Love Overcomes Daily Devotion #17 2/29/16

Day #17

Larry Trotter

Words of Love

 

18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ Luke 12:18-20

 

Overcoming the Barrier

 

The radio station where I used to work had studios in Sevierville when it first when on the air. Lynn and I lived in South Knoxville and I made the drive everyday. In the days and weeks leading up the 1982 World’s Fair there was a lot of activity in South Knoxville as folks thought of creative ways to leverage the crowds the fair promoters promised would flood the area. There was one particular man who bought or leased a large field next to a gas station that was couple of miles south of John Sevier Highway, which was several miles from the World’s Fair site. I watched his progress with, at first, interest and, later, empathy each day as I drove past. He excavated the field so that it would be level with a gentle slope down to a parking area near the highway. Then, he paved the whole thing, which had to have been at least two acres. Finally he put up an expensive lighted sign and set up a huge circus tent under which were rows and rows of tables filled with hats, hand-held fans that sprayed water, and, of course, every size and color of deely bobber imaginable. (Ask someone who was around for the fair about deely bobbers.) When opening day arrived he was ready to make serious retirement income. However, that afternoon as I returned early from Sevierville what I saw was clearly not was he expected. The man was sitting in a lawn chair in the middle of the vast, completely empty parking lot with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, undoubtedly wondering where the people were. This scene was played out day after day for two weeks until, suddenly, he and all his merchandize were gone. I still feel a twinge of sadness for him. He imagined that he put everything he had into that souvenir stand and his dream turn into a nightmare.

 

This week the devotions will reflect on how failure and how we deal with it (and don’t) can become a barrier to the abundant life to which Jesus calls us. The world’s Fair entrepreneur and the man in the passage both set themselves up for failure by being seduced by the notion of windfall profits without considering the fallout. Each overextended himself. The souvenir vendor let World’s Fair fever set his sights too high. The man in the passage succumbed to greed. He was already successful. How much do you need? In our culture folks can be very creative about overextending themselves. We work too many hours and spend too much on things we don’t need and the extra time takes us away from family and from God. Our efforts to prove our success to our self and those around us can us actually set us up for failure. Without a doubt God wants us to use the intellect and talent he has given along with the resources he provides to make our way in the world. But God would also like a little input into the plans we make to help us set goals that will provide for us without making failure inevitable. We should glean all the information we can about whatever it is we are planning to do with our lives. But, ultimately, we should spend some time with God, as well. Since he already knows how everything will turn out, perhaps we should consult him on the front end.

 

Prayer

 

Eternal God, keep your hand on my shoulders as I make plans for the future. Help me to find the balance necessary to do my best with what I have and please you in the process. In Jesus’ name, amen. 

Love Overcomes Daily Devotion #16 2/27/16

Dail Devotion #16

Larry Trotter

Words of Love

27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Luke 10:27 NIV

Overcoming the Barrier

As we finish up this week’s devotions, which follow up on last Sunday’s sermon dealing with our sense of self or will, we take another verse from the story of the Good Samaritan. When Jesus was asked by a religious leader about the requirements for inheriting eternal life Jesus asked him what was written in the law. The verse above is the man’s answer which includes Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. I want to narrow our focus to the second part of the verse which directly quotes Leviticus 19:18 because there is an implication that is easily overlooked due to Jesus’ constant emphasis on how we treat others. The “love your neighbor” part sounds like quintessential Jesus. But, the whole phrase says not only that we are to love our neighbors, but also how we are to love them. And how are we to love our neighbors? As we love ourselves. The implication is unmistakable and emerges clearly when we think it through. Everything we know about Jesus indicates that he wants us to treat others with respect and dignity. That means if we are to love others and our selves the same way, we must treat ourselves with respect and dignity, too. On the surface the idea seems to be based on the assumption that everyone loves themselves and we always want the best for ourselves. But is that really true? A quick survey of our culture reveals widespread drug and alcohol abuse, troubling suicide statistics, and a disturbingly high percentage of folks who need anti-depressants to find stability for daily living. Though the sociological and psychological dynamics behind these phenomena are complex, it isn’t a stretch to conclude that there are a lot people who just don’t feel very good about themselves. The hurt that accompanies being treated thoughtlessly by others, the deep anguish of abuse, and the guilt stemming from our own self-inflicted failures can cause us to have a painfully low opinion of ourselves.

Does this describe you to one degree or another? Is your sense of self stunted or deformed due to deeply rooted emotional trauma that has created collateral damage in your soul? There is good news, you know. Jesus came to restore to full glory the faint traces of the image of God with which we were all created. God loves you, desperately, and wants you to sense that love in the deepest recesses of your heart. God cares deeply about your wounded self that needs the tender touch of loving savior. If you have tried but just can’t seem to give yourself a break because of life events within and beyond your control, maybe it’s time to seek help. There are wonderful counselors who can help you find perspective and a path forward. But above all else, there is a Wonderful Counselor who gave up his life so that you could find life beyond your wildest dreams. Jesus loves you and me just as we are and has committed all the resources of heaven and earth to lead us toward the best version of us possible.

Prayer

Loving Savior, I long to love me the way you love me. Open the eyes of my heart to a new way to see myself and accept the love you died to give me. In your name, amen.

Love Overcomes Devotion #15 2/26/16

Day #15

Larry Trotte

Prayer

33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. Luke 10:33-34 NIV

Overcoming the Barrier

Ambrose, our grandson, loves to watch the original Land Before Time movie when he comes to our house. I love it, too, because it reminds me of his mommy and Aunt Christie when they were little watching it on a scratchy VHS tape instead of Blu-Ray HD. It’s a sweet movie that celebrates family and friendships and how both help us endure difficulties. The story even lifts up the ugly reality of how we separate ourselves through discrimination based on stereotypes. The lead character is Littlefoot, a Brontosaurus, known as long necks in the story. His friends are a diverse group of other types of dinosaurs including a little three horn (Triceratops) named, Sarah. When they first meet and start playing together Sarah’s father intervenes and proclaims with a sneer of indignation that, “Three horns never play with long necks.” Sarah picks up on her father’s prejudice and refuses to travel with Littlefoot and the others until later in the story when difficulty compels her to join the group.

The two verses above are from one of the truly iconic stories from Jesus’ life when he spins an impromptu parable of man who was attacked while traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. In an attempt to break down the barriers between Jews and Samaritans (and other prejudicial barriers experienced by subsequent hearers and readers) Jesus casts the antagonists in the story as Jewish religious leaders who failed to help the injured man, also a Jew. The protagonist is (gasp) a hated Samaritan who stopped to help the man who was his religious and cultural enemy. As we continue to explore our sense of self and how it directs our attitudes and actions I want to suggest that the way we identify ourselves is often powerfully influenced by the groups out of which we grow and within which we live, to wit, family, friends, social circles, political alliances, faith communities, etc. The ease with which we can fall into the herd mentality of placing people into outlying groups underscores the crucial need for us to identify our “selves” with Jesus. The more completely we give our easily influenced self over to his eternally grounded self the more we will identify with Jesus’ kingdom values as opposed to the transitory values of the groups by which we find ourselves surrounded. Those conditional values often regard others as members of a feared or hated category instead of individuals bearing the image of God and deserving of unconditional love. Three horns can, indeed, play with longnecks if we listen for God’s voice over the voices of division, break from the herd, and join them on the journey.   

Prayer

God of all people, please continue to re-form my heart so that it longs for relationship with you and all of the people you created, three horns, longnecks, and all the rest. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Love Overcomes Devotion #14 2/25/16

Day #14

Larry Trotter

Words of Love

 

37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. Luke 7:37-38 NIV

 

Overcoming the Barrier

 

Yesterday we looked at how a ruler's wealth and power had forged his identity, which became a barrier to identifying with Jesus and his kingdom. Today, we see a woman who was willing to surrender her identity completely to Jesus. Let me explain. In first century Palestine, women struggled for status in their communities and had little opportunity to own property. Their identity was often connected to and defined by male relationships, father, brother, or husband. Not unlike any situation where different people come away with different impressions of the same event, each of the four gospel writers has a slightly different take on this scene, which brings greater richness to the story. The composite picture revealed by all four gospels describes the woman with an alabaster jar of perfumed ointment that was worth a year's wages. Moreover, this easily could have been the sum total of her personal assets. In fact, it was not uncommon for a woman in that culture to save her money to buy such an expensive item simply to bring a sense of status to her identity. Some would actually wear a jar of perfume on a lanyard around their necks as a way of proclaiming their worth. This woman who apparently bore a somewhat sordid reputation took a huge risk to crash a dinner party thrown by a local religious leader. The open courtyard floorplan of a typical first century home in Palestine would have given persons on the street access to the diners who would have been reclining in the courtyard, weather permitting. Still, it took a lot of steely resolve for this women to open herself up to judgment and ridicule from the religious elite by walking up to the table. What she did next was even more breathtaking. Mark's account of the story has the woman breaking the jar of perfume. All agree that she poured the contents, which represented everything she had, onto Jesus as an act of repentant worship. In stark contrast with the ruler from yesterday's devotion who couldn't part with his possessions that formed his identity, the woman freely gave up the one thing that gave her an identity for a chance to identify with Jesus' compassionate love and grace. What sharply contrasts her with the ruler is the woman's understanding of her need for grace and the courage to let go of any barrier between her and the kingdom.

 

Perhaps our barrier to identifying with Jesus and his kingdom is ignoring our need for his grace and forgiveness. There are many people who don't bear a particularly sullied reputation. There have been bumps along the way but no major failures. Yet, sin creates separation from God and requires forgiveness. Perhaps that's you. Or, maybe we have disguised our failures by blaming others or rationalizing that we simply had some bad breaks and our breakdowns weren't our fault. In either case, we're missing the opportunity to pour our past onto our very present Savior and embrace a future that never looks back. Time to, again, look into the mirror, acknowledge the reality of our failures, and pour them out on Jesus who will rejoice and not judge, forgive and not fault.

 

Prayer

 

Lord Jesus, give me the strength to allow intimacy between us so that I might see your tender compassion and surrender my identity, my very soul to you. In your name I pray, amen.

 

 

Love Overcomes Daily Devotion #13 2/24/16

Day #13

Larry Trotter

Words of Love

22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 23 When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. Luke 18:22-23 NIV

Overcoming the Barrier

Doing research in a subfield of psychology focusing on self and identity the research team of Lewis and Brooks-Gunn observed children between 18 and 24 months looking to a mirror. They discovered that if a smudge were placed on their foreheads, most of the children would not only notice it but also recognize that it was their face and attempt to wipe off the smudge. Other psychologists have built on their work revealing a fascinating picture of how we understand who we are and the internal and external forces that shape identity. At risk of reading more into today’s passage than appears on the surface I propose that the rich ruler who came to Jesus seeking eternal life was faced with an identity crisis. By Luke’s identification as “ruler” we understand that his wealth had secured him power and prominence.  He approaches Jesus by calling him “good teacher,” perhaps expecting Jesus to return the compliment as deference to such an important man. Jesus replies that no one is good except God alone deferring even his own identity to that of his Father, our first clue that Jesus may be alert to the ruler’s identity crisis. Answering the ruler’s question about acquiring eternal life Jesus sets him up by confirming that the man knows the commandments that any Jewish man would know. The ruler responds by saying he had kept them all since childhood. Sensing that the identity the commandments were designed to form may not have taken shape in his heart Jesus adds one last caveat to sell everything and give it away. The ruler was crushed. His wealth secured his station in life and defined his self-worth. It’s important to note that immediately prior to this exchange people were bringing their babies for Jesus to bless, which the ruler likely witnessed. Innocence, not arrogance, is the doorway to the kingdom and the ruler’s identity crisis placed him somewhere between the two.  

Where do we find our identity? Is our identity dependent upon money and possessions, work, power and influence, physical appearance? Though there are complex psychological and sociological dynamics at play in this scene, the lesson is fairly straightforward. The things in which we locate our self-identity can become barriers to our identification with Jesus and his kingdom. Good gifts such as money, possessions, relationships, influence, and others can become smudges on our lives that mask our need for true identity in Jesus. Maybe it’s time to look into the mirror.

Prayer

Revealing God, look into my heart and show me the things that compete with you for my identity. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Love Overcomes Daily Devotion #12 2/23/16

Day #12

Larry Trotter

Words of Love

 

24 A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. 

Luke 22:24 NIV

 

Overcome the Barrier

 

Will to power is an anchor concept in German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche's writings concerning the forces that drive humankind forward through life. (Will To Power is also a one-hit-wonder 80s band that famously recorded a regrettable mashup of Baby, I Love Your Way and Freebird, but I digress.) The idea is that the urge, understood as ambition, to achieve the highest position in life possible is the driving motivation for most people. He contends that there is great pleasure in achieving power and this hunger for more is primordial and primary among our urges. Frankly, the brief exposure to Nietzsche in seminary was enough for me. But, in a scene that pre-dates him by 1,900 years it is clear that the idea that our self will has a need to grow in influence over other people and our environment is significant. The context for the verse above is the disciples gathering with Jesus for the Passover meal that he reinterpreted as what we call the Last Supper. In breaking the bread and blessing the wine he described his sacrifice with the image of his broken body and spilled blood. This communion was the culmination of three-and-a-half years of preaching and teaching about the upside-down kingdom where the first are last and the last are first, how you must lose your life to gain it. And now, with the bread and wine still fresh on their tongues they lapse into a debate about who will the greatest disciple. Jesus' teachings had to have found a place somewhere in their hearts and minds. And yet, all of that is pushed aside as their need for power and pride of place asserts its dominance becoming a potential barrier to carrying the mission forward after Jesus' departure.

 

It is often said that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. But, clearly, the need to attain power has the same power to derail discipleship. Over my 23 years as a pastor I have shepherded over several church conflicts and watched many people struggle with giving their lives to Christ over this very issue. When Jesus invites us on the journey with him he has a basic request and that is that he drives. Handing over the keys to our lives is difficult when there is within us a need to control our own destiny and that of others. It's a paradox to which it difficult to submit. But the offer is staggering if we hear Jesus out. He asks us to surrender to him our need for power and then offers in return the same power to which he submitted. The same Holy Spirit that directed Jesus' steps and saved him from his own self will on at least two occasions (bookend temptations in the wilderness and on the Mount of Olives) will direct our steps and pull us back when we're ready to enforce our will over God's will. Ignoring that will to power is tough and can take us out of our comfort zones, but a much deeper sense of self as it identifies with and yields to God's self emerges from the discomfort. None of this is to say that ambition is patently bad. Being motivated to do our best in our work inside and outside the church is important. Jesus even addresses it in his parable of the dishonest manager. (We'll tackle that one another day.) But letting our ambition outrun God's purposes can become a barrier to discipleship. So the next time you feel the need to invoke our will over God's or someone else's, picture Jesus asking you for the keys. Go ahead and hand them over and call shotgun. You might wind up in the back seat, but it'll still be an amazing ride.

 

Prayer

 

Lord Jesus, don't give up on me when I insist on my way when yours is clear. Please insist that I let you drive and I'll sit wherever you think is best. In Your name, amen. 

Love Overcomes Devotion #11 2/22/16

Day #11

Larry Trotter

Words of Love

24 But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.

Jeremiah 7:24 NIV

57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” Luke 9:57-58 NIV

Overcoming the Barrier

Both of our daughters seemed to embrace independence early on. When Lauren, the older, learned to tie her shoes she wanted to tie them every time, which was great, unless we were in a hurry. And of course, if you tried to help, her emerging self will protested vigorously. When our younger daughter Christie was two or so she learned to do buttons. Again, it’s precious to watch them work on those fine motor skills, until you’re late for church and you try to intervene. I’ll never forget one particular Sunday morning when her mom tried to take over button duty when it looked like we night not be ready until the following Sunday. When Lynn reached down to finish the buttons Christie cried, “Do self! Do self!” We laugh about it, now, and still use that line when someone tries to help us. But the fact is, nobody likes to have their will usurped. As Freddie Mercury sang, “I want it all and I want it, now!”

The People of Israel to whom Jeremiah prophesied from around 626 B.C. to 585 B.C. wanted to continue doing things their way on their timetable and were unresponsive to God’s appeals through the prophet to turn back to him to secure their future. However, their stubborn resolve to their own self will caused them to stop making progress as God's people  But God sees the bigger picture and knows what’s best though it may not be apparent to those trying to follow. This is at the heart of Jesus’ strong words to would-be followers in Luke 9. He was pointing out that to follow meant giving up control over our life, our comforts and conveniences. We can’t follow Jesus from a position of “do self.” It needs to be “You do it, Jesus.” That doesn’t mean Jesus has no appreciation for or gifts and skills or our responsibilities. He just knows that if we can’t give up control, if we can’t submit our will to his, there will be trouble down the road when the demands of discipleship increase. Our self or will, if that helps with understanding, is part of what makes us unique. However, when our “do self” won’t yield to “You do it, Jesus” it becomes a barrier to the power beyond us and critical divine timing that allows us to do infinitely more than we could ever do on our own.

Prayer

God of patience please bear with me when I want my way and I want it now. Teach me to submit to your will and be patient while things unfold. In Jesus’ name, amen.