2030

CANDLE- DON’T GO OUT!

The chapter for the week is Luke 11.

Jesus says ‘which of you- if a friend came to you on a journey and you had nothing to give him- would go to another friend and say ‘a friend of mine has come and I have no food for him- can you spare some stuff’- and this friend would give you something for your friend who came to you on his journey’.

I always liked this story- Jesus relates it to our own life.

He then goes on to say ‘so- if you ask God for the Holy Spirit- he too would give you what you ask’.

Often times we ‘come to the table’ with what we think others need- that is we have preconceived ideas about what we want to share- talk about.

But in reality- we- like the man in the story- have nothing to give others who come to us ‘on their journey’.

We need to go ‘to our friend’ [God] - and say ‘we have nothing- in and of ourselves to give- can you give me some bread for these travelers’.

Its interesting- Jesus does give us the Lords prayer in this chapter too- which says ‘give us this day our daily bread’.

The other day one of my sister’s friends came over to help clean up the downstairs apt. where Laura lived.

She’s a nice girl- I have met her before.

\

She is also an Atheist.

I have never had any problems with people of our faiths- or even atheists.

I of course have studied/taught the Christian view for years- and am aware of the basic ‘arguments’ that defend the ‘belief in God’ view.

But that was not my job this day- I was just helping her clean the apt.

When I moved back to N.J. from Texas- I only took a few things with me- one of them was a small Menorah [Jewish candlestick] that I used as a desk item.

As we were cleaning my sister’s room- we found 2 boxes of Hanukkah candles.

Of course my sister was not Jewish- so it was a strange find.

I told my sister’s friend ‘you know- I actually brought a little Menorah with me- I bet these fit it’.

Sure enough- they did.

I have already lit about 15 of them the past few days [If I remember- I’ll post a picture].

It was an opportunity to talk about the history of Hanukkah- so I did.

Hanukkah is the Jewish celebration of the re-dedication of the 2^nd Temple of the Jews [we read about the second temple and the rebuilding of the city and the temple in the Old Testament books of Nehemiah- Ezra].

In the 2^nd century- B.C.- the Jews rose up against their oppressors [the Greek/Syrian empire] and fought against the wicked Seleucid ruler- Antiochus Epiphanies- who desecrated their temple by offering pigs blood upon the altar.

There was a priest named Mattathias who had 5 sons- they launched a guerilla type fight against Antiochus- and took the temple back.

After the death of the priest- his son Judah Maccabee [The Hammer] took over- he finished the fight with his brothers and after they rededicated the temple back to God- they Lit the Menorah- and according to Jewish tradition- the lamp [candlesticks were not like we think today- they were made out of pipes- and lamp oil flowed thru the pipes] only had enough oil for one day- but miraculously burned for 8 days.

This story is found in the Talmud- a scared book for Jews.

In the Christian bible [the Catholic version- called the book of Maccabee's] the story is a little different- but it does record this event.

So- till this day the Jewish people celebrate Hanukkah with the lighting of the Menorah [they use  9 candles today- the original one had 7].

And it dates back to this event- called the Maccabean Revolt.

In Luke 11- Jesus also speaks about the candle stick.

He says when you light a candle you don’t put it where no one can see it- but you put it on a table so when people come into the room they can see.

Jesus says the church is like this- we are a ‘city on a hill that cannot be hid’.

The Apostle John says in the book of Revelation ‘I saw a man standing in the middle of 7 golden candles- he had 7 stars in his right hand’.

The book goes on to interpret this image- it says this was a prophetic image of Jesus standing in the middle of the 7 churches that the letter was written to [these were the 7 churches of Asia Minor].

The 7 stars in Jesus right hand were ‘the angels of the 7 churches’.

So the menorah plays a role in both Jewish and Christian art/writing.

In the story I mentioned above- when people come to us ‘on their journey’- where they are at in life- we really don’t know what to say- what to give them.

Because we too are on ‘our journey’ dealing with our own stuff too.

Earlier this year I re-read the Bob Dylan book ‘Chronicles’.

It was highly acclaimed- his first auto biography- and it was a really good book.

Dylan gives a quote from his grandmother;

‘Remember- when you run across people in life- try to be nice- because we are all going thru stuff’ [my paraphrase].

Yeah- at times I can be mean- just like the rest.

 I really had no plans on ‘witnessing’ to my sisters friend this day.

But the candles were a way to simply talk about the history of Hanukkah [this friend likes to study and learn- she is somewhat of an intellectual- which is good].

Jesus also says in this chapter ‘the light of the body is the eye- if you look at bad stuff- it will affect you’.

He relates this to the candle imagery- what we see- hear- read- etc, - these things do indeed effect us- for good or ill.

Yeah- the candle stick imagery is used a lot in the bible.

According to the Talmud- God did a miracle- he let the Menorah burn for 8 days [that’s why the modern celebration is 8 days].

Yet- they only had one day of oil.

Hey- that fits in with the story ‘A friend has come to us- we don’t have enough to give them- can you multiply the resources’.

Sure- God sees we are trying- why not?

NOTE- The past couple of weeks the Pope made his trip to Brazil- has made a few off the cuff remarks- and there has been talk in the media about this stuff.

One of the remarks he made I did like a lot;

“At times we loose people because we they don’t understand what we are saying, because we have forgotten the language of simplicity and import an intellectualism foreign to our people”- “ Without the grammar of simplicity, the church loses the very conditions which make it possible to fish for God in the deep waters of his mystery”.

I went to the Wal Mart eye doctor the other day.

I am supposed to wear glasses- but have not had an eye exam in about 20 years.

At work- at the fire house- I used to bring an old junky pair- that I fixed with super glue- because I can not read street signs without prescriptions.

I new most of the city by heart [I drove fire trucks for Kingsville for 25 years- and was a firefighter].

Yet- when it came to reading the actual addresses- forget it.

But- after I retired I  would just ‘wing it’.

Yeah- at times I would actually have to stop- right under a sign- to read it.

But- driving in New Jersey [which I’m trying not to do- I want to just start using buses and stuff] is different.

Even when walking New York city- sometimes I walk an extra block- and find out the corner is the wrong street.

So- at Wal mart I got the exam and ordered 2 pairs of glasses.

The Eye doc. asked me about my reading and all- how good can I read/see the page.

I told him my reading has gone down some- and I can judge it well because I’m a big reader of books- for many years.

He asked me about what I red and all.

Somehow I got into the web site- and started talking about ministry and stuff.

He was interested- and even asked me a few questions.

He of course is an accomplished person- yet had questions about his former faith- and the church he now belongs to.

He was raised Methodist- and married a fine Catholic lady- and is now Catholic.

As my habit is- sometimes I get too deep into stuff- and I lose people [the Popes above quote].

But this time- ‘deep’ was good- he asked some good questions about the church- and I shared with him this web site.

In this weeks bible chapter Jesus gave us the story about the people who come to us on 'their journey’.

They too have all types of stuff they are dealing with.

Some- like my eye doctor- might have simple questions [simple for someone who has studied this stuff for years- maybe tough for those who never put the time in- for instance I talked about the debate between the Methodists and the Calvinists- and how his former church was Arminian [ a term that comes from Jacob Arminius- a person who was once a believer in Predestination/Election- and came to doubt it- and became a defender of Free Will] and how they did not teach Predestination- John Wesley- the founder of the Methodist church disagreed with other great revivalist preachers- like Spurgeon- over this issue].

So- on my eye doctors ‘journey’ this was important to him- to learn some stuff about his former church- as well as his present one [I also talked about the Catholic church Fathers- and the early centuries of the church].

Yet to some of the other people I have met in the last few weeks- this is not ‘the bread’ they need [or would even understand].

What’s most important- at these junctures on the journey- is to ‘hear’ God- to listen to what the friend of yours might be dealing with- or even asking you a specific question.

It’s hard to practice this- because most of the times we want to talk about a subject that we like.

Stephen Covey said ‘seek first to understand- then to be understood’.

Let’s end with a few verses I have read the past day or so.

‘Woe to those who obey the rules- but pass over the judgment and love of God’

“The Lord will perfect [accomplish] that which concerns you”

“Strengthen O God- that which you have done for us”

Let God establish the thing he started in you- don’t get too caught up in the process right now [rules versus the Love of God]- let God lead- be a good follower.

Obey him in simple acts of service.

The prophet Isaiah said God was done with the famous- the big shots- and he was using the humble- the poor- the down trodden to build his kingdom [read chapters 3-4].

God honors the contrite heart- the Meek ones who are to inherit the earth.

He puts down those who are in pride.

As the Pope so eloquently said- God fishes in this world- but he uses the language of simplicity to catch men.

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [FaceBook] - I have posted lots.