emotional. If you chose “e”, you are in good company.
How conscious are we that the God who spoke galaxies into existence also has feelings? If God has emotions, what are they and what triggers them?
As he was entering Bethany, Jesus was met by some who believed he was the Messiah and by others who did not. Sadly though, both groups were of the opinion that the One who could have done something about this tragedy hadn’t. This only added to the pain of his followers. Is this sounding familiar? The tears of believers can double in volume since their God, who can prevent the pain, often doesn’t. When this happens, our only consolation is that …
Jesus wept.
While it is short, this sentence reveals that our God weeps with us, making it one of the most powerful of all revelations about him. What disturbed Jesus so deeply, eventually causing him to cry, was his acute awareness that our incomplete understanding of him often adds to our sorrow. He had come to earth to present good news – not add sorrow upon sorrow. I think it grieves God when we perceive he has shorted us in any way. He surely understands, but I believe it still troubles him (for our sake) when we perceive him as “late” or, as a “no-show”. That Jesus is a Man of sorrows who is well acquainted with grief, endears him to me as much as any other truth about him.
This story gives me hope in another way. It reveals that God can also surprise us by being ahead of our expectations. The sisters didn’t anticipate seeing their brother again until Resurrection Day. Instead they witnessed a miracle and saw their brother within the hour.
I think I do better in my walk of faith when I keep some of the larger timing issues in perspective, such as; 1) The days I will live on earth are numbered. The ones I will live in heaven are not. 2) I ultimately have no control over time so I need to handle it very open-handedly. 3) While there will be a Resurrection Day, today , regardless of my perception, is the day of salvation – forgiveness, healing and deliverance.
Lord, that you have wept for us adds a new dimension of understanding to the intimacy of our relationship. May our hearts discover security and rest in your compassions which are fresh each morning and will never fail. Amen.
by RobertCummins | Nov 10, 2014 | 45. Tears
2 Kings 20:1-6
In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, “Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.” Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, “Remember now, O Lord, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. Before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Return and say to Hezekiah the leader of My people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of your father David, ‘I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. I will add fifteen years to your life, and I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.'”
Hmm, !5 more years. If I were a resident of Tennessee, that is precisely how many years I have left on my actuarial clock. Some friends ask me the other day if I was secretly holding out some bad news regarding my health. They had observed a burst of activity suggesting to them I might be hustling to set my house in order. I told them “No – I wasn’t dying”, but now that I think about it, that wasn’t quite true. I am. We are all mortally ill. Sorry to start on a morbid note. I promise it will get better.
Weird statistical trivia question: Where in the U.S. are you statistically most likely to both live the longest and get murdered?
I have been setting my house in order though – intentionally gathering important information in one place for those left behind; working with tax and legal experts so that my uncle Sam is not the beneficiary of things God entrusted to me. (I believe his stewardship is suspect at best.) While it may not be bindingly written in any trusts or wills, my prayer is that my heirs will not utilize whatever they inherit as a means to enhance their life styles. I pray instead that they will envision their inheritance as something God has entrusted to them to magnify their contributions to the kingdom of God.
No, I haven’t ask God to add any years to my life but I have asked him to help me number my days that I may present to him a heart of wisdom. Perhaps my burst of energy is being fueled some by his answer to that prayer. I suspect it is – at least in part. The other larger part has to do with God having put his house (my heart) in order and his mandate to me to diligently watch over it. That bares some explanation.
I believe we are each dwelling places of sorts, tabernacles more specifically. As a pre-Christian my house was vacant (as many who knew me would testify). When I surrendered my life to Christ and invited Jesus to be my Lord and Savior, I believe the Holy Spirit took up residence in the house, which is my heart. That is a helpful analogy for me but it doesn’t get me all the way there. Something far more dynamic than a tenant/ landlord contract had been inked up.
I believe it would be more accurate to say that, upon entering our house, a joining of his Spirit and our takes place. In other words we don’t become his children by attending to specific religious rights of passage or adhering to certain correct packages of doctrine or attending church faithfully. We become God’s children by being born again by His Spirit. Through the miraculous gift of faith his DNA literally becomes our DNA.
The original plan in Adam was good but derailed. In Christ, it is resumed. As a tiny mustard seed of life – a new kingdom-genesis begins in us fueled by nothing less than the very LIfe of God. We can say that in our essential being (our foundational makeup) we have been restored to his likeness and that we are being restored to his likeness. This is how God puts our houses in order. God’s kingdom (centered in Jesus) is now within us. That is why we can say that His kingdom has come and is coming. God is always putting his house in order.
The tenant / landlord metaphor may help convey what our watching over our hearts diligently looks like. The relationship with God started out with us as the masters of the house (however vacant they were) and we invite Christ in. In the process of living in this arrangement we eventually discover (often through much tribulation) that he is better suited to be the landlord and we the tenant. It is usually expressed; Jesus as the Master and we, his servants – “Lord you speak and I will obey.” Of course we would not want to do anything (like Jesus wouldn’t) that he did not first see the Father doing. (some sarcasm. I will explain.)
This can be an impressive form of spirituality. “God speaks. I obey. That settles that. It’s simple.” It does tend to quench conversations though. You might ask them, what they think about this or that and they say (or imply), “I don’t think. I know. Remember? God speaks, I obey, That settled the matter.” And everyone else (jaws agape) totally agree with them; “You’re right. You don’t think. Have a nice (lonely) life. (no sarcasm – just some real sadness).
This type of spirituality overlooks the fact that Christ is our life and that he is doing an inside out job on us. He is transforming us into the image of his Son and the work is underway. (Note; It does progress better when we know the process and can cooperate with it) He asks us to renew our minds and be transformed. He wants us to not only listen for that “word” spoken in the moment but to also come and reason with him, reason with each other. He wants his children to grow beyond servanthood into communities (implying communication) of sons and daughters who are living from their inexhaustible inheritance in Christ – which is nothing more or less than Christ in us. Christ is our Life. This is the basis for our hope of glory.
The take away from Hezekiah’s life is that when we realize we are in fact mortally ill, we should by all means pray but more importantly we need to keep in mind that God’s Life is now within us (if in fact we are born again); therefore his kingdom is within us. His kingdom having come should cause us to see every moment of our remaining days as sacred portions of time entrusted to us for the sake of a realm without time – the kingdom of God.
Father, may we pray out our tears of bitterness. May we find the current expression of your Life coursing within our hearts. Put our houses in order, whatever the cost, that we may both daily and ultimately present to you hearts of triumphant wisdom. Deliver us from the hands of the enemy and help us defend (in your strength) our hearts (your home) for the sake of our community and your kingdom. Amen.
Oh yes, if you want the security of a long life and feel that you will not be murdered, by all means move to……. (drum roll please)…….Washington, DC. Go figure. Better health care?
by RobertCummins | Nov 7, 2014 | 45. Tears
Luke 7:36-50
Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this (referring to the prostitute washing Jesus feet with her tears), he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner.”
If Jesus were combative, he might have picked up the 2×4 of correction and said, “And if you were a true shepherd of Israel you would know who I was and that it was precisely this sort of person I came to be touched by.” But Jesus knew that a thousand well placed blows would not have revealed to this pharisee what sort of person he was. What is it about a religious spirit that causes such a total black-out of self awareness? How does it strip one of empathy and equip one to judge? Have you ever been guilty of this? I have.
It did not happen in a singular moment of time but I went through a season where, If I had had better ears to hear, I would have heard Jesus say, “Rob. I have something to say to you.” For the record, the way he has most commonly spoken to me is over time and through process. The upheaval, in that season, of my mental-emotional condition, led me to believe he must have been trying to say something! The intensity of this storm suggested that this something might be very significant. It was.
While I have heard the voice of God through scripture, discerned it through circumstances and (on one occasion) even heard inaudible, brilliantly clear words in my spirit, I was about to learn that God also speaks through others. First there was the doctor who asked me, “Mr. Cummins, did you know your life is being driven by anger?” The !*LL you say. Then there was the prophet who told me, “You are filled with religion.” Thank you very little. Finally there was the counselor who said, “You really do not know who you are, do you?” I was at the end of myself and said, “No, apparently I am clueless.” It was about at this point in the process that I said, in my heart, “Go ahead Teacher. just say it.”
It would be nice wouldn’t it if Jesus would just plainly say it but that would interrupt the process he leads us through which enables us to own and take responsibility for that thing he is after in our hearts (whatever that thing might be). Just saying it, in a brief moment, would shortchange the opportunity to know him and his ways in our hearts. You see I did not understand what the doctor, the prophet or the counselor were talking about it. Like Mary, I just held these special words in my heart until they made sense. Thanks to the process, it didn’t take long.
I have told the story elsewhere of the Great Loader Bucket Incident – the trial the Lord arranged to show me (and some VIP’s) my heart. The scene was no less a spectacle than Simon and the Sinful Woman, except that hers was truly admirable; mine was absolutely deplorable. While tears of repentance streamed from this broken woman’s eyes, oaths and curses spewed from my angry and indignant heart, directed at a well-meaning and undeserving friend. As the mushroom cloud faded, my heart eventually said, “Oh dear! Now I see what you mean. OK Lord, Keep speaking. You have my full attention. …. This is going to hurt isn’t it?”
I have true friends who will read this this yarn and think, “Poor chap, all his reading has driven him mad.” However, I have other (usually younger) friends who are asking for help in distinguishing between discernment and judgement, and a critical spirit and an honest -forthright one. It is with this sort of person my story may better resonate. Ours are those spirits who somehow ended up proud, stripped of empathy and prepared to judge. We were willing, on principle, to put things right in our own way, in our own time, in Jesus’ name. These are the types of things I heard Jesus speak to me over time and through process.
I entered this season deeply discouraged, confident I was one who did not hear my father’s voice. I exited this trial knowing that he had been speaking all along. Wow! That I did not always hear his voice with thus-sayeth-the-Lord unction in concise sentence format (as was popular among my tribe) turned out to be ok. I left this season knowing I had had a priceless encounter with God. Jesus had let me know he had something to say. I ask him to say it and he did.
The fruit of this encounter has been revolutionary for my heart. I am nor exempt but I am far less inclined to look at another person and say, “They are this or that sort of person.” I am not 100% but I am also more inclined to empathize, considering this or that person’s plight, knowing they too have been duped by sin or religion – the most deceitful substitute available for an authentic relationship with God.
Among us there are many who have asked Jesus into their hearts. Some of us imagine our debt was 500 denarii-plus, some – around 50. And then some imagine they had zero to modest debt whatsoever. I believe that since empathy is realized and tears are spilled proportional to perceived debt, my prayer for us all is…..
Father, help us to understand that we are all in the “500 Plus” club and that any tendency to pick up a stone as opposed to shedding a tear keeps our hearts aloof from you and others. It would be your kindness to show us how deeply indebted we are to you and others. Show us that we might each know how perfectly qualified we are as the chiefs of sinners who, by your great mercies, have been enabled to stand boldly and joyously rejoicing in your most holy presence. May we live the balance of our days repaying to both the deserving and undeserving, and especially to you, our indebtedness of love. Amen.
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Luke 7:36-50
Now one of the Pharisees was requesting Him to dine with him, and He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume, and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume. Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner.”
Parable of Two Debtors
And Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he replied, “Say it, Teacher.” “A moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him more?” Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have judged correctly.” Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.” Then He said to her, “Your sins have been forgiven.” Those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this man who even forgives sins?” And He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
by RobertCummins | Nov 6, 2014 | 45. Tears
Hebrews 5:7-10
“In the days of His flesh He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety.”
What was it that provoked the intense emotions that poured from Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane? Was it the awareness that He would soon suffer acute pain, that His physical being would be assailed by fists, whips, thorns, spears and nails? Even though He was God Incarnate, in His capacity as the Son of Man, enduring pain was his fate. We know one of the prayers He offered up was,
My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt.
Was it only the physical pain that prompted His petition? As a sinless human, Jesus was not blinded as we are to the unseen, eternal realities. Jesus lived completely aware that either eternal glory or catastrophe awaited every soul. He longed to deliver captives from their heavy burdens of sin and religion. He saw how disease wracked men with pain and disability and ultimately claimed their bodies. I believe Jesus’ loud crying and tears were also born from seeing clearly the open and potentially fatal wound sin inflicted on His beloved creation.
In pondering Jesus’ agony and tears, I see, rolling toward Him in the Garden, a wave, growing in its power as it collects all the horror and filth of sins past, present and future. I can see Christ in the Garden with His clear vision of the unseen, watching this tsunami approach, knowing that when it finally breaks and crashes down on him, He will be crushed by the weight of man’s accumulated depravity. His pain will be intensified by his acute awareness that he came to absorb this very same wrath for those who would reject him – the One who created them and loved them and the only One who could rescue them.
Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.
Jesus knew the suffering that comes from seeing; the more you see the more you suffer. As children of the light, He grants those who are willing to share some of his burden, an increasing awareness of the hold that darkness has on us and those around us. Check out 2 Cor 1:5 and Phil 3:10. But its not just the power of darkness He wants us to see; it is the overwhelming superiority of Light. He is the Light of this world!
Suffering is a mystery from which we have not been exempted. Instead we are called to endure it and to learn from it. It is not meant to crush us as it did Him. It is meant to draw us to him and to teach us to abide in him. If He permits the suffering-of-seeing to touch us, it is His invitation to partner with Him by way of our prayers and petitions (definitely not our judgements). He knows we cannot carry this. He desires that we live in a continual state of dependency upon Him, casting this burden, which He has exposed us to, always back upon Him. Its a dynamic partnership.
Father, in these brief days of our flesh, may we see and may we offer up, with passionate tears, our prayers and petitions to You – the One who has saved us from death, knowing that we have been heard because of Your piety. Amen.
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For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. 2 Corinthians 1:5
that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Phil 3:10-11
