FOLLOWING JESUS INTO THE MUD AND MUCK.

The story goes that as Teresa of Avila was traveling along, she accidentally slipped off her horse and fell smack-dab into the mud. When she complained to Jesus, he said, “This is how I treat my friends,” to which she retorted, “If this is how you treat your friends, it’s no wonder you have so few of them!” 

While we might chuckle at the legend, we might also grimace at the ring of painful truth it expresses. Being a friend and follower of Jesus means that sometimes we wind up face first in the mud and muck of life. The path of discipleship at times leads to the arena of mockery, hatred, even martyrdom. It also means that we are not spared gashing wounds from grief and grave disappointment.

Following Jesus sometimes means being unfollowed by the "good things" that others enjoy. 

Listen to how Paul described his ministry: “To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things” (1 Cor. 4:11-13).

Being a friend of Jesus, in Paul’s case, meant being treated like trash.

This is a blunt reminder we all need. Jesus did not bid us dance with him in a rose garden but march with him to a bloody cross—a cross he bore, and crosses we bear as he works within us. “The Son of God suffered unto the death, not that men might not suffer, but that their sufferings might be like His” (George MacDonald).

Dear Lord Jesus, our Lord and Friend, do with us what you will. Conform us to yourself. Only do not forsake us. For with you, no matter what may befall us, we are where we need to be. Amen.

Happy Sunday 🥂

THE UNTAMED TONGUE

 

“No human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” James 3:8 pulls no punches. That muscle in our mouth can kill or heal, spark wars or absolve a world.

From beginning to end, the Bible speaks about the power of speech, for good or for ill. With speech, the Lord God worded the world into being. And with speech, the serpentine foe wooed the world into evil.

To ignore our tongues is to court disaster.

When God commanded, “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor,” he made explicit what we all know: that human society, relationships, justice, and one’s own soul are destroyed by lies.

Some of the hardest moments in my life were when, knowing a lie would be the easy way out, that it would save me embarrassment, I raged war against my every inclination and spoke the truth. It hurt but it also opened a door to incremental healing. Truth was the Spirit’s gift.

“I am the Truth,” Jesus said. And, in many ways, that said it all. Truth is life. Truth is inner peace. Truth is of God.

God grant that Christ the Truth may rule our hearts and govern our tongues, that he may kindle within us a fervent devotion to honest words, and that when we fail — and fail we will — that he may move our tongues to confession and thanksgiving for his absolution.

For God, who began our world with “Let there be,” heals our world through, “I forgive you.” And when God says that, no truer words could be spoken.