“Jesus humbled himself and came to the woman in weakness and need. He was tired, spent, and exhausted. He was thirsty. This is the way he reaches out. He does it in weakness. Not in power and confidence. Not in vibrant, vigorous enthusiasm. But in weakness, the weakness of our common humanity.”

This encounter is the Cross in miniature: Christ’s most powerful ministry comes in weakness and brokenness. What an encouragement! I continued:

“Often we think we need to be at the top of our games, spiritually, to share Christ with others. We’ve got to have all the answers. Our lives have to be perfectly put together. It’s just not true! Jesus drops his guard, he’s weak and vulnerable and in this surprising state, he sees room for a connection.”

This reminds me of one of my favorite insights from a Rick Warren book:

“Other people are going to find healing in your wounds. Your greatest life messages and your most effective ministry will come out of your deepest hurts.”
― Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here for?

Where are you weak? Where have you struggled? How have you known pain? Through these experiences, Jesus can connect you with others and use you in ministry. Let him...and watch how he works!

"Every careless word"--really? Lord, you're going to hold us accountable for every careless word we utter? Oh, my...

Watching the presidential debates and listening to words that slander and mislead, it's easy to point fingers. And, sadly, I do. Then, as I remembered Jesus's words above, I took a self-inventory...and I realized that in this election season my speech hasn't been terribly honorable either, particularly as I've vented my deep disapproval of one of the nominees and their policies. The thought that my words--in response to their words--might someday be played back for me by the Lord gave me pause. I realized afresh that Jesus loves both our presidential nominees--amazing! They are beloved in his sight--incredible! He's given them life and he's died to give them eternal life--astounding! In response, I need to watch my words--to make sure that they don't demean or destroy. 

Human speech is a powerful and treasured gift. In the biblical tradition, our words are meant to build up, not tear down. The apostle Paul writes: "Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up,as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear" (Ephesians 4:29). Grace!

But this call to speak grace doesn't obviate the need to speak truth. I like the way John in the prologue of his gospel, describes the ultimate Word, Jesus Christ: "And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth."

Grace and truth.  This is what Jesus models in his life and ministry, in his speech and his deeds. He is the Word of truth who accurately describes reality. We who follow him must also speak truth: in this season, about moral and ethical character, about suitability for office, about factual accuracy. But we must speak truth with grace, just as Jesus did: keeping in view God's kindness, mercy, and love for all people, even the nominee we can't support. What a hard balance to strike, particularly in this election season. Lord, have mercy! 

Amen? Amen.

But what of other systems? Do they, too, naturally move toward entropy, from an initial order toward an inevitable chaos? The boundless (some would now say blind) optimism of the earlier modern era suggested that with enough education, economic opportunity, or political freedom we as a human community could leave behind our wilder origins and move from predation to harmony. We could migrate from nature "red in tooth and claw" to the paradisiacal lion lying down with the lamb. Modernism seemed to deny a social Second Law.

But World War I, with its mustard gas, trench warfare, and devastating loss of life, combined with World War II's Nazism, the Holocaust, and the use of atomic bombs has given the lie to such unfounded optimism. Today, the cancerous spread of ISIS, the current nadir of political demagoguery, increasingly undeniable climate change, and many other social disorders, remind us that moving toward an ordered state is not the natural way of human life. Experience has taught us that we have little basis for believing we can stop this social second law. Entropy is inevitable.

However, we may see a remarkable exception in the Christian spiritual life. If what the Bible speaks of is true, in Christ, God is gathering up all things in heaven and on earth (Ephesians 1:10). Like a mosaic artist, God is reworking all the broken pieces of the world and human community, splintered and shattered by sin, into a grand, new, breathtakingly beautiful design. "I am making all things new," says God (Revelation 21:5). Long before environmentalism taught us to reduce, reuse, and recycle, there was God, graciously bringing new life from the compost heap of the natural order.

As the vanguard, the leading edge of this newness, God's reborn people are meant to live into their newness by practicing the spiritual disciplines. These are the healthy rhythms of the new life, the whole life, that God intends for us and models for us in Jesus Christ. Prayer, Scripture study, worship, community, service, generosity--all of these are like food groups that nourish new life. They are the glue that connects the broken piece as they're being mended by God. As such, these disciplines introduce order into chaos. They stave off the second law of spiritual thermodynamics. They keep us on track. They corral and curtail the confusion so latent in our old lives, as it threatens to erupt and distort the new growth and new order introduced by God. Doesn't experience teach us this? How quickly we can lapse into disorder as we fail to tend the spiritual garden of our lives.

I'm finding that in midlife there's a tendency to let things slide, to take the path of least resistance, to grow comfortable and lazy--in many aspects of our lives, not just the spiritual. But the frightening reality of entropy and the invitation God gives us in Christ to combat it and move toward newness give me pause. Thoughts?