Our Ongoing Dialogue

Dealing with Disappointment

2011-01-03T09:32:00.006-06:00

The Christmas Hoopla is over. The New Year's celebrations have drawn to a close. That easy week between the two holidays has been met with this morning's day back in the office.

I was reflecting this morning on the fact that for the last 8 years, I have filled this time between Christmas and Easter and between NFL and MLB (yes, I live my life by the Church and sports' seasons) with ardent preparation for our adult mission trips to Juarez where our church would typically build four homes in an impoverished area outside of Juarez known as Anapra. The preparation would include recruiting, fundraising, prayer, making travel arrangements, building arrangements, paperwork, more prayer, collecting donations of school supplies and toys, writing devotions, planning ahead on worship, brushing up on my Spanish, etc. And in the process of planning and implementing, in the preparing and in the traveling, the success of every trip would be evident in the lives transformed, community built, homes completed, relationships rekindled, faces remembered, gratitude embraced, and love won.

But this year, I will have to find a new way to full that time, or better explained, a better way to fill that hole. We will be building two homes there this month, hiring Mexican labor to do so

The two trips had to be canceled this year due to the growing violence that finally hit too close to our daily route to and from Anapra. Now, this may not come as a surprise to many....especially if you pay attention to national news coverage. This border city across from El Paso, TX, has been the subject of media coverage and has earned the titles of "Murder Capital of the World" and "World's Deadliest City" as it eclipsed 3,000 murders in 2010. The events of this city was also the topic of an AP story that ran yesterday on the cover of our local newspaper in Champaign. While I can defend most of the violence as targeted (cartel on cartel, gang on gang) or isolated (at night or in the Valley of Juarez), it is the unexplained tragedies that stem from attempts at vigilante justice and the random attacks due to a lack of due diligence from law enforcement. The attack on the main thoroughfare from our team house to Anapra was enough for me to give in to the constant question of whether or ongoing involvement was too much a risk.

I made the decision on December 17, moved through the Christmas season, and enjoyed the break after Christmas. But coming back to work this morning, the decision is hitting me hard and disappointment is casting a shadow over my own understanding of who I am as a pastor. In the midst of the wonderful benefits that the families, the team, and the church receives from our commitment to Juarez, I walk away from every trip with the reassurance of my calling as pastor. More than any other venture or responsibility that occupies my yearly calendar, it is those two weeks every year that remind me more than any other that I am called to be in a local church to build community and to form disciples to transform the world because it takes the whole church to make this ministry in Juarez such a success.

So there is disappointment this morning and a hole that needs filled. I was told recently that I needed to perhaps develop a passion for something else rather than Mexico. Yet, everything I know about passion or feel in passion says that passion doesn't work that way. So "finding a different passion" isn't the answer. But in the midst of this disappointment ... there is hope. Because I know that "greater things are yet to come and greater things are still to be done in that city." The place that was once bustling with business and tourists, that once was a place of amazing color, will again find its peace. And the groups that flooded the city in mission through the many organizations will return to the poor and hungry who will still be there ...waiting for us.

In many ways, hope is all we have. But on the other hand ... hope has an amazing sustaining power in our lives. I hope for the city. I hope for the church. I hope for the people. In that hope I know that peace will again one day reign and the love will win. I pray that I will be a part of such great things to come.

So About That Dream...

2010-08-23T10:01:00.003-05:00

I caught grief from my mother yesterday (who was in church) indicating, "this is the first time I ever heard a preacher who didn't finish his sermon." That's what moms are for! So about that dream:

Saturday nights, rather than a full night of sleep, I end up taking a "nap" as I usually find myself awake the whole night wondering about the sermon and what changes need to be made. This weekend was no exception. I decided to lie down around 1AM as I was still discerning how this sermon would come to an end. Yet in the three hour nap, an amazing dream unfolded that perhaps answered my concern.

I dreamed of a Sunday morning. It was the Faith congregation, but the venue was my home church in Galesburg. The Galesburg First UMC is an old downtown church with a large traditional sanctuary (with at least 60 foot "cathedral" ceilings and a bell tower where bats love to live. A little secret about that church is that above the sanctuary and below the bell tower is a "corridor" (I am not sure of the correct architectural term) that allows maintenance to walk above the sanctuary and lower the lights to the floor of the sanctuary to be changed.

In that dream it was 8:15AM and my sermon was not complete for the 9AM fusion service. I was procrastinating, as usual, finding reason to explore the building where I once roamed as a child. As I made my way up the remote back stairwell, I came to a steel ladder that was attached to a wall. I climbed the ladder and came to a wooden door above my head, about the size of a manhole cover. I was convinced that this was the "corridor" above the sanctuary that I knew existed but never visited. I pushed open the door and climbed through. The room was more than a corridor, but a great hall with beautiful wooden arches of a light oak color and a lot of light.

There were people up there in this great hall watching down through the light fixtures watching the congregation below. They greeted me with a smile and welcomed me by saying, "We have been wanting to see you for a long time" (like a scene out of Indiana Jones and the Holy Grail). They were the faces of my Sunday School teachers and mentors from long ago who once attended mu home church but who are no longer living. We talked for a few moments, only to realize that it was now 8:45AM and I needed to descend the stairs and return to my responsibilities.

But it was one older woman who I revered as a child for her dedication to the church, who placed her hand on my shoulder as I began my descent and said, "Bradley, you are needed by the congregation. Stop worrying about how it all ends ...they love you for being the you God created you to be."

I woke up before I returned to the sanctuary. But as I turned off my alarm and headed to the shower, I thought about what was going on. My "Egypt" is my ongoing fear of failure. At times it renders me powerless. That idea of letting people down hold me captive and enslaves me to the perceptions of others. And if I ended the sermon in a rather weak manner, than I was also failure in my own eyes.

Yet in hearing those comforting words from that cloud of witnesses (though in a dream)...I stood before the congregation this morning at 9:58AM and said, "I could go on ... but time has escaped us."

And as I write this to share with you and officially end the Sunday sermon, I think this is one of those transformative moments in faith for me that has drawn me deeper in trust with the One I have wrestled with mightily for a number of years now. In my own deliverance of fear of failure ... may my weak ending be one of hope for you.

In Jesus Name, Amen.

Ten Years

2010-06-11T07:43:00.002-05:00

It is amazing how things have changed in ten years. Paper is out and paying our bills online is in. The SUV is out and the environment is in. Processing film is out, digital photography is in. Facebook has helped us renew old high school relationships. Skype lets us talk face to face around the world. Our houses are harder to sell and first time buyers have a harder time getting credit. We learned words such as "unfriend" and "google" and re-learned words such as "terrorism" and "war".

Sitting on the back porch this morning, I am feeling a moment of deja vu. Forgive my nostalgia. It was on a beautiful June morning, much like today, when the moving truck pulled up to Curtis Road to unload our belongings in this quiet neighborhood on the southwest side of Champaign. I was 24 and had been married four years at that point and expecting our first child any moment. I was less than a month removed from seminary and had brought with me three years experience as a pastor; experience and education in a traditional model of worship and ministry. Here I was appointed to Champaign Faith and charged with the responsibility of growing a contemporary worship service in a church (unlike my home church or previous parishes) ready to be on the move in structure, ideology, and theology.

Ten years later...Curtis road is no longer a quiet, rural place, but a busy four lane road with an interstate exchange and commercial development sprouting up around us. (Thank goodness for the state of tranquility on my back porch!). I am now 34, been married fourteen years and have two very interesting sons and an insecure St. Bernard that follows me around the house. Passionate worship has found me as, despite the venue or context of worship, we have felt a deeper connection with God through diving into scripture and functioning in the early church tradition (Acts 2). Been to Juarez (the deadliest city in the world) 15 times and have built 15 houses, among other projects. We built a huge addition on the building and have seen the fullness of the theological spectrum come together as one community. And now by the grace of God, the willingness of Faith UMC and the vision of the cabinet, I will be starting my eleventh year at Faith UMC on July 1.

But yet, have I changed?

I have been leading the congregation in a worship series on the seven letters to the seven church in the book of Revelation. In each of those letters, Jesus (according to the author) is perhaps asking each of the churches to do a little self reflection. If Revelation was written by an exiled "John" in the late 90's C.E. to churches formed around 40 years prior, perhaps the timing is excellent. In that 40 years they would have heard of the Apostle's death, seen the fall of Jerusalem, and know of the growth of Christianity through the Diaspora to the further reaches of the continent. The particular rebukes that Jesus emphasized with each church seem to both draw them back to their foundation while also kicking them forward by casting vision for these churches in Asia minor.

I have been told that I have changed, but that has been said to me in vain. Perhaps that is what Jesus is saying to the churches, you have changed, by getting away from your first love and foundation.

Perhaps I need to do some self reflection and asked if I have grown (yes, i have gained weight). Has the church grown? Have we build upon the spiritual foundations of who we are? Have I grown deeper in love with Jesus Christ, our first love? Have we allowed God to use us in ways that transform the world? Have the hardships of injury, loss, and brokenness, helped me to grow in my understanding of faith in community? Has the changing of the world helped Faith UMC to grow in ways that reach new people?

It is good to be back with you (online) and in your community.

Faith Through the Decades: The 1960's

2009-09-17T09:39:00.004-05:00

(preached on Sunday, September 13)

I remember being elementary school and sitting in the bank drive through with my mom. It was 1983 and the voice on the radio was sharing a this day a history moment. It happened to be the 20th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. My mother just started to gaze off into the distance. The DJ went on to say that in honor of the day, the song, Abraham, John and Martin would be played. As the music started, my mother’s distant gaze became soft tears. Abraham, John and Martin, written in 1968 and performed a variety of artists is a tribute to the memories of icons of social change. But in particular, the icons of social change in the 1960’s, Martin Luther King, Jr., John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy. It was written as a response to the assassinations of King and the younger Kennedy in April and June 1968.

As we drove away and the song came to an end, my mother started giving me a history lesson on the assassination events and the powerful memory of knowing where you were when you heard about the assassination of JFK. Along with the other assassinations in that decade, the turbulent times around the civil rights movement, the red scare and cold war, and the entry into the Vietnam war not only proved to be an eventful decade, but for baby boomers like my mother … the 1960’s was the most influential decade on her in shaping her outlook, her politics, and even her faith.

Now if you were to look at what decade was most influential on you as you developed as a person, what decade would that be? Now I know that some of you have many decades to choose from and others of you the choice is rather easy thus far. But given the historical events you have live through, the tragedies and the politics, the societal movements and the wars, what decade has most shaped your outlook, politics, and faith? That’s the question I would like you to consider as you share with your neighbor this morning. I will give you about 30 seconds.

We starting a new theme in here this weekend known as the Decades of Faith, starting today with the 1960’s. This is something we have been wanting to do for a number of years here, not only from a music standpoint, (has the band been great, or what?) but also from the perspective of how the events of a decade and our own American mindset has influenced the movement of the church and our own faith. But the reason for the timing of this theme as we head into fall is due to the 50th anniversary of Faith UMC. This weekend marks the fiftieth anniversary of the first worship service at Faith, the sixth birthday of fusion, and the third anniversary of being here in the Worship and Life Center and Education wing. With a whole calendar of events this year celebrating 50 years as a community of faith, we will kind of culminate everything on November 22 when our Bishop, Bishop Palmer will be joining us and leading us in worship.

But the 1960’s is where we start as we consider the very formative time for the Faith community during this time. Up until the 1960, Christianity was successful in its growth across America. After World War 2, after troops returned home and started to build their families, church membership and involvement became a central aspect of the American life. Champaign is no different. Many young families were settling on the west and southwest side of town and First Methodist Church downtown saw that need and wanted to expand out this way and a vision was cast for a congregation on S. Prospect Ave. Faith Methodist Church is what it would be named.

But as the 1960’s unfolded, the religious climate in America started to change. Prayer and Bible reading were removed from the public schools; nuns and priests started leaving their orders for secular lives, While these issues aroused much emotion, other, deeper social currents concerning race, gender and sexuality, war, and the role of churches in society changed the religious landscape of the United States. The apparent religious revival of the postwar period ground to a halt in the course of the decade. According to one historian, people stopped talking of a new revival and began to discuss decline. Look at America’s perspective on Faith; in 1957, 14 percent of the Americans polled said religion was in decline in the United States. In 1970 that figure had increased to 75 percent believed Religion was in decline and the numbers from church reports support that data.

The 1960’s was a turning point in history and in religion. The 1960’s was the first decade the history of the United States in which church membership in the U.S. did not increase. What was going on politically and socially had an impact on the church, no question. Fear of communism, the civil rights movement, and the fall of the icons of social change (MLK, JFK, RFK) led to a disillusionment with faith matters and churches really struggled with their identity. Do we or don’t we, as Christians, raise questions about the Vietnam War? Do we get involved in the civil rights movement and work to end segregation? Do we march with Martin Luther King, Jr, or is that too social justiceish for the church? As Christians can we question the government? These were radical questions for an institution that had seen freedom and growth since America was settled by the European Christians. (Pause) In many ways these questions persist for us today as well.

While church historians look to the 60’s trials and tribulations and the influence of music and the freedom of speech against the war and independence of a Woodstock and the Born to be Wild persona of the 1960’s, while church historians point to the 1960’s as the death of God … perhaps the 1960’s was enough to raise questions that helped define the meaning of Jesus Christ in the church more than what historians will ever care to admit. (Pause)

Last Sunday when we gathered in here … we heard Jesus in the midst of dealing with defilement and how the religious leaders became obsessed with the laws of cleanliness. His message last week was one drawn from the Old Testament … Remember that you too were a foreigner in a foreign land and God redeemed you. What that means is that everyone one of us have faced our own struggles, temptations, sins to the point where everyone of us has been on the outside … everyone one of us and if it weren’t for grace … everyone one of us would still be foreigners in God’s kingdom.

From there in Mark 7, we follow Jesus to where he is no longer distinguishing between the children on Israel and the outsiders … but his ministry has expanded to include everyone. It wasn’t just about his disciples but in dealing with the religious leaders and those on the outside of the Jewish faith and outside of the church. Mark 8 is a turning point, in many ways, as we start to see Jesus feeding the “crowds”, responding to challenges by the church as they questioned him and he questioned the church. Mark 8:22, he heals a blind man using his spit to make mud … again shaking the cultural and religious foundations by using something unclean to bring cleanliness and inclusion.

So we pick up right after that. Mark 8:27-38. I invite you to follow along on the screen this morning.
27 Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, "Who do people say I am?" 28 They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets." 29 "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Messiah." 30 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him. 31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns." 34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save their life [b] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for you to gain the whole world, yet forfeit your soul? 37 Or what can you give in exchange for your soul? 38 If any of you are ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of you when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."

Jesus is on the road with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi, and on the way he asks his followers, “Who do people say that I am?” What’s the word on the street? What are people Twittering about me?

The disciples answer, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets” (v. 28). Then Jesus makes it personal, and asks, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answers him, “You are the Messiah,” a term which means “anointed one,” the divinely chosen leader of the people.” This answer is perfect, but Jesus is keenly aware that many people are looking for a military Messiah — God’s Commander in Chief — to drive the Romans out of Jerusalem and restore the kingdom to Israel. Jesus starts to again counter those perceptions with a teaching that makes it less about the church and more about the world. And that’s why Jesus begins to teach them that the Son of Man “must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again” (v. 31). To be the true Messiah, Jesus has to undergo suffering, death and resurrection — there’s just no way around it. So the role of Jesus requires a cross before a crown.

And he expands his teaching after that to say, if you want to be a part of this … you too will have to choose a cross. You too will have to not only decide what I mean to you, but you too will have to choose whether you are willing to give up your life for the sake of the Gospel. When you discover who I am, when you accept you I am … when your testimony is on your lips, will that translate to your life and are you willing to live it?

This constant growth in the church up until the 1960’s brought some complacency … and instead of people choosing Jesus Christ it became a matter of being Christian because you were born into it. Jose Luis, our missionary contact in Juarez talk about his frustration of being a protestant in Mexico while Catholicism is not only the predominant faith, but it is the only faith recognized politically and socially. He will tell you that people are Catholic in Mexico by tradition, not choice. So the independence and freedom of the 1960’s led many people to question the establishment of institutions such as the government and even their own faith. And there was this sudden sense of choice found in a new found freedom in the Baby Boomers.

But this is no different than what we find in the Gospel. Jesus comes forth and says you know … there is a line now … if you want to follow me … you have to make a choice and live it. We have heard Jesus tell us over and over to take up your cross …what that perhaps means for us today is that deeper discipleship is found when we choose the cross for ourselves to carry. Which is fantastic for the sake of the church. So membership declines? What we learned from the 1960’s was that the church needed to be in the mode of making disciples rather than members and that the church was to be about doing the Gospel in the world as opposed to being the Gospel and expecting the world to come to us. Some look to the 60’s as the death of God .. I see it as a rebirth of discipleship that allowed those born to be wild to discover who Jesus Christ was for them.

It’s no wonder that Faith UMC, here found success in it’s first decade because of the openness of the church and the willingness to allow people to be guided to discover Jesus Christ for themselves. And that is in our DNA today as a congregation because the social and theological and political scale is so diverse here that it is something to be celebrated today. Who do you say I am? Not by tradition, or by what others tell, but how have you chosen to follow Jesus Christ?
So when we hear about social change and after the assassination of a social change icon like Martin Luther King, Jr …then there is a touch upon our hearts.

For my mother, these people questioned an establishment that she felt took her own independence. My mother’s parents, especially her father represented an establishment that my mother truly struggled with. On matters of racism and sexism, my very white grandfather ruled the roost. Every Sunday morning, when she was in grade school, a white bus pulled up to the front of the house and my mother and her siblings filed onto the bus and were in the Pentecostal church a good part of the day until the bus brought them home. There wasn’t any independence for her and when she graduated … her dad got married and found their own place in life.

But it wasn’t until much later in life when her faith started to mean something to her. My father was the same way …put on a bus to attend church .. but he had no siblings to go with him and it wasn’t until shortly before his death that he chose Jesus Christ.

Who do you say I am? We have to answer that question for ourselves … and there is a freedom around that which is found in our experiences as spouses and children and parents and employees and in servanthood. Who do you say I am? That Jesus calls us all to different passions and places of servanthood and discovery in our faith. Who do you say I am? Is a question that tradition can only partially answer, but our profession found in experience raises our faith to a new level. Who do you say I am? The lives we live in our geographical locations and the history of events that surround us lead us to not only question who God is …but also leads us to live a life that is dedicated to Gospel living and doing.

May God grant us … a grace and dedication and profession this day as we discover for ourselves … who do we say Jesus is.

In Jesus Name, Amen.

Anti-Clergy (How is that for a title? Wait, it gets better...)

2009-08-24T09:39:00.002-05:00

I can remember sitting at the McDonalds at the Bone Student Center at Illinois State University. It was the summer before my freshman year, and I was there for summer registration. During a break we stopped for lunch and the conversation unfolded as my mother questioned as to why I was going to major in History and not History Education. It was suggested that I add the Education endorsement, "because the ministry may not work out."

For the two years prior, I had pursued the ministry for my future. It was my focus, my desire, my passion as I had visioned it. But while I had to reach an obstacle (and I don't consider this an obstacle), from that conversation forward the ministry became less a divine calling as events and conversations revealed that ministry was not as glorified in the minds of others. I met pastors who felt that I should not go into ministry because I was too young. I heard the criticism of the church and clergy by those in my dorm. I heard a campus minister talk about retiring as soon as possible. I heard of scandalous pastors and their zipper problems, money problems, control problems, and struggles with their uncertainty of their sexuality that left churches upset. I heard the stories of clergy from other denominations who had "issues" with children well before the media outcry earlier this decade and the abuse that ensued in other traditions. I served as a youth minister in two different churches with pastors who would not accept responsibility for their own actions.

I can remember lonely rides down the puke filled elevators at Watterson Towers on Sunday mornings and wondering what people were going to think of me as a pastor and whether I should even pursue ministry. As time unfolded, the perceptions of others and anti-clergy feelings became my perceptions and feelings as well. Until I reached a point of breaking down and I found myself kneeling at a cross at East Bay Camp seeking answers and direction as I was only a few months away from graduating from ISU and preparing for seminary.

I was reminded of those anti-clergy feelings again recently as I sat and listened to another clergy who spoke ill of me several years ago go on his verbal tirade about how if one pastor was speaking poorly of another pastor then there was reason to press charges (not legal, but in our church law). I wanted to stand up and confront. I wanted to unleash my own verbal tirade and start a discussion on hypocrisy. I left the meeting and stewed for several days, made comments on my Facebook about biting my tongue. And my anger brought me back into that place of feeling anti-clergy. "What is wrong with you people," I kept asking.

But as the weekend came, I looked in the mirror. I always thought that being ordained never meant being "set apart" as I was told several years ago, but my understanding was to be "set within." To walk alongside, to be one of the people in my congregation and not some glorified punk on a pedestal. Just as I am one of the people, I will get angry and jealous, and be hypocritical. While I pointed my fingers, so there were others pointed at me for my mistakes. If I were to consider such humility in 1997 to kneel at a cross seeking direction, then perhaps 12 1/2 years later, I need to return to that place as well. To be reminded that we all kneel at the cross and ask not only for our sin to be taken from us ... but to also place some of that emotion upon the cross asking God to release me from these feelings that hold me. My confrontation, or desire for revenge, takes God's providence away from God ... is that what I want?

I am glad I am here today ... proud to be in my 13th year of ministry and living among the people of Faith UMC.

Hands

2009-07-21T11:19:00.007-05:00

A friend of mine recently had pictures taken with family and there was a whole segment of pictures were taken in black and white of just the hands. Some of the hands had written messages on them, some were formed into images to reveal another message. But I was taken by how each hand told another story. Though the pictures were in black and white the signs of age, work, relationship, pain, joy, past and future were all evident.

When I was a kid, I can remember how my mom used to rub my dad's hands in the evenings after a long work day. I remember on a few occasions when mom was at work and I was in the other room doing homework, my dad would call to me in the other room and ask me to come rub his hands. They were fairly course from his hard labor, his wedding ring was on his finger and it was not coming off given the size of his labored fingers. I can't imagine how many times my dad shook hands with others or his hands were full with grocery product stocking shelves or how his hands were graciously offering peace and a free product to an unhappy customer.

As I sat down to dinner this week, my six year old was observing my scars from my wrist surgery and my 8th grade window incident and asked if they still hurt. I quickly said "no" and went back to my conversation with my friend. Soon after, I felt his little hand pressing into my scars, feeling the texture of my skin and the scars. Then he asked me to tell him about the scar from 8th grade, a story he apparently had not heard. Once again, I disregarded his concern for the sake of being in conversation with my friend. Yet I wonder ... were my hands too busy and full to tell a story from my past.

Yet as the fall is approaching, I can without a doubt tell you that my hands are full and yet I find myself grasping for more suggesting I can accept more responsibility at work or in volunteer organizations or in my pursuing my doctorate ... yet without room to cling to love for family and friends or to be able to witness on behalf of my faith and how my past impacted my faith that night. My hands are not "labored" in love ... but seem busy right now grasping for things within my own agenda of personal achievement.

And yet it is in these times I find myself looking to Mary in response to God asking her to bring God in the world. The Theotokos (God-bearer) in innocence proclaimed, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord, let it be with me according to your word," (Luke 1:38). Most of us would be feeling like we have to carry the weight of the world or we would be consumed by the perceptions of others of being a pregnant thirteen year old in a religious community. But with empty hands, she says ... here am I ... let it be with me. God, you fill me ... you guide me ... you direct me .... may I follow your will. Is there room in our busy hands to receive God's agenda for us?

Journey into the Heart and Soul

2009-07-06T11:18:00.004-05:00

This is the first part of a two week sermon series on David and his quest as a "man after God's own heart."

It was my first year of seminary as I was making my way home late one Thursday night, making that familiar trek from Evanston, Illinois, to Walnut Grove, Illinois. Every week from September through May, I would leave Walnut Grove on Tuesday morning at 4:00AM in order to arrive in Evanston on time for my 9:00AM class, then Thursday night at 9:00PM after my last class, I would turn around and head back. The ride was long, but with a combination of music, talk radio, and my father’s radar detector the four hours would go quickly. Too bad, I didn’t have a cell phone in the 90’s to keep my attention.

Anyway, it was about midnight as I was making my way down I-74 between Moline and Galesburg. As I was passing a rest area I looked in my rearview mirror to see flashing lights speeding up behind me. Without any other cars in front of me or behind me and the speedometer registering over 80MPH (ummm yeah), I knew he was after me … so much for the radar detector, Dad! I pulled over. The state police officer pulled over behind me. My stomach turned as even though I was only 22, my 6 year ticket free record was on the line.

As the officer approached the car he shined his light into my back window, as I assume he was looking for anything suspicious. Yet, the strangest thing happened when he spoke.
“Sir, he said, I know you are very busy and important person and I am sorry for pulling you over. But let me do a quick license check and you will be on your way. I hate to keep you from your important business, sir.”

I sat there stunned. He had to be twice my age, yet he called me sir. I drove a little two door Pontiac Sunfire. And he said I was important. It’s midnight, how can I be so busy? I don’t look like a celebrity.

As he came back to the car, he says, “here you go pastor, everything checked out ok.” How did he know that? Oh yeah, I had this little decal in the back window with a cross and flame on it and it read: pastor. No ticket, no warning, just how privileged am I?

Contrast that with a story that was on CNN this week. Pastor Jose Moran was arrested this week in Texas after he tried to interfere with a routine traffic stop taking place in his church’s parking lot. According to one account, Pastor Moran was trying to intercede on behalf of the driver but took his authority as a pastor to a new level. After shoving an officer, the police used a taser on the pastor and then arrested him. Just how privileged was he?

While we can draw our own conclusions that include a discussion of geography, ethnicity, circumstance or even separate these as non-related experiences, it still begs the question as to whether our titles or positions carry weight, give leverage, or provide a level respect even when the respect has not been earned.

Pastor and author Bill Hybels suggests that one of his main concerns with the future of the

church, are the newer, younger pastors. He is concerned that a few may be going into ministry for the wrong reasons. Sure they may say they are called to serve, but that there is a hierarchal mentality, that seems to be associated with being a pastor. Having to be “known” for what they do, instead of serving just to be serving. A colleague of mine had a difficult adjustment to ministry in the local church as he left a position of leadership at the conference level for the local church and could not understand why people did not respect him for his position. He left the ministry, not surviving the transition.

Perhaps you see this applying to your profession or in any of your social circles, not just with clergy, that we expect to be respected for what we are as opposed to who we are. We all struggle with the need to be important, and humility is not easily come by. But today’s message is not necessarily about humility, but more so a message of entitlement … a struggle that living in today’s world is heightened by reasons that are hard to pinpoint. This is not just a struggle in youth ministry or in the younger generations emerging in the workforce, but on a societal level, in the church, in the school. Yet God’s way of handling that is to turn our kingdom upset side down time and time again. God takes our thoughts, perceptions, entitlements, values in this world and he turns them upside down and puts them right back onto us and forces us to deal with them.

The people in Israel wanted a king. This idea of an invisible God was not enough for them and like the countries that surrounded them they wanted a human king to govern them. This story in 1 Samuel tells how Saul is selected to serve as Israel’s first king. What we come to understand about those selected as king in that era, is that they are portrayed as vicars of God, representatives of God, that was how the kings were viewed in the other countries … representatives of their gods. But there are two things that stand out in this story about Saul being chosen is that Saul comes to Samuel, seeking out Samuel for something. The other piece about Saul’s selection is that he was chosen because of his stature. I Samuel 9 tells us that Saul came from a wealthy family and was a man in the prime of his life, handsome and one who stood head and shoulders above everyone else. Saul’s name in Hebrew means asked … he is the asked one.

Now contrast that with the emergence of David. Flipping ahead six chapters, we hear that Saul is out of favor with God. Saul no longer makes alters for God, but he makes up alters for himself and rather than make sacrifices to God, the best of the captured flocks were kept for him and his people … he is entitled as King, right? God says in 1 Samuel 15, “I regret that I made Saul king, for he has not carried out my commands.”

Samuel is sent for a new king. We turn to I Samuel 16:1-13. Samuel is grieving Saul’s fall and God’s regret. I Samuel 16, I invite you to follow along on the screen.

1 The LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king." 2 But Samuel said, "How can I go? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me." The LORD said, "Take a heifer with you and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.' 3 Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate." 4 Samuel did what the LORD said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, "Do you come in peace?" 5 Samuel replied, "Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me." Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. 6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, "Surely the LORD's anointed stands here before the LORD." 7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things human beings look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, "The LORD has not chosen this one either." 9 Jesse then had Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, "Nor has the LORD chosen this one." 10 Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, "The LORD has not chosen these." 11 So he asked Jesse, "Are these all the sons you have?" "There is still the youngest," Jesse answered. "He is tending the sheep." Samuel said, "Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives." 12 So he sent and had him brought in. He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features. Then the LORD said, "Rise and anoint him; this is the one." 13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came on David in power. Samuel then went to Ramah.

David’s name in Hebrew means, the beloved. This time Samuel is sent to the house of Jesse to seek out the next king. He goes to Jesse’s family in Bethlehem with the voice of God ringing in his ears: “I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you” (v. 3). This is exactly the kind of thing we’re always wanting to hear from God, isn’t it? “God, just show me your will and I’ll do it!” For most of us that’s a plea and a longing, but for Samuel it was standard operating procedure. Throughout his life, he regularly heard from God and knew exactly what the people needed to do to follow God. So when it came time to view Jesse’s sons and anoint God’s next king, you’d think Samuel would be the guy who could pick God’s man out of the royal lineup. He’d be the expert whose spiritual intuition you would trust.

When Jesse’s seven sons walk into the room, Samuel spots his man. Eliab was tall. He was good looking. He was the oldest son in the family, and accordingly, would have held an elevated leadership role in their culture. In other words, this guy was CEO-grade king material. But God has something different in mind. It will not be by appearance or height or status … but only in terms of matters of the heart shall the king be selected.

Interesting here because while the first born carried a certain status in that culture, God’s story continually takes our expectations or entitlements, flips them around and shoves them right back at us. Consider other Old Testament stories, the theme of the younger brother or son surpassing his siblings in distinction and divine favor is widespread throughout world literature and the Hebrew Bible. Abel’s offering was acceptable to the Lord, while that of his older brother, Cain, was not (Genesis 4:1-7). Abraham’s firstborn son, Ishmael, was passed over as the vehicle for the transmission of the divine blessing in favor of Isaac, Abraham’s second son (Genesis 17:18-19). Jacob swindled his older brother, Esau, out of their father’s blessings (Genesis 27:18-29).

So these brothers pass by. Another key thing I want to point out is the meaning of their names. First Eliab passes by his name means God is father, he is not chosen. Then comes Abinidab, his name means God is generous, he is not chosen. Then comes Shammah, his name means fame … but he is not chosen. After all brothers parade before Samuel, God’s point was made. The king was still not in the room. Everyone who really mattered was in attendance, except the one who mattered most to God. He had chosen David. The shepherd boy. The one whose first impression on people apparently kept him out of his father’s lineup of potential royalty. For his name means beloved. He was the last born. The one out tending sheep. The one who is out at work. The shortest, the youngest … and God says that is who will serve as king. He didn’t seek out the prophet, wasn’t even an option in the eyes of his own family. But there was something that God saw.

This is totally counterintuitive. God is demonstrating that God’s chosenness … God’s decision trumps the impressions of convention. It was essence over appearance. Character over charisma. Potential for service over potential for power. God’s giftedness over our feelings of entitlement. For you did not call me. I called you. The least of these who shall lead them … who shall lead us.

The story read earlier in this service is the story of the prodigal son, perhaps you know that story. But hear the plea of the older son in that story who comes back from the field and hears the party going on. “But father …I have never failed you. I am the older son. I am the hard worker. I am the faithful one. He is angry, refuses to go into the party. For all these years I have done all this for you, but you have never thrown me a party, killed an animal in my honor or given me the finest robe. I am entitled to this and even more. But this son who considered you dead, this son who devoured us gets all of this.”

There is a privilege here, father that I am entitled to. Who’s heart in the story of the prodigal son was on a quest for God’s heart? The younger son or the older? Indeed there is a privilege that we are asked to live up to, but that privilege is not found in what country we live in or what church we go to, or how much we make our what we look like, or our position. The privilege is found in being sought out by God, chosen by God, forgiven by God, and loved by God.

Later on, David will fail to live up that privilege … David will struggle with entitlement, but we have to understand that David also would be considered the one who was after God’s own heart … and as a people have credited many Psalms and acts of worship to him, he continued to pay for and yet repent for the mistake he would make with Bathsheba. David’s quest for God’s own heart began with God telling Samuel to look at the heart … not the wealth, not the stature, not the position, not the birth order, not even at one’s accomplishments. And David’s quest for God’s heart would continue on in the way David would bring people together around God’s promise.
David’s quest is our quest. Scripture will keep reminding us of the upside down kingdom that belongs to the mourners, the meek and the persecuted. That kingdom where the unlikely are awakened to God’s spirit while religious leaders are more concerned about their privilege as opposed to the outcasts.

For this is where our journey begins … ASP team and Faith UMC … in that God chose us first.
In Jesus Name, Amen.

"I am not a role model"

2009-06-15T13:04:00.004-05:00

Anybody remember Charles Barkley making that statement on a Nike commercial in the early 90's? Well, if you need to jog your memory: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8vh2MwXZ6o. Charles was/is an interesting character who could shoot off his mouth at any moment without any apology. Basketball skills aside, he was in the eyes of many children through his career. A member of the 1992 Olympic basketball "Dream Team," I remember being a big fan of his as I grew up in the 1990's because he based his game on rebounding and defense. I wanted to emulate that. And even watching this commercial for the first time as a teen, I remember thinking how profound he was.

Now years later as a parent, maybe he is not as profound as I once thought. My older son has a new fondness for the Cubs rightfielder Milton Bradley. Indeed it is hard to be a fan of a guy hitting just above .200 and who can't count to three in order to keep track of the number of outs. However, Andrew is a fan because Milton Bradley likes to argue with the umpire. In fact, this came to be evident in his eyes three weeks ago when I had to have a friendly "discussion" with the umpire in our little league game. Oddly enough it was on the last play of the game and our discussion brought us a victory. As the game ended, I hear my son proclaim, "my dad is the best coach because he argues with the ump." Is that a normal boy or a strong-willed young man who likes to fight authority. Can that be asked of the Charles Barkleys and Milton Bradleys of this world?

I do want to point out that Charles Barkley and the other athletes are role models for our children in that they make a lot of money off the jersey and shoe sales and those typically are not adults sporting those, but children. Charles, as long as you draw a paycheck from Nike, you are a role model. Indeed as parents and people who are in our childrens' eyes we are thrust into positions as role models whether we choose to accept that or not. But I guess what I want to suggest also is that being a role model is not just about a life of perfection.

When I was a youth minister in Clinton, a good friend used to jokingly tell his kids when I was being immature to not listen to Brad because "he is not a good role model." Well years later I still correspond with him and his adult children because the role model aspect goes beyond the moment of an event but into how a life is lived. I want my son to also see how I had a long and kind conversation with th umpire. I want my children to see when a fallen athlete asks for forgiveness and turns his life around.

I mean really, how often do we withhold judgement in order to give someone the opportunity to do the right thing? That is one of the beautiful things about Jesus in his preaching on forgiveness is that he taught us about offering us and offering others, the opportunity to make the right choice. It is in those moments of redemption that not only do we experience true life, but we are role modeling for our kids that through adversity and failure there is hope.

If we expect a role model to be perfect and our children ,thereafter, to be perfect, then what will happen the first time our kid's fail to meet our expectations?

Disappointment, Prayer, and Grace

2009-05-26T14:45:00.000-05:00

Recently in one of the classes I was teaching, we got on the topic of transformation and prayer. And we mulled over in our discussion as to what the point of prayer was: "do we pray to change God or do we pray to change ourselves?" What an interesting point. In many ways, the struggle for humanity is the battle between our will and God's will. When faced with the greatest challenge of his life, Jesus stood in the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed for God to "let this cup pass." Yet ultimately he resolves, "let they will be done." Yet I question, did that leave Jesus disappointed?

We set goals, have desires of pure intentions, strive for things in life and yet when we come face to face with an alternative plan for our lives, are we disappointed? Even if we learn that it is God's plan for us and we are called to trust and walk in faith, does that leave us disappointed? Indeed sometimes our plans are not God's plans, yet there are other times when we believe we have followed God's plan for our lives and we struggle accepting whether a new direction is of God.

Perhaps my questions appear confusing (isn't that the point of a blog?) but I am struggling with that sense and those notions of disappointment. In trying to discern whether God's plan is set before me or if my way is taking precedence. Perhaps for you in a job transition, or if your heart was broken by someone else, or still grieving a loss that has left you wondering what's ahead. Are we being led by our own desire despite being steered in a different direction by events around us? Have we asked God what God wants? Or maybe God wants what we want?

So we all keep walking, praying, discerning, and hoping ...... hoping that there will be grace in the end that illuminates the mistakes and guides in the days ahead, climbing adversity or accepting what is given to us.

Koinonia and Doctors

2009-05-22T11:14:00.005-05:00

It's been a month, and man am I embarrassed for not posting anything. After the last post, we celebrated Confirmation, I took some vacation time, and then jumped back into the swing of things with all four services last weekend. I must say that I might have preached one of the only sermons in the country that included both circumcision and pornography. It may not have been one of my best messages, but based upon the comments and jokes I am guessing that people at least remembered it!

One of the things I write about often in my blogs and sermons and seems to dominate my ministry is the concept of community. In church language we used to call it fellowship. But the story of the early church in the book of Acts was more than a practice of fellowship or friendliness but a story of deep community. The Greek word that was used to describe the early church was Koinonia, which emphasized the common life, common sharing. the deep level of community that was lived by early Christians. They weren't the "holy club", they weren't named by a denomination, in fact they didn't even go by the name Christian (or Paulinian). They were known as people of "The Way," and live in a specific way they did. Acts 2, after the moment of Pentecost, their community was described as such:

"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." (Acts 2:42-47 NIV).

I don't want to suggest that we lost that idea of being people of The Way or that we lost something in our tribal divisions (though we did), perhaps even more we have lost this as a way of living in our other defined communities. As neighborhoods do we pull together? As citizens of towns, are we aware of those who are without? This is rather radical thinking as we stand toe to toe everyday with ideas of capitalism that lead many to an economic Darwinism. This is rather radical thinking in light of many of the ideologies we were taught about self-sustenance in our living. But, if I am not mistaken, Jesus was radical as well.

Life is hard. Not just for those who are without, but also for those who have. Thank God that humans were created as a cross between Angels and Animals. The animal instinct in us leans us toward Darwinism and survival of the fittest, but the angel instinct in us denies the physical for what is spiritual or that which is "good." It is almost as if we are in a tough spot for being given guilt and awareness for the many things we act out on. So life is hard for those with as well, because there are still situations that touch our hearts and raise our awareness as we recognize the frailty in humanity.

That being said, I think I am going back to school. I have really been wrestling with this and allowing that application to sit on my desk and haunt me. There is a program at a seminary in Chicago that will allow me to follow my two passions: serving in the local church and building community. I am strongly considering pursuing my Doctor in Ministry in Beloved Community (based on MLK Jr.'s concept) which will allow me to continue to stay in full time ministry and use Champaign Faith as my hands-on experience. Hmmmm. we will have to see.

Unbreakable and Comic Book Heroes

2009-04-21T09:11:00.005-05:00

This morning as I was getting ready for the day, I got to watch a part of the movie Unbreakable. Released in 2000, it stars Bruce Willis who discovers that he has been given a gift of physical strength, and amazing sense of survival from tragedy, and intuition of evil lurking. He ends up embracing is role as a "comic book superhero" security guard. There is a lot more to the movie that I would suggest you see.

It kind of hit me this morning as I watched Bruce Willis' character coming to that realization that it was realized with humility. You ask anyone about their favorite comic book hero or what super power they would like to have and such a conversation or question is an invitation to be something beyond what we are. "Super powers" represent a desire for power or to be somebody we are not. Invincibility, strength, power ... what are we going to do with that other than separate ourselves from the rest of the pack?

How many of our comic book heroes embraced that life? I am not a fan of the comic book, but love the movies and in many of those movies, the characters felt burdened by such power, rejected for such ability, or unwillingly separated from community. Batman felt haunted. Superman wanted to lose his power to get married. The X-Men were considered mutant rejects. But beyond even that and those feelings ... they didn't ask for it. Even in the Bible, those we glorify as heroes never asked for it. What I appreciated in Bruce Willis' character was the humility of being the unbreakable man.

My point, or better yet question, is this: do we find our true strength and giftedness in God when we humble ourselves before God and embrace being the person we were created to be? What enables us to love our enemies, forgive those who have betrayed us, or serve those who may not believe in us? Humilty? Perhaps.

St. Bernard, the monk, not the dog, suggests that humility is “the virtue by which a man knowing himself as he truly is, abases himself.” To have the kind of self-confidence in who we are and integrity for what we are called to, humility is that characteristic that helps us temper our emotion and action toward another. but yet it also guides us in a path of living in a way that is even closer to God and the humanity that we live within. What's the possibility of being a hero right here where we are and as who we are?

He Is Not Here...

2009-04-15T10:09:00.003-05:00

They saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed all in white. They were completely taken aback, astonished. He said, "Don't be afraid. I know you're looking for Jesus the Nazarene, the One they nailed on the cross. He's been raised up; he's here no longer. You can see for yourselves that the place is empty. Now--on your way. Tell his disciples and Peter that he is going on ahead of you to Galilee. You'll see him there, exactly as he said." (Mark 16:5-7)

He is in Galilee? Why would this be the first place Jesus went after his resurrection? Why, on the first day of his eternal life, did Jesus go first to Galilee? I am not sure what each of would have expected to hear if we went to the tomb that Easter morning. Though Jesus promised that death could not contain him, the message is he is not here. One might have thought that, upon being raised from the dead, Jesus would stride triumphantly back to Jerusalem. Imagine what a stirring sight that would have been!

"Pilate, you made a very big mistake," the risen Christ might have said as he strode triumphantly into the palace and confronted all of the important, political people. You know, like an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie as the buff Jesus is back. Or, he might have stood on the steps of the temple, addressing the crowd, chiding them for their fickleness and betrayal, showing himself to the multitudes. Jesus did none of that. Rather, he went on ahead of his own disciples, promising to meet them back in Galilee where Jesus’ story began: Galilee.

When we read our Bibles, we have to understand that names of people and names of places are not just titles, they have meaning for us. The very name of Jesus, also known as Joshua, has ties way back in our faith history and the name means “He will save his people.”

And same goes for location names. On the first day of the rest of eternity, on this first day of Easter making our lives, our connection to heaven, our connection to heaven forever real, the messenger says … he is not here … he is where? In Galilee, also known as Galil. Translated simply, “the region of the nations.” It was a place of great ethnic and racial diversity, but it was nothing until Jesus showed up. Jesus story begins there and almost his entire career lay within the bounds of this tiny region of the nations. It was a dusty, out of the way sort of place. Then Jesus came to Galilee, calling disciples. People began leaving their homes, walking off good paying jobs, trying to act like disciples. Jesus shook things up out in Galilee. About four-fifths of Jesus' ministry occurred out in Galilee. His ministry began, and now begins again, in Galilee.

And now he will meet them (his disciples) again in a rather ordinary place, a place where their discipleship began. Jesus had come out to where they lived, out to Galilee. They had met Jesus in Galilee. He had called them first to follow him in Galilee. They had attempted to be disciples mostly in Galilee. In Jerusalem, they had betrayed and deserted him. Now, back in Galilee, they must meet him again. What will he say to them about their betrayal? They won't know until they go back home, back to Galilee, until the risen Christ, who had gone on ahead of them, meets them.

The point of the Galilee name is that it speaks to us ... in our discipleship. Jesus is on the loose in these post Easter days and he is meeting us in the Galilee places ... regardless nationality or background ... in all of our ordinary places that we call home. He meets us, intersecting with our lives, with the opportunity for us to accept who we are (as he accepts us) and to tell others of his Resurrection in our lives.

That's My King

2009-04-13T10:27:00.003-05:00

This Video was played yesterday at the fusion Easter service. There were some folks who wanted to see this again, please enjoy.

It's Spring Again!

2009-04-06T10:24:00.002-05:00

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (1 Peter 1:3, TNIV)

It is spring! Which means Easter (which we greatly anticipate this weekend), flowers (how beautiful they are this time of year), warmer weather (at least we hope in Illinois), butterflies (which we are raising in the education wing), and baseball! Funny thing is, I write this today on opening day in Major League Baseball yet I look out my window at the snow.

While I anticipate the sound of the cracking of bats and the pounding of gloves in anticipation that “next year is here” for the Chicago Cubs, baseball will consume my family this year. Andrew moves up to Farm League, Jacob continues Peanut League, and I will be coaching one league and volunteering in the other. The anticipation is high for both kids as they have been anticipating their first practices, planning their positions, and using every warm day since January to play out in the yard. I can’t help but have a little pride in them; after all I see my own competitiveness in them. But my hope every year that their own growth into becoming fundamentally sound ball players is victory enough.

Yet, it is spring and whether we are Cub fans or not, the newness of spring brings hope. Please know that when we talk about hope, especially that which comes from our faith in the resurrection, it is not an over-hyped, power-of-positive thinking kind of hope. But it is a hope that moves us to action and growth in our personal faith and witness. It is a hope that not only sustains in our hardest times and offers a new way from shame or regret, but it then leads us through the door of new life and into the lives of others. It is a living hope, I Peter tells us, suggesting that our hope is one that is at work in us daily where rebirth and renewal are moving us new ways of love and righteousness.

We all have flawed assumptions about the future. In a black and white world (win or lose world) there are flawed assumptions we make about relationships, family, careers, and even in our faith. Yet, when they do not work out we are left with regret, shame, or struggling with the notion of failure and begin to abandon a rose-colored vision for our future. But a living hope, picks us up and helps us move forward, seeing a set-back as growth or seeing a loss as a gain. We are never done growing! Though the cross may be seen as a loss or failure, the word “hope” appears 70 times in the New Testament after the resurrection. Did the people lose hope? No, they built a Church… they built a faith.

We will lose a lot of baseball games, we will have relationship struggles, we will make bad investments, but are we allowing hope to help us grow into another day or opportunity tomorrow? After all, I am a Cub fan and next year is here (though we have been saying that for 101 years)!

Love and Fear

2009-03-19T11:15:00.002-05:00

We are preparing for yet another trip to Juarez this week. This will be the 11th trip for our congregation and the 12th mission trip for me to Juarez. Yet, more than ever this year, Juarez is in the news and is the focus of much of the violent wave sweeping through Mexico. Those going on the trip and those who are not have expressed their concern over our church going. In understand and hear all of those concerns and believe that our decision to go is an informed decision (though I heard one voice suggest if I was "ignoring" what was going on.

Here are some of my observations regarding this trip:
+There are nearly 7,000 troops now patrolling the city and have been given the authority over the police department (which for years has been linked to the drug cartels.
+Since the troops have arrived the violence has dropped dramatically. The U.S. Consulate recently released information that indicates the violence has been cut nearly 75%. The work of the army has included many raids and arrests and has created a sense of security for the many innocent citizens of Juarez.
+The violence is concentrated on those involved in the drug trade and takes place at night in the Southeast side of town. We are all locked in our house (adorned with the cross and flame) by 5:00PM and our work is on the opposite side of town.
+Our trip in January was in the midst of the peak of violence and not for one moment did we feel threatened.

The bigger picture that I keep thinking about, beyond Juarez and mission work, is this notion of fear. Fear is a real feeling and emotion that we feel in response to danger or threats. I am not talking about my fear of snakes or of heights .... but real fear that shakes our security, threatens our safety and questions our confidence. We experience that fear in failure, in the face of violence and when our future is in doubt. We experience that fear when we have been hurt or when we are uncertain of what we are to be doing.

The words of scripture gave me great comfort in January while in Juarez come in 1 John 4. "God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment."

It is easy to keep that in mind in Juarez as mission work is no doubt my passion and I have a deep love for the people in Juarez. In many ways, in my mind, there is no question that such love in my passion casts out any fear that would have been there. Perhaps perfect love is encased in passion.

But what about the other fears in our lives? How do we find a love strong enough to alleviate fears? "I am with you," are the strongest words in scripture in these times. It is God's promise over and over to us that as we walk, struggle, discern, plan, and move ... it is not on our own ... but in the presence of the one who is love. Are we confident in that love?

Religion Mall

2009-03-05T09:46:00.003-06:00

I remember taking a class in seminary on the future Church. The class was actually called History of Christianity 3 and while it was meant to cover the history of Christianity in the 20th Century it also took a look at where the church was going. My group project ended up being the vision of a "religion mall" as religion in the 21st Century, we envisioned, would consist more of a picking and choosing churches and aspects of faith based upon one's needs. We envisioned that there would be less "brand loyalty," and more of a movement beyond denominations to open communities. We presented the notion the very idea that people would attend worship one place, Bible Study at another, and other aspects at other communities.

Were we prophets? Hardly. But I see this taking place more and more in the spiritual pursuits of people. The odd thing is while I found much benefit from this concept in my first 8 years in ministry at Faith ( I used to have the confidence in telling people that they won't get a better sermon or music ministry anywhere in town that what Faith offers at all services), that trend has shifted. The last six months I have said farewell to some close friends who have chosen to participate in worship in other places or no where at all. They have told me that their kids' friends attend these other places or the other location is closer to their homes or the dynamic of their faith are better suited at another place of worship.

I find myself wrestling with a sense discomfort and shaken confidence. Early in my tenure at Faith, our visioning team sought to be all things to all people. Our core value which focuses on children, includes the component of "inviting all, welcoming all, and educating all," through living the love of God in all our relationships and ministries. We have done that and done that well. But as I seek to understand this morning how these recent months have unfolded, perhaps it truly is what we had envisioned 11 years ago in that seminary course. How do we step back and allow the natural cycle of God's timing be at work? Ecclesiastes 3 suggests there is a time for everything including, "a time to seek and a time to lose."

Finding a sense of comfort also in Ecclesiastes 3, the writer continues, "God has made everything suitable for its time." There are many issues we face day in and day out that create panic or fear or insecurity. I was telling a friend yesterday that nothing is permanent. Nothing is ever permanent. In this fluid culture, there is flexibility and movement in all things ... but it is God who has prepared us for this very thing.

I better have gotten an "A" in that class ... because I think we had some insight in the way the future would unfold.

Oh the Guilt!

2009-03-02T13:54:00.002-06:00

I was talking to a friend today, explaining to him how I was surprised by how many people poured into the Catholic church last night. As a part of the confirmation requirements, I took our class of 8th grace students to observe a Catholic Mass at an area Roman Catholic Church. My surprise was that when the Mass started last evening, there was still 4 minutes remaining in the big Illinois game against the 9th ranked Michigan State. My experiences thus far in Champaign-Urbana suggest that U of I sports take precedent over church activities and services on the list of priorities. My friend, however, then pointed out to me that the Catholic church has something going for them ... Catholic Guilt.

I have been accused of putting guilt on people through the years. If you have been missing church for awhile and if I happen to have your cell phone number, you will receive a friendly text message from me letting you know that I missed you. It really is not my attempt to put guilt on anyone, just purely letting you know that you weren't here and I noticed which meant that I missed you.

Doing a quick search of the word "guilt" in the Bible, that word does not appear in the New Testament at all. In the cases it appears in the Old Testament, it largely refers to "guilt offerings" that are made by people in the time of temple sacrifice. It suggests that there are people seeking forgiveness and release from their guilt. As a human emotion, Wikipedia describes guilt as being closely related to remorse and suggests that it is "a cognitive or an emotional experience that occurs when a person realizes or believes - whether justified or not - that he or she has violated a moral standard, and is responsible for that violation. Does that include attendance at church?

I have always suggested that guilt is no way to approach faith ... but it comes out of a desire to seek out, live greater, and be in wonder at the joy of the life offered in Jesus Christ. But there is something about guilt that seems to capture us. Guilt can not be put on another person. "Don't make me feel guilty!" Only you can do that to yourself, when you feel that something you have done opposes who you truly are.

The mission of the church should be contrary to the idea of putting guilt on others, rather to take that guilt away. Jesus Christ offers a way of grace, a away of love, a way of deliverance ... even from that of guilt. In fact the Aramaic translation to Jesus Lord's Prayer suggests that we are to "release the strands of guilt that others cling to." Not only are we to forgive, but to be in a ministry of deliverance. There is an amazing life that awaits us in faith ... can we be wrapped up in such joy?

The Bible and Science

2009-02-24T15:30:00.003-06:00

The following is the transcipt of Sunday's sermon from the theme, The Doubting Sessions.

I remember the day I sat in the Associate Pastor’s office at my church growing up in Galesburg, Illinois, and he talked to me about becoming a pastor. He knew that I was struggling with some career decisions as for some reason the guidance counselors in high school pressed upon the sophomores (yes, I was only a sophomore) to start discerning their future. Perhaps they forgot that 75% of all college students change their majors anyway. But being only a sophomore in high school and being the kid of person I was (and still am today) I stewed for many days over what the future held for me. Lawyer? Doctor? Major League Baseball Umpire?

Pastor? Now that was a new one. I had a good laugh when I told him about our Shumaker family history and even more so our Shumaker family dynamics and habits. But he kept pressing me on this issue, trying to affirm me. But as the conversation took a more serious turn, we started down the path of theology. I remember saying to him “Rev. Kacick, it would be really hard for me to consider being a pastor with my family and all and besides I really have a tough time believing to begin with.”

“Believing what?” He pressed further.

“It’s this whole science thing. Were Adam and Eve cave people? There is no reference to prehistoric creatures in the Bible, and what about the Big Bang Theory (not the show but the scientific theory of the origin of the universe?”

See I used to be smart but I stopped going to school. But our science backgrounds have seemed to stand in conflict with the stories of faith and have proved to be a block for us in our comprehension of the work of God in our lives. In his book, The Reason for God (the basis of our theme of the Doubting Sessions), Timothy Keller draws on some the top authors of our day who suggest that science in general and evolutionary science in particular has made belief in God unnecessary and obsolete. Concludes one author, “you can not be an intelligent scientific thinker and still hold religious beliefs … it has to be one or the other.” Is he right? Has science disproved Christian belief? Must we chose? Have millions of Christians or billions of religious types through the history of the world been so wrong?

A few weeks ago, I asked you to define religion, today I ask you to define the word science. That’s our question for this morning. I invite you to turn to your neighbor this morning and come up with a definition you can both live with. What is science? Please, no electronic devices to use the internet, so put your crackberrys away. I will give you 30 seconds. What is science?

Wikipedia suggests Science (from the Latin scientia, meaning "knowledge" or "knowing") is the effort to discover and increase human understanding of how physical reality works. The “authoritative Merriam Webster’s Dictionary defines science as the state of knowing: knowledge as distinguished from ignorance or misunderstanding. Hmmm. Now if we were to hold religion and science or Christianity and Science in opposition or as either/or, then does that mean faith or matters of faith are of ignorance or formed in misunderstanding? Does it mean that Christians have a lack of understanding of reality? Man alive, no wonder it is so hard to be a pastor, to have to deal with you people. Just kidding.

We have to remember, that this too is a worldview or a religion itself. We asked what religion was a few weeks ago and one of the definitions was that it was our set of answers to the questions of life, Science can be one of those ways to achieve some of those answers.
There are actually two main areas where we see the conflict of the bible and science, or better where the arguments originate, the questions of creation and miracles or the resurrection. Interestingly enough we don’t take issue with the writings of Paul, the words of the Psalms or the prophets or the books of history. Though some discredit the Bible completely and some take it literally word for word, the conflict with science is with the debate of Darwinism and Creationism AND how to interpret the miracles of Jesus and his resurrection and both of these topics have been going for years.

A few months ago, an angry person came across my blog on skepticism and he brought up this topic of creationism vs. Darwinism This other blogger spoke with eloquence in proving his points but he offered them in such a way that he spoke in absolutes. In trying to be done with the conversation, I suggested that this was just an old debate of the 1970’s (how would I know I was born in 75). But this isn’t just a debate of the 1970’s, but even today this very question is given publicity in the schools as to which curriculum should be taught, and also the already discussions on stem cell research, in vitro fertilization, and other areas of medicine.

But as to whether evolution disproves the Bible, I can venture down that road discerning that there will not be a head on collision. We look to Genesis one and say that God created the world in six days, so what about the apes, the dinosaurs, the cavemen. But read on. Genesis 2 tells the story of creation without the specific days. There are high points in the Bible that have two tellings. The passing through the Red Sea appears in Exodus 14 and 15 … they slightly differ. Judges 4 and 5 tell the story of a battle … they slightly differ. There always debates as to why there are two accounts … but the second telling in each of these situations offers the poetic side of the event … a recitation that would be used in ancient Jewish worship services. Sure we can say that to God a day is much longer than our definition of a day. But what we know is this … in the beginning God created. This week read both Genesis 1 and 2 and see how the world unfolds, one as the poetic worship song, the other in seeing the beauty of God’s love poured out. I can go on and on for hours about how we look to Holy Scripture to help us explain, perhaps we can explore that in another setting.

There is no one true Christian position on evolution, but perhaps they to not have to be held in opposition to one another. Perhaps they both work to explain the other. Evolution as an all encompassing theory has it’s flaws. But there are many things that science cannot prove that religion explains and there are things that religion cannot prove that science explains .. they are not meant to be held in opposition to one another.

The question is, can we live with both? In many ways, people push religion off on matters of the heart and suggest that science is a matter of the mind. Can we love, live, and believe with both the heart and mind? Absolutely, it is the nature of who we are. It is possible for our heart felt faith and the scientific questions and challenges in our minds to coexist and when they do, we deepen our relationship to God. When I started to love Jesus with my mind, I could begin to answer some of those questions and see Jesus in a whole new light for what he truly was to a whole population of people who needed to hear the love and connection for them.
The other matter is the miracles of Jesus and his resurrection that are often subject to scientific criticism. So I want us to look at the scripture following Jesus’ resurrection in Matthew 28. Again this is right after our Easter story of the tomb being empty. Matthew 28:11-20.

Like the Da Vinci Code suggested in its movie, there were many theories as to the disappearance of Jesus body. This, taken right out of scripture is one that has been widely spread that indeed it was a plot by the disciples to take the body. But what I want to point out is verse 17, “while they (the disciples) worshiped him, some doubted.” This post resurrection Jesus appears to them. Easter has happened. Yet in the midst of worship, some doubted. The very founders of Christianity still had doubt. We are not the only ones to struggle or be questioned, it is in our Christian DNA as disciples.

But also it is the point of miracles that we are to see here. It isn’t necessarily the point of a miracle to cognitive belief, but to be in awe and wonder and in worship. Jesus’ miracles or the resurrection were not magic tricks, but they were expressions of love to show the sick healing and wholeness, to feed the hungry, to raise us from death, and to bring peace to our stormy lives.

There is a lot to be said about the nature of whether to take scripture literally or not … but as we have discovered here that when we dive deep into the scriptures there are many, many meanings. And so we take our experiences and we look at how they are brought out in scripture and how we measure who we are in light of the mission of Jesus Christ. It is ok to live with these questions of discernment and doubt and to allow others to question us, but the reality is we have to avoid the absolutes and allow our doubt to let us question with our hearts and our minds.
So there I sat in that office that day. A sophomore in high school scared to death at the prospect of being a pastor and filled with doubt … but his answer will always stick with me … “Brad, we know in the beginning God … the first words of the Bible, but how God unfolds the rest is in God’s hands.” We have to trust that scripture is being lived out in us and our story is God’s story in us. That God is creating, redeeming, and sustaining us. That God is giving us proof in our own living and dying.

Are we just a random collection of cells that exist in the midst of the rest of this creation without real purpose or direction? Or is there such a thing as destiny or purpose or relationship to one another or a higher being?

My friend was telling me this week that as they sat around the table at a restaurant celebrating his grandchildren’s birthdays, that he paused during the dinner hour to look around the table. And as he looked at each of his grandchildren around the table, he started to tear up dreaming about their potential. As he looked in each face he wondered what they would become and who they would grow up to be and who they would love and what their purpose would be. Is God any different?

So let me ask you this … can you honestly stand on the beach and look our into the horizon at its vastness and endlessness and suggest that there is no Creator? Or can you stand in the meadow with the breeze sweeping through you and believe that this just so happens? Or can you watch the trees turn their colors in the fall or watch the mountains mirror themselves in the lakes below and believe that we just evolved to that point?

Can you see the love poured out in Mexico or youth bending their knees to the poor of Appalachia and believe that would still happen without Jesus Christ miraculous power on this earth? Can you say there are no miracles when you see the power of reconciliation happen between you and someone you love or when you see friends walk side by side with those in pain or those suffering from terminal illnesses … is that possible without Christ showing us how to do that in his ministry? You tell me …

“When they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted.” Then they went into all nations with that truth … I am with you til the very end. There is a relationship that science can not explain … but we know it to be true.
In Jesus Name, Amen.

A New Hope

2009-02-19T21:42:00.002-06:00

A New Hope is the title of the Star Wars Episode 4 (or the “original” Star Wars, if you will). Did you know that? Episode 3 closes with Anakin Skywalker taking on his new identity as Darth Vader and the empire emerging into rule and the Jedi headed into hiding and the world of peace coming to a close. Anakin is overcome with anger and bitterness, a desire for power, and a sense of independence that led him away from a defined and disciplined way of life into a very “dark side” of his soul. The New Hope is the beginning of a movement of the rebels to find the life without inhibition, but not to be overlooked is that this is also the beginning of Vader’s journey to his son and the life that was intended for him.

A New Hope. I hope that is what I am feeling as I wrap up the last few days of my vacation time. I think back to other times when I felt a “renewed sense” of hope after a mission trip, retreat, or vacation, but then getting back to the grindstone left no room for hope. My last vacation time I spent grieving over my father’s death and helping my mother adjust her finances and make the transition to life without dad. There are many other times, especially early in my ministry that I spent my vacation time either stewing over things back at the office or building up my anxiety about returning to work and facing adversity (that was in the past).

What I am experiencing now is that I have been able to utilize my mind to think not about regret or what has been done or not done … but to be free to think about who I am in my family roles and in my pastoral role. I have thought and prayed a lot about the future … though many things are unclear (as they always are as a United Methodist Pastor) I am excited about returning to the pulpit on Sunday and reuniting with the community that I serve with. Besides the office, I have not been in contact with many through this last week which has deepened my desire to refine my role as a pastor in relational ministry.

I pray this is not a false hope or a fleeting renewed hope. But a New Hope. One that is unlike the past. One that is refined by God. One that lives forward in faith for where we are going. One that shapes me into the man God planned. One that helps me embrace that my older son refuses to leave my side and my younger son is seeking a little attention when he steps outside his little world.

A New Hope. I wish I would have seen vacation and Sabbath differently when I started ministry.

Baseball King, Domestic Goddess, Sin, & Forgiveness

2009-02-10T09:48:00.002-06:00

As I sat in the barber shop this morning, I listened to the other patrons shoot around about the story on Sportscenter regarding A-Rod (Alex Rodriguez). A-Rod tested positively for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003 in a screening of MLB players. Though the test results were to remain confidential, the eventual leaking of these results led A-Rod to go ahead and confess that indeed he did use such drugs from 2001-2003. He also suggests that he came to his senses and since the ban was instituted, he no longer takes such drugs (these performance-enhancing drugs were not banned from MLB during such time). Adding to the story is that he emphatically denied using in an 60 minute interview since 2003.

2003 must have been quite a year as that was also the year of Sammy Sosa's bat corking and the arrest and imprisonment of Martha Stewart. There were other issues in the news in June 2003. Looking back at a sermon I preached that month, I said these words:

We snickered with Stewart, we were shocked with Sosa. Though this is nothing new. This has been a wild few years. Anywhere from Coaches to Politicians gone wild, those in the public eye, those icons of the public arena have had their falls recently. Alabama Football coach Mike Price … he had a stripper problem, Iowa State Basketball coach Larry Eustachy … he has a drinking problem, Former President Bill Clinton and former Speaker of the House Henry Hyde … they had zipper problems, Jesse Jackson … he had a baby problem, Former Senator Trent Lott had a color problem.

A Baseball King, a Domestic Goddess, our nation's leaders, role models, celebrities, and others we have put on a pedestal have had their flaws. To quote a friend from yesterday, "it is easier to love those who are perfect, isn't it Brad?" Indeed it is. Yet what about the examples of in our own personal lives? When we find out that people are less than perfect. The stories of betrayal or mistrust or broken promises, or lies (big or small) lead us to question the future of that relationship, respect, or trust. It's one thing to think about the legacy of A-Rod or Sosa, the future of Martha or the leadership of a politician, but it is another to consider where forgiveness is in the people with whom we not only have regular contact but also with whom were are in an interpersonal relationship or connection.

Does forgiveness erase all that has happened? Perhaps not. But what forgiveness can offer is an opportunity to let go of anger and resentment or the desire for revenge. Anger and resentment or bitterness are negative emotions that cause destruction to people's lives and even their own health. Even in levels of personal hurt, the small doses of anger that sweep through our emotions work to tear us down as well. Ephesians 4 suggests that we "put away a;; bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you," (Ephesians 4:31-32, NRSV).

The reality is, the person who committed the offense has enough guilt to deal with already and we allow God to deal with such offense. How can we become more loving and forgiving? Perhaps that is a way to peace. I want to grow in that life ... I want to be there in that place. For when we are forgiving, we too are free.

Suffering and Evil

2009-02-09T14:18:00.003-06:00

Text of this Sunday's sermon is below. It is the third week in our theme The Doubting Sessions. Feel free to contribute your comments, thoughts...

I love this figurine. (figurine from nativity set is explained below) This is from the nativity set that my father gave me a few years ago; a nativity set that was given to him by his uncle shortly before my uncle’s death. Most of the nativity set is in less than stellar condition. The stable has been replaced. One of the wise men has been replaced. The donkeys are missing ears and the angels lack the wings to fly. But this figurine is one of the wise men. The wise men, three in number, all range in size and stature. But this one, the older one who is kneeling down to present his gift is the image that I continue to go to when I think about God. In my prayer life, in my own devotion and in my own child-like faith, I see this king sitting on a cloud looking down at the world. I know, probably not what you expected.

Yet what God is lacks importance when we seek to answer the question who God is. That is your question this morning, how would you describe who God is? Not asking what God is, so avoid any physical attributes or descriptions of what you think God looks like. But in a word or two how would you best describe who God is to you? If you could share that with your neighbor this morning. (Pause)

What are some of the words you chose to describe God? Omnipotent (all-powerful)? Omniscient (all-knowing)? Omnipresent (God is everywhere)? If things are difficult and you are facing challenges, is that the place you go in your mind? Is that where you find comfort or peace? Or does it lead you to question God even more? When trials hit, do our descriptions of who God is jive with our questions of God or our frustrations with God?

These are hard times that we are living right now. A three year old child living in a cardboard shack in the Mexican village of Anapra is killed on New Year’s Eve as a bullet goes through the cardboard roof. A young man of 15 years old is shot in front of his school as he is mistaken for a gang member. A young mother is diagnosed with breast cancer and it spreads to multiple places in her body. A mother has Alzheimer’s and does not even recognize her daughter anymore. A dedicated employee of 20 years is suddenly let go from his company without cause, leaving a family of five without an income. Another faithful employee made a decision that reflected integrity and now is without a job and wondering how to pay bills this month.

A committed wife is blindsided one day as she comes home to find out her husband has moved out. A young man bicycling on a bike path is tragically killed as a young driver loses control because of text messaging. A couple who has tried everything to conceive a child has reached the reality they wont be able to. A middle aged woman is arrested for shoplifting and can’t deal with the guilt, she ends her life. The children of a work-a-holic father grow up never knowing their father … they think that their father loves their job more than them. And nobody can seem to answer the question, “why?” Why?

Suffering and evil, pain and death. So many situations and these are the ones that I have seen in this last year, that you have seen or lived. And this question, “Why does God … a loving God … a powerful God allow so much suffering and evil and pain” … is the most asked question by both believers and skeptics today. This question is what has raised the most doubt among those I walk with every day and it is the question that we can’t seem to answer.

Our descriptions of God are usually all-powerful, all loving, God is everywhere. God loves us all. But then we ask, how does that loving God allow evil? How does that all powerful God intervene and stop that suffering? If that God is all-knowing, then certainly God knows what ails, if God is everywhere, where are you now? But do those questions fall in line with everything we know about God?

The theology of pain and suffering seems to have no end or resolution. Such events that lead to pain and suffering, or those things we define as evil are lost in mystery. Though it is hard to pinpoint or define, it is easier to answer this question this morning by suggesting what isn’t the answer. Why would God allow such suffering and evil? It can’t be that God doesn’t love us. We know and we believe the promises of scripture. It can’t be that God is indifferent or detached from our condition. Remember that we believe in Jesus Christ, the word became flesh and lived among us … the cross is our reminder that God takes our misery and suffering so seriously that God was willing to take it on himself in Jesus Christ.

Medieval theologians called evil "absurd" or in other words, something without meaning. St. Francis of Assisi defined evil as the "absence of God". Yet, we still find ourselves trying to justify and we walk down a path of frustration with the God we have given our devotion to. If we were to step back and look at it from a broader scope in our faith. When we ask "how could God allow" or "why won't God intervene" and similar questions, does that jive with our understanding of God and how we have known God up until this point? My guess is we have known and experienced the love of God in many relationships, events, and high points in our lives. Our experience with God is found in those relationships of love and hope.

In the book that we are basing this theme called The Doubting Sessions on, is a book entitle the Reason for God, by Timothy Keller. He poses this scenario in the book: If we have a God that we feel close enough to that we can be mad at because he hasn’t stopped our suffering or the evil around us; then we disregard the God of love who promises over and over in scripture … I will be with you. The problem with tragedy or suffering is a problem for everyone … those who believe and cling to God and those who do not. Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do bad things happen to bad people? God doesn’t punish and pick and choose who is going to get this or that done to them. We have to remember that there is a thing called human evil in this world that creates tragedy for others. There are decisions we make that hurt others. There are other tragedies that take place that are shrouded in mystery … but it happens to you and to me … the good and the bad.

If you feel that abandoning your belief in God or being mad at God makes our problem easier to handle than we are giving up on hope … that one great thing that we have been given through our faith system. Let me say that again: If you feel that abandoning your belief in God or being mad at God makes our problem easier to handle than we are giving up on hope … that one great thing that we have been given through our faith system

We turn to scripture this morning. Last week we found Jesus before Pilate saying, “My kingdom

is not of this world.” Today we find Jesus later that day. Luke 23: 26-43. I invite you to follow along on the screen.

26 As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27 A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. 28 Jesus turned and said to them, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For the time will come when you will say, 'Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!' 30 Then " 'they will say to the mountains, "Fall on us!" and to the hills, "Cover us!" ' [a] 31 For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?" 32 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." [b] And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is God's Messiah, the Chosen One." 36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37 and said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself." 38 There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!" 40 But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong." 42 Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. [c]" 43 Jesus answered him, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise."

If you are who you say you are, then save yourself and save us. Deliver us from this pain and suffering. Take this away. Why? Why? Where are you? Reading more in the passion narrative in the Gospel of John we find Jesus cry our, My God My God, why have you forsaken me? It is in those moments that we feel the greatest distance from God and believe that if God was all knowing, all loving then why us? Why now?

It is easy for me in my own pastoral care and counseling that I offer to people in times like these, it is easy for me to remind people that God does not allow this to you, God doesn’t cause this. It is easy for me to explain that God is with you in your suffering and in our difficulties. It is easy for me to say, you know God is not in that cancer. God is not in that divorce. God is not in that bullet. God is not in that hatred or that Alzheimer’s or that text message that led the girl of the road. That is all true. We find God in the suffering. God weeps with me in tragedy. God walks with me through evil. God comforts me when I am broken. God waits for me when I push God away. How do I know this? We feel God in relationship. The Bible never promised that bad things won't happen, But God did promise ... "I will be with you."

But that is not enough for us to just say that God is with us in our suffering … but we have to believe that there is something coming out of this. When we go back to the core of scripture … we have to remember that they all, all of these great characters experienced hardship or suffering. Hebrews 11 gives us the long sermon on all of those who lived a faith-based life even through their own times of suffering. But they are pointed to in scripture because of how they impacted the world around them and the lives around them. If all of us experience the pains of this life, what sets us a part in our faith is the belief that we can make something out of our experiences through the grace of Jesus Christ.

Our faith is founded in the resurrection. The Bible teaches us that the future is not an immaterial “paradise” but a new heaven and a new earth. As we talked in here back in the fall, that the ideals of heaven come crashing into our world and we experience a renewal, a cleansing, a restoration. Our scripture with Jesus on the cross … “today, you will be with me in paradise.” Today, in your suffering or in your death, you will be with me in paradise. Our ultimate view of life as Christians is the concept of resurrection. What that means is not just Jesus being raised from the dead at Easter … but resurrection means a restoration of the life we always wanted.

Too many times we see death as the consolation prize, that heaven is the consolation prize for the losses of this life and the joys that might have been. But resurrection doesn’t mean that we end up with the life we never had … it means that we are restored to the life we always wanted. Today, you will be with me in paradise. This can instill in us a powerful hope that in our lives and in our trials we can transform the world around us. That in trials we find strength and a life that has been promised … whether in this life or the next.

You have all heard my lament about 2008. I couldn’t wait to turn the calendar because it seemed to be one personal tragedy after another. But now as 2009 unfolds, many of these situation I described at the beginning of the sermon have happened to people close to me just since the first of the year or in the last 6 months. But I know that such pain for me in 2008 has helped me become a better pastor and companion for those who walk through such pain now.
The ultimate defeat of evil or suffering is found in how we invest in hope and the restoration and reconciliation of all things and all people and all …. Dreams … whether it be in this world or in the world to come. Today … Today you will be with me in paradise … coming from a man hanging on across to take away our sin and fulfill our hope.

Antwone Fisher is a movie based on the true events of a young man in the navy dealing with repressed anger. His life was one of much suffering. His father was killed before Antwone was born and his mother gave him up after giving birth to him in prison. His journey through foster homes was one of abuse … mentally, physically, and sexually. His abandonment on the streets left him homeless. The movie is about these struggles and how people can be restored to the life they always wanted. His journey into his past led him on a quest to find his mother and the family he never knew. I close you this morning with this clip, a picture of heaven on earth … of when our journey comes to fruition and our own suffering and battle with evil knows its defeat.

(Video Clip)

In Jesus Name, Amen.

Is There One True Religion?

2009-02-03T13:28:00.003-06:00

Text of this Sunday's sermon is below. It is the second week in our theme The Doubting Sessions. Feel free to contribute your comments, thoughts...

Knowing that college was my first step to ministry and that getting a master’s degree was a must, I tried to shape my studies at Illinois State University in a way that would prepare me for seminary. English 101, check. Speech classes, check. American Religious History, check. The History of Western Thought, check. The Bible as Literature, check. Communicating with the Aging Generation, a must for the United Methodist Church, check. First Aid, (look at wrist) check.

The History of World Religions, wow, check. I did not take that until my junior year, but that was perhaps the first class of many to follow that would require me to step outside of small, blue-collar, Midwestern town mindset. Growing up in Galesburg, Illinois, there were two types of people when it came to religion. Those who went to church and those who didn’t. If you went to church, you went to Bethel Baptist, First UMC, Trinity Lutheran, First Presbyterian, one of the huge Catholic churches or one of the small neighborhood churches. If you didn’t go to church, it was because you were working or you didn’t believe in organized religion. It was a predominately a Christian community. There was the one Jewish family that moved to town when I was in high school, but they celebrated Christmas with us … so we didn’t say much about that.

Even going to ISU, most of the students classified themselves as Christian, though most Sunday mornings when I headed to church, I had to ride in elevator full of … well let’s just say people had too much to drink Saturday night. The huge number of people who came down from Chicago were non-practicing catholics and the conservative protestant students stuck together in campus ministries. But the History of World Religions showed me a world, a religious world, that was much bigger than Christianity. The religions of the ancient world in Rome and Greece, the growing Islamic faith, the long heritage of Judaism, the many different spiritualities of native cultures, Hinduism, Buddhism, Shinto, Zoroaster. When you step back and see how diverse the global religious community is, you begin to see just how small we are.

Contrast that experience to this community. With the help of the university and the larger sense of community of Champaign-Urbana and most of our kids are not only exposed to the social and cultural diversity, but our children are growing up in a religious community of pluralism. Our Christian children are invited to Bar mitzvahs, they understand the dietary restrictions of their Muslim classmates, and they coexist without much question. The world is much bigger than what most of us experienced growing up.

Yet the question is asked of me often, “if Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, what about all of those other religions?” We are in the midst of a theme called the Doubting Sessions and we are addressing some of these questions that are raised out of doubt and skepticism. If there were two kinds of people in this world now, perhaps we would describe them as those who are religious and those who are skeptical. The book that is the focus of this series is called, The Reason for God, by Timothy Keller, a pastor in New York City. Last week we talked about all of the injustice that Christianity has been responsible for through the years, today we address the question, “Is there one true religion?”

To get us going in our conversation today I want to invite you to turn to your neighbor and give your definition to the word, Religion. What is religion? In your own words, how would you define it? What is religion. I will give you about 30 seconds to share with your neighbor.

According to Wikipedia, religion is a set of stories, symbols, beliefs and practices, that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to an ultimate power or reality. How many of you were that specific? Just kidding. Your religion could also be seen as your worldview; your beliefs, your assumptions about how the world works and how you explain it. Another way to answer the question what is religion is to answer by saying it the set of answers to the questions of life. To say that there is one true religion is a religious view; likewise to say there is not one true religion or to say that all religion is non-existent is a religious view.

Given those definitions, there still is the question, is there one true religion? Is there one set of values or beliefs that take superiority over another? Claiming one true religion is a dangerous matter. The reality is, the greatest threat to world peace is religion. Yet who prays for world peace more than anyone else … the “religious.” Almost every religious tradition has promoted itself as the one true religion and have had their own exclusive tendencies.

For Christianity in particular, so often, scripture is pulled out of context in order to prove something, but yet the whole of scripture and the Word as we know it as Jesus Christ offers a message that is much more encompassing. Christians at the end of the spectrum have thrown up the scripture out of John. Thomas asks Lord, how shall we know the way to this mansion, “Jesus answers, I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the father except through me.” If you went to any Illinois Football games this fall, you may have seen this on the banners being held outside the stadium. As my friend and I walked by, my friend, “How’s it going?” The voice yelled back at him, repent or go to hell!

Is Jesus a way or the way, I have been asked many times. I am the way, truth, and the life. We turn to scripture where this element of truth comes up again. John 18, I invite to follow along, John 18: 33-38a:

28 Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. 29 So Pilate came out to them and asked, "What charges are you bringing against this man?" 30 "If he were not a criminal," they replied, "we would not have handed him over to you." 31 Pilate said, "Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law." "But we have no right to execute anyone," they objected. 32 This took place to fulfill what Jesus had said about the kind of death he was going to die. 33 Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" 34 "Is that your own idea," Jesus asked, "or did others talk to you about me?" 35 "Am I a Jew?" Pilate replied. "Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?" 36 Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place." 37 "You are a king, then!" said Pilate. Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." 38 "What is truth?" retorted Pilate.

The truth. For this I came into the world to testify, to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice. What is truth?

Great question, Pilate. What is truth? The religious leaders say this Jesus is a criminal, yet he is described as king of the Jews. But what we fail to recognize or what we fail to hear is Jesus voice, he tells us those who belong to the truth listen to my voice … and what does this voice tell us in this text? My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then my people would be fighting for me … that’s the way and the truth of this world. This world, Jesus suggests time and time again in scripture, is about power. This world is about violence. This world is about keeping people out and the religious establishment in. This world casts out the sinner or explains that people are blind or handicap because of sin. This world values money. This world values power. But my kingdom isn’t of this world.

If we were to go line by line through scripture, focusing on what the whole of Jesus ministry says ... we get a whole different scope of what his kingdom is about. Peace, love, justice, humility, comfort, kindness, hope, equality. But how easily is that forgotten when we come to understand what is truth or what is the one true religion. You notice, while his kingdom or his world view differs from that of this world … you notice he doesn’t say it is wrong, he doesn’t condemn the Jewish leaders … he does criticize how they have put burdens on people, but even in this text he is resolved to say that our views are different. My kingdom is not of this world.

As we consider what that message may be to us today is that our earthly world views, there is a kingdom much bigger than us. Perhaps that is what is key for us in our argument. The Christians, Muslims and Jews all subscribe to the Old Testament, to the Hebrew Scripture begins with the acknowledgment that we are all made in the image of God, male and female, in order to be in community. And yet when we look even within Christianity itself, the divisions run deep. I can’t begin to tell you how many fellow Christians have condemned me to hell.

We have these deep commitments and convictions about what we perceive to be the truth. That our religion or our world view or our answers to the questions of life are the truth and this naturally leads to feelings of superiority. For some it leads to condemning those who differ, in many ways it leads to a religious downward spiral where people are marginalized and oppressed … which is contrary to what their holy scripture taught to begin with.

What is truth? Is there one true religion? This question of truth is becoming vital because the world is becoming increasingly religious. The fastest growing religion in the U.S. is Islam. In Korea, number of Christians in Korea in the last 50 years has went from 0% to 45% of the population. By 2060 it is estimated that there will be ½ billion Christians in China if the pace continues. What is truth?

Typically when I am asked the question of one true religion, I give the image of the house. If any of you have ever read the Interior Castle from St. Teresa of Avila, it is a matter of getting to the core or our spirituality. We enter through door of a house at a very basic level. Our birth, our invitation to church or Sunday school. But once we are in the house we are constantly moving to the innermost part of the house. The steps that lead up the staircase are experiences of Christian community … mission trips, Sunday school, potlucks, worship services. The pictures along the stair case are of those spiritual mentors who have helped show God’s ways to us. They look upon us as we climb up the steps of experience.

As we reach the top of the steps and prepare to enter into the most sacred part of our souls and the most intimate connection with God that we know … we enter through the Jesus’ door … as Christians, that is the way into that innermost part of our souls. Because it is in that relationship we experience God. Now are there other doors into that most intimate of relationships with God? I don’t know … but in my interior castle … that’s the way I know … it is to Jesus’ kingdom that I have been invited to, raised up in and walked through.

When we get to the heart of scripture, talking on our own faith now, when we get to the heart of the truth which Jesus speaks and his kingdom, those who walk in that way, truth and life have a foundation of respect for people of other faiths. The very nature of valuing God’s creation that we see throughout the Old Testament sets a precedent for appreciating the wisdom and values of others, but Jesus’ way that is revealed to us is one of humility. Philippians 2, that was read earlier, if were to imitate the way of Jesus we are reminded to “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” That way of Christ was to “not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a human being, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death even death on a cross!

Rather than be superior, Jesus invites us to regard others as superior to us. Rather than seek to achieve a salvation through moral improvement, Jesus comes offering forgiveness and grace. It is in our DNA as Christians. We have been offered the way of Jesus Christ. We take that route, that door. That is our truth. But his way, and his truth is not found in one line of scripture. It is found in a life. He prayed for his enemies, he humbled himself. At the very heart of our worldview, of our religion is a man who died for his enemies, praying for forgiveness. Reflecting on this could lead to a radically different way of dealing with conflict and those are different than what we believe.

Look at the whole of what scripture tells us and we see that Christians have a chance to save the world. That doesn’t make us better. But it ushers in a kingdom that is not of this world.

In Jesus Name, Amen.

Hope and Service

2009-01-27T13:57:00.002-06:00

As I was driving down the road after lunch yesterday listening to my new favorite news radio station, the news was rather harsh. The Monday after I return from Mexico I hear that several companies were making cuts this week, many with Midwest ties. John Deere, Caterpillar, Sprint, GM, Home Depot, and others who are being hit by the struggling economy, are combining for 75,400 jobs being cut all announced in one day. While that is a bad day for our economy, it is an even more difficult day for those who received such a notice from their supervisors.

I had such a conversation with our two missionary contacts in Juarez last week. Their source of income is wrapped in the number of groups who come to serve on the mission. Because if the violence and also the economy, they have seen the number of mission teams participating ion Operacion Hogar drop from 20 to only 7 teams in 2009. They received that news while we were there and they began to talk about how they will survive on an already below poverty level income. Open a grocery in their home?

We started to worry when we heard of the foreclosures. It hit a little closer to home when we heard that we may have to work longer before retirement because our investments dropped significantly. The market took hits and we started to panic. We understood that we had to cut budgets and not accept raises. We voted in a new president and put a lot of pressure on him for an immediate turnaround. Now jobs are being cut around us and if it hasn’t been ours, we perhaps know somebody who has been laid off or downsized. I have heard some suggest that Champaign-Urbana is insulated from times of recession, but I am not too sure about that. I see social agencies and churches suffering. As contractors are out of work and state institutions start to see some funds cut, this will all leave some impact. The stress of money is sometimes the hardest stress for one to manage.

Last week while we were in El Paso, the local newspaper ran an article suggesting that perhaps one of the ways through a down economic time is to volunteer more. Taking off on the President’s suggestion to volunteer as a way to endure through difficult times, there is a lot be said about stepping into another person’s shoes or seeing the world through their eyes. Every service opportunity for me leads me down a road of humility that seems to put to rest some of the prideful emotions that drive my mindset most of the time. In this time of fear, servanthood and humility are experiences of love and as we seek to come together as a united community it is a love for God and God intention for all of us that will bind us together. In that love we find security and a hope for what tomorrow holds.

There are many ways for you to be involved. There are opportunities that you can give of your time through our global missions, local agencies and right here through Faith UMC. Can’t pledge money this year? Then offer your time in service to children, scooping snow off the sidewalks. In this world, we are like Jesus … humbling ourselves in ways of love and peace.

The Lights

2009-01-18T07:49:00.003-06:00

Ahhh, the lights. The day has arrived. Last night I stood on the balcony of the 8th floor of the Embassy Suites in El Paso, Texas. I have stood on that balcony a number of times and gazed at the sprawling lights of Juarez, Mexico. These lights go seem to go beyond the horizon. They roll as the hills roll. They climb the mountains. They line the streets. The lights of the city are not like those of Las Vegas or New York, or even Champaign. They do not feature large buildings or the neon lights of glamour. These lights are all the same - small street lights and home lights that have the look of a soft amber that illumines the city.

Last night these lights were exceptional. They twinkled with the moving of the wind and stood out in a way that I would have expected. Perhaps my view of this community that holds my love has been a bit tainted this year. The violence of the community has been featured on national news sources and has stricken fear on many who either live there or who used to go there in mission.

But there is something about those lights that draws me in. I can't wait to go across the border today. There are homes to be built. Lives to be transformed. A community of love and faith to continue growing across borders and languages and cultures.

Memories ...

2009-01-12T14:42:00.002-06:00

What is the most memorable day of your life? If you could name that one day that stands out for you, what would it be? (I asked this in worship yesterday and if you are so inclined to share with me, please post a comment as I am interested in knowing). The big moments in life are typically what people lift up. Weddings, births of children, graduations, first loves, baptisms. But consider each of these memories?

+The wedding day is usually the most stressful day of a bride's life.

+The birth of a child is painful for the woman to endure physically and equally hard emotionally for the man watching his mate endure misery; yet also the fear associated with being a first time parent.

+First loves usually aren't your only love and the first love also leads to a first break-up.

+Baptisms are not typically something we can recall (if we were baptized as infants).

Yet we cling to these days because thy meant a turning point in our lives. The memory of each of these events is shaped by the meaning each of these days hold. If you were to ask me that question, I might say one of those above. But, I mean really, my only wedding day memory as a 20 year old groom was thinking about Lou the maintenance man who told me I wouldn't remember anything (he was right). The birth of my first child featured the rush of a dash across the state and absolute fear of changing diapers. My first love, well that's another story. And my baptism happened when I was an infant.

But interesting how when I really reflect upon that question and what would be the most memorable day ... it is tied to the many experiences where I was serving, loving, and giving of myself in ways God has directed. My most clear memory is the day I heard my call to ministry, I can describe that moment with ease. And then there are many portraits in my mind of stories from those in poverty or in need and I was asked to be a part of something bigger than myself.

Reality is, while we may not remember when we were baptized, we do remember that we are baptized. And if we were to consider all the ways God has moved us or challenged us to move, we can see how we rose to the occasion and made memories. It is when we give of ourselves to others that we find meaning and purpose. So perhaps that was in your wedding day, or when you held your child, or when you learned to give of yourself to God or as a parent. Keep living and seeking greater things that are beyond you ... make memories and don't regret not living this life that God has given.

How Is That Resolution?

2009-01-08T15:07:00.004-06:00

A survey last year of 300,000 people determined these as the most popular New Year’s resolutions.

#1 – weight loss or getting in shape

#2 - resolving to stick to a personal budget

#3 - debt reduction

#4 - finding a spouse

#5 – quit smoking.

That being said consider that further research suggests that 45% of adults make one or more resolutions a year. Of that number, 75% of you make it past the first week, not bad. 64% of you make it past the first month, again – not bad! 46% of you will make it the first half of the year. That’s less than half. Less than half of us are able to obtain the goal we have set for a year.

Does that reflect a lack of discipline on our part? Perhaps not. I think for us, it is a lack of focus and where we are investing ourselves and our faith in that resolution. If we go back and look at that list of top resolutions made, what is the common thread through those resolutions? They are all about personal transformation, indeed, but it ends there. Emphasizing the personal part of that transformation, what impact do any of these have on those around you? So what, you lose weight, you’re less of a person than you were before. (At least that’s just my excuse) Sticking to a budget or debt reduction, unless of course it includes a plan to give away more of your resources, it is about you.

Our culture is talking about resolutions or New Year’s goals to address problems we that see in our own lives whether we are looking in the mirror or at the check book or when we are sitting at home alone or when we sit at our desk, wondering if there is anything else in life. And don’t get me wrong, these are all great goals for us – but I wonder if our resolutions success rate suffers because we are only letting ourselves down if we give up. We’re willing to give up because it only affects us. So you don’t lose that weight, will your spouse or partner still love you? I hope so. If you don’t learn that new hobby, will your boss or supervisor have to let you go? We don’t mind letting ourselves down.

But when there is a question of accountability, there seems to be more motivation. When I had a buddy to ride bikes with or meet at the YMCA, I had my best run at losing weight and getting healthy. It's not that we are failures on our own, but the gift of accountability not only gives of motivation ... but also encouragement. When we think about Christian community, when we think about the faith communities we are involved in is accountability a part of that? Not talking about judging others or pointing out their sins (I have plenty of people who like to point out I eat too much salt), but I am talking about encouragement. When as the last time you gave words of encouragement and support to someone else who is walking along the journey with you?

This is a good challenge for each of us this year. In these first 8 days of 2009 I have heard some very difficult stories from people who are facing significant challenges. Can I be a voice of support and a companion on the journey to them? Can you? Can we see that this is not a competition or a race or can we put our critical comments and negativity aside for what is positive? Can we with one another? Can we with our kids?

Now that's a resolution ...

New Blog

2009-01-04T15:06:00.002-06:00

I am sorry for my blogging absence. Combination of Christmas as a pastor and the need for a little rest pulled me away. This blog will once again be updated a few times a week and hope to continue to be a source of devotion and renew our dialogue.

Christmas 1979/Christmas 2008

2009-01-04T15:02:00.003-06:00

On Christmas Eve, I shared this story at the fusion Christmas Eve Service:

It was our first Christmas in our new house on McMasters Avenue in Galesburg, Illinois… Christmas 1979. A family of six, we moved around the block that year so that my fourteen year old brother didn’t have to share a room with his 12 and 4 year old little brothers. With my father’s recent raise and promotion, it was my parent’s first purchase of a home after seventeen years of marriage.

My father was in the grocery business. It was the only thing he had known, starting as a bagger at the age of 15. And now twenty years later, Dad was a local store manager for a fast growing chain of stores. But the one thing about his new position was that it meant more hours … many, many more hours. My father had always worked hard, but the added responsibility and his drive for perfection meant long days. And that first Christmas on McMasters, well I think you know that working retail this time of year drives you to work like no other. And at age four and pretty much every year thereafter, we knew that Dad would go in at 5:00AM and then be home about 5:00PM eat dinner and then off to bed, unless it was Christmas week in which he would then work till about 7:00PM and come home to go to bed very quickly. So you can imagine how well I knew my father.

It was Christmas Eve night, 1979, … a night much like tonight, we made our way to Candlelight services at Galesburg First United Methodist Church and back home to where I quickly went to bed in anticipation for that great morning of presents and stockings and breakfast … you know whether I was four or even now at 33 … the anticipation of Christmas day means that I toss and turn all night on Christmas Eve. And like any other year I tossed and turned all night. I am sure I got up and checked the tree and my stocking a half dozen times that night.

It was perhaps 4:00AM … I had finally fallen into a deep sleep when I heard a voice in the dining room. “Ho,ho,ho, Merry Christmas. This is Santa I hope you have a great day.”
I couldn’t believe it. This couldn’t be real.

Then it happened again: “Ho,ho,ho, Merry Christmas. This is Santa I hope you have a great day.”
I climbed out of bed and snuck down the hallway, hoping to catch a peek at this voice and catch a glimpse of the one they call St. Nick. As I peered around my bedroom doorway, I could see that indeed Santa had made it as the presents under the tree were all the evidence I needed. But again, that voice came again as I was still en route: “Ho,ho,ho, Merry Christmas. This is Santa I hope you have a great day.”

As I made my way to the end of the hallway and into the dining room, there sat my father at the table. Cup of coffee in hand, dressed in his nightshirt, phone in one hand, telephone book in his other. I watched him dial a number, wait for an answer, and then say: “Ho,ho,ho, Merry Christmas. This is Santa I hope you have a great day.” He had a huge smile on his face and a big round belly, that shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly. For the man that I hardly saw laugh or smile … let alone be at home, the man whose employees were intimidated by him because of his work ethic and perfection, spent that Christmas morning 1979, calling all of his employees at 4:00AM, wishing them a Merry Christmas.

From Christmas 1979 and on our dad carried on that tradition … even last year … Christmas 2007, my phone rang and I knew whose voice would be on the other end of the line. For those of you who have been here before on Christmas eve, you know important this relationship has meant to me, especially this time of year. But something will be missing this year. My phone or my siblings’ phone will not be ringing this year, nor the phones of my father’s former employees. As my father, who was at his best on Christmas passed away earlier this year, so there is a bit of apprehension as tonight unfolds and tomorrow arrives.

Reflection:
Christmas 2008, after the 11:00PM service, I loaded up the kids and drove over to Galesburg to be there with my mom on Christmas morning. Arriving at 2:30AM and getting the kids to sleep, I finally laid my head down about 3:00AM. An hour later, my cell phone started to ring. I got three calls that morning all with that familiar phrase: “Ho,ho,ho, Merry Christmas. This is Santa I hope you have a great day.” Two of the voiced I knew as they were my good friends and father figures. But there was one call I did not know. That call came at 4:02AM and the caller ID read, “Private Number.” I don’t have any idea who it was, but I know what my imagination has told me since that Christmas morning.

The Word on the Street

2008-12-14T21:00:00.000-06:00

It has been awhile since there has been a posting. It is not that I am out of thoughts, just been out of time. It's not that I haven't been reflecting, it's just that we have focused many hours on the Sunday production, "The Word on the Street." With the help of a fantastic drama team, many talented musicians and singers, and the children of Faith, we were able to recreate the story of Joseph and Mary.

It is a story we know very little about. The Bible tells us of angel appearances and dreams and we get a glimpse of their struggles with the message delivered to them and the eventual faith they embraced in the plan set forth. But their courtship we piece together through historical and cultural reconstruction. Their journey together, we assume, was more than a trek on a donkey to Bethlehem. While Mary emerges throughout the story of Jesus and has become a centerpiece in some faith traditions, Joseph seems to disappear. We hear of his seeking out his son Jesus, only to find him in the temple teaching at a young age. Yet other than that we hear nothing else.

Historians have rationalized that he was much older than Mary and most likely died before Jesus came of age. Some Biblical scholarship has explained the de-emphasis of Joseph's role and the emphasis of Mary's role as a way of informing a male dominated culture of the importance of the role of women in God's kingdom. We all can affirm the many theories.

Yet, I find Joseph to be a valuable missing part of the Christmas story. His response of faith gave validity to an unwed, pregnant Mary. His ancestry connected Jesus to a deeper story of Old Testament prophesy. His love delivered Mary and the baby to security in a highly charged political climate and a threatened Herod. Perhaps his story is important today to a number of men who are absent from their children's lives due to demanding jobs and busy schedules. Perhaps his story of faith is and important message today to a number of men who have not made practicing their faith a priority or living that faith example for their children (many men see the faith development as the woman's role). Perhaps his missing part of the story is the missing part of our story.

The Times They Are A Changin'

2008-12-03T09:54:00.001-06:00

This morning as I sat at my desk to start hammering away at a long day, I did not have an internet connection. "Oh what disaster," I thought to myself! I have such a long day with so much to do and our church's internet connection is down. I called Doug in a panic and decided that I would have to go home and work or get my laptop and head somewhere with Wifi. Could I survive my day without email, the Itunes store, http://www.desperatepreacher.com/, http://www.revshuby.blogspot.com/, http://www.sermopnspice.com/, http://www.facebook.com/, my connection to news and the markets and sports? Oh the trauma. 5 minutes later, Doug had us back and running.

How sad is that? When I started ministry and sitting in my office at Walnut Grove, the internet was not an option (neither was cable at the parsonage). All I had was the newspaper, telephone, and my books to entertain me all day and you know how I hate reading. But my world changed rapidly on July 1, 2000 when I moved to Champaign. Welcome to the city, a big church, a busy life, a full staff, a lot of technology and oh yeah ...contemporary worship.

Reality, this world has changed rapidly these last ten years perhaps as rapidly as any ten year span in the history of the world. (Check out the book, The World Is Flat, by Thomas Friedman) The way technology has changed our lives, it has changed our economy, changed the way we shop, educate and connect. It has even changed the dinosaur called the church, which is indeed proof that the last decade has been one of radical change.

My friend recently sent me these statistics at the top of this blog. While we hear of the dangers of the internet through the inappropriate material, the misuse of people's time, and the threats of those lurking and preying on the innocent; there is also a way to connect people to one another and provide spiritual resources that were never imagined sitting in my Walnut Grove office on a Saturday night at 10:00PM.

Faith UMC offers a website, an e-mail news, this blog, worship with technology driving behind, and we are constantly seeking ways to just not be cutting edge .... but to connect people to people and connect spirituality to daily life. We hope to offer streaming video of morning worship soon. We have also recently created a group on Facebook called the Faith UMC Community that also will be a resource for further connection and news. My friends, may we know a grace and peace and community that flows through each of us ... even in cyperspace.

I Heard a Rumor ...

2008-11-26T09:13:00.001-06:00

This past Sunday as we gathered together to wonder at the art of Jesus Christ, we got to look a little deeper at the divinity of Jesus Christ that came through the most human of times. The passion story of his betrayal, trials, beatings and crucifixion shows the very humanness of Jesus' being. But the way he handled himself revealed though he was 100% human, he was also 100% divine. Jesus did not strike back. In the face of ridicule or judgement he kept his composure. When false things were said about him or negative talk about him surfaced, he only stood asking if this was hearsay or if this is how people experienced him personally.

The crowd that shouted praises to him on Palm Sunday, had a different tone only days later. Perhaps he disappointed them because he did not meet their expectations ... or even more, perhaps the voice of the crowd swayed like the wind. From there the crowd shouts out that that Jesus is a criminal and that they want him crucified. This is where we see the art of Jesus Christ and his teaching come to be embodied. He did not retaliate, he turned the other cheek. He did not resort to hate, but as he taught his disciples to pray for their enemies, he prays “father, forgive them they do not know what they do.” He was not filled with resentment … but just as he taught his disciples to give your whole outfit when you are asked just for your coat; so as he sees one of his disciples who had abandoned him he says, “Here is your mother” … providing and giving even when everything else has been stripped away. He cared not about who he was associated with as he was chastised many times for eating with sinners and the outcasts and even taught that he could be found among the poor and the least of these; and there in this moment he turns to the thieves and says, “today, you will be with me in paradise.

To love. To love. To love even when you are persecuted … even when you are insulted … even when you are betrayed …when you are misrepresented. To love those who are trying to hurt you. What I hear Jesus saying to Pilate and the high priest, is the same thing that I have heard others say to me recently, the only thing that matters is how those who love you see you. Sit on that thought for a moment... "the only thing that matters is how those who love you see you." (see John 18)

When people do not know you or your heart, they stand from afar and make their assumptions. They feel like there are pieces of a story they are missing and so they try to fill in the gaps with rumors or fabricated stories. Eventually, their story becomes truth to them and there is a momentary feeling of empowerment that they have over others. But Pilate asks Jesus, "What is truth?" Jesus comes back to this, do you say this because others are saying this or because this is your experience with me. Again, the only thing that matters (truth) is how those who love you see you.

History ...

2008-11-20T19:22:00.000-06:00

(The following appeared in our United Methodist Conference newspaper and is written by another UM pastor. Regardless of how you feel about the outcome of the election, I hope you see historical impact given where we were as a nation just 40 years ago.)

During his Election Night speech, President-Elect Obama made a reference to “bending the arc of history.” I fear most of his audience missed the reference, but it resonated with me. It goes back to a sultry Sunday afternoon in Montgomery. Alabama in 1965. Thousands of footsore protesters had just completed a dangerous and difficult trek from the town of Selma. There, a few weeks earlier, a young black man had been shot to death by a state trooper while trying
to keep him from beating the young man’s parents. Their “offense” had been to participate
in a peaceful march calling for African Americans to be allowed to vote.

A march was then planned to call upon Gov. George Wallace, to have the incident investigated. Wallace, an arch-segregationist who had come into office, vowing “Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever” was not inclined to heed their pleas. When the marchers tried the first time, they got as far as the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, where horse mounted troopers and officers with attack dogs charged into the unarmed protesters with clubs, tear gas
and even bullwhips. Many were beaten nearly to death. One of them was John
Lewis, who is now a Congressman and who had his skull fractured.

The march was rescheduled for a few days later. During that period, a young white Unitarian minister from Boston came to join in the march. He was set upon by a mob of whites and severely beaten. The Selma hospital refused to admit him and he was taken to another hospital, two hours away, where he died. The march was undertaken a second time, despite constant threats from the Ku Klux Klan and various other white supremacists. Marching through a gauntlet of profanity, the marchers arrived in Montgomery and heard an address by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I was just 12 years old, but I still remember that speech and being utterly captivated by what he said. This is how the brief speech concluded… I know you are asking today, “How long
will it take?” Somebody’s asking, “How long will prejudice blind the visions of men, darken their understanding, and drive bright-eyed wisdom from her sacred throne?” Somebody’s asking, “When will wounded justice, lying prostrate on the streets of Selma and Birmingham and communities all over the South, be lifted from this dust of shame to reign supreme among the children of men?” Somebody’s asking, “When will the radiant star of hope be plunged against the nocturnal bosom of this lonely night, plucked from weary souls with chains of fear and the manacles of death? How long will justice be crucified, and truth bear it?” I come to say to you this afternoon, however difficult the moment, however frustrating the hour, it will not be long, because “truth crushed to earth will rise again.”

Tuesday, millions of white men and women voted for a black President. Not because he was black, but because they didn’t care that he was black. In fact, as many white men voted for Barack Obama. Condoleeza Rice has described racism as America’s birth-defect. In fact, the
Constitution which she and President-Elect Obama have sworn to uphold, originally
classified black Americans as just three/fifths of a human. But, through the struggles of so many saints through the years, we have come to the point where we are all not just fully human, but fully-realized as people worthy to lead our diverse nation.

(Rev. Robert Morwell is pastor of Quincy Union UMC and was the first white pastor in the conference to pastor a predominately African-American congregation when Bishop David Lawson appointed Morwell to Peoria: Bethel in 1995).

My reflection ... I was not even alive during these civil rights moments of the sixties, but as a student of history read and re-read the stories of such a turbulent times. I have heard the stories of my parents who idolized Mr. King and had to confront their own racism from their upbringings. As I stated in an earlier blog ... the only color that matters now in America is purple ... where the reds and blues can come together and be one community.

Sunrises

2008-11-18T10:49:00.002-06:00

(excerpt from Sunday sermon)
When was the last time you saw the sunrise? This past week, I had the opportunity to take a leave for personal renewal. On Tuesday morning, I woke up early and was watching out the window and was able to catch the sun rising between two buildings on the other side of the lake. In most cases, if I am up that early I am busy working on something or rushing around the house getting kids ready or getting myself read for the day. I was really only up to grab something to drink, but with the curtain open I was stopped in my tracks and drawn over to the window. And moment by moment as the sun appeared over the horizon and then over the buildings, I was given a gift that I had not expected.

Interesting thing about taking a renewal, perhaps God had something in mind for me as well, because my cell phone died on the first day leaving with limited ability to talk with anyone back here … much against my controlling tendencies. But perhaps there was something I needed to see in that sunrise.

Most of us have seen too many sunsets in our lives without the eventual reminder of a sunrise. There are vivid images in our minds of some down times and while we also see the high moments, I think perhaps we have all seen too many sunsets and allowed the winters or the long nights to be more telling of our lives rather than the joy and anticipation that a sunrise brings. We are left after an election of negative campaigning and the racist comments that are being made, protesters joining together to make a stand for human rights, concerns about our economy and our ongoing struggles with health and personal vitality have provided more than our share of sunsets recently … so again, when was the last time you have seen a sunrise?

The reality is this, our world is filled with such beauty and such order … and such tov-me-od (remember that word? It means it is good … God’s potential put into God’s creation) but our world is filled with such beauty and such order … and such tov-me-od … and yet at the same time filled with enough heartache and pain.

But before Tuesday, when was the last time I saw a sunrise? When was the last time I stood on a mountain to see for miles? When was time we stood on a beach and gazed out into the horizon and seen the vastness of the earth, or took in the many beautiful moments of the world around us in celebrating God’s diversity? When was the last time I saw the art of creation that God’s hand painted with the stroke of God’s hand and the sound of God’s voice? When was the last time we sang “For the Beauty of the Earth” or “God of Wonders” and took in what we were singing in terms of the world around us and beyond us? Perhaps way too long.

I am not a lover of nature, nor am I typically heard saying that I find God in nature, but there are an immeasurable number of references in the Bible of not only how people experience God in nature, but also how God's care for us is seen in the perfection of creation (the grass, the birds, the seed, the trees). There are signs of God's presence and care for us in the many gifts offered around us. So again, when was the last time you saw a sunrise?

What Message?

2008-11-04T07:14:00.003-06:00

(found this picture, I couldn't resist as I laughed for five minutes)

At Saturday's University of Illinois football game, my friend and I encountered people with brightly colored banners that were about 8' x 8'. They could be seen by a block away, and I must admit this the first time I had ever seen anything like it. I have seen such things on television, but never in person. Their signs included messages that read, "Last Chance, Repent, Obey Jesus," and "Satan rules, repent or go to hell."

Well I couldn't resist. The first man I walked by, I asked, "Sir, is there something going on that I may have missed?" He said nothing and would not even make eye contact with me. The second woman I saw, my friend offered up his friendly, "Hey, how is it going?" The young woman leaned aggressively toward him and shouted, "Repent or go to hell!" I followed up by asking what church she was with and again she leaned aggressively toward me and yelled, "I am the church!"
What message am I to hear? When I was in undergraduate at Illinois State University, there was a man we called Preacher Dan who would visit all the campuses to spread "a message." He didn't carry a sign, but he shook his Gatorade bottle full of "Jesus Juice" and shouted similar words of "repent" and "hell" and "judgement" and "burn." Students only stood and laughed at him or even mocked him. Same goes for the people who walked by the people at the game, people would either laugh and point or pass by with a smirk. My question for these folks is this, "How well is this working for you?"

Or better yet? How well is that working for Christianity. I have another friend who is anti-church and he associates me with people like Preacher Dan because that is all they have seen. I guess if that was my only experience of Christianity, I may make the same assumptions. Yet there is a difference between the Church and Jesus Christ. I think people from every place in life are fascinated with Jesus Christ. His work, his life, his teachings have been the study of many religions and philosophers, for Christians and non-Christians. The problem is that the Church for many years has messed up that message. We are human, that's expected. But consider such irony of the young woman shouting, "I am the church." Wow, scary.

But when we go back to the heart of Jesus' message and probably what draws us in is that message of love. I do not feel very loved when I am being told I am going to hell. But when I walk into a community of faith and feel welcome, or when I have been the recipient of great generosity or when I have been able to give of myself, there is love at the root of that message.

Our lives live a message ... what does your life say?

Purple!

2008-10-30T10:11:00.000-05:00

It has been awhile since I have posted something. My apologies as it has been a full week. But here we go:

I received an e-mail from a friend this past week with a document from a Christian organization entitled "Letter from 2012 in XXXX's America." It was a letter written by a Christian in 2012 who after four years of one of the Presidential candidate's terms opens the letter by saying, "I can hardly sing the Star Spangled Banner anymore ...many of our freedoms have been taken away ... and hardly any brave citizen dares to resist the new government policies anymore." Harsh words. And the 16 page letter concludes, "Personally, i don't know how we are going to get through tomorrow..."

Is all the negative campaigning really worth it? What does slandering your opponent really accomplish. It is not one sided, it goes both ways as both candidates start to pick at the other's policies and values but then starts down the road of digging into the other's families. Now, this is a first for me to see, the projection into the future of how awful our country will be if the other candidate who we didn't vote for wins. I am not so much blown away, I guess, this is expected. But what bothers me is that if I don't vote for a certain person, am I not a true Christian?

Before you raise your temper with me by even bringing this up, remember that these discussions raise people’s passions and sometimes turn normally casual conversations into heated debates. Politics (like religion) are matter of the heart, soul and pocketbook. All three will raise enough emotion in us to start second guessing, question, and even be angry.

It is interesting being a father of two elementary age boys during a presidential election year. They have many questions about who I am supporting; in fact, my older son informed me that I needed to vote for who he wanted because it was a “family vote.” Yet I am also fearful of what they are being told at school by other students. Everyday, they have something new to report about one of the candidates as fellow students report what they are hearing at home, “don’t vote for Obama because he will take all your money,” or, “don’t vote for McCain because he doesn’t care for the people.” Perhaps that is why we used to say we shouldn’t talk about religion and politics as staunch positions at times lead to inflamed and close-minded remarks. In fact, I think in some cases it is easier for Cub fans and Cardinal fans to get along than the Democrats and Republicans!

On election night as you watch the election results roll in on your favorite news station, you will be greeted with a map full of reds and blues. Then after election night is over and the officials have been elected to serve us, the only color that will matter is purple as the reds and blues will have to come together to forgive one another from the negative campaigning of the previous months and look to be a community together that rallies around the elected leaders of our country. I have been asked many times through the years as to why I am such a fan of purple, this is why. It represents a molding together of the two colors and it shows a dialoguing community of the many divisions we experience around.

“Blessed are the peacemakers …” One of the habits of Christian Discipleship is Christian Conferencing, It is our invitation to be a community with one another and to be dialogue or “in conference” with one another as a way to grow with one another regardless of what divides us.

My friends, don't worry ... Christians will vote for both candidates, voting to the issues taht speak to them in their faith. Reality is ... can purple be the only color we see on the other side of the election?

Where's the Love?

2008-10-24T14:23:00.004-05:00

In John 4, Jesus visits with a woman at the well. It was a woman who was experiencing life as a "double outcast." She was not in the predominately Jewish population, but even her own non-Jewish community has shunned her because of her reputation of having multiple relationships. But Jesus does not any judgment on her … there is no indictment on multiple marriages or on living together before marriage, but he reaches out to her in noticing that she is looking for a kind of love that she can not seem to find. Jesus talks with her about a water that will end all of her thirsting … all her of searching … of her desiring … s like “an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life,” (John 4:14).

You know we search, for love in so many places. We either think that it will come in a want ad, in an internet conversation. We measure success and happiness in terms of our careers, the sizes of our houses, the number of cars. We value our lives based upon the loving relationship we either have or don’t have. Jesus says to us stop looking, or measuring, or valuing based upon these things … but know your value .. . what you seek is right here in the very person you are and the life that God wells up within you. That there is this fountain full of potential and opportunity and personality just bubbling inside of you, gushing with life. That is the person God created you to be, accept it, be it … live it. There is no need to seek for you life’s value out here or over here or in this relationship or in this person or in these material things. Your life worth can be seen right here in this well of life that is within you. In that well you will know happiness and love. That spring of life is the you … the beautiful you God created you to be . What Jesus is saying is that if you can accept that person that is inside of you … if others can see and accept that person that is in here … if you can see that God accepts and loves that person that he created you to be .. you will stop searching for and thirsting.

It is at the very heart of human nature to want to be loved …. To know acceptance … to be connected with another person. That is perhaps one of my biggest struggles. Even as I can say this over and over and see how God loves me, I still look at many situations through the eyes of rejection. Yet, how can I, or how can we, instill a confidence in our children that won't lead them to question self-worth later on down the road? Self-confidence is found where love lives, and loves home is in those vital relationships that we so cherish.

I saw a button the other day that said, I Am Loved! maybe we all could embrace that at some point to end our searching.

Jesus is Laughing

2008-10-21T20:56:00.005-05:00

I hope so. There are so many images of Jesus that have been portrayed for centuries through art and Hollywood that not only show a Jesus of the Passion, or a Jesus that is intensely serious, but most renderings of Jesus are also that of a man of the Western world with blue eyes and blond hair. That image of Jesus is so engraved in our minds that any other perspective of Jesus stretches us to grow in our own understanding of the historical Jesus: a man from the Middle East.

I remember Christmas Eve 1998, when I was serving as pastor at my previous parish, discussing this issue. The Roman Catholic Church had announced that it was unveiling a new image of Jesus that was culturally and historically accurate. Then a voice spoke out, "well if the United Methodist Church adopts such an image, I am outta here!" Who said they haven't? Yet our Sunday School classrooms have been adorned for years with the classic portrait of Jesus Christ by Warner E. Sallman.

Yet I wonder beyond the misinterpretation of Jesus' ethnicity, is the perception of Jesus the ever-serious and over-intense miracle worker. But I can't help but emphasize that Jesus laughed! He was fully human (as well as divine), he was down to earth, he danced cultural dances with his disciples around the fire. He hung out with sinners which also suggests that he spoke their language (literally and figuratively) and carried on conversations in the less respected establishments of his day. He laughed because he was in the moment with people he loved.

Which brings me to tonight. My 6 year old asked, "Dad, why don't you laugh at my jokes and stories?" I couldn't answer, but going through my head were my excuses. I am too intense. I am too stressed. My mind is always on work. Yet, could it be that I have not been in the moment with the people I love? Our children need us and our relationship. Jesus is laughing because he shares in a relationship with us.

Skepticism and Atheism

2008-10-20T09:29:00.007-05:00

This weekend, I got to spend one of those "guy weekends" with some good friends. Three of us being Die-Hard Cowboy Fans, we went to St. Louis to watch the Cowboy-Rams game. Unfortunately, it was a slaughtering. But not to be overlooked was the opportunity to hang with the guys and act like middle school boys again. It was good therapy as I even gave up my controlling habits (I didn't drive, didn't hold a room key, and made no decisions). I was just there to hang out.

One interesting thing that I came across on Sunday morning in the St. Louis Dispatch was an article about Atheism and Skepticism. The article suggested that there is a "resurging popularity of doubt and skepticism in American Society." Though Atheists raise some of the same questions as skeptics, doubt and skepticism opens itself up to a willingness to believe in a higher power but many life circumstances (such as pain and suffering) lead skeptics to question God's existence. This new level of doubt is being phrased the "new atheism."

I always thought that atheism was the question of God's existence was an argument of the 1970's as science was brought to the forefront of thought over that of theology and belief. That perhaps is true, but Generation X (a largely unchurched generation born between 1967-1981) is experiencing the challenges of middle age, of losing parents, facing divorce, parenting children, meeting economic hardships and it leads to doubt. Being a lost generation, we (yes, I am in there too as being in between those ages) question everything, we dislike authority, we struggle with some of the stable factors that defined our parent's generation. A recent study suggested that 16% of Americans don't believe in God, my guess is many more are skeptics still seeking proof.

I am hoping to give some attention to this after the first of the year in a preaching theme that will address some of these key questions of science, one-way religion, the way religion has led to division and violence through the years, and of course, hope. I also hope that as we discern it together (and I will post the sermon texts on this blog) that we will discover something about our own faith and how to not hold judgement or hostility against those who may differ from us.

The Nightshift

2008-10-15T13:51:00.002-05:00

I remember the night my father's emphysema and COPD first put him in the hospital, December 1, 2005. My mother found him in the bathroom, unresponsive and unable to breathe. They rushed him to the hospital and after stabilizing him, they put him in intensive care and began to talk with us about his limited future (though he lived another 2 1/2 years).

By 1:00AM that night, the rest of the family had taken off. It was my brother Todd (the oldest), my mother, and me … we had agreed to work the nightshift. Knowing that this was going to be a long weekend, I tried many times to get mom to go home and get some sleep, but she wouldn’t do it. My brother and I were there if the medical staff needed anything and it was not as if there was anything we could do. But for mom she was not going to leave Dad’s side. Despite our uncertainty (and please know when I say “our” I am talking about my siblings and me), despite our helplessness, despite our disappointment and, at times, hopelessness; mom hung right in there … by dad’s side, holding his hand, believing, hoping, comforting … loving.

And yet I know this, watching my mother that night, nothing I have ever done as a parent or child or friend or pastor or disciple compares to countless hours of compassion my mother has shown through the years. Watching her by dad’s side … mom did that for us when we were sick, holding us on the bathroom floor, sitting by our beds … or in later years, waiting for us to come home from a date or out with friends. Chances are a lot of you can relate to either side of this style of parenthood ... as a parent or as a child.

In John 3, Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night with questions of salvation and hope, questions of life and death and the future. There is a cloud of uncertainty this night for Nicodemus …and perhaps, he comes on this night because of restlessness, because of confusion, and regardless of how or why he came by night … he meets a God who is there, at work, waiting and watching, on the nightshift. I think we all can relate to those long late nights … where restlessness and sleeplessness can come about because of our fears, insecurities, uncertainties, doubts, anxieties. Yes there are those long nights and fears that come about with failing health and times of death, but there are also those circumstances that in our minds are matters of life and death because of uncertainties in our jobs, confusion in our relationships, doubts for our future happiness … all are magnified in our minds.

What we learn as parents, though mom always seemed to defy this, is that we can’t always be 24/7 through all circumstances. But when we just can't be anymore, God is. When we can't be everything to everybody, we can't be everything to your kids, we can't make every choice for them, we can't always protect them, we can't be in all places at all times, we can't always be there to lead them down the right path – but God can because God just is. We have a God who works the nightshift. For we pray "Now I lay me down to sleep ..."

Money

2008-10-13T14:19:00.002-05:00

So the Dow is climbing again as I write this blog this afternoon. I heard all weekend about the global economic crisis. As a church, we have been worried about our stewardship drive for 2009 as we know there are a lot of fears out there in regards to what will happen for people's personal financial situation. None of us lived through the Great Depression, but fears are widespread as people are seeing their investments slip away and their retirement date get pushed back. Some of you face some serious questions about where to give next year or how to give.

Interesting though at the Illini football game on Saturday, the Orange Krush (Student organization who support athletics, i.e. who gather around the court at home basketball games and and other places of support) presented a check for $500,000 in Lou Henson's name to the Coaching Fund. According to the newspaper, the Coaching Fund helps train and encourage young coaches. I found that an interesting (or more so, bothersome) venture, given where I am in life. But we all have to choose where we invest or donate, though those decision will get tougher this year as some will not be receiving raises or bonuses, and many others getting downsized and are now looking for a job.

In Matthew 22, some followers of the Pharisees were sent to Jesus to try and trap him, asking if it was right and in accordance with their religious values to pay the tax to Caesar. Jesus' response? "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and give to God what is God's." I have struggled with understanding this over the years. But perhaps there is a message here about our passion. We have to pay taxes, it is the cost of our freedom as U.S. Citizens. But even more, we have a great deal of freedom to exercise in the use of our assets, and it is good for us to learn how to be generous with the money we have. It has been said that: “Giving is the way we can feel abundant, giving is the way that we fill ourselves up.” True … that there is a great freedom felt in our giving.

But giving to God what is God's goes beyond our loyalty or our faith. Jesus talked about money more than anything else except the Kingdom of God. And in this reference to money, we need to learn how to express our beliefs not only with our words, but with our wallets….not only with our wallets, but with our lives. Our faith is more than words … or actions … or money … or death … or heaven. We have to step back and see all how faith runs through our life … if we allow it.

For each of us, we will give generously to matters of faith when we believe that there is an important mission at work, and when we see real opportunities to advance God’s interests in the world. It would be hard for me right now to support a coaching fund, when a good friend of mine has cancer, my friends in Juarez are sleeping in cardboard shacks, and my friends at Faith are working to raise up children in faith and leaders for servanthood. There’s a lot of meaning to be found in money, it reveals a lot about where our commitment is.

Questions of God

2008-10-10T11:10:00.004-05:00

My friend's cancer has returned. The friend I shared with you last week who got a tattoo to affirm her strength and endurance as one year passed since being diagnosed the first time. Since she found out Tuesday and news has spread, many questions have been asked by her friends, family, herself, and her pastor. Questions of God that start with "Why" and "How"? Of course there is no simple answer to these questions.

The theology of pain and suffering seems to have no end or resolution. Such events that lead to pain and suffering, or those things we define as evil are lost in mystery. Medieval theologians called evil "absurd" or in other words, something without meaning. St. Francis of Assisi defined evil as the "absence of God". As retired pastor Miley Palmer explains, goodness also is shrouded in mystery. when we hear stories of healings or other turnarounds (medical and personal) there is no explanation. He writes, "We live daily in the presence of mystery, and we walk only by faith."

Yet, we still find ourselves trying to justify and we walk down a path of frustration with the God we have given our devotion to. We struggle with what to say to those we love. "I will pray" or "I am sorry" doesn't seem to cut it. I am trying to step back and look at it from a broader scope in my faith. When we ask "how could God allow" or "why won't God intervene" and similar questions, does that jive with our understanding of God and how we have known God up until this point? My guess is we have known and experienced the love of God in many relationships, events, and high points in our lives. We say there are "soul mates" indicating God brought us together and gave us a love that is deep in our hearts. We experience deep community in the church and in mission believing that God is proving such deep koinonia and agape love.

As 2008 unfolded and I felt a sense of hopelessness for my own future, I blamed God. I actually fell into my mother's theology and felt that God was punishing me for something. But my broader understanding is that God doesn't allow these things to happen or punish, if God did then it does not jive with the God of love who has provided so much around me. But I know this now, God weeps with me in tragedy. God walks with me through evil. God comforts me when I am broken. God waits for me when I push God away. How do I know this? Because of the people God has put in my life. I feel God in relationship. The Bible never promised that bad things won't happen, But God did promise ... "I will be with you." (i.e. Isaiah 43. Psalm 23.)

God is not in the cancer. God is in the relationships that surround us giving us strength to fight and love to hold on to.

God's Knocking On My Door Again!

2008-10-07T18:14:00.004-05:00

In Jesus' parables, he usually has a "God" character. The Forgiving Father, the Generous Vineyard Owner, the Seeking Shepherd, etc. As you read this Scripture, which character is God?

1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.' 4 "For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually come and attack me!' " 6 And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:1-8)

Our tendency, when we hear Jesus’ words, that when we read this scripture, our tendency is to align God with the powerful, with the one who is able to grant justice. That God is the judge. Omnipotent and omniscient. In our hearing of this and in our frustration of unanswered prayer, our tendency is just that .. we believe that God is the judge and can grant whatever, whenever and when things don’t go that way, we are filled with doubt.

Look a little harder at the Scripture though and we something different. The widow here is more determined the judge, she is a model of not losing heart or one’s faith. The judge was in a seat of power. With his indifference to people, he surely could sleep well at night despite his not granting or even seeking justice.

But is God more like the formerly unyielding judge who now gives in to the persistent widow who is wearing him out with her constant nagging? Or is God more like the persistent, tireless widow who seeks out justice continually until it is achieved? Is God more like the powerful on the throne occasionally hearing our requests, or is God among the people knocking on all of our hearts? Is God more like the aloof one who is removed from human suffering or is God more like the widow who knows loss and suffering from the pain of losing one you love? Is God more like the one who resides in power with servants to wait upon every need, or is God more like us wondering why justice and equality are not practiced? Is God like the one who gets tired of hearing from the people, or is God more like one of the people who is persistent in seeking what God wants from us?

These are all key questions that we have to consider when one member of the congregation recovers from cancer and the next does not; we have to consider all of this when society wants to know when one person feels the nudge to skip the flight, but the rest of the ticketholders board the fated flight. When one of us gets a financial blessing and another can’t even pay the electric bill … yet both pray for God’s blessing. Where are you God? Are you present? Are all-knowing? Are you all-powerful? Or God are you not a just God and grant us all our prayers?

Reality is, it has been 2000 years since Jesus told this story … yet our questions persist … where is justice when school shootings happen, where is justice when car bombings and world hunger still litter our headlines? When we question God with what God is doing about injustice or question God’s fairness in answering our questions, we should be prepared for God to ask the same question of us.

Cubs ... Oh Dear!

2008-10-06T13:49:00.002-05:00

Well it happened. The Cubs let us down again. My mother was convinced that they would do it this year for my recently departed father. "This is the year," we heard over and over on the radio. In fact, Friday I walked into the bookstore and on the shelf was a book by that same title: This is the Year: A Look at the Cubs' Historic 2008 Season. Where they counting their chickens before they hatched? Maybe it was historic because it is 100 years of losing? Excuse my cynicism, but as a Cub Fan (Die Hard, that is) I knew that I was not going to celebrate until the last out was made and given the way 2008 has unfolded I knew it wasn't going to happen. Well, now we go after our first World Series in 101 years next year. I am good at waiting til next year!

Some people blame curses for such things. I am not into that. I watched the Cubs play a red hot Dodger team who was playing good baseball. You have to go with the hot team and the Dodgers were on a roll late in the season. I can deal with losing, but what makes it hard here in central Illinois is the number of Cardinal fans who have to rub salt in our wounds - of course I would do the same in return.

As hard as disappointment can be, so there is hope. "Wait til next year" is the Cubbie Cry, and is the statement of hope for all of us. There are bad years, but there is always next year. There are bad days, but there is always tomorrow. The feelings of today can always be remedied after we have thought things through and began to embrace the opportunities of tomorrow.

Grind That Axe!

2008-10-04T14:54:00.003-05:00

Along the lines of forgiveness that we discussed a couple of days ago, it was pointed out to me that there are times when we are not ready to forgive. I absolutely agree. Jesus suggests to forgive and infinite number of times and he also was able to hang on a cross and ask God to "forgive them for they know not what they do." I think that's where the whole notion of Jesus fully divine comes from. The book, The Shack, (yes, it's fiction ... but) addresses Jesus' divinity in this way: “Although he is fully God and fully human, Jesus has never drawn upon his nature as God to do anything. He has only lived out his relationship with me, living in the same manner that I desire to be in relationship with every human being … he would be the first to absolutely trust my life within him, the first to believe in my love and my goodness without regard to consequence or appearance. Healing the Blind? He did so as a human being trusting in my life and power to be at work through him …. ” and God concludes, “…that’s how every human being is designed to live out my life.”

So we may not be ready to forgive or loosen the strands ... but what about grinding that axe? I have a friend who for two years now has been trying to get back at someone with vengeance. Not only have I suggested forgiveness (which he isn't ready to do), he still acts in ways that seek revenge for feeling as if he was wronged. What good will that do? Why grind that axe? But who is really held captive, my friend or the one who wronged him?

In John 8, Jesus says "If the son sets you free, you are free indeed." Free from regret. Free from anger. Free from resentment. Free from revenge. To absolutely trust in a way of love that is in a way of God.

Souveniers and Tattoos

2008-10-02T15:38:00.003-05:00

I remember when my brother got his first tattoo. Being the rebel that he was, he couldn't wait to get out of the house to pierce his ear and get a tattoo. It was harmless, really ... but being the younger adolescent brother, I had to take on my parents' views and chastise him for his decision. I am sure that in addition to the religious reasons, we also came up with the stereotypical and social reasons to put upon him. It didn't phase him. My brother has always wanted to mark moments or milestones in his life with such choices.

You may have your own opinions on tattoos and piercings. But they seem to be much more appealing to the general population among my generation than my parent's generation. Miami Ink and L.A. Ink offer reality shows about a couple of businesses and the stories that come from people as to why they are getting certain tattoos are really amazing. My mother used to say that those tattoos were for "bikers." The preachers used to say that your body is a temple for God ... and a tattoo would deface it. Perhaps, but so does my high cholesterol/high fat eating habits. Who is to say anyway that a tattoo is defacing, of course unless you are making a decision to rebel against God in your body marking.

My friend got a tattoo last week. She wanted to mark the one year anniversary of being diagnosed with breast cancer. A cross with a pink ribbon ... to symbolize her battle, but also the faith that sustains her. I have other friends who have also got tattoos and again, they have a story behind that tat ... stories of perseverance, stories of hope, stories of overcoming adversity.

In the Old Testament, when the Israelites finally crossed the Jordan river (actually the lesser known story of crossing a parted river in the book of Joshua) Joshua instructed them to stack the twelve stones drawn out of the Jordan river to serve as a monument, marking the moment and place of entering the promised land. Joshua says " "In the future when your descendants ask their parents, 'What do these stones mean?' tell them, 'Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground,' (Joshua 4:21-22). You may say ... oh yes, but that has nothing to do with the body. True. But the Old Testament also tells us that circumcision (which we still practice today) was meant to show the covenant, our covenant with God.

Some tattoos tell stories of these covenants and commitments of how God delivered us, God saved us, God stood by us, God walked with us, God gave us. By the way, my tattoo tells a story like that as well.

Jesus Delivers Batteries

2008-10-01T10:34:00.003-05:00

Sunday in church was an interesting moment. During the drama about a woman finding Jesus on every channel she turned to on her television, we discovered early on that our actress' microphone wasn't on. I headed up there and knelt beside her and noticed that actually her wireless pack needed new batteries. So I quickly took off my wireless pack and shuffled the batteries. The congregation chuckled and many afterwards said they thought I was a part of the drama. Nope! Just a stagehand. But a friend quipped after the service, "Jesus delivers batteries!"

Hardly ... Jesus I am not!. But it begs the question about what Jesus does provide for us. Batteries falling from heaven like manna? Eh, I am not too sure of that. I have heard people say that their financial well-being is a result that God blessed them. That does not sit too well either. Our financial success, good looks, ability to navigate a conversation? All interesting traits that people would credit to as being blessed ... but then what about those who are poor or who are not as eloquent? In many situations, there are those who value such gifts as a "blessing" but then fail to be a blessing for others. Is that of God?

How does Jesus deliver? We measure things by this world, but he told us as he stood before Pilate that his kingdom was not "of this world." It's found in community. It's found in love. It's found in companionship. It's found in wholeness. It's found in peace. It's found in hope. Jesus delivers indeed. How often do we find blessing in the unseen ... but rather in what is felt in a deep relationship and connection with Jesus. We must not forget that our God leads with love ... our God gives in love.

Forgiveness

2008-09-29T11:35:00.002-05:00

I was asked about this notion of forgiveness again recently. "What do you think is the point of forgiveness?" Well that's a darn good question. What do we want to get out of it? Jesus points out that we are to forgive seventy times seven. He also points out that in lieu of gossip, talking behind one's back, or revenge, that we are to go to that person and talk through how we may have been offended or explain how we were hurt. How opposite is that from the way the world works? I think that we would rather get revenge or smear the other person because either that's the way we see it done from others or we THINK it will make us feel better.

In many ways, Jesus was equipping his disciples to live in a way of life that is more in line with kindness. Yet also, when we look back at the Old Testament and through the teachings of Jesus and the writings of Paul ... we see God trying to create a community of people that practices peace and love. HMMM, perhaps God is trying to build a church? Of course not, because the church is full of division, gossip, squabbles, right?

So again, what is the point of forgiveness? To forget? That doesn't happen. A friend told me about our hurts that "we will never get over it, but we will get through it." True.

Yet it keeps coming back to relationship. In our Lord's Prayer we pray, "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." Historical Jesus scholar John Dominic Crossan suggests that the Aramaic translation of this line in Jesus' prayer sounds more like this: "Loosen the chords binding us as we release the strands of guilt we hold of others." Isn't that an interesting way to phrase that? Does forgiveness release us or someone else? What is Jesus getting at?

We may not be ready to give that message ... but Jesus, once again, is onto something about where true joy and freedom comes from.

Journey, Will We Ever Get There?

2008-09-25T09:58:00.003-05:00

This past Sunday, I asked the congregation to write out their questions for God. It was a good experience to not only see how when we cry out to God with questions of how, why, or when, that many of our questions of God are expressions of hope. We express hope for our world, for our community, for our schools, for our children, for our health, for our faith, for our salvation, for our relationships and for global relationships. We ask questions about the past seeking healing, and questions about the future seeking something to be settled around or in us. We all have hope for something, anywhere from sports to questions of happiness in life... BUT ... when do we start to lose hope?

It seems like I keep coming back to that notion of personal contentment, repeatedly seeking, reaching, desiring things that I do not have. There seems to be a life that continues to elude me. When I get close, it escapes my grasp. There seems to be something there for everyone, but I keep thinking I haven't got it yet. I see a lot of others wondering the same. So my question for God is this: will I/we ever get there?

I feel like a child, sometimes, sitting in the backseat of God's station wagon asking repeatedly, "Are we there yet?" I know that life is a journey, i understand that faith is the journey as well, but what is the destination? is the destination my contentment or the fulfillment of my hope?

Yet, I hear God saying (and I keep preaching this) just grab a hold of what is right there ... embrace the gifts that have been given. That is so right and a real possibility for contentment.

Contemporary

2008-09-24T14:40:00.003-05:00

A friend of mine sent this video ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-NOZU2iPA8 ) to me asking me if this was what we call Contemporary Worship. After laughing for about an hour and tormenting my staff for a day singing this over and over ... I sent this out with the caption: fusion, the Early Days.

Sad thing is, there are still those misperceptions of Contemporary Worship. I have another friend who thinks we are trying to recapture the church camp feeling and another friend who thinks we sing Kum-ba-Yah every Sunday. When I was in seminary, and told that I was moving to Champaign to lead a Contemporary Worship service I laughed out loud ... much like when Sarah was told by God she was going to have a baby at the ripe age of 90 years old. Was God kidding?

I spent a lot of time researching what Contemporary Worship meant. The first book I read was Marva Dawn's, The Dumbing Down of the Church, and she argued that the theology and practice behind Contemporary Worship was leading people down a road of shallow beliefs and an abandoning of a tradition with rich theology. How sad to realize that the nature of the church is that of constant renewal at the hand of God. The same arguments crept into discussion when organs made their way into the sanctuary. Ironically enough, the hymns of the United Methodist hymnal are Christian words sang to familiar tunes that were found in bars years ago.

Eight and a half years later, I am still here leading "Contemporary Worship," and it is as natural as I could ever imagine. The theology that is preached and the practice of preparing a service is as deep as any service I have prepared in my career. The fears and battles around contemporary and traditional worship really feel like a "robbing of the church" and its ministry more than a dumbing down. For what we seek is to make disciples for Jesus Christ who transform the world. We do that in all styles of worship, we educate our children adults in classrooms for such ministry, we seek that life in our prayers and meditation, we practice that life in the way we give of ourselves and resources.

May all that we do, be a blessing to God and the bringing of God's kingdom, right here, right now.

Reunion

2008-09-22T19:36:00.003-05:00

This year would have been my 15 year class reunion. I don't think there was one, if there was, I probably would not have attended. I graduated in a class of 400 and was very active in school as junior class president and senior class vice president including being on homecoming court my senior year (of which i am very proud). Yet, of those I graduated with I really do not talk to any more and those I want to catch up with I have been able to do so through the Internet. For some reason, there is no appeal for me. Maybe because I am significantly larger now or that I know my career makes others uncomfortable and makes for awkward conversations.

However, yesterday I had the opportunity to return to the Walnut Grove UMC where I served from 1997-2000. Walnut Grove holds a special place in my heart as that was my first appointment as a pastor and through the three years there I matured a great deal. I like to tell people that I moved there as a 21 year old boy and left as a pastor. They taught me a lot about Christian community and supporting one another through loss, accepting one another through forgiveness, and loving one another through celebration. I am not sure I did much for them, but I know they did a lot for me.

Yesterday was their 150 year anniversary and former pastors were invited back to celebrate with them. Interesting how when I heard of their celebration date, I didn't want to miss it. I so wanted that chance to experience "reunion" with that community of people. Given the nature and practice of love in Walnut Grove, I wasn't worried about acceptance. I longed to hear their memories and stories of the years that have since passed and to catch up on how life was for them now. It was a bittersweet experience. I loved the connection, but it broke my heart to hear the reading of the name of the deceased and the faces of those I used to serve communion to, preached yo, argued with and served with, but have since left this life.

I don't think we can ever underestimate the power of Christian community. Sure there are times of division and times when we don't understand the community or feel that it is for us, but when we truly are the body ... we are reaching, going, serving, loving, and healing.

Not Just the Children

2008-09-18T13:23:00.003-05:00

Interesting how the Old Testament is timeless. The stories upon which we preach, study, and read, continue to provide insight for our living today. One of those examples I have been reflecting on lately was the relationship between Moses and Joshua. As Moses led Israel from slavery and oppression to freedom on a grueling journey, Moses chose leaders to assist him. And perhaps Joshua was the most gifted. Only Joshua went with Moses to Mt. Sinai, Joshua guarded Moses's tent, and Joshua would risk his life to stand with Moses when they confronted the Israelites for their sin. Moses would pass on the leadership of Israel to Joshua after mentoring him for many years.

It's not just the children who are in need of role models. Parenting, role modeling, mentoring never ends even as we emerge in our careers and mature as adults. The idea of mentoring goes back in the history of our faith if we are humbly willing to admit that we haven't learned everything yet and that there is still much that we can learn from our parents and friends.

In these days since my dad has passed, I have latched on to some father figures in my life. Doug, Dave, and Mike have adopted me and I them. their companionship for the last several years has meant a lot to me, but now I find them offering a mentoring that my dad offered for many years. Advice, compassion, listening ears, and sharing in conversation about the mundane and the challenges are essential pieces for me that have helped fill a hole.

May we not lose sight of these relationships in our lives.

Mothers and Fathers, Coaches Too

2008-09-17T08:58:00.002-05:00

Last night was our last game of the baseball season, a season that ultimately started in April with Spring Baseball. After taking a month off, Fall Baseball began. We are done, ending our season last night with a victory. A couple of things I have learned this season:

1) Coaching my strong-willed son is more of a challenge than I would have imagined

2) Our children need coaches (well parents, teachers, and adults) who will be role models for them.

The second lesson I learned comes on the heals of an interesting situation that won't seem to go away. Our game on Monday (which we lost) unfortunately included a scene where the opposing coach yelled across the diamond at our coaching staff with sarcasm and anger. Keep in mind, our players were watching. His players were watching. His argument was not only out of line with the rules, but also included an anger and sarcasm that perhaps did not set a positive example for the young eyes and ears that were there. As is usual with such arguments, it didn't matter and they won and advanced in the winners bracket. But it wasn't over for the other coach. He came out to our last game last night (a meaningless game in the consolation bracket) to not only root against us, but to tell the opposing coach that we were cheaters.

I tend to be aggressive and let my testosterone get a hold of me in the spirit of competition, but never to the disadvantage of a child. As our game ended last night, I kept thinking about my interactions through the season and whether I was a positive role model for the players on our team. Did they learn the game? Yes. Did they learn sportsmanship and life skills? To be determined. Maybe that's why I didn't sleep last night.

How are we modeling and living in the way of Christ ( A Christian's goal). But also as parents and coaches, as teachers and adults in children's lives, how are we living in our children's eyes?

Old and New

2008-09-15T08:47:00.002-05:00

On two different occasions in the Gospels, Jesus encounters fisherman (who he would become his disciples) who are having no luck out on the lake. In one encounter, he suggests they push out a little further and let their nets down in deeper water and the result is so many fish that their nets are busting. In the second encounter, Jesus suggests they put their nets down on the right side of the boat rather than on the left and again they have great success.

Studying the text offers different insights into this matter. Putting the nets down in deeper water may suggest that there are those at the depths of humanity who need to be caught up in Jesus love and brought into the kingdom. Putting the nets on the right side of the boat rather than the left may be a suggestion about left brain vs. right brain where our old way of calculating and managing (left brain) should give way to a more creative way and a revisioning of of how we do things. Either way, Jesus seems to step into an old world expressing a need for constant renewal.

Maybe a new job is what you desire OR a new way of doing the old one with a need of redefining your position, a re-envisioning of its contours. Maybe a new relationship OR some fresh ways of acting within the old one relationships, so that they get injected with passion again and you begin to laugh and sing and skip and look forward to being with the people in your life. Maybe a different approach to a spiritual side of life, so that everything looks different and throbs with beauty and meaning and vitality again.

Renewal at the hand of God, aren't all things possible within the life we have been given?

Where Were You?

2008-09-10T14:48:00.004-05:00

I remember sitting in the bank drive-up with my mom when I was in elementary school. She was doing her banking business when a song came over the radio and my mother began to tear up. "Listen to this, Bradley." There we sat and listened to the song Abraham, Martin, and John. My mother grew nostalgic as she began to share about that very day was the anniversary of JFK's assassination and how she could remember where she was when the news was shared across the country.

We all have those moments. I remember sitting in fifth grade science when they told us over the intercom that the Challenger Space Shuttle exploded 73 seconds into take off; we are all interested as it carried the first public school teacher with them. For the children of the 80’s, it was the JFK shooting equivalent. It was an event that defined a whole generation: generation X.

And yet the same would happen – for the millennial generation. September 11, 2001 two hijacked planes would crash into the World Trade Center in New York City, a third into the Pentagon in Washington DC, and a fourth in Pennsylvania. Do you know where you were?
Again, we were horrified while watching the World Trade Center crashes over and over and over. With today’s media we got closer than we ever wanted to be. An event that defined a whole generation: the millennial generation.

There are moments for each generation that cause telephones to ring in schools across the nations, classes to be cancelled, shopping centers to closed, cause people stop working, clergy to open churches for prayer, for citizens to be in mourning. The sinking of the Titanic, Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima, the assassination of JFK, the Challenger explosion, Columbine High School, September 11. They are events that according to sociologist Carl Manheim that shape generations and affect the way they approach everyday life.

As we remember this week a moment in time, where were you and how has it shaped you? Your faith? Your life?

Our Hands

2008-09-09T09:29:00.003-05:00

If you think about what your hands are doing right now ... how would you describe their action? I have just been thinking about that a lot lately as I went from two hands to one hand to now a hand and a half. My hands are always busy typing, dialing, shuffling, pitching, holding, carrying, pushing, steering ... all in ways that serve myself, my job, my agenda.

Is that a reflection of our relationship with God? This past Sunday we talked about contentment. We use analogies like "keeping up with the Joneses" or "the grass is greener on the other side" to describe discontent in life or the pursuing of contentment. But in many ways we find our hands grabbing to obtain or achieve. Paul talks about contentment in Philippians 4, that as he concludes with "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me," he leads into that text by suggesting he has learned to be content in all situations. "I know what it is to have plenty, and what it is to be in need," he writes, "but I have learned to be content."

Psalm 23, that favorite Psalm suggests that the Shepherd makes us lie down in green pastures ... to be at home where we are led. The Shepherd leads us beside still waters and refreshes our soul ... constant renewal of who we are. The Shepherd comforts us in times of trial ... giving comfort. We shall dwell in the Shepherd's house forever ... contentment that is eternal. The Shepherd provides.

So, back to those hands, are they grasping or are they open and ready to receive whatever it is God gives us?

Paul

2008-09-04T14:30:00.003-05:00

It's been two years now since this herbal doctor from the Netherlands ended up on our church lawn. It may seem minor, but the few days he spent with us here at Faith UMC left a mark on my life and as this fall starts to unfold I certainly wish I saw his bike pulling into our lot.

While we were out dining as the reel faith small group, I received a phone call from another pastor who said he sent "this homeless man" to our church. For whatever reason, his church was not open to have a tent pitched in their yard. So at 9:30 at night, this pastor sent this man to Faith United Methodist Church, our church, our community - perhaps knowing that we would make room for this newcomer.

As we got back to the church, we drove around the building, trying to find the staked out tent but found nothing until almost everyone had left. And I saw a man, out under the trees with a flashlight attached to his head, making his arrangements for the night. His name was Paul; he was from the Netherlands and had been in the United States for 8 years. With an understanding of holistic medicine and a heart for Jesus, he had been across the United States 3 times on his bicycle. I called him over to the fence to get his story and it was apparent how frustrated he was with Champaign. How he was treated by city employees and the church left a rather negative mark of how he saw our community as a community of closed doors. I certainly heard more than I anticipated because I was only checking with him to make sure he was comfortable so I could get moving and continue my evening.

I didn’t think it was necessary to bring him in the building as he had set up his tent for the night and the phone call I received was not asking us to put him up for the night but just to provide some space in our yard for him. Knowing that we have a security system that I haven’t been able to figure out yet, it was easy to use the alarm as the excuse when he asked if he could sleep inside for the night. “I’m sorry, Paul,” I began, “but if I need to turn the security off at night, I need about 24 hours notice.” I was heading back to my van at that point and he, on his way back to his tent, looked out of the corner of his eye and said, “Jesus wouldn’t make you wait 24 hours.”

To make a long story short, we invited him into our building where he stayed five nights. But that made people uncomfortable as well. As open and serving as a church we are, fact is we live in an age where we are driven by fear and mistrust. Sure, you could point to 9/11 and our heightened concern for our own personal safety in daily life. But we are also led to question our leaders, looking at every election we gaze with speculation. There is also mistrust of church leadership (yes, we as a church have failed at times, leading people to question), but yet the mistrust also carries over to our peers and those who we know and those whom we don’t know.
We question peoples intentions and believe that their pursuit is purely for personal gain and believe that they will do us wrong in the process or even injure us. And yet, Jesus’ words to us are counter-testimonial to the way we live life in saying that if we can’t trust the intentions of our fellow Christians, if we can’t believe someone who bears the names of Christ on their hearts and is offering us a drink or seeking a drink, then we’ve got some real problems. And the future state of God’s kingdom on Earth is without hope.

I keep coming back to the fact that perhaps Paul came to Champaign to challenge us Christians as to our level of hospitality and to gauge how open our churches really are. Are we as open and serving as we are called to be? Paul's image in my mind keeps reminding me of that.

Living and Dying

2008-09-03T12:36:00.004-05:00

We spent part of August in fusion reflecting on heaven and earth in a theme called It's Good to Be Home. We talked about how God's home is among mortals as scripture reminds us many times that God is trying to get to us. Revelation 21 brings this to light in a vision of heaven: "Then I saw "a new heaven and a new earth," for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 'He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death' or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

The idea of no more crying and pain death is one of our shared experiences of heaven, but the coming of God right here among us, perhaps is not one of our visions of heaven. Rather we see ourselves going to God rather than God coming to us, though God intersecting in our lives is throughout scripture and the nature of Jesus Christ. Interesting though that if heaven were to come crashing into earth, would that be a good thing for us where we are in life? If God's kingdom come, what it mean for us everyday?

Would you enjoy it? Would you be comfortable? Where would the whiplash be? One of my favorite preachers asks: "If you are bitter—hard in your heart and bitter—and the Earth is invaded by pure, unadulterated joy, would it be heaven for you?" Or put it another way, if you are stingy and tight, and you aren't compassionate and aren't generous, and you find yourself in the presence of sheer, unadulterated generosity, would it be heaven for you, or would you be miserable? Or if you are a racist and you have bigoted, biased feelings and attitudes toward people of other lifestyles, skin colors, political preferences, and ethnic backgrounds, and you find yourself in the presence of people from every tribe and tongue and nation…. if you find yourself at the great wedding banquet table of heaven and you're a minority at the table and the table is populated with people that you have deep, racist feelings for, is it heaven for you? Where are we more at home … heaven or earth? Because in our minds the realm of earth certainly offers more personal control, right? Is this a matter of living and dying?

Hurricanes and Walking on Water

2008-09-01T23:43:00.004-05:00

This morning as Hurricane Gustav made it to the U.S. mainland, many television reporters took their traditional places on the streets of the towns that were being bombarded by the storm (New Orleans and Baton Rouge to be specific). One reporter in particular, was standing on a brick wall clinging to a light post. He reported, "I do not want to let go as I will be forced into the Mississippi River directly behind me." And he was right, he gave his whole report clinging to that post, shouting into his microphone in order to give the best description of the conditions as if the picture was not enough. I never quite understood the lengths that reporters would go to cover a story.

I certainly do not want to downplay the disaster that a hurricane brings and I understand the newsworthy need of this storm given that this is the first presence of a major hurricane since Hurricane Katrina tore apart Louisiana and Mississippi three years ago. But what I kept coming back to today was how much attention we give to the storms we are going through personally. As individuals we experience loss, grief, pain, challenges in our relationships, finances, jobs, etc ... we can say we go through storms.

When Jesus invited Peter to come out onto the lake and walk on water to him, Peter only began to sink his attention turned from Jesus and onto the storm. If our time is spent worrying (oh man do I do that well) and stewing about the difficulty we face, we may never see the solution that could be right there in front of us. When Peter cried out because he was sinking, there was hand there ready to pull him up. Is life about the lack of hope we feel or the gift of hope in front of us? We need to keep thinking about that thing called hope and unpack that even further in our dialogue.

Pain, Suffering, and Hope

2008-08-27T09:13:00.003-05:00

“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance produces character; and character produces hope." (Romans 5:3-4)

100 years of misery. That’s what is being said this year about the Chicago Cubs as it is the 100 year anniversary of their last World Series Championship. 100 years is a long time. Think about the radical change of our country and the game of baseball over the last 100 years, but also the number of world events over that span as well. When they last won, Henry Ford was producing the first Ford Model T. Orville Wright was demonstrating the first “flying machine” , and we hadn’t seen a world war yet. I will say this just once: “this is the longest championship drought in modern sports history.” In fact the NFL, NHL, and NBA were not even in existence in 1908.

100 years, a couple of world wars, a cold war, a shifting in American culture, the creation of technology and plenty of cars and airplanes later ,Cub Fans remain faithful. To be a Cub fan also means you believe in curses. They have not been in a World Series since 1945, the year a Chicago tavern owner brought his Billy Goat to a world series game and he and his goat were denied entrance to the park and he in his anger stated, “Never again will the Cubs play in a World Series.” And we Cub fans believe it because of the black cat in 1969, the ground ball in 1984, Steve Bartman in 2003, and I am sure this article now will provide further jinxing upon the franchise I so dearly love. By the way, the Cubs name means a small bear, though many of you “other” fans believe it means (C.U.B.S) Completely Useless By September.

When Paul wrote to the community in his letter to the Romans, the doubt, the blame, the disconnection ran much deeper than any Cub Fan. Living at Ground zero of the world, at the vortex of political storms, situated as a lightening rod for everything that went wrong in the Roman Empire, these early Christians had every reason believe they were cursed, wondering why they could never experience hope or glory or if there was a way out of all of the evil done to them and wondering if they could ever ultimately triumph. Interesting enough, Scripture says hardly anything about winning. Jesus teaches us that loss is gain and being last means being first. St. Paul writes letter from prison emphasizing a life that gives glory to Jesus Christ over wins and losses.

I hardly find it a curse that my father made me a Cub fan or that I have instilled that in my children. Because suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character and character, hope. Wait til’ next year (the Cub motto) is perhaps the most positive expression of hope in sports. Life is not without disappointment. But hope helps us not only look to brighter days ahead, but to take joy in the life we live or the game we play day in and day out. That takes character, that takes hope.

Two Way Street

2008-08-25T23:27:00.003-05:00

I used to hate one way streets. Galesburg, where I grew up (did you know that?), had two one way streets in the whole town. I just stayed away from that side of town. When my sister came to U of I in the late 1980's, I remember my dad getting frustrated with the the one-way streets around C-U. Sometimes one way streets are easier to live by.

When I first started preaching, I was approached by someone who did not like my preaching style because I did not tell her what to believe on the hot topics of our time. I told her that my job was to help her find the tools to discern her faith rather than just tell her what to believe. She disagreed. Her one way road moved on.

This past Sunday in fusion we dived into scripture to talk about heaven and earth. One of the interesting things we discerned is that Modern theology focuses our lives on getting to heaven when we die while scripture keeps telling us that God is coming to us. "See, the home of God is among mortals." "You are the Lord's Temple." "The Word became flesh and lived among us." We spend our lives trying to get to heaven for eternity, God is spending eternity trying to be at home here on earth with us.

Christian living is not one way. Christianity is not just about saving souls. Heaven is just not a place we go when we die. But Christianity is a life long process that includes living in a way that embraces God's realm now as heaven crashes into our earth more often than we think.

I think two way streets are much more difficult when I am trying to meet up with God. My concern is that I can be so focused on my agenda and my will and my direction (thinking that I am on my way to another world) that I will just pass God on God's way to meet me.

Give Me a Sign!

2008-08-21T09:19:00.004-05:00

I need a sign, God! Have you ever said that? There is a great scene in Bruce Almighty where Jim Carey's character, in a moment of personal crisis, is driving down the road and beginning to offer up prayer for the first time in a long time. And he says, "just give me a sign God," as he is literally driving behind a Department of Transportation truck full of signs reading Stop, Yield, and Do Not Enter.

We have asked God for a sign when we are desperate for a sense of direction in our lives, whether it be in our careers or relationships. We have asked God for a sign when we were desperate to believe in Faith in the aftermath of a loss. We have asked God for a sign when we didn't know how to handle certain situations. Yet, I know there are times that we think God is sending us a sign. Yesterday, a wounded deer ended up outside our office windows and decided to rest under a tree on the front lawn of the church. A friend asked me if this was some kind of sign from God. Like what ... that Faith is a good place to die or that maybe this was the beginning of the end for my career (Oh My!). Could be?!?! Or it could be that the deer got hit on Prospect Avenue and stumbled over to our lawn.

Church "leaders" through the years have tried to interpret events as signs from God. The 1993 Mississippi flooding was interpreted as God's disapproval of riverboat gambling; Hurricane Katrina as God's wrath on New Orleans and the French Quarter; or the 9/11 events as a sign from God that America was full of sin. I guess this is where we start to feel that your God is not my God, because I can't imagine a God of love committing acts of such devastation upon life.

Interestingly enough, when the people prayed for a sign from God as they did throughout the Old Testament, God instead sent a Son. Flesh. Blood. Breathing. Living. And that Son, lived grace, love, peace. One of my favorite post modern theologians Leonard Sweet writes: "God's greatest sign, God's greatest miracle, isn't a symbol -- it's a person. Here is the work of God required of us all: are you in a believing, trusting, affirming relationship with this heaven-sent Son of Man, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God?"

God's sign is not found in a symbol of a dying deer or a hurricane of devastation or a mistake someone makes towards you .... it is found in a relationship of peace and grace.

This is Faith ... This is Life

2008-08-18T10:21:00.005-05:00

I love this picture. I was struck when I came across this image for the first time in early 2007. I have since gone back to this image several times in reflecting upon this year and the many life changing events that have taken place for me.

If you were to analyze this picture, I’m guessing as you leave the stable, flat ground and move across that bridge, you don’t have a clue as to where you are going. Because we have seen Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, many of us would not even venture out on a bridge like this, without a clue as to where this bridge is even attached as it just disappears into the clouds. And the only thing you see beyond the clouds are very jagged peaks and no sign of a stable surface.

Is this faith? Yes, but not that we go blindly but faith in many ways is giving up control. There are lies that we have in our mind that tell us if we do this, then this will happen. It is a part of our control. If we eat healthy, and exercise, then we will live long. That if we are good parents and follow the parenting classes, our children will turn out fantastic. That if we develop a good dating relationship with positive courtship, then there will be a good marriage to follow. But it doesn’t always go that way. That the journey of life is this: plans – that you think will go the distance but don’t – is us putting God in a box, we have to rethink our fundamental understanding that life is a journey, that life is changing. And that God is a part of that evolving into us. There may not be an answer today or tonight. When we’re on the journey, we don’t always know where tomorrow’s provision will come from. I have to keep reminding myself that when we leave control for faith, faith is not the end destination – faith is the journey. Walking out into uncertainty is walking out into faith ... it is walking into life.

But what we do know is this: we are not alone in that cloud ahead. Maybe it’s time for some of us to surrender. There are circumstances that we have tried to control, but haven’t submitted them to God. Perhaps there is some built up anxiety about tomorrow, perhaps that 6 year plan has not fallen in place in our time frame, or under our control. And so maybe as we sit and reflect in this moment, we need to say, “God, I give you my future.” To just let go. Perhaps there is an attitude of control or manipulation that we need to leave behind, because that cloud ahead in this picture? That’s God. Inviting us into God's plan. Faith is not the destination. Faith is the journey.

Center of Our Thoughts

2008-08-13T08:58:00.003-05:00

I was talking with a friend recently who was experiencing a significant loss in life and forced to consider an alternative route through life. We all know something about loss in our lives as death, broken relationships, or job loss have put a hole in our lives and leaving us with feelings of anger, emptiness, or maybe even a sense of hopelessness. That hole can be pretty big and seem to remain for some time. I feel it with my father here 31/2 months after his death. We had a family reunion for my mom's side over last weekend and yet, where was my dad? We may feel these effects of loss for sometime because of the many emotions that come from these experiences. Job loss leaves us feeling low in self-confidence. Relationship loss leaves us feeling unworthy. Financial loss leaves us feeling like there is no where to turn.

With that hole in front of us it is easy to allow life to be about that hole and allow that hole to be the center of our thoughts. Problem is, when we do that then life becomes about what we do not have as opposed to what we do have. When we give that time and energy that allows these situations to be the center of our thoughts, then we are giving up the control of our lives to the uncontrollable measure of the past.

The Psalmist hits on these feelings of loss time and time again. In particular, Psalm 139 seems to stand out this morning as I consider my friend and those others who are really seeking something to hold on to.
"If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." (Psalm 139:11-14)

So we press on in life. Though there is not a lot that we can control when life hits, we can control where we turn and where the center of our thoughts are. Because God has given us a community to find strength in, a faith to live in, a home to strive for, a hope to make the hole whole again.

When I Grow Up...

2008-08-11T09:06:00.003-05:00

There were a lot of things I wanted to be when I grew up. I asked my boys what they wanted to do when they grew up, Andrew had no clue and Jacob insisted he wanted to be a track star. I have my ideas of what I would like to see them become. As I watch them now, I see certain gifts and abilities that reveal certain possibilities in the future. I still have aspirations of having a professional athlete in the family and, of course, it would brighten my heart to have one of my sons follow in my footsteps as a pastor (do I really wish that on them?).

But really is that fair? I have seen parents live their lives through their children. I have watched adults put an end to the dreams of children because the dreams are not in line with what the adults desire. I have watched coaches ride their players so hard, that the young player loses a passion for the sport because it is no longer about them and their dream, but about what the coach wants. Though I say I have witnessed this, I am probably guilty as well.

Reality is our children's creativity, innocence, potential, and success as adults really depends on environment and how are we allowing them to become the person God created them to be. In reference to the emergence of Jeremiah as a prophet, Jeremiah 1:5 begins, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." This is not a bid for predestination, but it is, perhaps, indicative of how God plants in us certain passions, interests, and gifts that are developed as we grow.

Did I have an environment that pushed me to be a pastor? Not at all and if you know the Shumaker family, nobody saw this coming. But there was an environment open enough to allow me to be and live out my passions and interests. Am I providing that in my house? I would love to be the parent of a professional athlete, but again whose dream is that?

Ball and Chain (not what you think)

2008-08-06T09:10:00.002-05:00

As I was cruising down the road the other day in my "soccer-mom-minivan" (with a great new dent on the hood) a song came up on my XM radio that I have not heard in years. When I say years, I mean since probably 1991/1992 when I was in high school and my brother (who had moved back in with my parents) would listen to it. The song was Ball and Chain by Social Distortion, an old punk band from the 1980's. Thanks to my brother who listened to a wide selection of music and inspired me to as well.

My brother was/is a wonderful man who has been shaped by some hard life experiences. The character and integrity he exhibits today, I believe, stems from his parents but also the situations he has lived through. Though the punk music stage was one of the rebellions against our parents, I think this song at that time in his life took on a lot of meaning.

As I re-read the lyrics (which include a reference to pray in the Chevrolet, lol) the lyrics are a prayer. The chorus is a plea to take away, take away this ball and chain. The second verse reads:
Well I've searched and I've searched
To find the perfect life-
A brand new car and a brand new suit
I even got me a little wife-
But wherever I have gone I was sure to find myself there-
You can run all your life
But not go anywhere

It's not a reference to his relationship or spouse, but it is a reference to an internal struggle that keeps us from the life of freedom that we see out there but can't seem to grasp.

Interestingly enough, the lyrics in many songs are more spiritual than some of the songs on Christian labels. Though parents and some church folk has tried to condemn some secular music from their houses, many songs are written out of the human experience in search of something deeper. There is an element of hope in all of our experiences and some of our richest encounters of hope are found not in the words of a preacher ... but in the human life in its most natural state.

Yet for my brother, his journey went from Christian camp leader to rebellious faith doubter to worship leader. Amazing how God works!

Sticks and Stones

2008-08-04T13:53:00.002-05:00

Sticks and stones will break our bones, but words will even cut deep into our hearts. I know that's not how the saying goes, but it is probably more true than the traditional anecdote. The Psalmist reminds us in Psalm 64 that our tongues can be like swords and we can aim cruel words like deadly arrows. Words can and will hurt. I don’t think we need to ask Don Imus about that, but my guess is that each one of us can identify with brokenness in our lives, where our words or the words of another were like arrows that pierced deep into our souls.

Psychologists and therapists will tell you to never give somebody else the power to hurt you. And if each of us could adapt that into our lives, no doubt we would be healthier people. Yet, consider the power of spoken or written word. We know that words can give life. Genesis 1 tells us that at the beginning of time, God spoke and there was light. God spoke and there was life. God spoke and all of the cosmos and all of creation were set into motion. Also, consider what do words of encouragement do for us. But also consider what words of criticism can do, what words of gossip can do, what words of hate can do, what words of deception can lead to. Just as words can give life, words can destroy life and take away our very souls. There is power in our words.

Paul suggests in Ephesians 4:29, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Do we think that through with everything that comes out of our mouths? In our personal relationships, do we give thought to how are words impact those who mean so much to us?

For God created everything and said, "it was good." Are we that positive with our words?

Let's Pray

2008-07-31T16:41:00.002-05:00

God the cosmic bellhop. The most common image of God when we go to prayer. It makes me laugh to imagine God (as the bearded old man from my parents nativity scene who was really a wiseman ... that's my image of God) pushing around my luggage cart saying, "Yes, Rev. Shumaker, I will take care of it." For every prayer I lift up, expecting God to deliver and I may tip God with my words of thanksgiving if I am mindful.

In a recent study I led, it was pointed out that maybe we are missing the point on prayer. We are invited to cry out to God, thank God, praise God, be natural in our prayers, but maybe the point of prayer is not to change God's mind or move God to action. Perhaps the point of prayer is to change our mind and to change our perspective ad move us to action. (Maybe a sermon coming!)

Jacob (from the Genesis story) drastically had his life set on a different course after wrestling with God. Jesus (I think you have heard of him) prayed on the night of his betrayal asking God to "take this cup from him." Yet Jesus would conclude his prayer, "yet not my will, but yours be done." In our prayers, are we willing to talk it through with God in ways that seek understanding and surrender ourselves to God's leading? We pray that in the Lord's prayer: "Thy kingdom come, THY WILL BE DONE ..."

Do we pray to change God, or to change us?

The Wrist and the Hip

2008-07-28T14:22:00.002-05:00

Yesterday in worship, we talked about Jacob and his journey/struggles/wrestling with God. In many ways, he represents us. As Jacob concludes his running from God, there is a story in Genesis 32 of his long night wrestling match with God. Though his life seems to be more of a story from Jerry Springer or The Sopranos, his overall struggle tells our story, I believe. And I know it is telling my story as I continue to go back and read as to what Jacob is up to and try to discern where God is guiding me. Amazing how the Bible is full of characters that tell our stories!

If you have not read Jacob's story of sibling rivalry through his running, I invite you to do so in Genesis 25-35. His name means Supplanter or Grabber... and that would be one interesting way to tell of his journey. But that night he wrestled all night with God, he is given a new name: Israel and that name means "one who wrestles with God." In the midst of the wrestling match, the angel (God/man) took a rock and hit Jacob on his hip, and scripture tells us that from then on Jacob walked with a limp.

I am not sure yet how my story continues, I know I keep wrestling with God in a battle I will not win. That whole my will vs. God's will issue is a hard fight. But as for the injury to my wrist, I am now done seeing the doctor. I have about 30% of my strength and 55% of my mobility. Not bad considering what happened when I fell. However, I clearly know that I will not be the same, walking away with a limp.

Perhaps it is a lesson in humility. Perhaps a lesson in community. If you think about the stories of scripture, is your ongoing story in there?

Is This Heaven?

2008-07-24T09:32:00.002-05:00

I was watching the 80's movie, Field of Dreams, last night with my boys. We were waiting for the Cub game to come on and came across the movie while flipping stations. It had been so long since seeing it, I forgot about the ending. So the reunion between the main character and his father proved to be a real tear jerker. Yet there is a well quoted line from an important interchange in that movie between the two (Costner and his father). They talk about heaven.

"Is this heaven," his father asks.

"No, it is Iowa," Costner replies.

The conversation continues and the discussion on heaven leads to this conclusion, "Heaven is where all your dreams come true."

Field of Dreams? Perhaps. When I do a funeral message, I usually point to the four "R"s of death: Rest, Reunion, Reward, and Resurrection. They seem to be promises as we pass from this life to the next. In some ways they represent what we dream about, but as we look for hope in this life and look to heaven ... what grander things can there be? Rest from our labors. Reunion with those we love but see no more. Reward for how we loved and lived. Resurrection of our lives, receiving wholeness and healing.

Most of us do not think about heaven much, and I am not sure we should spend our time focusing on a life to come. But we can work for a touch of heaven here. The dreams we hold are not limited to a life to come because our God is not limited to a life to come. Rest in God's arms here in times of sabbath. Reunion in the ways we reconcile and practice forgiveness and connect on deep levels. Reward is given here as life is much more rewarding when we live a way of love as opposed to bitterness and resentment. Resurrection is experienced right here when we open ourselves to the gifts of community.

Is it Iowa? No, this is Illinois ... this can be a taste of heaven.

Complacency and Contentment

2008-07-21T13:10:00.002-05:00

Complacency and Contentment. There is a difference. Yesterday in worship as we talked about moving forwards as a church and as individuals, there has to be a level of contentment in life. Wikipedia, drawing upon Buddhist Theology, suggests that, "Contentment is the goal behind all goals because once achieved there is nothing to seek until it is lost." Contentment goes on to suggest that there is dissatisfaction until the idea is achieved and all is compared to the ideal. Translation: the grass is always greener on the other side. I suggested yesterday that we can't move forward until we are content with who we are as people created by God. I suggested that we have everything we need to move forward because we have the love of God.

On the other hand, we have said ourselves that we are comfortable or "content" with where we are in life. That's also true. Perhaps, as was pointed out to me yesterday after church, contentment is a double-edged sword. As contentment can also lead to complacency.

Friends, let us not settle for anything less than ideal. God continues to draw us forwards in ways of life, peace, and grace. The ideal is the kingdom of heaven. We pray, "thy kingdom come, thy will be gone on earth as it is in heaven." Yet, are we striving for that prayer? Again, we have everything we need for the journey.

Back to the Garden

2008-07-17T09:50:00.002-05:00

I know that this is the third time we have revisited the garden in the blog, but it seems to be the basis of human history. We come to understand sin, we come to understand the order of life, we come to understand the plight of human history as understood by those who wrote Genesis. It really offers remarkable insight into our story even here in 2008.

After the eating of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, there is a curse put upon Adam and Eve. Eve always gets the bad rap as the pain of childbirth is put upon her in this text, but there is more to the story. I must note here that it is not God's punishment ... but God points out there is a self-imposed curse here that there will be division (enmity) between even the most basic division in humanity.. man and woman (remember, Women and from Venus, Men are from Mars?). The man's self imposed curse would be his toil to the ground; in other words, he will be overcommited to his job. The woman's self impose curse would be her desire for him and his attention. Now please know, some of you may be saying, "amen," that it fits your perception. But this is not a gender specific curse, but a way to point to how we make priorities and cause division.

The divisions go deep. The Bible charts our our historic divisions, our countries today emphasize our divisions, our economy expands our divisions, pride glorifies our divisions. It is not just a story about men and women, but the many ways we see people as "other", "them", and "those".

All the way we divide ourselves, yet the Bible continues to tell a story of reconciliation. One of our journey back to God and the story of peace between people that Christ lived. Can we sum the Bible up as a simple story of forgiveness? I am not so sure, but it is a story of relationship from beginning to end. Love draws us in, peace holds us close, forgiveness offers a new way.

A "Personal" Day ... A Prayerful Day

2008-07-15T06:54:00.003-05:00

This past Sunday I took a break from preaching in order to deal with long term issues in my relationship with Erin. Though the issues in our relationship have a long history, the culmination of all of the events this year (most recently the loss of my father), along with my relationship with Erin, made it difficult for me to be able to speak on Sunday. Please know that we will continue to work together through these challenging times.

I feel I do need to apologize for such a last minute change in schedule, and for my abruptness in explaining my absence. As many of you can relate, though, relationship matters can be very difficult to handle, and this needed my time and energy to process. Also, being in the public eye as a pastor has its own life, and I hope that you understand how difficult it is to explain an unexpected "personal day" on a Sunday.

I want to express my gratitude for your expressions of concern since Sunday. The Christian community offers much support and companionship. I hope that you continue to pray for all of your church staff and their families in all that you do. A special note: I want to say thank you to the wonderful staff at Faith UMC and others who stepped up to provide a rich worship experiences at all the services on July 13. I am proud to be a part of such a supportive team.

Revisiting the Garden

2008-07-11T14:28:00.002-05:00

At the end of may, in conjunction with the Indiana Jones movie, we discussed about the knowledge of good and evil and what impact that had on our ability to discern good and evil. We questioned whether the quest for knowledge would lead us to death.

I have been reading The Uncensored Bible, which addresses some of the more obscure and risque portions of the Bible. According to Jacob Milgrom, a biblical scholar from Cal-Berkeley, the knowledge of good and evil is a euphemism for intercourse. His description goes into great depth, but in brief, the only two other biblical references to "knowledge of good and evil" are references to such a topic. He also points to the transitions in scripture that suggest that it was then that they became aware of their sexuality.

The traditional notion of original sin and the "knowledge of good and evil" usually leads to a moral sense or the capacity to explore the goodness of humanity. One more final note though from this book as we revisit the garden discussion and the knowledge of good and evil ... indeed sexuality has been used through history in constructive (good) and destructive (ways). Are our eyes opened to a new way of treating and respecting one another?

The Pot and the Kettle, and a Mirror too!

2008-07-09T12:16:00.003-05:00

My mother likes the phrase, "that's like the pot calling the kettle 'black'." When my brothers and I used to go at it and verbally insult one another, my mother would step in and try to lighten the mood with her phrase and point out that our insult wasn't really fair because it could be applied to the person saying it as well.

This past Sunday, I made a comment in my sermon about some statements through the years that have bothered me. In our attempt to go withwards as a community and bring our divisions to an end, I commented that phrases like "my service" and "your service" were divisive. Someone reminded me afterwards that I may have used those same phrases myself, you know like the pot calling the kettle "black."

That phrase can be applied to me every week. When I prepare a sermon, I write and deliver the message in front of a mirror. With God's help, I find myself on the journey seeking to be more grace-filled, more communal, more inclusive, more free of sin, closer in my journey to God. When I was asked in my ordination interviews ten years ago what it meant for me to be "set apart" as an ordained clergy, my response was that I believe I am "set within." My ordination makes me no different, only that I have been put into a community to grow and be challenged with as I journey as well.

May we know such journey, may we know such community ... withwards.

Humility (Any help on this coming Sunday's sermon will be appreciated)

2008-07-07T23:57:00.004-05:00

Humility is a difficult thing. Since coming out of my shell as a sophomore in high school, I like to be the center of attention. Working behind the scenes? Not for me. Playing second fiddle? Not my thing. Does that mean I do not like authority? I certainly hope not. Nor do I hope that it means I am starved for attention.

Humility is defined as, "A quality by which a person considering his own defects has a humble opinion of himself and willingly submits himself to God and to others for God's sake." St. Bernard (the monk, not the dog) defines it as, "A virtue by which a man knowing himself as he truly is, abases himself."

In thinking about this coming Sunday's sermon and talking about direction (for oneself and our church) I don't think we can move forward in life unless we are content with who we are. The second definition above by St. Bernard is interesting in that the lowering of oneself (abasing oneself) comes when we know who we truly are. It is not a matter of authority, attention, or recognition, rather it is a matter of confidence in who we are and an affirmation of our gifts from God. Do you agree? Is contentment in our very creation key to being able to move forward in our faith journey or our life journey? I am open to your contributions for Sunday.

Philippians 2 talks about Christs' humility in this way: "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!"

God Bless America

2008-07-05T10:14:00.002-05:00

In thinking about that phrase again this weekend and hearing it on TV and the radio, I keep thinking to myself, indeed God already has. At least statistically, consider the following:
+ America is 6% of the world’s population but we consume over 40% of the worlds resources.
+ Of the 6 billion people in the world, 1.2 billion live on 23 cents a day, how many of us can do that in America?
+ 40% of the world’s population lack basic sanitation services, how does that compare to our U.S. home?
+ Every 15 seconds, someone in the world dies of hunger, how does that compare to our diet here in the land of amber waves of grain?
+ 1 billion people in the world are without safe drinking water, and yet in America we consume 26 billion liters of bottled water a year.

God Bless America. I hope that our recitation of such a mantra goes beyond that which is material. Perhaps God already has blessed us … with people who have a sense of vision for peace as Jesus teaches. Perhaps to have peace or the ability to make peace makes us rich or blessed beyond measure . The idea of blessing in the Bible is that we wanted to be blessed by God so that we could share that blessing with another. Is that what we’re doing?

In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says “Blessed are the Peacemakers, for they shall be called Children of God.” Or to hear it from the Message. “You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.”

In a world of disparity - economically and socially – where the things that divide us are stronger than ever. In world torn apart by war, violence in the streets, poverty right outside our door, Christ keeps calling out to all peacemakers.

Weakness

2008-07-02T07:52:00.003-05:00

As I was preparing for the bible study I lead on Tuesday nights, I found myself getting angry. The study was called "Jesus Recognizes Our Weaknesses" from the Jesus 101 series. The author was talking about how there are people in our lives (both whom we know and do not know) who like to exploit our weaknesses. I was getting angry because I have been there. There was a time in my life when someone who I considered a close friend was feeding on my weaknesses to build themselves up and guilt me in our friendship. I was not mad at that person, but I was angry at myself because I knew it was happening and allowed it to continue. I thought that I was being a good friend by loving and accepting unconditionally.

The point of the study was that Jesus recognizes our weaknesses and would never exploit them. It is the Sunday School answer to everything (Jesus would never let you down, hurt you, etc). The thought that kept coming to mind was of course Jesus would never take advantage of us because we don't have to share a house, apartment, workplace, neighborhood, with him. Jesus presence is in Spirit, but not in bodily presence. Is that fair to say?

As I have been stewing on this, I keep coming back to how we experience Christ ... through others. Our way of life and how we relate to one another is a testimony to our faith. As Christians, we are the ones who serve as Christ hands, feet, mouth, and heart in this world. The lesson then, perhaps is, more so for us in terms of how we treat one another and how we interact. Do we exploit other's weaknesses? Do you? Can people look at Christs' representatives in this world and say, "Jesus Christ does not exploit my weaknesses"?

My friend was/is a Christian.

Pride ... In the Name of Love

2008-06-30T08:32:00.002-05:00

(Taking a line from U2, as the title of this posting).

"Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall." (Proverbs 16:18) We have heard this phrase a number times associated with global leaders, wars, and other worldly events. I think I have heard my mother utter a form of the first part of this phrase to me at times (or probably more so to my father). I think I have said a number of times in counseling sessions that pride will be the reason for the failing in your relationship.

We have a negative view of pride. Wikipedia defines it as: "Pride is a lofty view of one's self or one's own. Pride often manifests itself as a high opinion of one's nation (national pride), ethnicity (ethnic pride), or appearance and abilities (vanity). Pride is considered a negative attribute by most major world religions ..."

It is true we will also hear a lot about national pride this week with it being independence day. As I hear scripture, my mother, my own voice and Wikipedia lecturing this morning, I asked my congregation yesterday what makes them proud of their church. I wasn't asking them to take a lofty stance of themselves or offer high opinion, nor was I attempting to contradict scripture. I was attempting to identify the things that offered them dignity.

If you have never heard the aforementioned song by U2, I would recommend you take the opportunity to listen and read the words. The song makes reference to people (including Jesus) who lived with pride. The way pride is defined in the song is not in any way of loftiness or boasting, but that pride was a motivating factor for living in a way that brought dignity to human life.

Pride can lead us down the pathway of selfishness and stubbornness and defeat OR pride can be used to build upon the kingdom of God and that kind of love when we are proud of something that is bigger than us. That motivates us. That drives us.

So, what are you proud of?

Facing Our Giants, Dodging Obstacles

2008-06-18T09:23:00.003-05:00

In fusion, we spent the first three week of June re-living the story of David and Goliath and discerning from David’s life as we go through life, Facing Our Giants. There were some key behaviors from David that helped him overcome Israel’s giant that kept them from the life God promised. Encouragement from his community and God, a focus on his personal relationship to God, and a passion for that promise were the three behaviors we focused on.

Interesting enough, I though I thought I was facing giants this spring standing in the way of my participation in ASP (our youth mission trip). This is our church's 23rd year of being involved with ASP, and except for the summer I moved here I have attended every year. But this year was in jeopardy as arm issues, financial issues, dad issues, baseball issues, vacation issues, can-I-get-a-tissue-for-my-issue issues stood in the way of being able to participate. Giants? No. Obstacles? Yes.

Obstacles are the things we have to remind ourselves over and over, that these are easily overcome through communication and by not sweating the small stuff. A true giant though stands in the way of the life, community, the world that God intends for us ... that place in life that has been promised to us. As we have said before there are many giants and we have become pretty good with just living with them in our landscape, they are both internal struggles and external struggles. We tolerate them, we avoid them, we ignore them. These things disrupt the freedom of others, stand in the way of God’s intent for us. We don't experience the kind of life or peace or relationships that God intends for us because there's a giant that either we've ignored or been unwilling to address. Those true giants are that of poverty, hatred, hunger, depression, deep brokenness in the losses we suffer, abuse, and addiction. They make us battle with passion to find what God has in store for us in the end.

Lessons From My Father

2008-06-15T16:54:00.002-05:00

As I struggled this morning with whether I wanted the give the sermon I had already prepared, I found this article on www.msn.com in commemoration of Father's Day. I share this with you as you reflect on the role your own father played in your life. Take note that these fathers were not perfect, but each of these writers found a way to celebrate what their father taught them. I have deliberately avoided preaching about Father's Day given the mixed emotions people have in regards to their parental relationships. Read and reflect and perhaps discern a title for your father.
http://men.msn.com/articlebl.aspx?cp-documentid=7880172&GT1=32001

The Door

2008-06-12T11:11:00.002-05:00

After my father's funeral this spring at the First Presbyterian Church in Galesburg, I wanted some friends to see the First United Methodist Church (my "home" church) which was just across the parking lot. After they could not get in the door, they came back looking for me saying that the door was locked. It turned out it was just the wrong door, to which my friend responded, "That's the way with most churches, you never know which door to go in." Interesting observation. Now that he says that, I can think of many churches I have been to and the entrance is not clear. In fact, many older churches have a rather pronounced entrance with steps and beautiful doors. My guess is the members do not use them and maybe they are open on Sundays. Church doors, I find, are locked, sealed, or unusable or inaccessable. Sometimes there will be a sign that reads: "Use Main Entrance". Yeah, if I knew where that was.

I have been fixated on this idea of church doors and how closed they have been to people through the years. I wrote last night in one of the blog responses:
When I started preaching in the contemporary setting, I can remember someone telling me that my target audience should be those disgruntled with the church. As I think about the last 8 years (scandals, transforming churches, etc) I think that is a huge target audience. As we move from a "Christian society" to a Secular society", we see tons of people who were raised in the church and have since left. And not just wandering away, but intentionally leaving with a negative perspective of (un)organized religion.

Perhaps that "target audience" sees a church that has been closed to them. You can't help that they have closed the door themselves, but too many times we find the church at fault of closing the door. It would be nice to see a church with doors open ... the back doors, the front doors, the garage doors where people can come in through the portal that is most comfortable.

But don't forget about leaving the Fridge door open ... people are hungry for something!

Preachers and Politicians

2008-06-10T15:08:00.002-05:00

After being elected president of the fifth grade class, I was convinced that one day I would be President of the United States of America. By the end of the year, my convincing essay to Mrs. Hinkson led her to tell me, "yes, Brad, I believe one day you will be President." After serving as class president in high school, my life in politics drew to a close and religion came to the forefront.

The irony is that during this election year, I am in the profession that is giving presidential candidates great difficulty for both political parties. Controversial statements by preachers are being pulled out of the archives, hitting Youtube, portrayed to America's voters on CNN, and being used by rivals to draw associations between candidates and their preachers. Interestingly enough, I did not realize we preachers were that popular and influential!

What has been even more interesting for me is the reaction by candidates to drop their association with their churches. My initial response is that if you were offended by your preacher's comments, why does it take a political campaign to get you to listen to what your preacher really said.

As I reflect more, I guess if I said something controversial or contrary to your thoughts in my sermons, then we could dialogue about our faith journeys and come to a peace between us before you choose to jettison the church. But there is a deeper issue here that has to do with association and PERHAPS a feeling of selling out on a faith commitment as if the election takes precedence over the community of faith. Your commitment to your church is a commitment to more than the preacher, but to a faith community where you have experienced God. (Again, this is in regards to both parties ... not showing partiality, nor am I condoning any comments that have been made). This is a blog about being called to dialogue, to agree to disagree, but to dialogue when opinions differ.

That was the beauty of Christ in selecting his disciples. Zealots and Tax collectors drawn to the same table to share in life. Jesus knew the tension between such group, but he brought them together and sent them forth in the same mission of faith ... with a faith commitment. Are you proud of your association with the saints and sinners of your faith community? Does your faith community represent what you stand for? If someone questioned your church, would you stand by it?

Unorganized Religion

2008-06-07T15:31:00.000-05:00

I just spent the last couple of days in Peoria at our Annual Conference. Every year, the United Methodist Churches gather for a time of Holy Conferencing and discern the direction of our churches for the coming year. We deal with anything from a $14.5 million budget to declaring an Older Adult Day in the Illinois United Methodist Churches; from taking a stand on war to how many churches we want to start next year. One of the interesting discussions (maybe frustrating would be a better word) was on move to begin electronic voting at our next annual conference. With these little keypads we can register our vote and in seconds we would know the outcome. It's great ... I think they use the same system on America's Funniest Home Videos.

However, America's Funniest Home Videos we are not. What happened afterwards was an hour discussion on why we should not make such a technological shift. There were some justified reasons, but much of the discussion centered on trust. These elected and appointed leaders of the church showed a lack of trust in technology (that it would fail), the organized church (that someone would see how they voted), and themselves ("I may push the wrong button"). The irony of the situation runs even deeper as this dialogue on electronic voting led someone at the end of the conference to say to me, "I am finding myself losing interest in organized religion more and more every year." Again, an elected leader of the church.

What is it that contributes to those feelings that organized religion has failed people? Church politics? Broken trust? Disconnected clergy? Or is it as simple as a lack of patience and kindness for and towards those who may not be where we are in the journey?

We have to decide for ourselves whether our involvement in "organized religion" has brought something rich to our lives or not. My guess is that despite the headaches, we have gained a community that has transformed us. You will never hear me promote "organized religion" but you will hear me talk about a fantastic community of Faith.

There is one thing from the Annual Conference that I invite you to watch. It was given to us by Bishop Bruce Ough (from West Ohio). Consider this 8 minute video in light of where we may be going and how organized religion has a part. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMcfrLYDm2U

Missions, Martyrs, and Passion

2008-06-03T10:01:00.000-05:00

I have received two e-mails this week from friends in Juarez who are dealing with the recent run of violence in their community. Since January 1, the number of homicides in Juarez has totaled over 400. The problem is between the major drug traders and an order of corrupt police officers. The Mexican government has stepped up and sent in over 2,500 troops to aid local law enforcement (for more info see www.elpasotimes.com). There is hope, though there are many travel warnings to Americans suggesting they stay clear until the situation is stabilized.

Jose Luis, my friend and our missionary contact, asked us to lift them up in prayer as they have had four teams cancel this spring after hearing this warning. When teams cancel, their employees go without any work and income. The mission is worried. One team that recently completed their mission last month sent a letter to prospective teams assuring them that the mission was safe. The violence is taking place in other parts of the city and it is primarily between the drug runners and the law.

I used to joke with those going on the Adult Mission Trips for the first time that if you died on a mission trip then you would be considered a martyr which is one of the steps toward sainthood. Yet, on a serious note as I talked with one of my friends this past week who has also been to Juarez, we both agreed that we will sign up again next year and really have no hesitation. When it comes to confidence, I guess this is where I feel the most confident in life. Not only are the mission trips to Juarez the only place I get a good night's sleep, but my life is tied to a passion and mission that I can not imagine my life without it. I wish I had this kind of confidence in other areas of my life.

Are there places for you where you have a similar confidence in the face of fear? Is there anything that you can point to in your life that gives you this kind of confidence? Why do we lack confidence in the other places in our lives?

Who Do You Say I Am?

2008-06-02T09:22:00.000-05:00

The other night I came across a show on the National Geographic channel revealing some of the historical truths behind the Indiana Jones movies. Though I missed the discussion on the Ark of the Covenant, I did catch some of the segment on the quest for the Holy Grail, the cup believed to be used at the Last Supper. There was an interview with an archaeologist who, after a long quest, found what he believes is the Holy Grail buried under a statue in France. According to legend, Joseph of Arimathea, the man who offered his tomb for Jesus, took that same grail and used it to collect the blood that poured from Jesus side after his crucifixion. Joseph of Arimathea would be known as the first keeper of the grail.

The interesting twist to the story, was the archaeologist in the interview said it was made of alabaster. Indiana Jones held the cup of a carpenter. Our churches use golden chalices to remember the moment. Google search “Holy Grail” and the images are adorned cups. The Da Vinci Code will tell you the Holy Grail was not a cup, but a person. In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, it was a question of faith.

In his book, The Holy Grail: Imagination and Belief, Richard Barber writes:
Not that this means there wasn't a cup. But even if it still exists, how would you know if you found it? You are not going to come up with a cup with a neat label tied around it saying 'This is the cup of the Last Supper, guaranteed authentic.'"

Isn’t that true about how seeking out Jesus in our life? There are four Gospels with four different perspectives of Jesus, which is true for you? How do you determine what is truth for you? Jesus asks his disciples in the heart of the Gospel of Mark, “Who do you say I am?” Ah, a key question. Not what others are saying or not from hear say or legend, but who do YOU say I am?

Indiana Jones

2008-05-29T10:55:00.000-05:00

(I will not spoil the movie for us). In the new Indiana Jones movie there is a connection to the story in Genesis 3 about the quest for knowledge. In Genesis 3 as Adam and Eve were making their way through the garden, a serpent comes to them and encourages them to eat of the fruit from the forbidden tree. The serpent, drawing from earlier in the text, points to the "tree of knowledge of good and evil." I think you know the rest of the story as they eat of the fruit, their eyes are opened and we come to know this as the first sin. This is where the concept of Original Sin draws its roots.

We define sin as anything that stands in the way of our journey with God. The serpent's temptation in the Genesis story is that if you eat of this fruit of knowledge then your eyes would be opened, "and you will be like God." That is the nature of corporate advertising , encouraging us to buy certain products and we too can be a God. But why is the knowledge of good and evil a sin? Isn't that how we are to discern between the choices in our lives as we follow God knowing what is good and what is evil? The quest for knowledge can bring us to death?

I am interested in your thoughts, O Learned People!

A Question of Risk

2008-05-28T08:49:00.000-05:00

Here is a scenario for discussion:

Last night at our Young Adults group we talked about the scripture in Matthew 14 when Jesus comes to the disciples walking on water. In the scripture, Peter asks Jesus to command him to come out of the boat and come to him. He does and Peter starts to walk on water only to start sinking when he takes his eyes off of Jesus. We talked about trust and suggested that Peter trusted Jesus, but he did not trust himself.

John Ortberg, author of the book, If You Want to Walk On Water You Have to Get Out of the Boat, suggests that the worst failure in this story is to never get out of the boat. Peter tends to get bad publicity for sinking, but we have to remember that the other 11 disciples did not bother to get out of the boat.

I am struggling with this idea of the other eleven/risk/trust. Here is my question:
Do those who take risks in their lives and faith show more trust in themselves or more trust in others? Where does community play a part? How does control fit in to this picture?

Greener Pastures

2008-05-27T14:47:00.000-05:00

I was taking a friend to the airport today. My friend is flying to Ireland for a week and the first time visit that will include a hotel room along the Liffey River in Dublin and a view of one of the historic castles. My view of Ireland is one of rolling green fields, castles, history, U2, and people with great accents. My only ventures out of the country have been to a dusty Juarez and an accidental journey into Canada (we took a wrong turn in northern Montana and ended up at a Canadian Methodist Church). Though if you were to ask me about a dream trip, Europe would be at the top of the list as perhaps my view of many of the western world countries is rather romanticized. To be in a place of such long history, beautiful mountains, quaint villages, and great food would fulfill a long lasting dream for me.

As I drove away from the airport, filled with envy, I kept wondering, "Do people in Ireland, Germany, Italy, etc, have that same desire about America as I do about their countries?" Do they have a romanticized view of America as I do of their country?

Many times I find myself looking at other occupations, places, lives, with the assumption that the grass is always greener on the other side. But when we dig deep, we find that we are all not as different as we think we are. Every country, person, occupation, etc, has its obstacles. The key is realizing that the green pastures of ministry in Illinois are just as green as those in Ireland and these green pastures is where God wants me right now.

Maybe someday I could at least see that side of life with my own eyes ...

Lost child

2008-05-26T20:52:00.000-05:00

Yesterday as we walked through the grocery store, I found it my duty to torment Andrew to no end. Whenever he'd ask for something, I would say, "Little boy, why don't you go ask your father?" Or occasionally, I would look at him and say, "Who are you?" At one point as we were standing in the isle, I looked at this young couple and I said, "Excuse me, ma'am. Is this your son?" Andrew's face and ears grew red in embarrassment although I will say he kept his smile.

A friend of mine this week told me about his son who has decided to go his own way. Although he is active in the church, his son has never embraced that kind of faith. But not only has his son rejected any kind of institutional faith, he has also rejected his opportunities for education and is drawing away from his family.

There are way too many causes for brokenness in family relationships. There are many teenagers who tend to go through that stage of rebellion although in reality, they are discovering their own independence in trying to chart a course in life that they can claim as their own. What is unfortunate is that many rebellious young adults fail to realize the depth of love that their parents have for them. I may joke with Andrew about asking who his father is, but I pray that he knows the depth of love that I hold for him.

Luke, chapter 15, tells the story of the prodigal son and although there is a happy ending, with the son returning to his father, what is obvious is that whether that son came back or not - the father never lost love. And however long it may have been between the time the son declared his father dead and his return, his father was willing to let go so that his son could figure it out for himself.

The Trouble With Jesus

2008-05-24T16:48:00.000-05:00

I have been speaking on The Trouble with Jesus at fusion these last two weeks addressing some rather difficult things to hear or diving in to look at some texts that might have a little more meaning behind the text. Last week we looked at the call to be "witnesses to the ends of the earth." This week, we are looking at Jesus' suggestion to "not worry about your life."

Yet, one of the texts I have been reflecting on, yet did not speak on is found in Luke 4. With people pressing on him for healing and attention and teaching, Jesus up and leaves saying that he must go on to other towns now, (Luke 4:40-44). I am doubtful that he met everyone's needs, but with these people crying out to him and seeking him out he walks away. How does he look into these people's faces and walk away?

Rob Bell, my favorite post-modern theologian, suggests this about Jesus, "He is the only one who does not have a savior complex." Jesus knew his limitations and understood the rhythm of life that requires rest when we are weary or knows when to be about the business of the day. If he were to fulfill his mission, he had to know that rhythm.

Preventing our own burnout isn't really about just saying "no," but it is also being able to be in this for the long haul whatever your "this" may be. If I want to be an effective pastor at 65, I need to be clear at 32 what I can or can't do now. But if that mission is strong in us ... we can persevere.