Uplift Life

“We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul…”
Hebrews 6:19

This section of the larger Hebrews 6 is only 12 words, but wow are they chock full of meaning and metaphor.
If you have time, go read the surrounding Hebrews 6:13-20.
These verses are helpful to understanding the context of where we end up at this verse 19 today.  

Do you know what hope is?
The Greek word that we translate most often as “hope” in scripture is the word ἐλπίς  (elpis).  It literally means the expectation of good.
When we expect good things, we have hope.
It is also often used in reference to Christian hope – which is different, it’s the expectation of good that is backed up by God’s promises.
So what?  
Promises get broken all the time right?  What’s the big deal?
The author is reminding the readers of this letter that God’s promises are not like human promises.
He says that God didn’t have anyone bigger than himself to swear an oath to, so he swore it to himself – and then the author says that so the oath and the one making the oath are now both unchangeable.  So we can grab hold of the hope in those promises, because it’s impossible – yes, the text literally uses that word –  it’s IMPOSSIBLE for God to break it.  

And that is where we come in with this verse 19.
We have this hope, it says.
Hope in what?
This is one of those times where the Sunday School answer is true.
We have hope in Jesus.
Jesus is the culmination of the promises of God.
Jesus will keep us and protect us be with us.
Jesus is our hope.
Or, as the text says, our anchor.
And what does an anchor do?
It’s a stay – a safeguard.
When you get in a boat, the anchor is what keeps you grounded.
Helps you not stray too far into dangerous waters or away from shore.

What is the anchor for?
Our soul.
Not our body, not our heart, but our soul.
The Greek word here (ψυχή, psyche) is helpful too – it means the thing that keeps us alive.
Our life force.
Our life – our entire being.
So the anchor keeps our entire being safe.
Wow.  

And what kind of anchor is it?
A sure and steadfast one.
Both of those words mean firm, certain, sure, trusty, stable.
This is what our anchor – Jesus – does.
Keeps us safe. Holds us steady when the waves seem to be overtaking us.
So we can have an expectation of good
So we can have hope
and not just any hope, but a hope that is backed up by God’s promises.  

Promises that cannot fail.
Promises that will not fail.

“You are the God who works wonders; you have displayed your might among the people”
Psalm 77:14

Have you ever experienced tunnel vision?
You know, where you’re so stuck in one place, seeing only one thing, that you cannot perceive anything around you?
It’s a real thing.
The definition of tunnel vision is “the tendency to focus exclusively on a single or limited goal or point of view.”
Ever done that?
Have you ever been so stuck looking at where you are or how bad things are or what thing you are in the midst of that you cannot see anything else?
I was listening to a podcast a few weeks ago, and was reminded of an old proverb about the Exodus miracle that says sometimes we are walking through two walls of water and can’t see anything but the mud in between our toes.  

Oh has this been in my mind a lot lately.
Here I am, looking down, seeing only the mud that is hampering my journey and making my feet dirty.
When all around me is miracle.

The word that is translated in today’s psalm as “wonder” can also be translated as miracle.
And the psalmist, in the midst of great struggle and difficulty, reminds himself and us that we have a God of miracles.
Author, Leif Enger says that we have diluted the word miracle to describe things that are completely normal.  Miracle means so much more.

And our God is a God of miracles.
Think about that.
This is what God is about.
Not making the sun rise or plants grow, that is amazing, but pretty  normal.
Our God parts huge bodies of water to provide escape for his people.
Our God takes mud and spit and makes the blind see.
Our God takes a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish and feeds thousands.
Our God calls out the lame and they get up and walk.
Our God touches the ill and they are healed.
Our God raises people from the dead.
Our God is a God of MIRACLES people!  

So why do we keep looking at the mud?
We’re so afraid to hope for the big things.
But the psalmist is here to remind you that God can do anything.
Anything.
Nothing is impossible with God.

NOTHING.

It’s easy to focus on the mud between our toes.
But don’t get stuck there.
Miracles are all around us, and you don’t want to miss it.  

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith”
Hebrews 12:1-2

I have always wanted to be a runner.
Unfortunately I’ve never really gotten much past jogger.
I used to be a distance jogger for example.
I jogged a half marathon once.
But run?  Not so much.
And I never loved it.  
You know those people who are like “I LOVE running! It feels so awesome” ?
Yeah, that’s not me.
I tried to make it be me, but I never was able to quite get there.

That’s one of the reasons I love this verse.  
Because Paul says we will run with perseverance.  
Not with speed.
Not with graceful beauty.
Not with high levels of skill.
Perseverance.
The Greek word Paul uses is “hypomone” (pronounced hi-poo-mo-nay) and it means “steadfastly” or “with endurance” as well as “with perseverance”.  
I like this a lot.
Because what allows us to persevere in this race isn’t our skill or speed or agility, but the cloud of witnesses that surrounds us.  
Our community.
Our crew.
(Our squad for you under-30s)

It’s our community that allows us to lay aside the things that hold us back, that weigh us down.
Because we know someone has our back.  
That we are held and covered and surrounded.
So when people ask me why they should go to church when God is everywhere and can’t be contained to a building? This is why.
The cloud of witnesses.
The community of faith.
They mean something.
They are important.
And they are necessary if you want to stay in the race.  

There’s a well-known hymn that immediately started playing in my head when I read this verse from Hebrews.  

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in his wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of his glory and grace.

If the cloud of witnesses is what helps us stay in the race, looking at Jesus is what gets us to the finish line.  Actually, I might even say Jesus IS the finish line.
We just keep our eyes on Jesus.
This is a real thing in racing: you look where you want to go.
See where you’re heading.
Our faith is the same way – keep your eyes on Jesus.
Stay fixed on him. Focused on him.
Don’t look away.
And like that great hymn says, the things around us will be muted in comparison to the glory and grace we see in Jesus.
What we’re looking at is so bright it makes everything else look dim.  

There are certain organisms, most commonly plants, that practice a movement called heliotropism. (Didn’t think you were getting a biology lesson today did ya?)
Heliotropism is when plants move themselves in order to be always facing the sunlight.
It comes from the greek word for sun “helio” and movement “trepos”
So the plant, usually a flower, will face itself to follow the path of the sun from sunrise to sunset each day.
If you want to see it in action – watch this short video of a mountain poppy.  

I think that’s us, but instead of being heliotropic we’re theotropic.
(I thought I made this word up but it’s a real thing!)
We literally move ourselves toward God.
We move throughout our days, weeks, and years, to be facing God.
To fix our eyes on Jesus.
So keep running.
Run your race, knowing you are made stronger by the community surrounding you, and that you are always moving toward God.  

“Jesus Wept” – John 11:35

“You keep track of all my sorrows, you have collected my tears in your bottle, you have recorded them in your book.”  – Psalm 56:8

Did you know that in the entire created world, only humans cry as an emotional response?
It’s true.
We are the only ones who cry when we are sad, when we are joyful, and for a myriad of other emotions.  
I’m a cryer.
Those of you who know me well know this about me already, but it’s a part of who I am.
And it’s a part of me that I’ve struggled with because crying hasn’t been seen as something strong for most of my life.
Suck it up.
Don’t cry.
How many of you have heard this same thing?
One of my favorite authors, Shauna Niequist, wrote that “the ability to cry is a sign of health, because it means your body and your soul agree on something, and that what your soul is feeling, your body is responding to.”

What your soul is feeling, your body is responding to.
Isn’t that lovely?
Studies have shown that women cry about 5 times a month (they obviously didn’t include me in that study) and men only cry an average of once a month.
We have equated crying with weakness and think of it as something to be avoided, to be held in.  
Yet crying has been proven to be helpful.
Tears contain high levels of stress hormones, which means they aren’t in your body anymore when you cry them out. And studies show that after people cry they have lower blood pressure and pulse rates.
Crying is literally good for you.

So how come we don’t cry more?
(Not me, obviously, but you know – most everyone else)

I used to try to hold it in, to apologize for my tears, but no more.
Because tears aren’t bad, they aren’t weak, they are simply a part of who I am as a child of God.
God created us to cry.
Jesus cried for pete’s sake, why can’t I?

So cry.

When life is hard, when you’re scared, when you’ve reached the end of your rope, cry.
Don’t hold it in.

Your tears are important to God.
Psalm 56 says that God records all our sorrows in his book – and he has collected our tears in a bottle.
Our tears are so precious to God.  He records each one.
He doesn’t turn away from them or get uncomfortable.
God knows each and every bit of what we are going through, and cries right along with us.

When I was a little girl, any time someone I loved would get hurt or cry, I’d always cry too.
It was so frustrating as a kid, because I didn’t feel like I had the right to cry since I wasn’t the one who was hurt or sick.
And let’s be real, I still do this.
I cry at funerals alongside grieving families.
I cry at hospital bedsides.
It’s so hard to see people I love in pain or grief.
But you guys, those tears, they mean something.
They are empathetic tears.
And they are as important as being the first one crying.
What was powerful about Jesus crying at the bedside of his friend wasn’t just that the Son of God was grieving, but that he joined others in their grief.  

It’s the me too.
Crying with each other is the best thing you can do in the midst of grief and hard times.
Because you aren’t giving cliche answers, you aren’t trying to fix anything… you’re simply saying me too.
And cliches and trite answers don’t change anything.
But the me toos?  
The me toos change everything.

So next time someone you know is grieving, sit next to them and cry right along.

So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. 2 Corinthians 4:16

In 1941, Winston Churchill was giving a speech at his old boarding school and told the young men there to, famously, “Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never”

I’ve heard this called the “never give up” speech, and thought that was what he said, and truly, if you google “Winston Churchill Never Give Up” you’ll see how often it’s misquoted.

Churchill was telling the gathered crowd of young men that in tough times, we don’t give in.
We don’t give in to fear, to worry, to anger, to bitterness.  
Never ever ever give in.
So while saying “never give in” is not quite the same as “never give up,”  I do think the misquote is trying to get at the same things.  

In the text today – Paul reminds his gathered church in Corinth to never give up.
Paul knows that just becoming a follower of Christ doesn’t mean everything magically gets better.  It doesn’t mean that life is suddenly easier.
Earlier he puts this reality right out there:
“We are hard-pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed but not in despair; persecuted but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed.”

Yeah.
Life sucks sometimes.
I mean really.
It’s not sunshine and roses all the time.
It’s hard.
So hard.
Being a follower of God doesn’t mean life gets magically easier.
But it DOES mean something in the hard stuff.
God has promised to be with us.
In all the hard stuff.

And when we trust God to be present in the good and in the bad, we have hope.  
Because God with us doesn’t just mean he’s sitting there letting bad stuff happen over and over.
No way.
We believe that God is at work.
At WORK, people.
Not passive, not distant, not small.  

And the work of God is redeeming work.
God is always working to make things new.  
To take the crappiest crap of life, the most broken parts of us and of the world and make them whole again.  
So we don’t lose heart.
God is at work right now.
And even though from the outside it looks bad, God is working to heal and mend and redeem and renew.

Eugene Peterson’s “The Message” says this verse in such a lovely, lovely way:  

So we’re not giving up. How could we!
Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace.

I mean, how could we?!
How could we give up when God never will?
Peterson says the phrase “unfolding grace” which I just love.
Because it’s not just grace, but grace that is unfolding.
Grace that is getting bigger, grace that is opening up, expanding
Hear this promise today.
Not a good day, not a bad day goes by without God’s grace all over it.
God is at work.
Right now.  
Even if we can’t see it, even if we can’t feel it, God is there.

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Philippians 4:8

In yoga, or meditation, or any kind of mindfulness activity, one of the things asked of us is to “set an intention.”
I know. It sounds hokey.
And if you feel this way, you are not alone.  
I had been an “intention skeptic” for a long time, dragging my heels and refusing to give into this thing that seemed so new age and weird and kind of woo-woo.  
But then I tried it.

I’d start my day with an intention – a word or phrase to focus my day.  
I am strong.
I will be kind.
I will be brave.
I am beautiful.
I will be grateful.
I am at peace.
I am a child of God.

And it worked.
I became what I intended.
My mind didn’t stay there all the time of course.
Yes I got distracted, because I’m human.
I still got scared.
I still got angry or bitter or jealous.
But then, like a whisper, my intention would make it’s way back into my mind.
It’s so powerful.
My yoga teacher once said that when we set an intention we honor the power of thoughts and words in our lives.
And this verse from Paul’s letter to the Philippians immediately came to my mind.
We can think about anything.
We can choose to set our minds on good things or bad things.
We can choose to think about true and honorable things, or not.  
I once heard someone say that you should set an intention for your day or the world will do it for you.  

Whew.
The mind is an amazing thing.
And we can choose.
We CAN.
We have been given the ability to choose to think about pure, true, just things.
It doesn’t mean you won’t have negative thoughts, but you can choose to think about something else.
Something that will serve you well.  

So let’s make a promise to each other, uplifters: we will not let the world decide who we are.
No way.
No more.
We have been given a name and identity already – and that is child of God.

So set your intentions.
Declare what you want to be on this day.
God has already made it true.  

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners;
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;
to provide for those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a garland instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.

Isaiah 61:1-3

There’s a kind of great exchange that Isaiah talks about near the end of his prophesy to the people of God.
And he gives it to us in a lovely list of opposites here:
If your heart is broken, it will be put back together,
If you are captive you will be set free,
If you are mourning, you will be comforted.  

It’s just lovely.
But my favorite part of these three verses is when Isaiah says we are given a garland instead of ashes.
In the Bible, ashes were considered a kind of sign of destruction.
It makes sense actually.
I mean, ashes are what are left behind after a fire burns out.
And so when people were mourning or grieving, it was tradition to sit on a pile of ashes, or place ashes on their heads.

Conversely, when someone was celebrating, they were anointed with oil, a sign of joy.
Isaiah says he has come to bring good news, that there is hope for all of those who are mourning and broken and captive.
The good news?  God gives garland instead of ashes, and oil of gladness instead of mourning.

You may have heard this translated before as beauty for ashes.
Beauty for ashes.
What a lovely exchange.
This is what God does for us.
God takes all the ashes, all the destruction, and gives you himself.
It’s beautiful.
You’ve been given life, freedom, love, and comfort today.

Beauty for Ashes.
Take that with you today.
God gives you Beauty for Ashes.

P.S. I was reminded of this verse because I heard one of our young people here at Prince of Peace sing this song.  Take a listen if you need another reminder of this beauty for ashes today.  

Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you;
    therefore he will rise up to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
   blessed are all those who wait for him.

Isaiah 30:18

I find myself struggling most often in faith when I wait.
Waiting for answers.
Waiting for change.
Waiting for action.
Waiting is the death of hope.
It doesn’t matter what kind of waiting you are doing, it’s just plain hard.

But as I was reading this section from Isaiah, I noticed something new.  
Isaiah turns things around a little bit.
“The Lord waits to be gracious to you.”
This is not us waiting on God, but God waiting on us.
And that changes things doesn’t it?
Waiting isn’t about us simply sitting here, stagnant, apathetically waiting for God to act.

God is always there.
Always with us.
Waiting for moments where we notice and allow grace to enter in.

God isn’t waiting to act, God has already acted, and is just waiting for us to see it.
And goodness if that isn’t just lovely.
So hear this verse anew today.
Be reminded that you don’t have to wait for God – that grace is all around you right now – and God waits for you to live in it.    

Old Testament Theologian Walter Brueggemann wrote this prayer about this very thing, called “The God who yearns and waits for us:”

We are strange conundrums of faithfulness and fickleness.
We cleave to you in all the ways that we are able.
We count on you and intend our lives to be lived for you,
And then we find ourselves among your people who are always seeking elsewhere and otherwise.
So we give thanks that you are the God who yearns and waits for us,
And that our connection to you is always from your side,
And that it is because of your goodness that neither life nor death, nor angels nor principalities, nor heights nor depths, nor anything in creation can separate us from you.
We give you thanks for your faithfulness, so much more durable than ours.
Amen.  

“We give thanks that our connection to you is always from your side.”

Oh that’s just beautiful.
God is there.
Waiting on you.

The Lord is good, a stronghold in a day of trouble, he protects those who take refuge in him.

Nahum 1:7

Earlier this week, a spring storm created some massive waves on Lake Superior.  

http://www.startribune.com/epic-size-waves-crash-on-lake-superior-s-shore/377327461/

(photo cred: Christian Dalbec)

Incredible right?

Incredible and beautiful and awe-inspiring.

When asked about his experience taking these pictures, Dalbec said: “It makes you feel small.”

As I look at this picture, all I can look at are the trees.
They are just taking hit after hit, up there on the cliff.
They look battered, a bit crooked and beaten down.  

Do you ever feel like that?
Like the hits just keep on coming?
Battered and worn down by wave after wave crashing over you?

Then today is for you.
Today’s verse was written by a lesser known prophet, Nahum, whose name literally means comfort.
He wrote to the people of God at a time where the hits kept on coming, and it really felt like evil might be winning.  God’s anger in this book is clear, but it is anger towards injustice.
This is a kind of anger we all feel, when yet another wave crashes down on us, or when we witness the unfairness that seems to be just about everywhere.  

But there is hope.
Because God is good.
Tov Yehovah.
Trust this, because it’s true.
Those are the first words of today’s verse, and they bring hope and a reminder that when things happen that aren’t good – you can be assured they aren’t from God.
God. Is. Good.  Tov Yehovah.
Repeat that to yourself.  (it’s said: tove (rhymes with cove) yeh-ho-vah)

And in times of trouble, when the waves seem to be beating down one after the other, our Tov Yehovah -our good God – is a stronghold.
That word (stronghold) literally means refuge, or place of safety.
You can trust that in the midst of waves, God is with you.
Loving you, taking care of you, protecting you, being your place of safety.

Tov Yehovah.

For you shall go out in joy; and be led back in peace;

the mountains and the hills before you shall all burst into song,

and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Instead of the thorn shall come up the strong cypress;

Instead of the brier shall come up the beautiful myrtle;

and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial,

for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.   

Isaiah 55:12-13

When Isaiah wrote these verses, he was making a promise to the people who were in exile.  The Israelites were beaten down and feeling pretty hopeless.  But Isaiah reminded them that God was with them, doing work where they couldn’t always see it, where they didn’t always know the end result.  

But it was happening.
And when it was done – when the work of God is finished – the end result is the verses we have before us today: joy, peace, singing, clapping… beautiful things.
This is what God does.
God makes beautiful things.
And when they happen, when they are finally in front of us, we see them for what they are – a memorial to God.

“The Message” paraphrase of these verses says verse 13 like this:

No more thistles, but giant sequoias,
   no more thornbushes, but stately pines—
Monuments to me, to God,
   living and lasting evidence of God.

Isn’t that lovely?

If your life is feeling like it’s full of little weeds – if it’s full of thorns – know that God is working, making it into something beautiful – like sequoias and stately pines.  

And when God does it – when those thorns and thistles are made into something new – Isaiah says we’ll see them as monuments to God. Living evidence of the work of God in our midst, that will not be cut off. That can’t be cut down. That will not turn back into thistles and thorns.  

God makes beautiful things out of the worst life has to give us.

No matter what you are going through today – no matter how you feel, know that God is with you in it.
God is always present with you in the thistles and thornbushes of life.
When you come out of them – and you will – you will go out in JOY.
And all of creation will be celebrating with you.

You make Beautiful Things.