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.