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NAKED FAITH

Former American Press staff writer Sunny Brown Farley writes "Naked Faith," a look at faith in its natural form: lived out in the day-to-day lives of ordinary people.

 Meet the Blogger

Where is God?

Posted September 6, 2009 at 3:48 pm
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It’s funny that God seems so present in some places – like in church or a beautiful sunset.

But there are other times when we just don’t notice God. There are times when we don’t think about God’s presence.

I suppose there are a number of reasons for not noticing. Maybe we are distracted or self-absorbed. Our minds get filled with clutter and noise that drown out the Divine.

Where is God?

God is everywhere.

And so it is a struggle for us to maintain a constant awareness of the ever-present God.

I wonder how often I have begun a prayer only to taper off from the conversation and get lost in thought. How many times have I fallen asleep in the middle of a prayer?

Today, I want to be keenly aware of God. I want to get lost in God instead of my own thoughts and dreams. I want to see everything through the lens of God because I am so close to Him that He occupies my entire view of the world.

Up

Posted August 30, 2009 at 5:27 pm
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Up is a movie about an adventure and an old man.

This man, and the wife he adored, dreamed of traveling Lost Land in South America from the time they were kids. They saved for it, they kept a scrapbook for it with a map and pictures, but they never actually went.

Meanwhile they lived a full life and the wife died at an old age.

The widower tries to come to terms with his new phase in life and becomes resolved to finally set out for Lost Land. He does so by tying countless helium balloons to his house and lifting up off the face of the earth. What he doesn’t realize though, is that he has a stowaway on board his floating house – a boy scout who had come to see him in effort to get a badge for helping the elderly.

The interesting thing to me about this movie is that this man has made up his mind that he must do this certain thing. He must go to Lost Land. He can focus on nothing else – the needs of others, his own personal well-being, nothing. He has a plan and he is dead set on making it happen.

Not only that, he brings all of his stuff with him. In order to enact this plan of his, he takes along everything he owns and let me tell ya, when everything you own is tied to balloons, it is hard to stay off the ground.

In light of this film, I thought about a few theological questions:

How often have we set our minds on doing or accomplishing something that is born of our own will? What have we missed or sacrificed along the way?

How often have we tried to lug a bunch of stuff with us in our faith journey? Has that stuff weighed us down? What is really important for us to take along?

Luke 9, Jesus sends out his disciples to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal people and to cast out demons and he directs them in verse 3 to “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic.” I can imagine it was scary for the disciples to let go of all the stuff they thought they needed for their journey.

Likewise, it is hard for us to let go of determining what our journey is and how it will go.

Later in Luke 9, Jesus tells the disciples to feed the 5,000. Their solutions to this problem are:

1. It can’t be done. We don’t have enough food.

2. Buy enough food, which they couldn’t afford to do.

Things go much better for the disciples after they listen to Jesus and follow his instructions on how to achieve what he has asked them to do.

God, guide and direct our journeys. Show us where to go, what to do and what to take with us.

Those Who’ve Gone Before

Posted August 22, 2009 at 9:18 pm
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This week, my husband and son and I went on a family vacation to San Marcos, Texas.

My great, great, great grandparents were among the founders of San Marcos and their house is a museum there. They also were people of faith. They were members of one of the oldest churches in town and some of their boys became preachers.

We made a trip to the family church and the church secretary gave us a key so we could go in the sanctuary and spend a little time.

It was an incredible feeling to walk through the old wooden doors and survey the historic place of worship. The afternoon light poured through stained glass windows with images of crosses, Bibles and doves.

We walked up and down the stairs and the aisles. We weaved through the pews. We stood in the pulpit, touched the keys on the pipe organ and smelled the flowers that were still in place from worship the previous Sunday.

I thought about how generations of my family sang, prayed and worshipped God in that wonderful place. I thought about how they brought their children to church. I thought about their baptisms and how they celebrated Communion there.

I was reminded of Timothy, the young missionary and companion of the Apostle Paul. We know from the epistles that Timothy’s mother and grandmother were Christians. Generations of Christians producing generations of Christians.

There is so much to be said for the people of faith who have gone before us. They have formed us, shaped us, molded us. They are our parents, grandparents and distant relatives.

At the little church in San Marcos, we knelt at the prayer rail and added our voices to the chorus of many who have prayed to God there over the years.

I thanked God for those who have gone before me and I prayed that my great, great, great children would love and serve the Lord.

The person in the mirror

Posted August 10, 2009 at 8:06 am
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In Psalm 51, we find a man crying out to God. We find a man desperate for forgiveness and restoration to God. The Psalm is titled, “A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.”

So often, we talk about David in glowing terms, don’t we? We remember the great things the Bible says about him. He loved God and he sang and danced for the Lord. He was called a man after God’s own heart. David was the boy who slew Goliath and the man who ruled as king of Israel.

But he wasn’t perfect was he?

I have been involved in youth and college ministry for some time now and when I talk to students about reading the Bible, I remind them that the Bible is anything but boring piece of literature. In the Bible we find all sorts of stuff that would make a Christian blush. There’s plenty of R-rated material in the good book. In our very beloved and Holy Bible, we find things like sex, drugs and a rock that rolled.

Among the more R-rated stories in the Bible, we find the story of David and Bathsheba. The story is found in 2 Samuel and it says David is walking around on the roof of his palace and sees the beautiful Bathsheba off in the distance bathing herself. He saw her and he wanted her. He sent for her and he had her. His sin had many consequences. Bathsheba became pregnant and David launched an elaborate coverup. He sent for Bathsheba’s husband Urraih who was off fighting King David’s war in a far away place. He tried to get the man to sleep with his wife and when that didn’t happen, David sent the soldier to the front line where he was killed by the enemy. The story ends with these words: “The thing David had done displeased the Lord.”

Not a big surprise is it really? Adultery and murder tend to be displeasing to God.

Despite the Lord’s displeasure with David, David went on about his business unaware of the severity of his sin. That is until it is brought to his attention by the prophet Nathan.

2 Samuel 12:1-7 says: 1 The LORD sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. 4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”5 David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.” 7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!”

Ouch.

David is made painfully aware of the reality of his situation. It is as if Nathan has held a mirror up to him so that David might see himself for who he really was.

In every story in the Bible, I find that people identify more with one character than another and so I wonder who you might identify with in this story?

As I wrote this blog, I considered what it must have been like to be in the shoes of David, Bathsheba, Urriah and Nathan.

Consider Urriah for a minute. Here’s a dedicated soldier, serving his country, serving his King. He is off fighting a battle and then he gets summoned home and instead of enjoying his time away from the battlefield, his mind stays focused on the war and on his fellow soldiers. He has no idea that his king has betrayed him by sleeping with his wife. He has no idea that he will be sent to a sure death on the front lines when he returns to battle. So, so unfair. There he is plugging along, living right, doing right and then BAM! He is victimized by someone he trusted, fought for, perhaps even loved.

Consider Bathsheba in our story. Apparently in ancient Israel, people spent a fair amount of time on the roofs of their houses. Of course the roof of the King’s palace would have been the highest in the city and so his vantage was over all his kingdom. And what does he see on this occasion but a woman bathing on her roof. The story doesn’t say there was anything unusual or suggestive about Bathsheba’s activity. Certainly in today’s world, we would think otherwise. But It just says she was bathing, and David sees her and wants her and sends for her. Many of our translations of this story say that David told his men to “get her” but one of the commentaries I read suggested a better translation of the Hebrew would be “to grasp her.” When I read that, it caused me to cringe a little. David’s men were to seize Bathsheba and bring her to the king. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to be taken by men and brought to the bedroom of the king for his sinful pleasure. The scriptures do not say how she felt or responded, but I think I would have been terrified and humiliated by such an incredible violation.

What about Nathan the prophet? God directs him to confront a sinful king. Can you imagine that? King David had just had Urriah killed. I think I might have said, God are you sure about this? I hope you got my back here. David is a dangerous kinda guy!!!!” Nathan – sent by God to do God’s work and obedient to God despite the danger he faced.

And then, of course, there is David, who gets the most attention in the story. He is an adulterer, a murderer, a sinner, a human.

In our story about David, Bathsheba’s husband Urriah says something interesting to the king. David wanted the soldier to sleep with his wife because that would explain why she was pregnant and then David would be off the hook. As we know, the soldier refused. He explained to David that he couldn’t in good conscience go home and eat and drink and be with his wife knowing that the other soldiers – and the very the ark of God – were still far away in tents on a battleground.

The ark of God. The ark of God was the symbol of God’s presence among the people of ancient Israel. Note that this “presence of God” was far from David (on the distant battleground) when David decided to have an affair with Bathsheba back at the palace. It would seem that David, who orchestrated this battle and sent the ark with his troops, hade distanced himself from God leading up to his downfall.

David, Nathan, Urriah, Bathsheba.

When you look in the mirror, who do you see?

Perhaps, we see a little of everyone in this story in ourselves. In some ways are all of the people in this story at different times in our lives. We are the victims and victimizers. We are the oblivious sinners and the ones calling others to repent.

We are Bathsheba and Urriah and Nathan and David. We could easily substitute our names for theirs. And we all stand in need of healing and strength and justice and mercy and forgiveness. And so, as David cried out to the Lord in our Psalm, let us cry out to God. The good news is that God knows our situation and God is listening.

Bleat, poop, faint

Posted August 4, 2009 at 11:38 am
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I heard a compelling sermon Sunday. It was on the subject of Jesus telling Peter to “feed my sheep.”

You remember the scripture – the one in which the risen Christ asks the apostle Peter if Peter loves him. The last time Peter had seen his Lord, he denied him. Now, Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves him and each time then says to Peter, “Feed my sheep.”

In the Sunday sermon, the preacher recounted a story of a live nativity scene involving a sheep that startled easily. The wise men came out and the sheep responded with “a bleat a poop and a faint.”

The poor sheep bleated, pooped and fainted many times during the holiday production.

Sheep are just not the most admirable of animals, I reckon.

So why does Jesus refer to us, the people of God, as sheep? Not a flattering concept.

And, as leaders in the Church, we are charged with caring for these metaphorical animals.

In the Sunday sermon, the preacher posed a valuable question to us. It is the question posed by Christ to Peter. Do we love him? Do we love Christ?

It is a question we all must consider.

Tears filled my eyes as I thought about my love for the Lord. I can remember so many times basking in the grace of God.

I remember as a child singing Amazing Grace at the top of my lungs as I watched the sunrise and waited for the school bus to arrive.

I remember so many times driving in my car and praying and singing as an adult. I remember belting out the Apostle’s Creed and the Lord’s prayer in worship and being touched by the Word in sermons, in scripture and in the hearts of my Christian brothers and sisters. I remember the day my son was baptized. He was embraced by the Holy Spirit and surrounded by the love of the Church.

God is so good. Do I love Jesus? YES!! AMEN!!!

And so, will I feed his sheep? Oh yes.

I know I am just a sheep, inclined to bleat and poop and faint from time to time.

And I know God has called me to feed bleating, pooping and fainting fellow sheep. But, the thing is, when you love Christ, it is a joy to feed his sheep.

I want them to know the love of the shepherd – the Shepherd I love and the Shepherd who loves me.

Happiness versus joy

Posted July 26, 2009 at 1:55 pm
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Today I heard a great sermon on joy.

The sermon was part of a sermon series on the fruit of the spirit as listed in Gal. 5.

The preacher talked about how happiness is very much tied to conditions.

It falls into a formula: If X, then Y. If I get this certain job, I will be happy. If I lose some weight, I will be happy. If I win the lottery, I will be happy.

The root of the word is “hap.” We find it in other words, like happenstance – a circumstance that is due to chance. “Hap” implies a certain amount of luck.

Joy on the other hand, is state of being. It is something we choose and it is, for us Christians, very much tied to Christ Jesus.

In our God, we find joy. God is the author of joy and we cling to him.

In this way, even in circumstances that are unfortunate, we may still have joy.

Despite the hardships, the trials, the tribulations, the sickness, the pain and the suffering this life brings, we can be a people with joy.

In those difficult and trying times, we cling to our Lord. Jesus is the vine and we are the branches and connected to him, we bear fruit.

You’re In!

Posted July 21, 2009 at 9:33 pm
Filed Under Faith & Religion | 2 Comments

Eph. 2:11-22

One in Christ

11Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (that done in the body by the hands of men)— 12remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

14For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, 16and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

19Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, 20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

I’d like all of you to reminisce with me today. I want you all to think back on what it was like to be a kid.

Some of you are still kids so it may be easier for you to imagine being one. For the rest of us, I want to take a little trip down memory lane.

In many ways it was great to be a kid, wasn’t it? There were summers off. No bills to pay. Someone else cooked all your meals and did your laundry and bought you stuff. We could go swimming and play with friends. You could eat just about whatever you wanted without gaining weight because you had loads of energy to burn off calories. I wish I had just half the energy I had when I was kid.

I also remember laughing hard as a kid. Someone would say something silly or stupid and I would laugh until I cried. Or If I was drinking something, until it came out through my nose.

Being a kid was great in many ways. But it was also hard, if you’ll remember.

Kids can be cruel, can’t they?

I remember getting beat up. I remember getting my hair pulled and getting pushed on the playground. I remember this one bully made me sit in one of those giant red ant piles that you only see here in the South. I must have gotten like 25 ant bites.

Remember that book Lord of the Flies?

It was about a plane that crashed on an island and all the survivors were kids and they were brutal. They turned on each other and hurt other.

How about this: Do you remember the kids who got left out of everything?

Remember when a group of kids got together to play soccer or baseball or kickball or some other team sport? They would pick two captains and those captains would pick their teams. All the kids would stand together and one by one they’d be chosen for one team or the other.

Remember that slow and uncoordinated kid who was always chosen last?

Seems like that kid was always looking down at the ground, knowing he or she would have to wait until there was no one left and the captain would look at them say: “Alright I guess you’re with us. Come on.”

Or how about this: Remember the big school dance? Maybe it was the prom or homecoming or the Sadie Hawkins dance (hey, why do they call it Sadie Hawkins anyway? That was the dance where the girls asked the boys). Remember the stress of waiting to be asked or hoping that who you asked would say yes?

Not everyone gets a date to the dance, do they? Someone is always left out.

Years ago I read Martin Luther King Jr’s letters from a Birmingham Jail. One of the things he said in his letter stuck with me all these years.

He talked about the pain he felt when he had to explain to his little 6-year-old daughter that she could not to the amusement park that had been advertised on television because it was not open to “colored kids.”

Left out.

It is a feeling all of us have known – because of our color, our culture, our class. Maybe you’ve been left out because you are poor, uneducated, disabled, old, young, female, male. It is a sad reality in our society. It is a sad reality in our world. And who wants to be left out? No one. We all want to be included, don’t we? We all want to be part of, not apart from.

I was very excited when I recently studied the above passage from Ephesians.

Here in Ephesians we find a passage that speaks to one of the most profound and wonderful truths of the Christian faith. Here in Ephesians we find the concept of Universality.

The author of Ephesians is speaking to Gentile Christians. This letter was written in early Christian history and the faith is spreading rapidly among the Gentiles. The author reminds them that they are rooted in the faith of the people of Israel. Theirs, indeed ours, is not a pagan religion. It didn’t come from out of nowhere. It wasn’t the product of someone’s creative imagination. It didn’t grow from a cult following of some compelling human with a contagious personality. Christianity is tied to and born of the faith of the Jews.

The faith of the Jews prior to Christ held that some were closer to God than others. So often, we’ve heard people talk about the Jews being the chosen people of God. Indeed they are chosen. But hear the good news!!!

Guess who else is chosen? We are!! That is what this passage in Ephesians has to say.

Thanks to the passion and resurrection of Christ Jesus, we all share equal access to God!

Halleluia!

Ours is a universal faith! God doesn’t take some in and hold some at bay but rather reaches out to all of us with the same exact love. This reading, this revelation, helps us to see others in a new light and ourselves in a new light. For in the light of Christ, we are the same. We are all special and loved of God and therefore should recognize the value of all of humankind and follow God’s example to us by loving all others.

In the United Methodist Church we talk a lot about prevenient grace – the grace that goes before us. Grace, God’s unmerited favor, is being poured out on all of us, all the days of our lives. God beckons us to respond, to enter into a relationship with Him and then justifies us – or makes us right with him when we do. And as if that is not enough, He grows us in grace, sanctifying or making us holy, perfecting us in the faith.

But the key word is US and, again, it means ALL of us.

Gal. 3:28 says there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female. All are one in Christ Jesus. It doesn’t matter what you look like, how much money you have, how many college degrees you have, what special talents you possess or that you don’t possess any special talents! It doesn’t matter that you can’t throw a ball or do the two step. It doesn’t matter if you are green or blue or boy or girl or tall or short. You are chosen!

We talk so much in church about how we can’t earn our way into heaven – we are saved by grace through faith and not by works. Right? Not only can we not do anything to earn out way in, we can’t be anything that earns our way in. Just the mere act of being – our existence – makes us desirable to God. Maybe it’s that we are created in His image, I don’t know. For whatever reason that only the mind of God knows, God wants all of us. God wants each and every one of us.

God wants you! God wants you to be part of the kingdom of God and in that kingdom we are all God’s children – his blessed little children.

And so children, let us return once again in our minds to our childhoods. Do you remember what it was like to be picked?

Remember the team roster when it was posted and you looked and there was your name? Remember when the boy asked you to the dance or for your hand in marriage? Remember when someone said: you’re the right man for the job. Remember when someone said, Be my Valentine or be my friend? Remember the first time or the millionth time someone referred to you as their best friend? It feels so good to be picked, doesn’t it?

Children, God picked you. God picks you. God is picking you. That is what our scripture lesson says today. You’re in. You are on the team. You are invited. You are not just invited, you are highly desired which is why the invitation is constant. God will never stop asking.

And so the question I pose to you today is: Will you accept the invitation? Will you say yes to the one who has said yes to you? God has chosen you and chooses you still. Do you choose God today?

The Devil

Posted July 12, 2009 at 9:13 pm
Filed Under Faith & Religion | 2 Comments

When I was a little kid, my mom asked me what the devil looked like.

I told her he was red and had a tail and a pitchfork. She asked me how I knew, so I went to the kitchen cabinet and pulled out a can of Deviled Ham with his image on the label.

I wish it were that easy to spot evil in the world. It wouldn’t be hard to resist a comical, pitchfork waving, red guy.

Rather, evil is never so obvious. It comes in many clever disguises.

The most appalling of those disguises to me is the one that sometimes takes the name Christianity.

As Christians we have to be very careful not to do the dirty work of the Evil One in the name of the Holy One.

When we speak we need to speak in love. When we reach out to others, we need to reach out in love. This is the example of our Lord Christ Jesus.

I wonder how much damage we have done to the cause of Christ by embracing the cause of evil in the name of Christ? It is a frightening, indeed terrifying, thing to consider.

God, help us to be used by You and none other.

4th of July

Posted July 2, 2009 at 7:35 pm
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It is always exciting to celebrate Independence Day.

The Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays. I love the parades! I love the fireworks! I love watermelon and homemade ice cream!

It is a good and wonderful thing that we live in a country where we have independence.

We are free!

Recently I had a discussion with a friend about the concept of freedom and free will.

God created humankind with the ability to think and make decisions.

We get to choose between an infinite number of options in our lives.

We can decide what color car to drive, what career path to take, whom to marry.

We also get to choose whether or not we will have a relationship with our Creator.

I think it is amazing that God allows us to pick Him. It gives value to our faith decision. It isn’t mandatory. It is voluntary.

We aren’t robots, but free-will decision-makers. Because we enter into a relationship with God on our own free will and God enters into a relationship with us on His own free will, our relationship is special and meaningful.

If it were forced, it would be something akin to an arranged marriage. Who wants that? Not me. I thank God that He picked me and I commit and recommit continually to Him. I love you God! I pick you!

Building Something Everlasting

Posted June 22, 2009 at 7:47 am
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This week is Missions Week at one of the large churches in downtown Tyler.

Groups of men, women and children are working all over town on dozens of projects. They meet for lunch and dinner to have a time of sharing stories, songs, prayer and devotionals.

The Wesley Foundation, which is the United Methodist Church’s campus ministry at Tyler Junior College, is one of the many places benefiting form the hard work of these Christians.

A few weeks ago, the mission team leaders came by the campus building and surveyed the needs. They decided to focus their efforts on installing a new door, touching up some paint and pouring concrete pads in the front of the building to make more space for various ministries.

As the director of the Wesley Foundation, I was elated about the make-over!

On Saturday, I joined missionaries and students in doing the work.

As we moved rocks, dug dirt, hauled dirt and hammered the wood frame for the concrete, I thought about how we were building something everlasting.

My dad, who has been in the building and construction business for many years, always says that concrete is guaranteed to crack. This is not what is everlasting.Likewise, the paint will fade and peel and our new door will eventually need ot be replaced once again.

What is everlasting is the kingdom of God.

When we work together under the guidance and direction of our God, we build up God’s kingdom here on earth.

It is a kingdom that won’t crumble, fade or decay.

This week, let us build something together … Let’s build the everlasting kingdom of our Lord.

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