The Mess

Building One Another - Vol. 12, No.21
Dear Friend, On July 26th The Washington Post carried a fascinating article about baseball star Darryl Strawberry. He tells of his descent into drug and alcohol addiction and the change in his life after turning to Jesus. Darryl concludes by saying, “Here I am, a baseball superstar, falling into the pits, having everybody write you off and then having God say, ‘I’m going to use your mess for a message.’ How beautiful is that?” Our Lord will use your mess for a message too! We do live messy lives. One of the great realities of our walk with Jesus is that he walks with us in our mess and through our mess! Jesus will actually work through the mess in your life in ways that reveal God’s love, presence, and power. “But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.” 2 Corinthians 4:7* I spoke with a woman today who is having difficulty landing a job. She told me her friends don’t understand how she maintains a hopeful spirit through disappointment after disappointment. It was obvious to me. She absolutely trusts in the Lord who loves her to see her through what she is going through. “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies” (2 Corinthians 4:8-10).
With joy - E. Stanley Ott Copyright 2013 E. Stanley Ott *Scripture from the NRSV
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Peace

Building One Another - Vol. 12, No.17
Dear Friend, “If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” Romans 12:18* I have been musing recently over a funeral I conducted for someone years ago. I don’t recall who it was or whether it was a man or a woman. What I do remember is standing in the front of a tiny chapel with four or five family members in the front pew on one side and four or five more sitting in the front pew of the other side. It seemed normal to me – people wanting to sit near the front while I talked about their loved one and spoke about the resurrection of Jesus and the real hope of resurrection offered to anyone who embraces and follows Jesus by faith. It was only after the service as people were milling around and getting ready to leave that one of the family members pulled me aside and said, “You may have noticed we sat on two sides of the chapel. There has been a bitter split in our family for many years and while they were willing to attend the memorial service for a family member they are not willing to associate with each other nor speak to each other!” How very sad. The apostle Paul was very clear when he instructed us to be at peace, “so far as it depends on you.” Indeed family members at times say or do things that are incredibly hurtful. There is no denying the depth of the pain and rupture of relationship that may engender. At the same time, our Lord, who died on behalf of we who constantly behave in ways that hurt people and offend God, leaves us no wiggle room. “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Matthew 6:14-15 So reconciliation may not be possible – yet forgiveness on your part is possible – and in so far as it is possible, do be at peace with all people.
With joy - E. Stanley Ott Copyright 2013 E. Stanley Ott *Scripture from the NRSV
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Rope Holders

Building One Another - Vol. 12, No.19
Dear Friend, Something Walt Ungerer, a pastor and a friend, said to me many years ago came to mind while I was reading Acts Chapter 9, the story of the conversion of Saul, who became known as the Apostle Paul. After Saul had his dramatic encounter with Jesus and began to preach, a plot to kill him arose. “But his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.” Acts 9:25* Walt asked the question, “Who are your rope holders?” Who in your moment of crisis are the people who will stand with you, who hold on to the ropes that hold you up in some situation, who trust our Lord to guide and sustain you? Rope holders are among the most precious people in our lives. They may be friends, relatives, associates, neighbors, or people we know in the church we attend. Whoever they are, their heart is to support your heart and your heart is to support theirs. If you become aware of a person you know facing some rough situation, will you be his or her rope holder? Jesus said to his followers, “You are those who have stood by me in my trials.” Luke 22:28 The Apostle Paul said, “But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength.” 2 Timothy 4:17. For whom are you a rope holder, standing by in the time of trial and offering strength? Consider who your rope holders are and if possible, thank them for standing by you!
With joy - E. Stanley Ott Copyright 2013 E. Stanley Ott *Scripture from the NRSV
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Praise

Building One Another - Vol. 12, No.18
Dear Friend, Perhaps you watched on television or heard of the feat of Nik Wallenda as he walked on a cable stretched across Little Colorado River Gorge in the area of the Grand Canyon some fifteen hundred feet above the bottom of the gorge with no safety wire connecting him to the cable. As I watched Nik’s careful progress across the high wire in the midst of stunning scenery, I was captured by his quiet voice and that of his Father. As Nik took step by measured step on the cable he was saying over and over, “Thank you Jesus. Praise you Jesus. How I love you.” His Father was saying, “You’re handling it well, Nik. Slow your steps down. That’s good.” You can watch it on YouTube if you want to see a replay but as I replayed it over and over in my mind, I realized how much it was a picture of the Christian life. As Jesus said, “For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Matthew 7:14 There are many moments in your home life, your work life or your personal inside-your-head life where you walk a tightrope seeking to value people and honor the Lord who loves us. At the same time there are forces both inside and outside ourselves that would pull us off the wire. So like Nik Wallenda we also are praying, “Praise you Jesus. Thank you Jesus. I love you, Lord.” When the road is difficult, such as when Nik experienced the shaking cable and the wind and he prayed, “Help this cable to calm down,” so we also pray about the issues we face on our own high wire. And what happens if you start to fall off the wire by engaging in some behavior not worthy of the Lord who loves you? Nik Wallenda said if he lost his balance he would hold onto the wire until help came. So when we stumble we hold on to the Lord who loves us and who is our rescuer. When you confess your sin, know that our Lord Jesus, who took the impact of your fall upon himself on the cross and has never stopped loving you, forgives you and welcomes you home!
With joy - E. Stanley Ott Copyright 2013 E. Stanley Ott *Scripture from the NRSV
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Awake

Building One Another - Vol. 12, No.16
Dear Friend, When my son and I were in Japan a few years ago we saw a Shinto Shrine for the worship of what its followers believe to be the spirits of nature and of past heroes. In front of the shrine was a rope, maybe three inches thick, that went from eye level up to a bell mounted on the ceiling overhead. We asked our guide what the rope and bell were for. He said the Shinto belief was that you had to ring the bell to “wake the god” – to “wake the spirit.” It so happened that at the time my son and I were working on memorizing Psalm 121, which begins: “I lift up my eyes to the hills - from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep." Psalm 121:1-4* Our God is always alert, never sleeps, never needs a bell to awaken to our lives and our needs! Whatever is going on in your life at this very moment our Lord is closer to you than your next breath, fully aware of all that concerns you. As another Psalm puts it, “I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.” Psalm 34:4 Seek him and trust in his love!
With joy - E. Stanley Ott Copyright 2013 E. Stanley Ott *Scripture from the NRSV
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Encourage

Building One Another - Vol. 12, No.15
Dear Friend, What do you do when, as a friend of mine put it, “You feel so low that your rear end is erasing your own tracks!”?  How do you go about stirring up your own spirit when you are down? After the Amalekites captured the families of David and his men, we learn:  “Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept, until they had no more strength to weep.” I Samuel 30:4*  David was feeling as low as a person can get! Furthermore, “David was in great danger; for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in spirit for their sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” I Samuel 30:6 David focused on his Lord for strength and encouragement! Teresa of Avila was a Carmelite nun of the sixteenth century who was asked by her superiors to write a book on prayer, which she didn’t feel like doing at all. “Few tasks… have been so difficult as this present one of writing about matters relating to prayer: for one reason, because I do not feel that the Lord has given me either the spirituality or the desire for it; for another, because for the last three months I have been suffering from such noises and weakness in the head that I find it troublesome to write even about necessary business.” In other words, “I’ve been commanded to do this. I don’t feel qualified. I have a headache. I am not in the mood. It’s a hassle!” “But, as I know that strength arising from obedience has a way of simplifying things which seem impossible, my will very gladly resolves to attempt this task [She is encouraging herself in God].” “Although the prospect seems to cause my physical nature great distress; for the Lord has not given me strength enough to enable me to wrestle continually both with sickness and with occupations of many kinds without feeling a great physical strain. May He Who has helped me by doing other and more difficult things for me help also in this: in His mercy I put my trust.”[1] Encourage yourself in God! [1] Teresa of Avila, Interior Castle, (New York, Image Book,) p.23.
With joy - E. Stanley Ott Copyright 2013 E. Stanley Ott *Scripture from the NRSV
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Soften

Building One Another - Vol. 12, No.14
Dear Friend, On Saturday morning I dug a hole in the backyard for a large tomato plant I’d picked up at a farmer's market, sprinkled in some fertilizer, and put in the plant. Thinking about it later I realized the ground I dug the hole in was very hard clay and that it would be difficult for growing roots to penetrate and to find nourishment in that soil. So I dug out the tomato plant, made a larger hole, added some potting soil, and re-planted the tomato! The softer soil will make it much easier for the plant’s roots to grow and be fed. Sometimes our own human hearts can be pretty hard and simply not open to the reality and presence of the God who loves us or to new ways of thinking. If arterial sclerosis is the hardening of the arteries then attitudinal sclerosis is the hardening of the attitudes. Scripture often refers to people as being “stiff-necked” which again suggests hearts that are simply closed to our Lord, closed to people. The good news is that our Lord loves to melt human hearts. In speaking about restoring the nation of Israel we read, “I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them; I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, so that they may follow my statutes and keep my ordinances and obey them. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God.” Ezekiel 11:19-20 Pray with me: “O Lord, where my heart is hard, brittle, and closed to you, closed to people and closed to your call on my life, I ask you, the Lord who loves me, to soften my heart. May I be more fully aware of your presence, of the people you have put into my life, and of the purpose you have for me.”  Amen.
With joy - E. Stanley Ott Copyright 2013 E. Stanley Ott *Scripture from the NRSV
To view archived issues and to subscribe: www.buildingoneanother.org