IS IT EVER IMPOSSIBLE?

Sometimes we want to believe that a task at hand is simply impossible. There is no way that we can accomplish what is asked of us. We look at the task from every angle, use every bit of wisdom we have accrued over the years, and determine that the problem is insoluble, is impossible. But is any task insoluble, impossible? My old English Professor passed on these words of wisdom: "We are continually faced by great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems."    

           

If that is true, and I suspect we all must agree, if only begrudgingly, that it is, then two questions arise. First, who disguises the problems? Who is responsible for blinding our eyes so that we do not see what a great opportunity we have to, for instance, live out our life of faith, to respond to a situation as our faith would demand that we do?

           

The quick – but wrong – response is that this bit of nastiness and deceit is the work of the devil. Almost. It is the work of the devil minus the "d". It is the work of the evil, the sinfulness in each of us. We don't see because we don't want to see and not because the devil made sure that we don't see. To make the devil the scapegoat for our own unwillingness to respond is a cop out.

           

The second question follows from the first. If we are the primary reasons why we do not see the great opportunities that are presented to us on a daily basis to live out our faith, if we are the ones who brilliantly disguise these opportunities so that they look like insoluble problems, why do we do it? Why do we not want to see what our faith says we can and should see?

           

Probably because we are lazy. I don't know about you, but most of the time the reason why I think something is impossible for me to do is that I am simply too lazy to do it. Oh, I can and do find some really good excuses why the problem I have discovered is insoluble. But deep inside I know that I just don't want to do it. And when I finally convince myself, when the evil that lies within that is called laziness convinces me to walk away believing that I can do nothing, I fail.

           

I fail the other in not doing that which I can do, and I fail myself. The reason that I was graced to discover the problem in the first place, the reason why God opened my eyes to see the problem, was that God also gave me the ability, with God’s grace, to solve that problem – or at least do all that I can (with God's help) to solve the problem. I'm letting myself down as well as the other person.

           

Something is only impossible if I believe that I have to solve or resolve the problem all by myself. If I honestly believe that, and if I attempt to resolve all problems all by myself, I will quickly wear out and just as quickly allow those great opportunities to slip by because they have slipped into the impossible/insoluble category. Nothing is ever impossible if we remember that the God who allows us to see the problem will also give us the grace and strength to make the situation a great opportunity to demonstrate his love and our love. But the first step is up to us: we have to look behind the disguise.

FELELING LUCKY OR BEING GRATEFUL?

Lillian Daniel, a Congregationalist pastor, in her delightful and thoughtful book of essays, When Spiritual But Not Religious Is Not Enough: Seeing God In Surprising Places, Even the Church, has this to say about having, in my words, an “attitude of gratitude” as opposed to “feeling lucky”: “While I think God does want us to feel gratitude, I do not think God particularly wants us to feel lucky. I think God wants us to witness pain and suffering and, rather than feeling lucky, God wants us to get angry and want to do something about it.”

She goes on to explain: “Gratitude is a biblically commended attitude. Feeling lucky is another religion altogether, one that says the gods pick one teenager to live in the suburbs of the richest nation on earth and another teenager to starve.” She has a lot more to say to this culture of ours where so many people claim to be “spiritual but not religious”, which, to me, is a code word for not having to respond to the needs of those who are in need while allowing one to feel good about oneself. Balderdash!

But I slightly digress. We are indeed blessed, you and I. Anyone who reads this is blessed. It means that you and I have the financial means to purchase computers, Internet accessibility, cell phones and all the rest. What we as a nation spend on these conveniences in one year, none of which are truly necessary to live in the world, could feed thousands of starving people, perhaps eliminate poverty altogether. Perhaps.

And perhaps none of us would call ourselves “lucky” but would honestly admit that we are indeed very, very blessed; blessed to live in this country and be able to afford all that we have and certainly more than we would ever need. Our needs are quite adequately filled and our wants are filled to overflowing, whether we admit to that truth or not. The downside of being so blessed and not recognizing that what we have is a blessing and is more than enough is that we worry that we don’t have enough, that we need more. Then we pursue the more and never enjoy what we have.

The upside of being so blessed is that it allows us to stand back, recognize just how blessed we truly are, and then give thanks for our blessing by developing an attitude of gratitude. Such an attitude pushes us into actively responding to the needs of those who, for whatever reason there is, have been less blessed. We waste our time both trying to understand why we have been blessed and others have not or trying to find a reason why those who, for instance, have no food are personally at fault. What is is what is: a person is in need; we have been blessed; we are thankful that we can help, and then we do what we can.

An attitude of gratitude demands an active response. Feeling lucky is simply a feeling and no more and almost prevents us from responding, if it does not actually do so. It is easy to lambast those who are so blessed and yet do nothing because they believe luck (and God?) is on their side. That is an issue they have to deal with. Our issue as grateful believers, as followers of Jesus, is to be honest with ourselves and ask ourselves if our gratitude makes us angry enough to actually respond to those in need.

INEFFABLE: WHEN WORDS FAIL

One of the joys I have had over these winter months is reading John Sexton’s Baseball as a Road to God: Seeing beyond the Game. Only a true baseball fan, I think, will appreciate the book. In Sexton’s terms baseball is ineffable. It cannot be explained to someone who thinks it is a waste of time, boring, and unlike football which is all about excitement. And, in truth, baseball cannot be explained to even to a true fan.

Sexton defines ineffable thusly: “that which we know through experience rather than through study, that which ultimately is indescribable in words yet is palpable and real. The word signifies the truths known in the soul.” In other words, we have to experience baseball and have it be a part of our lives. We understand it but can’t explain it. Words fail when we try.

As I read the book, the thought occurred to me that ineffable not only describes God but is also the reason why believers believe in God and unbelievers do not. Unbelievers are like those who can watch a baseball game but come away with little or no understanding of the game. Yes, the game is real. But since it is ineffable, because they cannot explain it in words, they have no use for it. It does not move their soul. Unbelievers see the reality of God’s existence; but because they cannot explain in words God or anything about God, they simply claim God does not exist. God does not move their soul.

On the other hand, we believers have the same problem. We see the works of God in all of creation and even experience God in our lives. Yet, when we try to explain God or explain our faith in God, words always come up short. They fail. So we assert that God is ineffable and are content with that, just as a baseball fan asserts that the game is ineffable and is content with that explanation much to the dismay and disagreement of those who want, demand that we find the words that will convince them to believe as we believe. For us believers God moves our souls. We do not need to explain that truth and have no need to do so.

It’s the same with love. I love my wife, but if I try to find the right words to explain my love for her, words would fail. My love is ineffable. All I can do is say “I love you” and leave it at that. As soon as I try to explain my love, I am in trouble. There will never be enough words, adequate words to explain. Thankfully, she does not ask me to explain my love for her nor do I ask her to explain, describe, define her love for me.

Again, as a believer all I can say is “I believe” and leave it at that. My belief is ineffable. There will never be enough words, adequate words to explain, describe, define my belief not only to someone else but also to myself. As soon as I try, I am in trouble. So I don’t try and simply enjoy being a believer.

Nonbelievers think they have the upper hand over believers. They demand explanations when none can truly be given. That is sad. They are missing out on so much just as those

who want an explanation of baseball rather than simply enjoy the game miss out on so much when they demand words other than the only one that describes baseball: ineffable.

FOOTPRINTS IN THE SNOW

Several years ago after a rather harsh winter when Arlena and I had to shovel snow one too many times, she told me that it was time to purchase a snow blower. So I went to the local Sears and purchased one that seemed to fit our needs. Time would tell if I made the correct choice as I only purchased it post-winter when it was on sale because Sears wanted to clear space for summer merchandise.

It’s not that we did not like the snow. I actually love it, mostly, to be sure, more from a theological perspective than anything else. I love the changes of the season. Barren but beautiful winter with everything covered in white is a sight to behold: God in all God’s glory! But even more, winter brings spring and spring brings resurrection, new life, a reminder that there is always resurrection. No matter how bleak the winter or life itself; no matter how deep the snow or the mess in which we find ourselves,  somehow in some way, with God’s help, we will plow our way through and find resurrection.

It’s not that we do not like shoveling snow either. We both love it. Great cardio workouts. As a result, in spite of all the now the past three winters and all the snow that has fallen so far this winter, the snow plow remains safe and dry in our shed. It has been used once two years ago and will probably remain idle as long as I have the energy to do the job myself – which I am hoping means for a very long time.

As I said, I love the snow from a theological perspective. It not only reminds of me of the coming spring and resurrection. It reminds me of something that is even more pertinent to daily life that I often tend to forget and certainly even more often overlook. And that is, as I was recently reminded, that our life is like footprints in the snow. They can be seen, unlike the footprints we make walking through water and are washed away the second we lift our foot.

Those footprints in the snow are a reminder that everything we do somehow remains. It is not washed away the second we move on. It remains. When I walk on newly fallen snow to get the mail, I leave footprints. When I return two hours later with shovel in hand, I notice that my footprints have been covered over by a new layer of snow. However, when I start to shovel where those footprints once were, I find that they are still there. My walking over the snow to fetch the mail pushed down the snow and made an impression in it. That impression was still there and made for a more difficult shoveling.

Again, it was and is a reminder that those footprints can be covered up, but they still remain. Whatever we do in this life remains, somehow in some way. Our actions now not only affect what we do next, but they affect everyone else even though we do not realize that truth or are simply oblivious to it.

The snow will melt, winter will pass, spring and new life will be here. But all that we

did, all the steps we took, will still remain. As this winter’s snow will have an effect on

what this spring will be like, so the steps we take in the snow will have an effect on the

steps we and others take walking through April showers.

IT ALL ADDS UP

Years ago I remember hearing a talk by a New Testament professor on the Feeding of the 5000 in John’s Gospel. He made an interesting point when he said, "Five plus two doesn't equal 5000," he said. Five loaves of bread and two fish, lunch for a little boy, more like five biscuits and a can of tuna fish, just does not make lunch for 5000 people. But it did when one more ingredient was added to the mix: Jesus. Five plus two does not equal 5000, but five plus two plus One does. And that One is the vital ingredient.

           

That One is the vital ingredient into any recipe for our Christian life and Christian way of living. In marriage it always takes three to make the marriage work: husband, wife, God. Take one of those ingredients away, and there is no marriage and there is no real possibility for the love that makes the marriage work and holds it together to thrive and flourish. In marriage one plus one does not equal two but one plus one plus One does.

           

And so it is with any relationship we have as Christians, with anything we do as Christians. For when we discover that there is a problem in a relationship, when we discover there is a problem in our lives, whatever the problem, my suspicion is that when we get to the root and heart of the matter, we probably have left God out of the mix. That's why everything seems all mixed up. It takes God to make the mix, make the recipe, come out right. When we add God in, it all adds up.

           

What happens, I think, if I can use myself as an example and assume that you are no different than I, is that I (we) do not consciously leave God out of the mix. We just don't, all too often, deliberately put God into the mix at the beginning. We just get so involved in the relationship, so involved with what we are doing, that we do not realize that we need that One more ingredient to make the recipe work. Then when we find ourselves in a mess, we wonder what went wrong.

           

The good part about all this, however, is that it is never too late to add God back into the mix. Life is not like making a batch of bread. We can't put the yeast in after we've baked the bread. But we can always put the Yeast we call God back into the Bread we call Our Life and we will rise to what God wants us to be. God is always there hoping that we will add Him to the mix but never forcing Himself on to or into us. That is not the way God works.

           

During his entire ministry Jesus never forced himself into any situation: people reached out to him and asked him to become part of the mix. Yes, he called people to follow him, but he never forced them to respond. When the Apostles discovered that there were not enough resources to feed 5000 people, when they discovered that five plus two did not equal 5000, they were at a loss as to what to do. But when Jesus was added to the situation, it all added up, as it always does.

We need to remind ourselves to add Jesus, add God, to every mix before we toss them into the mixing bowl and not after we put the recipe into the oven. We'll save ourselves a whole lot of misery and grief if we do and be a whole lot happier as well.