A Few Reflections on Reflections

The Bible tells us that we respond to God because "He first loved us." In other words, we reflect the radiant love that He bestowed upon us- even while we were yet sinners, the Bible adds. While we were in open rebellion, denying God's very existence or shaking our angry fist in His face- He still loved us with a relentless, reckless love that illuminated our own face in glorious reflection.

The Bible also tells us that husbands are to love their wives the way Christ loved the church- willing to lay down His life for her, initiating reconciliation where there was no way and loving us, even when we were unlovable.

And so what is the logical response in the heart of a woman whose husband loves her the way Christ loved the church? She will, of course, reflect that love back. She can't help but reflect the selfless love of a husband who takes the initiative in reconciliation- even when it's the wife who might be wrong.

Wives were created to be responders- reflecting the love that illuminates them. It's their natural bent- their natural function. Like a mirror, a woman reflects what she is being shone. Like a brilliant moon on a dark winter night, a woman who is loved by her husband in a Christ-like fashion is radiant- glowing with a reflected love which lights up everything in her path.

Show me a woman who lacks that glow, and I'll show you a husband who hasn't been loving her in a selfless, Christ-like way. A woman simply reflects what she receives.

I pray that I might be better at loving my wife in a Christ-like fashion, and I pray that I might bask in the glow of her reflected love. It's the natural order of our roles. At least, that's the way Boompa sees it.

Purpose or pleasure?

I see them all the time around Lake Michigan; huge, beautiful, insanely expensive yachts sitting quietly with their sails furled- the owners sipping margaritas and catching a few rays.

Maybe they were inspired by Jimmy Buffet- the voice of all things pleasurable from cheeseburgers in paradise to wasting away in margaritaville.

But I can only scratch my head and wonder how one can be content to sit at anchor when one has a yacht capable of sailing around the world.

We're not much different though, I guess. We've been given the Holy Spirit- able and willing to lead us on a world class adventure but most of settle for swinging around the anchor rope aimlessly; watching the world go by.

I'm ready to hoist my sails and see where the Spirit of God takes me- to follow the wind and find God's purpose for my life. I think I've had enough of cheeseburgers and margaritas for the time being. How about you? At least that's the way Boompa sees it.

Fresh picked blueberries...

You ought to have seen what I saw on my way
To the village, through Mortenson's pasture today:
Blueberries as big as the end of your thumb,
Real sky-blue, and heavy, and ready to drum
In the cavernous pail of the first one to come!
And all ripe together, not some of them green
And some of them ripe! You ought to have seen!

Thus begins Robert Frost's poem Blueberries. My wife Jane often quotes those first seven lines from memory- especially when we're picking fresh strawberries under the warm July Michigan sun.

If you've never picked fresh Michigan blueberries you have no idea what blueberries are all about. The tiny, shriveled caper-like excuses for blueberries found in a polyethelene bag in the frozen food section of your grocery store are NOT fresh blueberries! No, a fresh blueberry, as Frost observed, is as big as your thumb and heavy.

It's kind of like that with the process of hearing from the Lord. Reading a great Christian book or hearing a well-prepared sermon may satisfy our hunger a bit- but it will never taste like the real thing, fresh from the bush. When the Lord speaks to us directly we realize how much is lost in the process of commercial picking, freezing and thawing.

So how can you pick fresh blueberries?

Through prayer, through meditation, through worship, through fasting. It's during those times that the Lord so often drops a fresh insight into our personal pail- as big as your thumb; fresh and ripe. When we savor the sweetness of fresh fruit we realize that second-hand blueberries, given to someone else and then served up later will never be quite the same.

Why not spend a little personal time with the Lord this week and see what He has to say to you.

Mmmmmm.... fresh blueberries! Frozen berries just aren't the same. At least that's how Boompa sees it.

Didn't Jesus deal with the Sabbath?

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After the Pharisees criticized Jesus for allowing his disciples to pick some grain on the Sabbath day, Jesus said, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27).

I understand this to mean that the sabbath is no longer the master over us and our lives- but rather we are now the master over the sabbath. We need no longer conform our lives to the sabbath, but rather conform the sabbath to our lives.

And again Jesus dealt with this...

On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, "Woman, you are set free from your infirmity." Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the people, "There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath."

The Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?"

When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing. (Luke 13:10-17)

The same story, it seems to me. The religious leaders of the day were scandalized that Jesus would "do something" on the sabbath. Yet Jesus says there are things which take priority over the sabbath. Perhaps more importantly, this all comes down to Jesus purpose for becoming incarnate and dwelling among us.

The religious leaders of the day were self-assured in their list of do's and don'ts, their keeping of the sabbath, their avoidance of contact with "sinners" and their observance of the law. If Jesus had come and affirmed that this was what it takes to enter the Kingdom of Heaven- it would have been a difficult burden- a heavy yoke. People ALREADY were under this burden... bearing this yoke and to be perfectly honest, had Jesus reaffirmed this message it would have been received as "The Bad News" of the gospel.
But it wasn't bad news. It was GOOD NEWS! It was VERY, VERY good news!!

Everywhere Jesus went people were astounded by the scandalous, outrageous, breathtaking magnitude of the Good News: We couldn't earn our way into heaven. Those who looked least likely to enter the Kingdom were invited to dine with Jesus, to talk, to confess their sins and to explore this new spiritual world where everything was upside down- the last were to become first, the first were to become last, the employee who had worked only an hour received the same wage as the employee who had worked 10 hours, the prodigal son received a banquet while the older brother received a reprimand, those who were dead in their trespasses were suddenly made alive. It was a topsy-turvy gospel that was indeed Good News!

To those who took pride in their observance of the law it was Bad News. But to the rest of us- those of us who KNEW we couldn't ever keep every letter of the law- those of us who KNEW we weren't deserving of entering the Kingdom of Heaven; to US it was Good News beyond our wildest hopes!

Even the sabbath was turned upside down. Clearly Jesus WAS in the temple on the Sabbath so He wasn't telling us never to go there, but he was very clear about not allowing the sabbath to take control of our lives. I see that as Good News indeed. ALL of it!

We are no longer to be slaves to a dead list of do's and don'ts. Instead we are made alive- free in the Spirit to have life and to have it abundantly. We no longer have to attend sabbath services because they're required. Rather- we now have the privilege of entering into the Rest, bought by Jesus on Calvary anytime- anywhere- every day. And while I attend church most Sundays, I would never allow myself to become a slave to that schedule when there is a wide, wonderful world full of people Jesus loves and died for out there- waiting to hear the Good News of the gospel.

If we believe that team sports are a good thing for our children to develop relationships, socialization, learn teamwork, develop physical fitness, etc. then I would find a middle ground. I would NOT sign up for a program where every game is played on Sunday mornings!! But neither would I reject a program where there were Sunday games from time to time. The fellowship and encouragement to non-Christians on the team may be the very reason the Lord placed you on that team for a season. At least that's how Boompa sees it.

Repeating Patterns

Do you have patterns that keep repeating themselves in your life? Most of us do.

Perhaps it's saying things you shouldn't say and then having to apologize. Or maybe it's buying things you shouldn't buy and then having to figure out how to dig out of the financial hole you've dug yourself into.

Perhaps your marriage falls into predictable patterns of abusive behavior, bitterness and anger followed by having to actively work at healing the wounds that have been created.

Or maybe it's the pattern of getting motivated for the latest weight-loss program, losing 10, 20, even 30 or more pounds only to gain it back again a few months later.

But here's the good news. We serve a God who is a pattern-breaker. His specialty is breaking well-established, seemingly unbreakable patterns. As far as we know, Jesus broke pretty much every pattern the world had seen up until His appearance. And He can help you break repeating patterns too- if you'll invite Him into the process. At least that's how Boompa sees it.