Jesus Gifts At Christmas Time

I have this beautiful poem hanging on my office wall.  It was an anonymous gift that means a great deal to me.  It describes Jesus-like gifts that we can give this season.
I know things are going to be crazy for me for the next week, so I'll be reading this more often.  If I don't get another post up before the anniversary of our Savior's birth, then God's blessings to you.  May you give and receive some of what is offered here.

This Christmas . . .

  Mend a quarrel,

  Seek out a forgotten friend,

  Write a love letter,

  Share some treasure,

  Give a soft answer,

  Encourage youth,

  Keep a promise,

  Find the time,

  Forgive an enemy,

  Listen,

  Apologize if you’re wrong,

  Think first of someone else,

  Be kind and gentle,

  Laugh a little,

  Laugh a little more,

  Express your gratitude,

  Gladden the heart of a child,

  Take pleasure in beauty and wonder,

   Speak your love,

       Speak it again,

          Speak it still once again.

A War On Advent?!?

    I came across an online article that suggests that cable news stations which keep covering the on-going war on Christmas, inadvertently create an environment that is hostile to Advent (the Christian season of preparation for the birth of the Christ child).  In other words, all the focus on Christmas--that starts earlier and earlier--that would seem to support the Christian celebration of Jesus' birth, actually undercuts our tradition of reflection and patient waiting in the days leading up to December 25.
   Here is the bulk of Diana Butler Bass' essay.  Ms. Bass is an excellent communicator and her book, Christianity After Religion, is one of the first books in line for me to read in 2013. Here is her take:

"According to ancient Christian tradition, "Christmas" is not the December shopping season in advance of Christmas Day; rather, it is Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the Twelve Days following that run until early January. During most of December, Christians observe Advent, a four-week season of reflection, preparation and waiting that precedes the yearly celebration of Jesus' birth. In many mainstream and liturgical (and even liberal and progressive) churches, no Christmas hymn will pass the lips of a serious churchgoer for another two weeks. If you wander into a local Lutheran, Episcopal or Roman Catholic parish, the congregation will still be chanting the ethereal tones of "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" or "Watchman, Tell Us of the Night." There are no poinsettias, no Christmas pageants, no trees or holly, and no red and green altar linens. A few days ago, they might have preached about St. Nicholas -- but not Santa Claus. There are no twinkling lights or over-the-top Christmas displays. Just four candles in a simple wreath, two partially burned, two yet to be lit. The mood is somber as December moves toward deeper darkness, and the night lengthens. The world waits, and it is time to prepare for the arrival of God's kingdom. It is not Christmas. It is Advent.

During these weeks, churches are not merry. There is a muted sense of hope and expectation. Christians recollect God's ancient promise to Israel for a kingdom where lion and lamb will lie down together. The ministers preach from stark biblical texts about the poor and oppressed being lifted up while the rich and powerful are cast down, about society being leveled and oppression ceasing. Christians remember the Hebrew prophets and long for a Jewish Messiah to be born. The Sunday readings extol social and economic justice, and sermons are preached about the cruelty of ancient Rome and political repression. Hymns anticipate world peace and universal harmony. Churchgoers listen to the testimony of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, who speaks of God: 

He has shown strength with his arm; 
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. 
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, 
and lifted up the lowly; 
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.

Does [cable] News want us all to say "Merry Christmas" so we forget about Advent? These, after all, are the four weeks that the Christian tradition dedicates to God's vision of justice for the outcast and oppressed, not to celebrating the sound of ringing cash registers or Victorian America values.

Ancient Christian saints, theologians and evangelists would be horrified that those who claim to stand for tradition have forgotten the most important aspect of it. Jesus Christ was not born that human beings would spend December shopping or saying, "Merry Christmas." Jesus was born to confront the rulers of this world with the love and justice of the God of Abraham -- that Jesus, the same Jesus who preached the the poor and marginalized were blessed, is the King of kings and Lord of lords. All earthly powers pale before him, the humble born one who will die a political traitor to Rome.

Perhaps [War on Christmas folks] think it might be best if Christians did not spend too much time contemplating a Savior who promised to overthrow the powers-that-be in favor of a kingdom where the poor are blessed and the last shall be first. That's probably bad for business and does not exactly fit with their favored political philosophy.

And maybe, just maybe, the real war of this season is the War on Advent."

It's an interesting and thought provoking essay, if you agree or disagree.  At St. Andrew we  try and put the brakes on Christmas hymns, carols, and celebrations before Christmas Eve, but on the other hand, it feels as if we've lost that battle with the culture around us.  We don't observe Advent the way it was designed to be observed, in part, because the society around us is so far out ahead of us with decorations, music, and holiday specials and events.  I do hope, though, that we don't back away from the reality that the message of Christ's coming is a radical one.  It's what they call in politics today 'A Game Changer'.  As I said last Sunday, in many ways the War on Christmas is a war on Christ.  It's just that we have misunderstood that nature of the battle, who the enemy really is, and which side we need to be on.  Hope this essay keeps the conversation going.

Another Front On the War (Against Christmas)

     I talked yesterday in worship about the war on Christmas being essentially a war on the mission and purpose of God's Christ.  Choosing Mary, in Nazareth, in Galilee, in Judea at the farthest corner of the Roman Empire...poor, temporarily homeless, hunted by the authorities, sneaking across the border to a foreign land, etc.--it's radical stuff.  Go back and reread the first chapter of Luke.  No wonder the powers and principalities of this world are willing to go to war in order to stop the momentum of the Kingdom Movement Jesus came to start.
     But there is another way to think of the War on Christmas.  And that is the war that is being waged by consumerism, corporate marketers, big box and online stores, a huge economic engine that looks more and more to the Christmas season to make ends meet.  It's subtle and insidious.  It takes advantage of our desire to give gifts of love and gratitude and turns it into something much more self-centered and contrived.  
        I came across a blog last week while working on the sermon and though I intended to quote it during the message, it got cut due to time.  The author is Mark Sandlin and I'd like to quote one paragraph from his blog:

[Is there a] War on Christmas? [Or is there...]A war on what Christmas has become? A war on worshiping consumerism in the sacred halls of Wal-Mart, Target, and Best Buy while the world is swallowed up in the darkness of not having enough food to eat, a place to live, clean water to drink, access to reasonable health care? Sign me up, because I refuse to let the story of my faith be co-opted by corporations who only wish to convince us that we are privileged and we do deserve what we have more than othesr and we should revel in our abundance even as we celebrate the birth of the child who laid in a feeding trough, who lived his life with no place to lay his head, who told us that “just as you do it unto the least of these so to you do it unto me," a child who gave up his very life that we might understand what true love looks like. 

I'm not entirely sure how we fight against this attack on our hearts and on the heart of our Christmas worship, but fight against we must.  I would begin with prayer, in fact, I will begin with prayer.  And after that it wouldn't hurt to try and gain a little perspective on our compulsion to spend and give to a certain level rather than to share the greatest gift--the gift of ourselves, offered in love.  It's not easy, especially if you have young children.  But it is especially important, if you have young children, to make sure that they know the deepest meaning of Christ's birth.  It's a whole lot easier to set up traditions when your kids are young then when they've grown accustomed to big expensive gifts, or toy after toy after  toy.  I think this might be one front on this war that we can actually win if we are clear what is at stake and take it seriously enough to do something about it.

If you'd like to read the entire blog check out:

http://sojo.net/blogs/2012/11/30/war-christmas-sign-minister

Christmas Not Just for Christians Anymore

       Christmas isn’t just for Christians anymore.  Actually, it never was.  The baby was born to all this [Christmas] day in the city of David, just happens to be Christ the Lord.  Sure, I know the Jewish context.  Yes, I’m aware of the fact that Christians are the ones who have kept his birth front and center for a couple of thousand years.  Yet God came into the world, the light entered into the darkness, to save the world, and to illumine the darkness—all of it.  Just because we Christians “get it” doesn’t mean the nativity was just for us. 

Think of it this way:

         You develop a vaccine for AIDS.  Do you sell it to the highest bidder knowing that it will be safeguarded for those who have the wealth to afford it?  Or do you do everything in your power to make sure that those who are at risk can receive it, no matter what the cost?

         You hear a song so beautiful that it inspires the heart of all who hear it.  Do you sing it for yourself and your family and friends? Or do you bombard the airwaves for those whose lives are devoid of inspiration?

         You happen upon a protein rich, delectable vegetable that can grow in nearly all conditions and is about as hard to get rid of as a thistle.  Do you leave it to the small remote tribe that thrives on it or do you take the seeds and send them to Sub-Saharan Africa, ship them to the protein poor Altiplano in Bolivia, or offer them to Palestinian women in the Gaza strip to supplement their meager gardens?

         You have a dear friend who can literally fix anything.  If it’s broken, unassembled, if you cannot figure out how to make some project around the house work—you know you can call him and he’ll drop what he’s doing and come over and within the hour he’ll have the problem solved.  He’s retired and he loves to be needed (and he’s truly a great example of servanthood).  Do you keep him your little secret, knowing that you’ve got more than your fair share of things that need fixing?  Or do you introduce him to friends and acquaintances that could use his help?

         I know that Jesus shows up as a new born baby.  He’s extraordinary, I know that, but I also know that as far as babies go he’s pretty much limited to crying, eating, sleeping, and dirtying his swaddling cloths.  He’s born to poor parents on the run from the authorities, refugees in another nation, and then goes on to become either an apprentice carpenter or a rabbi-in-training with the local teacher of the law.  It’s going to be a while until he sets out to publically reveal that he is the long-awaited Anointed One of God.  But we know who he is because we’re experiencing this celebration in rewind/reverse.  We see the manger in light of the cross.  We see the angels coming down from the heavens from the perspective of Jesus ascending upward into heaven.  As Christians, we experience Christmas the birth of our Savior from the perspective of sinners who have already been saved—as the blind who can finally see—as lost souls who have been found and restored to our place as sons and daughters of royalty.

         If we just go about our advent season, if we just chug along toward our family Christmas celebration, without inviting the folks who populate our daily lives to come and join us, it would be the equivalent to keeping the vaccine, the beautiful song, the life sustaining vegetable, and our miraculously gifted friend all to ourselves.  And in each of those contexts we would consider such behavior unconscionable.  We would consider it heartless.  Keeping Jesus to ourselves—hoarding his grace and forgiveness for ‘me and mine’—especially during this holiday season, is equally unconscionable for followers of the living Christ.

         Christmas is not just for Christians, in fact, if you go back and reread the Christmas story you discover that Christmas was specifically directed to those who could be found outside the synagogue and Temple of the day:  scruffy shepherds, foreign magicians, provincial out-of-towners holed up in the caves on the outskirts of the city, and so on and so on.  I don’t so much think God cares how you do it, but I do honestly believe that God expects you and I to share the incredible news that “God is With Us”.  And, though we are often reticent to mention it in today’s church, I think God will hold us accountable for what we do with the Good News He has entrusted to us.  I suspect it will be part of that difficult conversation some of us will have with our Creator when He brings us Home once and for all.

         I’m going to invite a few folks I know who don’t attend worship to join me during this advent season at St. Andrew.  I’m going to be a little more eager to offer to pray for those who share a concern or worry with me in the course of my day.  I’m going to put a yard sign in my front lawn, a window sticker in my car, and I’m going to carry a few cards in my pocket that include an uplifting Christmas promise and the times for our Christmas Eve worship.  I may or may not knock on doors up and down my block, but when I stop and consider—even for a moment—how richly the Christ of Bethlehem has blessed me, I know that I should not and cannot keep it to myself.

         It helps to remind myself:  Christmas is not just for Christians anymore.

eGossip is Still Gossip & God Hates It

        I read an interesting blog by a Methodist pastor in Alabama about eGossip.  A friend emails you something that makes your blood boil, or makes you afraid, or breaks your heart.  Since the person who sent it to you is above suspicion in your eyes you forward it right away.  The problem is that many or most of these just aren't true.  Passing along political gossip, religious gossip, and even some versions of celebrity or important people gossip--without taking the time to verify it--is still gossip.  And gossip is roundly condemned again and again by God in our scriptures.
       It's like the story about a man who passes along a choice bit of gossip that deeply wounds someone, someone who ends up being entirely innocent of what was said about her.  In fact, the story damages her reputation in the eyes of their mutual circle of friends and the man feels terrible about it.  He goes to his pastor and asks what he can do to take it back, to make it all better.  The pastor tells him to take a down pillow, slice it open, and put a handful of down feathers on the front stoop of everyone who was touched or deceived by the gossip he passed on.  
       He comes back to the pastor and says, "Now what?"  The pastor says, "Go back and gather up all the feathers--and don't miss a single one."  It becomes apparent to the man very quickly that he cannot get those feathers back.  It turned out to be a blustery day and the feathers have been scattered everywhere.  He does the best he can, but he comes back to the pastor more or less empty handed.  "I can't get them all back," he blurts out, "So what do I do now?"
      The pastor then says just like you cannot get those feathers back after taking them out and spreading them around, you can't go back and retrieve the harm your gossip has produced.  But, the pastor said, it doesn't mean that you don't try.  "You go back and apologize to the one you've hurt and beg her forgiveness. But before you do that, you need to do your best to figure out who was harmed by what you passed along. It's your job to correct the impression you gave.  And then, of course, you don't ever do anything like that again."
      Once you negatively alter someone's perspective--prejudice or poison someone's view of another--it's almost impossible to get all of the poison out of their system.  It doesn't matter if they are an acquaintance or the President or the Governor or a movie star.  Gossip is almost always false witness.  Gossip may even be true.  Having a juicy piece of knowledge that others don't have is intoxicating, that is it is intoxicating when you share it. But is it noble?  Is it building up or tearing down?  Are you yourself above similar reproach in your personal life?  Is this how you would want others to treat you or your husband, or your son, your best friend?
       I am personally tired of the paranoid conspiracies of the political left and right being passed around as truth.  I really get worried when stories about missing children are sent around--where someone might actually go out and try to help--when the story is ten years old.  I think I'm going to scream if I get another forwarded email about how Hollywood, or the government, or the Target Stores are running God out of the public square.  God doesn't need to be in the public square--God needs to be in the lives and homes of faithful women and men.  God needs to be alive and well and at work through God's church.  If the celebration of the birth of Christ has to rely on a department store standing up for Christmas, then we've got a lot bigger problems than holiday greetings.
     I always tell myself, "They mean well."  But I wonder if God differentiates between well intended gossip and the garden variety gossip that is batted around.
     Please check out the web site snopes.com before you send something along--no matter how innocuous it may seem.  Please be careful what goes out from you on social media:  facebook, twitter, email, texts.  It is so easy and immediate to just push send that often what we send has a very different effect than what we may have first thought.  Once a piece of gossip travels from your phone or computer out into cyberspace it is not only beyond your control and ability to take it back, but in many ways it can become a permanent byte of data that will live far beyond your frustration, anger, or rash judgment of the moment.
    If you'd like to read the full blog about egossip, check out:
http://www.churchandtea.com/2012/11/avoiding-egossip/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ChurchAndTea+%28Church+and+Tea%29

Thank God the election's Over--the challenge of working together begins

   I'm like a lot of you.  I'm glad it's over.  I don't know how many more of the nasty election ads I could have handled.  I know that elections is to end up with winners and losers.  I don't imagine anyone is completely satisfied with yesterday's results.  But elections do have consequences in a democracy and I guess we will all have to watch those consequences unfold for good and for ill.

    Here's what I was thinking though today.  The election is over but the hard work of being a United States or a United nation has really just begun.  There are real problems and I have to believe that there are more reasonable ways to address those problems than what how we've been trying to meet or avoid them up to this point.

   Actually, this is what I thought today.  I thought how glad I am that Jesus died for me.  And then I thought how sad I am that Jesus died because of me.  It was my sin, my brokenness, my willful rebellion that required his sacrifice.  And I realized that moving forward as a citizen of this country--as well as a citizen of God's Kingdom--that I am a beneficiary of all the good things that go along with being a part of this great country.  I am blessed beyond measure as a child of God.  But I am also responsible for the mess we find ourselves in.  It's not a Republican fault or a Democratic fault--it's a human fault and we all share it.  Tony Campolo once said something to the effect that there is no Us and They.  There is no Me and Them.  There is just a line running down the center of who I am reflecting the bad and the good.  I am gentle and I am harsh.  I am kind and I am self-centered.  I am the best and the worst of what God intends me to be.

   I'm just thinking it is time for us to own up to our complicity in the problems that we face as a people.  It is time to put love ahead of blame and dismissiveness.  We've got a lot of hard work to do and I hope that as followers of Jesus we can show the world what real compromise and cooperation looks like.  Maybe it's at times like these that we have a chance to let that infamous light shine in ways that might not have ever been apparent to Jesus in his day and time.

   I offer the following prayer as a model for moving forward after a bitter, divisive and decidedly ruthless political season.  I think of it as the Prayer of 'Get Over Yourself'.  Policy and economics, taxes and entitlements, rights and responsibilities aren't some kind of football game in which everybody lines up on one side of the field or the other.  It's about people's lives.  It's about living together in close proximity.  It's about duty, integrity, and compassion.  So why don't we let it go and get over ourselves as soon as we possibly can.  This prayer has helped  me in that direction.  It's one of my favorites and I think it works pretty well under the circumstances.  It's attributed to St. Ignatius of Loyola.

Lord, teach me to be generous.
Teach me to serve you as you deserve; 
to give and not to count the cost,
to fight and not to heed the wounds,
to toil and not to seek for rest,
to labor and not to ask for reward,
save that of knowing that I do your will.

Nothing worse than An Unwatered Blog

My apologies for long time no blog.  I have several excuses to offer, but I'd have to pick just one and they are all so good...Sorry.

I came across a couple of political blogs which wrestle with the whole idea of what it means to be a Christian and a citizen.  One is much like the last blog--a ten commandment list, but a different tone and a different focus.  The other is a reflection on the last debate.  It compares our national fixation on strength over and against the Biblical obsession with Integrity.  Both are well worth reading and the links are below.

I overheard a wonderful conversation at a local restaurant this morning where I sent to get my coffee fix and catch up on some reading.  The only thing that bothered me were the generalizations which were in no way that I could tell based on anything necessarily factual.  Take out the current candidate's names and you could have put in the names of the last dozen presidential aspirants and they same arguments would have made about as much sense.  The other thing that bothered me was the approach to the whole debate could have been about Purdue Football and its current season.  It was all about "the game" and not about the purpose of the game:  teamwork, character building, entertainment, etc.  It was all about arm chair direction of fumbles and completions and which coach was stupider than the other.

Now the folks talking were obviously warm and jovial.  They believed what they believed and weren't mean spirited about it.  They were simply reflecting the way we all talk politics--or at least the way politics get covered in the media today.

No wonder so many folks throw up their hands and conclude it hardly matters who wins or who scratch their heads wondering which they should vote for.  We put more energy into tailgating than most folks put into knowing the issues and the implications of their vote for the future of our community, state, nation, and world.  It doesn't make me want to vote less, it makes me want to go out and make sure my vote counts.  This matters.  It matters to Christians even though our ultimate allegiance is the God and the Kingdom--it still matters how we live and what we prioritize here and now.

Take this as my final admonition to get out there and vote.  I would say vote early and often, but since I come from Cook County, Illinois--I'd better just suggest the one time.

http://eugenecho.com/2012/10/16/thou-shalt-follow-these-10-commandments-of-the-presidential-election-season/

http://morganguyton.wordpress.com/2012/10/23/strength-vs-integrity-a-biblical-response-to-the-presidential-debate/#more-2478

Ten Things Christians Need to Remember About Politics

   I came across a blog which referenced an article in the Macon Telegraph.  The column is from Rev. Ben Gosden who is the associate pastor at Mulberry Street United Methodist Church in Macon.  I thought the list he offers about Christians and politics was a helpful place to start in thinking through the relationship between church and state in the upcoming U.S. elections.  Nothing too radical or provocative here--but then again tried and true wisdom isn't nearly as provocative as we sometimes wish it were.
     I'll let you look them over for yourselves.  You decide what you would add or subtract from Gosden's list.

1. People in both political parties go to church. God is neither a Democrat nor a Republican. No political party has a monopoly on the will of God and there are good, Christian people who affiliate with both parties.

Read more here: http://www.macon.com/2012/09/22/2185949/ten-things-christians-need-to.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.macon.com/2012/09/22/2185949/ten-things-christians-need-to.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.macon.com/2012/09/22/2185949/ten-things-christians-need-to.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=1. People in both political parties go to church. God is neither a Democrat nor a Republican. No political party has a monopoly on the will of God and there are good, Christian people who affiliate with both parties.

1. People in both political parties go to church. God is neither a Democrat nor a Republican. No political party has a monopoly on the will of God and there are good, Christian people who affiliate with both parties

2. Talk radio and cable “news” only want ratings -- it’s about the money. Remember, we live in a time where news stations would rather incite than inform the electorate if it means better ratings.

3. Those who argue about politics don’t love their country more than others. Our passion for issues comes out of a deep and abiding love for country. Just because someone disagrees with you does not mean they somehow hate the country.

4. Thinking a party’s platform is not flawed is a mistake. A lot of wheeling and dealing goes into forming a party’s platform. Compromises are made and it quickly becomes a document for a large group of constituents. This means it attempts to please everyone in one way or another. Think of it as more of a work-in progress.

5. Scripture tells us to pray for governing leaders (2 Timothy 2: 1-4) and to respect those in authority (Romans 13: 1-7) -- whether we voted for them or not. When we mock or denigrate current or future leaders, the Holy Spirit is grieved. Christians are called to offer a witness to the world that rises above name-calling and insults. Period.

6. Don’t be paranoid. America has functioned and even thrived under both Democrat and Republican leadership. God is the only one truly in charge. Great leaders come in all shapes and sizes. We will not fall apart as a nation as a result of a single election.

7. Stop saying, “This is the most important election in our history.” We’re not nearly as unique as we might want to think we are. There will be another election and another one after that. We’re all striving to grow and become a better nation with every election.

8. Don’t spread those toxic political e-mails. Be the one to stop the circulation of propaganda-driven materials. Lovingly ask friends to stop sending them to you and be a witness for civility.

9. Don’t circulate partisan materials at your church. Encouraging people to vote is good. Telling them who to vote for from the pulpit or any other sacred space is not why the church exists.

10. Hold a prayer service the day after Election Day. With Election Day on a Tuesday, this could be a great way to use your weekly Wednesday time at church. Hold a service of prayer. Open your church all day for people to drop in and pray. Distribute liturgy and prayers for our nation and encourage people to make that a part of their day. We are the church, and that means we’re a people called to prayer.

I like the idea behind number 10.  What if we plan a prayer service for our Wednesday evening service the day after the election and pray for our leaders--no matter what the outcome of that election (see number 5 above)?  Every election is important and there are plenty of important decisions that need to get made and won't get made until the election is over.  Let's pray for that together:  Democrats and Republicans united in our love for God and our commitment to embodying the character of Jesus Christ.

Read more here: http://www.macon.com/2012/09/22/2185949/ten-things-christians-need-to.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=cpy

Food For Thought Wednesday 9-26

     We will stay with Amos for another week.  We didn't so much get to income disparity and the biblical response.  So let's try and spend some time talking about that tomorrow morning.  I'm particularly interested in what the Bible says about those who have no earning power--about those who are dependent on the generosity of others and the larger community.  Where does that come from?  Other than God, of course.  In a world that was all about might makes right how in the world did the Hebrew culture come to value care for those who could not care for themselves?
     You've got your widows, orphans, sojourners, and to a lesser extent slaves.  What do these folks have in common?  What is their equivalent today?
   And why don't these modern poor or their equivalent earn greater discussion from our presidential candidates and the press that is covering our upcoming elections?  Check out the following link.
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20120923/OPINION1805/309230009/Candidates-ignoring-struggles-working-poor?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7COpinion%7Cp
    Otherwise, I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning at Greyhouse.  If you're looking for a safe place to park, try the Eastside of the Morton Center's parking lot.  We've got their permission to use it from 7:45 until 9:45 a.m.

Food For Thought -- Wednesday 9-19, Greyhouse, 8 AM

     We looked at a modern, sarcastic take on some of Jesus' parables which raise the issues of money and power and the distribution of both.   I passed out some pamphlets that were made up basically of the book of Amos.  I thought we'd read through Amos the next couple of weeks and see if a disparity between rich and power is something that gets God hot under the collar when it comes to His children.
   I also found a pretty substantial analysis of what the author calls The Great Divergence.  I haven't read it yet but being an old fashioned guy I did print it off.  I should have looked more closely.  It was 40 pages long!  You can find it on the web site for Slate.  Specifically you can find it at:             http://img.slate.com/media/3/100914_NoahT_GreatDivergence.pdf
    If this poses too big an article to read by tomorrow, you might try a piece in The Atlantic.  It's about where we rank as a country in income discrepancy: http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/09/map-us-ranks-near-bottom-on-income-inequality/245315/  (I don't want to be the one to point out that it isn't pretty)
     If this is the kind of thing that interests you I would also recommend Rediscovering Values by Jim Wallis.  It is one of the most comprehensive discussions of economics through the eyes of Christ that I have ever come across.  Last week's excerpt was from that book.
    I would also recommend you checking out Brian McLaren's post on CNN about evangelical Christians and Islam (in light of the recent attacks).  You can find that at:
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/15/my-take-its-time-for-islamophobic-evangelicals-to-choose/
McLaren has just come out with a new book, cleverly entitled, Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road?  I'm giving serious thought to inviting you all to read through it with me or just come and discuss ideas about the best way to witness to our faith in a multi-cultural/multi-faith world.
     Hope to see you in the morning.

Interesting Take on The Third Commandment

I came across an interesting blog talking about what it means to use the Lord's name in vain and how we transgress that commandment again and again in our contemporary politics.  It's worth a quick read. Check it out:

http://www.redletterchristians.org/god-doesnt-want-to-be-in-our-platform/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+RedLetterChristians+%28Red+Letter+Christians%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

It's a sobering warning for followers of Jesus to be very careful about how we use God's name and what we claim for God when we communicate to others.

Who Would Jesus Heal?

     Next Wednesday, September 12th, at 8 a.m. I am going to be in the back room over at the Greyhouse Coffee House at the corner of Northwestern and 26.  I invite you to get a cup of tea or coffee, grab a muffin or crepe and join me for an hour or so of lively conversation.
      I was struck by three parables that were rewritten or reimagined by a well known Catholic Priest.  Though I think they lack a great deal in the subtly department--and though I would quibble with various points of overstated sarcasm along the way--I think they might generate some excellent discussion.  I would challenge those who read them and find them offensive or off putting to try and think how you might retell those parables from the other side.  I don't think that it would be too hard to do at all.  You can find the parables by following the link printed here:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-james-martin-sj/the-not-so-social-gospel_b_1825810.html#s308815&title=Luke_62021

     At the same time, I've been intrigued with an illustration Jim Wallis offers supposedly drawn from biblical archeology.  I don't know how to verify or discredit it, but assuming it is true it has a powerful prophetic word for America and our economic policies.  You can click on the following jpg files and get them large enough to read or I'm guessing you can print them off on your printer as well.

    I want to be clear that this gathering is not an official 'class'.  I'm planning to teach anything.  I'm simply interested in hearing what other Christians are thinking about as we struggle to make heads or tails out of the world we live in.  We'll talk some on Wednesday about what we'll be looking at in the weeks ahead.  If you're up and need a jolt of caffeine or a faith perspective to carry you over the hump and through the week--please join me.

What A Trip To The ER Can Teach Us

   Our Bishop, Mike Coyner, was on vacation out of state when his wife Marsha grew ill and had to be taken to the emergency room.  Her illness required some kind of surgical procedure, but not one that kept her at the hospital over night.  Bishop Coyner, in one of his recent posts, made the following observations about what the church can learn from his experience about hospitality.


As I reflected on that experience in the "strange" hospital in the "strange" city, I wondered how many congregations would measure up to their standard. Let me list a few of the ingredients of the hospitality of that hospital to allow you to compare to your congregation:

1. Excellent signage so I could find the ER entrance even in the dark of night
2. Free and plentiful parking
3. A person greeting us as soon as we entered - who took us to the right place to start the admission process (she did not just point and tell us where to go)
4. An admissions person who was an RN and really knew how to ask the appropriate questions to determine the level of medical care needed
5. Prompt attention from a nurse and then a physician (we waited less than 10 minutes)
6. Many expressions of care, asking about Marsha's level of pain, offering words of comfort, and many comments about "I am so sorry that has happened during your vacation."
7. No one - NOT ONE PERSON - looked or acted strangely toward us since we were from another state and not "local" persons. Everyone treated us with respect and courtesy.
8. The volunteer staff in the surgical waiting room gave me a pager (like you get in some restaurants when you wait to be seated) that would locate me anywhere in the hospital when they needed to alert me how Marsha was doing. Those same volunteer staff took the time to show me to the next location where I needed to wait for Marsha in recovery. Just like the greeter listed in #3 above, they did not point and tell me where to go, they took me since I was obviously new and did not know my way around
9. The doctor gave me his business card and wrote his cell phone number on the back, saying, "I know you are new to this area, so if anything goes wrong or if you have any further concerns or questions, just call me - even if it is 2 a.m."
10. The volunteer who wheeled Marsha out to my car took the time to offer suggestions for places we could visit during the remainder of our vacation, since our plans for bike-riding were changed by her medical situation.

I could name others, but you get the point. Hospitality means caring enough to put oneself into another "shoes" and to try to provide for their needs even before being asked. Hospitality is really about the Golden Rule of Jesus: doing for others what we would want done for us.

   Hospitality is something we do naturally in our homes or in our businesses.  It is more than being just polite or well mannered.  It is one of the most forward leaning habits of Christian kindness.  And it is something we have to always work on when we attend worship or other events at our church.  Jesus is the host, ultimately, but in the meantime since St. Andrew is OUR church we are the stand-ins for our Master.  Even though I hope that we will move beyond "making room for those God sends to us" to seeking out our prodigal brothers and sisters and bringing them back home to God--we can never lose sight of the life-changing experience of radical hospitality.  May we never forget to put ourselves in the shoes of those who make the leap to try some aspect of our congregational life--doing for others what Jesus so extravagantly did and does for us.

What About Me?

(A Thought or Two About Self-Interest & the Kingdom)

         One of the refrains that I hear all the time during election season is the classic “What about me?”  We are encouraged by politicians (from each party) to keeping asking ourselves that same question over and over again.  You’ve heard it echoed and rephrased a dozen different ways:

         Am I better off now than I was four years ago?

         How will this law affect my healthcare?

         Will I have to pay more or less income tax?

         When are they going to get around to paving my street?

It’s just the conventional wisdom that we will vote our self-interest while at the same time speaking out about the uncontrollable, irrational self-interest of all those ‘other’ folks.

         Maybe it’s the conventional wisdom because it’s true.  Maybe all we really care about is whether or not me and mine are getting our generous share of the pie.  Maybe when all is said and done we, the American electorate, are only motivated by what’s in it for us.

         That would be a sad thing indeed--especially for those of us who do what we can to follow Jesus of Nazareth.  Looking over the life of Jesus it’s hard to find many examples where Jesus was motivated by self-interest.  Almost every single choice he makes is a choice to follow the path that God laid out for him, which in this case, just happened to be a path that led him to choose God first, the Kingdom second, others third, and himself last.

         So if Jesus was unlikely to ask, What’s in it for me?  What might he have asked instead?

         What’s in it for my neighbor?  That’s the question Jesus said we ought to be asking and illustrated it with a Samaritan, traveling down the dangerous Jericho road (Luke 10:25ff).

         What’s in it for the last, lost, and the least?  That’s the focus Jesus would have us consider when we recognize our Master’s face in the visage of the sick, naked, hungry, and imprisoned (Matthew 25:31ff).

         What’s in it for the reign of God?  How are the unacceptable being accepted, the unforgiveable forgiven, the unloved being loved, and the skeptics being led to believe the impossible (Matthew 5-7)?

         ‘What about me’ is not necessarily the wrong question to ask.  It’s all in how you ask it. 

What about me:  what can I sacrifice in order to build a society that I can confidently turn over to my children and grandchildren? 

What about me:  isn’t it about time my generation made the kind of investment that previous generations made for grand projects like an interstate highway system, a transcontinental railroad, the Erie or Panama canal?  

What about me:  should I begin to demand something different from the leaders I elect—something other than a willingness to pander to my short term self-interest?

         As Pastor Pat and I have said many times the problem with politics today are not the politicians—the problem lies with us who continue to raise up leaders who lack the courage or moral fiber to say ‘No’ to what a majority of us who want what we want when we want it, and say ‘Yes’ to what is in the best long-term interests of our nation and our world.  If just the followers of Jesus got together and voted God first, the Kingdom second, and others third—as best we understand those things at any given time—I believe we would be a great deal closer to solving some of the looming, systemic challenges that lay before us.  But alas, the campaigning that has gone on so far gives little indication that there will be a ground swell for open honest debate or for the benefits of unity.

         So I guess we do what Christians have always done in the past.  We pray, we stay informed, and we are careful as to which voices we trust, then act in as faithful a matter as we can.  We also recognize that our brothers and sisters may come to very different conclusions than our own.  And rather than working up a head of steam, we can rest assured that they have prayed just as hard, are just as informed, and are attempting to be just as faithful as we are.

                  

The More Important Work

       We had a chance Monday night to host a community prayer service for the four young Harrison High School women devastated by an ATV/Jeep accident Sunday evening.  Lisa's very warm heart and confidence in her church's compassion; Dana and Pat's willingness to rearrange important commitments; Katie and Luann's readiness to share their gifts; Mike & Cathy's 'whatever it takes' attitude--plus the love of many friends and acquaintances made for a sacred moment in our sanctuary.  It was humbling to be a part of it.
      I realized for a moment how flimsy my seminary theological training really was when someone shared about Maya's dire condition.  What the doctors were seeing and what the tests were showing just shouted bad news.  And inside my belly there came a fire that said, "If that were my daughter I wouldn't for a second give up.  I wouldn't listen.  I would ignore the science and go with my God--who is after all a God of second chances and unscripted surprises."  Even though I have never met Maya I started praying for her like she was my daughter.  I started praying that God do the right thing, even if that right thing wasn't necessarily medically indicated; even if it wasn't necessarily God's will; even if somehow it wasn't necessarily even the 'right thing'.  Sometimes you want what you want and you want it so badly you just don't care about doctrine or medicine or common sense.
    I know that whatever you ask for you are supposed to end it with, "Not my will, but Yours be done."  I know all about God's agency, human frailty, and the mystery of theodicy--but none of that would enter the picture if it were my daughter.  Mine would be a prayer of uncompromising certainty and non-negotiable willfulness.  It would probably be some kind of heresy but it would be honest and it would be directed to a God who can handle all the heresy I can dish out.
     A lot of the time if we can't do something to change a situation, if we can't affect or influence the outcome, we say to ourselves, "Well, at least I can pray."  Or we say, "The best we can do is pray."  Or we shrug our shoulders resignedly and say, "I'll give prayer a shot."  We act as if action were the important work and prayer a weak least acceptable option.  But I strongly disagree.  I think it is the most important work we do as God's children.
    Don't take my word for it.  Go back and take note of a day in the life of Jesus.  He starts it in prayer, as life interrupts him he handles it with prayer.  The more demanding his schedule the harder he works to get alone in prayer.  And he never misses an opportunity to gather with God's people as they share in prayer.  For Jesus prayer was not an after thought.  For Jesus prayer was his lifeline to God and the fuel for his interactions with others.
    The prayer service Monday night just reminded me how life changing it is to be able to talk, grapple, thank, cajole, beg, celebrate, and listen to the One who holds us and our world in the palm of His hand.  It is not plan B or C or D.  Prayer is and always has been plan A for life lived in the presence of God.  And I, for one, will do everything I can not to take it for granted.

Beauty From Ashes

      My son Andrew sent me a link to a picture that I thought you might find inspiring.  Though it has since been taken down, there was a hospital shot of Uncle Gregg and family after a double lung transplant.  Uncle Gregg was hooked up to a lot of tubes and machines, but there was a starry-eyed smile that just shone from his face.
      As we go through the stages of grief and anger about what happened in Aurora, Colorado last Thursday night, we all have different reactions.  There are those who want to eliminate access to such deadly firearms or at least limit access for those who show signs of mental illness, etc.  There are those who bristle at the thought that anyone might come between they and their guns.  There are those who had children or grandchildren who had gone to the midnight show somewhere else and realized it could have just as easily been them.  Some are critical that there were so many young children at the theater and are judgmental of the victims.  And there are those who wonder what kind of swift and appropriate justice can be dished out to the shooter so that the world will see that we cannot and will not put up with this kind of violence in our neighborhoods.
      Here's a Jesus glimpse, through this picture.  The death of one victim brought the possibility of life to somebody's Uncle Greg.  And though all of us prefer that the victim could be using his/her own lungs this weekend, Greg's heart and the hearts of his family and friends are filled with gratitude and joy.  It is a powerful reminder of how resurrection is all around us.  God can bring life out of death, hope out of despair, and joy out of grief.
      Throughout the city of Aurora women and men are asking, "Why here Lord?  Why us?  Why her and why him?"  And for those questions there are few satisfying answers, at least not while the wounds are so fresh.
       But in a hospital intensive care unit a very humbled Uncle Greg must be mulling over the other side of those questions.  "Why him or her?  Why me?  How could I be so blessed by another's tragedy?  And Lord, help me live the life  remaining for me with such gratitude and love that I might bring glory to you as I honor the unwilling sacrifice of my donor."
       It brings to mind the last two verses of Psalm 30:
You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,
To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent.  O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.

You May Not Always Get What You Pay For

The following is an excerpt from last week's Newsletter article (which is in itself a reprint of a previous newsletter from 1997, which just goes to show you I have been around for a long time.)


In 1997, a Texas judge ordered a church to relinquish the tithes contributed by a bankrupt church member to a creditor.  In a four year period, Leland Collins had tithed $27,687.23 to his church.  During that same time he owed Bill Gregory considerably more than that, but while fulfilling his commitment to God, Collins did not fulfill his commitment to Gregory.

I’m amused and bemused on why the judge ordered the church to pay back the tithe it received.  The judge ruled that the money Collins had contributed to the church was given “without receiving a reasonably equivalent value in exchange.”   Ouch!  That hurts.  Is the judge trying to say that Collins didn’t get his money’s worth?  If so, how in the world would you determine the value of your church giving?

Were the pastor’s sermons were worth roughly the same as admittance to a motivational lecture or a spirituality seminar?  Is an outstanding Vacation Bible School program for your children worth approximately the same as a week at Scout camp?  Is an outstanding prelude, anthem, and special music on Sunday worth the admission to an organ, choirc, or band concert?  Is a 34 week intensive Bible Study like Disciple worth the same as two levels of Rosetta Stone language software?
...
If there is a problem with “equivalent value,” it lies in what God gets in return for all that God has given us.  What can we possibly give “in exchange” for the gift of life?  The wonder of creation?  The joy of unconditional love?  The atoning death of God’s son given on our behalf?  Is $27,687.23 the fair market value for these things?
...

Far be it from me to meddle in Judge Sullivan’s Harris County Civil Court, but I think his judgment ought to be reversed.  Literally.  If anyone has benefited disproportionately in this “exchange,” it is us and not God or God’s church.  I am the one who is blessed in the giving—I am the one whose heart is freed from the chains of selfishness and washed clean by the impulse of generosity and worship.  God doesn’t need what I have to give, but I need to give in order to be who God’s created me to be.  

Taking Out The Power & Putting Love In Its Place

I've been reading Tony Campolo's Choose Love Not Power:  How to Right the World's Wrongs from a Place of Weakness with my sons, Andrew and Zachary.  We've done this a few times since they've been away at school.  What struck me was a passage in Campolo's book in which he chastises followers of Jesus for not taking Philippians 2:5-11 seriously enough.  We know how Jesus emptied himself of his vast power in order to become one of us, in order to rescue us from ourselves.  He did it with humility, servanthood, and sacrifice.  So why do so many of us ignore our Master's model and try to get and keep as much of an upper hand over others as we can?

Here's the quote.  You can chew on it for yourself:

Christians do not always take warnings about power seriously.

There are husbands who think it is their right to exercise power over their wives, and there are wives who, in subtle and not-so-subtle ways, play power games with their husbands

There are children who try to exercise power as they challenge the controlling efforts of their parents, and there are parents who regularly tyrannize their children.

There are pastors who try to dominate their parishioners, and church members who try to manipulate their pastors.

There are employers who enjoy bossing their employees, and employees who from unions just so they can strike back and dictate policies to their employers.

There white people who fear losing their power over African-Americans, and African-Americans who turn cries of “Freedom now!” into shouts of “Black power!”

There politicians who compromise anything to stay in power, and there are candidates who, in challenging those politicians, use any deception to wrest power from the incumbents.

There are nations that, in order to become world powers, willingly threaten the survival of the human race by building war machines, and there are world leaders who would push the buttons for all-out nuclear war if they thought their power was being threatened.  (Campolo, pp. 12-13)

In the middle of a rough and tumble political season, it might make sense of Christians took a step back and prayed not for a particular candidate or party's success, but prayed instead that all our candidates might come to see the value of tempering the exercise of power with the example and leadership of love and sacrifice.  I pray that we can all change our tone in this direction, and soon, before the polarization of our society over the little things that separate us lead us to turn our backs on the important principles and overarching compassion that unite us.

A Lifetime of Never “Calling It In”

     I overheard one of those 30 second blurbs on NPR’s Morning Edition last week.  It was about a British carpenter named Dave Miller who was retiring at age 64.  Miller had a perfect attendance record at work, not taking a sick day since 1964!  That’s 48 years of getting out of bed, making your lunch, driving to work, and putting in a full day.  Amazing.

         I was flabbergasted by the amount of discipline that would take:  no matter how you feel, no matter what condition your car is in, no matter how much snow falls or lightning flashes—here’s a man who did it anyway.  I can’t help but think that the moral of this story is the sheer of commitment Dave Miller has to the people he works for and the pride he must have in the projects he works on.

         So how would commitment like that translate into our relationship with God?  I don’t think perfect attendance at worship is comparable, after all worship is as much inspiration for our souls as it is a chance to bring glory to God.  I don’t think it’s a perfect parallel to compare it with reading the Bible, or spending time in prayer.  As much as I love the church and as vital as feeding our spirits may be, I think Dave Miller’s call to us is a little bigger than that.

         In Paul’s letter to the followers of Jesus in Colossae he writes, “Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way. [Colossians 3:17, The Message]  Perfect attendance for Christians is more comparable to submitting every detail in our lives to the Spirit of Jesus.  Our job is not a job, it’s a calling that we pour our best effort into.  Our friendships and families aren’t just for our emotional support, they are the sheep the Great Shepherd has put into our care.  Every off-handed remark, every facebook post, every text and phone call either bear witness to our commitment to love like Jesus or they reveal how far away from that goal we fallen.

         I’m don’t love going to work every day.  I’m sure Dave Miller had days he wished he could be anywhere else other than the work site.  I’m not going to want to focus on the needs of others 24/7—there are too many times when I feel like it ought to be about me.  I’m sure Miller had lots and lots of people encouraging him to indulge himself, that he’d more than earned a “mental health day” or two or three.  
        I’m going to get angry, I’m going to want to be dismissive, I’m going to want to share a tidbit or two of juicy gossip, or sit in smug judgment on someone who has made foolish choices.  I’m going to be sorely tempted to push that send key or dial that phone number or post that snide and sarcastic comment, but then I would be a “no show” in my walk with Jesus. 

It’s very doubtful that I’ve died to self and been resurrected to new life in Christ if I keep resurrecting the old, self-centered me.  The problem with indulging yourself in a sick day here, a personal day there, a ‘it’s-just-too-nice-to-go-into-work-today” every now and then, is that going AWOL becomes easier to do and simpler to justify the next time and the time after that.

         Bottom line is that Dave Miller was at work every day for 48 years because he loved what he was doing, loved who he was working for—because being a committed craftsman and carpenter was just who he was.  The same has go to be true for us or this Jesus thing will never work.  We have got to love being faithful, love whom we are serving, and at some point simply become a new creation—a forgiven, accepting, grace-oriented apprentice of the Master Carpenter.