Pain, Suffering, and Hope

“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

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!

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

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

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...

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)

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

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?