A Stumbler's Walk | THERE IS NO "S"

The Revelation of Jesus Christ...

-- Revelation 1:1

(I've been reluctant to write a devotional walk through the book of Revelation. And though it feels daunting at the moment, here we go. As with every time I approach scripture, I attempt to drop preconceptions and popular opinion to allow the scripture to speak for itself. And hopefully, to allow God to speak to my soul. D) 

Living where I do, I often hear people say something akin to, "I'm heading down to Walmarts..." That is "Walmarts" with an "s." 

Though there are 4,672 Walmart stores in the US (Google is my friend), each is singular. There is no "s" in Walmart. 

Likewise, there is no "s" in Revelation. As a matter of fact, the word "revelation" is used only once in the entire book; here in the initial verse. I stand on this particular soap box to make a point: the revelation to follow both comes from Jesus, and is about Jesus. All the happenings, difficult to understand pictures, incredible creatures, etc. that emerge in the book are secondary. Ultimately, this revelation is the story of Jesus' overcoming. Jesus is both the source and subject of this Revelation. We therefore, must remain laser-focused on him and not get off track with speculation. In the words of a preacher I heard long ago, the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. 

The word revelation (in the original Greek) means an uncovering, or a drawing back of the curtain. In a sense, Jesus draws back the curtain and gives us a dizzying picture of both heaven and earth. In all the chaos it is important to remember that this drama's Author and Finisher (Hebrews 12:2) is Jesus himself. 

Jesus instructs John to: "Write what you see... and send it to the seven churches..." (v.11). Context must always be considered when reading scripture. These were real churches with real people, facing very real persecution at the time. And though the messages to each are not completely pleasant, the ultimate point is clear: through his death and resurrection, Jesus has already won the victory. Time is just playing out toward it's celebration. 

Lastly, as we look at this very strange and unsettling book, it is important to note Jesus' words to John when John turns to see who is speaking. "Fear not," Jesus says to his old friend. In a story filled with awesome and frightening pictures, the most awesome is Jesus himself. And though many today use this book as scare-tactic in their preaching and writing, Jesus says, "Don't be afraid." 

He is there in the beginning. He is there in the end. He is here with us now. Always in control. Ultimately victorious. Always loving.

This is the Revelation of Jesus Christ.

God, reveal yourself to me. Help me clearly see. Help me not to fear.

For now...

D

Random Thoughts | LETTERS

Just a random thought... Actually a question.

While sitting in another generic hotel room, and in between Chipotle (always) and the fitness room (usually), the trailer for an upcoming HBO movie came on the TV. The premise caught my attention.

As best I can tell, a man facing a life crisis writes three very unusual letters. Letter #1 is written to Death. Letter #2 to Time. Letter #3 is addressed to Love. Surprisingly, he receives in-person responses to each; in kind of a Christmas Carol sort of way.

The question: If I were to write these three letters, knowing I would receive responses, what would I write? What would I have to say to Death, Time and Love? What would I ask each? What would you?

Maybe I'll actually write these three letters. I doubt they will make it into a blog post if I do; some things are a bit too personal. For now I'll just emote via keyboard - as I am apt to do in between Chipotle and cardio.

Death: Will I write with trembling hands? Will I ask when, how? Do I want that knowledge - for myself; for those I love? Will I be defiant? No matter how eloquently or persuasively I may write, death will come. Until it does, I must strive to LIVE, rather than just be alive.

Time: I won't ask for more. Just one question: Why so fast?  It would be nice if you would slow a bit. I guess the big deal with Time is... I can't get more of you, so I must make the most of  you - moments must be filled to the brim.

Love: (Why are Lionel Richie songs filling my brain as I think this one through?) You, Love, are both powerful and elusive. Really, Time and Death pale compared to you. Time, filled with Love is never wasted. Void of Love, Time echoes with emptiness. Even Death is defanged by your presence. To be alive without Love is not the kind of living I desire. Like light, you fill an available open space. Therefore, I must be open. But I must remember Love, that though you are sometimes a noun, you are also a verb. And it is in doing Love that I most experience Love.

Now that I think about it, there is really no need for the letters. These three - Death, Time, Love - have each visited me; and will continue to. They are part of this human experience. Each is to be embraced and not feared.

I'm not sure how to wrap up this post. I guess I'll just recall what a wise man once wrote; "...and the greatest of these is Love." He wasn't specifically referring to these three; or to writing letters. But I'll go with that.

Well, that's about as deep as I get (between Chipotle and cardio).

For now...
D

Ringtones: Beauty Behind the Familiar

I don't think much about ringtones. Mine is still set on the default from when I bought the phone. Though it's possible I changed it on day one to the same mundane tone I had on the previous two phones. It is something Samsung calls Over the Horizon. The point is, I have not given my ringtone a second thought. Until the other day.

I was mowing my daughter's huge lawn on a 117 degree day (embellishment and lying are not the same thing, right?). Mike Rowe's podcast was pumping through my Bluetooth earphones, barely maintaining a volume above the straining push mower. Somehow, due to a magical congruence of friction, sweat and general pocket size, my phone jumped to life from time to time. It would suddenly make a change from Mike Rowe's That's How I Heard It to my workout playlist (an odd combination of Daft Punk and movie soundtracks), to Hillsong United worship and back again. It was annoyingly entertaining.

At one point in the schizophrenic media mix my phone rang. I really didn't want to stop to fish it out of my pocket or shut down the mower to answer. It would go to voicemail and the strange musical shuffle would resume. The ringing did not give way to voicemail though. Then I noticed the ringing was not the normal five second version duplicated four times until my message abruptly interrupted. Rather than repeating, the ringtone melody played on... and I heard something pretty cool.

Over the Horizon is much more than the merely five second annoyance I thought it to be. As the "ringtone" played on, I picked up the melody. Then I noticed intricacies I never had; layers of instruments and runs. As the "ringtone" played on, it became less "ringtone" and more orchestral. Depth and movement emerged. And there mowing in the heat, a simple too-familiar and annoying melody became a masterpiece.

I have since discovered a jazz version of Over the Horizon, a millennial-musical version, a rock version; and some pretty artistic videos accompanying each. It is an interesting 15 minutes spent on YouTube for the tangentially-minded like me.

In reality, Over the Horizon was a masterpiece from it's inception - that of a little six note melody by composer Josh Joongsam Yun. I had just never noticed. My experience with its simple beauty had been too surface and too short-lived. It had become too familiar.

It makes me wonder... What other melodies of life are playing all around? What symphonies have become too familiar to notice? What music plays while I am unaware, or worse, annoyed? 

There is beauty behind the familiar. I must listen.

For now...

D

A Stumbler's Walk | Called & Kept

To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ.

--Jude 1

I remember the days when a phone - on the wall in the kitchen - would ring. It was a real ring, not a tone or a song. This was in an ancient time when Roaming meant you had an extra-long spirally cord from wall unit to handset.

In those days a ringing phone was exciting - of course I was young and typically thrilled by a rock or a block of wood. Most exciting though, was when the phone rang and then I heard, "David, it's for you." Someone had called me.

Jude reminds us that Jesus has called us by name. This is deeply interesting too. You see, Jude was most likely the half brother of Jesus; we surmise this in his introduction as James' brother. So why is this a big deal? Apparently James and Jude - and most of Jesus' family - did not buy in to his God-ness (or Christ-ness, Creator-ness, Savior-ness) while Jesus roamed the Galilean hills. It was not until Jesus' gruesome death and odds-breaking, glorious resurrection that Jude believed. And though he had been a doubter and a nay-sayer, Jesus called him by name.

Jesus has called you (and me) by name. With phenomenal grace, he meant to dial, and he asked for us... "David, it's for you."

Just as importantly, Jude tells us, this calling grace is keeping grace. The same power that overcame death in a cave-tomb, walked water and healed lepers; that is the power that called us by name. And it is the same power that continues calling and keeping us by his side daily.

It is good to be called. It is good to be kept.

God, keep me close; especially when I tend so often to roam.

For now...
D

A Stumbler's Walk | HUMBLE

I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority.

--3 John 1:9

As faith increases, so should humility. Arrogance is never the offspring of an authentic relationship with God. Pride, instead, is often the product of religious systems. And ultimately arrogance is a result of comparison. 

But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding. 

--Corinthians 10:12

Humility is not found in thinking less of ourselves, true humility results from thinking of ourselves less. Jesus' great commandment that we love God and others requires a healthy self perception - a love of self. 

And love your neighbor as you love yourself. 

--Mark 12:31

False humility is unbecoming. In reality, it is born from the same womb as arrogance - a blinding focus on self. When we are secure in the love God has for us, we are free to focus on others. (I am as much a work in process as anyone reading this post.) 

Pride, whether it is overt or the religious falsely humble sort, stands in the way of what God desires to do in us, and through us. It stifles our growth. It stagnates our joy. Actually Jesus addressed this:

The thief comes to kill, steal and destroy. 

I came that you might have real and abundant life. 

--John 10:10

God, forgive my arrogance, especially the pride that hides as religious self-deprecation. I am humbled in the face of your presence and grace.

For now...

D

A Stumbler's Walk | PROOF

And this is love, that we walk 

according to his commandments.

--2 John 1:6

What do I love? Who do I love? How do I prove it?

Love - real love, not a watered down sentimental version, or the overly-romanticized Hollywood depiction - compels the lover to action. As I wrote in a previous post - LOVE DOES:  http://davidmstanleykineticlife.blogspot.com/2017/07/a-stumblers-walk-love-in-action.html)

There is a popular adage that when examined, really makes no sense at all. The saying goes: THE PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING. But pudding statically sitting in a bowl (as pudding does), offers no proof of anything. Pudding may look pretty. It may smell nice. It may be enticing. But it has proven nothing. (In pudding's case, it has not proven to be tasty.)

We tend to water things down. And the above saying is a watered-down version of a 14th century proverb that goes: THE PROOF OF THE PUDDING IS IN THE EATING. Now that makes sense. The pudding's goodness or badness is tested-out when it is tasted. The PROOF comes when pudding does something (or technically in pudding's case, when something is done to it).

Enough of pudding... what's the point? Love, and in the context of 2 John, love for God, cannot be proven merely by words. When love just sits in the bowl it may look pretty. It may smell nice. It may be enticing. But until love does what it is meant to do, it has proven nothing. We might say, LOVE MUST BE TASTED TO BE TESTED.

We sometimes talk of our love for God. But it is just pudding in a bowl. Our love for God is proven in our actions. And throughout the New Testament we see and are told that true love for Jesus is lived-out in how we extend grace to people.

The Commandment John refers to in this letter is to love as Jesus loved. It is plural in the context, because love always does in a multitude of ways. Jesus put it this way:

I'm giving you a new commandment, 

that you love one another just as I have loved you.

-- John 13:34

Lastly, it is a daunting directive - to walk according to his commandments, to love as Jesus loved.  Frankly, I fail continually. And it is much easier to live a The Proof Is In The Pudding life than it is to give tastes. Allow me to leave you with two thoughts:

Thought #1: Love is typically not proven in huge leaps. Love is lived in baby-steps. 

Thought #2: The more we love, the more we do. And the more we do, the more we love.

God, help me to love with a love that is tasted and proven to be like Jesus, rather than my norm of leaving it in the bowl.

For now...

D

A Stumbler's Walk | IDOLS

Little children, keep yourselves from idols. 

-- 1 John 5:21

Idol: To this day, the picture in my mind when I hear or read that word is a small, fat, and unhappy carved Buddha-looking fellow hanging from a coarse hand-woven cord as a necklace. (1. That is among the top three strangest sentences I've ever written. 2. My understanding of idols was obviously, in some way, shaped by Gilligan's Island.)

Idols though, are more difficult to spot. Most hide in shadows of our hearts and minds, looking for opportunities. When we are hurting, an idol may step in. When we are angry... idol. When we feel strong desire, ambition, uncertainty, etc., an idol is more than willing to become our place of comfort, motivation, refuge or purpose. 

It is interesting John closes out this letter to believers (whom he endearingly calls little children) in such a way. Most letters close with an heartfelt goodbye, or a doxology of sorts. Not here: ...keep yourselves from idols. There is obviously something urgent and relevant to his words. 

The context of the letter as a whole, as well as the last few verses, paints a picture of idols. Idols are untruth. Idols are those things that demean and undermine the truth of God - who he is, what he has done for us, and the life offers. Idols are those things that pull our eyes and hearts away from the love of God. 

We (metaphorically) wear them around our necks, both knowingly and unaware. Idols can be incredibly comfortable (and fashionable). But they steal life and joy in the same way a tick makes its living on a host. 

Keep yourselves from idols. Why? Because idols tug our hearts away from God's love; because small idols can block big vision; because self-carved little buddha-men are poor substitutes for the God of all. 

God, give me vision to spot the idols that weigh me down. Forgive me for trusting my hand-carved creations over you. Free me to experience your love, life and purpose.

For now... 

D