Thinking Outloud

Belief in Free Will?

2011-11-16T15:46:00.000-08:00

(Before you read this, please note, I'm not trying to start a fight with anyone. This is a topic to be discussed between Christian brothers and sisters who recognize that we are trying to describe an ineffable God, who is beyond our understanding, and who eludes our grasp. We all see through a glass darkly, therefore imperfectly this side of heaven. Nonetheless, I feel talking about theological differences helps us clarify what we believe, while recognizing that these differences do not need to separate or divide us. With all this in mind, feel free to journey with me.)

I just finished what I believe is an important book for all Christians interested in Reformed and Arminian theology. Roger Olson, the author of Arminian Theology: Myths and Realities, outlines the common misunderstandings of Arminian theology as often presented by those in the Reformed tradition. The book is very enlightening and one that should grace the shelves of every pastor in America.

One of the more interesting comments he makes is that the heart of Arminian theology is not free will. Quite honestly this statement was news to me. I had assumed, along with most everyone else, that free will is the dividing line, the central issue that separates the Calvinists from the Wesleyans. However, the issue is much deeper than to believe or not to believe in free will.

Olson writes: "Arminianism begins with God's goodness and ends by affirming free will. The latter follows from the former, and the former is based on divine revelation; God reveals himself as unconditionally and unequivocally good, which does not exclude justice and wrathful retribution. It only excludes the possibility of God sinning, willing others to sin or causing sin" (99).

In other words, Arminius was somewhat troubled by certain schemes that suggest sin was willed or caused by God. According to some, since God controls absolutely everything, including human choice, God also caused or willed the first human couple to sin. Furthermore, many work from the assumption that God has already foreordained some to be saved and others to be damned. According to Arminius views like this implicate God in the sin and evil of the world.

But if God is good and just, it would seem impossible for God to set up a universe where both sin and evil would be inevitable. This is where free will is affirmed. God created the world and humans with the ability to resist his love, otherwise a true relationship is not possible.

Now such an affirmation does not deny that God is not in control. Nor does it deny that God is capable of controlling the decisions of certain people for his good purposes. The bible affirms that God is in control and that he does control history through the actions of others. What Arminius denies is that God controls all human choices, especially the choice to rebel against God. For doesn't scripture teach that God desires the salvation of every human being? 1 Timothy 2:4 and 2 Peter 3:9 seem to suggest that it does.

Now the question remains, Does this mean humans actually choose God? The answer is no. We don't choose God. Rather, God calls and woos and directs and persuades. Arminius calls this work of God prior to our acceptance of his mercy as prevenient grace, the grace that goes before. You see, before saying yes to God's forgiving love, God was there guiding and directing. Therefore we can never take credit for our choice. It's all of God. The only real freedom we have is the freedom to resist. That's it.

In short, God is good, thoroughly good, he wills the harm and destruction of no one but works for the healing of all.

Peace.

Are Experiences Potential Idols?

2011-11-10T14:34:00.000-08:00

I've had some really interesting conversations lately about the church that are making me think about what we really value.

In one conversation we were talking about how feelings get attached to certain activities in the church, then those activities become sacred. For instance music has this effect on us. When we were young there were certain songs that lifted our depressed souls to the hope of heaven. Because of that experience, that particular song becomes sacred and even more theologically sound in our minds.

The same happens with certain objects in the church. Many might say, "Back in the day I experienced God's forgiving love at the altar of a church; ever since then, I've returned to an altar in prayer to remember God's grace in my life." The pattern is the same: the experience makes the altar sacred.

This approach can be multiplied many times over with a variety of issues--certain prayers, responses to the gospel message, ways of participating in communion. When these are associated with strong feelings we assume they're sacred and should never be changed.

Well in this recent meeting with these wonderful pastors, we kept going back to this issue of how spiritual experiences really shape our understanding of how churches should function. Many people want that song that blessed them in the 1950s. Others want to see people respond to the gospel just like they did. After several rounds of this, I finally blurted out, "Maybe the problem is our overemphasis on experience."

Now don't get me wrong, the gospel has to be appropriated--individually and personally. I believe, along with Paul, the Spirit pours his love into our hearts (Romans 5). However a person who continually seeks an experience might be stunting their spiritual growth and maybe even the growth of the church.

St. John of the Cross speaks to this issue repeatedly. He argues that to seek spiritual consolation is often but another way to avoid growing up in Christ. Many Christians want that "Old Time Religion" and its feelings, clinging to the past and continually longing for that same spiritual feeling. When it's put in these terms, it appears they're seeking an experience and not really God. They become spiritual gluttons, unwilling to take up their cross and journey with Jesus, thinking that Christianity is all about feeling better about oneself. They also become a little judgmental toward anyone who doesn't share their experience. Therefore they remain immature, refusing to move forward and journey with God, staying stuck in the past with an over-reliance on feelings, unwilling to rejoice with those who are serving Christ with different songs or forms of worship.

I believe the better approach is to seek God and what he's doing in the music and in the sermons and in the activities of the church. In fact St. John of the Cross suggests that we should never indulge an experience; the experiences and its feelings need to be set aside immediately before it creates confusion in our spiritual lives. The point is not the feeling but what God is doing to shape us into his disciples. Feelings, though important as gifts from God, can often detract us from the call to journey with Jesus in obedience.

God might be ready to bless new songs, different sermon forms, new ways of doing church. Think about the early church and it's decision to give up circumcision. Wow! Talk about a sacred tradition. Yet, they gave it up because God was doing a new thing.

What about us? What does God want to bless? What is he blessing? Dare we protest because we're seeking spiritual consolation? I think not.

Peace.

Customer Service

2011-10-25T09:23:00.000-07:00

Several months ago we landscaped our backyard. I selected, intentionally, a company that prided itself on customer service. For the most part they were dedicated to trying to make me happy.

After a while I started to realize their effort to please was somewhat disconcerting. They continually asked me, What do you want? How many inches of exposed foundation? How many drains? Do you like this drainage system?

As they peppered me with these questions I realized that in some areas of life a high premium on customer service can be problematic. After all, I'm not the expert; they should be telling me this is what we believe will work.

This little lesson applies to the church. The church should not be gripped by the foolish dream of trying to make our "customers" happy. No doubt, we should be hospitable and loving. But should we strive to please? I don't think so.

The church is called to proclaim the truth about God. We don't have the luxury to discern what perceived needs need to be met to keep people happy. Instead we must learn to situate ourselves in the story of God's revelation through Israel and Israel's messiah.

Of course this is no excuse for arrogance or for a refusal to listen. But when it comes down to it, the gospel defines the need as well as the answer. So the question remains, Will we allow our lives to be re-narrated by the story of sin and redemption?

Peace.

Atticus Finch: A Man's Man

2011-02-11T22:07:00.000-08:00

Recently I've been reading To Kill A Mockingbird. The book has moved me in countless ways. In particular, it has spoken to me about what it means to be a father and a man.

What I love about Atticus is not only his willingness to suffer for his convictions, but his willingness to let his children suffer as well. Atticus is called upon to defend an African American for an alleged rape of a white woman. He knows his children will suffer for his decision to do what is right yet proceeds anyway. At one point in the story, he tells Scout, his daughter, that he would not be able to discipline her--at least not with integrity--if he did not fulfill his duty.

I find this action challenging to our own cultural assumptions. It seems as if many in our culture believe the worst thing that can happen to our children is that they suffer. Many parents hover near their children to protect them from any challenge or any pain they might experience. This approach helps no one in the end. In fact, I'm coming to believe that there's something much worse than our children suffering, and that's showing them that there's nothing worth suffering for.

This is related to another fear I have about our modern understanding of what it means to be a parent: Our lives are so intertwined with our children's that we don't know where their life ends and where our's begins. Too many parents live to make their children happy, which creates a perpetual childhood. Parents surrender their adulthood, trying to make their children happy, but in the end, give their children little worthy of aspiration.

Atticus is a different. He's a man with values. He's living his own life and inviting his children--gently and slowly--to become adults with him. By embracing justice in an unjust world, Atticus displays a character dedicated to living for what's good and true, even if the result is suffering.

So what am I after here?

To begin, I believe we need to let our children be children. Let them explore again. Give them more freedom. Let them play without adult supervision and let them solve their own problems. The world is safer--at least where we live--than any other time or place in history.

I also believe it's time for adults to be adults. We don't have to live our dreams through our children; we should have our own dreams. We don't have to be fixated on having trophy children; we should be setting examples for our children. We don't have to control their lives and monitor every step of their existence; we should let them figure out some things on their own. Last but not least, we can give up an adolescent desire to be liked, even by our children.

For in the end, if we're not adults, what can we possibly say or give that will really make a difference? It's time for us to become wise, to grow up, and invite our children to do the same. With nurture, patience and most importantly, wisdom and virtue, we can help our children see the world right.

Peace.

Convictions Gone Awry

2011-01-13T10:01:00.000-08:00

Recently I've been reading a biography of Jonathan Edwards by George Mardsen. The book is beautifully written, detailing the life and times of Mr. Edwards as well as his theology.

For those of you who don't know, Jonathan Edwards is often considered to be America's greatest theologian. He was a reformed minister, instrumental--both by his preaching and writing--in leading one of America's greatest revivals in the 18th century.

In a chapter entitled "The Crucible" the reader is introduced to Jonathan's forced resignation. Edwards believed that one must show some credible signs of salvation in order to participate in the sacraments. Furthermore, all parents requesting baptism for their infants must testify to a vibrant faith in Christ. Both of these stances, after almost 20 years of ministry in the same town, did not go over well. Eventually, the church voted him out, without really wrestling with the issues at hand.

Here's how Mardsen summarizes Jonathan Edward's reflections upon this event: "It was a great advantage to his opponents, especially in stirring upon the common people, 'that the controversy was a religious controversy.' Because 'a precious and important doctrine of the Word of God' was said to be at stake, the people could 'look on their zeal against me as a virtue.' They could 'christen even their passions and bitterness in such a cause with sanctified names, and to let 'em loose and prosecute the views of their bitterness and violence without check of conscience.'" (Edward's words in italics)

I think he's right. There's something about convictions that can tempt us to embrace ungodly behavior. In fact, religious convictions often inspire us to embrace attitudes and actions that do not reflect the grace of Christ. Does this mean we abandon all convictions? By no means. Rather, we must always pursue truth with a spirit of humility and with a desire to remain reconciled. Anything less than that simple commitment will not serve anyone well, not to mention failing to reflect the grace and truth of the Word.

I imagine this church that ran Edwards out of town has already realized they could have done better had they remembered who and whose they are. Paul's words to the Ephesians applies: "Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism." (Ephesians 4.1-5)

Peace.

Giving Part 3

2010-12-02T10:39:00.001-08:00

For this last post on giving I will return to another favorite text of mine--2 Corinthians 8. Paul does something remarkable in this section of scripture by making an intimate (direct?) connection between grace and giving.

Paul writes this chapter to goad the Corinthians into following through with a pledge they had made to give to the poor Christians in Jerusalem (2 Cor. 9; 1 Cor. 16.1-4). As Paul traveled and preached the gospel, he was also asking Gentile churches to give to a fund to support the Jerusalem church which had fallen on hard times. To encourage the Corinthians to make good on their promises, he uses the Macedonian Christians as an example.

Read the text carefully. You will notice that the Macedonians gave out of poverty, not wealth. Though Paul was reluctant to mention his collection because of their own suffering, the Macedonians pleaded and begged to participate in this offering (2 Cor 8.1-4).

Can you imagine it? When's the last time you've heard of Christians begging to participate in an offering. Most of the time, Christians resent any mention of a need in church. But these Macedonians, though lacking in wealth and comfort, wanted to give to support the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem.

But more remarkable still is the language Paul employs to describe the action of the Macedonian churches. Notice, Paul begins by describing the grace of God given to the Macedonian Christians. Then, he continually refers to the offering as a "grace" in the original language, Greek (NSRV: vs. 4--privilege (grace); vs. 6--generous undertaking (grace); vs. 7--generous undertaking (grace); vs. 19--generous undertaking (grace), cf. footnotes in your Bible). To summarize this theme Paul refers to the "'generous act' (grace) of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor . . ." (vs. 19)

To me that places the concept of giving in another realm altogether. In light of God's grace and the grace that has been given to us we're called to participate in the grace of giving, of sacrificing for others and for the common good.

With that in mind, I find myself agreeing with many others who argue that a 10% tithe is merely a good starting point--just a beginning to teach us and shape us so that we might begin to grasp the grace of giving sacrificially. After all, to give in a manner that reflects grace certainly requires us to no longer give merely out of our leftovers. Rather we must grow in stewardship so that our giving actually points to what God has done for us in Christ Jesus.

Wow! I have some thinking and praying to do. I hate when I convict myself.

Peace.

Giving Part 2

2010-11-30T13:18:00.000-08:00

We live in a culture that tells us to follow our hearts. You know the routine, you've heard the messages: What's really important is that you really believe in your heart that you're doing the right thing, that you are sincere.

We apply the same logic to the rightful use of our resources. We say, in so many words, what really matters is that you give your heart to Jesus and then you can do whatever you want to with your money and time.

I'm afraid such an approach leads too easily down the well-trodden path of self-deception. It's almost as if this language is a trump-card to avoid any call to obedience or any challenging conversation. To put it more forcefully, perhaps the church has reaped a harvest of souls, but we have not reaped many people who are willing to seek first the kingdom and restructure their lives in light of its coming.

Furthermore, the assumption that we can reduce everything to a personalized decision of what the heart is focussed upon misrepresents what Jesus taught. Jesus does not say, where your heart is there your treasure will be. Instead, he offers a more challenging statement: "Where your treasure is, there you heart will be also" (Matthew 6.21). Do you see the difference? The latter focusses upon something much more concrete. It forces to think about what we treasure more than anything else, what has captured our imagination, what's central in helping us make decisions. And part of Jesus' concern is money in this text. Just a few verses later, Jesus says, "You cannot serve both God and Money."

All of this leads me to a series of questions. How much influence does money have on our lives? Is that our true treasure? Is that what matters to us more than anything else? Can we look at our checkbooks and discern where our true treasure is? Or is that too simplistic? Those are great questions to ponder as we continue to reflect upon what it means to be disciples in God's coming kingdom.

Peace.

Giving Part 1

2010-11-17T08:37:00.001-08:00

We had a great discussion in our small group last week about honoring God with our resources. It truly is a challenging concept but one we must take seriously. It is a frequent theme in scripture. Many have claimed that Jesus talked more about recourses and money than any other single subject matter. It doesn't surprise me. After all, the love of money is the root of all evil.

With that in mind, I want us think more about this topic with a series of blogs. Let's begin with Deuteronomy 8.

This chapter is one my favorites. It focusses on the temptation to pride and self-sufficiency. The concern is when the Israelites enter into the promise land and begin to taste success they will forget the Lord:

"Take care that you do not forget the Lord your God, by failing to keep his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes, which I am commanding you today. When you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks have multiplied, and your silver and gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery" (11-14).

The concept is easy to grasp. Once we taste success, we start to think, I've done it. Hence the warning: "Do not say to yourself, 'My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth'" (vs. 17). The temptation is pride and self-sufficiency. The call is to remember that God made it all possible. The warning is, "Do not forget."

This problem is still with us. David Bosch, a man who studied extensively the expansion of the church throughout history, stated that there has never been a significant movement of God in an affluent culture. John Wesley noticed that whenever wealth increased, the passion for God decreased. The lukewarm church in Revelation is probably the wealthiest; they're boasting that they don't need anything (Rev. 3.14-22). Do you see how it works? We become possessed with our possessions.

Perhaps one way to avoid this is learning to give sacrificially. Part of what the Israelites were called to do in Deuteronomy is to bring in their firstfruit offerings and their tithes. As an act of worship, this is a great way to praise God for making it all possible, a great way to remember.

What about us? What do we do? Paying God last, after we've taken care of everything we think important, hardly seems right to me. What if we learn to pay God first and limit our spending because of that commitment? Maybe we need it. What do you think?

Peace.

Vocabulary of Faith

2010-10-20T09:27:00.000-07:00

The thought occurred to me the other day that part of the reason Christianity isn't as compelling as it should be has a lot to do with our language. The words of our faith no longer work without careful explanation. They have been soiled with layers of cultural garbage. Words like sin, salvation, grace, justice and mission have lost their true meaning and also their glory. So I will attempt the presumptuous task of creating a vocabulary of faith, doing my best to stay true to the teaching and traditions of the church. I will make them brief, imagining that I must tweet each definition. Here it goes:

Creation--a sign and symbol of God's extravagant love. God needs nothing or no one to be happy or content. He exists in a communion of three--Father, Son, and Spirit. Since he needs nothing, he created for no other reason but to share his beauty and love with us.

Sin--"to be curved in on oneself" (Martin Luther), refusing to let God be God. Which means rebellion against God's truth and beauty, refusing to respond to God because we're distracted by the cares of this world, and even religious activity for the wrong reason are all forms of God-avoidance.

Grace--receiving what you did not and cannot ever deserve or earn. At the foundation of our faith is what God has done in Christ. Even our ability to respond to Christ's calls comes from God's prior work. It's all due to God's faithful and unmerited love; he does not treat us as our sins deserve.

Salvation--to be rescued from our self-centered autonomy through Christ's work and his Spirit so that we can serve God by following Jesus with others, while actively waiting for the redemption of all that is.

Faith--an absolute trust and dependence in God's wisdom and truth revealed in Christ, to have a new orientating concern producing a new way of life--the obedience that comes from faith (Romans 1.5).

Church--a community set apart by God to show the world what God envisions for the entire world. We're called to be a new social order shaped by the sacrificial love of the lamb, embodying the faith, hope and truth of Christ's gracious reign.

Mission--what God is doing to reclaim the world. God is at work in creation, Christ, and the church. To embrace God's mission is to live out the hope and love of his reign by sharing and giving in countless ways.

I hope this helps. If you would like to know more about my approach here, you'll have to treat me to coffee. If you would like scriptural references, you'll have to take me to lunch. Peace!

New Creation

2010-09-29T18:11:00.000-07:00

I will try to share some loosely connected thoughts on the phrase, New Creation (Galatians 6). I only have twenty minutes, so wish me luck.

I will start with a quote from Richard Hays:

"The church embodies the power of the resurrection in the midst of a not-yet-redeemed world. Paul's image of "new creation" stands here as shorthand signifier for the dialectal eschatology that runs throughout the New Testament. In the present time, the new creation already appears, but only proleptically; consequently, we live in suspense between Jesus' resurrection and parousia: 'The whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies'" (Rom. 8:22-23). (Hays, 198)

Hays goes on to elaborate that in Christ we know that the powers of the old age are doomed, and the new creation is already appearing. This creates the tension he mentioned above: On the one hand, any notion that anyone or any movement is a perfect representation of God's kingdom is mistaken; for the kingdom is not yet. On the other hand, we still celebrate that there is something significant happening right here and right now, for God's reign has dawned in the ministry of Jesus.

But the question remains, where? Where is this new creation? According to Paul's writings, and reading between the lines a bit, the new creation is found in Christ, in the Spirit, and in the church. We experience Christ's love and forgiveness by becoming new creatures in him. The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God--Romans 8:16. The spirit is also the first fruits (Romans 8:23), which means there's more to come; God is not done yet: All of creation is groaning, waiting for redemption. Last but not least, we experience God's new creation when we encounter a community that lives out God's sacrificial love.

My time is up. I must now go and talk about "Violence in Defense of Justice." I'm sure I'll be crucified. Peace!

The Family, The Nation, The City Within a City

2010-08-25T09:01:00.000-07:00

This week I will cite two quotes, both of which deal with the notion that we are set free for love, specifically sharing together in God's love.

"The gospel is never for individuals but always for a people. Sin fragments us, separates us, and sentences us to solitary confinement. Gospel restores us, unites us, and sets us in community. The life of faith revealed and nurtured in the biblical narratives is highly personal but never merely individual: always there is a family, a tribe, a nation--church . . . A believing community is the context for the life of faith . . . Love cannot exist in isolation: away from others, love bloats into pride. Grace cannot be received privately: cut off from others, it is perverted into greed. Hope cannot develop in solitude: separated from the community, it goes to seed in the form of fantasies."

Outdo one another in showing honor (Rom. 12.10)

Live in harmony with one another (Rom. 12.16)

Welcome one another (Rom. 15.7)

Admonish one another (Rom. 15.14)

Greet one another with a holy kiss (Rom. 16.16)

Wait for one another (1 Cor. 11.33)

Have the same care for one another (1 Cor. 12.25)

Be servants of one another (Gal. 5.13)

Bear one another's burdens (Gal. 6.2)

Comfort one another (1 Thess. 5.11)

Build one another up (1 Thess. 5.11)

Be at peace with one another (1 Thess. 5.13)

Do good to one another (1 Thess. 5.15)

Bear with one another lovingly (Eph. 5.2)

Be kind and compassionate to one another (Eph. 4.32)

Be subject to one another (Eph. 5.21)

Forgive one another (Col. 3.13)

Confess your sins to one another (James 5.16)

Pray for one another (James 5.16)

Love one another from the heart (1 Pet. 1.22)

Be hospitable to one another (1 Pet. 4.9)

Meet one another with humility (1 Pet. 5.5)

Have fellowship with one another (1 John 1.7)

(List take from Lohfink's, Jesus and Community, 101)

Need I say more?

Peace.

Resisting the Powers

2010-08-18T14:58:00.000-07:00

Last week's sermon represented many years of reflection. Over the past few years, I've been thinking about this strange language in the New Testament of powers, rulers, authorities, and elemental substances.

Here's where I stand right now on the subject matter. There are forces at work in the world that manifest themselves through human institutions, ways of thinking, philosophy, and culture. These forces or powers were created as good, created by God in Christ (Col. 1:15-16). After all, we can't live without any any of the things mentioned above.

However, these powers or forces have been infected with evil, and therefore they often take on a life of their own and assume a god-like role for us; this explains why Jesus had to disarm these powers (Col. 2:15) and why the rulers crucified Christ (1 Cor. 2.8). With that in mind, we can now understand the problem--humans submit to these other powers and forces, and they become enslaved to them (Galatians 4.1-11).

The examples are legion. Sex is good, created by God to be enjoyed between two people in a marriage relationship. However, sexual freedom has taken on a life of its own; it's in the air. It's as if the worst thing imaginable is to deny your sexual desires, no matter how base they might be, creating another problem in our culture--sexual addiction. Government is necessary, but most governments demand our allegiance, which can easily separate us from Christ and his kingdom. Philosophy is good and worthwhile, but it often sets up ways of looking at the world that separate us from the ways that God wants us to live. On and on the list could go. The point being, there are many enslaving forces in our world.

The answer to this dilemma is, of course, God's work on the cross in Christ. Christ disarmed the powers and redeemed us from the enslaving forces. Now we know who the true Lord is. For we also know how evil the powers have become; they would rather kill God's son than assume their rightful place. Therefore, we should be done with them, we should die to them, and live for Christ.

After all, why live for idols? They will only increase your sorrows (Ps. 16.4).

Peace

Refusing to Let God Be God

2010-08-11T14:22:00.000-07:00

"The greatest mistake we can make, spiritually speaking, is to remain at a distance from God, content to engage in a few routine exercises of piety and to avoid sin as a matter of moral duty. We respect God as our maker, but our hearts do not belong wholly to him. We are still absorbed in our own ambitions, troubles, comforts, anxieties, interests, and fears. When we do turn to God, it is usually because we want him to sort out our difficulties or dispense rewards, but the thought of passionate, committed love embarrasses us." (Susan Muto, Pathways of Spiritual Living, 143-144).

This little quote might very well be a good summary of the apathy that infects the church from time to time. The problem, if we take Muto's thoughts seriously, is certainly not God. Nor is the problem the world per se. It's not busyness or moral complexity. The problem is our own failure to let God really be God in our lives. I worry that many people like the idea of God--just in case it might be true. Many others are interested in God because they believe that if they give him just enough obedience God will reward them with comfort. Very few simply want God for who he is. Many bristle at the thought of surrendering their lives to him in our commitment adverse culture; they want to keep their options open.

All of this reveals a much deeper problem--a failure to comprehend the gospel. If we truly know, deep down inside, the extent of God's love--the love which motivated this same God to give up his son for our freedom, then giving our entire selves to God is not strange at all. Paul gave up his commitment to the law once he met Christ. Having come to terms with the Son of God who loved him and gave himself up him, Paul willingly--joyfully--gave up his old way of looking at the world in order to be found in Christ. Simply put, the gospel should change us into people who want live for God and His love.

Peace.

Embodied Salvation

2010-08-04T18:22:00.000-07:00

I've recently read Bryan Stone's book, Evangelism after Christendom, for the third time (yes, it's that good). He's arguing that the church must be a foretaste to what God envisions for the entire world. God's reign of peace has been inaugurated in the death and resurrection of Jesus. As the church waits for the fulness of that reign the church is called show the world what God envisions for the entire world. To articulate this fuller, Bryan Stone mentions three signs of the church (not exhaustive but illustrative) for consideration:

First, joy. "According to Luke, the church's response to rejection and persecution was that 'the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit' (Acts 13.52)." Furthermore, throughout the New Testament, the word joy is repeatedly used to describe new life (read Philippians as one example).

Second, unity. Two texts come to mind--John 17 and Acts 4:32-34. The former text depicts Jesus praying for the church, and high on his list is unity. The latter describes what life looks like when the Spirit takes up residence in a community.

Third, resistance. This last sign of the church is the most challenging. " . . . if Jesus is Lord, then resistance was due to any power that would attempt to exercise rival lordship in the life of the believer, either by determining that person's identity or by requiring the believer to do things contrary to the reality of God's reign" (105). He continues to recount the early Christians refusal to be placed in service to the state. Then he states: "This latter point about resisting the powers is central to the apostolic narrative of the birth of the church but is frequently overlooked in the present church's retelling, probably because we do not represent anything like a threat to the status quo (whether that be the state, the military, the market, or civil society. Jesus, as we know, was executed on charges of crimes against both the temple and the state . . ." After reminding us of this sobering truth, Stone reminds us how often the earliest Christians found themselves in trouble for being the church (cf. Acts). The point being, we can't give our souls to Jesus and then surrender our bodies to the state or the market, that is, if Jesus is truly Lord. For if he's Lord, it all belongs to him--our bodies, souls, and minds.

This latter paragraph is very powerful and maybe even troubling to us. Something to think about.

I'm Back

2010-07-26T12:23:00.001-07:00

It's been a while since I've blogged. I'll try to do better. What to say today? I don't really know. I'll turn to some thoughts from the sermon (7-25).

Yesterday, we looked at the main issue in Galatians--how quickly the Galatians defected from the God who called them in grace.

The Galatians were swayed by another gospel, by another version of the good news--the gospel of the law. Many believed that is what everyone needed; they believed the law is and should remain the main thing. It's what will ultimately save.

For Paul, the gospel is nothing more or less than the good news of God's kingdom. The phrase he uses in Galatians is New Creation: "For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything!" (Galatians 6.15). This New Creation/Kingdom has begun and it will come in its fullness. Between these two advents, the church is called to witness to what God intends for the entire world. This is the gospel; there is no other.

The question remains, what does it mean to be a community of this gospel? What other gospels might we be tempted to live for that keep us from representing what God envisions for the world? For the Galatians it was the law, but for us it might be something else. Thoughts?

Peace.

Practices of the Gospel

2010-05-17T16:33:00.000-07:00

I posed the following question in yesterday's sermon, Shouldn't we embrace practices that reflect and strengthen our commitment to the God who has saved us in love?

I asked that question because of Acts 15. In that amazing story, the early church dismissed the ritualistic law as a binding force on the Christian community. But the church did not dismiss naming a form of life that reflects true gospel living. The early council affirmed that there are practices to be avoided, namely practices related to idol worship. It's important to follow the logic here: the council did not impose new ritualistic regulations on the Gentiles, rather they wanted to makes sure the Gentiles understood that they have been set free from the gods of the market and the gods of the state to serve the one true God of Israel (cf. 1 Thess. 1).

In light of this text, What would be wrong with us embracing practices that help us stay true to God--even if those practices are somewhat specific to our context? If we have truly tasted the goodness of God, what would be wrong with saying here are some structures that enable us to live in that goodness?

I can't think of anything that would be wrong with that. Can you? The next question is then, What practices should we embrace? What type of structure do we need? What do you think?

Peace.

Conversion

2010-04-28T14:36:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday we talked about Paul's conversion found in Acts 9. What I love about this story, as well as the many other conversion stories in Acts, is that Paul's conversion is about being enlisted into God's cause. Paul, a man with a strong agenda, is changed by his encounter with the truth that Jesus is the Messiah. This is not a story of self-actualization; instead it's a story of real change because of an encounter with the truth. Paul's kingdom, his agenda, crumbled to the ground, making room for God's agenda.

I suggested the same must happen to us. The call for us is to learn to give up on trying to save ourselves through whatever means we find meaningful, and instead, to give up ourselves for Christ and his kingdom. The goal is not to make Christ relevant to our lives, but to let the Spirit transform us so that our lives become relevant to God and his kingdom.

But what does that mean? I think at a bare minimum it means that the Kingdom of God is now on our radar screens. You see, we might not know what to do. We might even feel lost in terms of direction, but there's been a change. Whereas once it was all me, myself and I; now we're thinking about and beginning to desire the truth, beauty and goodness found in God, in his Son, and in his creation.

Conversion is fundamentally a transformation of our desires. More on that later . . .

Peace.

Elder Brother, Again

2010-04-01T14:20:00.000-07:00

I'm still thinking about the elder brother. I'm sorry, I can't help myself. I can't stop thinking about it.

The thought occurred to me this afternoon, perhaps this parable is scandalous because of our inability to perceive properly--and receive!--God's love. God's love might not be enough . . . and yet it might be too much for us.

Reading Henri Nouwen's The Return of the Prodigal Son has forced me to ask the question, Is God's love enough? The elder brother has been with his father, and his father has left the party to find him, to invite him in. The father obviously loves the elder son. But it's not enough. There's something more he desires. Control? Money? Appreciation? All of the above? Who knows? The questions remains, Is God's love enough for us? Is it enough for me?

It if it isn't enough for me, then it's easy to become filled with resentment. I will resent those who have more and who do less, find myself bitter when I'm not acknowledged for the love I give, angry when I do not receive the respect I feel I deserve, unable to rejoice with those who rejoice.

Nouwen believes the elder brother is lost in resentment. God's love is not enough, therefore, he feels cheated. He refuses to be found, resisting God's love.

But on the other hand, perhaps God's love is too much. The elder brother might resist God's love because he's not sure he wants a father who loves rebellious younger brothers with equal passion. This son of the father's has wasted the family's inheritance, weakened their social and economical standing, and yet, he is treated like a faithful prince. This is offensive to common sense morality. It's much like the parable of the workers--at the end of the day everyone received the same amount, those who worked all day and those who only worked the last hour. God's love is too much for some. I mean, honestly, do we want to sit down at a table with immoral losers who stand against all we support and now, by grace, are a part of the kingdom? Many of the Pharisees weren't interested in a such a kingdom. Are we? Is God's grace too great? Is his mercy too wonderful for us? Is his love too much? Are ready and willing to sit down at a table and fellowship with former, or current, enemies who are loved equally by God.

After all, God's grace might take us into the heart of some of our deepest fears. God's grace calls us to relinquish control. We can longer depend upon our own goodness but upon God's mercy. Furthermore, we can't dictate anymore who's in and who's out; this is God's doing. And he might very well call us to people we don't like. It's really hard to believe that God does NOT dispense his love based upon how well people behave. It's not a performance-based love. It's free for all! God's love is often too much.

If any of this is true, how do we respond? If we're still stuck, then what do we do. Nouwen suggests three things. First, let yourself be found. God wants you, let him find you. Recognize that he's been searching for you, stop running, stop working, let yourself be found. Second, trust--trust in the father's love. His love should be enough for us. Third, live with gratitude. We're called to recognize that all is a gift, the call to work early in the day and the ability to work late in the day. It's all a donation from God's love, a response to God's initiating grace.

We return to the theme from The Shack: "Learn to live loved." Easier said than done.

Peace.

The Older Brother

2010-03-30T12:10:00.000-07:00

Timothy Keller is fairly hard on the older brother (The Prodigal God). He believes the older brother is lost. His self-righteousness blinds him to the need for grace, therefore, he's not living in a relationship of joy and love with the father. Is Timothy Keller correct in his assessment? Or is he being too hard on the older brother?

I'm still thinking about it. But this is where I stand right now: the older brother's response is understandable but not necessarily excusable--it's not something we should endorse. After all, he is bitter and angry. He doesn't believe the celebration is fair; his father's passionate love has deeply offended him. So he refuses to participate in this feast of love and forgiveness, clinging to his own morality, refusing to participate in the kingdom of grace. At the end of the day, he's not too sure he wants to be a part of a family where rebellious sons are loved and embraced without restitution, without paying for their mistakes.

In light of the context--Jesus speaking to the Pharisees--this is a legitimate interpretation, I feel, of the older brother. Remember, many of the Pharisees were scandalized by Jesus because of his message of grace. They were constantly on the outside looking in. They did not see their need to repent of their self-righteousness to become a part of God's new creation.

The older brother is like that. The father is pleading with him to come in--to enter into the kingdom of love, forgiveness, and transforming grace. But he refuses.

Such an interpretation pushes us toward the heart of the gospel. The gospel is not fundamentally about morality, nor is it about immorality. Rather the gospel is first and foremost about living abundantly in Christ. It's about being a part of God's new creation, about becoming a new creature in Christ--all of which comes from God's gracious activity in our lives. The gospel is not I obey, therefore, God must accept me. Such an approach is a prison because the question becomes, "How much obedience do I owe?" The gospel instead is, I'm accepted, therefore, I obey. The life I live, I now live in Christ. This is the only stance that truly enables us to love, forgive, and bless our enemies because it recognizes that all is from grace. Perhaps that's what the older brother forgot, he forgot that it's all a gift; it all comes from grace.

I'm thinking of Paul. If anyone lived a moral life according to the law, it was Paul: "as to righteousness under the law, blameless" (Phil. 3). But he continues: "Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith" (Phil. 3).

What matters, even for a former Pharisee like Paul, is new life in Christ and his kingdom.

Peace.

The Threat of Justice?

2010-03-24T10:57:00.000-07:00

Glenn Beck has caused quite stir among Christians lately. On his March 2 radio show, Beck told his listeners: "I beg you, look for the words 'social justice' or 'economic justice' on your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words. Now am I advising people to leave their church? . . . Yes! Leave your church." Beck went on to state that "social justice" was the common rallying cry of both Nazis and Communists.

Questions naturally abound: Are those the words that come to mind when you think about Hitler and Stalin--social justice? Does Beck understand the biblical tradition? He says social justice is the forced redistribution of wealth--Does he honestly believe that's what Christians mean by social justice? (No church tradition I know of supports this.) How many Christians will follow Beck's advice? What does it mean that a conservative is threatened by Christ and the teachings of His church? These are some of the questions that I have rolling around in the back of my mind.

Regardless, there are two points that must be emphasized: First, to be a Christian is to be concerned with the left out and the left behind, the lost and the last. This is an undeniable truth. If you eliminate all of the references to caring for the poor (some 3,000 verses), you'd have a much thinner bible. Furthermore, you can't escape the call in scripture to be passionate about justice. Israel's prophets and Israel's messiah both addressed justice on a regular basis (cf. Amos 5.24; Micah 6.6-8; Luke 4.14-19--Jesus' inaugural sermon).

Secondly, for the church, there is something that takes precedence before the state. We're not called to serve God and empire. Instead we're called to pledge allegiance to Jesus and his way. At times this stance will turn us into both friends and enemies, depending on the situation and context, to the political agendas of our world. We must always remember, we are called to seek first God's kingdom and his justice (Matthew 6--justice is implied in the biblical word righteousness).

On that note, I'm starting to wonder if there isn't something much deeper at stake in this conflict--who or what will ultimately shape our allegiances? More on that later . . .

Peace.

The Cross

2010-02-21T19:41:00.001-08:00

I'm finally back after several long, excruciating weeks of wrestling with our little development project. When I started down this path of trying to develop our property it was fun, mostly because it was new and exciting. But three years later, I'm spent. There's little joy left, just a general sense of dread. Of course I'm being a little dramatic but not terribly so. The details and the conflicts have worn me out. Yet, I still sense God is trying to teach me something through it all--that something, however, remains a mystery right now.

Regardless, I'm glad my mind is returning to Christ and his church. It's feels good to let my heart gravitate toward the things that give me joy.

So let's talk about the cross (yes, this does bring me joy). A few weeks ago, I preached a little sermon on the cross in which I asked the question, What is the cross? I defined the cross as the price we pay for obedience to Jesus and his way. The cross is not a bad back, an annoying mother-in-law, a noisy neighbor, a spiritual drought, depression, uncontrollable anxiety or even a bothersome church member. Rather, the cross is something we willingly take up, a sacrifice we make in a broken world, to follow Jesus in obedience.

The easiest way to think about this is to talk about some of our core practices. For instance, if you want to forgive, you must deny yourself and your desire for revenge, absorb much of the pain and free the perpetrator from your grip. This is free for the recipient but costly for the giver. The giver bore a cross in order to be obedient to Jesus and his way. Similarly, if you want to be generous, you must be shaped by a new way of thinking--you must recognize that we are members of one another. But to get there, you will have to deny yourself and the belief that my money is exactly that--my money!--and begin to loosen your grip in order to give. Such an action points to the cross, because you are willingly sacrificing for others.

I could go on and on. You get the point. To follow Jesus, you must take up a cross. As Bonhoeffer states, "A Christianity without the cross is a Christianity without Christ." And I might add, a discipleship without the cross is a discipleship without Christ. The cross stands before us all, calling us to come and die so that we might embrace the way of Jesus, becoming a fragrance of hope and love for a broken world.

Peace.

The Kingdom Revolution

2010-01-21T10:32:00.000-08:00

Sunday's sermon created a real sense of dread for me. The challenge was immense--I needed to talk about God's kingdom.

As I pointed out, the Kingdom of God is central to the life and ministry of Jesus. Jesus begins his ministry in Matthew, Mark, and Luke by announcing the nearness of God's reign. Furthermore, his healings and parables point to what the kingdom is like.

Yet, talking about the kingdom is frustrating. Jesus never defined it. He never gave us a working definition. He never preached a three point sermon coupled with a poem to help us out. Instead, and perhaps this is the point, a person had to follow Jesus--watching, listening and learning--to get a sense of what the kingdom is like. In other words, you have to seek it, and then you will find it; you have to be open to it in order to receive it. Jesus implies this in his explanation for why he speaks in parables. Relying upon Isaiah, Jesus says in essence, outsiders won't get it (Mark 4.11-12). You have to seek it to see it, believe in it to find it. You have to become like children.

Therefore, those for whom the present order is a real source of comfort will always have a hard time even hearing a sermon about God's kingdom; it's so irrelevant, they might state, to my own desire and longing to make it in this modern world. Pastor, we want therapy, make God relevant to our life. Such a stance, if it exists, emphasizes greatly the need to repent (change your mind and your orientation in light of the coming kingdom). The call is radical: Make your life relevant to God's rule and reign in Jesus.

That being said, what is the kingdom? Last Sunday, I talked about God's dream for a kingdom characterized by justice, peace and righteousness found in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, along comes Jesus and says, this reign--proclaimed and longed for--has come near in me and those who follow me. The dream is becoming a reality.

But it might be more helpful, upon further reflection, to think about a revolution! The Israelites knew what we often refuse to acknowledge--this present order is not right. It's controlled by violence, greed, an unhealthy freedom from others and responsibility, selfishness, and injustice. What's needed, assuming of course that God cares deeply about his creation (the right assumption; he doesn't merely care about souls and spirits), is a revolution. The prophets dreamed of a revolution, a new government, a new community. Then Jesus comes and says, the revolution has begun. God's desire to reclaim his creation in love has started, pay attention and sign up for this is really good news.

But now we must listen carefully. We need to pay attention. We need to look long and hard. We need to listen with a spiritual attentiveness. This revolution is God's reign of peace. Jesus is creating a community where sin and evil doesn't have to reign. A community where justice prevails, where love rules, even love of enemy. A community that embraces the stranger, the alien, the orphan. A community where forgiveness is what holds us together because we are shaped by grace, generosity and joy in the Spirit, not fear and stinginess. A community where members will lay down their lives for one another, witnessing to the radical truth that Jesus is Lord and that vulnerable love will win!

Let the revolution continue, let it come in us and through us. There is no other hope.

Peace.

For Every Yes, There Must Be A No

2010-01-10T14:46:00.000-08:00

Today we kicked off our new series on discipleship. Renouncing was the theme. To be a follower of Christ, we are called to renounce all that keeps us from exclusive loyalty to Him. We see it in many different ways throughout the Gospel of Mark, including the call of the first disciples who left their vocations to follow Jesus (cf. Mark 1).

Granted, Jesus is not here, physically that is, calling us to leave our jobs and homes and follow him. Nonetheless, we still experience the call. And the call is somewhat basic to anything in life--whenever we find a treasure, we turn away from the familiar to embrace the new. When we fall in love, we break off old ties for this new person. When we find a new hobby, we renounce other potential distractions.

Similarly, in light of the good news, we turn away from the old. The old news is the typical narrative of self, sin, violence, and hopelessness--a world caught in a cycle from which it can't liberate itself. The new is what God has done and is doing through Jesus. It is Jesus who can lead us out of this mess to our true home. In light of such wonderful news, we renounce. We renounce the old, the familiar, and the comfortable for the new, the good, and the beautiful.

Worship Forum Reflections

2010-01-06T10:15:00.001-08:00

Last Sunday we had a great discussion together in our open forum.

For those of you who missed it, I talked about the importance of worship for the life of a believing community. Then I presented three potential problems in the form of questions that hinder us from coming together in meaningful worship: 1) Does Sunday work anymore? There are more activities on Sunday than ever before, crowding out our commitment to church. 2) Does 10:30 work? Some Sundays begin with about 10-12 people and then end with 85. Do we need to change the time? 3) Does our worship work? Many seem uninterested, choosing to read or talk during the service. Is our worship no longer connecting with you?

After a healthy discussion, it seemed as if the general consensus was that Sunday at 10:30 is not perfect, but it's as good as any other option. Likewise, worship does not meet everyone's expectations (it never will), but for the most part, it's effective. What's needed instead of a sweeping change is to reflect upon our priorities, about what it means to belong to a community dedicated to worshipping God.

So here's the challenge that emerged from the discussion: Let's consider making a concerted effort to arrive at 10:20, to greet others, find our places, and get ready to worship. Here's an easy way to remember it: 10:20 in 2010. I know there will be days when you'll be late; it happens to all of us, including yours truly; and of course, I'd rather have all of you late than not at all. That aside, it would be fun to reverse the current trend and start service 80% full.

Also, I would encourage all of us to think a little bit about what it means to honor the Sabbath. This is complicated, I know. We don't want a legalistic standard, but what messages are we sending to our children if church is what we do when we don't have anything else going on? What is a good reason to miss? There are many different responses to that question. In the meantime, let's keep discussing, thinking, and praying about it.

Peace.

Vacation Questions

2010-01-01T21:01:00.001-08:00

Nearly everything I've experienced on vacation has made me think about the church--most of it troubling (I can run on vacation, but I can't hide). First, I've been reading The Poisonwood Bible (a book about a well-meaning but terribly destructive pastor who's stuck in his own stubborn ignorance and therefore never helps anyone, not even his family). Then my wife and I watched Doubt (a movie that forces you to side with either a corrupt priest or a stern pharisaic nun; you must choose which one is right--I think the priest is as guilty as sin, my wife believes the nun is). Finally, I was introduced to the Internet Monk, a blog that sharply criticizes certain elements of Christianity. Although he doesn't say anything I haven't already heard or thought before, his blog caused me to reflect yet again on the destructive tendencies inherent in religious certainty.

These encounters create for me a real sense of angst. I start to ask myself hard questions: What is the point of church? Where do we go wrong? Why do we so often get it wrong? What should church look like? How should we preach and teach? What's the point of everything we do?

The answer to these questions aren't obvious, at least not to me. I don't even want to try and answer them right now, except to say, I am hungry for something I can't quite articulate. I want something that's real, thoughtful, grace-filled, and life-transforming. Something that touches our everyday world with beauty and goodness. I'm tired of sermonizing, even though to my own shame, I've spent too much time doing it. I'm tired of empty promises and simplistic slogans. I want something less than what is often offered and yet something more, something deeper.

I'm still thinking, still searching . . . hoping to find . . . hoping God will lead.

Peace.

A Time to Reflect . . .

2009-12-17T12:06:00.001-08:00

Brennan Manning poses a very interesting challenge. Let's listen in:

"To ascertain where you really are with the Lord, recall what saddened you the past month. Was is it the realization that you do not love Jesus enough? That you did not seek his face in prayer often enough? That you did not care for his people enough? Or did you get depressed over a lack of respect, criticism from an authority figure, your finances, a lack of friends, fears about the future, or your bulging waistline? Conversely, what gladdened you the past month? Reflection on your election to the Christian community? The joy of saying slowly, 'Abba, Father?' The afternoon you stole away for two hours with on the gospel as you companion? A small victory over selfishness? Or were the sources of your joy a new car, a Brooks Brothers suit, a great date, great sex, a raise, or a loss of four inches from your waistline." (The Importance of Being Foolish, 2005)

Convicting, isn't it? Advent is a time for reflection. We're called to think about our lives in light of Christ's love and truth. Brennan Manning suggests, with this quote, that we need to audit our lives and ponder upon the question, what makes us happy? Learning to love more faithfully? Spending time with the hurting? Helping those in need? Or, getting our way? Another pair of shoes? Another app for the iphone? What do we celebrate?

As I've often said before, conversion is a transformation of our desires. With God's faithful guidance and empowerment, our desires are redirected toward a noble end--the glorification of God and the enjoyment of His goodness through creation and community. Something to think about.

Peace.

Love and Knowledge

2009-12-10T14:01:00.001-08:00

When thinking about the day of the Lord, Paul has one simple desire: He wants his churches to be holy in love (1 Thessalonians 3, Philippians 1). In last Sunday's text (Phil. 1), Paul prays for the church's love to increase in knowledge and insight, making them discerning and equipped to be holy and blameless on the day of Christ's return.

Paul continues this thought throughout his letter. In chapter 2.1-3, he calls them to be of the same mind, having experienced the goodness of God. Then he holds up Christ's sacrifice as an example and calls the church to have the same mind (2.5). He also calls those who are mature to be of the same mind (3.15). And when addressing two women leaders who can't get along, Paul urges them to have the same mind in the Lord (4.2).

All of this suggests that our love needs to be sharpened by a renewed understanding of what it means to love and live together in fellowship. I believe this poses a challenge for us because our understanding of love is rather anemic. We love just about everything in our culture, mostly that which makes us feel good. I love ice-cream, we scream. I love to run. I love chocolate. I love American idol. Don't you just love that leather coach. I love my new house. On and on the list could go.

Unfortunately, this feeling-based love has little to do with Christian love. Christian love is sacrificial. It is a love that seeks the well-being of others, a love that considers others first. Christian love is not sympathy or pity, both of which tend toward mere sentiment, but it is compassionate, which moves toward action. Christian love is deep, tough, substantive, and gracious.

This compare and contrast example is only one idea. There are other ways in which our understanding of what it means to be loving needs to be audited and challenged. So the call remains--we must let our love increase in knowledge and insight so that we can love as God has called us to love.

Peace,

David S.

A House of Prayer for All Nations

2009-11-18T13:30:00.000-08:00

I trust the significance of last Sunday's service was not lost on anyone. It was a real pleasure to gather with the Indonesian congregation in worship and to sing songs in another language. The experience made me reflect upon a couple of themes that are dear to my heart.

To begin, I believe that when people of all nations come together in worship, we are witnessing to the power of the gospel. In Ephesians, Paul states the church reveals the wisdom of God to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places (Eph. 3.9-10). No doubt, part of what Paul is describing here is a church of Jews and Gentiles who have come together in peace--"For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us" (Eph. 2.14). Here we see the church showing the world what God wants the world to be like, for at the end of the time, the nations walk in the light of the glory of God (Rev. 21.24).

All of this reminds me of a challenge the early Christians faced. Many of their opponents knew the prophecies of the Old Testament. They argued that many of these prophecies are unfufilled so Jesus must not be the Messiah. The opponents argued from a passage like Isaiah 2.1-5 that when the Messiah comes, there must be peace among the nations. But look around, these opponents continued, there is no peace among the nations, therefore, Jesus is not the messiah.

The early Christians responded by saying, You're wrong, look at the church, there you'll find people coming together from different tribes and languages to worship the one true God in glory. In responding to an opponent who utilizes the Isaiah 2 passage against the Christians, Origen states:

"This house is exalted 'above the hills' which are those men who seem to profess some exceptional ability in wisdom and truth. 'All nations' are coming to it, and 'many nations' go, and we exhort one another to the worship of God through Jesus Christ which has shone out in the last days, saying: 'Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will proclaim to us his way and we will walk in it.'"

Similarly Justin wrote in the second century the following:

'That this prophecy [Isaiah 2.1-5], too, was verified you can readily believe, for twelve illiterate men, unskilled in the art of speaking, went out from Jerusalem into the world, and by the power of God they announced to the men of every nation that they were sent by Christ to teach everyone the word of God; and we, who once killed one another, [now] not only do not wage war against our enemies, but, in order to avoid lying or deceiving our examiners, we even meet death cheerfully, confessing Christ."

The early Christians pointed to the church as proof that the Messiah had come. In the church, there should be peace among the nation; and when there is, we show the world what God intends for the world. We become an appetizer to the great heavenly banquet.

So I hope that you share this vision, and that you want to build up the church, by learning to love all people from all nations. This is our call, this is our task.

Peace.

More Thoughts on "The Missy Question"

2009-10-28T11:51:00.000-07:00

I'm still thinking about evil in creation as it relates to the Missy question--"God, if you can't take care of Missy, how can I trust you to take care of me?" I think it might be helpful to include some very lengthy quotes from David Bentley Hart. These are taken from a collection of essays in his book, In the Aftermath.

In the first quote he's challenging the belief that Christians must believe God is behind everything--the good as well as the evil, or that God needs evil and pain to prove how good he is. He's writing about the Indian Ocean Tsunami of December 2004 that destroyed towns and villages. Let's listen to his closing remarks.

"I do not to believe Christians are obliged--or even allowed--to look upon the devastation visited upon the coasts of the Indian Ocean and to console themselves with vacuous cant about the mysterious course taken by God's goodness in this world, or to assure others that some ultimate meaning or purpose resides in so much misery. Theirs is, after all, a religion of salvation; their faith is in a God who has come to rescue his creation from the absurdity of sin and the emptiness of death, and so they are permitted to hate these things with a perfect hatred. For while Christ takes the suffering of his creatures up into his own, it is not because he or they had need of suffering, but because he would not abandon his creatures to the grave. And while we know that the victory over evil and death has been won, we know also that it is a victory yet to come, and the creation therefore, as Paul says, groans in expectation of the glory that will one day be revealed. Until then, the world remains a place of struggle between light and darkness, truth, and falsehood, life and death; and, in such a world, our portion is charity." (116)

I want you to listen carefully to what he's saying here. This is a very Wesleyan perspective, one that liberates us from having to believe that God sends pain to teach us lessons or even that God needs evil for some greater good. The struggle this side of heaven is real. And truth be told, we will lose some skirmishes, but we won't lose the war. The not yet victory has already been won in the death and resurrection of Jesus. In the meantime, while we wait for the final victory, our job is charity--to witness to God's grace and love.

But there's more that needs to be said. Let's listen again to David Hart:

"As for comfort, when we seek it, I can imagine none greater than the happy knowledge that when I see the death of a child I do not see the face of God, but the face of his enemy. It is not a faith that would necessarily satisfy Ivan Karamazov, but neither is it one that his arguments can defeat: for it has set us free from optimism, and taught us hope instead. We can rejoice that we are saved not through the immanent mechanisms of history and nature, but by grace; that God will not unite all of history's many strands in one great synthesis, but will judge much of history false and damnable; that he will not simply reveal the sublime logic of fallen nature, but will strike off the fetters in which creation languishes; and that, rather than showing us how the tears of a small girl suffering in the dark were necessary for the building of the Kingdom, he will instead raise her up and wipe away all tears from her eyes--and there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, nor any more pain, for the former things will have passed away, and he that sits upon the throne will say, "Behold, I make all things new."

Amen to that. Let us rejoice in the hope that we have.

Peace.

The Missy Question

2009-10-22T21:12:00.000-07:00

As we continue our series entitled "Reflections on the Shack," we have to deal with the Missy question. Mack asks God, "If you can't take care of Missy, how can I trust you to take care of me?" This question embodies much of Mack's pain. At the core of his being, Mack no longer believes that God is good. Mack can't bring together these two words--pain and providence. They don't fit together when he first enters the shack.

You see, Mack believes, at the start of the book, that God must be behind everything--the good and the bad, justice and injustice. So Mack assumes that God must have played a part in Missy's death. Mack even asks, God, did you take Missy away from me for the way I treated my father? Mack believes God sends evil and he authors wickedness . . . to make a point.

This view creates some very troubling questions. Does God take away loved ones? Is disparity part of God's plan?--some children have everything, some won't see their first birthday. Does God send pain to teach us spiritual lessons, as some suggest? In other words, does God need evil to show how good he is?

I can't buy this. Can you?

Thankfully, there is an alternative. Mack soon discovers, as he journeys with God in the shack, that God is not behind everything. God reveals to Mack that in world where freedom is a reality, freedom can be abused. If freedom is real, the consequences have to be real as well. If God takes away the consequences, he must also take away the freedom. He gave us freedom because he wants to be freely loved, and we've abused it. This world is marred by our sin. Humans are at the pinnacle of creation, which means when we abuse our freedom and reject God's love, we unleash evil forces in all of creation.

All of this means, we don't have to believe that God's hands are wrapped around steering wheels or that his fingers are on triggers. We don't have to look into the death of a child and try to discern the face of God. We don't have to look at disparity and try to talk about the inscrutable purposes of God.

Instead, we can hate evil, wickedness and injustice with a perfect hatred. We can state clearly that this is not what God intends. Death is the final enemy to be defeated. There are still forces opposed to God's purposes.

The good news: these forces are being overcome. Our salvation is about redemption and rescue.

Peace.

The God Who Heals

2009-10-06T09:12:00.000-07:00

It was a rough Sunday in my estimation. The sermon (10-4) was a little flat.

Let me restate it as briefly as I can. God wants to heal us by setting us free from sin and evil so that we can love and be loved. Read that one more time. It's important that we understand it.

You see, we believe sin separates us from God and from one another. Evil, the evil done to us and the evil we embrace, does the same thing; it weakens the intimacy we can enjoy with God and with others. If this is true, then salvation is being reconciled to God as well as to one another.

Luke's gospel points us in this direction. In Luke's gospel we discover that salvation is holistic. The word saved is often translated as made whole or made well (cf. Luke 8.48). Furthermore, we discover that many people that are healed and made whole again are set free for community life--the leper (Lk. 5), the woman with blood disorder (Lk. 8) and the woman bent over by evil (Lk. 18).

I believe we can relate to this. Our sin makes us like lepers, it keeps us from others. The evil in our lives does the same. Does it shock us then that God wants to set us free so that we can do what we really want to do, love others in joy and freedom? It doesn't shock me at all. God's mission is one of healing--the healing of the world and the healing of our lives.

I believe this is the movement we find in The Shack as well. Mack needs to be set free from his pain, evil, and his idolatry (the ways he's made God in his own image). In meeting God, the real God he is now free for love.

We need to pursue the same movement in our own life. We need to pursue health. You can't be too passionate about your own health. So here's my challenge. I want you to think about the things that keep you from others. What keeps you from loving? Shame? Guilt? Poor self-image? Pride? Arrogance? Fear? Work on these sins as the Spirit leads and transforms. Peace.

Papa's Womb-like Compassion

2009-09-24T08:28:00.001-07:00

We finally began our series on The Shack. Last Sunday we delved into what many people find offensive about this book--it's portrayal of God. If you've read the book, you know what I'm talking about. God reveals himself to Mack, the main character, as an African American woman who loves to cook and is fond of everyone she speaks of.

Though many people have been offended by this picture, it never really troubled me. In scripture we discover maternal images of God. Read Isaiah 49.15-16 as well as Isaiah 66.13. Also, the Hebrew word for compassion used frequently in the Old Testament is the same root word for womb. Psalm 103.13 states "As a father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him." The word compassion used in this verse is derived from the word womb. In other words, Papa has a womb-like compassion for his children. This is a powerful image trying to communicate the fierce and loyal love of the Lord!

Am I advocating that we call God mother? No, I'm not. Scripture never does. However, what we have to recognize is that all of our language about God is metaphorical. Our words and pictures never contain God, they only point to God. So envisioning that God loves us like a mother loves the offspring of her womb is a good way to understand God's embrace.

And that's really the point I was trying to make. God does love us. He is good to us. We must let that love descend to the very core of our being.

Peace.

Multiplying Our Sorrows

2009-09-02T08:42:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday we talked a little bit about idolatry. Jeremiah, speaking to a fallen nation, highlights their self-inflicted wounds one more time (30.12-15). They have failed to keep the main thing the main thing, turning away from God and pursuing other lovers. This failure to make God their highest good in life created more problems not less.

So it is for us: when we increase our gods, we multiply our sorrows (Ps. 16.4). By taking a gift of God and elevating it to a god--depending upon it to save, to give us peace, security and abiding love--we make our lives incredibly complex. We wound ourselves.

For example, if you have to be in romantic relationship, you will create havoc in your life. You will sacrifice your morals and you will get involved in unhealthy relationships simply because you have to have a romantic relationship. This says more about you than anything else. It says, you don't have a core from which to live. You don't really have a self. There's no stability in your life. Since God is not the highest good in your life, you've take a gift from God and turned into an idol. This creates a huge problem is: you will always be disappointed. Romantic love will never bring rest to your soul.

The same thing can happen with children. If your children have to be successful and superior in order for you to be happy, then you will push your children in ways that will probably drive them away. You will try to create them into your own image rather than celebrate the image of God already made manifest in their lives. Yes, children, though a gift from God, can become an idol. We can be so wrapped up into our children--clinging to them, smothering them, demanding that others see how great they are--that we do more harm than good, to ourselves and our children. Because we don't have a core self rooted in God, we can't even help our children because we're in the water drowning with them, instead of standing on the shore and throwing out a life-preserver.

Or what about living for success. I've done that, and I did not like the results. I constantly compared myself to others. I became jealous or bitter when others succeeded. Don't get me wrong, success is a gift from God. It's good thing. If God gives it to you, rejoice, be humble and most of all, be thankful. But never turn it into a god, for it will never bring satisfaction to your soul.

The good news is that God wants to heal us. Jeremiah continues to proclaim, despite these self-inflicted wounds--that God wants to heal Israel (30.16-22). God wants to come and give us new hearts, hearts devoted to him (31.31-34). Will we let him? Or will we persist in our own idolatry and therefore in our sorrow. Peace!

God's Silence

2009-08-19T08:41:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday we delved into Jeremiah's complaint speeches and God's responses. Remember, there were three responses: 1) encouragement--15.19-21; 2) Buck up camper, get your game face on--12.5; 3) silence--20.18.

The first two are little easier to comprehend. We know the importance of encouraging those in need as well as exhorting those who are about ready to quit. My parents, in love, offered me comfort and encouragement. They also, in love, pushed me from time to time much like a coach who's trying to get more out of his players.

But the third response is the most troubling of all. Jeremiah pours out his heart to God in chapter 20. He puts it all on the line, stating his wish to have never been born. You can't get any more honest than that. Yet, there is no response from God. Nothing. Nothing but silence.

Strange as it may sound, I can relate to that. All of us can. More than likely, we've experienced times when we could not do the one thing we wanted to do more than anything else--rescue a loved one. We have all had to watch someone for whom we care deeply suffer without being able to do anything to alleviate their suffering. Nothing can be said, nothing can be done. But that doesn't mean love is M.IA. Far from it, we're probably closer to our loved ones when we aren't able to rescue them. Our hearts ache, our spirits groan under the weight of watching and suffering with the person in pain.

So perhaps there is suffering this side of heaven for which there is no easy answer. There is stuff from which we can't be rescued. But that doesn't mean God is far from us. I want to believe he's closer to us than any other time, suffering with us, aching, and hurting. The cross seems to suggest that this is the case. Christ cried out, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me. There was no answer. But it's here that we encounter a very powerful mystery: suffering was taken into the very heart of God. This mystery tells us that we are not alone. God sees, God knows, God suffers with us.

Peace,

David S.

In Defense of Bad Logic

2009-08-05T15:01:00.000-07:00

Alright, I'll admit it: My sermon last week was a bit of a logical leap. Nonetheless, let me defend it, hopefully not blindly.

We looked at Jeremiah's message of sin and sickness (chapters 5-6). You remember it, don't you? The people of God turned their backs on their creator and savior, failing to practice the justice and mercy to which they had been called. Because of this failure, their world fell apart. Compassion and kindness were nowhere to be found. Their sin made them sick.

To communicate this troubling truth so that we might really own it, I tried to state Jeremiah's thought positively by arguing that holiness leads to happiness. If rebellion against God and his ways create self-inflicted wounds, then doesn't it stand to reason that holiness leads to happiness? Rest assured, I'm not talking about drunk happy, drug happy, escapism happy, TV happy, or I'm-so-bored-I-need-an-extreme-sport happy. Rather, I'm talking about a deep happiness--lasting joy, peace, emotional health, security, and freedom. This happiness comes from knowing and serving God. I know it's not a simplistic formula. We will struggle and suffer. We will be afflicted with emotional stress and pressure. Yet, in the midst of it all, we can taste a bit of God's goodness that fills our hearts with joy and places us on a more liberating path than that of sin and selfishness.

But, we often sell ourselves short. We cheat ourselves by not letting God be God in our lives. Psalm 16.4 proclaims it clearly, "The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods." Or in the words of Jeremiah, "do not follow other gods to your own harm" (7.6) When our core identity is wrapped up in something other than the security and freedom that comes from God's infinite love, we're trading in our glory for that which does not profit (cf. Jeremiah 2.5, 11, 25). To live for something other than God is to fall short of what it means to be human; it is to trade in a dollar for five cents. It is to be sorely disappointed.

Well, enough of my words . . . Listen to how others have stated this truth:

In response to the question why did God descend to humans, Origen says it was "to implant in us the happiness which comes from knowing him."

"My sin was this, that I looked for pleasure, beauty, and truth not in God but in myself, and in his other creatures, and the search led me instead to pain, confusion, and error." (Augustine)

"We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea." (C.S. Lewis)

In summary, perhaps we need God to give us more faith, a faith that will empower us to trust that his ways are good, that he really does love us and wants to set us free to enjoy him and his creation.

Something to ponder.

Peace.

History Belongs to the Martyrs

2009-06-25T19:11:00.001-07:00

Last week's text, Psalm 33, helped me explore a theme often neglected in the church. Psalm 33 proclaims that the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord. The writer sees this truth evident not only in the beauty of creation but in the crumbling of arrogant nations and the overthrow of powerful armies.

I wrestled with this theme for quite some time before the good Lord reminded me that it's true. There's something else going in the world than just brute force. Though there is struggle this side of heaven, we still see signs that the steadfast of the Lord is at work.

Simply put, history belongs to the martyrs. I don't merely mean people who die for their faith, though that is not to be excluded. Rather, I'm using the term the way it's employed in the New Testament. In the New Testament, the word martyr refers to one who witnesses to God's vulnerable love. Just think about all the examples we have of Christianity slowly growing and influencing the world, even without using political power and military might.

The early Christians died for their faith, refusing to bear arms against anyone. Slowly but surely their way of life won over most of the Roman Empire. St. Francis of Assissi lived a life of simple obscurity, caring for the poorest of the poor to the neglect of his own health. Today, we still find ourselves inspired by his witness. And let's not forget Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr., missionaries who labor in the far off places for Christ's amazing love, and parents who witness in countless ways and invest in the kingdom by raising their children to be disciples--all inspired by the death and resurrection of Jesus.

We see this theme clearly at work in Revelation. This amazing book constantly reminds us that God will work for the good of those who love him, even though failure seems so immiment. At the end of time, we will worship the lamb who has been slaughter (Rev. 5). And gathered around the throne are those who have been God's faithful witnesses (Rev. 6, 7.14-17).

Is there anything more wonderful and shocking than this? Sounds to me like the steadfast love of the Lord rules history.

Peace.

When Kings Die

2009-06-10T14:20:00.000-07:00

This week I have been confronted with my own vulnerability. Watching my eight-year-old son enter into the realm of tackle football has softened my heart to the harsh realities of our competitive culture.

A little background might be in order: My son has always excelled in football, flag-football, that is. He usually scores most of the points on his team. Twice they have placed him in the quarterback position. He catches well and more often than not he's the fastest kid on the team. He dreams of playing some football, at least at the high school level. I believe he is capable, if his will remains strong. (Yes, I know, everything I've said thus far does not come from an objective observer; but bear with me until I make my point.) You also need to know that this is his dream, not mine, in case you're wondering. I'm not that fond of the football mentality. But I dream with my children; I journey with them in their aspirations.

That aside, he strapped on the pads for three days of assessment to be placed on a team and in a position. He did not perform to his capacity. Thus, he has been assigned as a bottom dweller, and, I assume, a soon-to-be bench warmer. The tragedy of this entire experience is that there was no teaching, no instruction for those who have never played with pads. Sink or swim, sorry so sad was the basic approach. My son doesn't see what's happening, so he's okay. But the father, yours truly, aches. I find myself wondering, is this how it works? Is that what makes or breaks some people--a few days? You have a good night, you're noticed, you're placed in the quarterback position, someone works with you and believes in you, and your path is set for you. Others who lack the right father or the right opportunity or the right connections are left behind? This seems to be the harsh reality of our competitive world.

It has been good for me to remember this. Because as I said last week, when the kings of our lives die, then we can see the King. Remember Isaiah 6.1? "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord . . ." Isaiah, faced with his own vulnerability--the loss of a good king, sees the King. There is a connection. When our dreams and the dreams of our children are dashed to pieces, then and perhaps only then, are our hearts finally open to see glory of God.

Yes, from time to time, we need to be reminded that we're pursuing stuff that was never intended to bear the full weight of our confidence. We keep thinking that a new relationship, a new car, the fulfillment of a desire will finally bring lasting rest and satisfaction to our weary souls. What we often miss is that these things, though often good, are as fragile as our mortal life. Here today, gone tomorrow.

So I pray this lesson is not lost on us. Faced with our fragile existence, may we be open to the King of glory--the one upon whom we must depend. He is the one designed to bear the weight of our confidence. Nothing else is secure.

Peace!

Living Out of God's Grace

2009-05-27T09:17:00.000-07:00

The stranger danger alert system is alive and well. I can see it in my own heart. If I listen to my life I often find myself making snap judgments that excuse me from having to extend friendship to others. Let's be honest, people who hold different opinions or who come from different traditions often frighten us. So we stay away.

But sometimes it's even a little worse. Many people often have an attitude about their convictions--I'm right and everyone else is wrong; the world would be a better place if others were more like me. It's easy to gravitate toward this type of thinking; it feels so good.

Yet we need to be reminded of its inherent dangers. For starters, it's awfully hard to be right (assuming you're right, which you might not be) and still be nice. Or to put it another way, our sense of being right often produces arrogance. Then we're in danger of being as pure as angels and as arrogant as demons, looking down upon others who don't measure up to our standards. It's one of the greatest temptations Christians face. Through grace they find themselves enjoying a new quality of life, but then they forget it's grace and start to believe it's their own works that brought them this far. Love and grace are then replaced with moralism. We've forsaken many vices only to be filled with the one that keeps us from God and others--pride!

This pride makes a community sick. It keeps us in our holy huddle, as we refuse to extend hospitality to those who are different. To counterbalance this tendency, we must learn to live out of God's grace. God's grace is being extended to all people, even to people we might not be fond of. Now rest assured, I'm not suggesting we throw truth out the window. What I am suggesting is that the foundation of our life and the foundation of our morality is always grace. It's in allowing people to encounter love that lives are transformed for the better. Furthermore, we have been saved by grace and we live by grace and so we're called to that extend grace to others. A failure to do so only reveals a disconnect.

Let's be fanatical followers of Jesus. Let's live by and through the love that saved us.

Peace!

Fanatical Followers

2009-05-17T19:47:00.001-07:00

It's frequently suggested that most of the world's problems stem from fanaticism. Is it true? Is the world coming apart at the seems because there's too much religious fanaticism?

The answer I would give is no. Fanaticism isn't the problem; it's the object of your fanaticism that creates the problem. As I stated in my sermon, Have you ever met an Amish terrorist? Of course not. Yet the Amish are some of the most fanatical people in the world; they're just fanatical about following Jesus, specifically, letting Christ's love and grace shape the way they relate to others.

With that in mind, I call everyone to be a fanatical follower of Jesus. Listen carefully to that sentence. I don't want you to be fanatical about a principle, or a doctrine, or an agenda, or a particular church, or a particular way of worship. These little "issues" that each person holds dear in his or her heart are annoying at best and divisive at worst. All of these things are necessary, but they are necessary for only one purpose--helping us learn to live and love like Jesus lived and love. Giving yourself to love, to be loved and to love, is the best thing you can do with your life. Anything less than that is not worth our devotion.

Again, please think about what I'm saying. I'm saying, let's allow Christ to inhabit us--his love and grace. Is there any better way to live? I can't think of one. I'm ready to fanatically follow this one who has fanatically followed me.

May God raise up an army of grace-filled, love inspired Christians.

Peace.

Resurrection--Matter Matters

2009-04-12T19:30:00.001-07:00

It is resurrection Sunday. No doubt, it's the cornerstone of our faith.

But it is often misunderstood. We need to remember that resurrection is not merely the reversal of death; it is not resuscitation. Nor is it the release of the soul from the body. It is a recreation of the human person. Jesus was raised bodily but a unique body, recognizable but different (cf. John 20, 1 Corinthians 15).

One implication of this belief is the affirmation of creation. Too often, Christianity has implied that the body is a burden--creation, a mere shell. The essence of life is the soul or the spirit, many have taught. Christianity is more holistic than this. Matter matters to God. He created the world in love. He redeemed the world in love. The Bible doesn't say God so loved your soul but rather the world, cosmos in Greek, the original language of the New Testament (John 3.16). Nowhere is the affirmation of creation more pronounced than in the resurrection. The resurrection is the dawn of God's new creation. It's the down payment, the first installment (first fruit in Paul's writings) of many more to come. And this, of course, is connected to the redemption of all creation. Remember, Paul links these two concepts together in Romans 8, announcing that all of creation is waiting for our redemption.

How we live in light of this truth is really exciting. We don't have to pursue endless retreats in the recesses of the soul. Nor do we sit around and wait for heaven. Instead, we must affirm all that is an affirmation of life. That's why I always say, pursue truth, justice, goodness, and peace.

I need to say more . . . but my brain is fried . . . And I'm leaving for vacation now.

Peace,

Comedy or Tragedy

2009-03-21T09:26:00.000-07:00

I'm a little behind--six days after the sermon. Nonetheless the question remains, Are we living in a comedy or a tragedy? At times it feels like a tragedy; nothing seems to work right: children rebel, the economy contracts, hatred abounds, conflicts grow. Is there any hope? Is what we see all there is? Do you remember the movie "Stranger than Fiction"? Will Ferrell starred a character whose life was being written by a novelist. Will Ferrell's character, Harold Crick, is stuck in a meaningless job where nothing seems to go his way and in a life that is lonely at best. He confesses in one scene his belief that he's actually living out a tragedy. We can probably identify. We've been there; life often feels like it's one big tragedy.

But we know better. Christians are not living in a tragedy but a comedy. Everything will come together in the end to the praise of God. Our God is the creator of comedies. Sarah testifies to this with her statement in chapter 21: God has made laughter for me. What an amazing ending to a long and tiring journey. Finally, it all came together. The hurt, the pain, the stress, the sorrow, the doubt was all answered by God's amazing ability to come through and bring new life out of the deadness. Read Romans 4:18-25. There we see the connection between Abraham's life and the resurrection of the dead. So it shall be for us. We're not on the losing side of history. God will come through. The promise-maker is a promise-keeper. Keep going. Don't give up. Don't grow weary. We will all laugh with joy again. Peace.

Judgment

2009-03-09T09:53:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, we talked a bit about God's judgment. It's a theme that many people find difficult to comprehend. Many wonder how can a God of love judge his creation. Others scoff, stating, "God has no right to judge." Both seem to assume that love and judgment are diametrically opposed to each other.

I could not disagree more. Love and judgment go together. In order for God to save, he must also judge. He can't pretend as if the world is whole when anyone with half a brain can readily seen that it isn't. Furthermore, God can't merely cover up the evil that has defaced his good creation and has made a mockery of his noble intentions. If God ignores evil, then he's neither loving nor good. If God does not stand against oppression, hatred, racism, injustice, and sexual perversity, then he does not love. But because he does love, he also judges.

I believe this will probably work in at least two ways. First, there will be a judgment at the end of time when evil will be eliminated. Everything that can't be redeemed will be destroyed. Revelation 20, along with many other chapters, describe this well. But there is a also a judgment for those who can be ultimately redeemed but who also need a little cleaning up. Paul talks about workers who labored for God but with shoddy workmanship; their desires and intentions weren't always noble. Paul says, they will be saved but as through a fire (1 Cor. 3.15).

Again, both of these examples speak of God's love. Because of God's love for creation, evil must be dealt with. Doctors will often have to use invasive measures to heal a patient. They do this out of compassion. So it is with God.

All of this should help us understand better the work of the cross. In Romans we learn the "wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of those who by their wickedness suppress the truth" (Romans 1.18). But there is hope: "they [Jew and Gentile] are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith" (Romans 3.25). In the cross, love and judgment come together. God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself (2 Cor. 5). God absorbed the evil of the world in order to defeat it. The judge submitted to his own judgment to release us from the bondage of sin and death--God embraced his own wrath in Christ through the cross. For it is in the cross that God judged sin and wickedness, and he also set the sinner free.

Our response? It's simple: Receive his grace and walk in the light as he is in the light (1 John 1); become a participant in God's new creation made available to you through Christ (2 Cor. 5).

Peace.

Reformation of Our Desires

2009-02-15T21:23:00.001-08:00

I'm still thinking about the previous post, in part, because I've been living out of the book James. In my last reflection, I talked about Evagrius Ponticus. I find his teaching very helpful and challenging and something that fits well with the book of James.

In speaking about wisdom, for instance, James states wisdom produces a good life with works done "with gentleness born of wisdom" (James 3.13). This is the wisdom that comes from above--it is "Pure, then peacable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without an trace of partiality or hypocrisy" (3.17). No surprise here, except for the religious blinded by their own principles: James in the tradition of the prophets and Jesus, believes that wisdom has everything to with how treat others.

Then James goes on the offensive by asking, What about those conflicts among you, where do they come from? His answer is not easy to swallow. James does not go into a lengthy sociological or psychological explanation. Instead he says, they come from "your cravings that are at war within you." The problem is . . . say it with me . . . malformed desires. We want what we cannot have. We ask with the wrong motives. We are friends with the world. "Adulterers!" James thunders, "Do you not know that friendship with world is enmity toward god. Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God" (vs. 4). As I've said before, it's what we love more than God that makes us so violent. It's what we place above God that needs to be defended and fought over--our pride, our security, our success, etc. etc. So you see it's not that we want a conflict, but it's what we want that makes a conflict inevitable.

Ouch! We're in some hot water today. Where do we turn now?

The answer is simple, at least according to James: Get right with God. He states, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded."

Now we come full circle. If we respond to God by drawing near to him, we will discover the wisdom that produces peace and gentleness and justice, the wisdom that comes from above. We will have new set of desires. Our hearts will be directed toward God and not toward the things that make fights inevitable.

Peace!

Faith and Generosity

2009-02-01T17:06:00.000-08:00

Recently, I have been intrigued with a relatively unknown Christian writer, Evagrius Ponticus (A.D. 345-399). What he teaches applies to the theme I was trying--operative word--to communicate this morning. Evagrius argues that agape love (self-sacrificial and forgiving love) is the progeny of apatheia (rightly ordered passions and emotions).

It sounds strange, in part, because it's not the way we think about things. We usually assume that love comes to us without much work or effort. Evagrius believes that agape love will be present mostly in people whose passions and desires are properly ordered.

It's something to consider, even if you're not ready to agree with him. If our desires are disordered, our love will be stunted. If we're focused on the wrong things--money, comfort, or sensuality--above all else, we will be controlled by other forces that we can't manage. Love of pleasure often leads to anger. Love of pride often leads to hostility. Love of money often leads to neglect--of our loved ones and of our soul. Lust, in all of its forms, objectifies others, believing, like a consummate consumer, that everyone exists for my own pleasure. Our malformed desires and passions will make it very difficult to love.

But for the person with an active faith in God everything changes. With faith, we start to want the right things rightly. Trusting now in God, we believe he will provide for us. We no longer have to grasp and pursue things unrighteously. We can rest and witness.

We can be peacemakers, in other words, like Abraham. In Genesis 13, Abraham did not grasp. He trusted that the Promise-maker would be a Promise-keeper. It's out of Abraham's daring faith that peace, between family members, is maintained.

Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me . . . by learning to want the right things rightly.

David S.

Leaving and Following

2009-01-18T15:20:00.001-08:00

Today (1-18), we started our journey with Abraham by considering his call (12.1-9). It's a call to which all of us can relate.

Like Abraham, we're called to be a blessing. God has a mission, therefore, there is a church. God has a mission to heal the world that he loves, so he calls together communities to be witnesses. (I need to be careful with that sentence: I don't mean everyone is called to evangelize, but we're called to reflect the character of God, together). This is what God is frequently up to--he's calling people together to be witnesses, to be a blessing. It's our call as well.

But to get there, God will frequently call us to leave the familiar. God will call us to leave what we find so comfortable so that we can embrace the new. It's a critical step that should not even need much comment. However, this is where many struggle. Isn't this where New Year's resolutions fail? People make a commitment, forgetting that every commitment requires a renunciation. If you want to read 100 books this year, you'll have to unplug the TV. So it is for our spiritual lives. God calls us to follow him and join him in a new adventure. But to do that, we often--not always--are called to leave the familiar. We must leave the sin that so easily entangles. Or perhaps we're being called to a ministry, and we must leave the TV shows we really enjoy--moving away from the trite toward a treasure.

Now please hear me: I'm not trying to paint dramatic pictures of leaving the Tri-Valley area. I'm envisioning a renunciation of a self focussed solely on comfort (or on some other idol) for a self centered on God and His will. I'm also envisioning several tiny renunciations that keep us from getting stuck in a habit or a way of thinking which keeps us from loving others. In short, most of us will not have to go anywhere in order to leave.

The next part of the formula is that we're called to journey with God. Abraham is not given a map or timeline--just a call to go with God, and God will show him the land. It's truly a journey.

The same is true for us. We're not called to follow some rules but to follow our savior. It will be different for all of us. But still we follow together. Each person must decide whether or not he or she will respond and follow Jesus. You won't know what it looks like. It's a journey, but a journey well worth it.

I pray God will continue to show the way you should go.

Peace.

Holiness

2009-01-12T10:05:00.000-08:00

Here are some loosely connected thoughts related to holiness, the theme of last Sunday's message:

First, holiness is both positive and negative. As God calls us to holiness, he calls us to leave all that detracts from treating ourselves with respect and treating others with the reverence they deserve as children of God. Examples would include the following: pornography, lust, hatred, greed. This is the negative aspects of holiness, we're called and empowered by God to say no to things that hurt us and others. The positive aspect of holiness is then living out of our new relationship with God through Christ in love. Holiness is a fulfilling of the great commandment to love God and love others.

Second, you can’t be holy alone. Perhaps that statement needs to be audited. But for now, I want to stay true to it. Holiness is relational through and through. Augustine believed that charity is the quintessential virtue for the Christian; and he also taught that holiness, defined by charity, leads us to others. John Wesley believed there could be no holiness but social holiness. Both of these men were standing on the foundation of scripture in making these statements. When Isaiah talks about holiness he resorts to the themes of justice and mercy, as does the other prophets in the OT. Paul speaks of love and hospitality in Romans 12-15. Then read 1 Peter. Peter calls the church to holiness but continues to define holiness relationally. Holiness is personal (we all must appropriate, personally, what God has done in Christ), but holiness is not private (we can’t be holy on our own). In short, we’re called to be holy together.

Third, and related to everything else I've said, holiness makes us better at communal life. Sin separates us from God, from ourselves, and from others. That was the point of the illustration with the cardboard cutouts. Sin keeps us from our true selves by making it very difficult to fellowship with others. But as we grow closer to God, and as he speaks to us about our sin, we also draw closer to others. This is the trajectory of the Law, the Prophets, Jesus, and Paul.

Finally, holiness is a gift. I can’t emphasize this enough. Holiness is not something we obtain in our own strength. We have been made alive in Christ. In Christ we are made holy. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians, speaking to knuckleheads no less: “But you were washed, you were sanctified (made holy), you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God” (6.11). Paul believes they already have the foundation of sanctification (holiness). Yet this does not mean we stay as we are. Instead, we must appropriate all that God has done for us. We must become who we are. John Wesley believed we must strive with God’s strength to pursue a holiness of heart and life, to respond to the gift that has been given to us. Such is our call.

Peace!

Death: The Final Enemy

2008-12-23T13:34:00.001-08:00

Last Sunday (Dec. 20), we looked at Isaiah 25. Isaiah acknowledges that death casts a long shadow over our lives. In the words of Paul, "death is the final enemy" (1 Cor. 15).

Unfortunately, we know this to be true. Death wreaks havoc in our lives. It does not care about to-do lists or unspoken words or even age. It ruins everything we touch. All we have is destined toward this unspeakable end.

Yet there's more: fear of death leads to so many other problems like lust and anger. Sensing that life can't be held on to, many try to get the most of out of it, often by embracing perverse forms of sensuality--greed, lust or gluttony. Without hope for true fulfillment, they make a god of their desires, looking for one fix after another, always thirsty never satisfied. Fear of death easily leads to anger as well. If we're gripped by fear, then anger is right around the corner. Afraid of losing what we can't keep anyway, we are easily angered by anyone who represents a threat to our well-being.

But there is good news. The good news is that God has swallowed death. Isaiah longed for it (Isaiah 25), believing that one day there will be a banquet not tainted with death and decay. Paul proclaimed that this vision is coming true (1 Cor. 15). Though death is still at work, we believe it is doomed to destruction. Christ is the firstfruits of God's new creation; he is the start of a new kingdom that is without end.

So we don't have to live in fear or anger or lust. We can trust in the father's great love, a love that is greater than death. We can live with joy and hope and peace, knowing that the Kingdom to come will give us what we really need and what we really want.

Peace!

The Gospel: God's Reign

2008-12-14T21:08:00.000-08:00

What is the gospel? I believe this question is critical, and what I answer here is provisional not final; but I’m hopeful it will point us in the right direction.

If we take the ministry of Jesus seriously, the gospel (the good news) is the reign of God. When Jesus started his ministry he began with a simple sermon: “The Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news” (Mark 1.14). Both Matthew and Luke confirm this is what Jesus preached and lived—the good news of God’s kingdom. To grasp the importance of this message, we need to understand that Israel longed for the time when God would become king, when his will and reign would start to break into history, when God would reclaim his creation and drive away all that diminishes life. Jesus came and said, in essence, that which has been longed for is starting to happen right now in my ministry--this is that. God’s world is beginning to replace this tired, old world in the ministry of Jesus.

This truly is good news. You can see how comprehensive and our holistic the gospel is. It’s not merely about trying to get souls into heaven, but rather trying to get heaven into souls, right now. Think about Jesus’ ministry: it was the embodiment of God becoming king, and it included the whole person—physical, social, emotional, spiritual, and psychological. Jesus healed people. He eliminated the shame and guilt that keeps us from others and from God. He drove out evil. He challenged oppressive systems. He formed a new community called to reflect the Triune God through reconciliation and non-retaliation. It was truly a holistic gospel.

In other words, you don’t have to be an evangelist to be a witness. You can witness whenever you rescue a child in need. You witness whenever you embrace the marginalized. You witness whenever you feed the homeless or when you teach (and show) someone that God embraces them as they are. This is the kingdom.

Recently we went to India. The question was asked, Did you go to convert people? The answer might be shocking to some of you. No! We did not go to convert anyone; conversion is God’s work. Nor did we go to build the kingdom; that’s God’s responsibility. And we did not go to change the world; changing the world is what God is already up to in Christ. We went to India to give a glimpse (partial, of course) of what God’s reign is like. And in God’s reign there is no outcast. In God’s reign there is no disparity. We went as witnesses. You see, the church does not build the kingdom; it merely points to the kingdom. This is our job. It’s that simple, and of course, complex and challenging, and invigorating. Peace!

God's Help Our Response

2008-11-16T20:34:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm not feeling particularly good about this morning's sermon. I'm not sure why. It might just be a feeling. In fact, I feel (there's that dangerous word again) that whenever I explore that theme there's something wrong with what I'm saying or how I'm saying it.

For now, I believe what I'm trying to communicate, but perhaps falling short, is that we're called to work with God so that we might learn to love as he wants us to love. We can't change ourselves. We need God's help. The logic works like this: God has worked and is at work and will work, therefore, we can work--and we should work! We should work with the God who is working toward our own transformation. Translation: We have to be in the business of placing ourselves in environments where God can do his best transforming work.

But here comes the hard part--how to talk about the practices that place us in an environment of God's transforming love? Here's where I struggle. I believe we should embrace certain means of grace--avenues that open us to God's love. However, I don't want to impose those on anyone as "have-to's." They should be "want-to's." In other words, being called by God to participate in his kingdom, we then submit to a variety of means of grace. And we need to learn to stay put, to practice stability in those things that really make a difference.

What are the means of grace? Here's a rough idea . . . as God calls you, of course:

Christians should pray. Start with offering yourself to God everyday, perhaps. Or find sometime to think about your day and begin to ask God how he might want you to live. Open the bible to a Psalm and just let the words of the Psalmist guide your prayers. These are just suggestions to get started.

Christians ought to give themselves over to substance. Devotional reading. Scripture reading. Thinking. Good conversation. These things are so important.

Fellowship/Church. It's what the good doctor orders. Furthermore, we need to learn to stay put in those practices.

Giving. Giving transforms us. Give it a try.

Disciplines of denial. There are moments when we need to go without something so that we might focus on the things of God. Fasting from food. Fasting from TV for a while, to spend more time thinking and praying.

Again, these aren't "have-t0's," but "want-to's."

What say you, the church?

Peace!

Acedia and the Noonday Demon

2008-11-11T09:06:00.000-08:00

As the saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Perhaps we could also state the road to hell is paved with a slow descent into apathy, continually choosing the path of least resistance.

The early monks were very concerned with this problem. They sometimes referred to it as acedia or the noonday demon. Both are related. The noonday demon (I'm not picturing a literal demon here) comes and tries to knock us off course when the journey seems long. The noonday demon makes us think that perhaps it isn't worth it: the struggle, the toil, trying to love, trying to pray--it's all a waste of time.

If we indulge those thoughts we might end up in a state of lethargy; we become infected with acedia. We become apathetic creatures no longer capable of hope or of anger. We become reluctant lovers. Pain and suffer no longer move us. Not even God and his great love is capable of motivating the slothful. The status quo becomes our watchword and song. No commitment is worthy of our lives other than the commitment to be committed to nothing so that we can keep our options open. Many jealously guard the freedom to be committed to absolutely nothing; they don't want anyone to disturb their comfort. A chaotic life without meaning or purpose is often the result; for without organizing our lives around something solid we let everyone else tell us how to live.

To get out of this mess, we must continually respond to the Christ who is knocking on the door of our hearts (Revelation 3). As he continued to pursue the lukewarm Laodiceans, so he continues to pursue us. If only--if only!-- we will open the door of our hearts through prayer, study, and fellowship.

Peace.

The Freedom of Forgiveness

2008-10-27T14:08:00.000-07:00

We continue this series on learning how to live in and out of God’s love. I liked what Paul said yesterday, “live in love.” This is our call. And to do that, we have to embrace this radical concept of forgiveness. The alternative is too costly: bitterness and anger will eat away at our hearts and steal our joy.

After all it’s undeniable, Christians are called to live out their salvation. As we have been saved, so shall we live--forgiven, we are called to forgive (Ephesians 5.1-2, Matthew 6.14-15, 18.21-35).

Yet, what is forgiveness? How does it apply to the many situations we face? In an attempt to answer those questions and to provide food for thought, it might be helpful to make a list of what forgiveness is and what it is not. So here we go . . .

1) Forgiveness is not necessarily forgetting; but it’s no longer letting the past define the present.

2) Forgiveness should not be taught or lived in such a way to invite more abuse. Forgiveness can involve consequences.

3) Forgiveness does not mean we live with the belief that there is no evil or that evil no longer matters. We can still call certain acts unjust and wrong.

4) Forgiveness does not always produce reconciliation. After all, it takes two to tango.

5) Forgiveness is more than an act. Instead, forgiveness is a new way of looking at the world because now we live in the realm of grace.

6) Forgiveness on our part has nothing to do with that person being pardoned by God--for that to happen there must be repentance.

What should we add or subtract? What are your thoughts?

God's Holy Love

2008-08-11T08:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was judgment day. We talked about two judgment scenes in Revelation 19 and Revelation 20. The big point was that we serve a God of holy love. His love for this world is so great that judgment is a necessary prelude to the final redemption of this creation (cf. Rev. 19). I also stated this applies to our lives as well. In Revelation 20, we discover that we are judged too .

First, we’re judged on whether or not our names are written in the book of life. In other words, we’re judged on whether or not we’ve responded to the grace of God that has been revealed to us. God, in love, respects our freedom to respond; and he respects that freedom to the very end. Some refuse his grace, mostly out of arrogance, and they miss out on life with God, now and in the hereafter. Others respond and receive life, the abundant life.

Secondly, we’re judged by our deeds. Our lives are judged. I liken this to a purifying fire (cf. 1 Cor. 3). We’re destined for “goldness.” But we must be cleansed of our dross before we can live in the fullness of God’s light. This cleansing begins now; and if we refuse this cleansing, we might not be able to stand when heaven comes in its fullness. In fact, I want to believe the only healthy stance is to look forward to this final cleansing. And the only way we can look forward to it is if we’re not harboring any sin right now. If we’re glorifying God right now—which should be the desire of every Christian!—then we will look forward to our final and complete deliverance. If our desire is not to glorify God right now, then we probably have every reason to fear the accounting that waits for us.

Our response to all of this, therefore, is simple: walk in the light as he is in the light. I don’t want you to get busy first. Nor do I want you to live your life in an unhealthy fear--respect and reverence yes, but not an immobilizing fear (unless you’re deliberately living in sin). I want you to walk in the light, maintaining a right relationship with God. In so doing, you will let God lead you into the ways he wants you to bless others.

Now for statements that need to be clarified from last Sunday:

I said, “God doesn’t send people to hell, people choose hell.” What I’m trying to communicate is that people choose hell by refusing the love and light that is being revealed to them. God doesn’t arbitrarily decide to punish people. We can accept or reject his great love for us. Perhaps another way to state it is to say that those who don’t want God’s light and love will find heaven to be hell; it’ll hurt too much; they pull away and continue to prefer life without God. What do you think?

Second, I said, “Don’t decide to get busy in light of this sermon.” I believe that needs clarification. I don’t want you to start deciding that you need to accomplish something to impress God and to prepare for the future. Instead we need to let God into our lives and let him lead and then he’ll get us busy for his kingdom, more than likely doing his work right where we live. Do you understand the difference? One says, I need to do this, and it is done without God’s love. The other is more organic; it comes from the Spirit; it comes from his love. The Spirit will lead you into the right activity. As you walk in the light through church attendance, prayer, scripture reading, etc. etc., God will lead. I can’t set God’s agenda for you. My path is different than yours. You must let God lead as seek to make your life count. But please don’t waste your life, it’s too valuable. Let God take over. Surrender your life to him.

Peace

Revelation 13 (July 27)

2008-07-29T11:06:00.000-07:00

Revelation is relevant. This is what I keep thinking about lately. It’s especially relevant when we interpret as it was meant to be interpreted. Once we put in the context of John’s readers and discover that he’s talking a lot about Rome with it’s arrogant and violent tendencies, then it start to make real sense. No longer do we have to waste our time on speculative matters. We can see how it fits in our lives today.

For instance, if historical forces like Rome and Nero represent the beast (Revelation 13), then it easily applies to our situation. We can safely say that evil is at work through historical forces; and that evil will want to keep us from loving God and loving others.

With that established, we can start to feel the urgency of the concept in Revelation 13. We need to recognize that we’re engaged in a battle. Here’s my logic: If God is love, and if we’re called to live in love and live out that love; and if there is evil, then that evil will want to keep us from God’s love. We’ve seen this time and time again in the church. Nationalism makes us arrogant. Consumerism stifles our compassion. Racism makes us mean and is used to justify violence. Individualism—I should have mentioned this one on Sunday!—keeps us from the fellowship that God desires for our lives. We can add to the list a variety of attitudes and disorders that keep us from God’s liberating love—living with regret, unforgiveness, lust, etc. etc. All of this to say that evil is still at work through historical forces. If we were to lift the veil of history we might see more going on than meets the eye. Therefore, we must battle every day to embrace his love and light

Weakness and Strength

2008-06-05T16:06:00.000-07:00

While preaching on Paul’s thorn in the flesh (2 Corinthians 12), I might have said too much last Sunday. Let me clarify. I don’t believe God sends us any calamity to teach us spiritual lessons or to make us weak so that we can be strong. Though I might have come close to saying that, it was not my intent.

Consider Paul: his weakness may have been a physical deformity or perhaps a speech impediment. Those weaknesses don’t come from God but from the fall. Nonetheless, God is in the redemptive business and he can work in and through our weaknesses in powerful ways to reveal his glory. Thus weakness is not necessarily a liability. In God’s economy, it can be a strength, if we turn to him in trust and dependence.

I’ve always found this truth to be encouraging. As I said last Sunday, you don’t have to have it all together to be used of God. In fact, God might work best when we’re weak, because we depend upon him.

Our Bibles are filled with weak heroes. Abraham and Sarah were past childbearing years; yet God called them to be the father and mother of a great nation. David was the youngest son in a culture that favored the eldest; but he became Israel’s most favored king. Amos was from the Southern Kingdom and sent to preach to the Northern. Mary was just a young teenager, probably 12-13 years old, called to give birth to the Messiah. Jesus was from Nazareth, a small useless town. Paul was Christian killer and a man who could not impress the Corinthians; but he was used of God in mighty ways. All of these weaknesses did not disqualify for service, far from it. It even seems as if God likes to work—or maybe can only work!—with people who’ve acknowledge their need based on a lack in life.

All of this to say, that what really matters in life and in ministry is not WHAT you know but WHO you know. And it’s precisely in our weaknesses that God draws us into a deeper dependence and knowledge upon him. I’ve learned over the years that my insecurity and fear can be used by God as I turn to him in complete surrender. For in weakness, power (my power!) comes to an end, and his work begins. God is good. Peace!

Dread and Excitement--2 Corinthians 8

2008-05-27T09:21:00.000-07:00

Last week’s sermon on 2 Corinthians 8 stirred up two emotional responses in my life—both dread and excitement.

Dread, because Paul talks about giving; and I don’t like to talk about money in the church, for the chances of offending the faithful increases tenfold whenever money is addressed from the pulpit. I have learned this truth firsthand. Why does this happen? It’s true: ministers are often mistaken in how they address the money issue. Who knows, I might have been wrong last Sunday. But this still begs the question, why do tensions run high when personal finances are addressed in church? Ministers are wrong about a lot of other things and rarely get in trouble for it, not so when it comes to money. Why? The reason for this is simple, in my mind at least—many people have a problem with their money; they don’t want anyone—God included!—interfering with their private and personal finances. I believe this reveals the fundamental problem that I tried to explore on Sunday. We’re often guilty of refusing to apply any value system to the management of our household (read economy). We cordon off that section of our life from any type of interference, wanting to be free to spend our money as we see fit. All of which reveals that we have not yet allowed grace to influence every area of our life. Grace doesn’t teach people to say, it’s mine and I want to do whatever I want with it. A person living out of the grace of God says, All I have is yours, use all that I have for your glory. Remember the Macedonians--they gave freely, joyfully and sacrificially, all because they were living out of the new economy of grace. I don’t know about you, but I want to live there too.

Which brings me to my excitement—I want to hear sermons like the one I preached last Sunday. I don’t mean that as an arrogant statement, implying that the sermon was good (I rarely think my sermons are any good at all). What I mean is I’m challenged by the concept that grace can, and should, influence our life in countless ways, including our personal economies. Grace is not just the means by which we are saved, it is the path upon which we must travel. We’re loved, we must love. We’re forgiven, we must forgive. We’ve been made rich, we must share. In short, we’re called to live out God’s new economy of grace. What an exciting adventure.

The question remains, how? I would suggest that for a start, you learn to pay God first. Paying God last, as an afterthought after we’ve done everything we want to do, misses the point. Giving God our leftovers can only be interpreted that God isn’t really a high priority in our life. Therefore find a way to pay God first. It’s here that I can’t help myself; I must mention the concept of tithing. I know some people believe it’s not a New Testament standard. And in part, they’re right—the New Testament holds us to a higher standard of graceful giving. So tithing is just a start. And I know of no other way to give regularly and sacrificially. Yes, it hurts a little, but it reminds us that God is first. Yes, you’ll have to reorder our life, but isn’t that what you want to do anyway in light of God’s kingdom? If you still disagree with tithing, then do something else. Follow the leading of God. This should not be a have-to (that’s not graceful) but a want-to. If there’s a want-to spirit, then go for it, for the glory of God and in light of his abundant grace. Give sacrificially.

In fact, I’ve been thinking this week, churches aren’t built when people give to God last. Schools aren’t constructed, mission stations established, districts started, when giving remains an afterthought. Great things happen because people learn to give gracefully—sacrificially, joyfully, and liberally. Excitement and dread!

Being Transformed

2008-05-08T14:11:00.000-07:00

“And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)

It’s been a while since I’ve written a blog. Many have probably stopped reading. To be honest, my little development project is working me over. Please pray for me.

Anyway, I hope I communicated effectively last week. The point is fairly simple. To be transformed our desires have to redirected by an encounter with God’s goodness. Then our focus is redirected to Christ. Having tasted something of Christ’s beauty we want more and more and more. Beauty does that: it arrests our attention, redirects our desires toward itself. This fits with conversion because we believe there is nothing more beautiful that Christ. In this text Paul assumes that our attention has been arrested by Christ and that we are gazing at the glory of the Lord. We have a new focus, in other words.

Now that our desires have been redirected and now that we are focused on Christ, God transforms us. I stated last week, that we become whatever we worship. If we worship money, we will become greedy. If we worship sports, we will become a sports fanatic. If we worship Christ, we will become more Christlike. The Spirit will continue to transform us from one degree of glory to another, as we worship this beautiful One.

I believe this works. In my own life, I’ve learned not to necessarily fight my temptations but rather to use my temptation to remind me of my need of Christ. When tempted, I turn. I turn to Christ, place my faith and trust in him and watch the temptation receded into its own darkness. In other words, don’t try to be good, just follow Christ. Keep your eyes on him and the Spirit will do what you cannot do on your own—create you into a Christlike person.

Suffering Servant

2008-03-10T15:10:00.000-07:00

In last week’s sermon (3-9), I talked about the suffering servant in Isaiah 52.13-53.12.

There are four sections of scripture that deal with the servant (42.1-4; 49.1-6; 50.4-9; 52.13-53.12). As I stated two weeks ago, there is a lot of debate on the identity of the servant. Some say Israel, others say the prophet (Isaiah), still others say Jesus and Jesus alone. No doubt, we can see Jesus in many of these verses but not all. And we can see the prophet, especially in Isaiah 50.4-11, though this is debated. And we have to take the community in Exile (Israel) as an option because the prophet identifies Israel as the servant in 41.8, 44.1-2, 49.3. Also, Isaiah often refers to other communities in the third person singular as he might be doing here (40.1-3, 47.1-4). It’s the latter belief—that these texts first refer to Israel but are bigger than Israel--that seems to receive the most attention these days. It fits well with the context. Isaiah is speaking to those in exile, to those who’ve suffered the brunt of God’s judgment against the entire nation. Part of his message is that Israel’s time of suffering has ended, God is doing a new thing, and that their suffering has been redemptive in nature.

But taking Israel as the servant seriously doesn’t exclude all the other options. What I’ve come to believe is that this servant imagery is a rich symbol. It describes a vocation. Nothing fits perfectly; but all the options give us a glimpse of what it means to follow God—the God who revealed himself through Jesus, the Christ. The last statement is crucial because at the end of the day we see Jesus as the ultimate fulfillment of many of these words. He did for the world what Israel or anyone else never could.

All of this led me to believe that the rich imagery of Isaiah 52.13-53.12 is a powerful story that can be told over and over again in countless ways. Let’s remember the entire message to Israel in Isaiah 40-55. Isaiah has preached that God is doing something new, that he has not forsaken Israel (Isaiah 40). Furthermore, the message seems to be that God has been at work in their suffering. This truth takes on a renewed force in the words spoken here. Those in exile have suffered for the sins of the entire nation, including their forefathers. This makes the exiles a rather undesirable group (53.1-3. They don’t have majesty or glory on their side. But God has still been at work. Their suffering has been redemptive (53.4-7). God is going to restore the entire nation (53.81-12).

Now once we say this, I believe we have to acknowledge how others have played the role of a suffering servant in our own life or in the life of the world. I gave some examples on Sunday but there are many more. The point is the same. Suffering can be redemptive in nature. We’re often called upon to bear the sins and infirmities of others for their own sake or for the sake of the world. My wife bore my infirmities for my health. The civil rights movement bore--nonviolently-the hatred of a corrupt ideology to reveal the darkness of prejudice. Parents suffer through the rebellion of their children, praying for their safe return. Again these are not perfect fits with the text, but I believe, right now at least, they illustrate the nature of this mysterious role.

Furthermore, this should not shock any of us, because we serve a Savior who tells us to take up our cross and follow him. The cross is not just for Jesus. We too are called to embrace a sacrificial way of life for the other (without endorsing further abuse of the victim). We’re called to follow Jesus, to be his body in the world, to suffer sacrificially for the salvation of others--to forgive, to love, to stand up for the victims of our world, to swallow our pride for the unity of the church. All of these actions embrace a form of suffering for the other. Paul understood this. He said, “I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s affliction for the sake of his body, that is the church” (Colossians 1.24, NRSV). What a mystery! What a call! Peace.

See also Dennis Bratcher's website: http://www.crivoice.org/isa53.html

Not Squeezed but Transformed

2008-01-17T09:01:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday we began our study on Daniel. In chapter one, we learn that the Jews are suffering through the Babylonian exile. Jerusalem has been destroyed and many of the Jews have been taken as prisoners of war into exile in Babylon.

I stated that in chapter one the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, represents a powerful force that is trying to squeeze four young Jewish boys into a mold to use for his purposes. He wants to shape them into the ways of Babylon. He wants to enlist them into his cause. If they do well, they’re guaranteed success. I believe Nebuchadnezzar is trying to domesticate the Israelites. If he can show the Israelites that success is possible in his kingdom, they will assimilate and serve. It’s an ingenious approach.

This is not far from our own lives. There are forces at work in our world that are trying to squeeze us into a mold. We too are being enlisted into the service of countless things. We are all encouraged to bow to the idols of body-image, sex, power, and success. Furthermore, we’re all shaped by certain ways of thinking—some of them good and others not so good. What do we do? How do we respond?

Daniel provides a positive example. Daniel knows that he’s been claimed by another so he refuses to eat the King’s food. Daniel stays true to the dietary rules in the Old Testament. This might sound inconsequential. But we mustn’t forget, these laws were given to help the Israelites remember to whom they belong. Daniel stays true to God, remembering he’s been claimed by God--by refusing to eat the King’s food.

The question remains, what practices do we have that will help us stay true to the God who has called us to be his servants? I suggested six last week. Here they are:

1) Regular church attendance. We need to go to the place where we’ll be shaped into the image of God, regularly. Our culture is squeezing us into a mold, telling us church is not important. We need to think about this and talk about it some.

2) Regular giving. Paying God first (tithing 10%) helps us keep him first in our lives (Deuteronomy 26).

3) Tune in daily. See Deuteronomy 6.4-9. Notice how often they’re supposed to think about this great commandment. They are to keep it central in their lives all of the time, talking about it constantly.

4) Turn to substance. Our media culture is becoming a freak show. Anything is better than most of the junk fed to us through the media—a good novel, meeting with friends, rest, silence, prayer, etc.

5) Fasting. This is a good discipline to embrace. Try a 12 hour or 24 hour fast. It will help you remember that you don’t live on bread alone but upon every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

What do you think?

Living Forward

2008-01-02T07:22:00.000-08:00

I’m at it again, writing to assuage my own conscience, letting you listen in and respond.

Last week’s sermon troubled me. I found myself asking many questions: Is the concept too radical? Is it too idealistic? Is it too unbelievable? Am I living this? Am I willing to live this?

I talked about Paul’s solid belief that the resurrection changed everything. In the resurrection we learn that this world is being replaced by the new world that has begun in the resurrection of Israel’s messiah. The resurrection opens up a new door, or a new chapter in God’s history (His story). The end of the ages has come upon us (1 Corinthians 11). Paul lived in anticipation and celebration of what was not yet here, but what has been disclosed already in the resurrection of Jesus Christ—the already but the not-yet. For in the resurrection we learn that death—the tool of the tyrant!—has been dealt its first blow; we learn that Jesus truly is the one we ought to follow; that all of our efforts of love and compassion will not be in vain; that life and creation does really matter. The resurrection is the beginning of God’s New Creation.

But how do we live?

Paul wants us to live as if what God has done in Christ Jesus is the most important event in history and in our own personal life. We are to live as if there’s something more important than success, romance, marriage, business, and a secure retirement. Though all of those these things are important and though they are all gifts from God, we need to recognize that we have not been placed on this earth for just these things. We have been created to serve and enjoy the God who has created us in love and redeemed us in grace. We are to live for God’s kingdom, letting that commitment transform our marriages, our reason for parenting, our work ethic, etc., etc. The text I’ve been thinking about all week is when Jesus tells the disciples that they should not fear death but the one who has power over their soul, God. You see, there’s even something more urgent than a long life. What could be more important than that? Simple: honoring God in life or in death.

This commitment doesn’t mean we embrace two ways of life. We don’t separate our spiritual life from our public life. Far from it. We allow our spiritual commitment to influence how we live in this world. We seek to embrace the things God values at work, at school, with our children, and at the polls.

How does this work?

I believe we need to start praying daily the prayer Jesus taught us to pray: “May your kingdom come” through us, through me (Matthew 6). It’s really quite amazing how it works. Once you start praying this prayer regularly, I believe you’ll see opportunities that you’ve never seen before. You’ll see opportunities to extend God’s care and compassion to the lost and the last everywhere you go. In other words, through that prayer our desires will be changed so that we will start to value the things that God values. Peace!

Religious Convictions and Peace

2007-12-04T10:03:00.000-08:00

I think this'll be my last blog entry—my readership is waning. I’ll probably go back to devotional guides.

But write this blog I must because last Sunday’s sermon was a bit controversial and needs some clarification.

For starters, I don’t really believe in the simplistic statement that religion causes violence. Violent people will use religion and often religious imagery to further inflame misplaced passion. Nonetheless, religion is still implicated; there are religious leaders who misuse religious language to justify and further inflame the violence they desire. Last Sunday, I forgot to change the disagree/agree statement. I used that statement to get you to think and to help us understand that religion, at times, has not been a force for peace and well-being in our world. In fact “being right” is often used to justify the use of might, unfortunately.

Isaiah has a different vision. He believes that when the knowledge of God is at work in our world there will be peace. Whereas many people are inspired by their religious conviction to commit acts of atrocity, Isaiah believes that knowledge—true knowledge of the creator God—is transforming: instruments of war are changed into farming implements.

And I believe we are called to witness to this vision. Remember, its upon us, the church, that “the end of the ages has come” (1 Cor. 10.11). We can’t bring this vision to its completion, that’s God’s job. But we do serve the Prince of Peace who said, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be children of God” (Matthew 5.9, NRSV). Our savior did not come into Jerusalem on a painted war horse but on a donkey. He embraced the way of suffering love and calls his disciples to do the same. Let me put it like this: There’s something more important than being right—being reconciled! Oh, if only the church would embrace that statement. I’m not saying we throw truth out the window. Far from it. But in the midst of searching for the truth, we must be reconciling agents in our church and in our world.

Now, one more point of clarification. At this point in my life, I’m not against the use force, period. We might have to conclude that the use of force in a given situation is necessary, perhaps a necessary evil in this broken world. That aside, I want every Christian to embrace the way of peace. Then, when a path of force is being considered, I want all Christians to argue from the stance of peace, i.e., illustrate why love of enemy must be not be followed in this situation. That’s a tall order, but one we must obey. For we were enemies of God, but he made peace with us through the shed blood of his Son. “All of this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5.18, NRSV)

One more thought: we can always disagree and still be brothers and sisters in Christ. Peace!

Contagious Holiness

2007-11-06T10:34:00.000-08:00

Holiness is contagious, and grace transforms. I believe that sentence encapsulates well the theme I was trying to explore last Sunday.

We looked at the story of Zacchaeus (Luke 19). I won’t bore you with the details. Suffice it to say, Zacchaeus encountered the goodness of God. Jesus extends his intimacy and acceptance to Zacchaeus by inviting himself over.

Zacchaeus responds appropriately to this holy grace. He becomes a “good news” person. No more business as usual for Zacchaeus, metaphorically and literally. Zacchaeus promises to give half his income to the poor. And he promises to make restitution, paying back anyone he’s cheated fourfold. The announcement of Jesus is even more startling: “Today, salvation has come to your house.” I believe Jesus is saying in essence, Zacchaeus gets it. He has responded appropriately. He’s repented and embraced God’s call upon his life. One could argue that Zacchaeus changed his loyalties: whereas once he was dedicated to the Roman government, now he’s dedicated to God’s kingdom. He’s also changed the direction of his love: whereas once he loved money, now he loves God and God’s ways. It’s no more business as usual for Zacchaeus.

I believe we need to take note here. Holiness is contagious, and grace transforms. We know that we’ve met Christ when it’s no more business as usual. And we know that we’re growing in grace when we are leaving behind the stuff that keeps us from living in and out of God’s love. It’s true, Jesus reaches out to us and takes us in as we are. But if we say yes to him, we can’t remain the same. Perhaps, at the end of the day, there are only two ways to respond to God’s grace. We can say yes and walk in the light or we can say no and cling to our darkness. I doubt there’s any middle ground. God’s grace—when appropriated!—can only transform. Peace.

Connecting the Right Dots

2007-10-23T08:39:00.000-07:00

What do you see when you look around? It’s a great question, a very revealing question. It can tell us an awful lot about ourselves.

When you look at a forest of trees, what do you see? A business opportunity? Sacred ground?

When you look at others, what do you see? Sex objects? Children of God?

Maybe we see nothing at all. Our senses have been dulled, and we take everything for granted.

In our text (Luke 17.11-19) there are nine lepers who don’t see anything all. They don’t connect the right dots. They’re healed of this dreaded disease, and they did not see what needed to be seen. For notice, they’re criticized by Jesus. I’m sure they were grateful. You have to be a complete dunce not to be grateful. But there’s still something lacking. They took it for granted perhaps; they did not see God’s glory or his goodness or the in-breaking Kingdom of God. Maybe they did not see anything at all other than a healing—a powerful reminder to us that healings don’t necessarily change hearts.

But there’s one who did make the right connections. One leper sees that he’s been healed, and he returns to Jesus, praising God with a loud voice. I believe what’s happening here is very profound. This man gets it. His faith has made him whole. His faith in God has enabled him to see what needs to be seen--the goodness of God, the in-breaking of God’s kingdom through Jesus. I get the sense that this one leper is ready and willing to live his entire life in gratitude for what God has done.

The same might be said of us. Faith in response to what God has done gives us the right vision of the world. Faith teaches us that life is a gift not a right. (The doctrine of the Trinity reminds that God doesn’t need anyone for he is a communion of love, but he creates out of the abundance of his love.) Faith also teaches us that without God’s mercy, we could not know the source of love from which we came. Faith gives us the right vision so that we can live rightly. And the only way to live rightly is to live with gratitude and reverence toward God and his creation. What other response can there be to a God who gives us life out of love and redeems that life in love so that we might live in and out of his love? I can’t think of any other response but to live for the glory of God. Our faith—if it’s an active faith!—should enable us to see rightly so that we can live righteously. It will make us whole. Peace.

A Heart for the Missing

2007-10-17T14:10:00.000-07:00

How easy it is to get stuck in the maintenance mode. We start to believe that everything is about me. Church—it’s about me. Jesus—he’ll make it all better for me. Children—they give meaning to my life.

I stated last Sunday that Jesus’ hometown crowd slipped into that maintenance mode very quickly (Luke 4). After hearing Jesus’ inaugural vision, they were thrilled—our hometown boy has returned to take care of us. I know the text doesn’t say that explicitly, but it’s implied in the conversation. Notice how Jesus confronts them. He anticipates their line of reasoning, saying, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor cure yourself!’” This proverb was used in antiquity to suggest that one ought to care for his own first. The hometown crowd was thinking, in essence, Jesus has returned for us, to make it all better for us. The maintenance mode.

Jesus doesn’t stay there however. He reminds the crowd with two offensive stories that he will be on the move. He’s going to keep moving, reaching out, blessing people the powers-that-be don’t really like. He will heal the sick, embrace the outcast, and call the sinner to repentance.

Why? Because God is like that—God has a heart for the missing. It’s this thought that comes to expression in the parable of the lost lamb (Luke 15). Jesus asks the question, “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?” The answer to that question is not many—not many would leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness. In a sheep-pen? Yes. With another shepherd? Yes. But not in the wilderness. Which is the point of the parable: when it comes to the father’s love, we’re not talking about playing it safe but about extravagant love. Love beyond reason. God has a heart for the missing, so Jesus won’t get sucked into the maintenance mode vortex.

All of this poses a great challenge for the church. Do we have a heart for the missing? Does our heart beat with a love for our neighbor? If we have faith—an active faith, the faith of mustard seed—then surely our church should have a heart that beats for those who do not yet know that they belong to the Father. Peace.

Living for Others

2007-10-11T09:11:00.000-07:00

“Our life and our death is with our neighbor. If we win our brother, we win God. If we cause our brother to stumble, we have sinned against Christ.”--St. Anthony

This quote might be difficult to embrace. We’ve been taught otherwise. In our individualistic culture, we’ve been trained to believe that I’m free to do whatever I want, whenever I want--I’m not answerable to anyone but myself.

The church believes (should believe) in an alternative way of life. In scripture we discover that we are to live with other people in mind. Our attitudes and actions should be shaped by the impact they might make on the community, on our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Isn’t that what Jesus proclaimed last Sunday? He warned against causing another to stumble: “Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come.” Paul writes a similar message in Romans 14.15: “If your brother or sister is being injured by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love . . .” Did you hear that? Maybe we should substitute the word “do” for the word “eat”--if someone is injured by what we do, we are no longer walking in love.

So the call is simple enough to understand: as disciples we are bound to one another, and we are called to live responsibly for one another. It’s not just Jesus and me but Jesus and we. Our life and our death is truly with our neighbor. Let’s live in such a way that we win our neighbor for God. Peace!

Getting It Wrong--Luke 16.14-31

2007-10-02T09:34:00.000-07:00

I don’t know if anyone is reading this, but I’ll continue to write. It’s cathartic for me. Sometimes I don’t feel good about what I said or how it might have been received; writing helps.

Last Sunday, from Luke 16.14-31, I asked the question where do we go wrong. As individuals and as communities, we can easily travel down roads that are detrimental to ourselves and others. The Christian church doesn’t have a spotless record, to say the least. Why and how do we get it wrong as Christians?

First, we go wrong in our thinking whenever we assume too quickly that God is on our side. That’s what the Pharisees were doing. They believed that wealth is next to godliness. Such a view stifles compassion. To challenge their perspective, Jesus tells a story about a divine reversal: the rich man goes to Hades; the poor man, to heaven. Jesus is not describing hell or what it might take to end up there. Instead, Jesus is drawing a large startling picture because the Pharisees are nearly blind. Jesus is saying, your thinking is skewed, your values are inverted, don’t assume God is on your side.

As I suggested last Sunday, this happens all of the time. Our own values get twisted. It’s like what Augustine said as he was trying to describe the moral decay of the Roman Empire, “People care more about having a bad house than about having a bad life.” What would he say about us today? People care more about having the wrong clothes than about living the wrong way? People care more about having a bad image than about having a bad character? I believe he might say those things. And too often, we put some sort of spiritual or godly spin on this type of thinking: “God wants me to be happy; God wants to me to be blessed.”

But Jesus challenges this view: “what is prized by human beings is an abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16.15). Ouch! What do we value? Glitz and glamour? Wealth? The bottomline? Million dollar contracts? All of that might be an abomination. What does God value? We don’t like the answer to that question. But answer it we must. He values justice, righteousness, the poor, equity, love, humility, to name a few.

So we go wrong whenever we assume too quickly that God is on our side. We must acknowledge that he is addressing us, and we must respond to his calling, to his challenge, to be a new type of people.

Secondly, we go wrong because we do not listen very well. We stifle God’s truth. Back to the text: The rich man wants Lazarus to go back to earth to warn his brothers. Evidently, he has five other brothers who are living just like he was—without compassion, without righteousness. Abraham refuses. Not because Abraham is uncaring, but because Abraham knows that if his brothers don’t listen to Moses and the Prophets, they won’t listen to Lazarus. Did you hear that? If these brothers aren’t the type of people who are listening to Moses and the Prophets, then a miracle won’t do an ounce of good.

Again, this is what frequently happens. We hear only what we want to hear; we see only what we want to see. We listen selectively, cafeteria style—I’ll take some of that, some of that, but none of that; dessert, carbs, but no vegetables. That’s what the Pharisees did. They read scripture, took some of the verses out of context, and concluded that God blesses the righteous—wealth is next to godliness. It worked well for them, since they were, for the most part, middle-class men. But they neglected the call to justice. We can fall prey to the same temptation. We can stifle God’s truth. We can create truth and God in our own image and end up missing the mark.

God have mercy on us. We need to be the type of people who listen with every fiber of our being. It always amazes me how people can sit in church, nod their heads, and yet still live in sin. I can preach on being reconciled to others and people will leave church still remaining stuck in their stubborn ways of life. Or I can preach on following Christ, and people will refuse or do so half-heartedly and wonder why they're so unhappy. They don't listen. They have hears but do not hear. I must stop now . . . Let me know if I’m way off base. Peace!

God's Grace

2007-09-17T16:30:00.000-07:00

What an amazing story in Luke 15.11-31. To defend his ministry practices—eating with those who are despised by the religious leaders (15.1-2)—Jesus tells a story of a father with two sons.

The first son requests his inheritance early, then he squanders it in loose living and then returns home because his stomach is empty. What should a father do with a son like that?

Restitution? You need to pay back the money you’ve wasted! Interrogation? You have a lot of explaining to do! Probation? I’ll give you two or three years and then we’ll see! The father doesn’t employ any of those reasonable options.

When he sees his youngest son traveling toward the house, he runs out to meet him. That’s significant. Elderly men did not run in that culture—it’s undignified. But this father throws all social conventions out the window. He runs and hugs his son with a passionate embrace (literally in the original language: he falls onto his neck) and then he proceeds to completely restore the son to his original standing. Robes and rings were symbols of authority. Sandals were worn only by masters in the house not slaves. No probation. No restitution. No interrogation. Just full restoration!

This story is telling us something about God. His desire for a relationship with us is greater than our sin. It’s greater than an imperfect repentance, greater than any impure motives we might have for returning to him. God delights in us. He desires us. Therefore he takes us in as we are.

But we’re not done yet. This story is about a father who has two sons. The older son is not very pleased with this entire scene. He’s mad. It’s unfair. I’ve been faithful, he says in so many words. He has a good point. He’s worked hard, he’s never left, and he’s never even received a goat to celebrate with his friends.

Notice the father’s response. The father is pleading with his oldest son to come in and join the party. You see, God’s desire for a relationship with us is greater than anything, except one thing: a willingness to consent. His love respects our freedom. The story ends with us wondering, will the older son go in and join the party? Will he participate in what God is doing? Will you? Will I? All it takes is a yes, a consecration with of our entire selves to God’s love. Peace.

Share and Share Alike

2007-09-11T15:44:00.001-07:00

Last Sunday was a children’s sermon. After I preached it, I went home and wondered if the adults understood the radical implications of the story. In 1 Samuel 30 David and his men are on a mission to recover their families and their possessions taken by the Amalekites. Along the way about two hundred men couldn’t make it any further; they stayed by the Besor ravine guarding excess baggage. Four hundred men continued and risked limb and life to defeat the Amalekites. After their victory there is a dilemma in the text: Should the ones who fought in the battle share with those who didn’t? The victors acquired more than just their own possessions. Should they share? There were some men who said, No! Their argument flawless: These men who did not fight can have what they lost but nothing more, no profit, no booty; they did not do anything; we deserve more. It makes perfectly good sense. Those who guarded the baggage did not pay the price. Those who risked their life should receive more. That’s how the world works. But text gives us an alternative to the world. The text refers to these men as “corrupt and worthless” (30.22, NRSV). And then David demanded that everyone share in the victory: “You shall not do so, my brothers, with what the Lord has given us . . . For the share of the one who goes down into the battle shall be the same as the share of the one who stays by the baggage; they shall share alike” (30.23-24).

I believe this has huge implications for us. We often possess an attitude that says, this is mine, I’ve earned it, I’ve worked hard for it. We often argue that everyone could be where we are today, if only they had applied themselves like we have. Is that attitude Godly, I wonder. In the story, David acknowledges that God gave the victory. Such an acknowledgement changes everything. If God is truly the source of all that is, then who am I to claim ownership of anything? The story seems to suggest that since everything comes from God, we must honor God with it. I wonder what this means for us. Any thoughts?

Hard but Liberating News

2007-09-04T14:08:00.000-07:00

Yet another difficult passage of scripture—Luke 14.25-33. I don’t know about you, but I’m growing a little weary of Luke’s gospel by now. With the last several Sundays, we have faced some difficult words in our commitment to follow the Lectionary. To make matters worse, many of the themes are repeated frequently. Before we talk about last Sunday’s text, let me comment on what all of this might mean for our community. Last year I made a commitment to follow the lectionary. Why? First, I felt led to this. Second, I don’t always trust myself to create good sermon series (though I will that again next year). So the lectionary forces me (and us) to commit to something larger than our own personal preferences. Left to ourselves, we become less than ourselves. After all it’s easy to pick the stuff we want to hear. Secondly, and related to the repetition we’ve been faced with, is another spiritual lesson—we learn through repetition. The truth of the gospel has to penetrate our hearts that are more like stone than flesh at times. We always need to be reminded that the point is not to know some information but to allow the truth to enter deep within where it can change us. So for example, if Luke keeps highlighting Jesus’ teaching on possessions (which he does), we have to assume that money and possessions are some of the things in life that can make following Christ with a purity of heart difficult if not impossible. Thus we need to lean in and listen again . . . and again . . . and again . . . and again, even if it gets a little annoying. In short, though it might be difficult, everything we’re doing right now is probably what the Good Doctor orders—we’re committing ourselves to something bigger than ourselves and we’re opening up our hearts to the difficult but liberating truths of the Gospel.

Now to last week’s sermon. After preaching it, I told my wife, I think Jesus is just fleshing out the first commandment--“You shall have no other Gods before me”—in this text. Think about it: Jesus challenges some of our most cherished ideals in Luke 14.25-33—family, self, and possessions. Let’s look at each of those in turn. First, the core identity of a disciple is not shaped by family (14.26). Jesus uses the word hate here (perhaps communicating by hyperbole). The word hate is a way to speak of commitment; it is not a psychological or emotional hatred; it can mean “to turn away from” or “detach oneself from.” With that in mind, we learn that faith and family don’t always go together. Disciples are called to be committed to Christ and his cause first, even before family. But here’s the catch: in doing so, disciples obtain the distance necessary that makes love possible. If Christ and his cause is first, a disciple then has a foundation that makes love—a true love—possible. 1 John 5.2 speaks powerfully to this issue. John states that we love the children of God by loving God and keeping his commands. Love of God and obedience is the road we must travel in order to love. The point is obvious: we have to have a core from which to give true love; we have to live in love, and then we can live out love. Christ and his cause must be first, not family.

Second, a disciple’s core identity is not to be shaped by a commitment to self (14.26). Jesus says we must hate our life; again it means to detach ourselves from, not emotionally hate. This is somewhat revolutionary. Self worship is big business in America. We’ve been advertised to for so long that we're tempted to believe everything is about us, about being happy and having our needs met. The problem is love of self and love of God don’t mix. We’re not fully human if we’re not living in response to all that God has done for us. It is in losing ourselves that we find ourselves—our true selves.

Third, a disciple’s core identity is not shaped by possessions (vs. 33). The Greek verb is in the present tense. Many take that to mean that Jesus is talking about an on-going willingness to surrender. Bottom line: disciples can’t be shaped by what they have or what they don’t have. Disciples can't be possessed with their possessions, either their lack or their abundance. Hopefully, we’re so busy learning to enjoy God and love our neighbor that we’re no longer worried about stuff.

So how can we summarize all of this? I stated yesterday that the disciple is someone who is living out the good news that Jesus is Lord. God raised this rejected one from the dead as a powerful announcement that He is King and that one day everything will be recapitulated in Him. Disciples have turned (repented) from sin and are embracing the great news that Jesus is Lord. Which means, of course, that family, money and self should not be . . . should not be Lord. I don’t know about you, but I find this to be great news, because now we are called to participate in something that’s worth living for, something bigger than ourselves, something that gives us a foundation that makes love possible—God’s kingdom, here and now as well as there and then. Peace!

Humble Before God

2007-08-27T08:24:00.000-07:00

I entitled yesterday’s sermon “Stop Trying to Be so Humble.” (I hope that title made sense at the end of the day.) The text was Luke 14.1, 7-14. We talked a little about a form of competitiveness that makes community life difficult. This competitiveness rears its ugly head in countless ways. Bottom line: we often have a desire to be honored, noticed, and respected at the expense of others. Jesus challenges this approach to life and instead calls us to assume a posture of humility. All of that is important to grasp, but it’s not very easy to implement.

The question I posed yesterday is critical--how do we get there? How do we actually become humble without feeling proud over what we’ve accomplished? Some might take the words of Jesus and actually strive to be humble to prove to others the greatness of their spirituality. Our egos are very creative. Humility can easily become another way to set ourselves apart. How do we avoid that?

The answer I gave is that humility is not a virtue (I'm indebted to John Wesley for this thought). Humility is not something we can own, possess, or achieve. Instead humility is an awareness of our need. Humility is a form of emptiness before God and his greatness. I believe it’s important that we grasp that truth.

Too often, we’re stunted spiritually because we’re full—full of our dreams, desires, and plans. In short, we’re full of ourselves. There’s no room for anything, especially not God. Though we might pay lip service to God or to some form of obedience, it’s still all about us and what we’re accomplishing. In fact we might end up being more narcissistic than when we started our journey. Remember C.S. Lewis’ thoughts on this topic. He argues that the humble person is not thinking about pride or humility. The humble person is thinking about God and the person that happens to be in front of her. That type of humility is nothing more than emptiness.

How do we get there? We grow in our understanding of God through worship, prayer, frequent communion, and study. And as we grow in our understanding of God through these means of grace, we will see our own poverty. When we experience his love, we recognize how incapable we are of love; his light will reveal our darkness; his holiness, our impurity; his humility, our pride. When that happens, we probably end up praying, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.” This is central. We need to remember that the holy men and women of God who have preceded us never believed they were holy. Why? Because the more they encountered God, the more they were reminded of their own need. Humility then is a response to God. It’s an awareness, a poverty before the Almighty. And that’s a great place to be because then and only then can we be filled with his goodness. Peace!

Jesus Divides

2007-08-21T15:07:00.000-07:00

I’m sitting here trying to remember what I said last Sunday . . . It’s coming to me . . . Oh yes, there it is. (I’m getting old.)

We talked about the divisive nature of Jesus’ ministry. In Luke 12.49-53, Jesus announces that he has not come to maintain the status quo. His ministry is not all fun and games. There is judgment, and there will be division.

I tried to reveal how this text works itself out in Jesus’ ministry by highlighting two words that characterize his life—grace and truth. Both of those words help us understand Jesus, and they also reveal how divisive his ministry is.

Think about it: His grace is so amazing that it can be annoying; his love so divine that it can be divisive. In the New Testament, for example, the religious leaders do not like the company Jesus keeps. Nor do they like some of his compassionate acts—healing on the Sabbath, forgiving people, etc. His love is offensive. It can be for us as well. Our culture—and sometimes our religious traditions--tell us who’s worthy of love. But if we let Christ lead us, we might find ourselves loving the very people we’ve been trained to look down upon. When we do that, it will be divisive—our nation might persecute us; some in the church might resent us.

The same can be said of Jesus’ truth. Jesus is the truth, and so he spoke truthfully to others. Like any good doctor who knows that causing pain is sometimes necessary for a proper healing, Jesus, in love, heals by liberating us with the truth. Though it hurts, it’s what we need. Time and time again, Jesus gets himself into trouble simply because he reveals the truth. It still happens today. A pastor in the Midwest recently preached a series about the American church, stating that the church should be shaped by the cross, not the sword. Twenty percent (1,000 people) of his congregation left. The truth divides; it separates.

You see, Jesus isn’t looking for trouble. He’s not looking to judge. Rather his coming—his very being (grace and truth)—constitutes a judgment in a broken world.

Our response is important therefore. We need to remain open to God’s movement of grace and truth in our community, recognizing that he will lead us where we might not want to go; and of course, along the way, some will refuse to journey with us. There will be division in a dark world. Peace!

Getting Ready--Together!

2007-08-12T18:00:00.000-07:00

Here we go again. Yesterday I preached from Luke 12.35-38. In this section of scripture Jesus implies the journey will be long. Notice in verse 38 a blessing is pronounced upon those who wait until midnight, or even until dawn, for the master to return. Implied in that verse is the notion that the Christian journey can be long and difficult. I know, many of you have been told being a Christian is exciting. It can be; but frequently it isn’t. Most of the time, it’s hard, and rather undramatic. Just think about community life. Learning to live together as God’s new people isn’t easy. It can be very burdensome. It’s easy to see why many stop striving and others quit altogether. The journey we’re on—a journey shaped by the cross—is not easy. It can be very long.

But the good news is that God has not forgotten us. Creation is not in an endless cycle of sorrow and defeat; it has an end. That means we can participate in a great drama of redemptive history. Our effort is not in vain. We can embrace the future that is coming now. The master will return.

So the call of the text is, be ready, be about the master’s business.

But what does that mean? What does that look like? A few years ago, I used to try to think about it in terms of my own personal purity. Not anymore. For when holiness is reduced to my own personal purity, I become more narcissistic than most of my non-believing friends, constantly worried about whether or not I’m doing the right thing and therefore unable to really be present to those around me. So how can we be ready? The answer to that question is found in the “we.” I don’t know what it means to be ready on my own anymore. In fact, I’m coming to believe that there can be no holiness without the community. According to one writer, Augustine believed one can’t be a saint without others, because the quintessential virtue is charity. I agree, and I believe Paul pushes us in that direction. When he prays for his churches, he prays that they might be pure and blameless together, as a community: “And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1.9-10, see also 1 Thessalonians 3.11-13; 1 Corinthians 1.8) In case you missed that, Paul is speaking to a church, not an individual. Paul prays that the church will be blameless on the day of Christ. In fact, Paul seems to imply in 2 Corinthians that we’ll stand together: “As you have already understood us in part—that on the day of the Lord Jesus we are your boast even as you are our boast” (2 Corinthians 1.14). Therefore, the question is not really how can I be ready, but is the community of which I’m part ready? Is it holy and blameless? And to what extent am I hindering or helping that endeavor? Now we have a concrete way to respond: build up the church! Together we live and perhaps together we’ll be judged. Peace.

Spending or Being Spent

2007-08-06T14:45:00.000-07:00

Luke 12.13-21 is a very convicting passage of scripture. Jesus, to warn us against greed, tells us a little story about a fortunate man who just happens to make a fortune. Notice this man is blessed (vs. 16). He earned his fortune by sun, soil, and luck. He then does what is quite natural—he saves and retires early (vs. 17-18). Not bad.

To our listening ears his actions sound innocent enough. In fact, we idolize a man like this . . . Ever watch “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous"? And I’m afraid we think like him . . . We’re all tempted to spend our money in this fashion—selfishly, accumulating more and more luxuries (buying things we don’t need to impress people we don’t even like), saving more and more money, without giving any consideration to God or to others.

But there’s a problem. Though we idolize a man like this and though we think like him, the man is called a fool. Yes, God calls him a fool. Why? Because he squanders his fortune on himself. He did everything his way, and at the end of his life, he has nothing to show for it.

Where did this man go wrong? Did he fail because he just happened to be rich and because he just happened to own a fertile piece of property? Did he fail because he built bigger barns? Did he fail because he retired early? To all of those questions, most of us would say, no. So where did he fail? Where did he go terribly wrong? The answer is found in the story itself. Pay careful attention to the number of times he uses the personal pronoun. He makes his own decisions; he talks to himself, he reasons with himself, and he blesses himself—all this to justify his own actions. This proclivity toward soliloquy reveals the true nature of a person whose god is self (not a bad definition of greed). He is his own moral agent.

To avoid this same trap, we must learn to ask, always, “God what do you want me to do with the time and money you have placed into my care?” Or perhaps a better way to say it, we need to own up to our baptism. In our baptism, we have been saved by God’s favor into a new relationship with God through Christ. This means we have transferred our allegiance to Christ and his cause. No longer are we to be governed by our selfish desires or by our former (hopefully former) service to money. Instead, we are to live our lives in worship to the one who gave us the breath of life in love, and in love redeemed us so that we might serve Him and neighbor. In short, we are to be rich toward God.

What does this look like? For starters, we need to recognize that everything we have has merely been entrusted to our care (cf. Matthew 25.14). It’s not really ours in the first place. God has called us to be trustees; one day he will demand an account (Matthew 25.14-30). This concept implies that we need to use all we have for his glory. But what does that look like? I don’t know for sure. It will vary from person to person. But we need to keep talking about it. Right now, I’m inspired by Christians who work hard to live off less, so they can give more away. I admire the pastor who tithes 30% of his income—10% to the church, 20% to the poor. I’m challenged by those who match whatever they put into their pension account, setting it aside to help those can't even dream about retirement. I’m not suggesting that’s what you should do. It’s just worth noting that many in our family are working hard to make sure they are rich toward God. They should inspire us.

I’m challenged. I need help. I’ve wasted my fair share of God’s resources. I want to do better. What about you? Peace.

Prayer for God's Glory

2007-07-31T09:22:00.000-07:00

When Jesus taught the disciples to pray he gave them a simple outline to follow. In Luke’s version, the prayer consists of only five petitions. What strikes me as extremely powerful is the gist of the first two petitions.

First, we are to pray for God’s name to be sanctified. In the Old Testament, the sanctification of God’s name is connected to the holiness of the community of Israel. By being a contrast-society, Israel would sanctify—make holy (hallow)—the name of God (Leviticus 22.32-33; Ezekiel 36.23). Jesus invites us to pray in the same vein. We are to pray that God’s name would be sanctified through us. Next, we are to pray that God’s kingdom would come. When Jesus walked on this earth he announced the coming kingdom. He was saying, in essence, that God has not forgotten his dream of reclaiming this entire creation with and for his glory. With that big picture in mind, he teaches us to pray for the kingdom of God to come. He wants us to pray that God’s dream would come true through us.

These two petitions teach us something—it’s not about us; it’s about God: His-story. Together, we are being enlisted, by God, to live and witness in such a way that God’s name would be sanctified, and that through us, the world will receive a glimpse of God’s coming kingdom.

I recognize this prayer offers a challenge. Many of you might not be interested. You might be thinking, this is not what I signed up for--I want a little pick-me-up message; I want to serve Jesus alone; I prefer my own kingdom; I don’t want to take holiness, community, or the Kingdom of God too seriously. Your sentiment is probably shared by many. Personally, I can relate. My desires are not always godly. That’s why we need to pray this prayer with persistence. Notice after Jesus teaches us to pray this prayer, he give us two lessons on praying with persistence. And then notice what happens--we receive the Spirit of God who will transform our desires and empower to accomplish what he wants to accomplish in our lives.

I challenge you to keep praying this prayer, regularly, with persistence and let’s see what God will do in our midst as he continues to form us into a community that is relevant to what he wants to accomplish. Peace!

Urgent or Important: You Choose

2007-07-24T13:50:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday we compared Martha and Mary (Luke 10.38-42). Martha is frustrated and anxious, trying to fix a meal; while Mary sits at the feet of Jesus, listening.

I argued that Martha mistakes the urgent for the important. It’s something that can easily happen to us. After all, we live in a very noisy world which clamors for our attention, telling us what to believe, buy, and eat. And of course, the demands are always urgent, but very rarely important—for we are not to live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God (Deut. 8.3). To me, Martha represents the temptation to believe the urgent is also the important.

But Mary gets it. Though we should not set up false dichotomy between Martha and Mary, separating the spiritual from the practical, assuming (wrongly) that prayer is all that matters and has little to do with this life, we have to acknowledge what’s really important: God’s call to know and serve him. It would do us well to follow in the footsteps of Mary, who takes time for soul therapy. In the text, she assumes the role of a student and listens to Jesus. Though Martha's activity would be praised in another context, Mary, at this moment, makes the right choice and is praised for it (I assume because Jesus is on the way to the cross). The point is still the same: Her action calls us to a life of listening prayer. She creates space in her life for the Other.

To do this, we need to learn to embrace solitude. We need to create space in our life—a space that enables us to be attentive to God. Listen to Henri Nouwen: “Solitude is the furnace of transformation. Without solitude we remain victims of our society and continue to be entangled in the illusions of the false self” (The Way of the Heart, 13). What he says is true. The world with its urgent demands continually creates illusions that keep us in bondage. But in prayer, we can let the light drive out the darkness and gain a renewed clarity to live our life with a godly focus. I invite all of you to consider weaving into the fabric of your life a time to be attentive to the God who is calling you and who wants to transform you into the likeness of Christ. Peace!

Christ and His Cause: Our First Commitment

2007-07-01T20:10:00.000-07:00

I’m writing this before a little time off. I’ll try to be brief.

It seems that the greatest challenge we face from yesterday’s text (Luke 9.51-62) is Christ’s demand to put him even above our family. Many might think Jesus is a little rude here. He should have been more understanding. Isn’t a commitment to family a noble one? Two would-be disciples in this text are committed to their family. But Jesus calls them to his cause first and foremost.

Not that I have to explain Jesus’ action, but it does seem to make some sense to me. Permit me to give a less obvious and psychological explanation for Jesus’ words. I believe we need a center, a foundation, from which to live. No doubt Christ gives us that foundation. We are called to be a part of this great adventure of glorifying God as we pursue his kingdom. That commitment comes before family. And in making that commitment we receive the necessary distance that makes true love a possibility. Think about it: so often our love is tainted with a need to be needed; we end up loving ourselves but using other people. But if we love God first, love of neighbor becomes a possibility. Another way to say this is to say that you need to have a self before you can give yourself away. Christ can give us a self worth giving, as we follow the call to participate in his kingdom.

Outside of that psychological explanation, which still doesn’t explain everything and probably takes us away from the intention of the text, is Jesus who asks for an amazing commitment. It’s simple: our first commitment is always to Christ and his cause. Most of the time, our family will go with us; sometimes they won’t. It’s the latter that makes following Christ so hard at times. Peace.

Grace

2007-06-25T16:47:00.000-07:00

God’s grace never ceases to amaze me. Yesterday, in Luke 7.36-50, we witnessed Jesus’ grace being extended to two different people. First, Jesus is extending grace to Simon, the Pharisee, by eating at his house. We need to remember that in first-century Palestine one did not eat with just anyone. Eating was a way of extending friendship and intimacy to another person. Jesus not only ate with sinners but also with Pharisees, as this text indicates. Second, there is the uninvited guest, a woman, a notorious sinner in town. She’s desperate. She breaks down upon seeing Jesus. Not being prepared for this, she dries off his feet with her hair, anoints his feet with perfume, and then proceeds to kiss them. Jesus forgives her and sends her in peace. Simon doesn’t get it. It’s offensive to him. Jesus reminds him that the one who is forgiven little loves little. We should interpret that verse with some irony. Jesus isn’t telling Simon to go out and sin so he can appreciate god’s forgiveness. Rather Jesus is saying that Simon doesn’t really see his need. He’s full of himself. More than likely, he suffers from pride of virtue. He doesn’t see how sinful his condemnation and judgmental spirit is. So in this text there is that typical divine reversal so characteristic of Luke’s gospel: The poor are filled; the rich are sent away empty. Both receive grace. Only one sees the need and therefore appropriates the healing grace of Christ. It might be true of us. Perhaps the only thing we lack is the one thing necessary to freedom, acknowledging that we can’t stand in God’s presence on our own merits; we need a Savior. Peace!

Wallflowers

2007-06-18T16:53:00.000-07:00

I’m writing in the midst our VBS, so my thoughts might be scattered and my grammar worse than normal. Your grace will be greatly appreciated.

Yesterday, we looked at Luke 7.31-35. Jesus compares the religious leaders, who “rejected God’s purposes for themselves” (vs. 30), to children who are in the marketplace calling to one another: “We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge and you did not cry.” More than likely, this expression was used by children to taunt those who refused to participate in the games being played. In other words, Jesus believed these religious leaders were like wallflowers; they refused to dance to the music of God’s kingdom. Like all wallflowers they had their excuses: John the Baptist, he’s too strict; Jesus, he’s too liberal (vs. 33-34). They could not make room in their life for the newness of the Kingdom. The Kingdom embodied in Jesus didn’t (couldn’t fit?) into their understanding of reality.

What does this say to us? Or perhaps a better question is, in what ways might we end up as wallflowers, refusing to join in the movement of God’s grace and truth revealed in Jesus? I see three temptations in our world. First is the I’m-not-going-to-commit-to-anything temptation. Many people in our post-modern world refuse to commit to anything; they don’t want to take anything too seriously. They fail to recognize that not being committed is a commitment, a commitment to the belief that one should not commit to anything. Thus, they don’t want to stand anywhere. They refuse to commit because they don’t want to submit to any one thing, so they stand on the perimeter, refusing to dance. Second is the Christianity-must-be-relevant-to-my-life temptation. Christianity must fit into what I want to accomplish. Many seem to be saying, I have my dreams and goals, now show me what can Christianity do for me. I believe otherwise. I’m not half as concerned with making Christianity relevant to the modern the world as I’m with trying to form a people who will be relevant to God’s kingdom. But many who want Christianity to be relevant to their perceived needs might refuse to dance unless it fits into what they want to accomplish. It’s as if we’re asking God to repent and embrace what we want to do, which is contrary to the message of Jesus—“The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news” (Mark 1.15). Third, in a consumeristic world, many believe Christianity needs to meet my needs. Some come to church and Christianity with a list of demands: Make it a good show, give me a thrilling sermon, make me happy. Then if it doesn’t meet their expectations, they check out, they become wallflowers refusing to dance to the music of God’s kingdom. In all of these ways, and in many more, we can end up refusing to let the music of the kingdom transform us. Something to think about. Peace.

The Compassionate Christ

2007-06-10T17:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we looked at a very brief scene in Luke’s gospel—the raising of the widow’s dead son (Luke 7.11-17). In that story there is a collision of processions. One procession is trying to leave the city of Nain to bury the boy; the other procession, lead by Jesus, is trying to enter the city. In this collision—and perhaps chaos—Jesus sees the widow in all of her need. NIV (New International Version) says, “his heart went out to her.” But in Greek (the original language of the New Testament) it’s one word, splachnizomai. The word depicts a gut-wrenching compassion (cf. Acts 1.18; Matthew 9.36). Jesus hurt for this woman, so he acted. He raised the boy from the dead and gave the boy back to the widow. Her lot in life improved because she encountered Christ in all of his compassion.

Great story! But what does it mean for us today. I did not know for sure what direction to take the text. I wrestled with it for quite some time. On the one hand, I could talk about physical healing, which I believe in. Yet, any talk of physical healing opens up a host of complicated questions. I also believe that there is a more urgent healing—a healing of that which separates us from God and keeps us from living out the dream he dreams for our lives.

This is the direction I took yesterday, in part, because of some of the reading I’m doing right now on Eastern Orthodox Theology, suggesting that the goal in life is union with God and everything that happens to us—good or bad—is to be viewed as something directing us to this goal. I then suggested we need to be healed from any sin that remains in our life. Is there a more urgent healing than that? I can’t think of any. So we need to confess, own up, and let God’s grace begin to transform us. Christ in all of his compassion doesn't condemn us, he convicts us and empowers us to move forward in his strength.

I also suggested that we need to be healed from any emotional baggage that keeps us from loving God and practicing neighborly care—the type of emotional stuff that keeps us in bondage, not the normal everyday anxiety, fear, and sadness that characterizes our life this side of heaven. Sometimes, not always, we experience immobilizing emotional baggage because we are pursuing all the wrong stuff; we’re idolaters, in other words. I don’t mean that to be a blanket statement; it isn’t. It might not fit for you, but it certainly fits for me occasionally. My suggestion if you’re overwhelmed with emotional baggage: get some counseling, and at the time, consider whether or not the emotional baggage is there because your love is disordered (you’re loving all the wrong things). Again, that's not a cure-all, but it's true some of the time. Again, Christ in all of his compassion wants to guide us with his yoke which is easier than any other yoke we might be currently wearing.

Anyway, you get the point. We should submit ourselves to this Jesus in whom there is nothing but love and compassion, knowing that he wants to heal us so that we can love God and love others as we have been called to do. Peace!

The Marriage of Heaven and Earth--John 14.12

2007-06-04T15:48:00.000-07:00

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also . . .” proclaims Jesus (John 14.12, NASB). As I said yesterday these words are startling; they should arrest our attention. Why? Because this not the way most people think about faith. Many people talk about faith as if it’s only some sort of private and personal commitment. Many assume faith is relegated exclusively to the soul or spirit but has little to do with our public life. Many of our metaphors we employ in the church suggest that the only way to experience salvation is to be rescued from this world and have our spirits whisked away to some sort of spiritual existence far from anything we currently know. This language unintentionally drives wedges between faith and works, behavior and belief, soul and body, spirit and matter. Naturally, in such a worldview as this, many conclude faith is just a private, spiritual commitment that guarantees some sort of existence for the afterlife.

Jesus thinks differently as this verse suggests. He’s apart of a great tradition, a very worldly religious perspective that reaches back into the Old Testament. Think about it: in the Exodus, God liberates people to be a new nation that embraces the politics of liberation; they are to embrace--as I read it through the life of Jesus--a politics of compassion and justice. In the same vein the prophets teach us that this is the way to interpret the Law. The prophets call the people of God to embrace a compassionate justice and a righteousness defined by neighborly care. Jesus is part of this great tradition. He talks about God’s coming kingdom, a kingdom that is breaking into history. (If you’re struggling with the word Kingdom, think dream. God has a dream to reclaim all of creation with his light and love. The dream starts with Abraham and ends with a new heaven and new earth so beautifully depicted in Revelation). So he calls us to repent, which does not necessarily mean go to an altar, feel real bad, and receive forgiveness so that you can go about your own business. Repent means to turn around; change your mind in light of this new reality—God’s coming kingdom. This is Jesus’ approach to faith. That’s why he can say without apology or without explanation, the one who believes in me will keep doing what I have been doing. He can say that because he doesn’t want to drive wedges between faith and works, between belief and behavior, between heaven and earth. They can’t be separated. To believe is to embrace a new way of living. To have faith is follow the Christ. Salvation is not an escape from this world but a call to participate in the dream that God is dreaming for this world. As N.T. Wright is fond of pointing out, Christianity doesn’t envision a divorce between heaven and earth but a marriage between the two. Christ-followers participate in this marriage now, giving witness to what God wants to accomplish. In other words, we are now a part of the great story of redemption: God has loved the world through Israel’s messiah—Jesus; Jesus has now ascended to the father, where he intercedes for us; the Spirit is now empowering us to live and love like Jesus. Peace!

Pentecost Sunday

2007-05-27T19:31:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. I hope you were inspired and challenged yesterday. I know I was. The thought might have been new for many of you. Nonetheless, it is an important one to grasp. I stated yesterday, to the best of my ability, that Pentecost Sunday is part of a much larger story—the story of a missionary God. He is a fountain of sending love. This belief reveals some of the more fundamental aspects of our faith. Why is there creation? Why Israel? Why Jesus? Why the church? Because God wants to share his light and love. God has a centrifugal force (a movement away from center) as well as a centripetal force (movement toward center). Through his Spirit, God is reaching out and drawing all of creation back into his liberating light and love. God through the ascended Christ sends his Spirit . . . to send (form and empower) the church to witness to God’s grace and truth. I like the way David Bosch states it in his classic book, Transforming Mission: “In the new image mission is not primarily an activity of the church, but an attribute of God. God is a missionary God. ‘It is not the church that has a mission of salvation to fulfill in the world; it is the mission of the Son and the Spirit through the Father that includes the church’ (Moltmann 1977:64). Mission is thereby seen as a movement from God to the world; the church is viewed as an instrument for that mission. There is church because there is mission, not vice versa. To participate in mission is to participate in the movement of God’s love toward people, since God is a fountain of sending love” (391, emphasis mine). I would encourage you to read that one more time, slowly. You see, the church doesn’t create a mission per se; its reason to be is mission. To be a church is to be sent out into God's creation. Likewise, to be a Spirit-filled disciple is to be sent. We're a part of God's dream to bring healing and restoration to the world.

But what does this mean? Does this mean we’re all called to be evangelists? Does this mean we have fight for our rights or for our country? Does this mean we have to start knocking on doors? Does this mean we need to leave for another country in order to be a missionary? No, it doesn't mean any of those things. It's deeper and more dynamic than anything those questions represent. We are to be witnesses to God’s salvation in Christ (Acts 1.8), not just do some witnessing whenever we feel the desire to prove something. And for Luke, salvation is multifaceted. Quoting Bosch again: “One could say that, for Luke, salvation actually has six dimensions: economic, social, political, physical, psychological, and spiritual” (117). To witness to such a dynamic salvation will require the entire community moving outward toward the world, responding to the Spirit’s direction and empowering presence, loving the world with words and deeds. In other words, we need to be shaped and fashioned by God’s movement of love so that we can actually embody the good news. What a great adventure! No doubt, we’re not up the task on our own. We need the empowering presence of the Christ. And so maybe we need to wait like the early disciples (cf. Luke 24.36-53), seeking God's transforming grace so that our hearts will be stretched and enlarged to make room for the new life in Christ. Peace!

Empowered to Obey

2007-05-20T19:46:00.000-07:00

I hope yesterday’s sermon was a challenging one. Speaking from John 14.15-23, I stated that we are called to obey the empowering presence of the resurrected and ascended Christ. The challenge is simple: Jesus speaks as if obedience to his commands is a possibility. John Wesley would agree. He states, in so many words, that we sin not because we have to but because we do not take advantage of the transforming grace of God. This is a revolutionary thought. Many Christians function from the belief that we will always sin, that is, we will always live in disobedience to Christ. But many of us agreed yesterday that sin (disobedience) is forgivable but not excusable, especially in light of what God has done for us in Christ (cf. Romans 6, 7, 8; 1 John 3, 4). In other words, Christ can really transform us so that we actually want to obey him. This does not mean we’ll get it right; our witness to Christ will fall short of his perfect life. We will make mistakes and misjudgments. Our unique personalities and perspectives will get in the way of fully representing Christ’s love. We will always be frail humans, which means we will be tired, gloomy, grumpy, hungry, and sad on occasion (which is not sin per se). Furthermore, our journeys will consist of failures and setbacks, ups and downs. We won’t live flawlessly. We will be tempted, and we might even glance longer than we should at a particular sin. But all of this does not mean that we have to oppose the purposes of God for our lives. Christ can do great things in us and through us. So instead of embracing a gospel of sin-management (Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven), we must assume that God can really transform us (Christians are not only forgiven but empowered to believe and love). What a challenge! What an opportunity: to live and believe that what God commands he also wills to accomplish in our life. Through the empowering presence of Christ—the Holy Spirit, God is working for our transformation. The only question remaining: Will we work with him? Peace.

Question: Is this expecting too much or too little? If the bar is set too high, we will end up being fakes, too low, and we'll set ourselves up for failure. Any thoughts?

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Mother's Day

2007-05-14T08:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Mother’s Day. I’m always conflicted on what to do or say on this day. For starters, it isn’t a Christian holiday. Not that it’s wrong to honor our mothers and our fathers, it’s just that Mother’s Day isn’t something that everyone can celebrate, unlike other Christian holidays (Advent, Christmas, Pentecost, etc.) which speaks to every human and his/her most pressing need. What do you mean? Well, for many, Mother’s Day is a painful day—some don’t have fond memories, others weren’t able to have children for some reason or another, still others might feel guilty for how they actually mothered their children. So yesterday I talked briefly about some of the more motherly aspects of God. In scripture God is described as having maternal instincts, which should not surprise us since both men and women have been created in the image of God (Genesis 1.27). For example, the Hebrew word for compassion/mercy in Isaiah 63.7 is the same word used for womb in Isaiah 46.3 and 49.14. What a remarkable reference: God’s compassion is womb-like; it's safe, warm, and something the mother treasures. Also we are reminded in Isaiah 66.13 that as a mother comforts her child, so God will comfort Israel. Similarly, God’s faithful love is compared to that of a mother’s for her child: “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you” (Isaiah 49.15-16). After all, it’s God who has conceived and given birth to Israel in the first place (Numbers 11.12). The point to all of this is simple: God is not only like a father, but he is also like a mother. I’m not suggesting that we call God a mother; scripture never goes that far. Nonetheless, when wrestling with what God is like, motherly images are extremely helpful. So I hope that for all those who are reminded of what they don’t have on Mother’s Day, we (the church) can point them to God and to a community (a new family) that gives them the comfort they need. Peace.

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Living the Abundant Life--John 10.10

2007-04-30T08:50:00.000-07:00

Well, here I am again, writing another reflection on yesterday’s message. Remember, I spoke on the counterfeit ways of living that leave us empty (the impostors that climb over the fence). Because we are insecure, perhaps by nature, we’re vulnerable to other storylines that offer some sort of salvation but never really deliver anything of substance. So often, we’re looking for love--validation or security--in all the wrong places. Henri Nouwen articulates it well: “Success, popularity and power can, indeed, present a great temptation, but their seductive quality often comes from the way they are part of the much larger temptation to self-rejection. When we have come to believe in the voices that call us worthless and unlovable, then success, popularity and power are easily perceived as attractive solutions” (Life of the Beloved, 27). This is the problem. Out of insecurity, we look for answers--for validation--that ultimately leave us empty. We're tempted to turn to body-image, success, popularity, false forms of intimacy, legalistic forms of religion, desperately searching for love, security and personal well-being. But these things never bring us what we thought they would. They're counterfeits that leave us empty at best, ruin us at worst.

The answer is the security of knowing God’s love. Jesus came to give us life (John 10.10); he came to reconnect us to God, so that we might know God and have eternal life (John 17.3). What is that life? It is God’s life, his love. It is knowing his love—really knowing his love!—that sets us free to live. I’m saying something very radical here, for those who have ears to hear: we’re not fully alive, fully human, until we’re resting secure in the Father’s love, until we’re living in that love, growing in that love, and living out that love. This is what it means to be human. In short, we come home, because from love you came and to love you shall return. Our hearts, indeed our lives, are insecure until they find their rest in God and his faithful love. I pray this truth will sink deep into your heart. Peace!

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The Suffering King

2007-04-22T16:13:00.000-07:00

“The message about the cross is foolishness” proclaims Paul (1 Corinthians 1.18, NRSV) . Today, 4-22, we looked at the travelers making their trek away from Jerusalem toward Emmaus (Luke 24.13-35). They’d seen enough. Even though there were reports that Jesus is alive, they’re leaving, not so sure they want a crucified Lord. (Remember, the resurrection doesn’t erase the suffering of Christ; instead it validates it.) One interpretive clue that I failed to mention is the journey motif. Did you notice all the references to a journey—they’re traveling, they’re on the way, as they’re going along (24.13, 15, 17, 32, 35)? This is an important metaphor for Luke. In Luke 9.51, Jesus begins his journey to the cross. Then over the next several chapters, Jesus makes frequent references to where he’s going (10.38, 13.22, 33; 14.25; 17.11; 18.31, 35; 19.11). You get the point: Jesus is taking the disciples to the cross. Now these two disciples are walking away from the cross. They’re not ready to embrace the message of the cross. Why? I offered two guesses. First, the cross tells us we have a need. Make no mistake, the cross speaks grace; it yells grace, announcing that we’re accepted and loved. But it also says, there’s a problem, and the problem is not all the other people in the world, the problem is sin, the sin in my heart. The cross reminds us that we need a savior. You can’t look at the cross and conclude, “I’m okay, you’re okay.” No, look at the great lengths God had to go to deal with sin. We have a need. We can’t find our way to God on our own merits. God had to make a way; and make a way he did, not with reluctance but with great love. Secondly, the cross for Jesus is a symbol for sacrificial love. Jesus’ entire life could be described as one of sacrificial love. And he calls us to embrace the way of the cross. He came to establish a unique kingdom with a very odd king (odd too many, at least). He calls us to love enemies, to forgive, to be quick in reconciling with others. It is a kingdom shaped by the cross. Even Paul calls us to embrace the cross as a way of life (Philippians 2.5-11). We’re called to be agents of God’s sacrificial love. That’s a hard pill to swallow at times. We all resist it, I’m sure. So, like these two travelers, we need to be shaped by the word, and we need to partake of communion to be reminded how beautiful the cross really is (Luke 24.24, 30). Any thoughts? Peace.

P.S. The cross is one of our core values. As a church, we value primarily these three things: community, cross, new-creation (Richard Hays, The Moral Vision of the New Testament).

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Doubting Thomas

2007-04-11T15:47:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday (4-15) I preached on unbelieving Thomas (John 20.24-30). Many preachers (and believers) extol the virtues of Thomas, stating he's a hero, a true pragmatist, a man of our times. I suggested that Thomas' approach to the faith is not praiseworthy but blameworthy. I know, I was out on a limb with that statement. But the way John tells the story seems to suggest that's the point. First, Thomas isn't open to the testimony of his friends. He's very demanding in what he wants. He needs proof and not just any proof, specific proof. Isn't it strange that he doesn't pause and say something like, "I don't know if I can swallow that pill, give me some more time to think about it"? This response is more appropriate, I feel. Instead, Thomas refuses to believe in the testimony of his fellow companions until he sees it for himself. Second, Thomas' statement of "Unless . . . I will never see" is similar to a criticism Jesus makes in John 4:48, "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders, you will never believe." Last but not least, Jesus gently rebukes Thomas. In Greek, the word play is not between doubt and belief but between belief and unbelief. NASB gets it right: "Don't be unbelieving but believing" (vs. 27). Jesus then looks over Thomas' shoulder and says to the listener who has never seen, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

So what do we do with all this? I suggested that Thomas' approach to faith reveals a stubbornness that can get us into trouble. If we demand a revelation on our own terms, we might miss the life that God has for us. If we don't respond to the faith that God has planted in our hearts, we might harden ourselves against it. Too often we shut the door of our hearts and refuse to respond to the light that is being revealed. We can easily end up like children at a party refusing to play, refusing to believe in the testimony of the laughter, saying it's not that great. It's a prove-it-to-me-attitude. We want proof without commitment. We're on the outside looking in. But like so many things in life, one has to believe, commit, and then see and understand. Refusing to move forward until all the evidence is in might get us into trouble.

The good news, as this text reveals, is that Jesus still works. He doesn't give up on Thomas, but instead he meets Thomas where he is. He comes to him anyway, revealing himself to an unbelieving and demanding man. We can only hope and pray he does the same for us when we close the door of our hearts to his liberating truth. His grace is greater. Thanks be to God.

Peace.