Thursday, December 16, 2010

Week 15 – The Forms of Meditation – Meditation upon Events


Celebration of Discipline Bible Study
            The last form of meditation Foster defined is “meditation upon events of our time and to seek to perceive their significance”.   In the previous lesson we talked about meditation upon creation, the beauty of what God created and now Foster wants us to focus on the events of our time as meditation.  When I read this particular portion of the book, God recalled to my memory my sermon preparation class.  My professor, the Late Rev. Dr. Miles Jones, said we need to read the newspaper and the Bible together.  As we meditate on the events we are asking God to reveal to us the deeper meaning of what was written in the paper or heard on the news.  This type of meditation is seeking God’s insight of today so we can see if the underlying issues were those that impacted the early church.  Foster also believe “we should ask for guidance for anything we personally should be doing to be salt and light in tour decaying and dark world” (pg. 32).
            When most of meditation upon current events and we are able to discern what God is revealing to us, we may not share it with others because we are not comfortable being the messenger of unpopular news.  God didn’t call us to be popular but to be like the prophets of old, speak to the people so they can turn from the path of destruction.  Have you noticed the events of today seem to be the same events going on in the Bible?  The same message the prophets spoke is still being reiterated today.  This is why it is necessary for us to seek that deeper meaning and relationship with God.
            Meditation on this level is not easy because we are seeking quick answers but we must sit a while with God for the revelation needed.  When we start meditation it may feel like a waste of time but actually it’s time in God’s presence.  Meditation is like everything else we start at first.  It’s hard and we may not feel we are making progress but the key is to keep doing it.  Don’t allow you feelings to discourage you because your feelings have good and bad days.
            As I searched for resources for Christian Meditation, I realized there was a lack of available resources.  A good rule of thumb is to look at the Notes section in the back of any book.  Foster used several books that can be found online.  If you are not sure about meditation, take small steps like prayer.  A little at a time and next you will be meditating and focusing on all things in life.
            This is our last lesson for meditation.  We will start looking at Prayer.  Remember, we are working on the inward disciplines.  These disciplines develop our personal time with God.

Assignment:
Research an event you remember from growing up (i.e. war, crime, peace, unity). 
Pray and ask God to show you why did this happen? 
Write down where Bible a similar event took place in the Bible
What was the outcome?



Wednesday, December 15, 2010

'Twas the Cross before Christmas

The Christmas season is in full swing.  The retailers had Christmas decorations out before Halloween and they were slashing prices before Thanksgiving to compete for our dollars on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  It seems every year the commercialization of Christmas comes earlier and earlier. 

This is the one time of year people will be extra friendly, extremely kind and compassionate.  This is the time of year when we hear people say it's better to give than to receive.  Some people are expecting to receive a gift or card because they believe it is required because of the season. Each year we are trying to buy the latest toy, game or tech gadget.  As we struggle financially many of us are returning to the basics of gift giving handmade gifts of things needed or giving of our time to help those in need. So many of us have forgotten the real reason for Christmas.  We have not taught our children and their expectation is receiving a gift, decorating a tree and a big meal.  It's time for us to remember why we celebrate Christmas.

Christmas is the celebration of the "Son" of God.  Since no one really knows the actual birthday of Jesus Christ, therefore the 25th of December was chosen by the early church.  Why was the 25th of December was chosen?  The early church wanted to celebrate the birth of Christ since the only celebration was the Cross (Life, Death and Resurrection).

However, there were many pagan celebration but the one the early church attached itself to was the celebration of the "Sun", the winter solstice.  What a way to honor the Son of God while others were honoring the return of the Sun.  So Christmas is a celebration for Christians and non-Christians.  As Christians we need to remember that the Cross was before Christmas.  The life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the focus of the Church, without the Cross we would not be able to celebrate Christmas.

May your Christmas continue with kindness, compliments and giving all year along.  God gave us a gift and it is up to each of us to accept the gift given.  Share the story of Jesus Christ beyond the baby in the manger and point to the Cross where reconciliation and redemption is available.

Enjoy this poem written by my Homiletics professor the Late Rev. Dr. Miles J. Jones, 'Twas the Cross before Christmas. 

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Week 14 – The Forms of Meditation – Meditation upon Creation


Celebration of Discipline Bible Study
            The third form of meditation Foster defined is “meditation upon creation”.  We give attention to the “created order” (ie trees, moon, stars, mountains, ocean, and etc).  As we travel across the world, in our city and state we marvel at the wonderful, majestic creation of God.  The handiwork of God causes us to sit for hours and praise God for the beauty of creation. 
            Every time I fly to the west coast, I’m always amazed at the formation of the clouds at 34,000 feet or when we fly over the Grand Canyon the view is breath taking.  While sitting on the plane looking out the window one can’t help but to reflect and meditate on what God created out of emptiness. Maybe some of us don’t fly, but we find ourselves sitting outside or inside during the summer watching the movement of a butterfly or hummingbird going from flower to flower.  We may become intrigued and want to get closer but instead we sit there smiling knowing that God created them for a different purpose.  We have found ourselves as “Evelyn Underhill recommends, “…begin with that first form of contemplation which the old mystics sometimes called, ‘the discovery of God in his creatures.’ “ (p. 31).  We are truly discovering God when we are meditating upon creation.
            As we watch the created order of God we learn lessons and God reveals things to us we never saw or heard before.  When we meditate upon creation we can relate to Psalm 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”  Then when we read the beginning of Genesis Chapter 1, “On the first day God created light and darkness, night and day; on the second, the firmament separating earthly and heavenly waters; on the third, dry land and vegetation; on the fourth, the heavenly luminaries of the sun (‘greater luminary’) for ruling the day and the moon (chief ‘lesser luminary’) for ruling the night; on the fifth, sea creatures and birds; and on the sixth, land creatures and humans.”[1]
            As we keep reading we start to notice Psalm 150, Daniel 12:3, James 1:18 and Revelation 5:13.  These are just some scriptures to read and others may come to mind while meditating upon creation.  Since we are apart of God’s creation, we may find ourselves meditating on the gifts and vision God gave human beings.  Imagine the creation of the internet, airplane, cars, trains and building. When we truly meditate on creation we are taking an in-depth look, we want to be able to smell the salty ocean waters, listen intently to the songs the birds sing, watch how the snowflakes fall to the ground and feel a warm summer breeze.  We want our senses to be engaged and allow our mind to see beyond the surface but focus on the source of all these beautiful and marvelous creation of God.

Fun assignment:
Identify a creation of God and meditate on it deeply and engage your senses. 
Describe how this creation makes you feel
Write the simple message God revealed to you about that creation
Post the simple message to the blog.




[1]Achtemeier, Paul J. ; Harper & Row, Publishers ; Society of Biblical Literature: Harper's Bible Dictionary. 1st ed. San Francisco : Harper & Row, 1985, S. 192