What Really Matters?
Good Morning Friends,
In a society that overvalues progress and personal achievement even our spiritual lives could become performance oriented. We think about levels and phases and stages, but in the life of the Spirit these measurements are not important. And this brings us to today’s question. What Really Matters?
Scripture: When he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door; and he was speaking the word to them. Then some people came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, “Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” At once Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were discussing these questions among themselves; and he said to them, “Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and take your mat and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”–he said to the paralytic– “I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home.” And he stood up, and immediately took the mat and went out before all of them; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
Mark 2:1-12 (NRSV)
God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
1 Corinthians 1:9 (NRSV)
So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the LORD had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands. The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name, ‘The Lord.’*
Exodus 34:4-5 (NIV)
Message: When Jesus is in the heart of our home good things can happen. I have been praying for about 50 years and contemplating prayer long before that and on occasion my mind would descend into my heart. This first happened when I looked up at a night sky or contemplated the light refracting in the prism of a rainbow at sunset. But today I experience it more when I am surrounded by friends not even saying a word or in helping poor and disabled individuals and the organizations that serve them through my work. This spiritual journey has been long and is not yet done. Back in college, I was silent for a month, I practiced yoga, I meditated and chanted and danced as a whirling Sufi to experience God. On the journey I have read ancient texts and sung the Psalms. I lead Bible studies and then continue to serve as a change agent for social issues and in all this I have come to the conclusion that without a well formed heart to guide a well formed life our efforts come up short. The heart and the head need to converge for conversion to be completed. It does not do much good until we learn to seek the face of God in everything, everyone, everywhere…all the time. So currently I write this devotional to focus my mind because I am disappointed for lots of reasons, and for no reason at all. Still I study the Bible seeking the Word it has for me, so my heart can be healed for service. The journey is both inward and outward. Here I learn from my friends not so much by what they say but by what they do. We read the Bible aloud. We meditate on its message in silence. We pray. On occasions we ask questions and then radically apply the answers we glean to our present situations. Some of us are churchmen, others are missionaries and philanthropists…still others seekers. And here I have learned that the spiritual journey is about unity, diversity, opportunity and God’s glory. What I have discovered is that the crisis of our times calls for neither politics nor piety but a new spirituality rooted in ancient traditions and applied to our present circumstances…I have learned that we need a prayer life that gets us to stand up as a witness that our physical, emotional, intellectual, volitional and moral energies can converge in community. Then we need to apply this vast and largely untapped power to the issues of the least, the last and the lost. What matters is that we descend with our mind through the roof and into the heart of our condition and there at the feet of the Lord who sees everything within us, stand facing God in the prayer of our friends and then take it to the streets. Here we discover that we are not in control. Here we discover God moving in our lives. Here we discover that Jesus really is our friend. Here we discover that when all is said and done, it is faith and trust in God, experienced in fellowship that is important. This is how we experience love. What really matters friends is not the hole in the roof or the debris on the floor but the love of others. All else is a shadow.
Pray we not neglect our spiritual development of love. Pray that our inward spiritual development is formed, reformed and transformed in that place of the heart where we individually experience love and collectively encounter God. Pray we are moved to express this love received in love given for others through ministry. Pray that the seat of our will come together with the source of all our physical, emotional, intellectual, volitional and moral energies so that we are moved in a constant prayer to a place where we are chiseled day by day into the likeness of Christ…in the law of love. Pray we rejoice in the authority of Christ. Pray we learn through prayer God’s agenda. Pray we learn in fellowship to love God and one another. Pray this love cuts through our barriers to open up a connections…a changes…a transformation that glorifies God.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 