We’ve got so many of these — the Gospel According to Peanuts, The Simpsons, Biff, Mary Magdalene, and of course, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. But of all of them, the greatest of them for each one of us is our gospel. Think of it as The Gospel According to You.
You are here
And so am I
Maybe millions of people go by
But they all disappear from view
And I only have eyes for you
(Sha bop sha bop)
“Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!” Matthew 6:22-23
There is something to seeing only people’s eyes because of this pandemic — something mysterious, intriguing, sensual, even captivating. Seeing only people’s eyes leaves the rest of the face to the imagination. But in some strange way, you might end up seeing people more deeply, because you focus on a person’s eyes more when eyes are all you see. Continue reading
At a time when you would think no one would be very hopeful about the future, it turns out that a high percentage of 18-29 year-olds in America are. Not only that, they are involved in politics more than have been in the last 20 years. Maybe that’s why they’re hopeful — they feel like they can have a say in the future of this country.
For sure, the millennials are the future of this country and that’s why we welcome them with open arms and have been ever since they started turning up here in large numbers. Millennials are not afraid to ask the hard questions; and that is what faith is all about anyway. It’s not about the absence of doubt; it’s about faith in the midst of doubt.
The mind of man plans his way [Decision], but the LORD directs his steps [Action]. (Proverbs 16:9 NASB)
Ever hear the story of three frogs on a log? One decided to jump down… how many were left? Three… because deciding to do something and doing it are two different things. In order for a decision to mean anything, you have to do something about it. You don’t just decide to get married; you buy the ring, set the date and plan the wedding. You don’t just decide you’re going to get a job; you get your resume ready, fill out applications, make phone calls, pound the pavement. You don’t just decide you’re going to make some changes in your life; you make them. Decisions mean nothing without actions to back them up. It’s a little like hearing the word of God and not doing anything about it.
That means that once you decide for door #3, you have to open the door and walk through it into whatever it is that door holds for you. You back up your decision by taking whatever steps that decision requires you to take. And the amazing promise is that the Lord will direct your steps as you go.
This verse tells us a lot about how this works. It says that the Lord directs our steps, but who takes those steps? We do. The Lord doesn’t take them for us. We don’t stand there and wait for him to move our legs. We step out—we take action—and the Lord somehow directs our steps as we go along. Strange, mysterious, but true.
So that means you can’t just wait around for God to do something. You do it. You step out, because God will do something through your steps. He directs as we walk. He works as we work. He talks as we talk.
It’s a little like a cartoon I saw once of an artist painting a picture, except that he himself was being painted at that very moment by a very large brush in a very large hand.
Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. (Philippians 2: 12-13)
If there was ever a time for prayer, it would be now when we are in the middle of a pandemic. One of the most important reasons for praying in a pandemic is our isolation. So many people suffering from loneliness and anxiety, and often we are not even aware of it. We’re surrounded by the familiar, but we lose track. The days pile up and you suddenly can’t tell one from the other. I’ve got alarms going off all the time on my phone because of phone calls and zoom meetings, but I missed a very important meeting this morning because I lost track of what day it was.
Isolation can disconnect us from people and from God. It’s not good. Prayer can connect us back up, rather like plugging back into a switchboard after the plugs have been pulled out.
The Catch is a community, and because of that, we are the body of Christ. The body of Christ is a community. But there are other communities we live in, too. A community is a group of people sharing something in common and interdependent on one another. As a community, we have come to need each other.
Lord, please restore to us the comfort of merit and demerit. Show us that there is at least something we can do. Tell us that at the end of the day there will at least be one redeeming card of our very own. Lord, if it is not too much to ask, send us to bed with a few shreds of self-respect upon which we can congratulate ourselves. But whatever you do, do not preach grace. Give us something to do, anything; but spare us the indignity of this indiscriminate acceptance. – Robert Farrar Capon
Grace is humiliating. We don’t often think about it in this light, but it is. It’s humiliating because it reduces us all to the same level. We are all sinners and there is no “decent” sin. Robert Capon, the late episcopal priest who was a prolific writer on grace has captured here why we don’t like grace. It’s indiscriminate. Everybody gets it, it has nothing to do with us, and we can do nothing to contribute to it.
His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 2 Peter 1:3
This was part of our study last night in our online church and it’s been rattling around in my brain ever since. What’s most striking about this statement is its finality. Its certainty. This isn’t a possibility, an exception; it’s not conditional, i.e., “If you do this, I’ll do that”; there are no qualifications. No ifs, ands or buts. Through the knowledge of Christ, we have “everything pertaining to life and godliness.” Any questions? Is there anything more?
When Chandler and I visited Anne Marie Ritchie last summer in Idaho, we held our arms open to each other six feet apart and said, “Hug, hug.” It was terrible. With Anne Marie’s French heritage, there should have been not only hugs, but kisses to each cheek. You know how that goes. By the time our two-hour visit was over, however, caution was thrown to the wind and we all hugged. Couldn’t help it.
This declaration is so central to all that we believe and represent here at the Catch that it is a permanent document always accessible at our website, http://www.catchjohnfischer.com. However, I have found it necessary to review it often as it is prophetic and remains true to how we interact with the culture around us. Therefore I bring up Part 2 today as a Catch so that you, as fellow disciples of Christ, will review it, too, and see how we are doing. I also look forward to your comments as to how these declarations relate to your experience in the world today or any changes you might recommend. (Thanks to John Fagliano for a good suggestion for improving Part 1.)
John Fischer The Catch 