An Unexpected Journey of Hope

The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up; and he shall execute justice and righteousness. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. 

                                                                                                               Jeremiah 33:14-16

“Even now we simply do not expect

           to find a deity in a stable.

Somehow the setting is all wrong:

           the swaddling clothes too plain,

           the manger too common for the likes of a Savior,

           the straw inelegant,

           the animals, reeking and noisy,

           the whole scene too ordinary for our taste.

And the cast of characters is no better.

With the possible exception of the kings,

          who among them is fit for this night?

          The shepherds? Certainly to crude,

          the carpenter too rough,

          the girl too young.

And the baby!

Whoever expected a baby?

Whoever expected the advent of God in a helpless child?

Had the Messiah arrived in the blazing light of the glory

          of a legion of angels wielding golden swords,

          the whole world could have been conquered for Christ

                    right then and there

          and we in the church—to say nothing of the world!—

                    wouldn't have so much trouble today.

Even now we simply do not expect

          to face the world armed with love.”

                                     Unexpected by Ann Weems

I imagine when the people read Jeremiah's prophetic words from the Lord, “In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land” they were not thinking about a baby in a manger. I imagine they were thinking of a great and glorious king on a gallant white steed, riding in from the east with the sun gleaming off his long blonde locks, waving a sword and an army of thousands behind him. At least when I hear of a Branch springing up and saving Judah and Jerusalem living in safety, that is what I imagine. Of course I grew up on He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, so that may have a small influence. Still, I seriously doubt the Israelites expected the coming Branch, the expectant Messiah to show up in a manger, as a baby.

The majesty of this coming Branch, the coming of the Lord, the coming of the Messiah, is that our wait takes us on an unexpected journey to the manger. The hope that Jeremiah declares from the Lord is a hope that we find in the midst of animals and hay. The hope is not some great warrior king but a little baby, asleep on the hay; that is the majestic magic of the Advent and Christmas story. We witness the breaking in of the kingdom of heaven, the springing of the Branch that Jeremiah promised, taking place in the most unexpected place. How beautiful is that? How majestic is that?

Hope comes in all forms. The problem is we often look for it in the greatest of forms. We look for it in people with money, power, prestige, or influence. We look for hope in expected ways. Often we miss the hope that is right before eyes in the simplest forms because we think, “God's great hope cannot be in such a thing.” But there it is, with every flower that blooms in the spring, with every child's laugh, with every wedding, funeral, or birthday, with every song that is sung, the branch of hope springs forth and shines its light upon our faces.

The kingdom of heaven gives us hope because we witness the majesty of God's kingdom in the tiniest of places, in a manger. Our search for hope takes us on adventure that leads us to an unexpected place and that hope is something that transforms our lives. When we encounter this hope, we do not return home the same. The beauty of the Advent story is this expectation of the coming Messiah. We wait with hope that he will arrive, bringing with him the kingdom of heaven. We wait expectantly and we are being taught to wait with patience. The Advent story gives way to the Christmas story and our waiting is over. There in the strangest of places, we encounter God's greatest gift, God's greatest hope, lying in a manger. Once we encounter that hope, once we see the baby, our lives are changed forever. The Branch that springs up is not a Branch of the status quo. It is a Branch that is changes the world, it brings righteousness, saving Judah and Jerusalem will live in safety. A Branch that carries the Lord's righteousness is a Branch that will change any who encounter it. Even the shepherds were changed by the encounter with the baby Christ. How beautiful is their singing? How majestic is their encounter?

Everything about the Advent and Christmas story is unexpected. How it all comes about, how it all plays out is unexpected. The kings who arrive a few years later are about the only part of the story we would expect. You would expect other kings to arrive and pay homage to another king. Everything else from the shepherds to the manger to even the slaughtering of the little ones a few years later is unexpected. We may be expecting this Branch to spring up but we are not expecting it to spring up in a manger.

I imagine the Branch breaking through the paved roads of Jerusalem and as people come into the great city they are taken back at this Branch, this tree, growing in the midst of the rubble and stone. The hope of this Branch feels magical to me. It makes Advent feel magical because we are waiting for this branch to spring up in the most unexpected way. I think, for many of us, we have lost the magic of this season. We get caught up in buying presents, decorating trees, arguing with stores who tell us to have a “Happy Holiday” instead of a “Merry Christmas.” We get up in the busyness of the season we come to church and we're not expecting much. Sure we look forward to our traditions and such but do they still feel as magical as they once did? Do the stories of Advent and Christmas still bring about the feeling of hope as they did when we were young? Do we still sit in front of our lit trees and feel the sense of awe and wonder we did decades before? Do we expect to find the hope of the Christ child in the unexpected manger?

Perhaps that is the real beauty of this Advent season in the church. It is the deliberate purpose of slowing down on a holy day to be mesmerized by a very holy moment. The beauty is found in the newness of the waiting and the expecting and the overwhelming beauty of God's love found in a manger surrounded by animals and shepherds. I hope we will slow down in the midst of this stressful month and fix our eyes on the unexpected hope found in a manger.  

"Dancing" With the Good Ol' Boys

I am in a mood.

Something happened today and it has set me off. I am not going to go into the details or explain what happened because that's not important. What is important is that I am in a mood and that is what you need to know before you continue to read.

Earlier today I posted the following status: The one constant in Baptist life: You have to fight get anything past the "good ol' boy" network and if they do not want you involved, you will not get to be involved, no matter how passionate or excited you are. It is one the big reasons people my age are leaving Baptist life.

During my lifetime I have been told that I am the future, my generation was the future and we needed to take a more invested interest in whatever our passions were. I have heard older folks often say, "We need the younger people to step up and do this or do that." In fact I am a part of a cohort in the CBF whose purpose is to create healthy future leaders of the church and CBF. I have heard those things and what I have experience is this: If you want to invoke change in a system or you really want to have an active role in that future, you have to fight for it because those older folks, no matter how much they want you to "step up" will not let go.

Not everyone is like this and that needs to be made very clear. Just because someone is of a certain age does not mean anything. However, the truth that I have experienced is that when people gain control and power of any kind they will not relinquish it. You have to wrestle it away from them and you can get a few bruises.

I do not like to use that type of language. I think it furthers an "us vs them" mentality but breaking into a closed group like the "good ol' boys" network is a fight. You have to break through the glass ceiling and once you get in, you have to work at staying in. It's very much like the episode of Friends when Rachel takes up smoking just so she can stay involved in the decisions being made at her work. The difference is that those who fight their way in rarely allow room for others who come after them.

We have a strong tendency to get ourselves in position of power only for ourselves. We look to "meet up" with people who are going to advance our agenda or our place in the "pecking order". Those with the name or the money are the ones who get the "honorary doctorates" just so they will name a seminary, school, university, or church beneficiary to their wealth. That is how institutions do business, the problem is that they end up ignoring the wonderful stories of others who cannot afford to have them told.

During seminary several of us experienced exclusion of our stories and ministries because we did not work at either Richmond's First Baptist or Tabernacle Baptist or Second Baptist. Those were the places, ministers, and students who received the attention because they were in the "it" club. This is not a knock on the pastors there (all very good men and men I actually like being around) and it is not sour grapes, it is the truth. If you are not a part of the "it" group or do not have the right connections then you are going to have to work harder to invoke change than those with the right connections.

The "good ol' boys" network is a corrupt system designed to keep us in control and in power just so we can feel important or feel like we matter. It is designed to designate which people really matter and whom we should not upset because if we do, we risk losing their money. It is wrong. Giving honorary doctorates to people who have nothing to do with the school they are receiving them from just so the school can remain in their good graces is wrong.

I know this comes off as sour grapes but it is not; it is simply an acknowledgment of how we each buy into this corrupt system and if the system is going to change then that change cannot happen from our couches or leaving to start our system because eventually that system will become just like the system we left. If we want to change the system we need to start with ourselves and in our circles. If our own circles are closed instead of expanding, our system will be the same.

As I said, I'm in a mood.

Christ is the King!

“John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1:4-8 (NRSV)

Over the past two weeks I have spoken on the meaning of giving to a better reality. I describe that reality as the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God. Often those words paint a picture of a far off land in which we, as CS Lewis described, board a bus and take a trip beyond space and time to a land far far away; however I believe the kingdom of heaven to be something greater than a far off land of spirits and heavenly bodies evoked in our imaginations. I believe the kingdom of heaven is something that is to come and is indeed coming. I believe the kingdom of heaven to be near and at hand and I believe it to be a way of life we are each being invited into being a citizen of this kingdom. I believe we are catching glimpses of that kingdom and I believe with each new day, new month, new year, new decade, new century, and new millennium, the kingdom of heaven comes closer to being our true reality. But it is not here, yet.

One of the worse feelings I get is when someone says, “I need to talk with you.” Immediately, my mind conjures up the worse possible scenario and I start running through everything I might have possibly said the Sunday before or during the sermon or at Bible study or during a meeting or on Facebook or something I tweeted or blogged. I begin to work myself up in a frenzy especially when I ask, “What would you like to talk about” and they respond, “Oh, I'll just tell you when we meet.” Not cool, bro. Not cool. I wonder if the seven churches who received this letter, and others who would eventually read it, wondered when it arrived in the mailbox, “Look, a letter! Yay! Oh, wait it's from an apostle.” I wonder if they worried it would concern the most horrific news. I wonder if they thought, like I do, they were in serious trouble; then they read, “Grace to you and peace from him who is, was, and is to come.”

Grace to you and peace from him who is, who was, and who is to come. Grace: Unmerited favor. Peace: the conflict is resolved and wholeness is restored. Impactful to these churches who were experiencing great persecution at the hands of the Roman empire for not bowing down and worshiping Caesar. The words let them that the letter they received is more than a critical letter or an instructional letter, it carries weight because the grace and peace do not come just from the author, they come from the One who is, who was, and who is to come. The words of grace and peace come from Christ and the news that follows reminds the churches of the One who has their world in their hands. They are reminded of his promise to return and that he is the beginning and the end.

The author uses three titles to describe Jesus: faithful witness, firstborn of the dead, and ruler of the kings of earth. Jesus is the faithful witness, a beneficiary of a special revelation from God. He can authentically reveal God's purpose to the church community; thereby enabling the church to become a witness in its turn. Jesus described as a witness empowers the church to act as a similar witness in the world. As the firstborn of the dead, the author is insisting on the eschatological role of Jesus, something the gospel and letters attributed to the disciple John stress as well. The author is telling the church through Jesus death and resurrection Jesus has begun the new eon.¹ Jesus has not just returned to life like the resurrections of the little girl and Lazarus in the gospels, it is the beginning of something new. It is the beginning of a new kingdom.

In this new kingdom the author describes Jesus as ruler of the kings of the earth. The author is challenging the imperialistic ideology in their current world. He not only challenges who truly rules the world but also challenges the church concerning loyalty: to whom should the people of the church show ultimate faithfulness?² The Roman empire ideology, through coins, statutes, inscriptions, buildings, statues, proclaim to the world that Caesar is the ruler of the kings of the earth. The author replaces the Roman empire with his own kingdom, the kingdom of heaven. The true ruler, the true king of the earth, of the universe is Christ and it is to this ruler the church should show loyalty to, not Caesar.

It is here, we hear the author's words of grace and peace to you from him who is, who was, and who is to come. We are reminded once again of the kingdom that is coming. We are reminded once again who it is the king of all. We hear the words of grace and peace with a sense of hope, all wrongs are slowly being righted. The kingdom of heaven is being birthed before our eyes, and with each glimpse we catch, we become renewed, knowing this new kingdom will be worth the birth pangs.

I ended last week's sermon saying, “God is not writing a story about us. It is a story about the world and that gives us hope and given time, we will come to trust in that hope.” The peace that the author, that John writes, comes from the One who is, who was, and who is to come. The peace is not coming from someone who just is or just was or just is to come. It belongs to the One who is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. We are trees in a story about a forest and that forest belongs to God. We have to learn that not only all gifts come from God, and to endure the pains of life, but we also must learn to fully place our faith in the One who is, who was, and who is to come.

Placing our faith in the One, in Christ, is to trust that this coming kingdom of heaven is a kingdom that we need. It is to trust that there is a place for all of us in this kingdom and that we belong in this kingdom. It is to trust that we are giving our time, our energy, and our money to is worth the pain and struggle. It is to be able to stand next to one another with the assurance of who is the One writing this story. Placing our faith in One who is, was, and is to come, is to not fear for the future. Instead, such faith only gives hope to the future because Christ is king.

My favorite Lord of the Rings movie is the Two Towers. Out of the trilogy, I find that one to be the best because the conflict is greater than in the Fellowship of the Ring and The Return of the King. It is the middle of the story and the heroes are divided into four different groups without any contact between them. Gandalf has taken off to find help for the army at Helms Deep and he says, “Look to my coming on the first light of the fifth day, at dawn look to the east.” He is telling Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas that if they can just hold on and fight off the dark forces of Sauron, he will arrive with help at dawn. The whole story has a very apocalyptic feel and just when it feels like all hope is lost the sun rises in the east and hope appears on the hillside.

As I hear the author's descriptions of Jesus, I feel like he is telling us to have just a little extra faith. I feel like with the words of grace and peace, he is giving something for us to hold on to, something to believe in, something to know that “It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.”

The kingdom of heaven is breaking through. With it comes birth pangs and struggles but if we persevere and love the Lord God with all our hearts, souls, and strength, and our neighbors as ourselves we will slowly see the shadows of the valley give way to the sun in the east. For me, that's something worth living for. As Jim Somerville says, “We can remember that Jesus didn’t have to be elected to his office (thank God). The world didn’t give him his kingdom and the world can’t take it away. And, we can joyfully sing, “He shall reign forever and ever. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!””

1Anderson, Valerie Nicolet. Revelation 1:4b-8 http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?lect_date=11/25/2012&tab=3

2Anderson. http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?lect_date=11/25/2012&tab=3

The Birthpangs of Thanksgiving

“When you hear of wars and rumors of war, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birthpangs.” (Mark 13:7-8 NRSV)

Jesus is very prophetic in today's gospel reading. He's short explanation of the upcoming future is not painted by words of rainbows and puppies or group singalongs. The world Jesus paints for us is a very bleak world with what appears to be without hope because these events are just the beginning of the birthpangs. We could think of our world around us and we could say without doubt that there is great evidence of these birthpangs and grieve; but are we really without hope? Are Jesus' words absent of hope?

There is an old quote from one of my favorite movies that I am reminded of when I read this passage: “Life is pain, Princess. Anyone who says otherwise is selling something.” Life is very painful. If you're not careful just stepping outside your front door can be a painful experience. You might be whisked away on an adventure to save the world; you might stub your toe or get stung by a bee; you might fall in love and have your heartbroken; or you may even get in an accident and lose your life. Life is pain but life is not hopeless. The pain of life is not something we may want but life, a life that is well lived, is a life that bears the scars of its journey and it is a thankful life.

We have become a peculiar society in many ways but the most peculiar for me is the effort we put into to living comfortable lives. We seek life without pain or hardship and this is evident of a little creation known as indoor plumbing. To protect ourselves from the elements, creatures, and long walks after $1 taco night, we created indoor plumbing. We dump (pun intended) a lot of money into things that will provide us comfort and make life easier and we do the same when it comes to the world we live in.

People invest in things, people, companies, or ideas that make their lives better. Some of the things we invest in are good such as investing in companies that work to provide clean water to poverty stricken countries, medical supplies for those who need them, shoes for kids, Christmas gifts for needy families, etc. For a majority of us, we constantly invest in things that do not necessarily provide us with a better life, they just pretend to do so. We are sold on the idea that this product, this person, this car, or this dish-washing soap will make our lives better so we send them our money. People invest in things that they believe or are told they need to have to live an easier life: Life is pain so we must have lights that clap on and off so we do not have to get out of bed.

But is joy and hope possible without a little pain? Is it truly possible to enjoy life without life's birthpangs? Is it possible for Jesus to usher in the kingdom of God without a little bit of pain?

The Christian story is full of birthpangs: from the massacre of apostles and followers of Christ by the Roman Empire to the struggles of today. We forget that the scriptures speak to suffering and pain as being a part of being a Christian, of being a part of the Christian community, of the ushering in of the kingdom of God. We are told that following Christ means there will be moments of great pain and great joy. As the hymn goes “my joy comes in the morning light” and I cannot have the joy of the morning light without the darkness of midnight. I cannot know the need for peace if I never walk through the valley. Pain and joy are not absent of one another and our Christian tradition reminds us of a God who is faithful in times of great joy and great despair. Christianity is not supposed to make our lives easier. Christianity is supposed to fulfill our lives.

The Christian life is not something we come to on Sundays but something we live into every day of the week. The Christian life does not avoid the pains of life instead the Christian life embraces it, trusting that God does indeed have the whole world in his hands. The writer of Hebrews urges the Christian community to endure the hardships and to look to Christ as they run their race for they have not suffered yet to the point of losing their lives. The writer of 1 Peter argues that we are blessed when we suffer for the name of Christian. The birthpangs are more than a foretelling of the signs, Jesus is telling us that the kingdom of God comes with pain. If we wish to build a beautiful city, there will be some pain and discomfort, there will be blood and there will be suffering. The story of God is not a story about the individual but a story about the whole world. We live as if the story is about a tree in a forest when the true story is about the forest itself. And that should give us hope.

Last week I said the widow's offering gives us a glimpse into what it means to be a part of the kingdom of God. She offers us, in her offering, a way to see life as a gift and all gifts come from God. Jesus, in his description of the coming times, offers us a dose of reality in the coming of the kingdom. The kingdom of God takes work, effort, and enduring the birthpangs.

If the story of the widow's gift is an offer to live in a different reality, the reality of the kingdom of God, then Jesus is telling us the cost of living in the kingdom of God; that being follower of his comes with pain as well as joy. The disciples do not get to experience the joy of resurrection without the pain of the cross. They do not get to experience the joy of walking on water without crossing the sea. They cannot experience the calming of the storm if there is no storm to calm. This does not justify suffering in our world but it allows to approach the pain of life with a spirit of peace and hope.

Every day I get a variety of emails on a variety of ideas and concepts regarding church, specifically church growth. I recently received one from a prominent Christian author that guaranteed our church would grow 30% in three months if we used his study. I received one titled, “Does Build It And They Come Still Work?” I received an email once on how to turn around the statistics of a recent survey that said only 18% of people go to church. Each one promises to grow our church within a year and each one has a reason why people are not coming to church. Each email I receive gives reason why giving is down and church participation is down. The reasons range anywhere from too much stuff going on, priorities to the negative perception of the Christian church in America. Those reasons reinforce the question I asked last week, “Is what we are about worth the time, energy, and money, we are asking people to give to it?” In other words, are we, the church, worth being invested in?

If I may offer my own opinion about the decline of attendance in the American church, I would say the reason has to do with two perceptions by those outside the church walls: 1) The story we tell is different from the story we live. 2) We care more about investing in “stuff” that protects our place of power. The story we tell is one of a loving God who created the earth and everything in it, culminating in the coming of the Messiah, fulfilled in Christ, whose death of the cross and resurrection defeated the power of sin and death, and a faith of a people who were persecuted to the point of death. The story we live is the complete opposite. Instead of being a people who live by the hope of the scriptures, we place our hope in things of this world because, I believe, deep down inside, we are afraid God is not really all that loving. So we look to invest our time and money in “things” that are not of the kingdom, things that keep us remaining in control and in power. To quote a former popular Christian rock group: “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips then walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”

We can change our programs, our sanctuaries, our music, our worship style, our Sunday school time; we can close our doors every other Sunday and do mission projects; we can take hardline stances on social issues and encourage people to vote for the right cause or the right candidate; but what that says to people is that we are not really about the kingdom; it says we are about protecting what is ours. The most common factor the birthpangs bring with them is nostalgia but nostalgia can be a dangerous thing. Nostalgia is what led the Israelites to believe they were better off as slaves in Egypt then they were starting over as the nation of God in the Promise Land. Nostalgia urges us to turn around and go back to the way life was, remembering the good and ignoring the bad. The story we ask people to invest in is a story of nostalgia, not a story of the kingdom of God; and that is not a story worth investing in.

A story that is worth investing in is a story of a people who seek to honor God and live faithfully to their call as God's people in the midst of the birthpangs and holding onto the hope of the One whose kingdom is coming. The birthpangs will bring joy and we must not give into the temptation to return to a time that was but strive for a kingdom future that will be and live out the kingdom in the present that is. We can build a beautiful city if push through the birthpangs and allow God to continue to work in our world. We can give people something worthwhile to invest in and use their gifts to bring about the kingdom of God if we just try and have a just a mustard seed of faith.

The story God is writing is not a story about us. It is the story about the world and that gives us hope and given time, we will come to trust in that hope.

A Crisis of Faith: He's Got The Whole World

Two things are a crisis of faith for me: money and hurricanes. I grew up in East Texas where the most natural disaster we had to worry about was occasional flooding, a random ice storm, and maybe a tornado. In college, at Oklahoma Baptist University, I came to know the fear and wonderment of tornadoes; but they were never a crisis of faith for me. Tornadoes are random. They appear and disappear and while their destruction is greater than any hurricane, the tornado does not normally last for a very long time and is usually contained to one area. Hurricanes on the other hand are very stressful for me.

We're given a lot of information ahead of time and the meteorologists do a very good job of predicting the path of the hurricane. We know when to expect it and we are usually told to fear the worse: being without power, water, gas and food shortages, etc. Waiting out a hurricane takes time, sometime the entire day and into the next day and it is a real crisis of faith for me. It causes me to worry, no matter how prepared I am, I worry that I've not prepared enough.

Likewise, money is a great stress for me. No matter how much I have it never feels like it's enough. I feel like I'm supposed to have more. I'm supposed to be able to pay my bills and then have enough to go on vacation or put into savings or tithe. Finances are a great stress for me and it when it comes time to work on the church budget or seeing the giving for the week, I get myself worked up. My greatest fear about it all: How it affects me. My worry is about myself and that is the cause for my crisis of faith in those moments.

We all have those moments, don't we? We hear about the impending weather, an upcoming bill, a health concern, and our immediate thought is “how is this going to affect me”. The media sells us on this concern. A majority of the news on the big news networks is about how world events affect you and I. Very rarely is it about it affects others and very rarely is about how we should be concerned for others. The individualistic nature of our culture causes us a lot of worry and worry becomes our master.

Standing on the mountain, Jesus began to speak to the crowd that gathered around him. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit eternal life. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

He told the people gathered with him that they are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. He told them he had come not to abolish the law but to fulfill it. He said, “You have heard it said, “You shall not murder.” But I say to you that if you are angry with your brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment. If you say “You fool,” you will be liable to the hell of fire. You have heard it said, “Do not swear falsely, but I say to you do not swear at all. You have heard it said, “An eye for an eye, but I say to you turn the other cheek. You have heard it said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy but I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

He warned them of practicing piety before others. He warned them not to be like the hypocrites when they pray or fast. He told them not store up treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and thieves steal; but store up yourselves treasures in heaven, where there are neither moth nor rust nor thieves. For where our treasure is so will our hearts be. Therefore we cannot serve two masters. We cannot be devoted to God and wealth. We can only serve one or the other.

He then tells the people not to worry. He tells them not to worry about their lives, what they will eat or what they will drink, or about their bodies, what they will wear. “Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?”

He asks, “Why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?' For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today.”

There is a lot of worry in our world today. We worry about elections, nuclear weapons, taxes, super storms, global and local economy. We worry about our jobs, our children, our homes, our families, our friends, our cars. We worry about where our next meal is coming from, if we'll have enough to make rent or pay the mortgage, or if we can pay our electric bill. Life is full of worry. Why else do we end up with little gray hairs? Life is stressful and Jesus seems to be out of touch with reality. Obviously he wasn't paying attention over the past year else he would know that things he says not to worry about are exactly what we're worrying about and we are worrying about so much more.

We're having a crisis of faith, Jesus.

Our worry has lead us to place our faith in things not of the kingdom. Our worries are urgent and painful, causing great stress on our families and in our lives, and we are in need of a reminder to hold fast to the One whose love endures forever. We are in need of a reminder that our worries will not be eased by Councilmen, Senators, Congressmen, Presidents, or anyone in power. We are in need of a reminder that peace for our worries comes from Christ. We are in need of a reminder that Christ is here in our midst. We are in need of a reminder that Christ is continually writing this story. We are in need of a reminder of who the One is that has written the ending. We are in need of a reminder that the song, “He's got the whole world in his hands” is not just a happy tune we teach to our children. It is our faith and it is our trust in the truth of that song, the truth that our scriptures speak to, that God does indeed have the whole world in his hands.

We're having a crisis of faith, Jesus.

We worry about things that we cannot control. We worry about our votes, our 401ks, the weather, our government, our schools. We worry that we're not keeping up with the Jones and we're falling behind. We worry and we worry. Our worries lead us down a rough path. Our worries lead us to things that can tear down our souls. Our worries damage our friendships, our relationships with our families. Our worries turn our neighbors into enemies. Our worries, when allow them to, can be dangerous to our spiritual lives. So let us again remind ourselves, “He's got the whole world in his hands.”

We're having a crisis of faith, Jesus.

Our worries are infecting the way we live. We live as a people who throw their money at their problems instead of working together for a solution. There has been a few reports on how much candidates have spent on their campaigns this election season. The presidential candidates spent nearly $1 billion on television ads and other campaign advertizements. The men who ran for our district's congressional seat raised close to $1 million for their advertizements to be elected. Several Christian organizations gave close $600 million for advertizements to try and get someone elected. So much worry was tied up in who was elected that people gave willing to a cause that is not of the kingdom. Let us ask ourselves this serious question: Could that 1.7 billion dollars have been given to a better use? Could that amount of money gone to organizations who work to ease the worries of the homeless, the hungry, the naked, the sick, the imprisoned. Could that amount of money gone to something that is more important than an election?

Our worries over this past election season gives an honest look at Christians in America and we need to remind ourselves once again, “He's got the whole world in his hands.”

We are having a crisis of faith, Jesus.

Jesus says we need to look no further than the birds in the air and the flowers on the ground to see God's amazing work at hand. We need to look no further than the birds and the flowers to see that God truly does have the whole world in his hands. So why do we worry so? Why are so concerned about tomorrow? Is it our fear of the unknown? Does it have to do with issues of control? Does it concern our faith? Do we really have faith in Christ? Do we really have faith in God? Let us listen once again to the words of Christ:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” (Matthew 6:25-33 NRSV).

Let us be a community of faith that looks to Christ when our worries consume our lives. Let us be community of faith that helps ease our worries by sharing with one another the gifts Christ has given us. Let us be a community of faith that knows and believes in the One whose steadfast love endures forever. Let us be reminded that God is the Alpha, the Omega, the beginning and the end and that he truly does have the whole world in his hands. Amen.

Offering Us a Look Into a Better Kingdom

http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=219647373

Tithing and faithful stewardship in the church is difficult to talk about. It's difficult to talk about because finances are very personal and our finances are often uncomfortably stretched thin. Between taxes, mortgages or rent, bills, groceries, and other random expenses, it is hard to think about giving 10% of your wages to the church. It's hard to think about giving 5% of your wages. It is hard for me to talk about tithing because 40% of the church's budget goes to my salary. Likewise, it is hard to talk about giving your extra time to the church. Not only do we value our finances, we value our time. Each of us have busy lives that include more than waking up and going to work and going home. Families are constantly stretched with activities for their kids and church events end up in competition for the kids' attention with sports, school activities, and other extra-curricular activities. Time is a valued commodity just as is our money.

But is our time and money really ours?

Jesus is teaching in the temple and as he taught, he tells the crowd to beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in the finest suits, and to be greeted with respect at the local associational meeting. And to have the best seats at banquets and the prime television time slots. They devour the houses of the widows and elderly and for the sake of appearance run ads in local papers telling you of their upcoming revival and which candidate they are endorsing. They will receive greater condemnation.

He sits down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowds putting money in. Many of the wealthy put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the budget. For all of them have given out of their wealth; but she has given out of her poverty, giving everything she had, all she had to live on."

In A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, Donald Miller recalls a very similar story. Don had a signed up to bike across America (from Los Angeles, CA to the east coast in Delaware) to raise money and awareness for clean water in Africa. During his trip, he stopped a convenient store to get a coke and take a short rest before continuing his ride. As he paid for his drink, the young lady behind the counter asked him why he was doing what he was doing. He told her about the project and she reached into her pocket and handed him a $20 bill. Don walked outside and fell asleep on the bench, when he woke up he heard the young lady talking to another customer. She lamented about her car being repossessed and Don realized she had given him the last of her money.

Jesus makes the observation that the woman has given more because she has given out of what she does not have. She gives out of her poverty, meaning, what we see as ours she sees as a gift. Jesus is neither condemning the wealthy or glorifying the poor, he is simply making the observation of who is giving more than whom. Jesus is not making a statement about sacrificial giving; instead he is making the observation that there is a difference between those who give out of what they have and those who give out of what they do not. There is a difference between giving out of our wealth than there is giving out of our poverty. There is a difference between worshiping in humility than in boasting.

We normally give out of our wealth; in other words we give out of what we have. We pay our taxes first, our bills second, groceries third, and then maybe we think about giving to the church what we have left, if we can spare it. Many churches face difficult budget crises every year. Most of the time the budget crisis is over the giving being down. Rarely a church takes the time and see why the giving is down; normally they react and immediately start cutting items in the budget and like most arts programs in a school budget, the children, youth, and associate ministers become victims of the cuts.

Now, if the church took a moment to look at the numbers and explore the reason why giving is down they would find numerous reasons ranging from unemployment, unexpected expenses, medical bills, withholding their tithe because they are mad at the pastor, etc. We would find that the problem is affected by a variety of circumstances and the solution to the crisis is not cuts but responsible spending and use of the budget.

What does all this budget talk have to do with the widow? Everything because it raises the question: what are the people giving to? Why should they give a portion of their income to the church? Because God says so? Because they can use it as a tax write off? I've been around church long enough to know that neither of those are strong enough reasons for people to give. I've been around church long enough to know that when it comes to our money and our time we see it as that, ours. Which in some ways is funny because I bet if we asked each other about this church or our neighbors about their church, they would begin by saying, “My church” or “Our church”. So, we see the church as ours as well but is it really ours? Is our time and wealth really ours. What's that phrase that got a lot people riled up over the summer: You didn't build it.

Our wealth, our time, our church, everything we have is not ours if we are Christians. Instead they belong to God and God's people. The early church seemed to understand the reality of their situation and understood that the gifts they had among themselves were gifts to be shared. The reason none went without, as Acts reports, is because each member of the community cared for the other by giving not only their wealth but their time. They used creative ways to give to the church whether it was by hosting a missionary, an apostle, or by selling a piece of land and giving the proceeds to the church. They valued what they were giving to. They understood what they had not to be theirs. It was a gift.

All that we receive in this life is a gift and gifts are to be shared. The rich man, Luke's parable, is only called a fool because he hoarded his gifts and thought only of himself. He placed his hope in materials and wealth instead of placing his hope in God. Faithful Christian community is only faithful if we share, care, and love another.

Again, what does this have to do with the widow?

The widow's faithfulness in her giving is not sacrificial because she gives what remains or all she has. Her faithfulness is in her gift to God because what she has does not belong to her. She sees it as a gift given to her by God not something that she's earned. Our money and time are things that we did not earn. True, we may have worked for it but is it not God who created the trees that are cut down and turned into paper on which our money is printed? Is it not God who placed the silver, copper, and gold in the ground that we mine to place our engravings images on? Is it not God who continually provides with the air we breath? Is it not God who gave us the animals and vegetables to eat? Is it not someone else who pays you for the work you do? And is it not God who has really provided you the skills for that job? Is it not God who has provided you employment or a source of income? If our answer is yes then all belongs to God.

I have long struggled with this concept of professional ministry. I do not call ministering a living or a profession. It is a way of life, a calling if you will. I would still do this even if I did not get paid for it. I have struggled with the living many of us make because the money does not come from a corporation or a bank but from you. I cannot say that my house is my house because it belongs to you. I cannot say that my car is my car because it is paid for by you. I cannot say claim any food or clothing purchased to be purchased by me because it comes from your tithes. My vacations, my comic books, anything I purchase is not purchased by my money because my money comes from you. It is your gifts every Sunday that my family and I live off of.

My junior year high school, I had a breakthrough, life changing moment during a track meet. I finally won the 1600m and I won it at the final district track meet. Myself and two of my other teammates finished 1, 2, and 3, securing the district championship. After the race my friend who finished second said that he let me win. I was furious that implied that he was better than me. I didn't understand that it didn't matter who won but that we all won. I didn't see what he did for me as a gift but eventually I did. I do now.

The following Sunday I gave the church the medal. I went down during the invitation time, laid the gold medal at the 'altar' and went back and sat down. The pastor eventually returned to it me after the service saying it wasn't necessary; but my understanding in giving it to the church was not about returning it to God but sharing the accomplishment with my church family past, present and future. The clouds of witnesses as the scriptures say. Interestingly enough, it took this passage to remind me of that memory.

The widow offers us a better reality than the one we are living. She offers us a glimpse into what it means to be a part of the kingdom of God where all our treasures are and where there are no moths and no thief will be break in and steal it. The widow is our window into the kingdom of God; she is our example of what it means to live as followers of Christ and what she shows is us is the complete opposite of capitalism or socialism.

Our budget, our monies, our time, our lives are gifts from God and how use them says a lot about what we believe. But once we find the center of our life to be Christ and the center of our hearts are focused on him, we are then able to fully offer ourselves to another. Our defenses are taken away since we are no longer protecting or defending what is ours; instead we are able to say, “Please enter—my house is your house, my joy is your joy, my sadness is your sadness, and my life is your life.” We have nothing to defend since we have nothing to lose but all to give.¹

This leads us to ask, “Is what we are about worth the time, energy, and money people are giving to?” Are we being good stewards by using their gifts wisely? For that question we'll have to wait until next week, same bat-time, same bat-channel. Until then let us seek to place our faith in Christ and see others as a gift and all that we've been given as a gift. May we be free to give the gift to others in return.

1 Nouwen, Henri. “Hospitality” Show Me the Way. The Crossroads Publishing Company, 1992 pg 31

Ode to a Playful Son

He scatters his toys on the floor
A plane here, a truck there, an action figure flying in to save the burning house
A car jumps from the coffee table and suddenly able to fly
I hurt my foot stepping on his battlefield.

"Sorry, daddy" as I scream in anguish
He hugs me as he goes back to playing
"I'm Buzz Lighyear Connor," he yells
Flying into the room and jumping on the bed

His nose is scratched from a recent battle with the door
He laughs uncontrollably, "Tickle me, momma!"
The house is full of life as he runs around
I wonder if it ever was before he arrived