Seeing Stars from Deepest Wells?

 

C. S. Lewis mused that one benefit of praying written prayers is that they’ve been vetted. In other words, when we pray from the Book of Common Prayer (and other resources) we don’t have to critique what we are praying to determine their validity, their conformity to Scripture, but we can freely use them as a vehicle of communion with God.

 

The qualification is that, other than those in Scripture, there is a possibility that some prayers, or elements of some prayers, may be misinformed and off course, so I don’t know that we can ever dispense with a measure of vetting, as cumbersome as that might be. Some prayers may simply not “fit” us in a season of life, others may have ill-informed thinking – which may or not be material...aren’t we all in a process of growth? I consider the centrality of Jesus Christ, the Father, and the Holy Spirit to be the musical key that we want to hear in all prayer – when God is the center other elements tend to fall into place.

 

Due to the authoritative nature of written prayer, it seems to me that vetting is important, after all, we’re using it as a model for our communion with God, informing our minds and hearts, our souls and spirits. Yet, I think this critique requires charity, lest our hearts become judgmental when we think some elements of a prayer problematic; once again, aren’t we all in the process of growing in Christ? Isn’t the centrality of Christ paramount? Is not communion with God our desire? As we commune with God, God is well able to mature our understanding.

 

This also means that when we write prayers to be shared with others, we ought to write them in the light of Scripture and general truth, this includes verifying statements of fact. This practice should not differ from other writing or from public speaking (including sermons), for the sake of our audience and the glory of God we should verify what we write and speak.

 

There are enemies to this process. One enemy is time, and another is familiarity.  The enemy of time convinces us that we don’t have time to look up a word or verify a fact – so we accept as true what we think is true, without verifying it. The enemy of familiarity is more subtle, it assures us that what we’ve been told for decades is true, we accept as fact something that is false.

 

As I have grown older with increasing experience, I am more likely to quality a statement with, “I have not read primary material on the subject.” I want the listener or reader to know that I am only sharing what I’ve been told, without doing my own spadework. In my reading of authors who I highly respect, I have seen occasional instances in which they haven’t done their own research and therefore make statements that have no foundation, they are repeating what they heard from others. These are occasional instances, otherwise I’d not be reading the authors.

 

As a pastor I’m sure I frustrated many a parishioner with the question, “But is what so-and-so popular preacher says actually true?” I learned that we generally don’t care whether a statement is true, or whether a teaching aligns with the Gospel, or whether Jesus Christ is the center…I’ve seen this in congregational life, I’ve seen it in interdenominational small groups, I encounter it in conversations. 

 

We don’t want to be bothered with seeing life in the light of Jesus Christ and His Word…. after all, it would mean that we’d have to read and know Scripture, and that our hearts would have to be wedded to Jesus and to Jesus alone. It might even mean that we’d realize that some of our practices and other “distinctives” are not as grounded in the Bible as we’ve been led to think. I’m reminded of a point that Eugene Peterson made, we think that if we are told what’s in the Bible then we don’t need to read the Bible.

 

What does all this have to do with “stars from deepest wells”?

 

As some of you know, I appreciate The Valley of Vision, A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions, edited by Arthur Bennett, Banner of Truth Trust. There are some beautiful prayers in this volume, and there are gems to be found even in those that I think are problematic.

 

Bennet begins the volume with a prayer of his own, appropriately titled, The Valley of Vision. The penultimate stanza reads:

 

“Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter thy stars shine.”

 

I’ve heard this about seeing stars from wells for decades and never thought much about it until I read what Bennett wrote. Then I wondered, “Is this true?”

 

If you didn’t know the answer to my question before you read this, you know it now. Arthur Bennett neglected to verify his statement, he relied on what he had been told, no doubt for decades…well, we probably all do it…but we should know better, and I imagine Aruthur Bennett knew better (where were his editors?).

 

This isn’t to say that there may not be “truth” in the illustration, which is why Bennett used it, but wanting an illustration to be true when it isn’t true introduces a crack in the foundation, it is an invitation to a slippery slope (not that Bennett was doing this, not at all, he simply failed to verify).

 

Unlike Bennett, I’ve seen many a popular contemporary “Christian” teacher, pastor, and author create “truth” out of nothing and sell it to others (including pastors) who will be offended should you ask, “But is this true?”

 

I recall some years ago a popular author and teacher created a story of Adam that portrayed him as being “wild.” This author launched a major religious franchise within the professing church, with many pastors falling for it and inducing their people to fall for it.

 

A parishioner of mine “fell” for it, and after I read the book and then asked him to compare its storyline with the Bible’s, it didn’t make any difference to him, he’d go with the false storyline, he liked it better. He preferred the heart of the book to the heart of Jesus. This attitude is often the case within the professing church.

 

To be continued…

 

Unfinished Thoughts on the Soul – Continued

 

 

“Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me, for my soul takes refuge in You; and in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge until destruction passes by” (Psalm 57:1).

 

What does it mean for a soul to take refuge?

 

This is not as mysterious as it might seem, for our inner person is always being conformed into one image or another, perhaps even into multiple images, fractured images, unstable images. This gives the lie to the idea that we are autonomous and can choose our destinies for ourselves, rather than exalting free will it reminds us that we are either the slaves of sin or of righteousness, either of life or of death, either of Christ or of His enemy.

 

Our souls can live in various places, they can inhabit “constructs” which cannot be seen, and yet they can be seen. Our souls can, and most certainly will, worship, and they will be conformed to the image of what they worship. The images we worship are molds for our souls.

 

The constructs we worship and live within can be seen in our behavior, our language, our decisions, how we spend our time and our resources. Show me your calendar and your bank account and I’ll show you the images you worship, I’ll paint a picture of your soul. Show me what you watch, what you listen to, what you read, and I’ll show you your soul.

 

Our souls are molded into the image of what we worship, they are molded into the form of that in which we take refuge. What our eyes behold, our souls become.

 

Do our souls take refuge in Jesus Christ? Or do we take refuge in economic or political or national or racial or ethnic or social or even religious identity? If our souls take refuge in Jesus, then they will be conformed to His image (Romans 8:29), if they take refuge elsewhere, they will bear those other images.

 

If our eye is single, we will be filled with light, otherwise we will be filled with darkness and confusion (Matthew 6:22 – 23).

 

Ephesians 4:17-19 (J.B. Philipps), “This is my instruction, then, which I give you from God. Do not live any longer as the Gentiles live. For they live blindfold in a world of illusion, and cut off from the life of God through ignorance and insensitiveness. They have stifled their consciences and then surrendered themselves to sensuality, practising any form of impurity which lust can suggest.”

 

Are we not living in a “world of illusion” when our souls seek refuge in other than Jesus?

 

I am reminded of a line in The Valley of Vision to the effect that, “What our souls trust in, from that we expect happiness.” We can tell where our trust is by the way we react to news…all is good when the financial markets are up, all is bad when they are down. All is good when our political party prevails, all is gloom when it fails. This is illusion, this is living in a false construct, a false refuge. Yet, we offer our souls to these illusions and allow our souls to bear their image.

 

Do not Daniel Chapter 2 and Psalm 2 and Hebrews 12:25 – 29 (indeed the entire Bible) teach us that our Father is bringing the kingdoms and systems of this world to an end? Are we saying to God, it is all well and good that you are bringing the kingdoms of this world to an end, and that Your Kingdom will fill the entire earth, but please don’t do it while I am still here. Do what you want after I am gone.

 

Are we taking our cues from Christ and His Word, or from the world? What is molding our souls? It seems to me that we are being transformed into the image of “man,” of “666” in its myriad forms as we imbibe media, talking heads, images of leaders from across the spectrum – I see the effects of this worship as I listen to folks – they are surrendering their souls to other than Jesus Christ. The fruit of idol worship is anxiety, vitriol, anger, hatred, callousness; this is contrary to the “peaceable fruit of righteousness” (James 3:13 – 18).

 

Let us learn to take refuge in Jesus, in Him and in Him alone will our souls find their purpose and destiny. Let us be molded into the image of Jesus, only Jesus, always Jesus, forever Jesus.

 

Living On the Cusp of Eternity (5)

 

 

“My own plans are made. While I can, I sail east in the Dawn Treader. When she fails me, I paddle east in my coracle. When she sinks, I shall swim east with my four paws. And when I can swim no longer, if I have not reached Aslan’s country, or shot over the edge of the world in some vast cataract, I shall sink with my nose to the sunrise.” (Reepicheep in The Chronicles of Narnia, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Page 524, one volume edition).

 

“Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth” (Psalm 73:25).

 

This morning I have a doctor’s appointment. I seldom saw doctors for much of my life, then in 2009 I experienced a significant medical event and saw more doctors and medical technicians over the course of a few weeks than I care to think about. Then my health settled down until about 2020 when I crossed a kind of health threshold, since then I’ve gone from taking no meds to having a pill box, and from hardly seeing doctors to having a group of specialists. Thankfully, more than once I’ve seen health problems reversed or mitigated – in one instance my specialist was surprised at test results – what had been a significant problem that was possibly leading toward surgery was reversed.

 

It amazes me that I’ve lived in this body for 75 years without knowing much about it. I’ve talked to other folks my age who think the same thing. If we’d known more about our bodies we hopefully would not have eaten all the toxic and unhealthy food we and our parents were conditioned to purchase. Now we are doing the same thing to our kids and grandkids, the difference is that they are experiencing the toxic effects quicker than my generation – for example, obesity and diabetes.

 

I tell my doctors that I don’t expect to live without pain or limitations, I just want to understand how to manage them. Knowing Jesus means that I am not alone in this, I sense His presence with me in my health, after all, He made the package that is “me.” I am also deeply thankful for my dear wife and her love and care as we support each other in this season of life.

 

An element of living in the cusp of eternity is realizing that your body is nearing the finish line, that your tent is closer to being dissolved today than it was yesterday (2 Corinthians 5:1 – 5). For some of us, our tents will be taken down in an instant; for others it is a process…we just don’t know, we just don’t know. However, for those who know Jesus Christ, we do know that we can trust our dear Lord and Savior Jesus to care for us in whatever we may experience as eternity engulfs life as we have known it.

 

When our desire is to be with Jesus and the saints, the departure terminal is a place of expectation, no matter what else it may be. This is not to say that there is no sorrow and pain and even confusion; it is not even to say that there are no questions and doubts and fears; but it is to say that Jesus is with us, that He calls us to Himself, and that the rising of the Sun envelops us with His warmth and love and care (Malachi 4:2). After all, our God is the God of the Resurrection. “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die” (John 11:25 – 26).

 

Not long ago Vickie and I were discussing what character from the Chronicles of Narnia we would choose to be like. We were reading The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, working our way through the chronicles. I said, “Reepicheep, not because of his overall personality, but rather because of his desire to see Aslan’s Country.”

 

All of the ship’s company sailed from Cair Paravel with the expectation of returning, except for Reepicheep; he left determined to sail east to Aslan’s Country, never to return. “If I have not reached Aslan’s country, or shot over the edge of the world in some vast cataract, I shall sink with my nose to the sunrise.”

 

This is the way I want to live, and this is the way I want to die…for as Paul writes, God made us for this purpose, He placed His Spirit within us to draw us out of this world into His Kingdom, to draw us from earth to heaven and beyond (2 Cor. 5:5). As Paul wrote to the Philippians, “I have a desire to depart and to be with Christ” (Phil. 1:23). This, my friends, is not escapism, anymore than it is escapism to desire to see the lights of home after being on a long journey, this is the fulfillment of all that we’ve ever desired and of all that we should have desired.

 

“This,” said Reepicheep, “is where I go on alone.”

 

“Then he bade them goodbye, trying to be sad for their sakes, but he was quivering with happiness…Then hastily he got into his coracle and took his paddle, and the current caught it and away he went, very black against the lilies. But no lilies grew on the wave; it was a smooth green slope. The coracle went more and more quickly, and beautifully it rushed up the wave’s side. For one split second they saw its shape and Reepicheep’s on the very top. Then it vanished, and since that moment no one can truly claim to have seen Reepicheep the Mouse. But my belief is that he came safe to Aslan’s country and is alive there to this day” (pp. 539 - 540).

 

O dear friends, when others have said, “You can be so heavenly minded that you are of no earthly good,” they have lied to us. The only way to be of any earthly good is to first be heavenly minded – then, and only then, can we be of lasting earthly good, for only then can we be the Presence of Christ in this broken world, a world so blinded that most of us in the departure terminal don’t know what plane we are boarding nor are we aware of our destination. Only as we are heavenly minded can we have the courage to help others, to point them to Christ, to ask why they are carrying the baggage of the world with them, to ask why they have spent their lives on purchasing tourist junk which they can’t take with them. Shall we call it “fool’s gold”?

 

If someone in the departure terminal asks us, “Where is your baggage? Aren’t you taking your treasure with you?” We can reply, “My treasure is with my King Jesus, He is keeping it for me until I arrive in His Presence.”

 

We don’t really need to possess anything…as long as Jesus possess us.

 

So here I am, living on the cusp of eternity…sensing that City pressing upon me, calling me…coming to engulf me with waves that dwarf those of Nazare, Portugal…and on the other side of those waves?

 

Joy!

 

(And perhaps Reepicheep).