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.