It is hard to blame Newt Gingrich, the former US House speaker and current presidential candidate, for insisting that he should be judged by his current life rather than his former one. Who among us would care to be judged by our past? Yet we are mindful that judging someone based on his or her present or future is impossible without at least being mindful of their past. For good or bad our past has helped to shape our present and will inform our future, but our past also reveals certain tendencies and fundamental values. We can change, of course, and wisdom is defined by how we learn from our mistakes, but how do we prove to others that we have finally managed to get beyond our less-than-honorable past?
Politicians, especially wanna-be's, have this dilemma hanging over their heads. There are few among us who can stand up to the judgment of our past, and there are fewer still who would even want their past to be revealed - especially not publicly and certainly not nationally! When we get married and start having children, we create the ones who would ultimately be hurt by a shameful past. These are the ones who would be doggedly pursued by a hungry and relentless press because of a scandalous past they had nothing to do with. I would venture to say there are a lot of well-qualified candidates out there who, if not for their past, would run for public office AND would serve well and honorably. They are simply not willing to expose themselves so intimately to the entire world, and they are certainly not willing to subject their loved ones to such intense scrutiny. The price would simply be too high. In the end, the nation is the poorer.
Choosing a president, a senator, or a representative is a very big deal and as much as these candidates might like to insist on a "hand's off" approach as it pertains to their personal lives, it is just not to be. Because of what these candidates will potentially be entrusted with, we have to know about them. We have to know how they will conduct themselves, and we have to know they can be trusted. In my humble opinion, a candidate who insists there is a segment of his or her life that is off limits is automatically off the ballot of serious consideration for one reason and one reason alone: they are asking me to "hire" them.
In the "hiring" process no candidate should make the mistake of telling the hiring authority how the cow ate the cabbage. That alone is a good indication that there is a rather dangerous level of arrogance that will only be made worse with the authority of the office to which they would aspire. And when it comes to the necessity of cooperation, there won't be any except where it is self-serving. These candidates are being allowed to enter into a domain in which the authority they hope to attain is the authority they will be granted not because they have earned it but because we have allowed it. It is by the "consent of the governed" these are allowed to govern. So we need to know, and they must always be reminded.
Christians are mindful of the biblical reality of Jesus' rather stern warning: Judge not, lest you be judged by the same manner and with the same measure. In other words, Christians are cautioned not to judge adulterers too harshly lest we be reminded that "lustful" glances, according to this same Jesus, are equally incriminating. Ouch. How many can escape that one?? Even former president Jimmy Carter acknowledged the reality of that sin in his own life, but he also allowed that the Lord's grace helped him to get beyond it. Fair enough. The Lord is a Good Sport. Humans, on the other hand, are not so much.
What are the values we seek in a candidate? What is it we want? For the most part, I think we are persistently disappointed in our selections because we are persistently unrealistic in our demands and expectations. And because of our unrealistic expectations, we impose unrealistic demands on candidates. We forget that we are not electing spiritual leaders; we are choosing representatives regardless of whether they will serve in the state legislatures, the US House, the US Senate, or the White House. These representatives must necessarily reflect who we really are as a people rather than who we wish we were. Expecting more will guarantee failure and disappointment because we cannot impose restrictions we will refuse to be subjected to, and we cannot scrutinize in a manner we would refuse to submit to.
The key to being a successful candidate, I think, has more to do with being a genuine reflection of the population rather than a unrealistic ideal of what we think we should be because who we really are is, truthfully, good enough. We can and should aspire to greater heights, of course, and there is nothing wrong with reaching higher, but there is also nothing wrong with knowing our limits. The mistakes we make are good indicators of our limits. The same is true of those who would represent us.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
The Gate
Acts 2:42-47 Psalm 23 1 Peter 2:19-25 John 10:1-10
• The Bible means different things to different people
• The Bible means different things at different times to the same people
• The Bible is ancient literature written for an ancient people of an ancient time
• The Bible is hopelessly out of touch with today's reality
Each of these statements is substantially true just as each of these statements is substantially incomplete. We all bring something different to the table, and we all walk away from that same table with different opinions but with a common knowledge. It does not make one "right" and the other "wrong". It is just an acknowledgment of the certain reality that we are all geared a little differently just as we are all spiritually gifted differently. At a core level, however, we all have the same basic need: to be loved and accepted - AND - to know we are safe.
Some have endured hardships many cannot even begin to understand, but we try to pretend we do. We mean well by trying to pretend we can speak to such hardships. When we do this, however, we tend to dismiss the past experiences of others by glibly suggesting they need to "move on" or "get over it" because, after all, we did - even though we should admit (at least to ourselves) we do not share the very same experiences. Our greatest failure in trying to pretend, however, has little to do with the way we were raised or how rough we think our lives had been. Our greatest failure is, generally speaking, a profound lack of acknowledgment and ignorance of the so-called "cultural divide", that which defines our differences.
Missionaries have the toughest job. It is a mistake, however, to restrict such thinking only to those missionaries who venture into the deepest, darkest jungles to try and bring the Gospel to a people who had no previous knowledge of Christ. They go to such primitive cultures whose practices are so strange to us so as to be inconceivable. Very generally speaking, we believe "they" need to be more like us, "they" need to think like we do, and "they" need to believe and practice exactly as we do. BUT - we tend to forget that one does not always need to travel to another continent to find people and practices that are polar opposites to our ways of thinking, believing, and living. We can simply go across town - or even right across the street.
It never occurs to such well-meaning missionaries, both foreign AND domestic, that to insist that the subjects of our missionary work need to disavow their own culture, their ancestral practices, and their traditions is an insult of the worst kind and immediately throws up a virtually insurmountable barrier. It would be like someone coming to any one of us and trying to tell us that our parents or grandparents - whom we believe to have taught us well, whom we admire and respect - were really just ignorant and that they taught us "wrong". How many of us would stand for this? Immediately the "cultural divide" becomes the Grand Canyon!
The very reason why missionary work is so difficult and clearly not for everyone is that missionaries - in order to be successful - must necessarily learn the language, customs, courtesies, and practices - and dangers! - of a culture they choose to enter into. It can be spiritually dangerous to enter into a foreign culture, but it is necessary if those within that culture are going to be spoken to and ministered to - rather than spoken "at" and ministered "at".
A good analogy would be the work of a firefighter who would selflessly enter into a burning home to rescue someone. The firefighter would not stand outside the house and yell at those who are trapped inside in the vain hope that they would come to their senses in that moment of desperation and panic. Rather, the firefighter - having been adequately trained and properly equipped - assumes that those trapped inside are really trapped and will need to be led out, maybe even carried out.
The important element of such an analogy, however, is not just the selflessness of the firefighter who would disregard his or her own safety for the sake of someone else. The important element is the burning house. The firefighter cannot pretend the burning house does not exist and the firefighter cannot wish away the fire, but must work from within that dangerous reality in order to save those who are trapped inside.
In much the same way, the Shepherd does not only stand at the gate and call the sheep, though Jesus does say that "He calls His own by name"; but He also "leads them out" (vs 3), clearly indicating He first had to go in to them. After He has "brought them out" He "leads" the way, as St. Peter points out, by "leaving you an example so that you should follow in His footsteps" (1 Peter 2:21).
Modern religion, especially the many different and seemingly conflicting Christian denominations, is very hard to embrace because with the best of intentions to "shepherd" a people and make disciples - as we all are commissioned to do - we have inadvertently created rules, regulations, processes, borderline superstitions, "magic potions", and "magic prayers" (ok, maybe a little over the top!); demands imposed on the unbelieving and unsuspecting to insist on a particular, acceptable behavior BEFORE we will accept them. I would like to believe our Wesleyan Methodist tradition has put up no such barriers and maybe "officially" we have not. Practically speaking, however, we have done so and still do according to regions and cultures.
There will always be conflicts between us according to personalities, cultures, backgrounds, etc., and there should be no fear within these conflicts because there is still an overarching commonality among us: we are all mortal humans with the same basic flaws and weaknesses but with the same need to be loved and accepted - and to KNOW we are loved and accepted.
Let us be clear, however. No one is suggesting - nor should they suggest - that Jesus is "a" way. He is clearly "the" Way. He is "the" Gate through which we must enter, and He is "the" Shepherd who will lead us. Like the heroic firefighter He has already come to us in the "burning house" of our humanity; now it is up to us to follow Him in HIS Path, in HIS Righteousness, to HIS God and Father ... not our own path, not our own righteousness, and certainly not to a "god" of our own making.
There is only one "Gate" through which to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; there is only one "Gate" through which we will find the greener and more enduring pastures. Others will try to show us alternatives, choices more to their own liking, practices that divide a flock rather than unite. Practices that seek and promote individual comfort and personal satisfaction without regard for the well-being of the whole flock, and disregard the few among the flock who just don't see it "that" particular way but are nevertheless headed for the same Gate and following the Voice of the same Shepherd.
So let us put aside those things that define us as a denomination and instead embrace those things that define us as a people; a people ultimately being led to the same Gate by the same Shepherd to the same God. Precisely how we arrive at the Gate, by whatever practices or beliefs, is not nearly as important as that we do finally arrive at the ONE Gate by the gentle hand of the ONE Shepherd to the ONE Destiny that is of and for the people of the Lord.
In the name of the One Father, His Son, His Holy Spirit. Amen.
• The Bible means different things to different people
• The Bible means different things at different times to the same people
• The Bible is ancient literature written for an ancient people of an ancient time
• The Bible is hopelessly out of touch with today's reality
Each of these statements is substantially true just as each of these statements is substantially incomplete. We all bring something different to the table, and we all walk away from that same table with different opinions but with a common knowledge. It does not make one "right" and the other "wrong". It is just an acknowledgment of the certain reality that we are all geared a little differently just as we are all spiritually gifted differently. At a core level, however, we all have the same basic need: to be loved and accepted - AND - to know we are safe.
Some have endured hardships many cannot even begin to understand, but we try to pretend we do. We mean well by trying to pretend we can speak to such hardships. When we do this, however, we tend to dismiss the past experiences of others by glibly suggesting they need to "move on" or "get over it" because, after all, we did - even though we should admit (at least to ourselves) we do not share the very same experiences. Our greatest failure in trying to pretend, however, has little to do with the way we were raised or how rough we think our lives had been. Our greatest failure is, generally speaking, a profound lack of acknowledgment and ignorance of the so-called "cultural divide", that which defines our differences.
Missionaries have the toughest job. It is a mistake, however, to restrict such thinking only to those missionaries who venture into the deepest, darkest jungles to try and bring the Gospel to a people who had no previous knowledge of Christ. They go to such primitive cultures whose practices are so strange to us so as to be inconceivable. Very generally speaking, we believe "they" need to be more like us, "they" need to think like we do, and "they" need to believe and practice exactly as we do. BUT - we tend to forget that one does not always need to travel to another continent to find people and practices that are polar opposites to our ways of thinking, believing, and living. We can simply go across town - or even right across the street.
It never occurs to such well-meaning missionaries, both foreign AND domestic, that to insist that the subjects of our missionary work need to disavow their own culture, their ancestral practices, and their traditions is an insult of the worst kind and immediately throws up a virtually insurmountable barrier. It would be like someone coming to any one of us and trying to tell us that our parents or grandparents - whom we believe to have taught us well, whom we admire and respect - were really just ignorant and that they taught us "wrong". How many of us would stand for this? Immediately the "cultural divide" becomes the Grand Canyon!
The very reason why missionary work is so difficult and clearly not for everyone is that missionaries - in order to be successful - must necessarily learn the language, customs, courtesies, and practices - and dangers! - of a culture they choose to enter into. It can be spiritually dangerous to enter into a foreign culture, but it is necessary if those within that culture are going to be spoken to and ministered to - rather than spoken "at" and ministered "at".
A good analogy would be the work of a firefighter who would selflessly enter into a burning home to rescue someone. The firefighter would not stand outside the house and yell at those who are trapped inside in the vain hope that they would come to their senses in that moment of desperation and panic. Rather, the firefighter - having been adequately trained and properly equipped - assumes that those trapped inside are really trapped and will need to be led out, maybe even carried out.
The important element of such an analogy, however, is not just the selflessness of the firefighter who would disregard his or her own safety for the sake of someone else. The important element is the burning house. The firefighter cannot pretend the burning house does not exist and the firefighter cannot wish away the fire, but must work from within that dangerous reality in order to save those who are trapped inside.
In much the same way, the Shepherd does not only stand at the gate and call the sheep, though Jesus does say that "He calls His own by name"; but He also "leads them out" (vs 3), clearly indicating He first had to go in to them. After He has "brought them out" He "leads" the way, as St. Peter points out, by "leaving you an example so that you should follow in His footsteps" (1 Peter 2:21).
Modern religion, especially the many different and seemingly conflicting Christian denominations, is very hard to embrace because with the best of intentions to "shepherd" a people and make disciples - as we all are commissioned to do - we have inadvertently created rules, regulations, processes, borderline superstitions, "magic potions", and "magic prayers" (ok, maybe a little over the top!); demands imposed on the unbelieving and unsuspecting to insist on a particular, acceptable behavior BEFORE we will accept them. I would like to believe our Wesleyan Methodist tradition has put up no such barriers and maybe "officially" we have not. Practically speaking, however, we have done so and still do according to regions and cultures.
There will always be conflicts between us according to personalities, cultures, backgrounds, etc., and there should be no fear within these conflicts because there is still an overarching commonality among us: we are all mortal humans with the same basic flaws and weaknesses but with the same need to be loved and accepted - and to KNOW we are loved and accepted.
Let us be clear, however. No one is suggesting - nor should they suggest - that Jesus is "a" way. He is clearly "the" Way. He is "the" Gate through which we must enter, and He is "the" Shepherd who will lead us. Like the heroic firefighter He has already come to us in the "burning house" of our humanity; now it is up to us to follow Him in HIS Path, in HIS Righteousness, to HIS God and Father ... not our own path, not our own righteousness, and certainly not to a "god" of our own making.
There is only one "Gate" through which to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; there is only one "Gate" through which we will find the greener and more enduring pastures. Others will try to show us alternatives, choices more to their own liking, practices that divide a flock rather than unite. Practices that seek and promote individual comfort and personal satisfaction without regard for the well-being of the whole flock, and disregard the few among the flock who just don't see it "that" particular way but are nevertheless headed for the same Gate and following the Voice of the same Shepherd.
So let us put aside those things that define us as a denomination and instead embrace those things that define us as a people; a people ultimately being led to the same Gate by the same Shepherd to the same God. Precisely how we arrive at the Gate, by whatever practices or beliefs, is not nearly as important as that we do finally arrive at the ONE Gate by the gentle hand of the ONE Shepherd to the ONE Destiny that is of and for the people of the Lord.
In the name of the One Father, His Son, His Holy Spirit. Amen.
Sunday, May 08, 2011
Blinded to Blessings
Acts 2:14a, 36-41 Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19 1 Peter 1:17-23 Luke 24:13-35
Previously I had challenged us all to consider the unimpeachable truth of the Gospel - that YHWH sent His Son to call us to repentance and to everlasting life - in spite of the inevitable doubts we endure from time to time. In our lives we have had considerable reason to have doubts and misgivings - everyone, without exception! - and because of the nature of these doubts and the unfortunate experiences they sprang from, we have been unable to recognize the equally considerable blessings we have actually enjoyed. There are two reasons for our spiritual blindness: 1) we are too wrapped up in the moment, our own misery, and what we think we need; and 2) we don't recognize the difference between a genuine blessing and just plain dumb luck.
The psalmist expressed equal doubts in the midst of his "distress and anguish", when he felt surrounded and overwhelmed by the "snares of death" and the "pangs of Sheol", but he was able to draw from within himself the abiding faith that comes from a certain knowledge of the past as a promise for the future. The psalmist was obviously rescued from his despair so much so that in his gratitude for his deliverance, he was willing to be held accountable for his "vows"; those certain promises he made to the Lord in his distress; "vows" that, according to the Law of Moses, must be repaid immediately (Deuteronomy 23:21-23).
This is not unlike the vows made, as they say, by "former atheists in foxholes". Even made under extreme stress, these vows are taken seriously by the Lord. And because the psalmist was obviously delivered from whatever may have been his source of anguish, he was gushing with an eager willingness to be held accountable for the vows he had made. He did not walk away from his distress feeling as though "lady luck had finally smiled on him". He was expressing the certain knowledge that he had been delivered! He could obviously tell the difference.
I have often wondered if the way we think is determined by our moods, or if our moods are determined by the way we think; it's a chicken vs. egg thing. What I mean to say is that when our mood is somber or sad, we think in those directions. When we are happy, we think happy thoughts. If we feel blessed, we think blessings, and when we feel cursed we confirm that despair by our thoughts. And if what I suggest is true, it would help in explaining why these two disciples in Luke's account did not realize they had been walking and talking with the Resurrected Christ!
It was the Day of the Resurrection that found these two disciples walking on the road to Emmaus and by what is written by Luke, they were a little overwhelmed and perhaps even still somewhat shocked and disappointed about all that had taken place these past few days, just as they told the Lord: "we had hoped He was the one to redeem Israel" (vs 21). Previously "hoped". No longer "hoping". In spite of this, they were also dealing with "rumors" of the missing Body and visions of angels. That's a lot to deal with; and if it is true that the disciples felt it necessary to hide because of their association with Jesus, we may reasonably assume that all who were disciples might have felt equally compelled to hide.
So, wrapped up in their misery, perhaps fear, certainly confusion, they were walking and talking with Jesus. Of course Luke suggests the disciples were perhaps divinely blinded so as to be unable to recognize Jesus, but I think this is assuming quite a bit. I think perhaps all that Jesus had taught them while He was with them had simply escaped them. Think about all the lessons Jesus taught about His own divine calling, and remember Peter's very human and protective response to Jesus - right before Jesus called him "Satan".
What Jesus was talking about was beyond human comprehension. What happened on the Day of Resurrection is beyond our human capacity to comprehend. When we try to conceive of such, we get very glorious yet vague images in our minds about the tomb and what Jesus must have looked like. The disciples who were on the road to Emmaus presumably knew the human Jesus and what He had looked like, but it is suggested that the glorified appearance of Christ is beyond a human's ability to understand.
So what are we being told about these whose hearts should have been "burning" but who were nonetheless incapable of recognizing the Divine Blessing that was right before their very eyes? I think maybe a key is in their moment of recognition in verses 31-32: "When [Jesus] was at the table with them, He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him ..."
They - nor we - "need" to see the person of the Lord, though we would like to be able to "see" something more tangible a little more often. It sure would make faith a little less challenging especially when we are being encompassed by the "snares of death" or the "pangs of Sheol". To physically "see" Him, however, is not what we truly need. It is only our human desire, and this desire is not unlike the "signs" the Jews had constantly demanded of Him before they would be willing to believe. There is no faith in such a demand; only a sense of entitlement. In such demands we insist we are "owed" something which in itself denies the very nature of what is truly a "blessing".
It is about our "needs" against our "desires". If we are broke and cannot pay the phone bill, we think we need cash. To be sure, cash comes in pretty handy, but our truest need cannot be met with cash. When we are hungry we think in terms of what sort of food will excite us and be worth the trouble or expense, but it never occurs to us that just plain bread will give us the nourishment our bodies need. It may not be aesthetically pleasing to our senses, but it will sustain us.
When we don't get our human senses excited or tickled, we think we are being cheated. When we don't get what we want, we think life is unfair or someone is at fault. We rarely consider the incredible gift that life is in just being able to see and feel and taste, and we would never consider what an enormous blessing of doing without can actually be. The disciples and their human senses only thought they "needed" to see Jesus with their own eyes before they were willing to believe - like Thomas - but the "bread" Jesus offered to them is what opened their eyes. Being given what they truly needed - rather than what they wanted - is what opened their eyes to the Truth of the Resurrection and the promise and hope of Eternal Life.
We all have desires and dreams and wishes and personal wants but because these desires are so strong within us, we often fail to realize we have within us at any given time all we ever really "need". The blessing that is the Resurrection - the sure hope that we will never taste death though we will all pass from this life - is all we really need. It is that certain hope which sustains us and feeds us and nourishes us when we are encompassed by the "snares of death" and the "pangs of Sheol". The Lord has given us every real and enduring thing we could ever need. The blessing will be to have our eyes finally opened to this reality.
Previously I had challenged us all to consider the unimpeachable truth of the Gospel - that YHWH sent His Son to call us to repentance and to everlasting life - in spite of the inevitable doubts we endure from time to time. In our lives we have had considerable reason to have doubts and misgivings - everyone, without exception! - and because of the nature of these doubts and the unfortunate experiences they sprang from, we have been unable to recognize the equally considerable blessings we have actually enjoyed. There are two reasons for our spiritual blindness: 1) we are too wrapped up in the moment, our own misery, and what we think we need; and 2) we don't recognize the difference between a genuine blessing and just plain dumb luck.
The psalmist expressed equal doubts in the midst of his "distress and anguish", when he felt surrounded and overwhelmed by the "snares of death" and the "pangs of Sheol", but he was able to draw from within himself the abiding faith that comes from a certain knowledge of the past as a promise for the future. The psalmist was obviously rescued from his despair so much so that in his gratitude for his deliverance, he was willing to be held accountable for his "vows"; those certain promises he made to the Lord in his distress; "vows" that, according to the Law of Moses, must be repaid immediately (Deuteronomy 23:21-23).
This is not unlike the vows made, as they say, by "former atheists in foxholes". Even made under extreme stress, these vows are taken seriously by the Lord. And because the psalmist was obviously delivered from whatever may have been his source of anguish, he was gushing with an eager willingness to be held accountable for the vows he had made. He did not walk away from his distress feeling as though "lady luck had finally smiled on him". He was expressing the certain knowledge that he had been delivered! He could obviously tell the difference.
I have often wondered if the way we think is determined by our moods, or if our moods are determined by the way we think; it's a chicken vs. egg thing. What I mean to say is that when our mood is somber or sad, we think in those directions. When we are happy, we think happy thoughts. If we feel blessed, we think blessings, and when we feel cursed we confirm that despair by our thoughts. And if what I suggest is true, it would help in explaining why these two disciples in Luke's account did not realize they had been walking and talking with the Resurrected Christ!
It was the Day of the Resurrection that found these two disciples walking on the road to Emmaus and by what is written by Luke, they were a little overwhelmed and perhaps even still somewhat shocked and disappointed about all that had taken place these past few days, just as they told the Lord: "we had hoped He was the one to redeem Israel" (vs 21). Previously "hoped". No longer "hoping". In spite of this, they were also dealing with "rumors" of the missing Body and visions of angels. That's a lot to deal with; and if it is true that the disciples felt it necessary to hide because of their association with Jesus, we may reasonably assume that all who were disciples might have felt equally compelled to hide.
So, wrapped up in their misery, perhaps fear, certainly confusion, they were walking and talking with Jesus. Of course Luke suggests the disciples were perhaps divinely blinded so as to be unable to recognize Jesus, but I think this is assuming quite a bit. I think perhaps all that Jesus had taught them while He was with them had simply escaped them. Think about all the lessons Jesus taught about His own divine calling, and remember Peter's very human and protective response to Jesus - right before Jesus called him "Satan".
What Jesus was talking about was beyond human comprehension. What happened on the Day of Resurrection is beyond our human capacity to comprehend. When we try to conceive of such, we get very glorious yet vague images in our minds about the tomb and what Jesus must have looked like. The disciples who were on the road to Emmaus presumably knew the human Jesus and what He had looked like, but it is suggested that the glorified appearance of Christ is beyond a human's ability to understand.
So what are we being told about these whose hearts should have been "burning" but who were nonetheless incapable of recognizing the Divine Blessing that was right before their very eyes? I think maybe a key is in their moment of recognition in verses 31-32: "When [Jesus] was at the table with them, He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him ..."
They - nor we - "need" to see the person of the Lord, though we would like to be able to "see" something more tangible a little more often. It sure would make faith a little less challenging especially when we are being encompassed by the "snares of death" or the "pangs of Sheol". To physically "see" Him, however, is not what we truly need. It is only our human desire, and this desire is not unlike the "signs" the Jews had constantly demanded of Him before they would be willing to believe. There is no faith in such a demand; only a sense of entitlement. In such demands we insist we are "owed" something which in itself denies the very nature of what is truly a "blessing".
It is about our "needs" against our "desires". If we are broke and cannot pay the phone bill, we think we need cash. To be sure, cash comes in pretty handy, but our truest need cannot be met with cash. When we are hungry we think in terms of what sort of food will excite us and be worth the trouble or expense, but it never occurs to us that just plain bread will give us the nourishment our bodies need. It may not be aesthetically pleasing to our senses, but it will sustain us.
When we don't get our human senses excited or tickled, we think we are being cheated. When we don't get what we want, we think life is unfair or someone is at fault. We rarely consider the incredible gift that life is in just being able to see and feel and taste, and we would never consider what an enormous blessing of doing without can actually be. The disciples and their human senses only thought they "needed" to see Jesus with their own eyes before they were willing to believe - like Thomas - but the "bread" Jesus offered to them is what opened their eyes. Being given what they truly needed - rather than what they wanted - is what opened their eyes to the Truth of the Resurrection and the promise and hope of Eternal Life.
We all have desires and dreams and wishes and personal wants but because these desires are so strong within us, we often fail to realize we have within us at any given time all we ever really "need". The blessing that is the Resurrection - the sure hope that we will never taste death though we will all pass from this life - is all we really need. It is that certain hope which sustains us and feeds us and nourishes us when we are encompassed by the "snares of death" and the "pangs of Sheol". The Lord has given us every real and enduring thing we could ever need. The blessing will be to have our eyes finally opened to this reality.
Friday, May 06, 2011
Doomsday 101
"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night ..." 2 Peter 3:9-10
Translation? There will be no announcements prior to the Lord's coming beyond what is already written in Holy Scripture; that is, unless you know a thief who announces his arrival prior to his arrival.
There is a group traveling the country by caravan proclaiming that the Rapture will occur on May 21 and that end of the world "as we know it" will be in October. The name of this group or the group's leader or founder is not important. It may not even be important that he made a similar prediction in '94 but was profoundly disappointed in '95. Ever the optimist, however, this gentleman later claimed he had simply made a mathematical error in his calculations. I don't know; maybe he forgot to carry the 1.
I must also say I will be attending a clergy meeting on May 21. It will be rather embarrassing, to say the least, if we are all still present after the meeting if this prediction comes true and if the Rapture will literally look like what is portrayed in the popular movie, "Left Behind".
I will not try to convince anyone that this man and his group are crazy - not at all. They appear to be perfectly sane and completely convinced of what they claim to know. And in a significant way they are not completely wrong. The world "as we know it" will come to an end; but how, when, and precisely what it will look like cannot be determined or concluded by the human mind. The Bible is filled with images, confusing images that lead to the "Day of the Lord" but I think these images - if divinely inspired - are meant to be as incomprehensible as the very image of YHWH Himself. There absolutely is a message in these images; I'm just not convinced that humans are to be trusted with literal translations of these images strictly on human terms.
I am also not convinced that the essence of the Christian faith should be focused on how it will all end or how we will all "die". I think the whole purpose of Jesus' ministry on this earth was to show us how we should live so that when that times comes we will not have to worry about it because we will have lived according to what was taught us by Christ Himself. Who is hungry? Feed them. Who is thirsty? Give them a drink. Who is lonely? Visit with them. Who is sick? Pray for and with them. Who is in prison? Give them a reason to have hope. Do for others as you would have them do for you. Give until there is nothing left to give, and then give some more. This is faith in action. This is the essence of Christ and the Covenant. This is righteousness. This is witness to the goodness of the Lord and His desire that "all should come to repentance".
This group claims there is nothing to fear in what they say, that it is an occasion for rejoicing. Indeed. However, try explaining to a young child that her mother may no longer be with her come May 21. Try telling the child that she will be taken to a "better place" and that mom may not be able to go. I recall hearing similar messages as a child when I visited local Protestant churches with childhood friends (our priests did not harp on "end times" theology but on "here and now" theological practices), and I recall thinking this "promise" of Rapture did not sound so great to my juvenile mind though I never felt compelled to run to the preacher so he could "save" me (to which my Protestant friends would say, "So you're not saved, huh?").
There are, of course, "signs" spoken of throughout Scripture. Jesus speaks of "wars and rumors of wars", but human history is filled with actual wars. There are earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tsunamis, tornados, and other natural disasters that have also occurred throughout human history. There are many whose "known world" came to a violent end as a result of these acts of humanity and forces of nature. When the entire world was at war, the "end" certainly seemed imminent, and for millions it was. Yet what was left of humanity rebuilt from those ashes of despair and utter destruction.
None of this is to say that the "end" will not come nor do I suggest the "end" is not immediately upon us, but this is exactly the point. The Lord Himself very pointedly tells us that it is not for us to know because this is not our task, our mission, our ministry to our neighbors and to the world. We were not commissioned to proclaim an "or else" theology of threats and intimidation. We were taught - and have often failed at - a theology of redemption and grace. We were offered an image of a benevolent and loving Holy Father who forgives, who heals and restores. Jesus did not teach us about an angry God who looks forward to the day when He can spiritual smack us around. Rather we were taught that He is the God who seeks to be reconciled with His beloved, His creation by faith, by trusting Him rather than by trying to figure Him out.
Do not be dismayed by the teachings of doomsday prophets, and do not be deceived by false prophets who make such messianic claims of having figured out "secret" biblical codes. These come dangerously close to claiming to have figured out the very mind of YHWH Himself. This is blasphemy in and of itself and is not worthy of our time and attention except to warn those who will listen that Jesus also taught us that such people would make these claims throughout the generations.
Have peace and peace of mind. Get to know the Lord of the Scriptures. Do not read too literally, but contemplate prayerfully. And let God be God.
Translation? There will be no announcements prior to the Lord's coming beyond what is already written in Holy Scripture; that is, unless you know a thief who announces his arrival prior to his arrival.
There is a group traveling the country by caravan proclaiming that the Rapture will occur on May 21 and that end of the world "as we know it" will be in October. The name of this group or the group's leader or founder is not important. It may not even be important that he made a similar prediction in '94 but was profoundly disappointed in '95. Ever the optimist, however, this gentleman later claimed he had simply made a mathematical error in his calculations. I don't know; maybe he forgot to carry the 1.
I must also say I will be attending a clergy meeting on May 21. It will be rather embarrassing, to say the least, if we are all still present after the meeting if this prediction comes true and if the Rapture will literally look like what is portrayed in the popular movie, "Left Behind".
I will not try to convince anyone that this man and his group are crazy - not at all. They appear to be perfectly sane and completely convinced of what they claim to know. And in a significant way they are not completely wrong. The world "as we know it" will come to an end; but how, when, and precisely what it will look like cannot be determined or concluded by the human mind. The Bible is filled with images, confusing images that lead to the "Day of the Lord" but I think these images - if divinely inspired - are meant to be as incomprehensible as the very image of YHWH Himself. There absolutely is a message in these images; I'm just not convinced that humans are to be trusted with literal translations of these images strictly on human terms.
I am also not convinced that the essence of the Christian faith should be focused on how it will all end or how we will all "die". I think the whole purpose of Jesus' ministry on this earth was to show us how we should live so that when that times comes we will not have to worry about it because we will have lived according to what was taught us by Christ Himself. Who is hungry? Feed them. Who is thirsty? Give them a drink. Who is lonely? Visit with them. Who is sick? Pray for and with them. Who is in prison? Give them a reason to have hope. Do for others as you would have them do for you. Give until there is nothing left to give, and then give some more. This is faith in action. This is the essence of Christ and the Covenant. This is righteousness. This is witness to the goodness of the Lord and His desire that "all should come to repentance".
This group claims there is nothing to fear in what they say, that it is an occasion for rejoicing. Indeed. However, try explaining to a young child that her mother may no longer be with her come May 21. Try telling the child that she will be taken to a "better place" and that mom may not be able to go. I recall hearing similar messages as a child when I visited local Protestant churches with childhood friends (our priests did not harp on "end times" theology but on "here and now" theological practices), and I recall thinking this "promise" of Rapture did not sound so great to my juvenile mind though I never felt compelled to run to the preacher so he could "save" me (to which my Protestant friends would say, "So you're not saved, huh?").
There are, of course, "signs" spoken of throughout Scripture. Jesus speaks of "wars and rumors of wars", but human history is filled with actual wars. There are earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tsunamis, tornados, and other natural disasters that have also occurred throughout human history. There are many whose "known world" came to a violent end as a result of these acts of humanity and forces of nature. When the entire world was at war, the "end" certainly seemed imminent, and for millions it was. Yet what was left of humanity rebuilt from those ashes of despair and utter destruction.
None of this is to say that the "end" will not come nor do I suggest the "end" is not immediately upon us, but this is exactly the point. The Lord Himself very pointedly tells us that it is not for us to know because this is not our task, our mission, our ministry to our neighbors and to the world. We were not commissioned to proclaim an "or else" theology of threats and intimidation. We were taught - and have often failed at - a theology of redemption and grace. We were offered an image of a benevolent and loving Holy Father who forgives, who heals and restores. Jesus did not teach us about an angry God who looks forward to the day when He can spiritual smack us around. Rather we were taught that He is the God who seeks to be reconciled with His beloved, His creation by faith, by trusting Him rather than by trying to figure Him out.
Do not be dismayed by the teachings of doomsday prophets, and do not be deceived by false prophets who make such messianic claims of having figured out "secret" biblical codes. These come dangerously close to claiming to have figured out the very mind of YHWH Himself. This is blasphemy in and of itself and is not worthy of our time and attention except to warn those who will listen that Jesus also taught us that such people would make these claims throughout the generations.
Have peace and peace of mind. Get to know the Lord of the Scriptures. Do not read too literally, but contemplate prayerfully. And let God be God.
Thursday, May 05, 2011
National Day of Prayer 2011
Isaiah 12
One need not look hard or far to see that the United States, once a beacon of hope to the entire world, has become a nation itself devoid of hope. We need only to look at the rhetoric of political elections to find that the essence of our hope, the source of our salvation, the fabric of our faith, the ones whom we are willing to put our complete faith and trust in, will be either Democrats or Republicans. Time and again we walk away disappointed, yet we never seem to learn.
With all the evil we face on an almost daily basis at home and abroad, we have mistakenly come to believe that the death of one man will somehow vindicate us in the world-wide war against terror and free us from the encumbrances and continued threat of evil. Yet our neighbors still ask: Where is the evidence of your religious faith and belief in something much bigger? Where is the evidence of your justification before Almighty God? Where is the evidence of your sanctification, your holiness, as St. Peter called you to holiness: "As He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written: 'Be Holy, for I am Holy'" (1 Peter 1:15-16).
Yet we are actively witnessing a continuing decline in worship attendance. People are keeping the Church at a safe distance. The lone guardian and herald of the Gospel of the Lord, the "organized" Church, cannot seem to compete with organized sports. Faithfulness has been confused with convenience. Devotion has been replaced by consumerism. Our so-called "culture of death" has become the "new life". And yet as much as we are acclimated to these secular practices and philosophies, we bemoan the state of our nation and its moral decline. We curse those who lead us, both in and outside the Church, yet we fail to remember that the governed must consent to be governed. And we have so consented.
Dietrich Bonheoffer was the seemingly lone voice against the Nazi regime that so disdained the Church that it replaced the Bible with Mein Kampf and the cross with the swastika. And Bonheoffer recognized the primary reason why the Church was so silent and seemingly impotent during the rise of the Third Reich: the confusion that inevitably arises when the Christian faith becomes too closely related to a culture or to a national identity. When "we" become more like "them", we lose our sense of self, our sense of spiritual identity, the truest sense of who we really are conflicting with who we are called to be.
Israel had the same problem which led to the Exile. They by their acts chose to assimilate themselves into cultures that were not necessarily "foreign" to them but were, in fact, desirable. To this end, then, the Lord simply turned them over to the desires of their hearts and allowed them to be overrun by the Assyrians and the Babylonians. The Lord wept for His people, yet He was also strangely silent.
The prophets foretold, however, of a day when Israel would finally come to its senses, and perhaps the words of all the prophets are as relevant for us today as they were for Israel and Judah then. We too are in a sort of "exile", strangers in a strange land yet called to plant and to build, to pray and to worship, until that time comes when our "exile" will finally come to an end, that glorious day when we will no longer be "pilgrims" and "sojourners" in a foreign land - but "citizens" who are finally home. "'Return to Me, and I will return to you', says the Lord of Hosts" (Malachi 3:7b).
So this evening, Holy Father, I ask your blessing on this gathering and for the many other gatherings around our community, our state, and our nation as people of faith are lifting up their voices and praying as one. We lift up our prayers to You, Holy Lord our God, for the many who were unwilling to put aside the shackles of their exile and come before You. We offer our prayers to You, our Rock and our Redeemer, for the many who are unable to get out and about, the many who are physically incapacited, the many who are trapped in spiritual and emotional bondage who feel the pain of loneliness and alienation each and every day.
We pray as one this evening for our nation and for Your Holy Church. Restore to both the luster and the glory of the Beacon that once shone brightly for all to see. Find in us the image of Your Beloved Son who came not to be served but to serve. Entrust to us once again the majesty of Your grace so that we may work and pray with strength and with confidence as the ministers of Your Holy Word we have all been called to be. Teach us to once again be Light in a dark world so that those who cannot find their way will be encouraged and led by our faith and our example.
You alone are the God and Father of all nations from whose mighty hand all good things come. Help us to remember that it is You and You alone who has set us free. Grant to us the grace to remember that as unworthy as we are, You by Your Holy Word, the Word made Flesh who dwelt among us, have declared us worthy to share in the inheritance of Your eternal Kingdom. Let it be so, Holy and Heavenly King, as we come before You in and by the name of Your Holy Son who is Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, One Lord forever and ever. Amen.
One need not look hard or far to see that the United States, once a beacon of hope to the entire world, has become a nation itself devoid of hope. We need only to look at the rhetoric of political elections to find that the essence of our hope, the source of our salvation, the fabric of our faith, the ones whom we are willing to put our complete faith and trust in, will be either Democrats or Republicans. Time and again we walk away disappointed, yet we never seem to learn.
With all the evil we face on an almost daily basis at home and abroad, we have mistakenly come to believe that the death of one man will somehow vindicate us in the world-wide war against terror and free us from the encumbrances and continued threat of evil. Yet our neighbors still ask: Where is the evidence of your religious faith and belief in something much bigger? Where is the evidence of your justification before Almighty God? Where is the evidence of your sanctification, your holiness, as St. Peter called you to holiness: "As He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written: 'Be Holy, for I am Holy'" (1 Peter 1:15-16).
Yet we are actively witnessing a continuing decline in worship attendance. People are keeping the Church at a safe distance. The lone guardian and herald of the Gospel of the Lord, the "organized" Church, cannot seem to compete with organized sports. Faithfulness has been confused with convenience. Devotion has been replaced by consumerism. Our so-called "culture of death" has become the "new life". And yet as much as we are acclimated to these secular practices and philosophies, we bemoan the state of our nation and its moral decline. We curse those who lead us, both in and outside the Church, yet we fail to remember that the governed must consent to be governed. And we have so consented.
Dietrich Bonheoffer was the seemingly lone voice against the Nazi regime that so disdained the Church that it replaced the Bible with Mein Kampf and the cross with the swastika. And Bonheoffer recognized the primary reason why the Church was so silent and seemingly impotent during the rise of the Third Reich: the confusion that inevitably arises when the Christian faith becomes too closely related to a culture or to a national identity. When "we" become more like "them", we lose our sense of self, our sense of spiritual identity, the truest sense of who we really are conflicting with who we are called to be.
Israel had the same problem which led to the Exile. They by their acts chose to assimilate themselves into cultures that were not necessarily "foreign" to them but were, in fact, desirable. To this end, then, the Lord simply turned them over to the desires of their hearts and allowed them to be overrun by the Assyrians and the Babylonians. The Lord wept for His people, yet He was also strangely silent.
The prophets foretold, however, of a day when Israel would finally come to its senses, and perhaps the words of all the prophets are as relevant for us today as they were for Israel and Judah then. We too are in a sort of "exile", strangers in a strange land yet called to plant and to build, to pray and to worship, until that time comes when our "exile" will finally come to an end, that glorious day when we will no longer be "pilgrims" and "sojourners" in a foreign land - but "citizens" who are finally home. "'Return to Me, and I will return to you', says the Lord of Hosts" (Malachi 3:7b).
So this evening, Holy Father, I ask your blessing on this gathering and for the many other gatherings around our community, our state, and our nation as people of faith are lifting up their voices and praying as one. We lift up our prayers to You, Holy Lord our God, for the many who were unwilling to put aside the shackles of their exile and come before You. We offer our prayers to You, our Rock and our Redeemer, for the many who are unable to get out and about, the many who are physically incapacited, the many who are trapped in spiritual and emotional bondage who feel the pain of loneliness and alienation each and every day.
We pray as one this evening for our nation and for Your Holy Church. Restore to both the luster and the glory of the Beacon that once shone brightly for all to see. Find in us the image of Your Beloved Son who came not to be served but to serve. Entrust to us once again the majesty of Your grace so that we may work and pray with strength and with confidence as the ministers of Your Holy Word we have all been called to be. Teach us to once again be Light in a dark world so that those who cannot find their way will be encouraged and led by our faith and our example.
You alone are the God and Father of all nations from whose mighty hand all good things come. Help us to remember that it is You and You alone who has set us free. Grant to us the grace to remember that as unworthy as we are, You by Your Holy Word, the Word made Flesh who dwelt among us, have declared us worthy to share in the inheritance of Your eternal Kingdom. Let it be so, Holy and Heavenly King, as we come before You in and by the name of Your Holy Son who is Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, One Lord forever and ever. Amen.
Wednesday, May 04, 2011
What we have become
The death of Osama bin Laden is being used by some to proclaim the greatness of the current US president who may be struggling for political legitimacy; and by others as the greatness of a former US president who may be struggling for a legacy. Bin Laden's demise is also being heralded as some great moral victory with cheers and dances and chants. I suppose if these crowds had been allowed, they would have tied bin Laden's body to the bumper of a truck and dragged him through town rather than bury him at sea. How Mogadishu-ish.
Our president is considering releasing photos of bin Laden's corpse. Why? As for "antagonizing" terrorists, they are already hell-bent on the destruction of innocent human lives as their preferred target. How can we care about antagonizing them further? They cannot be appeased; they will not be appeased, so withholding the photos out of consideration for these mad dogs and what they may do is a wash either way. But how would releasing such macabre photos distinguish us from the many around the world who have taken perverse joy in desecrating the body of an enemy as a sign of "victory"? What will we teach our children who do not understand what is happening now but will internalize our words and deeds and save the lessons for another day?
Not to take anything away from the planning and the execution of what was obviously a successful military operation, but do we honestly believe we are somehow better than those in other countries who desecrated the body of a US service member in Somalia or those in the streets of so many Middle Eastern countries after the 9/11 attacks when these animals celebrated the extraordinary loss of life? Somehow I thought we really were better than these who chant "Death to America" and who seem to take some strange delight in the slaughter of other human beings. Exactly how are we "better" than these?
Bin Laden is owed nothing. In Islamist circles he is already considered a martyr by those who believe he really was killed by US forces. Would not displaying his dead body, even digitally, not galvanize these who are already committed to his war? Bin Laden is just another dead criminal. Putting his image on display would grant to him much more status than he is entitled to, and would do nothing to enhance America's image. It would only liken us to our enemies. Is this what we really want as a nation? Is this really who we have become?
Our president is considering releasing photos of bin Laden's corpse. Why? As for "antagonizing" terrorists, they are already hell-bent on the destruction of innocent human lives as their preferred target. How can we care about antagonizing them further? They cannot be appeased; they will not be appeased, so withholding the photos out of consideration for these mad dogs and what they may do is a wash either way. But how would releasing such macabre photos distinguish us from the many around the world who have taken perverse joy in desecrating the body of an enemy as a sign of "victory"? What will we teach our children who do not understand what is happening now but will internalize our words and deeds and save the lessons for another day?
Not to take anything away from the planning and the execution of what was obviously a successful military operation, but do we honestly believe we are somehow better than those in other countries who desecrated the body of a US service member in Somalia or those in the streets of so many Middle Eastern countries after the 9/11 attacks when these animals celebrated the extraordinary loss of life? Somehow I thought we really were better than these who chant "Death to America" and who seem to take some strange delight in the slaughter of other human beings. Exactly how are we "better" than these?
Bin Laden is owed nothing. In Islamist circles he is already considered a martyr by those who believe he really was killed by US forces. Would not displaying his dead body, even digitally, not galvanize these who are already committed to his war? Bin Laden is just another dead criminal. Putting his image on display would grant to him much more status than he is entitled to, and would do nothing to enhance America's image. It would only liken us to our enemies. Is this what we really want as a nation? Is this really who we have become?
Tuesday, May 03, 2011
What if it's all true?
Acts 2:14a, 22-32 1 Peter 1:3-9 John 20:19-31
Thomas (the twin) apparently missed out the first time around with the resurrected Christ. In spite of what were likely very strong and excited words from his fellow apostles about Jesus' appearance, Thomas was not willing (or maybe not able) to believe it except with his own eyes and by his own touch. He may have even felt a little left out and was wishing he could have seen what they claimed to have seen. You and I could probably appreciate Thomas' cynicism much more than we can appreciate what the disciples were feeling as they huddled together in fear behind a locked door because I doubt there are many among us who have felt so threatened for having "followed" Jesus.
Doubt is part of the faith process and journey, I think, and is nothing to be afraid of because when we have doubts, we are inclined to ask questions and seek answers. We need to address those doubts because there is nothing more unsettling than uncertainty. The problems come when we are not careful about the sources we go to in search of these answers. If we do not question our sources, we run the risk of getting at the very least an incomplete answer; at worst, we will get misinformation, personal opinions, and outright lies that will better suit the selfish and perhaps prideful purposes of the source rather than our quest for truth.
A case in point: Vilonia AR was recently hammered by a tornado in which four persons (as of this writing) were killed. Initial reports on the night of the storm said the tornado itself was a half-mile wide and that as many as 80 homes were "destroyed". The next morning's news reports were saying the tornado was three-and-a-half miles wide but only about 20 homes were "damaged". Photos showed some homes destroyed and others with substantial roof and structural damage that would hardly qualify as "destroyed". Obviously we now know more, but this is not the point.
Tornados are fickle and treacherous beasts that cannot be pinned down and are even harder to predict with any certainty. Often it is hard to tell whether the damage was caused by a tornado or straight-line winds. Especially because these speculations were made in the dark, reason might suggest we would be much better informed of the extent of the damage "in the light" when the sun finally comes up. Then we can avoid unnecessary stress and anxiety, more accurately assess the damage, and determine a more appropriate course of action. When something is revealed in the light of day, it can be better appreciated for what it really is - even if we do not like what we are seeing. We should know by now that darkness by its very nature conceals. Only in the light can the truth be finally and fully revealed.
To appreciate the setting of John's reading, we must remember that the One they called "Lord" only days before had been crucified. The One whom they had proclaimed as "Messiah" and "Son of God" lay dead in a tomb as far as they knew. And surely Peter had by now shared his story of his own close call (though he might have left out that part about having denied knowing Jesus at all!). It is little wonder, then, that they had the doors closed and locked. All their hopes for themselves as well as for Israel had been nailed to a cross and killed. These gathered may have even considered the last three years of their lives "wasted" following this Man around, hearing Him teach, and even witnessing with their own eyes some pretty amazing things. And now they would have to spend the rest of their lives running and hiding? Not much of a life.
The compelling question, which must be asked of just about any book throughout the Bible, is: what is the writer/narrator trying to tell us? What is being conveyed by a story that was written some 40-50 years after the fact? Well, John tells us why: "so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in His name."
What if it is all true? Is this not the challenge most of us face in our daily living; that is, if we think about it at all? When we encounter someone who disputes the Bible and its admittedly incredible stories, isn't our fall-back answer usually along the lines of, "What do you have to lose by believing?" I have long maintained that even if we removed all divine references in the Bible, it would still be a good way to live. It still teaches some valuable lessons, is incredibly insightful and intuitive about human nature, and is rather graphic about consequences that come as a result of less-than-wholesome living.
Still, many of us can think of someone, young or old, who has had such bad luck and experiences that it is difficult - if impossible - for them to understand such a notion as a "loving" God who will not directly and immediately intervene in human events. How could such a "loving" God have allowed the Holocaust? How could a "loving" God allow children to be kidnapped, abused, and sold as slaves for unimaginable and unconscionable purposes? How could a "loving" God have allowed these awful storms we have endured these past few days in which innocent persons lost loved ones AND perhaps even their homes and everything they have ever owned? How could a "loving" God even conceive of such an unthinkable thing as "hell"? And for many, this question burns in the forefront of their minds: What has God ever done for me?
This is part of the reason why I cringe at the notion of a "personal" Lord, a "personal" Savior, and the concept of "personal" salvation. To be sure, our individual encounters and experiences with the Lord, in whatever form, are intensely personal when we are directly affected. "Look what He has done for ME", some exclaim. "Listen to what He told ME", some preachers proclaim. And then there are those who have lacked such an intimate experience and have not "felt" any such thing. How is the witness of such individuals useful for those who desire such an experience but have not felt anything like it? What do we say to them? How do we explain to and convince these many - and there are many - that the Lord's desire is that ALL of humanity should prosper and live? That ALL of humanity should be reconciled to Him and live in certainty and hope rather than in doubt and despair?
The truth is there are no easy answers. To blithely state that "God's will" is what it is does nothing for the human soul who has not been so unmistakably touched. We have a perpetual generation of "Doubting Thomases" who want to believe and are willing to believe ... but not by faith and certainly not by the word of a witness or even a preacher. These doubters - and it would be hard to define them as "agnostic" or "atheist" - have as acute a need to believe in something greater than themselves as you and I do, but they struggle with human doctrine and fond notions we are inclined to "make up" for ourselves, notions that are often lacking in biblical foundation or basis.
We try to make the Bible read and apply in such a way that fits more appropriately and uniquely to our own lives. It works for us as individuals but like inaccurate tornado damage reports, they only confuse. The "real" story is not being conveyed, and there are a lot of gaps that cannot be adequately accounted for. So we fill in the gaps ourselves, and we make stuff up that works for us. We deny the sovereignty of the Lord and instead turn Him into some sort of cosmic "play thing" that suits our individual purposes. It may make us feel better, but these ideas and ideals lack the necessary universal element by which the Lord can be equally applied across the board. We create "in our own image" a God more pleasing to ourselves. And by doing so we then lock the "doubters" out of the room.
Thomas had been absent from the group. We don't know why. Maybe he was tending to family business. Maybe he was still hiding out. Maybe he had intentionally segregated himself from that group because of all that had transpired in the last few days. Maybe he was chief among those who had determined that following Jesus had been a complete waste of time. After all, what had Jesus done for ME besides confuse me and put me, and perhaps my loved ones, in grave danger? Why SHOULD I believe?? In light of the events of the last few days, what could I possibly gain from continuing to follow a dead man?
So Thomas finally has his own moment with the Lord. He is shown the marks and is encouraged to reach out and touch these marks so that he may finally believe. I don't think, however, that this can be construed as a "personal" moment exclusively reserved for Thomas. The purpose for which Thomas is being shown the truth of the Resurrection is for the Church which will soon be called forth. This is testified by Jesus having "breathed on them" to impart the Holy Spirit, and it is further testified to by Luke in the Acts of the Apostles on the Day of Pentecost. This is the reason why Scripture study of the WHOLE Bible is encouraged as a means of grace. Memorizing Bible verses can be useful, but we often forget that individual verses cannot stand outside of their given contexts.
Something great is about to come forth, something greater than anyone then - or now - could possibly conceive of. Throughout the Bible, the Lord has never revealed Himself exclusively to suit any individual human purposes. There is no reason to believe He will now. The purposes for which we are called forth and individually gifted are to strengthen the whole Church, the Body of Christ. It is all true for the proclamation of the Gospel, which is the sole purpose of the Church's entire existence, and the purpose is clearly Divine - not human.
It is true because Life comes from Truth. It is true because Truth comes by Light, and it is by the Light of Christ Himself that the fullness of the Lord is revealed - in us and through us by the power of the Holy Spirit and in His Holy Name. For His sake, not our own.
In the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Thomas (the twin) apparently missed out the first time around with the resurrected Christ. In spite of what were likely very strong and excited words from his fellow apostles about Jesus' appearance, Thomas was not willing (or maybe not able) to believe it except with his own eyes and by his own touch. He may have even felt a little left out and was wishing he could have seen what they claimed to have seen. You and I could probably appreciate Thomas' cynicism much more than we can appreciate what the disciples were feeling as they huddled together in fear behind a locked door because I doubt there are many among us who have felt so threatened for having "followed" Jesus.
Doubt is part of the faith process and journey, I think, and is nothing to be afraid of because when we have doubts, we are inclined to ask questions and seek answers. We need to address those doubts because there is nothing more unsettling than uncertainty. The problems come when we are not careful about the sources we go to in search of these answers. If we do not question our sources, we run the risk of getting at the very least an incomplete answer; at worst, we will get misinformation, personal opinions, and outright lies that will better suit the selfish and perhaps prideful purposes of the source rather than our quest for truth.
A case in point: Vilonia AR was recently hammered by a tornado in which four persons (as of this writing) were killed. Initial reports on the night of the storm said the tornado itself was a half-mile wide and that as many as 80 homes were "destroyed". The next morning's news reports were saying the tornado was three-and-a-half miles wide but only about 20 homes were "damaged". Photos showed some homes destroyed and others with substantial roof and structural damage that would hardly qualify as "destroyed". Obviously we now know more, but this is not the point.
Tornados are fickle and treacherous beasts that cannot be pinned down and are even harder to predict with any certainty. Often it is hard to tell whether the damage was caused by a tornado or straight-line winds. Especially because these speculations were made in the dark, reason might suggest we would be much better informed of the extent of the damage "in the light" when the sun finally comes up. Then we can avoid unnecessary stress and anxiety, more accurately assess the damage, and determine a more appropriate course of action. When something is revealed in the light of day, it can be better appreciated for what it really is - even if we do not like what we are seeing. We should know by now that darkness by its very nature conceals. Only in the light can the truth be finally and fully revealed.
To appreciate the setting of John's reading, we must remember that the One they called "Lord" only days before had been crucified. The One whom they had proclaimed as "Messiah" and "Son of God" lay dead in a tomb as far as they knew. And surely Peter had by now shared his story of his own close call (though he might have left out that part about having denied knowing Jesus at all!). It is little wonder, then, that they had the doors closed and locked. All their hopes for themselves as well as for Israel had been nailed to a cross and killed. These gathered may have even considered the last three years of their lives "wasted" following this Man around, hearing Him teach, and even witnessing with their own eyes some pretty amazing things. And now they would have to spend the rest of their lives running and hiding? Not much of a life.
The compelling question, which must be asked of just about any book throughout the Bible, is: what is the writer/narrator trying to tell us? What is being conveyed by a story that was written some 40-50 years after the fact? Well, John tells us why: "so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in His name."
What if it is all true? Is this not the challenge most of us face in our daily living; that is, if we think about it at all? When we encounter someone who disputes the Bible and its admittedly incredible stories, isn't our fall-back answer usually along the lines of, "What do you have to lose by believing?" I have long maintained that even if we removed all divine references in the Bible, it would still be a good way to live. It still teaches some valuable lessons, is incredibly insightful and intuitive about human nature, and is rather graphic about consequences that come as a result of less-than-wholesome living.
Still, many of us can think of someone, young or old, who has had such bad luck and experiences that it is difficult - if impossible - for them to understand such a notion as a "loving" God who will not directly and immediately intervene in human events. How could such a "loving" God have allowed the Holocaust? How could a "loving" God allow children to be kidnapped, abused, and sold as slaves for unimaginable and unconscionable purposes? How could a "loving" God have allowed these awful storms we have endured these past few days in which innocent persons lost loved ones AND perhaps even their homes and everything they have ever owned? How could a "loving" God even conceive of such an unthinkable thing as "hell"? And for many, this question burns in the forefront of their minds: What has God ever done for me?
This is part of the reason why I cringe at the notion of a "personal" Lord, a "personal" Savior, and the concept of "personal" salvation. To be sure, our individual encounters and experiences with the Lord, in whatever form, are intensely personal when we are directly affected. "Look what He has done for ME", some exclaim. "Listen to what He told ME", some preachers proclaim. And then there are those who have lacked such an intimate experience and have not "felt" any such thing. How is the witness of such individuals useful for those who desire such an experience but have not felt anything like it? What do we say to them? How do we explain to and convince these many - and there are many - that the Lord's desire is that ALL of humanity should prosper and live? That ALL of humanity should be reconciled to Him and live in certainty and hope rather than in doubt and despair?
The truth is there are no easy answers. To blithely state that "God's will" is what it is does nothing for the human soul who has not been so unmistakably touched. We have a perpetual generation of "Doubting Thomases" who want to believe and are willing to believe ... but not by faith and certainly not by the word of a witness or even a preacher. These doubters - and it would be hard to define them as "agnostic" or "atheist" - have as acute a need to believe in something greater than themselves as you and I do, but they struggle with human doctrine and fond notions we are inclined to "make up" for ourselves, notions that are often lacking in biblical foundation or basis.
We try to make the Bible read and apply in such a way that fits more appropriately and uniquely to our own lives. It works for us as individuals but like inaccurate tornado damage reports, they only confuse. The "real" story is not being conveyed, and there are a lot of gaps that cannot be adequately accounted for. So we fill in the gaps ourselves, and we make stuff up that works for us. We deny the sovereignty of the Lord and instead turn Him into some sort of cosmic "play thing" that suits our individual purposes. It may make us feel better, but these ideas and ideals lack the necessary universal element by which the Lord can be equally applied across the board. We create "in our own image" a God more pleasing to ourselves. And by doing so we then lock the "doubters" out of the room.
Thomas had been absent from the group. We don't know why. Maybe he was tending to family business. Maybe he was still hiding out. Maybe he had intentionally segregated himself from that group because of all that had transpired in the last few days. Maybe he was chief among those who had determined that following Jesus had been a complete waste of time. After all, what had Jesus done for ME besides confuse me and put me, and perhaps my loved ones, in grave danger? Why SHOULD I believe?? In light of the events of the last few days, what could I possibly gain from continuing to follow a dead man?
So Thomas finally has his own moment with the Lord. He is shown the marks and is encouraged to reach out and touch these marks so that he may finally believe. I don't think, however, that this can be construed as a "personal" moment exclusively reserved for Thomas. The purpose for which Thomas is being shown the truth of the Resurrection is for the Church which will soon be called forth. This is testified by Jesus having "breathed on them" to impart the Holy Spirit, and it is further testified to by Luke in the Acts of the Apostles on the Day of Pentecost. This is the reason why Scripture study of the WHOLE Bible is encouraged as a means of grace. Memorizing Bible verses can be useful, but we often forget that individual verses cannot stand outside of their given contexts.
Something great is about to come forth, something greater than anyone then - or now - could possibly conceive of. Throughout the Bible, the Lord has never revealed Himself exclusively to suit any individual human purposes. There is no reason to believe He will now. The purposes for which we are called forth and individually gifted are to strengthen the whole Church, the Body of Christ. It is all true for the proclamation of the Gospel, which is the sole purpose of the Church's entire existence, and the purpose is clearly Divine - not human.
It is true because Life comes from Truth. It is true because Truth comes by Light, and it is by the Light of Christ Himself that the fullness of the Lord is revealed - in us and through us by the power of the Holy Spirit and in His Holy Name. For His sake, not our own.
In the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Just a Thought
“When he is judged, let him be found guilty, and let his prayer become sin. Let his days be few, and let another take his office.” Psalm 109:7-8
Osama bin Laden, the so-called “face of terror”, was killed recently in a military operation, and in some parts of this country there was chanting and dancing in the street as if evil itself had been overcome. By the prayer of the psalmist, we might hope another will take his place who might not be so bad, who might see the futility of this world-wide fight. However, it will more likely be someone with a mind toward vengeance.
It is a mistake to worship any one man as a “savior” as so many of us have seemingly invested in one, single US president throughout our history, just as it is a mistake to believe only one man could heap so much evil on this world by his own hand. Evil has not been defeated nor can any man “save” us. The evil we face is much more powerful, and there will be many others hoping to continue this one man’s work.
Evil is alive and well and is actually flourishing, but not exclusively by the hand of terrorists.
Evil exists in a hungry child. Evil exists in poverty. Evil exists in the lives of those shut-ins who are utterly alone and without hope. Evil exists in the lives of those falsely accused as well as in the lives of those who suffer persecution for their faith. Evil exists in malicious gossip. Evil takes many forms and can even be found in the midst of Christians who ignore the call of the Holy Lord to “feed My sheep” and “tend My lambs”.
Do not give too much credit to one person to be the cause or the face of all evil, and let no one person stand as the cause or the face of salvation. There is only One who is the source of our hope, the source of our salvation; He alone is the Lord.
Osama bin Laden, the so-called “face of terror”, was killed recently in a military operation, and in some parts of this country there was chanting and dancing in the street as if evil itself had been overcome. By the prayer of the psalmist, we might hope another will take his place who might not be so bad, who might see the futility of this world-wide fight. However, it will more likely be someone with a mind toward vengeance.
It is a mistake to worship any one man as a “savior” as so many of us have seemingly invested in one, single US president throughout our history, just as it is a mistake to believe only one man could heap so much evil on this world by his own hand. Evil has not been defeated nor can any man “save” us. The evil we face is much more powerful, and there will be many others hoping to continue this one man’s work.
Evil is alive and well and is actually flourishing, but not exclusively by the hand of terrorists.
Evil exists in a hungry child. Evil exists in poverty. Evil exists in the lives of those shut-ins who are utterly alone and without hope. Evil exists in the lives of those falsely accused as well as in the lives of those who suffer persecution for their faith. Evil exists in malicious gossip. Evil takes many forms and can even be found in the midst of Christians who ignore the call of the Holy Lord to “feed My sheep” and “tend My lambs”.
Do not give too much credit to one person to be the cause or the face of all evil, and let no one person stand as the cause or the face of salvation. There is only One who is the source of our hope, the source of our salvation; He alone is the Lord.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Birthers, Britain, and Charlie Sheen
I had taken a long hiatus from politics, believing such nonsense to be incredibly distracting to my theological studies, faithful preaching, and writing. Though I still keep up with and watch headlines, I shied away from reading too many political stories and analyses because I have felt rather impotent when it comes to politics. What I do and what I have to say does not seem to matter much. My blog is not widely read, I am a registered Republican and somewhat conservative, and all my political representation is moderate to liberal Democrat. The letters I write to these are usually answered, but none speak to my concerns or directly answer my direct questions. What I express is very delicately - but surely purposefully - dismissed as inconsequential. The bright side is that these politicians have never asked for money (I think they are pretty sure that is wasted postage!).
Maybe it is time to get back into the fray and take things as they come. Maybe it is time to be more direct and more focused on the things that seem to matter more to so many. Maybe by doing so, and encouraging others to do so, I can do my small part to help put a stop to the utter nonsense that has us all so distracted that we hardly notice how poorly we are being represented and how disgracefully we have cast aside the constitutional realities that threaten the foundation upon which this nation was founded.
Donald Trump is thumping his chest and telling all who will listen (including his media lap dogs who seem to drool at every word he speaks) that he single-handedly brought the Obama administration to its knees in getting the president to release his long-form birth certificate (or certificate of live birth, to those hair-splitters). This accomplishment, such as it is, may endear him to the so-called "birthers" out there, but surely we more rational citizens can see that this endeavor was the effort of a very wealthy man with political ambitions and entirely too much free time on his hands.
One's citizenship status is important in national politics since our constitution has mandated requirements (not suggestions to be brushed aside), but this is the task of each state's secretary of state to ensure that all candidates are properly certified and constitutionally qualified to be on a ballot. Enough is enough. Let us move from the "silliness" to tasks of far more substance. Let us take the "race card" out of the deck, if indeed this is the motivation of the birthers, and move along.
Prince William of Great Britain is about to tie the knot, and his intended bride seems lovely and of the same stuff of Diana; approachable, personable, and not given to much royalty protocol. How wonderful for them since William also seems to be a decent man of honor and integrity. However, I cannot understand the fascination so many Americans have with British royalty. This wedding has absolutely no impact, no substance, and no consequence for Americans. Send the happy couple a card (they will likely never see), offer a prayer for their well-being (that will surely be heard), but for pity's sake move along.
I am pleased that the glow of Charlie Sheen's star seems to have faded so much so that we are now worried about Lindsay Lohan's legal troubles, Christina Aguilera's weight gain, and Gwyneth Paltrow's apparent disdain for her maternal grandmother. I am also gratified that Hugh Hefner's upcoming (or already done) nuptials (or adoption) have not garnered as much attention as the cooties which apparently came from his unwashed pool, or grotto, or jet tub. One might suggest there are many who are "itching" to get past the garbage and find some semblance of relief from the madness that makes us who we are.
The south has just endured a horrific tornado outbreak that has destroyed hundreds of homes, has taken a few hundred lives, and has called us all to question our priorities. Surely these storms as realities of nature serve best to remind us that there is only One whom we can count on, only One who can save us, only One who is willing - quite literally - to bleed and to die for us. This is the One whom we as a nation have ignored - or taken for granted - for far too long and Who may well be demanding at least as much attention as birthers, Britain, and Charlie Sheen.
Maybe it is time to get back into the fray and take things as they come. Maybe it is time to be more direct and more focused on the things that seem to matter more to so many. Maybe by doing so, and encouraging others to do so, I can do my small part to help put a stop to the utter nonsense that has us all so distracted that we hardly notice how poorly we are being represented and how disgracefully we have cast aside the constitutional realities that threaten the foundation upon which this nation was founded.
Donald Trump is thumping his chest and telling all who will listen (including his media lap dogs who seem to drool at every word he speaks) that he single-handedly brought the Obama administration to its knees in getting the president to release his long-form birth certificate (or certificate of live birth, to those hair-splitters). This accomplishment, such as it is, may endear him to the so-called "birthers" out there, but surely we more rational citizens can see that this endeavor was the effort of a very wealthy man with political ambitions and entirely too much free time on his hands.
One's citizenship status is important in national politics since our constitution has mandated requirements (not suggestions to be brushed aside), but this is the task of each state's secretary of state to ensure that all candidates are properly certified and constitutionally qualified to be on a ballot. Enough is enough. Let us move from the "silliness" to tasks of far more substance. Let us take the "race card" out of the deck, if indeed this is the motivation of the birthers, and move along.
Prince William of Great Britain is about to tie the knot, and his intended bride seems lovely and of the same stuff of Diana; approachable, personable, and not given to much royalty protocol. How wonderful for them since William also seems to be a decent man of honor and integrity. However, I cannot understand the fascination so many Americans have with British royalty. This wedding has absolutely no impact, no substance, and no consequence for Americans. Send the happy couple a card (they will likely never see), offer a prayer for their well-being (that will surely be heard), but for pity's sake move along.
I am pleased that the glow of Charlie Sheen's star seems to have faded so much so that we are now worried about Lindsay Lohan's legal troubles, Christina Aguilera's weight gain, and Gwyneth Paltrow's apparent disdain for her maternal grandmother. I am also gratified that Hugh Hefner's upcoming (or already done) nuptials (or adoption) have not garnered as much attention as the cooties which apparently came from his unwashed pool, or grotto, or jet tub. One might suggest there are many who are "itching" to get past the garbage and find some semblance of relief from the madness that makes us who we are.
The south has just endured a horrific tornado outbreak that has destroyed hundreds of homes, has taken a few hundred lives, and has called us all to question our priorities. Surely these storms as realities of nature serve best to remind us that there is only One whom we can count on, only One who can save us, only One who is willing - quite literally - to bleed and to die for us. This is the One whom we as a nation have ignored - or taken for granted - for far too long and Who may well be demanding at least as much attention as birthers, Britain, and Charlie Sheen.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Linen Wrappings and the 'Real' Estate
Acts 10:34-43 Colossians 3:1-4 John 20:1-18
As Vice President, George [H.W.] Bush represented the U.S. at the funeral of former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. Mr. Bush was deeply moved by a silent protest carried out by Brezhnev's widow. She stood motionless by the coffin until seconds before it was closed. Then, just as the soldiers touched the lid, Brezhnev's wife performed an act of great courage and hope, a gesture that must surely rank as one of the most profound acts of civil disobedience ever committed: She reached down and made the sign of the cross on her husband's chest. There in the citadel of secular, atheistic power, the wife of the man who had run it all hoped that her husband was wrong. She hoped that there was another life, and that that life was best represented by Jesus who died on the cross, and that the same Jesus might yet have mercy on her husband.
Gary Thomas, Christian Times, October 3, 1994, p. 26.
The hope that must have been within Mr. Brezhnev's widow is precisely the kind of hope that was imparted to an unbelieving world on that Glorious Day when the disciples discovered that death itself is NOT the end but is only a door through which we must all pass. This is the kind of hope that makes getting out of bed each morning worth the trouble. This is the kind of hope that makes attending Sunday school, Bible study, and worship worth the effort and time. This is the kind of hope that gives reason for denying oneself for the sake of another and expecting nothing in return. It is the hope that turns something ordinary into something extraordinary.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, Easter for us today is not exclusively about what happened some 2000 years ago. Easter is the celebration of what is to be, so it is theological rather than historical! It is the acknowledgment of the Glorious Power that has finally and completely defeated sin and death in spite of evil's best efforts to destroy the very best Thing that ever happened to the human race! The reality of the Resurrection is the only comfort we can draw from when we stand at the edge of an open grave that is ready to receive the casket of our beloved. The theology of Easter is what draws us forward and out from the so-called "circle of life" that says we are born, we eat, we work, we reproduce, and then we die. For the secular humanist, this is how eternity is defined (and inherently restricted).
Yet sin, death, and suffering continue to abound virtually unchallenged. It is not hard to notice the overwhelming number of persons who wake each day with no apparent reason to do much more than to hope for a single meal. We can easily see that the Resurrection of the Lord did not solve our problems. Humanity even killed Him in the hopes of somehow making things better, and yet nothing really changed.
We can know from one day to the next that no matter how hard we try, no matter how much we give, and no matter how tirelessly we work there will continue to be pain and suffering in this world. Jesus Himself says as much; that evil and betrayal and poverty will always exist in this world, but there will be eternal WOE for the one who causes such evil and betrayal and poverty either by those acts of intention OR those moments of neglect.
It is an awesome thing to come before the Lord especially on Easter Sunday and offer Him our hearts, our minds, our souls, and our gifts; and it is even more so when we truly engage in the Easter story by thanking Him for "saving our souls" and offering to us the Hope of Eternal Life. But to be fully engaged in the Easter story is to go far beyond the "linen wrappings" we find lying in the empty tomb. From the moment that Mary Magdalene reported to the apostles all that the Resurrected Christ had told her to report, history began to unfold. A new story was to be told, yet this story is a continuation of a long-ago laid plan by a Holy and benevolent God whose greatest desire is to reconcile His creation to Himself.
However, nothing much has changed. He still has new generations, young and old alike, to whom the Gospel must be delivered; but we seem to be a little too busy with "real life" to get too bound up in evangelism and mission work. We are overwhelmed with an uncertain economy that threatens our financial well-being as well as our long hoped-for and planned-for retirement. We lament about the demise of the Church, and we groan about a society that seems bound and determined to go straight to "hell in a hand basket".
But we have our own problems, don't we? Our greatest hopes seem to be directly related to how well our investments are doing and whether or not the Congress will somehow preserve "my" Social Security. Our greatest and best hope is bound in the birth of a new child or grandchild and that he or she will be healthy. Our greatest and best hope is that we will win whatever tournaments we or our children and grandchildren will be playing in, and we will drop EVERYTHING to lend our support to this end.
We have virtually NO REAL HOPE invested in the Resurrection because we take it for granted that it "just is". It is just another Holy Day on the church calendar that marks some historic event. And while we have lived and based our lives on our hopes for worldly treasures and worldly pleasures, we wonder why our children, our grandchildren, our neighbors have decided that church life is simply another choice to make, another club to join. We wonder why they don't take our faith and our religion seriously. I'll tell you why they don't. It is because WE don't. It really is that simple.
We fail to recognize that our faith and our religion are much more than a simple moral code of conduct, though it is that ... and much more. We sat our children down and warned them of the dangers of drugs and alcohol and teen pregnancy. We sat down at the kitchen table with them and taught them how to manage their money. We worked to instill in them a work ethic we could be proud of, an ethic that would serve them well in school and in careers. We encouraged them to pursue vocations that would pay well ... but we never sat them down and told them the story of the Exodus. We sat by the fireplace and told them the story of Santa Claus and mentioned the birth of Christ incidentally. We taught them about the Easter Bunny who happens to come at about the same time as Easter.
We must surely see by now that church life, faith, hope, and enduring love are merely incidentals to the "real" stuff we must contend with. We worked hard to teach our children to be responsible and civic-minded citizens, "good Americans", but we failed them by "telling" them they should go to church but not telling them WHY they should be attending to worship, small group Bible studies, and Sunday school. And it is simply for this reason alone that we have failed them: the hope that is the Resurrection is no more real to us than it has ever been to them. And until we can embrace the One Certainty that is Absolute and Eternal and learn to put aside the things that are by their very nature temporary, things will only get worse. In fact, if we think it's "bad" out there now, we ain't seen nuthin' yet!
The story of the Resurrection does not end at the empty tomb and the linen wrappings; it has, in fact, only just begun in that one Shining Moment in Eternity! And therein lies our own hope; in the stories of the Bible, the story of the Exodus and how the Lord delivered a whole people from slavery. It is the same story that has actually revealed itself in American history when Martin Luther King led an entire nation by the Word of the Lord. He was telling the story of salvation and redemption, and that faithfulness bore fruit. Dr. King's hopes did not lie in political solutions. Rather his hope was entirely invested in the Word of the Lord; the political solutions themselves were incidental. The Eternal Word of our Redeeming God and Lord was never more alive for us than during this era, and we may have missed it.
Yet it is the hope that drives us forward from where we are to where we are to be. It is not about the Linen Wrappings which were left behind; it is about a Glorious Crown that lies ahead! It is not about the "real estate" of a cemetery where dead bodies are laid; it is about the "real" and glorious Estate to which we are called, that Glorious Estate that is yet to be but is most surely going to be!
In the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. Amen.
As Vice President, George [H.W.] Bush represented the U.S. at the funeral of former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. Mr. Bush was deeply moved by a silent protest carried out by Brezhnev's widow. She stood motionless by the coffin until seconds before it was closed. Then, just as the soldiers touched the lid, Brezhnev's wife performed an act of great courage and hope, a gesture that must surely rank as one of the most profound acts of civil disobedience ever committed: She reached down and made the sign of the cross on her husband's chest. There in the citadel of secular, atheistic power, the wife of the man who had run it all hoped that her husband was wrong. She hoped that there was another life, and that that life was best represented by Jesus who died on the cross, and that the same Jesus might yet have mercy on her husband.
Gary Thomas, Christian Times, October 3, 1994, p. 26.
The hope that must have been within Mr. Brezhnev's widow is precisely the kind of hope that was imparted to an unbelieving world on that Glorious Day when the disciples discovered that death itself is NOT the end but is only a door through which we must all pass. This is the kind of hope that makes getting out of bed each morning worth the trouble. This is the kind of hope that makes attending Sunday school, Bible study, and worship worth the effort and time. This is the kind of hope that gives reason for denying oneself for the sake of another and expecting nothing in return. It is the hope that turns something ordinary into something extraordinary.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, Easter for us today is not exclusively about what happened some 2000 years ago. Easter is the celebration of what is to be, so it is theological rather than historical! It is the acknowledgment of the Glorious Power that has finally and completely defeated sin and death in spite of evil's best efforts to destroy the very best Thing that ever happened to the human race! The reality of the Resurrection is the only comfort we can draw from when we stand at the edge of an open grave that is ready to receive the casket of our beloved. The theology of Easter is what draws us forward and out from the so-called "circle of life" that says we are born, we eat, we work, we reproduce, and then we die. For the secular humanist, this is how eternity is defined (and inherently restricted).
Yet sin, death, and suffering continue to abound virtually unchallenged. It is not hard to notice the overwhelming number of persons who wake each day with no apparent reason to do much more than to hope for a single meal. We can easily see that the Resurrection of the Lord did not solve our problems. Humanity even killed Him in the hopes of somehow making things better, and yet nothing really changed.
We can know from one day to the next that no matter how hard we try, no matter how much we give, and no matter how tirelessly we work there will continue to be pain and suffering in this world. Jesus Himself says as much; that evil and betrayal and poverty will always exist in this world, but there will be eternal WOE for the one who causes such evil and betrayal and poverty either by those acts of intention OR those moments of neglect.
It is an awesome thing to come before the Lord especially on Easter Sunday and offer Him our hearts, our minds, our souls, and our gifts; and it is even more so when we truly engage in the Easter story by thanking Him for "saving our souls" and offering to us the Hope of Eternal Life. But to be fully engaged in the Easter story is to go far beyond the "linen wrappings" we find lying in the empty tomb. From the moment that Mary Magdalene reported to the apostles all that the Resurrected Christ had told her to report, history began to unfold. A new story was to be told, yet this story is a continuation of a long-ago laid plan by a Holy and benevolent God whose greatest desire is to reconcile His creation to Himself.
However, nothing much has changed. He still has new generations, young and old alike, to whom the Gospel must be delivered; but we seem to be a little too busy with "real life" to get too bound up in evangelism and mission work. We are overwhelmed with an uncertain economy that threatens our financial well-being as well as our long hoped-for and planned-for retirement. We lament about the demise of the Church, and we groan about a society that seems bound and determined to go straight to "hell in a hand basket".
But we have our own problems, don't we? Our greatest hopes seem to be directly related to how well our investments are doing and whether or not the Congress will somehow preserve "my" Social Security. Our greatest and best hope is bound in the birth of a new child or grandchild and that he or she will be healthy. Our greatest and best hope is that we will win whatever tournaments we or our children and grandchildren will be playing in, and we will drop EVERYTHING to lend our support to this end.
We have virtually NO REAL HOPE invested in the Resurrection because we take it for granted that it "just is". It is just another Holy Day on the church calendar that marks some historic event. And while we have lived and based our lives on our hopes for worldly treasures and worldly pleasures, we wonder why our children, our grandchildren, our neighbors have decided that church life is simply another choice to make, another club to join. We wonder why they don't take our faith and our religion seriously. I'll tell you why they don't. It is because WE don't. It really is that simple.
We fail to recognize that our faith and our religion are much more than a simple moral code of conduct, though it is that ... and much more. We sat our children down and warned them of the dangers of drugs and alcohol and teen pregnancy. We sat down at the kitchen table with them and taught them how to manage their money. We worked to instill in them a work ethic we could be proud of, an ethic that would serve them well in school and in careers. We encouraged them to pursue vocations that would pay well ... but we never sat them down and told them the story of the Exodus. We sat by the fireplace and told them the story of Santa Claus and mentioned the birth of Christ incidentally. We taught them about the Easter Bunny who happens to come at about the same time as Easter.
We must surely see by now that church life, faith, hope, and enduring love are merely incidentals to the "real" stuff we must contend with. We worked hard to teach our children to be responsible and civic-minded citizens, "good Americans", but we failed them by "telling" them they should go to church but not telling them WHY they should be attending to worship, small group Bible studies, and Sunday school. And it is simply for this reason alone that we have failed them: the hope that is the Resurrection is no more real to us than it has ever been to them. And until we can embrace the One Certainty that is Absolute and Eternal and learn to put aside the things that are by their very nature temporary, things will only get worse. In fact, if we think it's "bad" out there now, we ain't seen nuthin' yet!
The story of the Resurrection does not end at the empty tomb and the linen wrappings; it has, in fact, only just begun in that one Shining Moment in Eternity! And therein lies our own hope; in the stories of the Bible, the story of the Exodus and how the Lord delivered a whole people from slavery. It is the same story that has actually revealed itself in American history when Martin Luther King led an entire nation by the Word of the Lord. He was telling the story of salvation and redemption, and that faithfulness bore fruit. Dr. King's hopes did not lie in political solutions. Rather his hope was entirely invested in the Word of the Lord; the political solutions themselves were incidental. The Eternal Word of our Redeeming God and Lord was never more alive for us than during this era, and we may have missed it.
Yet it is the hope that drives us forward from where we are to where we are to be. It is not about the Linen Wrappings which were left behind; it is about a Glorious Crown that lies ahead! It is not about the "real estate" of a cemetery where dead bodies are laid; it is about the "real" and glorious Estate to which we are called, that Glorious Estate that is yet to be but is most surely going to be!
In the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Good Friday 2011 - Is This Justice?
Psalm 22:1-11 Isaiah 52:13-53:12 John 18:28-36a
It is written: "You say, 'The LORD’s way is not fair!' [Hear Me, says the Lord]: Is it My way that is unfair, or rather, are not your ways unfair? When someone virtuous turns away from virtue to commit iniquity and dies, it is because of the iniquity he committed that he must die. But if the wicked, turning from the wickedness he has committed, does what is right and just, he shall preserve his life. Since he has turned away from all the sins that he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die." (Ezekiel 18:25-28)
It is a strange thing to observe the many churches and traditions that skip Holy Week observances, especially Good Friday, and seem to run straight from Christmas to Easter. It is strange to me primarily because I grew up in a tradition that observes these many holy days year after year. Good Friday seems dark and a little more sorrowful than a redeemed believer should have to endure especially within the context of the "future reality" of eternity, but we should also be aware that there can be no redemption if there is never any sorrow.
But for the enduring mercy of the Holy God, it is very important for the faithful to remember always that the gruesome death we remember and witness each year at this time was, in fact, our own. It is the "death sentence" from which we have been spared, though the penalty itself still had to be paid. When we get this image of Jesus hanging as He did while His life slowly and painfully seeped from the stripes on His flesh and from His sacred head, we must recognize what is the senseless, unjust, and brutal nature of sin; and what it took to redeem us. When we remember the historic context of Jesus' crucifixion, we would acknowledge that the death sentence imposed upon this Innocent Man was the worst form of punishment reserved for the worst form of criminal. And as the thief on the cross has testified, Jesus did not deserve to be there though the thief had it coming. Yet there was Jesus right beside him.
Docetism is a strange thought system that was deemed heretical in the early Church, but it does offer an interesting perspective on the crucifixion itself. Very simply put, Jesus became the Christ at His baptism when the "Spirit descended as a dove". Then the divine nature of the Christ departed from Him at the moment we experience His anguish of having been forsaken. What is compelling about this moment in the Passion, according to Docetism, is that the divine Christ manifest from the Almighty and Holy God cannot be destroyed, much less by humans. Such a thought is inconceivable, so what Docetism claims at this moment makes sense - at least according to human intellect and reason.
So then in this moment of despair, Jesus the human person is literally feeling the full and crushing weight of the sins of the entire world upon His very soul. It is not unlike when we know we have truly failed the Father in our own lives and can feel every ounce of guilt and shame when we fully realize how we have let down the Only One we can always count on. We feel alone, we feel ashamed, we feel virtually naked and completely exposed. It is our conscience informed by faith that we by our own acts, our own conscious choices, our own failures have sinned. Persons of faith in these moments of despair are not "afraid" of what might come. Rather, it is purely by our faith and the love of our souls that convicts us of the pain we have caused our Holy Father. O, how we have let Him down when perhaps He counted on us the most!
So if we can imagine this kind of pain in our own lives, we can get but a small taste of the bruising despair and crushing anguish that was upon Jesus in this moment. There are a couple of significant problems with Docetism's concept: (1) Jesus' death becomes a human sacrifice, and this cannot be accepted because we remember that the Holy Lord declared such practices as "abominations", and (2) the blood spilled at Calvary was not divine blood - that is, "perfected" or "holy" - having come from an inherently imperfect human being. In Docetism there was no divine sacrifice; there was only a Man falsely accused by religious authorities and handed over to secular authorities so that the only punishment the religionists demanded - death - could be carried out.
I think we can see the comparisons in our own lives especially when we hear things we don't really want to hear, though I have a hard time believing we could become so overwhelmed with hatred that we could actually see to someone's torture and death. I have, however, spoken to pastors who felt "persecuted" and Sunday school teachers who felt "shunned". Though their bodies were not destroyed by the hatefulness of the "persecuting" or "shunning" crowd, their spirits were "crushed" which is, as we have surely all experienced to one degree or another, a fate worse than death itself.
It is easy to say we cannot imagine the pain the Lord endured for us because we cannot envision a culture that would do such a thing, but in fact it is a pain we inflict upon Him and upon others each time we neglect all Jesus taught us. It is a pain inflicted upon unbelievers when we fuss and fight amongst ourselves and defies the peace which has been imparted to us. It is despair and anguish upon all human souls, persons who don't look like us or act like us, who desperately NEED to know that such an unconditional love actually and truly exists, and that such divine pardon is not only possible but completely desired by our Lord, our Master, our King.
It is hardly fair to look upon the scourge of the Cross and know why it had to happen. It is not fair because it should have been us; it could have been us. But for the Lord's enduring and perfect Love, it was Him instead. AMEN.
It is written: "You say, 'The LORD’s way is not fair!' [Hear Me, says the Lord]: Is it My way that is unfair, or rather, are not your ways unfair? When someone virtuous turns away from virtue to commit iniquity and dies, it is because of the iniquity he committed that he must die. But if the wicked, turning from the wickedness he has committed, does what is right and just, he shall preserve his life. Since he has turned away from all the sins that he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die." (Ezekiel 18:25-28)
It is a strange thing to observe the many churches and traditions that skip Holy Week observances, especially Good Friday, and seem to run straight from Christmas to Easter. It is strange to me primarily because I grew up in a tradition that observes these many holy days year after year. Good Friday seems dark and a little more sorrowful than a redeemed believer should have to endure especially within the context of the "future reality" of eternity, but we should also be aware that there can be no redemption if there is never any sorrow.
But for the enduring mercy of the Holy God, it is very important for the faithful to remember always that the gruesome death we remember and witness each year at this time was, in fact, our own. It is the "death sentence" from which we have been spared, though the penalty itself still had to be paid. When we get this image of Jesus hanging as He did while His life slowly and painfully seeped from the stripes on His flesh and from His sacred head, we must recognize what is the senseless, unjust, and brutal nature of sin; and what it took to redeem us. When we remember the historic context of Jesus' crucifixion, we would acknowledge that the death sentence imposed upon this Innocent Man was the worst form of punishment reserved for the worst form of criminal. And as the thief on the cross has testified, Jesus did not deserve to be there though the thief had it coming. Yet there was Jesus right beside him.
Docetism is a strange thought system that was deemed heretical in the early Church, but it does offer an interesting perspective on the crucifixion itself. Very simply put, Jesus became the Christ at His baptism when the "Spirit descended as a dove". Then the divine nature of the Christ departed from Him at the moment we experience His anguish of having been forsaken. What is compelling about this moment in the Passion, according to Docetism, is that the divine Christ manifest from the Almighty and Holy God cannot be destroyed, much less by humans. Such a thought is inconceivable, so what Docetism claims at this moment makes sense - at least according to human intellect and reason.
So then in this moment of despair, Jesus the human person is literally feeling the full and crushing weight of the sins of the entire world upon His very soul. It is not unlike when we know we have truly failed the Father in our own lives and can feel every ounce of guilt and shame when we fully realize how we have let down the Only One we can always count on. We feel alone, we feel ashamed, we feel virtually naked and completely exposed. It is our conscience informed by faith that we by our own acts, our own conscious choices, our own failures have sinned. Persons of faith in these moments of despair are not "afraid" of what might come. Rather, it is purely by our faith and the love of our souls that convicts us of the pain we have caused our Holy Father. O, how we have let Him down when perhaps He counted on us the most!
So if we can imagine this kind of pain in our own lives, we can get but a small taste of the bruising despair and crushing anguish that was upon Jesus in this moment. There are a couple of significant problems with Docetism's concept: (1) Jesus' death becomes a human sacrifice, and this cannot be accepted because we remember that the Holy Lord declared such practices as "abominations", and (2) the blood spilled at Calvary was not divine blood - that is, "perfected" or "holy" - having come from an inherently imperfect human being. In Docetism there was no divine sacrifice; there was only a Man falsely accused by religious authorities and handed over to secular authorities so that the only punishment the religionists demanded - death - could be carried out.
I think we can see the comparisons in our own lives especially when we hear things we don't really want to hear, though I have a hard time believing we could become so overwhelmed with hatred that we could actually see to someone's torture and death. I have, however, spoken to pastors who felt "persecuted" and Sunday school teachers who felt "shunned". Though their bodies were not destroyed by the hatefulness of the "persecuting" or "shunning" crowd, their spirits were "crushed" which is, as we have surely all experienced to one degree or another, a fate worse than death itself.
It is easy to say we cannot imagine the pain the Lord endured for us because we cannot envision a culture that would do such a thing, but in fact it is a pain we inflict upon Him and upon others each time we neglect all Jesus taught us. It is a pain inflicted upon unbelievers when we fuss and fight amongst ourselves and defies the peace which has been imparted to us. It is despair and anguish upon all human souls, persons who don't look like us or act like us, who desperately NEED to know that such an unconditional love actually and truly exists, and that such divine pardon is not only possible but completely desired by our Lord, our Master, our King.
It is hardly fair to look upon the scourge of the Cross and know why it had to happen. It is not fair because it should have been us; it could have been us. But for the Lord's enduring and perfect Love, it was Him instead. AMEN.
Holy Thursday 2011 - Reasonable Expectations
Exodus 12:1-14 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 John 13:12-26a
It is not easy to draw parallels between the time of Jesus and His disciples then, and the time of the Risen Christ and His disciples today because we can easily say - and mean - that if we had witnessed what these guys had witnessed first-hand, there is no way we could possibly turn against Him. Yet as we encounter Palm Sunday each year and the subsequent holy days leading up to Good Friday, we are painfully reminded of how easily mobs - and weak hearts - can turn. It is not easy to admit, of course, but it is easy to see and feel ... IF we are truly honest with ourselves.
We can draw the parallel between the Israelites of the first Passover just before the Exodus, and the Christians who draw near to the Holy Eucharist to this day to partake of the Bread of Life and the Blood of the Holy Lamb of God. The comparisons are there, but we often overlook the significance of what has been done ... and what is still being done in our behalf as we continue the journey through our own wilderness and into our Future Reality.
It is important for the people of YHWH to remember and observe the Passover, the Lord's Supper, and His washing of His disciples' feet because Jesus Himself makes the clear observation - and command: "I have set you an example that you also should do as I have done to you."
What is not so easy is to draw the parallel between then and now because obviously the disciples did not see what was coming even though Jesus had warned them. They surely never quite expected that the crowds that had only days before joyously welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem as some "conquering hero" would not only turn against the very "Son of David" but would also become a serious threat to the disciples themselves, as Peter discovered.
We never quite know what is ahead of us from day to day because there are always external factors that can change our preset course in the blink of an eye. We who drive to and from work and other activities are only one drunk or distracted driver away from Eternity. We obviously would not plan such a thing and in fact we cannot foresee such a thing, but we have all attended funerals to mourn the passing of so many who "never saw it coming".
And this, I think, is one of the significant and missing elements of Holy Week. While it is important to commemorate these things which were done before "as an example" to follow, we are not Christians of the past or even the present; we are disciples for the "future reality" of the Eternal Kingdom. We are the disciples called forth not for the sake of our own souls but for the sake of the Holy Church. We are the disciples who venture forth, faithfully in the footsteps of our Lord, and are unafraid of the certainty that what may or may not happen tomorrow is completely beyond our control. We are disciples who acknowledge the reality of "external forces" that may manipulate our present course, but have absolutely no power over our Eternity.
We remember, as we must and as St. Paul teaches, that "as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes." This is to say, it is not only about His death since He cannot - and will not - die again. "We are Kingdom People", as the late John Paul II proclaimed, "and hallelujah is our song!" It is as our Lord declared in the presence of Pontius Pilate: "My kingdom is not of this world ..."
If He is our Eternal King, dear friends, then the hope of all our expectations must be forward into the Kingdom which is to come because that Kingdom is where our King resides. We must respect the present and acknowledge what is thrust upon us, but all that we are and all that we expect in faith is yet to be fully realized. There is nothing in this world that can offer anything beyond its own moment, including the Passover, and I think maybe this was Jesus' whole point to His disciples as they shared the meal and He taught them - in fact, accused them - about what was to come not only in the following day or two but far beyond time itself.
So we ask ourselves how this affects how and why we do this same Meal each Sunday and especially on this particular day in the Christian calendar. To remember His sacrifice? Of course. To "proclaim" His death? Absolutely. But we must necessarily move forward. We cannot be stuck in any moment, even in such biblical moments as these in spite of their significance, because our future, our Kingdom, is ahead of us ... as our Lord is ahead of us. We can take some measure of comfort in the certainty of the moment, but these moments pass - they always do. They die, never to return.
Jesus called His disciples forward into the meal and into His eternity through the meal. As they moved forward with Him, they encountered nothing like what they expected. And in spite of their best human efforts, they soon discovered that their future was already laid out for them. They just had to be willing to surrender to that Future. They had to be willing to embrace it and live for it as if their very lives depended on it. For indeed it did for them ... as it still does for us. Amen.
It is not easy to draw parallels between the time of Jesus and His disciples then, and the time of the Risen Christ and His disciples today because we can easily say - and mean - that if we had witnessed what these guys had witnessed first-hand, there is no way we could possibly turn against Him. Yet as we encounter Palm Sunday each year and the subsequent holy days leading up to Good Friday, we are painfully reminded of how easily mobs - and weak hearts - can turn. It is not easy to admit, of course, but it is easy to see and feel ... IF we are truly honest with ourselves.
We can draw the parallel between the Israelites of the first Passover just before the Exodus, and the Christians who draw near to the Holy Eucharist to this day to partake of the Bread of Life and the Blood of the Holy Lamb of God. The comparisons are there, but we often overlook the significance of what has been done ... and what is still being done in our behalf as we continue the journey through our own wilderness and into our Future Reality.
It is important for the people of YHWH to remember and observe the Passover, the Lord's Supper, and His washing of His disciples' feet because Jesus Himself makes the clear observation - and command: "I have set you an example that you also should do as I have done to you."
What is not so easy is to draw the parallel between then and now because obviously the disciples did not see what was coming even though Jesus had warned them. They surely never quite expected that the crowds that had only days before joyously welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem as some "conquering hero" would not only turn against the very "Son of David" but would also become a serious threat to the disciples themselves, as Peter discovered.
We never quite know what is ahead of us from day to day because there are always external factors that can change our preset course in the blink of an eye. We who drive to and from work and other activities are only one drunk or distracted driver away from Eternity. We obviously would not plan such a thing and in fact we cannot foresee such a thing, but we have all attended funerals to mourn the passing of so many who "never saw it coming".
And this, I think, is one of the significant and missing elements of Holy Week. While it is important to commemorate these things which were done before "as an example" to follow, we are not Christians of the past or even the present; we are disciples for the "future reality" of the Eternal Kingdom. We are the disciples called forth not for the sake of our own souls but for the sake of the Holy Church. We are the disciples who venture forth, faithfully in the footsteps of our Lord, and are unafraid of the certainty that what may or may not happen tomorrow is completely beyond our control. We are disciples who acknowledge the reality of "external forces" that may manipulate our present course, but have absolutely no power over our Eternity.
We remember, as we must and as St. Paul teaches, that "as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes." This is to say, it is not only about His death since He cannot - and will not - die again. "We are Kingdom People", as the late John Paul II proclaimed, "and hallelujah is our song!" It is as our Lord declared in the presence of Pontius Pilate: "My kingdom is not of this world ..."
If He is our Eternal King, dear friends, then the hope of all our expectations must be forward into the Kingdom which is to come because that Kingdom is where our King resides. We must respect the present and acknowledge what is thrust upon us, but all that we are and all that we expect in faith is yet to be fully realized. There is nothing in this world that can offer anything beyond its own moment, including the Passover, and I think maybe this was Jesus' whole point to His disciples as they shared the meal and He taught them - in fact, accused them - about what was to come not only in the following day or two but far beyond time itself.
So we ask ourselves how this affects how and why we do this same Meal each Sunday and especially on this particular day in the Christian calendar. To remember His sacrifice? Of course. To "proclaim" His death? Absolutely. But we must necessarily move forward. We cannot be stuck in any moment, even in such biblical moments as these in spite of their significance, because our future, our Kingdom, is ahead of us ... as our Lord is ahead of us. We can take some measure of comfort in the certainty of the moment, but these moments pass - they always do. They die, never to return.
Jesus called His disciples forward into the meal and into His eternity through the meal. As they moved forward with Him, they encountered nothing like what they expected. And in spite of their best human efforts, they soon discovered that their future was already laid out for them. They just had to be willing to surrender to that Future. They had to be willing to embrace it and live for it as if their very lives depended on it. For indeed it did for them ... as it still does for us. Amen.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Palm Sunday 2011 - Releasing the Tension
Isaiah 50:4-9a Philippians 2:5-11 Matthew 21:1-11
Sometimes the things we do seem a bad idea in the beginning but turn into good experiences with satisfying endings. Then sometimes we do things that seemed like a good idea at the time, but the end did not seem to justify the means. At the end of it all we take stock in what we do, what we hoped or meant to accomplish by doing so in the first place, and then try to determine if what we actually achieved was what we were shooting for in the first place.
In the first chapter of Ecclesiastes it is written, "What profit has a person from all labor in which is toil under the sun? One generation passes away and another generation comes ... All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full ... Is there anything of which it may be said, 'See, this is new'?" (1:3-4, 7a, 10a).
Nope. It's the same ol' same ol'. Nothing ever really changes. We simply shift emphases from one generation to the next but many teenagers continue to rebel as they discover their own passions and their own dreams, children still fight and fuss over toys, young couples focus almost exclusively on themselves and their new life together, humans for the most part continue to chase their own tails, and the local news will report new births and the latest deaths. And the list goes on. From one generation to the next, only the names really change. So Ecclesiastes can be tricky especially for the new convert and those who lack sufficient spiritual maturity because the book itself is filled with such statements throughout that virtually scream, "IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT WE DO BECAUSE IT IS ALL FOR NOTHING! Vanity of vanities!"
This is not entirely true, of course, because the wisdom of Ecclesiastes challenges the faithful to look deeper and harder ... at everything. It is a book of priorities because the book reminds us of the inherent tension which exists between what is (the physical) and what is to be (the spiritual). Reading it carelessly, it is almost as if we can be assured of only one thing in this life: death. So what's the point?
Every year it is the same ol' grind. Advent and Christmas. Lent. Palm Sunday ... or Passion Sunday. Holy Week. Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, maybe a sunrise service, definitely an Easter service. It will be essentially the same Scripture readings but perhaps from a different Gospel account, the same hymns, the same crowds, probably the same sermon. Maybe some new children or new grandchildren will be shared with us, but more likely not since worship and church life are not exactly high on priority lists anymore.
Still there are the same worries and the same joys, but these are all "vanity" because it will not matter whether we are joyous or nervous because it will all end just as quickly as it had begun. It is the same tension which exists between the routine of "sameness" and the excitement of anticipation. Yet for us there is no real anticipation because we know how the story turns out. We get it. Jesus wins. So what?
There is incredible tension in Matthew's Gospel between what Jesus actually knows and what the disciples probably were anticipating. When Jesus sent His disciples to get the donkey and her colt, He knew what was ahead and what He would be riding into. The disciples may have been unsure in the beginning of what was to take place, but the excitement seemed to build upon entry into Jerusalem as crowds began to gather and enthusiastically welcome the "Son of David", the "prophet Jesus". There was joy, eager anticipation, and great expectations of what was to come - even if no one really knew exactly what was coming, they knew what they WANTED to happen. Maybe the Romans' days in Jerusalem were finally numbered. Maybe the Kingdom and throne of David would be finally and completely restored. But these were not to be. Not then. And not now.
On the surface nothing changed for Israel, and what we do now is the same thing that has been done for centuries even if the form and manner have changed somewhat over the course of time. And next year we can already see what is going to happen: another Easter egg hunt, another sunrise service maybe, another Easter worship service but really not much more than a repeat of the same, centuries-old cycle. We lift up the name of Jesus, we remember His brutal and tortuous death, and we celebrate His resurrection. Yet among all the pomp and circumstance, nothing much else will change. We can hope, of course, and we can pray as we must, but what else is going to happen?
Clearly "Jesus is the answer" as attested to by so many billboards and bumper stickers, but what is not so clear is the nature of the question. "How to get saved" seems to be the driving force of just about any question, but that question never came up in Jerusalem so many centuries ago, at least not in the same context. They had heard of this "prophet" and many knew Jesus as the "Son of David", but I am going to jump out on a limb and suggest there was very little in the way of associating Jesus of Nazareth with YHWH. I am going to suggest that the Lord God of all creation did not factor into the anticipation much ... if at all!
Some may remember the angst of the 60's during the Vietnam era and the Civil Rights era; two huge events in the life of this nation. Because of the uncertainty of the times and because it appeared our government was being less than honest with us, authority came to be questioned. Life was chaotic for some, and answers were demanded; yet few answers were found because the right questions were not being asked. And I see this much happening today as well because people are still seeking answers to their own particular and unique dilemmas, but they also cannot quite pin down the right question. And what is an answer without a relevant question?
The tension which exists today is as palpable as it was in Jerusalem as Jesus rode into town on a donkey. I dare say EVERYONE saw Jesus in one particular way or another but with this one common question: what's MY life going to be like now that He's arrived? A very broad and yet incredibly narrow focus on the here-and-now; the inherent tension between what we are and what we are called to be. The crowd that welcomed Jesus had high expectations as to how they would be positively and personally affected by Jesus, but being available to Him on any level was not likely on their minds unless He would be willing to do what they thought He should do. And I think the same can be said of us today.
It does not have to be this way, but it will continue as long as our priorities push our worship life further and further down the list. It will continue for as long as we place our hopes in medical technology and public policies. It will continue for as long as our personal ambitions and carnal desires far outweigh and outrun the necessary means of grace that serve to release the incredible tension between our physical present and our spiritual future. It will continue for as long as we choose to live in and for the moment and not for the future of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Pray that our palms remind us not of what "was" so long ago in Jerusalem. Pray that our palms serve instead as our means of welcoming what "will be". Pray that we use these palm branches in our lives and in the pathways of our hearts to welcome the eagerly anticipated return of the Eternal King. Pray that He find us as eager to receive and welcome Him not as an interruption of our present moment, not as the fulfillment of a personal wish, but as the actively and eagerly anticipated reality of His eternity. Pray that He find us working with Him and not against Him.
Sometimes the things we do seem a bad idea in the beginning but turn into good experiences with satisfying endings. Then sometimes we do things that seemed like a good idea at the time, but the end did not seem to justify the means. At the end of it all we take stock in what we do, what we hoped or meant to accomplish by doing so in the first place, and then try to determine if what we actually achieved was what we were shooting for in the first place.
In the first chapter of Ecclesiastes it is written, "What profit has a person from all labor in which is toil under the sun? One generation passes away and another generation comes ... All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full ... Is there anything of which it may be said, 'See, this is new'?" (1:3-4, 7a, 10a).
Nope. It's the same ol' same ol'. Nothing ever really changes. We simply shift emphases from one generation to the next but many teenagers continue to rebel as they discover their own passions and their own dreams, children still fight and fuss over toys, young couples focus almost exclusively on themselves and their new life together, humans for the most part continue to chase their own tails, and the local news will report new births and the latest deaths. And the list goes on. From one generation to the next, only the names really change. So Ecclesiastes can be tricky especially for the new convert and those who lack sufficient spiritual maturity because the book itself is filled with such statements throughout that virtually scream, "IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT WE DO BECAUSE IT IS ALL FOR NOTHING! Vanity of vanities!"
This is not entirely true, of course, because the wisdom of Ecclesiastes challenges the faithful to look deeper and harder ... at everything. It is a book of priorities because the book reminds us of the inherent tension which exists between what is (the physical) and what is to be (the spiritual). Reading it carelessly, it is almost as if we can be assured of only one thing in this life: death. So what's the point?
Every year it is the same ol' grind. Advent and Christmas. Lent. Palm Sunday ... or Passion Sunday. Holy Week. Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, maybe a sunrise service, definitely an Easter service. It will be essentially the same Scripture readings but perhaps from a different Gospel account, the same hymns, the same crowds, probably the same sermon. Maybe some new children or new grandchildren will be shared with us, but more likely not since worship and church life are not exactly high on priority lists anymore.
Still there are the same worries and the same joys, but these are all "vanity" because it will not matter whether we are joyous or nervous because it will all end just as quickly as it had begun. It is the same tension which exists between the routine of "sameness" and the excitement of anticipation. Yet for us there is no real anticipation because we know how the story turns out. We get it. Jesus wins. So what?
There is incredible tension in Matthew's Gospel between what Jesus actually knows and what the disciples probably were anticipating. When Jesus sent His disciples to get the donkey and her colt, He knew what was ahead and what He would be riding into. The disciples may have been unsure in the beginning of what was to take place, but the excitement seemed to build upon entry into Jerusalem as crowds began to gather and enthusiastically welcome the "Son of David", the "prophet Jesus". There was joy, eager anticipation, and great expectations of what was to come - even if no one really knew exactly what was coming, they knew what they WANTED to happen. Maybe the Romans' days in Jerusalem were finally numbered. Maybe the Kingdom and throne of David would be finally and completely restored. But these were not to be. Not then. And not now.
On the surface nothing changed for Israel, and what we do now is the same thing that has been done for centuries even if the form and manner have changed somewhat over the course of time. And next year we can already see what is going to happen: another Easter egg hunt, another sunrise service maybe, another Easter worship service but really not much more than a repeat of the same, centuries-old cycle. We lift up the name of Jesus, we remember His brutal and tortuous death, and we celebrate His resurrection. Yet among all the pomp and circumstance, nothing much else will change. We can hope, of course, and we can pray as we must, but what else is going to happen?
Clearly "Jesus is the answer" as attested to by so many billboards and bumper stickers, but what is not so clear is the nature of the question. "How to get saved" seems to be the driving force of just about any question, but that question never came up in Jerusalem so many centuries ago, at least not in the same context. They had heard of this "prophet" and many knew Jesus as the "Son of David", but I am going to jump out on a limb and suggest there was very little in the way of associating Jesus of Nazareth with YHWH. I am going to suggest that the Lord God of all creation did not factor into the anticipation much ... if at all!
Some may remember the angst of the 60's during the Vietnam era and the Civil Rights era; two huge events in the life of this nation. Because of the uncertainty of the times and because it appeared our government was being less than honest with us, authority came to be questioned. Life was chaotic for some, and answers were demanded; yet few answers were found because the right questions were not being asked. And I see this much happening today as well because people are still seeking answers to their own particular and unique dilemmas, but they also cannot quite pin down the right question. And what is an answer without a relevant question?
The tension which exists today is as palpable as it was in Jerusalem as Jesus rode into town on a donkey. I dare say EVERYONE saw Jesus in one particular way or another but with this one common question: what's MY life going to be like now that He's arrived? A very broad and yet incredibly narrow focus on the here-and-now; the inherent tension between what we are and what we are called to be. The crowd that welcomed Jesus had high expectations as to how they would be positively and personally affected by Jesus, but being available to Him on any level was not likely on their minds unless He would be willing to do what they thought He should do. And I think the same can be said of us today.
It does not have to be this way, but it will continue as long as our priorities push our worship life further and further down the list. It will continue for as long as we place our hopes in medical technology and public policies. It will continue for as long as our personal ambitions and carnal desires far outweigh and outrun the necessary means of grace that serve to release the incredible tension between our physical present and our spiritual future. It will continue for as long as we choose to live in and for the moment and not for the future of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Pray that our palms remind us not of what "was" so long ago in Jerusalem. Pray that our palms serve instead as our means of welcoming what "will be". Pray that we use these palm branches in our lives and in the pathways of our hearts to welcome the eagerly anticipated return of the Eternal King. Pray that He find us as eager to receive and welcome Him not as an interruption of our present moment, not as the fulfillment of a personal wish, but as the actively and eagerly anticipated reality of His eternity. Pray that He find us working with Him and not against Him.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
The Stumbling Block of Good Intentions
Ezekiel 7:16-19 Romans 14:5-13 Matthew 18:6-14
There is a particular, if peculiar, preacher in the news lately who has apparently taken upon himself the burden of judging - and condemning - Islam ... in the name of love and Jesus the Christ. You may know him as the man who once threatened to have a Koran-burning party but backed off at the offer of a new car. He accepted the new car, but he reportedly sold it and gave the proceeds to some charity; maybe his own. Be not misled, however. This preacher insisted that he backed down from his book-burning party after much prayer because the Spirit did not give him clear instructions.
Fast forward a few months later, and this same preacher is back in the news. This time, however, the Koran had been put on "trial" with a Muslim-turned-Christian "prosecutor" and an Islamic imam as "defense" counsel. The congregation as "jury" found the Koran guilty of crimes against humanity and ordered the "defendant" burned (wonder why the book of Numbers was not also put on trial?). The incident was filmed, placed on YouTube, and found its way around the world. Last report related to this incident was a mob attack in Afghanistan by angry protesters who killed several innocent persons some 10,000 miles away from Gainesville FL where the "trial" had been held, innocent persons who had absolutely nothing to do with the "trial" or the subsequent book burning.
In the American heartland there is a congregation that calls itself Baptist led by another preacher who has apparently taken the entire burden of judging homosexuality upon himself. He and his followers have not put any books under the burn to my knowledge and I am not aware of their actions having incited mobs to physical violence, but the harm that has been done presumably in the name of the same Messiah cannot be fully measured although the offense they have invoked against Americans is incomprehensible, so disrespectful and offensive in its nature that decent people can think of no decent, printable language with which to describe it. And these have made it very clear that ... they ... do ... not ... care what you or I think.
Jesus Himself said, "These things I have spoken to you that you should not be made to stumble. They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them." John 16:1-4
It is not important whether you or I personally or doctrinally or theologically agree or disagree with either of these preachers in principle or in practice. It matters not whether Muslims or homosexuals are offended by the actions of these very few (fewer than 100 between the two preachers), and it does not even matter that American families who have suffered the heartbreak of the loss of a loved one have been confronted at the very grave sites of their heroic beloved by the actions of these few, although we do have sensibilities that I dare say are offended on one level or another by these zealots who act more like hyperactive children in a solemn worship service. These few do not care that they are being disruptive or disrespectful, and they do not care whom they hurt in the process. They care even less about who must pay the price for their conduct and their freedom to do such harm - or so says the US Supreme Court. They care only that they get the attention they seem so desperately to need because, they reason, they have the "truth" on their side.
What does matter, what is at the very heart of the behavior and offense of these few, is the Holy and Blessed Name they besmirch and blaspheme, ironically the same Name they claim to serve. Why this matters is that these few get all the press and publicity they want by their sensational acts while very few outside of our own community have ever heard of Southern Christian Mission, Body and Soul Food Pantry, or the Stew Pot.
It is not strictly a matter of publicity, however. Rather it is a matter of what people outside of our little circles know about our Lord, our God, our Holy Father. These few persons who manage to carry headlines all over the globe do as much harm to Christianity as the few bomb-carrying murderers do to Islam. What people see or read with their own eyes is what they believe to be true. These few, unfortunately, are what so many see and come to believe about Christ our Lord.
Jesus seemed to have seen it all coming, but He does not merely dismiss such action as "just the way it is". He pulls out all the stops. He makes no idle threat, but He makes a solemn promise He surely intends to keep: "You hurt My little ones, and I will hurt you back." Within the context of Matthew's passage Jesus seems to specifically be referring to biological children since He had summoned a "little child" (Mt 18:2) to make His point. Peter says the Lord shows "no partiality" (Acts 10:34), but Jesus shows distinct favoritism when it comes to little children. He tells those who are listening (then and now) that if we ever hope to see the kingdom of Heaven, we WILL become "as little children".
But Jesus is not strictly speaking in biological terms because clearly we cannot become small children again anymore than we can enter back into a mother's womb as Nicodemus pointed out in John 3:4, but the key to the point Jesus is making here and to Nicodemus is in terms of "change" (or "conversion" in NKJV); the spiritual rebirth that brings us into a stage of infancy in faith. Like infants and small children, these "spiritual children" must be protected and defended at all costs because they are in a precarious state of discovery. They are open to new experiences, new ideas, new truths ... and new lies. And because the nature of a child is one of complete trust, they can be turned this way or that according to what they are told. And like small children, even "spiritual children" can be easily frightened within AND without reason.
Homosexuality and Islam are two very easy social and theological targets because both seem to violate the Judeo-Christian ethic, and they both are socially offensive to many. We don't typically understand either, so it is easy to make them targets of our self-righteousness - and our fears. And because they both seem to be rather confrontational in their nature and state of being, we respond rather strongly according to our fears. We blame Islam specifically for the attack on the World Trade Center, and we blame homosexuality for the continued attacks on the nuclear family and all that we consider sacred. Can we not say that women and African-Americans were treated much the same way with essentially the same arguments when their time came to be recognized as, quite simply, human beings?
It is one thing to believe in something enough to defend it. It is altogether a different thing to impose one's beliefs on another, especially in such a confrontational and overbearing way. We have every right to believe anything we want to believe, but we do not have a right to expect or demand others to believe it. Becoming overbearing with what we believe to the point of belittling those who do not share our beliefs threatens to cross the line from "faith" to "offensiveness" and will eventually do far more harm than any good that can be hoped for because people just don't respond appropriately to threats of any kind. They will surrender out of pure and unreasoned fear, they will fight back (think "Crusades" or "Inquisition"), or they will simply walk away. No matter the response, there is no "victory" to be claimed because nothing was "won". Quite the contrary, we could begin to count substantial losses for the kingdom of Heaven as perhaps we are even now.
We mean well and we do well when we stand for "family values" and Christianity, but we don't do well enough when we ourselves do not live up to the high standards we seem to demand of others. We are disciples ourselves, students of Christ in every sense of the word, continually striving for higher and higher standards, reaching for the spiritual perfection that will enable us to rise above these petty challenges that are truly beneath our calling as "witnesses". We betray our Lord who Himself "did not come to condemn the world" (John 3:17a) when we choose to condemn those who do not share our values or our beliefs.
In my humble opinion it is ok and perhaps preferable to call "sin" what it is, and it is life-affirming when we help unbelievers and "spiritual infants" to understand the raw power and destructive nature of sin. It is ok to protect and correct our children from sinful behavior, and it is ok to remove ourselves from the company of unrepentant sinners if the door to Christ has been slammed shut. It is not ok, however, to proclaim divine judgment lest we live under the very real threat of believing ourselves equal to the task reserved exclusively for the Holy One and exclusively on the Day of His choosing. He did not call forth "judges" in the New Covenant; He called forth "witnesses", "disciples", and "apostles".
It has been said by many that we Christians are better known for what we hate rather than for what we love. And WHOM we love ... because it is abundantly clear by the lives we live that there are many persons and many THINGS we obviously love before we will offer our love to the Lord. It is painfully and abundantly clear by the lives of far too many overly vocal and religious Christians that we uphold ideas, but reject the ideals we demand of others. It should be clear to us by now that our very "stumbling blocks" are the barriers we use to keep "outsiders" at bay by telling them that their spiritual destruction is assured. Such a proclamation is not only dangerous and foolish, it is also very much easier to do than to actually "love" those we choose to condemn.
Sin existed long before you and I came into this world, and sin will endure long after we are gone. We must be careful in the meantime that we don't get caught up in sinful acts or push others into sinful acts as we demand the eradication of sin from our world. We have been chosen, as Jesus reminded His disciples that they did not choose Him, to proclaim the Gospel of Life, the Good News that has come to us in Emmanuel and that will come again. He is our Way, He is our Truth, and He is our Life. Pray as though we depend on it. Live as though we believe it.
There is a particular, if peculiar, preacher in the news lately who has apparently taken upon himself the burden of judging - and condemning - Islam ... in the name of love and Jesus the Christ. You may know him as the man who once threatened to have a Koran-burning party but backed off at the offer of a new car. He accepted the new car, but he reportedly sold it and gave the proceeds to some charity; maybe his own. Be not misled, however. This preacher insisted that he backed down from his book-burning party after much prayer because the Spirit did not give him clear instructions.
Fast forward a few months later, and this same preacher is back in the news. This time, however, the Koran had been put on "trial" with a Muslim-turned-Christian "prosecutor" and an Islamic imam as "defense" counsel. The congregation as "jury" found the Koran guilty of crimes against humanity and ordered the "defendant" burned (wonder why the book of Numbers was not also put on trial?). The incident was filmed, placed on YouTube, and found its way around the world. Last report related to this incident was a mob attack in Afghanistan by angry protesters who killed several innocent persons some 10,000 miles away from Gainesville FL where the "trial" had been held, innocent persons who had absolutely nothing to do with the "trial" or the subsequent book burning.
In the American heartland there is a congregation that calls itself Baptist led by another preacher who has apparently taken the entire burden of judging homosexuality upon himself. He and his followers have not put any books under the burn to my knowledge and I am not aware of their actions having incited mobs to physical violence, but the harm that has been done presumably in the name of the same Messiah cannot be fully measured although the offense they have invoked against Americans is incomprehensible, so disrespectful and offensive in its nature that decent people can think of no decent, printable language with which to describe it. And these have made it very clear that ... they ... do ... not ... care what you or I think.
Jesus Himself said, "These things I have spoken to you that you should not be made to stumble. They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them." John 16:1-4
It is not important whether you or I personally or doctrinally or theologically agree or disagree with either of these preachers in principle or in practice. It matters not whether Muslims or homosexuals are offended by the actions of these very few (fewer than 100 between the two preachers), and it does not even matter that American families who have suffered the heartbreak of the loss of a loved one have been confronted at the very grave sites of their heroic beloved by the actions of these few, although we do have sensibilities that I dare say are offended on one level or another by these zealots who act more like hyperactive children in a solemn worship service. These few do not care that they are being disruptive or disrespectful, and they do not care whom they hurt in the process. They care even less about who must pay the price for their conduct and their freedom to do such harm - or so says the US Supreme Court. They care only that they get the attention they seem so desperately to need because, they reason, they have the "truth" on their side.
What does matter, what is at the very heart of the behavior and offense of these few, is the Holy and Blessed Name they besmirch and blaspheme, ironically the same Name they claim to serve. Why this matters is that these few get all the press and publicity they want by their sensational acts while very few outside of our own community have ever heard of Southern Christian Mission, Body and Soul Food Pantry, or the Stew Pot.
It is not strictly a matter of publicity, however. Rather it is a matter of what people outside of our little circles know about our Lord, our God, our Holy Father. These few persons who manage to carry headlines all over the globe do as much harm to Christianity as the few bomb-carrying murderers do to Islam. What people see or read with their own eyes is what they believe to be true. These few, unfortunately, are what so many see and come to believe about Christ our Lord.
Jesus seemed to have seen it all coming, but He does not merely dismiss such action as "just the way it is". He pulls out all the stops. He makes no idle threat, but He makes a solemn promise He surely intends to keep: "You hurt My little ones, and I will hurt you back." Within the context of Matthew's passage Jesus seems to specifically be referring to biological children since He had summoned a "little child" (Mt 18:2) to make His point. Peter says the Lord shows "no partiality" (Acts 10:34), but Jesus shows distinct favoritism when it comes to little children. He tells those who are listening (then and now) that if we ever hope to see the kingdom of Heaven, we WILL become "as little children".
But Jesus is not strictly speaking in biological terms because clearly we cannot become small children again anymore than we can enter back into a mother's womb as Nicodemus pointed out in John 3:4, but the key to the point Jesus is making here and to Nicodemus is in terms of "change" (or "conversion" in NKJV); the spiritual rebirth that brings us into a stage of infancy in faith. Like infants and small children, these "spiritual children" must be protected and defended at all costs because they are in a precarious state of discovery. They are open to new experiences, new ideas, new truths ... and new lies. And because the nature of a child is one of complete trust, they can be turned this way or that according to what they are told. And like small children, even "spiritual children" can be easily frightened within AND without reason.
Homosexuality and Islam are two very easy social and theological targets because both seem to violate the Judeo-Christian ethic, and they both are socially offensive to many. We don't typically understand either, so it is easy to make them targets of our self-righteousness - and our fears. And because they both seem to be rather confrontational in their nature and state of being, we respond rather strongly according to our fears. We blame Islam specifically for the attack on the World Trade Center, and we blame homosexuality for the continued attacks on the nuclear family and all that we consider sacred. Can we not say that women and African-Americans were treated much the same way with essentially the same arguments when their time came to be recognized as, quite simply, human beings?
It is one thing to believe in something enough to defend it. It is altogether a different thing to impose one's beliefs on another, especially in such a confrontational and overbearing way. We have every right to believe anything we want to believe, but we do not have a right to expect or demand others to believe it. Becoming overbearing with what we believe to the point of belittling those who do not share our beliefs threatens to cross the line from "faith" to "offensiveness" and will eventually do far more harm than any good that can be hoped for because people just don't respond appropriately to threats of any kind. They will surrender out of pure and unreasoned fear, they will fight back (think "Crusades" or "Inquisition"), or they will simply walk away. No matter the response, there is no "victory" to be claimed because nothing was "won". Quite the contrary, we could begin to count substantial losses for the kingdom of Heaven as perhaps we are even now.
We mean well and we do well when we stand for "family values" and Christianity, but we don't do well enough when we ourselves do not live up to the high standards we seem to demand of others. We are disciples ourselves, students of Christ in every sense of the word, continually striving for higher and higher standards, reaching for the spiritual perfection that will enable us to rise above these petty challenges that are truly beneath our calling as "witnesses". We betray our Lord who Himself "did not come to condemn the world" (John 3:17a) when we choose to condemn those who do not share our values or our beliefs.
In my humble opinion it is ok and perhaps preferable to call "sin" what it is, and it is life-affirming when we help unbelievers and "spiritual infants" to understand the raw power and destructive nature of sin. It is ok to protect and correct our children from sinful behavior, and it is ok to remove ourselves from the company of unrepentant sinners if the door to Christ has been slammed shut. It is not ok, however, to proclaim divine judgment lest we live under the very real threat of believing ourselves equal to the task reserved exclusively for the Holy One and exclusively on the Day of His choosing. He did not call forth "judges" in the New Covenant; He called forth "witnesses", "disciples", and "apostles".
It has been said by many that we Christians are better known for what we hate rather than for what we love. And WHOM we love ... because it is abundantly clear by the lives we live that there are many persons and many THINGS we obviously love before we will offer our love to the Lord. It is painfully and abundantly clear by the lives of far too many overly vocal and religious Christians that we uphold ideas, but reject the ideals we demand of others. It should be clear to us by now that our very "stumbling blocks" are the barriers we use to keep "outsiders" at bay by telling them that their spiritual destruction is assured. Such a proclamation is not only dangerous and foolish, it is also very much easier to do than to actually "love" those we choose to condemn.
Sin existed long before you and I came into this world, and sin will endure long after we are gone. We must be careful in the meantime that we don't get caught up in sinful acts or push others into sinful acts as we demand the eradication of sin from our world. We have been chosen, as Jesus reminded His disciples that they did not choose Him, to proclaim the Gospel of Life, the Good News that has come to us in Emmanuel and that will come again. He is our Way, He is our Truth, and He is our Life. Pray as though we depend on it. Live as though we believe it.
Visions of Eternity
1 Samuel 16:1-7 Psalm 23 Ephesians 5:8-14 John 9:1-7
"Reality bites".
So says a bumper sticker I see pop up from time to time that seems to express the angst of the hopeless, the ones who can only see what is right before them, the ones who have been blinded - or who choose to remain blinded - to the future reality that is the Kingdom of Heaven. Nothing is ever as it seems, but we have a hard time seeing beyond the moment because we are too often confronted by the ugliness of this world. We are also hopelessly buried up to the axle in the mud of human desire that keeps us inwardly focused and unconcerned about the world around us. We latch onto the current reality as "all there is" even though this mentality betrays the path laid for us in and by Christ Jesus.
When I began writing some thoughts Monday (3/28/11) afternoon, this was a random sampling of the headlines from various news sources:
• "More radioactive water spills at Japanese nuke plant"
• "Time short, tempers flare in budget showdown"
• "Syrian forces fire warning shots in Deraa"
• "Truck bomb explodes in Afghanistan, kills 20"
• "Israel deploys new missile defense"
• Doctors warn about 'Facebook Depression' in teens
We can read more details on these and other headlines and we can even watch these stories unfold, but there is always more that we cannot see except by faith. More thorough coverage and in-depth research will reveal a little more, but the "blinded" will never see beyond what is right before them because they cannot or will not see through hope and the Promise of the Coming Kingdom. Even if human ingenuity and technology were to stop the radioactive leaks in Japan today, there would still be something else tomorrow and it will continue like this for as long as the human condition continues - no matter how careful we are - as long as we continue to act like mortal humans with no future.
The Lord spoke to the prophet Samuel: "The Lord does not see as mortals see ..." (1 Sam 16:7b)
The context in which the Lord reminds the prophet Samuel that there is always more beyond human eye sight is that even the Lord Himself was not looking into the heart of the "present" David who was standing before Him. He was, instead, looking ahead toward the future of Israel within the heart of David. What the Lord is looking for is not a person who is full of integrity "at the moment" because nothing for the Lord is in the "moment". Samuel was only reacting within the present reality, but the Lord's future reality was yet to be seen. This is no less true today.
It is safe to say there are enormous and frightening challenges ahead with radiation in Japan, war in the Middle East, and economic uncertainty right here at home. Looking at the present reality and knowing the present cannot be ignored, however, does not give us the hope we truly need. Because there is no "promise" even though there is genuine "potential", but this potential only exists within our limited responses and set goals which can only produce "limited" hope. These are always good, of course, but they are never going to be quite good enough because they are human-inspired goals, human desires, and human expectations. In fact, I might suggest there is no such thing as "unlimited human potential" because humans are inherently limited.
What we and the rest of the world must come to terms with, then, is the limits of our own potential so that we can find within ourselves the need to follow Christ to the fruition of the Kingdom to come which is the future reality. If it is true that humanity was created in the image of the Lord God , then it must be within us the ability to realize this cannot be all there is; there must be more. We can deny it, of course, because of our limited potential, and we can deny the religion of the Holy Church while vainly trying to grab hold of so-called "spirituality" that seems to be all the rage for now, but we cannot reasonably deny that there must be more beyond mortal humanity and beyond the temporal moment.
As best I can observe from those who claim to be "spiritual but not religious", this "spirituality" is one-dimensional, it is vain, and it is substantially arrogant. There seems to be a vague reference to a "higher power" that must surely exist but does little more than merely exist. This "spirituality" is not communal; there are no relationships, it is entirely self-centered, self-focused, self-indulgent, and worst of all self-justified. It is decidedly anti-Christ-like. It is utterly "blinding" to those who so indulge as to neglect the biblical and spiritual reality of the presence of Christ in His body, the Holy Church. And within the Holy Church, what defines the Holy Church, what constitutes the Holy Church is the proclamation AND receiving of the Gospel - the GOOD NEWS of that which is to come! - and the administration of the Sacraments by and through which we are baptized into the Covenant and continue to commune with Christ and with one another through the Lord's Supper.
When Israel was called out of the bondage of Egypt they knew then they had a future, uncertain though it may have seemed at the time. Jesus faced death on the Cross so willingly because He knew the Cross was not the "final" act! The apostles went forward from Pentecost and into the future without fear and with the certain knowledge that what "is" was not all there is because they saw the future reality in the Resurrection! Thousands upon thousands responded to the Gospel - and still do today - because the Gospel informs us that what "is" (what we think we see) is NOT real because it is not permanent. This is NOT the "final" act. The only thing that is real is that we must endure what "is" in order to get to the Final Act.
We do not know what the future holds on this earth, but we do know by faith that the future reality is always ahead of us even as we know - with or without faith - that our lives will sooner or later come to an end on this earth. In our human blindness, in our human condition, in our human limitations, we can hope for tomorrow. In the presence of the Holy Spirit, however, we can "know" beyond tomorrow - and know it with great joy and eager anticipation. We do not have to "settle" for or in the "moment"; for the Lord our God, through Christ His beloved Son who now sits at His Right Hand, gave us and still offers to us a future. There is but one catch: we have to be willing to follow the Lord into the Lord's future. There is no other way, and there are no short-cuts.
So what does it take to be willing to step into the unknown without fear? "Faith" is the easy answer, but faith is not so easy to come by. It is a gift divinely imparted from Above, but it is a gift which must be received on its own terms; willingly embraced, trusted, and BELIEVED. Receiving such a gift requires that human reason must be suspended because we cannot engage in divine faith by our human faculties. We must also know that faith and the Lord's path will almost certainly call us to go against our own desires, our own will, and perhaps even our own beliefs. A refusal to put aside self, then, is the greatest obstacle to genuine faith because a careless, so-called "prosperity" gospel has mistakenly led far too many to believe the Lord to be some kind of personal "genie" who grants wishes but is somehow angry with us - or is proved not to exist - when we do not get our own way or wish.
The future reality in the realm of eternity is in the hands of the Almighty, and Jesus clearly states His purpose for being with us in the first place: "I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind" (John 9:39). In other words, He came to show us the way ... as well as the Truth and the Life, all three of which will almost certainly run contrary to what we personally desire for ourselves or what we have personally chosen to believe by our limited and flawed human reasoning- just like the Pharisees.
In this particular passage, Jesus is engaged in yet another confrontation with the Pharisees who think they have it all figured out. Sound familiar? It should because many of us are flirting with and dancing on the very edge of that "danger zone" of self-justification, self-righteousness. How is such a state of mind and soul evident? We can judge for ourselves as to our expectations if or when we show up for Bible study, Sunday school, or worship. Are we open to a new experience? Are we willing to learn something? Or do we come with our own agenda, and that Sunday school teacher or blankety-blank-blank preacher better say what I want to hear? But Jesus finishes this encounter with this statement to the Pharisees: "If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, 'We see', your sin remains" (John 9:41).
Very simply stated, faith is the means by which the FORMERLY blinded are enabled to see ... and see beyond the moment and the current reality. It is this divinely imparted "sight" that gives us a reason to forge ahead, to persevere through and beyond the moment. The reality of the future kingdom, however, is the means by which those who only think they see are struck blind. Is this because the Lord means to bring these self-justified fools to weakness so they may ultimately be saved? Or is it in this blindness that the Lord has cast them finally and completely into "utter darkness"?
You and I need not be afraid of the doubts we may have, and no one - I mean NO ONE - is called to do "nothing" but sit and wait. The Holy Church exists for only one reason: to proclaim the Gospel and give all a reason to hope, to hang on, to believe that the Lord calls us to far greater and much greener pastures than we can create for ourselves. You and I must heed the call to build up the Church, to maintain the Church, and to minister through the Church - for it is through the Body of Christ Himself that we are granted the necessary visions of eternity. It is His Gift and great good pleasure that we find our way through Christ and Christ alone.
"Reality bites".
So says a bumper sticker I see pop up from time to time that seems to express the angst of the hopeless, the ones who can only see what is right before them, the ones who have been blinded - or who choose to remain blinded - to the future reality that is the Kingdom of Heaven. Nothing is ever as it seems, but we have a hard time seeing beyond the moment because we are too often confronted by the ugliness of this world. We are also hopelessly buried up to the axle in the mud of human desire that keeps us inwardly focused and unconcerned about the world around us. We latch onto the current reality as "all there is" even though this mentality betrays the path laid for us in and by Christ Jesus.
When I began writing some thoughts Monday (3/28/11) afternoon, this was a random sampling of the headlines from various news sources:
• "More radioactive water spills at Japanese nuke plant"
• "Time short, tempers flare in budget showdown"
• "Syrian forces fire warning shots in Deraa"
• "Truck bomb explodes in Afghanistan, kills 20"
• "Israel deploys new missile defense"
• Doctors warn about 'Facebook Depression' in teens
We can read more details on these and other headlines and we can even watch these stories unfold, but there is always more that we cannot see except by faith. More thorough coverage and in-depth research will reveal a little more, but the "blinded" will never see beyond what is right before them because they cannot or will not see through hope and the Promise of the Coming Kingdom. Even if human ingenuity and technology were to stop the radioactive leaks in Japan today, there would still be something else tomorrow and it will continue like this for as long as the human condition continues - no matter how careful we are - as long as we continue to act like mortal humans with no future.
The Lord spoke to the prophet Samuel: "The Lord does not see as mortals see ..." (1 Sam 16:7b)
The context in which the Lord reminds the prophet Samuel that there is always more beyond human eye sight is that even the Lord Himself was not looking into the heart of the "present" David who was standing before Him. He was, instead, looking ahead toward the future of Israel within the heart of David. What the Lord is looking for is not a person who is full of integrity "at the moment" because nothing for the Lord is in the "moment". Samuel was only reacting within the present reality, but the Lord's future reality was yet to be seen. This is no less true today.
It is safe to say there are enormous and frightening challenges ahead with radiation in Japan, war in the Middle East, and economic uncertainty right here at home. Looking at the present reality and knowing the present cannot be ignored, however, does not give us the hope we truly need. Because there is no "promise" even though there is genuine "potential", but this potential only exists within our limited responses and set goals which can only produce "limited" hope. These are always good, of course, but they are never going to be quite good enough because they are human-inspired goals, human desires, and human expectations. In fact, I might suggest there is no such thing as "unlimited human potential" because humans are inherently limited.
What we and the rest of the world must come to terms with, then, is the limits of our own potential so that we can find within ourselves the need to follow Christ to the fruition of the Kingdom to come which is the future reality. If it is true that humanity was created in the image of the Lord God , then it must be within us the ability to realize this cannot be all there is; there must be more. We can deny it, of course, because of our limited potential, and we can deny the religion of the Holy Church while vainly trying to grab hold of so-called "spirituality" that seems to be all the rage for now, but we cannot reasonably deny that there must be more beyond mortal humanity and beyond the temporal moment.
As best I can observe from those who claim to be "spiritual but not religious", this "spirituality" is one-dimensional, it is vain, and it is substantially arrogant. There seems to be a vague reference to a "higher power" that must surely exist but does little more than merely exist. This "spirituality" is not communal; there are no relationships, it is entirely self-centered, self-focused, self-indulgent, and worst of all self-justified. It is decidedly anti-Christ-like. It is utterly "blinding" to those who so indulge as to neglect the biblical and spiritual reality of the presence of Christ in His body, the Holy Church. And within the Holy Church, what defines the Holy Church, what constitutes the Holy Church is the proclamation AND receiving of the Gospel - the GOOD NEWS of that which is to come! - and the administration of the Sacraments by and through which we are baptized into the Covenant and continue to commune with Christ and with one another through the Lord's Supper.
When Israel was called out of the bondage of Egypt they knew then they had a future, uncertain though it may have seemed at the time. Jesus faced death on the Cross so willingly because He knew the Cross was not the "final" act! The apostles went forward from Pentecost and into the future without fear and with the certain knowledge that what "is" was not all there is because they saw the future reality in the Resurrection! Thousands upon thousands responded to the Gospel - and still do today - because the Gospel informs us that what "is" (what we think we see) is NOT real because it is not permanent. This is NOT the "final" act. The only thing that is real is that we must endure what "is" in order to get to the Final Act.
We do not know what the future holds on this earth, but we do know by faith that the future reality is always ahead of us even as we know - with or without faith - that our lives will sooner or later come to an end on this earth. In our human blindness, in our human condition, in our human limitations, we can hope for tomorrow. In the presence of the Holy Spirit, however, we can "know" beyond tomorrow - and know it with great joy and eager anticipation. We do not have to "settle" for or in the "moment"; for the Lord our God, through Christ His beloved Son who now sits at His Right Hand, gave us and still offers to us a future. There is but one catch: we have to be willing to follow the Lord into the Lord's future. There is no other way, and there are no short-cuts.
So what does it take to be willing to step into the unknown without fear? "Faith" is the easy answer, but faith is not so easy to come by. It is a gift divinely imparted from Above, but it is a gift which must be received on its own terms; willingly embraced, trusted, and BELIEVED. Receiving such a gift requires that human reason must be suspended because we cannot engage in divine faith by our human faculties. We must also know that faith and the Lord's path will almost certainly call us to go against our own desires, our own will, and perhaps even our own beliefs. A refusal to put aside self, then, is the greatest obstacle to genuine faith because a careless, so-called "prosperity" gospel has mistakenly led far too many to believe the Lord to be some kind of personal "genie" who grants wishes but is somehow angry with us - or is proved not to exist - when we do not get our own way or wish.
The future reality in the realm of eternity is in the hands of the Almighty, and Jesus clearly states His purpose for being with us in the first place: "I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind" (John 9:39). In other words, He came to show us the way ... as well as the Truth and the Life, all three of which will almost certainly run contrary to what we personally desire for ourselves or what we have personally chosen to believe by our limited and flawed human reasoning- just like the Pharisees.
In this particular passage, Jesus is engaged in yet another confrontation with the Pharisees who think they have it all figured out. Sound familiar? It should because many of us are flirting with and dancing on the very edge of that "danger zone" of self-justification, self-righteousness. How is such a state of mind and soul evident? We can judge for ourselves as to our expectations if or when we show up for Bible study, Sunday school, or worship. Are we open to a new experience? Are we willing to learn something? Or do we come with our own agenda, and that Sunday school teacher or blankety-blank-blank preacher better say what I want to hear? But Jesus finishes this encounter with this statement to the Pharisees: "If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, 'We see', your sin remains" (John 9:41).
Very simply stated, faith is the means by which the FORMERLY blinded are enabled to see ... and see beyond the moment and the current reality. It is this divinely imparted "sight" that gives us a reason to forge ahead, to persevere through and beyond the moment. The reality of the future kingdom, however, is the means by which those who only think they see are struck blind. Is this because the Lord means to bring these self-justified fools to weakness so they may ultimately be saved? Or is it in this blindness that the Lord has cast them finally and completely into "utter darkness"?
You and I need not be afraid of the doubts we may have, and no one - I mean NO ONE - is called to do "nothing" but sit and wait. The Holy Church exists for only one reason: to proclaim the Gospel and give all a reason to hope, to hang on, to believe that the Lord calls us to far greater and much greener pastures than we can create for ourselves. You and I must heed the call to build up the Church, to maintain the Church, and to minister through the Church - for it is through the Body of Christ Himself that we are granted the necessary visions of eternity. It is His Gift and great good pleasure that we find our way through Christ and Christ alone.
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