Quiet Wisdom

People have often said I have a wisdom beyond my years, a compliment I treasure as I learn to develop discernment. But today I swallowed a nice dose of humility. I am reminded of how much I am still to learn and how much life I am still to experience. I read an article on Relevant Magazine today entitled 5 Ways to Slow Down in 2013. As a recovering over-committer, this caught my eye. I convinced myself to slow down for 5 minutes enough to really read the article, not just skim it like I often do. When I got to suggestion number four Be a Better Listener, my prideful-aspiring-therapist side thought - "Oh I got that in the bag!" Until I read this...

Wisdom isn't the ability to dispense witty words at a moment's notice; it's being able to withhold them for the right time. We learn what's really worth saying when we train ourselves to be more than broadcasters.

Wisdom is not just saying the right thing at the right time. More importantly, wisdom is having something to say but knowing when to shut your mouth. Sometimes I'm not so good at that part. The Lord advises us to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.

Two passages jump out at me displaying God's wisdom in quiet, listening, patient manner. The first is after Cain is moping about his brother's sacrifice being better than his own. The Lord says to him, "Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it." Sin is awaiting at our door, but we must learn to master it. I love that, it sounds like what Mr. Miyagi would say in the Karate Kid or what Yoda would say in Star Wars.

The second passage that always kicks my butt is in Jonah. Jonah throws a very cute, mature pity party that God displays his graciousness and mercy in saving Ninevah, much to Jonah's displeasure. During the peak of his pity party, God asks Jonah, "Jonah, does it do you well to be angry?" Woof. The Lord actually asks Jonah this on two occasions! Double woof. This one hits too close to home.

Today I'm convicted of what true wisdom looks like. It's not just a witty response. It's not just thinking well on your feet. It's not a just good vocabulary or knowledge of pithy statements. It's not just quoting verses or knowing what to pray. True wisdom is true listening. It's the manifestation of a true and genuine care for another, and speaking and acting for their benefit, not your own.

Even as I write this I'm tempted to want to expound more, to appear insightful. But that's missing the boat, again. So today I'm thankful for true Wisdom, and that He is abundantly gracious and patient with us.

Trusting the Voice

As a part of the New Year, Calvin and I have committed to doing a few things together - First--Get active, me in Pure Barre (special shout out to Calvin & Julie for the 2 months of classes!) and Calvin in running & rock climbing. Second--Blog semi-regularly. Third--Read the Bible in a year by following this great reading plan. We are just a few chapters into the biblical story and oh, how quickly humanity takes a dark turn; murder enters in only the second generation and by Genesis 6 God is ready to wipe out mankind and start over because "every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil."

More amazing than how quickly sin so thoroughly contaminates humanity is how encompassing the Lord's grace is. Wastefully gracious really, the kind that its' recipients receive and abuse over and over again. Adam and Eve ate the fruit they were told specifically not to, and then were naked and ashamed? God clothed them. Cain killed his brother Abel? The Lord put a mark on him to protect him from others' revenge. The entire population was evil except for one man? The Lord chose  to save Noah and his family and use them in his redemptive process. Here the Lord entrusts Noah the enormous task of building an ark in preparation for the flood. This thing is going to host 2 of every animal plus Noah's family of 5+ for about a year...this thing is HUGE! I've got a crafty gene in me, so I can appreciate a good project. But if a scarf bombs or the wood stain doesn't hold, I can toss it without any public shame. Noah did not have the same luxury. This ark was visible to the community while under construction, opening Noah to incessant questions & public ridicule for what probably seemed pretty ludicrous to onlookers. I'm sure at times Noah needed the Lord's reassurance as he was building. So what was it that drove Noah to be obedient to God's words rather than those he heard from others? He trusted the speaker.

Jesus beautifully exemplifies the same trust in Matthew 4, where he endures Satan's temptation in the wilderness. Satan cunningly tempts Jesus by twisting God's Word, yet Jesus knows the Author & refutes the lie with God's truth. The same Word quoted, but different voices speaking. Jesus, like Noah, knew God's character, his intentions, his goodness. They both knew that He is trustworthy, so they could trust what he asked. The Bible talks about this as knowing and trusting the Shepherd's voice.

We are constantly bombarded with messages, whether in word, picture, advertisement, or subtext. The deciding factor of what we listen to is if we trust the voice.

Let's commit 2013 to be one of listening. He is good and abundantly gracious, let's renew our ears to trust the goodness of His voice.

Don't Kill the Baby Jesus

            My uncle is a pastor. A few years ago, on Christmas day after sharing an enormous meal and opening all our presents, I asked him what he had thought of our Christmas service.  His reply stuck with me.  "It was good, other than the fact that they crucified the baby Jesus. You don't kill the baby Jesus."

            At the time, I thought he was stupid for making such a silly comment.  How could you talk about Jesus without mentioning the most important part of the story, namely his death and resurrection?  What was wrong with reminding people of the fate of baby Jesus? I thought my uncle was overreacting, but after having seen baby Jesus crucified over and over again, I think he was onto something.

            Christmas is one of those rare times in the year when people feel obligated to attend church.  So church attendance spikes every Christmas Eve and pastors and preachers usually, and rightfully, want to capitalize on the many fresh ears in the audience by proclaiming that Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead, effectively snuffing out death like a candle. Pastors and preachers then talk about the baby who came to die.

            While there is nothing wrong with this sentiment, we are, in essence, cutting and splicing the story of Jesus such that his conception, birth, life, and ministry is the trailer to the main feature of his death and resurrection. And when Jesus' birth is nothing more than a snapshot of what's to come, we miss out on the richness and beauty of his incarnation.

            That God was not born in a palace, or a beautifully exotic land, or to the parents of wealthy aristocrats.  No, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords chose, made a free choice, to be born to a poor carpenter in a stinky, smelly stable.

            That the creator, sustainer, and provider of all living things was completely and utterly dependent on his parents, such that if they neglected to care for him, he would have died. God was cared for by regular people.

            That God did not view our humanity as something to be despised but honored our very existence by becoming like us, by clothing himself in blood vessels and veins, muscles and bones, sinews and synapses. God with skin on.

            That God did not remain distant and unattached from his creation but entered into it as Emmanuel, God with us.  For in Jesus, as a helpless, weak, and crying baby, God was and is, with us.

            The Incarnation is an incomparable and indescribable event that actually happened.  The two thousand plus years since its occurrence are still not enough to fully plunge the depths of its greatness and beauty.

            So please, when you talk to others about the real meaning of Christmas, don’t kill the baby Jesus.

There's room in the stable.

It’s been 7 days since Adam Lanza opened fire on Sandy Hook Elementary School, killing 20 children and 7 adults before taking his own life. These past 7 days have been filled with memorials and tributes, tears and laments, as our nation grieves in solidarity with Newtown, Connecticut.  Kenzie and I have been deeply (and rightfully) impacted by the shooting and have tried to make sense of it in light of Christmas. If Christmas is a joyful day to celebrate the coming of our King wrapped in swaddling clothes, how can we rejoice when we are immersed in such painful circumstances?

I've noticed that most of our re-tellings of the Christmas story tend to focus on Luke’s narrative, leaving out many of the details in Matthew’s account. It makes sense why we do this, for in Matthew’s story, King Herod, feeling threatened by the birth of Jesus, slaughters all male children under the age of two in Bethlehem. Mary and Joseph, upon receiving divine insight into Herod’s intentions, flee to Egypt to escape the brutality. With Jesus’ birth came the death of many innocent lives.

I imagine the pain Mary and Joseph experienced knowing they were leaving behind numerous murdered children is similar to the pain we feel as a nation over Sandy Hook. I wonder if Mary and Joseph ever told Jesus what had happened.  Did he ever question what they were doing in Egypt when they obviously weren’t Egyptian? Did Jesus ever ask his parents to tell him about his birth?  What did they say?  Did they include the horrific details? If Jesus ever returned to Bethlehem, would he have noticed there were no boys his age? I have a hard time imagining Jesus was unaware of this part of his story.

Jesus was truly a "man of sorrows, acquainted with grief" not just because of his innocent death on the cross but because of the many innocent lives lost following his birth. Jesus is intimately acquainted with the intense pain that many families are presently living. God is not distantly unconnected with the ins and outs of life, the ups and downs of humanity, and the crippling impact of pain and sorrow.  God lived these things in Jesus.  He knows them first-hand. 

 This story, the Christmas story, is hope for all who are suffering- not just those in Newtown. In this story, we are reminded that, though there was no room in the inn, there is plenty of room in the stable for our laughter as well as our tears, our pain as well as our joy, lamentation alongside exultation. Our sorrows are not silenced on Christmas day, but find solidarity in the cries of the newborn infant. This is the story people need to hear.

So may we be faithful to tell the story, both in word and deed, now more than ever before.

Hello, Blogosphere!

Recently we've been impressed with the reflections of our friend's blogs and thought we'd toss around the idea of starting our own. With Calvin's constant reflection on what he's reading and his gifted writing skills plus Kenzie's wit and gift of gab, we think we've found our match! We thought a blog would be a great venue to process our thoughts, share our updates, and house our narcissism.

After much thought & perceived pressure of creating a cute...er witty...blog name, we've settled on Nothing New. Our words and ideas are nothing novel, we're merely re-telling the story of God's redemption as He weaves it in our lives and those around us. Plus, writing a blog is indeed nothing new, it seems to be the outlet for writing these days. Ironically, as we tried to find an available domain name, pretty much every variety of Nothing New was taken...Indeed, here is to Nothing New!