Be a Comforter

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion (mercies) and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV, parenthesis mine)

 You and I are created in the image of God, which encompasses our incredible and beautiful capacity to love and care for each other. It is not a matter of if but when you and I will experience loss and grief and will have a need for comfort. Nor will it be a matter of if but rather when you and I will be called on to engage with someone else’s loss and grief, to contribute comfort with our capacity to be compassionate and merciful, and use our own experiences of being comforted.

Since it is not a question of if but when, the most important thing to focus on is how.

1. Simply show up. Be there.

The word comfort in the scripture above is about coming alongside, being a paraclete, which is what the Holy Spirit is called. The thing about God is that He doesn’t shun or bail on people who are going through the pain of loss, are reeling with sorrow, are stricken with grief. He shows up to comfort them. “Blessed (by God) are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” Matthew 5:4 (NIV).

Nothing much happens unless we show up, and it doesn’t matter how many tools we have in our comforting toolbox, being a tool in the hand of “the God of all comfort” is enough to get started. Will you feel uncomfortable, won’t know what to say, be at a loss at what exactly to do? Yes, you will. But the Holy Spirit, the Master Comforter, will not be at a loss of how to use you, your capacity to love and care, and your own experiences of loss, grief, and being comforted. Showing up in itself is a way of comforting.

2. Speak truth.

“Therefore comfort one another with these words” 1 Thessalonians 4:18 (NASB). Actually, let me back up, don’t say much at all. Especially stay away from talking about yourself, explanations of the why, platitudes, and theologically hollow sentimentalism. Job, the man in the Bible who lost his wealth, children, and health in short order, was blessed by his caring friends showing up to be with him in his pain and grief. Yeah! The trouble started when they opened their mouths to explain to Job why all this tragedy had struck him. They should have stayed quiet. On the other hand, the best person to point someone to in their sorrow and grief is God. Not because He will answer all our questions or make it all go away, but because there is no one better to lean on, to be anchored in, to be held by. So, speak and pray the truth of scripture, carefully, tenderly, and without being preachy.

I have also found that since God gave us two ears, it is best to listen before speaking, especially when with the hurting, the grieving. Words of truth are much better given and received after listening and being listened to.

3. Use your experiences of being comforted.

Mel buried the love of his life, Aggie Lou, and he was lost and paralyzed in his grief. He couldn’t deal with the paperwork, the bills, simple stuff he had done all his life. Gerry, who had buried two husbands, showed up at his doorstep. Did she want to be there? Did she know Mel could be a handful? “How about I help you with that,” she said after she noticed the pile of papers and envelopes on the table. She knew what it was like, and she was a bookkeeper, and she went to work, comforting.

Comfort isn’t just administered through words but also through using our hands, our skills, through doing simple stuff that is both thoughtful and helpful.

“… we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”

            To God be all glory. Love you, Pastor Hans

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The Church Mouse Is Dead – The Little Things

The church mouse has died, and not of natural causes. S/he was not the first church mouse, another drowned a long time ago in the baptistry. That one must have been a Methodist or from some other sprinkling background because, clearly, it did not know anything about baptismal safety. This latest church mouse on the other hand was a dirty rotten scoundrel/ness, a wily thief, an unrepentant sinner, an arrogant trespasser, who would not even stop at my bag of pretzels. Imagine the audacity, taking pretzels from a German preacher, that’s like peeing in holy water, a mortal sin for sure. But that is not all, this mouse taunted the pastor and the head deacon in broad daylight, no shame, no respect, no adhering to proper church mouse conduct.

After deacon Richard left, I turned Kammerjaeger (German for exterminator, literally chamber-hunter). I sealed the bottom of my office door, the only escape route, got out my Maasai stick and went after this unholy intruder. I found its hideout and blocked it off as well, and then we went round and round in my 8’x10’ office. S/he obviously knew my office well, was familiar with every hideout, used computer and telephone wires like Tarzan using vines in the jungle. The only thing that kept me from throwing in the towel was my pretzel indignation. Finally, that demon of a mouse made a mistake, it ran between two stacks of books I had made into a v-shaped funnel on my office floor. When it reached the dead-end I closed the gap and trapped it between the pages of solid theology, and the Maasai stick sent it to its eternal demise. I do have one regret though, in honor and recognition of this epic pastor’s office struggle I should have had its head mounted.

That mouse got me to thinking about little thinks we are wise to watch out for, deal with, and kill if necessary.

• Catch all the foxes, those little foxes, before they ruin the vineyard of love, for the grapevines are blossoming! Song of Songs 2:15 (NLT2). Lovers, husbands and wives, need to watch out for the little things that ruin love, passion, exclusiveness. It is not just big things that can destroy a marriage, but also little things allowed to run wild.

 

•  A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough Galatians 5:9 (NASB). Of course, you know that a tiny amount of yeast, given time, will spread through the entire dough. In this context, it speaks of bad teaching, false doctrine, in 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 it speaks of sin and wickedness, and in Luke 12:1 of hypocrisy. You don’t want to introduce any of them into your life. You want to give neither opportunity nor time.

 

• Dead flies make a perfumer’s oil stink, so a little foolishness is weightier than wisdom and honor Ecclesiastes 10:1 (NASB). How often do we give ourselves permission for a little foolishness? How often do we make excuses for a little foolishness? Follow the stink and deal with it.

 

• The words of a whisperer (gossip) are like dainty (tasty) morsels, And they go down into the innermost parts of the body Proverbs 18:8 (NASB, parenthesis mine). Whisperers/gossips need listeners, don’t be one of them because what they serve you up will affect you much more deeply than you think, and even worse, you will develop a taste for it.

 

• So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! James 3:5 (ESV). Our words, whether they come from our mouth, a pen, or a keyboard are another little/big thing to be careful with, to be in control of, to take seriously. You don’t have to have a flamethrower mouth to be destructive, little sparks will do. Of course, you can also have a healing, encouraging mouth, but only if it doesn’t spark.

 

I am hoping that this week you will be a Kammerjaeger, being as diligent as Jesus in hunting down the little mice, foxes, flies, that don’t benefit your life, giving no opportunity or time for leaven and whisperers to permeate your mind, heart, decisions, and behavior, and not allowing that little tongue of yours to be destructive.

 

To God be all glory. Love you, Pastor Hans

 

 

 

 

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Extraordinary Kindness, part 2 – It’s not theoretical, It needs no excuses

But—When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. Titus 3:4-5 (NLT2)

Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. Luke 6:35 (NLT2)

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:31-32 (ESV)

No one had to teach her, my incredibly sweet and cute granddaughter (my favorite) to whack her brothers, bite them, snatch their stuff, ruin their creations, and pay them back for any misdeeds of their own. She knew how to dish out unkindness and withhold good instinctively, as, by the way, you and I do as well. Having to be told to be kind, to do good means that that unkindness, not doing good comes all too natural for us.

My little ladybug of a granddaughter knows how to be kind and unkind though she doesn’t even know the words, she just knows the actions and reactions and most often dishes them out according to what serves her best and how she feels at the moment. She knows how to give both kind and unkind looks. She knows how to use her tiny vocabulary in kind in unkind ways, her hands and feet sure know how to do both, and she knows different impacts kindness and unkindness, doing good and withholding good have, which, by the way, you and I do as well.

It is amazing to me how immature and undisciplined grown adults, myself included, can be when it comes to being kind and doing good. It is even more amazing to me that Christians, who have crystal clear instruction, who know the will of God when it comes to being kind and doing good, act like two-year-olds.

Your eyes, are they kind, look at people and things with kindness? Or, are they skilled at throwing daggers, burn with anger, look down on, and look away to ignore and hurt? If looks could kill.

Your ears, are they good at detecting when and where kindness is needed? Or, are they deaf to the frequencies of kindness, only open to what they want to hear, often rejoicing in the sounds of misery and pain of others. They had it coming.

Your mouth, is it fluent in the language of kindness, the healing, peacemaking, encouraging, and blessing power of words? Or, is it a double-edged sword that continually honed by anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, frustration, evil, and the grind of our world? It’s just words, I didn’t mean anything by it.

Your hands, are they good at giving, helping, reaching out, tenderness, involvement? Do they have the callouses of doing good? Or, are they good at taking, hoarding, stiff-arming, finger-pointing, handling remote controls, the grime of selfishness and manipulation thick under your fingernails? No one told me. I ‘ve been so busy, can’t you see.

Your feet, are they good at stopping at the intersections of life calling for kindness and goodness? Do they love to run into the direction of kindness and where doing good is needed? Or, do they balk at the one-way street of kindness, when there is no immediate payoff, when the cost is high, when kindness doesn’t fit your schedule or mood or sense of justice and fairness? It’s a two-way street, you know.

Your wallet, does it have kindness in it, dream of it, and remind you to do good every time you take it out? Or, is it fluent in toddler, “MINE,” constantly dreaming of what to get next, of something fun, of having more than enough, or just plain more? One day. I’m barely making it as it is.

Would you read the scriptures at the beginning of the pastor’s note again? They both command and instruct us to be kind, to do good. They do not furnish any excuses for being unkind and not doing good. I need to remember that next time I am tempted to be unkind and try to excuse it. They tell us that God/Jesus did not determine his kindness, his goodness, his mercy, and his forgiveness by our worthiness, our gratefulness, our responses or reciprocity.

One more thing, as a follower of Jesus, a Christian, I have no excuse to be unkind. I have known how to be kind going way back to when I was just wee little and still cute, I know how to be kind because throughout my life I have been at the receiving end of kindness, and foremost, God has poured the full measure of his kindness and goodness into my life through Jesus Christ from the moment he saved, wicked, undeserving, ungrateful, stuck-on-self Hans.

Be extraordinarily kind. Pastor Hans

 

 

 

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Pouring in – Pouring out

We were having the time of our lives playing in the sandbox. But it seems inevitable that playing hard will lead to some kind of accident, especially when you are surrounded by a fleet of Tonka heavy equipment and with shovels furiously digging. Sure enough, one of my grandsons lost control over the bulldozer he was operating bonked himself a good one. He cried and I yelled, “Stupid dozer!”

Immediately he shifted gears, quit crying, walked over to me, looked me straight into the eyes, and with a most serious voice scolded me, “We don’t say that Opa!”

“Say what?” I asked.

“You know. It’s a bad word Opa!”

“What word?” I wanted to know.

“I’m not going to say it, but you know, OPA!”

Indeed, I did know, and clearly, I was trying to corrupt my grandson. You have to be careful what you fill little hearts and minds with, because what you fill them with will be what comes out. This is not just true of little hearts and minds but yours and mine as well. Our mouths, our actions, our reactions are an indication of what fills us, “The things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, … For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander” Matthew 15:18-19 (NIV).

It is easier to fill an empty cup than it is to fill one that is already full, that’s why wise parents from the get-go pay careful attention to what goes into their kids’ hearts and minds. A heart and mind that has been filled with bad words, habits, attitudes, ways of thinking and behaving can’t be filled with goodness and godliness until you first pour all that out. Before the Spirit of God can fill you and me with “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control,” we have to pour out what the Holy Spirit wants to replace, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified (poured out and continue to pour out) the sinful nature with its passions and desires,” because the reality of a holy and godly life is only possible by God’s Spirit and making room for all he desires to fill us with, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit” Galatians 5:22-25 (NIV).

That pouring out, letting God have complete control of the filling and directing our hearts, minds, wills, plans, desires, attitudes, and habits, is difficult. In our sinfulness, we love to hang on to the sinful, selfish, spoiled, soiled, and same. And, in our perverseness others’ spilling over with what shouldn’t fill us makes us feel a little better. This, our brokenness and sinfulness, is why Christ came and is necessary, only he can help cleanse our hearts and minds and fill us with the Holy Spirit.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” Psalm 51:10 (ESV)

“God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life” Psalm 51:10 (MSG)

            

To God be all glory. Love you, Pastor Hans

 

 

 

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Little Big Things – Words – How We Say What We Say

Little Big Things – Words – How We Say What We Say

“And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.” Colossians 3:17 (NLT2)

As a lousy speller, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate “spell check” and “Grammarly,” without them these p-notes of mine would be unreadable, although I am sure many of still cringe at my use of the English language. However, spell-checking by itself is not enough, it won’t pick up using a rightly spelled wrong word, it won’t reign in my twisted grammar. My words need multiple checks, yours probably do too. It is like that with all of our words, all our communications, because it is not just what we say that is important but also how we say it. Love and kindness, and humility are not optional to the serious Christian life, to a Holy Spirit filled and directed life. You can say, “I love you,” and not really mean it. Were you ever told to apologize right now and say, “I’m sorry,” but you really didn’t mean it and although you said the words you weren’t sorry one bit?

Can you be too loving, too kind, too humble, too meek? Maybe, but judging by my own self and most people I have met we are not even close to the too loving, too kind, too humble line, so we might as well hide behind it.

We are capable, you know, to speak words and even say difficult things wrapped in love. We can decide to propagate our speech with kindness. We are able to check our pride, to edit our tendency to self-promote, to look at things from more than our own viewpoints, to use our words to benefit the listeners.

Just because we want to say it does not mean we should, especially if we are mad, disgusted, frustrated, bitter, disappointed, hurt, rushed, exhausted, betrayed, unappreciated, under-valued, treated wrongly, or are suffering an injustice. “Well it needed to be said and I’m glad I said it!” sounds good, but still is no excuse to leave love, kindness, and humility behind. We are so good at defending ourselves even when we are wrong, aren’t we?

Scripture tells us to:

• “Speak the truth in love.”Ephesians 4:1
• “What is desirable in a man is his kindness, And it is better to be a poor man than a liar. Proverbs 19:22 (NASB)
• A woman of excellence,“She opens her mouth in wisdom, And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.” Proverbs 31:26 (NASB)
• “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:12-17 (NIV)

 What happens when we divorce our words from the right attitudes, a godly tone, a Christlike heart? It becomes easy to speak (and type) harsh, self-righteous, divisive, manipulative, destructive, hateful, two-faced, deceptive, proud and arrogant words. Good words are robbed of their ability to bless, to heal, to encourage, to produce good. An “I love you,” becomes twisted. An “I am so sorry,” drives a deeper wedge. A good word or praise breeds distrust, “What does he really want.” Listeners are not better off for having heard them.

Right words are almost impossible without a right heart, but oh how refreshing it is to be on the listening end of right words from a good heart. The two of us, let’s keep praying and practicing the scripture below and both of us will be better off be. “May the words of my mouth (all my words) and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:14 (NIV, parenthesis mine)

To God be all glory. Love you, Pastor Hans

 

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Little Big Things – Our Words

We were hiking Half Dome (a 17-mile adventure) on what turned out to be the hottest day of the year. Although we brought what seemed to be way to much water, and remember water is heavy, we were going through our supply way to fast. I was hoping our water would last us to the top and back down to a little spring that flowed into a basin about the size of a small sink, big enough to submerge our bottles and refill. When we got there others were already filling up and we had to wait our turn when a group of four come drugging through stepping right into the precious reservoir turning it into a muddy mess. Yes, no one was amused, and yes, everyone was ticked off and even more so when the rude spring stompers showed absolutely no remorse.

It doesn’t take much to pollute clean water, but it sure takes time and effort to clean it up. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) is dealing with thousands of toxic waste sites in need of expensive cleanup. They got to be toxic waste sites because someone carelessly dumped enough toxic stuff to contaminate everything there.

Our words, our tongues, our communications have the potential to be like precious fresh water, refreshing the hearer, encouraging and blessing the recipients. But they also have the potential to be toxic, be destructive, contaminating hearts and minds, often for a very long time. “The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body” Proverbs 18:8 (ESV). “With it (our tongue, mouth, communications) we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water?”James 3:9-11 (ESV, parenthesis mine).

So, how is it with your mouth, the words that come from your lips or your fingertips? Are they careless, mean, destructive, negative, hurtful, rude, vile, incendiary, gossipy, toxic, sarcastic, prideful, bitter, malicious, rash, thoughtless, manipulative, untruthful, misinformed, meddling, aggressive, attacking, impolite and lacking in what they could be and should be? And how often do you justify your toxic tongue by claiming justified anger, superior information, better understanding, the wrong of others, your own pain and woundedness? As loose as we might play with our words and lips, as much as we might justify ourselves, God is crystal clear when it comes to our mouths, the way we should use our words. “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken” Matthew 12:36 (NIV).

“Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be “ James 3:10 (NIV).

 “Reckless (rash, cutting) words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing” Proverbs 12:18 (NIV, parenthesis mine).

“But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy (abusive, obscene) language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices” Colossians 3:8-9 (NIV, parenthesis mine).

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen”Ephesians 4:29 (NIV).

How do we do it? Clean up our words? Detoxify all communications, turn our speaking lips and typing fingertips and even our silences into a source of blessing?

1. Stop the toxic flow. The stream of our words will stay muddy and polluted until we do. However, in order to turn it off we will have to travel upstream to our hearts and minds, all the way to where our words a generated and address our own pollution there. But while we make this journey we can stop the words before they come out. It is a wise thing to do. “When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise” Proverbs 10:19 (NIV).
2. Filter what you let out. Careless words are also unfiltered words. Of course there are toxic words that run through a filter of a different kind. Before you speak, before you type, before you communicate, ask yourself, “Does this pass the love test, the kindness test, the truth test, the benefitting the hearer test, the pleasing God test?” “Is what is about to come out clean, edifying, and able to bless?” “A word spoken at the right time is like gold apples on a silver tray” Proverbs 25:11 (HCSB).
3. Drink pure water, listen to clean words. Words don’t just go out they also go in. Who do you give permission to plant their words into your hearing, into your mind and heart? Who gets to put their morsels (Proverbs 18:8) into your ears? It will have an effect on your filter (see above). It is difficult to clean up your words while allowing others to dump their toxic waste. “Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals (and our words)” 1 Corinthians 15:33 (NASB).

If this pastor’s note has hit a nerve with you pray the following with me and then start implementing the three steps above, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer” Psalm 19:14 (NASB)

             To God be all glory. Love you, Pastor Hans

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Christmas Lips

The Us Postal Service, UPS, Fed-Ex, DHL, are all busy delivering packages. Several of them were dropped off at our doorstep this week. I’ve never worked for any of those outfits but it has to be crazy around Christmas time.

Just today the UPS man delivered a new artificial Christmas tree, complete with lights. Our old one was dropping needles like a dried out real Christmas tree, slowly morphing into a Charlie Brown Christmas tree. This of course means it is time to bring up the decorations from under the house and get everything looking like Christmas.

In one sense it is good that Christmas only lasts for a short (albeit ever expanding) season, we’d be worn out, even fatter, and broke if it were. But wouldn’t it be great if some of the things of Christmas were to persist all year long, like generosity, the effort to bless people and make others happy, an emphasis of recognizing and worshipping God?

Back to the delivery guys this pastor’s note started with. All of us actually do deliver something most every day and throughout the year. Sometimes our deliveries bless, bring joy, help, and encourage. Sometimes our deliveries resemble more a Waste Management truck backing up and dumping its load at the local landfill. I am talking about what our lips deliver on a daily basis. If you have a few minutes get out a Bible and read the Christmas story in Matthew 1-2 and Luke 1-2, as you read look for what comes out of the mouths of the people who really get Christmas, look for “Christmas Lips” and ask yourself if you have yours on? Hear the words of praise and worship, of kindness and blessing, of hope and peace, of awe and surrender, of truth and compassion, of wonder and amazement, both spoken and implied, from both the tongues of men and angels. So do you have them on, your “Christmas lips?”

Imagine what difference it would make if long after all the Christmas decorations are put back under the house we still had our “Christmas lips” on? What if kind, peaceful, and encouraging words would scent the air throughout the year? What if truth, hope, and mercy would be packages we regularly, continually, and faithfully deliver? What if the fruit of our lips were never foul but sweet, forgiving, and beneficial? What if the words from our mouths were more God-centered, more spiritually aware, more filled with worship and praise? How would it impact our relationships, our homes, our places of work, our public discourse if we decided to not take down and pack up our “Christmas lips?” What would it be like if others anticipated with joy things delivered with our mouths?

Let me end with a “Christmas Lips” prayer, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer” Psalm 19:14 (NASB).

Merry Christmas. Pastor Hans

 

 

 

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A Spiritual Hearing Test

To whom shall I speak and give warning that they may hear? Behold, their ears are closed and they cannot listen. Behold, the word of the LORD has become a reproach to them; they have no delight in it. Jeremiah 6:10 (NASB)

How’s your hearing? Especially when it comes to hearing God? I know, I know, it is easy to claim to have heard from God, it is quite another thing to actually have ears that are capable of listening to God. For the former all you have to do is say some words, for the latter you have to actually address your ability to hear.

Our physical ability to hear is impacted by host of things, trauma, genetics, illnesses, and age (No one told me that by middle age I would all but lose my ability to grow hair, except of course in my ears which all of the sudden are able to grow hair as quickly and as dense as a patch of bamboo. And how far does sound carry in a thick forest?).

What affects our spiritual ears, our ability to hear God?

• Apathy. Not wanting to, not caring to hear from God. We don’t pay much attention to what we do not care about. We listen so much better to what is important to us.
• Age. When we are young we are unfamiliar with the ways God speaks. As we get older it is not just unfamiliarity but also more and more things/“hairs” that impede and muffle God’s voice.
• Filters. We develop filters through which we hear: cultural and sub-cultural filters, political filters, personal filters, religious/philosophical filters, interest filters, love and hate filters, and such. This filtering process limits God to speaking on only certain frequencies, on the channels we like, on the content we approve. It is tough to really hear God when we are busy censoring him.
• Bones. Our ears don’t work well when we are mad, angry, bitter. When we are at odds with God it is difficult to hear him, when he allows the fire to burn us, evil to touch us, pain to torture us, injustice to cheat us, grief to strike us, or the inexplicable to happen to us or those who deeply care about without any good and satisfying explanation. It is so tough to hear while picking a bone.
• Answers. There are few, if any, questions when we have all the answers and the more answers we have the more we usually talk and the less we listen. The more answers we have the more we claim to have it all figured out, the more we have all figure out the more we think others should listen, preferably to us, including God.
• Noise. Try having a conversation at a rock concert, when the TV is blaring, with someone who has head phones on, in a crowded room. Try talking with someone who’s filled with worry, always in a hurry, constantly interrupted, or stuck in the trivial. Not to speak of some of things you read above under “bones.”
• Inflexibility. Listening to God, being in a relationship with him requires faith and faith requires flexibility. In speaking to us God invites us to adjust ourselves, our lives to him. We like to have it the other way around, that’s why the more opinionated we are the less flexible we become. (I can already hear some objections, calls for theological clarification, but remember the topic of this p-note is listening to God.)

Oh how much I want you and me to be good at listening to God, to what he said through his Son Jesus Christ, when he speaks today by the Holy Spirit. Our lives are so much richer when we hear, when we know how to listen, especially to God.

“He who has ears, let him hear.” Matthew 13:9 (NASB)

 

To God be all glory. Love you, Pastor Hans

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A Beautiful Mouth

“Your teeth are as white as sheep, recently shorn and freshly washed. Your smile is flawless, each tooth matched with its twin.” Song of Songs 4:2 (NLT)

It seems rotten and missing teeth have never been considered beautiful, even 3000 years ago beautiful white teeth were highly valued; a bride did not want to have any missing teeth. Of course our culture has taken it to a whole new level, far beyond diligently brushing, flossing, and rinsing with mouthwash. Multitudes of kids and many adults suffer through braces, retainers, expanders, rubber bands, globs of wax, and various other contraptions and procedures. It is not enough to have healthy teeth, they also have to be perfectly straight and perfectly white. So what comes out of a tube of tooth paste does far more than clean, it also dispenses fluoride, breath freshener, whitening agents, peroxide, and even sparklers. However, beautiful teeth and a great smile do not make for a beautiful mouth.

I was lucky; my teeth were fairly straight except for a small overbite. This got me a retainer I had to use for some years to expand my upper jaw, which it did beautifully. Then my wisdom teeth started to come in and shift things around until I had them pulled. My older brother had bigger issues but he hardly ever wore his contraptions (he thought they interfered in the girlfriend department) so the orthodontist kicked him out of the program and his teeth never did get straightened out. However, he did end up with a beautiful mouth.

So how did my older brother, how can you and I end up with a beautiful mouth?

1. Know God’s definition of a beautiful mouth: “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear” Ephesians 4:29 (ESV).                                                                      “Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone” Colossians 4:6 (NLT).
2. Deal with and clean up what operates your mouth – you heart: “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks” Luke 6:45 (NIV).
3. Daily brush, floss, and use mouthwash on anything that corrodes: “But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth” Colossians 3:8 (ESV).
4. Talk to who you need to talk to instead of everybody else: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother” Matthew 18:15 (ESV).                                                             “Argue your case with your neighbor himself, and do not reveal another’s secret, lest he who hears you bring shame upon you, and your ill repute have no end” Proverbs 25:9-10 (ESV).
5.  Don’t participate in gossip with neither your ears nor your mouth: “The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man’s inmost parts. Like a coating of glaze over earthenware are fervent lips with an evil heart. A malicious man disguises himself with his lips, but in his heart he harbors deceit. Though his speech is charming, do not believe him, for seven abominations fill his heart” Proverbs 26:22-25 (NIV).                       “A gossip goes around telling secrets, so don’t associate with a gossip, with a person who talks too much” Proverbs 20:19.
6. Speak truth, it is the best breath freshener and teeth whitener: “Do not let kindness and truth leave you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart” Proverbs 3:3 (NASB).                                                                                                           “Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body” Ephesians 4:24-25 (NLT)

So do you have a beautiful mouth? Is what comes out of it refreshing? Can others trust what you say? If someone were to point out beautiful mouths would yours be among them? If God’s the groom and you are the bride, how would he describe your mouth?

To God be all glory. Love you, Pastor Hans

 

 

 

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Mouths – Yours & Mine

In nature you find some wicked, nasty looking mouths. Like the mouth of the shark someone landed on deep sea fishing boat I was on, rows and rows of serrated teeth forming the gateway to a nasty abyss. That possum who cornered Susie in the staircase of our apartment years ago, what nasty, slimy, snarling mouth. Don’t forget the hippo, what a mouth, no wonder it’s one of the most dangerous creatures in African rivers. Gators, snakes, piranhas, komodo dragons, or go no further than the bats living under my roof tiles with their sick toothy grins. But the nastiest, most wicked mouths are found among our own species, no creatures in the animal kingdom can compare.

A shark can maim, kill, and eat you with its mouth but it is incapable of spewing lies, planting rumors, twisting the truth, wounding the soul, destroying trust, shamelessly exaggerating, deceiving, maligning, misleading, making all it up, embellish, being malicious. A komodo dragon’s mouth might be full of deadly bacteria but it will never repeat what shouldn’t be repeated, deny what is true, incite riots, degrade others, dehumanize, make empty or false promises, dish out abuse, fuel anger, slander, or encourage wickedness and violence, no that would be our mouths. A possums mouth will never filled with insincerity, deliberate barbs, say too much or say too little, it won’t circumvent, euphemize, minimize, evade, or inflame. Those bats will never stay silent when they ought to speak, issue empty apologies, spit out meaningless platitudes, speak without thinking, talk behind someone’s back, , gossip, or talk to everyone except who they should be talking to, no that would us.

No wonder God’s word addresses our mouths, “Curses and blessings out of the same mouth! My friends, this can’t go on” James 3:10 (MSG). If there is any part of us that needs redemption surely our mouths need it. If we are serious about living the way God wants us to live then our mouths will have to become a construction site, we will have to schedule ourselves with a spiritual dentist, oral surgeon, orthodontist, and dental hygienist. We will have to have things pulled, implanted, filled, drilled, shifted, wired shut, and whitened. We will have to acquire new habits to keep our mouths clean and alter their use. How much treatment, learning, and change do you think you will need to make the following a reality? “We will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.” “Each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor …” “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” Ephesians 4:15a (NLT), 25a, 29 (NIV).

If you want to see a lot of different creatures with nasty, wicked, bizarre, and frightening mouths I recommend you go visit a zoo, or where people gather, or sadly often times the church. But this should not be so, the church should be the place you’ll find the most amazingly beautiful mouths. May that be true of the church you are attending because you are attending it.

To God be all glory. Love you, Pastor Hans

 

 

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